Overtake: The Spirited Return of the Justin Grimm Team

We have told the story many times before. A story which any enthusiast can easily understand and apply to themselves. The tale starts by saying, "One day you see a very special car in the wild for the first time. At that moment, you don't understand why your heart is beating and your mind is racing, but you quickly realize that this feeling is something completely different from anything you have felt before and know that you and this feeling will be joined through what you've seen forever." The birth of the enthusiast is always laced with similar details, but obviously unique to each individual. It is true that Justin's story and beginnings as an enthusiast could mirror many experiences by members of our vast community, but his choices after seeing that first car, meeting his first love, built on a very specific destiny. "When I was in college, from 2000 to 2003, Subaru launched the WRX...with a model year 2002," Grimm remembered. "And so, right when I was getting near the end of college, the hype hit. I knew the second I saw it, that it was exactly the car I was looking for...you know? When I have enough money after graduating and get a real job…”, he said. "All-wheel-drive. There already was a decent aftermarket for it even early on. And so being that we live up north, (Minnesota) you're having all-wheel-drive in the snow plus a turbo was really appealing." Once bitten and hopelessly dedicated to his newly found dream car, Grimm was quickly growing into more than a passionate Subaru owner. His connection with brand and platform began to transform his interest and passion for the community. "It grew so quickly for me," Grimm explained. "There was a local group called MnSubaru Subaru. I quickly got involved with that group and started helping to grow it at a real early stage. I had a ton of fun putting on events for the club and trying to grow the club as much as I could. This really cemented how important the Subaru community was, and is to me," he added. "I had such an amazing time and made some amazing friends." Those early times entrenched in Subaru culture and memorable relationships would lay the first bricks of an exciting future.

As time went forward and his interest grew deeper, Grimm began to embed himself deeper into the Subaru life and culture, but also started to roll his sleeves up past the elbow to begin learning through the DIY, hands-on approach the majority of those in our community can personally appreciate. Digging into his first modification and really tearing his car apart to make it perform better left behind some life lessons that he keenly remembers. "The first mod memory would have been in 2003 or early 2004," Justin recalls with fondness. "Sitting in my garage with the OEM Cat off the Down Pipe. With a chisel and a hammer, with no face mask, nothing. Pounding away, chiseling out the OEM Cat to make more power - so I didn't have to buy a new pipe," he remembered. "Now that I look back, how ridiculously dumb it was to do that. I remember there was like a fog of dust that I was breathing in for like two hours straight." Grimm regretfully explained. These memories from an early, more inexperienced time can really be appreciated and be somewhat inspiring and educational for those other enthusiasts who feel they may be the only ones who have ever confronted difficult or challenging situations. The encouraging nugget of truth that comes from Grimm's memory is to keep pushing forward and use the community to both educate yourself and learn from your experiences. "In that era, it was really just being part of the community and seeing what was possible,” he confirmed. “Just being exposed locally to all these different options for modifying the car. Now that I look back on it, I know for sure that it has something to do with the vibe I had at GrimmSpeed of caring so much about the community." As Grimm touched upon earlier, the spirit he cultivated and accelerated while growing the GrimmSpeed brand was all about the tools he gathered through his exposure to a tight and generous community culture now feeding and caring for bigger ideas in coming years. "As a business owner, you want, especially in an enthusiast market, to become a part of the fabric of the community," he said. "We are true enthusiasts. We care about this community, not a bullshit sales job." He adds proudly. "It's really what we felt and what we cared about as a team." Grimm's first dream has come true, but living in the first has quickly begun to pave a road to relive it inside another arena.

Those familiar with the aftermarket space clearly understand the rapid changes, challenges, and redirection of business models that can develop during the course of a business timeline. None of this is mysterious to Justin Grimm as the road on which his own dream travelled had become increasingly more challenging and winding. By 2016, after an enormous amount of growth, an overwhelming use of energy and effort, the pressures that come from the entrepreneurial machine began to drain his surplus of original spirit. The appealing thought of lightening his load and selling his company - something not rare in our industry - started entering his mind and quickly became a reality. "From that moment of when I sold to the next five years, is a complete roller coaster. To the highest highs, to the lowest lows," Grimm confirmed while outwardly expressing his thoughts during a recent video posted on his newest YouTube channel. As 2019 closed, Grimm was both recovering and trying to emotionally regroup after selling the company he founded and grew, to a private equity firm. By the end of 2020, the controlling firm, in an unexpected turn, decided to resell the company, with Grimm, ironically being let go shortly thereafter in the first round of firings. This is what would become an upsetting dramatic flip and corporate restructuring of GrimmSpeed before his eyes. This whirlwind and shake up brought Justin to an obvious personal and emotional crossroad. "To get let go was a pretty big hit for me personally and I'm still actually pretty frustrated how that went down." he said in the video. The aftermath was a life altering period for Grimm, but, more importantly, the years of caring, feeding, and growth of his company was transformed into a painful face slap through events he never wanted to affect the lives and security of the business family he cherished so deeply. In a positive turn, a strong resolve for this incredible fall became his mantra, "There's no way this is how this story is ending," he added during the video message. Beginning to examine how the founding values of his company and those within the entire industry were dramatically changing and weakening beneath the heavy hand of corporate influence and profit gain, Grimm regained his vision, thought about his past, all that he had learned, the people that had supported his dream, and regained a firm grasp of a positive view of the future. 

