Blog / Enterprise Strategy, Entrepreneurship / Meet the Team Dedicated to Your Success
What makes Impact Brands unique? Our vision to impact entrepreneurs’ lives by creating an easier path to success. This all started with our founders. Justin Strickland and Aubrey Linville, entrepreneurs themselves, have founded several successful businesses and successfully exited multiple businesses, and now they bring their unique skill sets together to create a platform for entrepreneurs to learn, scale, and grow their businesses.
When you need guidance and active collaboration to develop a roadmap for business growth or a real estate strategy for expansion, Impact Brands is ready to help. We know how important it is to have practical support and access to capital when you’re looking to take your business to the next phase. That’s why we put our expertise and experience to use in guiding business owners toward sustainable growth. When you partner with Impact Brands, you’ll receive high-touch mentorship and the capital needed to reach your full potential.
We realize that trust is paramount when you’re choosing to begin a new business partnership. To help you get to know us better, we invite you to learn more about our founders and their individual journeys. This is who we are—and this is why Impact Brands came to be.
Meet Justin Strickland: Sharecropper’s Grandson to Award-Winning CEO
Justin Strickland started out working a minimum-wage job as a lube technician at an oil-change business. Over the years, as he worked his way up, Justin kept seeing the same gaps in the industry–gaps he knew he could fix. Eventually, he wrote out a formal business plan. But when he took his idea to about a half-dozen banks, he was rejected by every single one of them. That’s when Justin’s grandfather, C.W. Strickland, a former tobacco sharecropper and meat butcher, took out an equity line on his own home to support his grandson’s business venture. His grandfather’s investment–what was essentially his entire life savings of $35,000–would pay off many times over.
Justin used his grandfather’s investment to start Tater Bugs, a quick lube business that grew to three successful locations by the time Justin sold it. He then built Strickland Brothers 10 Minute Oil Change, a company he named after his two sons, Tate and Beckett.
This new business eventually grew to more than 300 locations (and still growing), a success fueled by Justin’s knowledge and experience in building, running, and scaling a multi-unit consumer brand as well as his ambition and determination. In memory of his grandfather’s love and support, every Strickland Brothers 10 Minute Oil Change location has a “Paw Paw’s bench.”
Justin’s success didn’t stop there. He has also founded and helped build several concepts in the real estate and retail sectors. For his success at scaling and growth, Justin has received the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2022 Southeast Award and a 2022 C-Suite Award. He has also been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Inc. magazines, including landing a spot on the 2021 Forbes “Next 1000” List. Justin was also named one of 2022 North Carolina’s Most Influential People.
Justin stays busy advocating for and helping the economic development efforts in the Winston-Salem community. He founded the Strickland Family Endowment and the Strickland Brothers Foundation Fund, which support important causes in the community. The Strickland Brothers Foundation Fund helps local youth who face adversity, while the Strickland Family Endowment supports higher education, health, the arts, and more.
Justin attended Guilford College and Davidson-Davie Community College, playing on the varsity basketball team at each school. Justin and his wife Jess now have three children, including a daughter Anna and their two sons Tate and Beckett. They split their time between homes in Rural Hall, NC, and Sevierville, TN. Justin spends his leisure time playing sports and enjoying the great outdoors by riding his bike, fishing, and traveling.
From minimum-wage work to business success as a CEO and founder, Justin knows how much dedication and effort go into helping a company grow. He uses everything he’s learned about scaling and enterprise growth, along with his passion for helping others, to guide and support today’s startup businesses. As a proud founder of Impact Brands, Justin looks forward to helping fellow business owners achieve success.
Meet Aubrey Linville: Using Commercial Real Estate Success to Give Back to His Community
With over two decades of experience, Aubrey Linville has built an impressive career in commercial real estate, which he now uses to help guide business owners with strategic expansion. He loves providing each client with the highest quality service to meet their needs.
In 2012, he founded Linville Team Partners, LLC, a commercial real estate company that provides award-winning service to a wide range of clients. Prior to this, he was a Founder and managing partner at Front Street Capital, a Founder and managing partner of GEMCAP Development, Founder of RAL Properties, and worked at The Meridian Realty Group, Inc. Aubrey also has several years of experience in founding, growing, and exiting other companies.
As a successful entrepreneur, Aubrey has received numerous accolades and awards. His firm has received the Costar Power Broker Award every year since inception, has been awarded the Fast 50 (fastest growing companies) multiple years, Best Places to Work Award and made the 2015 Triad Business Journal 40 Leaders Under 40 list. In 2020, he also received the Triad Business Journal’s C-Suite Award.
Aubrey maintains several professional and civic affiliations, including CCIM, the National Association of Realtors, National Association of Office and Industrial Properties, and North Carolina Association of Realtors.
But what he enjoys most about coming in to work every day is the chance to help improve his hometown, Winston-Salem. Aubrey’s passion for helping Winston-Salem comes from his childhood years, which he spent exploring the downtown area. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership, American National Bank and Trust, and Greater Winston-Salem, Inc.
After the tragic death of his 20-month-old son AJ, Aubrey founded the AJ Linville Foundation to help children with special needs and their families. To date, the foundation has raised well over $500,000 for local children’s charities.
Aubrey graduated from North Carolina State University and has a Certified Commercial Investment Member designation. He’s a Winston-Salem resident, along with his wife Holli and kids Grayson and Preston. When he’s not serving as a mentor to fellow business owners, he loves spending time with his family and watching live musical performances. Aubrey also enjoys fishing and boating.
Business owners with brick-and-mortar and real estate models can count on Aubrey for expert guidance and practical support on their journey toward success. Aubrey’s commitment to helping other entrepreneurs realize their full potential and enjoy a thriving business makes him a valuable part of Impact Brands and the commercial real estate market.
Let Our Experience Impact Your Business
To learn more about Justin Strickland and Aubrey Linville, watch our Founder’s Chat (above). Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn to stay up to date on our latest and greatest news and best practices.
To start a conversation on how we can impact your business, please contact us, and a member of our team will be in touch with you shortly.