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I can remember all the way back to my childhood in my father’s
shop. My brother and I would pull the air tools down from the ceiling and
compete against each other blowing nuts and bolts across the floor. I think
that was my favorite toy. It was then that my love for all things mechanical
began.
I had to be part of the action. Whether it was filing work orders, answering phones, pre-picking parts, daily physical inventory or sweeping the showroom floor; I did it all. Thanks to my mother, who ran the office, I could alphabetize the hard copy like nobody’s business. Before a DMS system, work orders came in carbon copy form, and you looked up parts on microfiche. While I may not have known it at the time, she was instrumental in learning the true meaning of customer service, problem solving and interpersonal communication skills.
My favorite thing to do was pre-pick service parts. I had no idea how much it would help me in the long run. I just looked at the work order, found the number on the box that matched the number on the paper, and put the part in the bin. The sooner I could finish my chores, the sooner I could go out back with my brother and put pennies on the train tracks. So I started to look at all the scheduled service and see how many needed the same part, and I could pull parts twice as fast, which meant more play time. I had the mechanical mind even as a child. Who knew 30 years later, I’d still be in the industry. When I got older, I would sit at the back counter, jealous of my brother because he got to be hands on, and I just passed parts over the counter. To this day, I still get jealous of my brother when he gets to replace motors in project cars with my father and I’m inside making them lunch.
I don’t think a single day has gone by where I have woken up and wished I had chosen a different path. Automotive is in my blood and I don’t see that changing. It's the language I speak and the bed I sleep in. I’m the kind of person who has to know how things work and why they work. After all, if you don’t understand why or how it works, how would you recognize a problem if it ever stops working?
Coming from a family owned dealership, failure was not an option. Failure meant there wouldn’t be food on the table. My father, the best teacher of all, taught me that you never stop working towards the goal, and the goal never stays stationary. I don’t know what the words “that’s not my job” mean. Because when your family owns the dealer, everything is your job. There is no one to pass the buck to. I learned very quickly to take ownership of something and make it mine and make it great, because if I didn’t no one else was going to do it for me and it would become nothing.
In my journey in the automotive world I have learned a lot of things; but nothing compares to the lessons I learned as a child. These lessons are what keep me going today. You never forget your past, especially when it is also your present and your future.
I had to be part of the action. Whether it was filing work orders, answering phones, pre-picking parts, daily physical inventory or sweeping the showroom floor; I did it all. Thanks to my mother, who ran the office, I could alphabetize the hard copy like nobody’s business. Before a DMS system, work orders came in carbon copy form, and you looked up parts on microfiche. While I may not have known it at the time, she was instrumental in learning the true meaning of customer service, problem solving and interpersonal communication skills.
My favorite thing to do was pre-pick service parts. I had no idea how much it would help me in the long run. I just looked at the work order, found the number on the box that matched the number on the paper, and put the part in the bin. The sooner I could finish my chores, the sooner I could go out back with my brother and put pennies on the train tracks. So I started to look at all the scheduled service and see how many needed the same part, and I could pull parts twice as fast, which meant more play time. I had the mechanical mind even as a child. Who knew 30 years later, I’d still be in the industry. When I got older, I would sit at the back counter, jealous of my brother because he got to be hands on, and I just passed parts over the counter. To this day, I still get jealous of my brother when he gets to replace motors in project cars with my father and I’m inside making them lunch.
I don’t think a single day has gone by where I have woken up and wished I had chosen a different path. Automotive is in my blood and I don’t see that changing. It's the language I speak and the bed I sleep in. I’m the kind of person who has to know how things work and why they work. After all, if you don’t understand why or how it works, how would you recognize a problem if it ever stops working?
Coming from a family owned dealership, failure was not an option. Failure meant there wouldn’t be food on the table. My father, the best teacher of all, taught me that you never stop working towards the goal, and the goal never stays stationary. I don’t know what the words “that’s not my job” mean. Because when your family owns the dealer, everything is your job. There is no one to pass the buck to. I learned very quickly to take ownership of something and make it mine and make it great, because if I didn’t no one else was going to do it for me and it would become nothing.
In my journey in the automotive world I have learned a lot of things; but nothing compares to the lessons I learned as a child. These lessons are what keep me going today. You never forget your past, especially when it is also your present and your future.