"There's no way I'm going to let this amazing company that I was so proud of, and that we were all so proud of, end like this. There is no way," Grimm passionately exclaimed in the video to begin the prelude of his new strategy. "I'm at a point of being done watching these... corporate take-overs try to destroy our special community we have here," he added firmly. "So, the number one thing I can do is create another company - and that's what we're doing." Embracing the same values which founded his first company, Grimm, along with his original crew, poured an amplified flow of energy into founding Overtake, a new aftermarket brand that is laser focused on the enthusiast, the parts they need, the service they deserve, and the detailed attention that is often forgotten by the corporate alternatives. As their website proudly states, "We put our customers first...Every part we create, every product we release, is designed with precision, pride, and purpose. We’re here to support the Subaru community, to fuel the passion of the next generation of gear heads, and to show that small businesses can still take the lead. I love problem solving, creating systems that are super efficient around problems, around workflows," Grimm said. "You mix that with my love for Subarus or the car community...really shows how awesome my job is. What I'm doing now with Overtake is to recreate that in the heart of the company itself." Getting back to his journey up until this point and the lessons learned along the way, Grimm can reinforce the foundation he has carefully built for Overtake. "If you care about the community, if you care about the customers, you want to make better parts for them. That's all there is to it," he confirmed. "We've spent so much time working on these parts ourselves that we knew all the nuances of what worked and what didn't." he added. Illuminating the solid line between their values and those who may exist in the corporate realm, Justin drives home his message by proclaiming, "A lot of companies will say, we're committed and this and that. To me, it's actually doing the things... and actually following through ...like with customer service or supporting event circuits and even local events. Supporting all those as much as possible," confirming that his original spirit has been reborn.

As Overtake retains the spirit which blossomed during the development and growth of Grimm's earlier venture, it is a primary goal of their team to also build as a unique brand, not a carbon copy with the same offerings and designs seen previously. "We do plan on having a more diverse product offering than GrimmSpeed," Justin confirms clearly. "There were products like exterior components that... just didn't fit. I'm excited at Overtake to be able to offer a more diverse product line this time around." Outlining some simple examples of the unique offerings Overtake has for the serious enthusiast, Grimm explains the expansion into defined and specific needs that can enhance a modification down to the most important detail, specifically matching body color to added components. "We originally had just 4 paint colors at GS but all the rest didn't get any attention so I purchased all the VA and VB colors and color matched most of them." he confirmed. “I spent the time getting components for all the OEM colors…Paint matching them with an OEM supplier or level supplier. So now we have all of the VB and VA colors in the spray can. And so we are the first ones in our niche here to offer that, “ Grimm adds. “Yes, you could go to your local paint shop and mix it up, but we're the first ones to offer it kind of in the community. So it's really accessible." Other simple offerings from Overtake like gaskets and cabin filters are both important and critical to your vehicle's basic functionality and maintain the health of the driver, but at first glance, may not seem like anything innovative to the inexperienced enthusiast. "I try to always think outside the box," Grimm explains. "What could we do to help? It doesn't sound like we're doing much with a Cabin Filter, but we have so much experience designing products and working with other vendors that we know how to get really high end products made," he confirms. "Not only is it a damn good cabin filter, we are actually spreading the message to change your cabin filters." Adding on to his comments about products, Grimm addresses the somewhat "boring" but always important Gasket products, by saying, "They're really good gaskets. If you've done exhaust work you know how often you're dealing with exhaust leaks. It's nice to be able to offer a gasket that's thicker, holds up, and truly stands the test of time."

It is evident that Justin Grimm has taken an interesting and challenging ride during his entrepreneurial life within the aftermarket world. Coming full circle for a visionary like Grimm can be a confrontation with many emotions and possible negativity, but obviously not enough to cave in his road to future success with Overtake. "I wasn't prepared for the feedback when I launched that first video on YouTube, when we're saying we're back, and how important that moment was," Grimm said with pride. "It's a whole community that makes it a better place. The idea of GrimmSpeed, that it was a big part of our lives, that we try to do our best to make the community amazing, and that we're back," Grimm explains. "I think that hit a nerve with a lot of people. Not like we can save the market, clearly, you know, it's a gigantic place, but we can be one piece of it that tries to bring more excitement, more passion, and more pride for everybody involved in what we have," he says with sincerity. Grimm seems to be moving forward with fierce momentum and determination to add new offerings and keep his energy and positivity from swaying away his true purpose and direction. "So again, for the future of Overtake, we're gonna have a lot more diversity in our product offering," Grimm confirmed. "From all your typical stuff including Intakes, Intercoolers, and Exhausts," he said. "Of course, we have to deal with the EPA a bunch now, and that's where we'll be spending a lot of time. We are already starting with getting CARB certified for a lot of our products. We are gonna fully support that and try to be one of the good guys in that realm," Justin added with confidence. "Also, we'll have some exterior components that you might not have seen from GrimmSpeed," he confirmed. "In addition, and as far as sticking with supporting the classics, or maybe somewhere in the middle, we obviously have to focus on the newest stuff first. The VB and VA WRX will be our main focus - but we are certainly going to support the earlier generations as well." In a time when everyday seems like you are riding an economic rollercoaster, Grimm still can turn lemons into sweet lemonade and always keep a realistic vision front and center. "I think everybody is just feeling like it's going down a bit because it was a massive train we had been going for a long time with no downturns at all for 20 years," he said. "But, I'm excited for the future," he confidently exclaims. Grimm concludes with a bright scene for the future. "We are partnering up with any other companies, whether it be competitors, distributors, or people that put events on. We're gonna do everything we can to support the community and make it a better place."

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