Lirel Holt

Lirel Holt founded CARSTAR, the collision repair franchise network, in 1989. He restored cars to pay for college and was running his own body shop by 21. 3M later recruited him to lead a business division, where he developed and ran the 3M Auto Repair Management Software workshop for six years, teaching shop management across North America. In the 1980s he proposed a network that would let independent shop owners share standards, repair practices, buying power and support; the first location, Wicklunds CARSTAR, opened in Liberty, Mo., in 1989. Holt stayed with CARSTAR about nine years. He was later a founding mentor of the Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program in Kansas City.