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Hello, and welcome to the Carguy Coffee Podcast. This inner brew at Drive
Centrics DC twenty has been brought to you by our friends and partners at and Excess Solutions, Fixed Ops Digital and one Data and Analytics three two to one Ignitions, Shop Smart Autos and Big Cube. If you want more bruised or
you want to find out how to partner with the Carguy Coffee Podcast, go to carguy Coffee dot com. Let's brew. Hey, what's going on?
Car Guys and Cargalles. It's Luwamirez the car Guys, and it's Frelon Arts
Subprime Hero and we are brewing solutions on the Car Guy Coffee Podcast. And
we are excited to have this Fixed Ops mastermind himself inside of the cafe today.
We cannot wait to be brewinged solutions with all of you and pouring out what this incredible solutionary has inside of his cup today. But we want to
make sure that we get plenty of people up inside of here, So do yourself a favor, do us a favor, and make sure that we do honor our incredible guests and tag a car Guy, tag a car Gal and share share share share share share, that's right, the word out everybody.
We got to make sure that we do honor the one that's in here.
And it has been like a long time coming to get him in on this day. We've been planning this for a minute. We've been just missing each
other. We finally got it locked in when I was at Business Bourbon and
Cigars and we sat down. We were like, let's do it now.
Let's just get it on the calendar, and we got it on the calendar.
I'm so excited that he's here, he's on the he's in the right now. He is in the back room waiting to come in. We're excited
to announce him. I think some of y'all prior seen the post, you
probably know who we're talking about. But this person is somebody that is a
true solutionary. Somebody's out there making a difference. Somebody's always doing more than
he should because that's what he does. This guy is an example to all
of us on how to be better, how to be a leader, and how to find solutions for your dealership. So I cannot wait to announce him.
I can't wait to get him on the screen. I'm pumped up about
today we're going. We're ready to have him on. I can't wait to
see him again. But folks already, you're already. Shelley's over here.
Ready, what's going on? Shelley. Cheers to you. Cheers Shelley,
cheers to you. Fred. We are excited to finally have this solutionary inside
of the cafe, and we want to make sure that we open up the door for we do. We've had so many amazing people already put some comments
in here, even starting from yesterday when I made this announcement. Can't wait
for this one. Ed is one of the most genuine people I've ever met,
and let's face it, I've met many and she puts a peace sign.
Let's brew now that is April Simmons. And if you all know April
Simmons, she's a phenomenal marketing genius. She's all the way out in Arizona
doing some amazing things, but she takes her time to make sure wherever Ed is and people who are part of that group, she always shows up to those things because she knows she's going to bring back value to her store, value to her store. Oh man, Anyway, I'm excited to talk about
this guy. Right here. He is amazing. Let's go ahead and get
this rocking and socking. Everybody, help us to make welcome the one the
only Roberts the brewing solutions and sitting on them. What's going on, brother,
Welcome to the party. We're happy that you're here. Oh yeah,
yeah. Getting caffeinated up a little bit so I can get rolling. That's
right, that's right, you gotta get that. Welcome to the show.
So glad that you could be here with us. And man, where are
you at today? You are looks like you're doing work. You're at workplace.
Huh. I'm in sunny Saint Augustine, Florida, and just happened to
be lucky enough to call it work. I love Saint Augustine. How did
everything go after the storm's over there? I heard there's a little bit of
a little bit of water. We was blessed for us as far as the
dealership, our team, everybody around our team. The coast got a little
bit of flooding, but for all of us and our team, who's blessed to dodge it most of everything. Little for the power outs, a little
bit of flooding, but nothing like Southwest Florida. My heart goes out with
those guys. It's h tough situation down there, for sure, absolutely absolutely,
and our heart goes out to everybody going through that. Please do what
it is that you can give, where you can, your time, resources, whatever, just join forces with those that are trying to make a difference in bringing back restoration to our brothers and sisters that are dealing with the storm.
But inside of that understanding that there are brighter days and we are seeing those right now because we finally have Ed inside of the cafe. So happy
that you're here. Brother, We have had the chance to wrap with you
a little bit, talk with you a little bit here from you pouring out to others, And like Fred was talking about with April, there are so many people that are thankful that they get the chance to hear from you, to glean from you and learn from you. But one of the most most
said characteristic of Ed that I've heard and seen so far has been how humble you are. And brother, you got a lot of knowledge packed inside of
that head of yours and you pour it out so much, but you do it humbly, and that's something that we honor so so glad that you're here today. Thank you. I'm glad to be here. And yes, I
do try to be humble and I try to keep a mousehit in a lot of situations because ultimately, I've never learned anything by speaking. Ooh, I
do learn something. I want to be able to give that back. So
that's when we connect, like this stuff here, and yes, this has been a long time coming. But I'm ready, man, we are.
We're excited. We are pumped up, my friends. But before we do
anything, you know what we need to do. We just need to make
sure that people get educated on these three F bombs. Lou, that's right.
These are the F bombs that won't offend your mom. And we want
to make sure that we all do those together. And that's by applying those
three fs so that we can keep growing in the biggest room in the world, which is the room for improvement. That's right, That's right, everybody.
So we're gonna wipe off the weight of unforgiveness. We're gonna focus on
where it is that we're going, who it is that we got in the cafe, and what we can do, and we're gonna stretch out. We're
gonna fly so that we can keep growing, keep growing. So Ed,
help us out real quick as we get ready to really get this five liner under way, and forgive, focus and fly with us. What's going on?
Don Brady a professional at forgive, focusing and flying, love and honor.
That solutionary right there. But help us out on three, Ed,
hands on the shoulders. Let's get this going. One two, three,
forgive this fly hey, keep grow it, keep grow it. Now we're
ready. Now we're ready to talk and ask some questions and get to know
you a little bit more. Share your story with our audience, with this
automotive group of people that just need encouragement. Man, I'm telling you,
the future of automotive is great when we have leaders like Ed inside places where he's doing it. Man, Ed, thank you so much for being here.
Brother, I'm excited, folks. If you guys don't know and already
know that this gentleman is the chief operating officer at bozart Ford and Lincoln over in Saint Augustine, Florida, one of the prettiest places in the whole world, right, and he gets to do business there, but he gets to do it in a great way. He produces huge numbers and we're about to
figure out why he does all these things. And let starts with the first
question, matter of fact, ed our very first question we're going to ask you, and it's one of my favorite questions at all. Actually they're all
my favorite questions, but this one really is a deep one, and I think Simon Sek said. Simon Senek said it best when he said, it
all starts with the why. So what is your why? What drives you?
What makes you want to get up every day, put that smile on, and go put those shoes on, and go out there and just crush your day every single day? What is that? Well, like you said,
everybody has that why, and connecting with those people and find out what their why is allows us to be able to allow them to perform and learn what their strengths are. But my why is absolutely my family. My daughter
is is my why. That's why I do what I do, and the
life will certainly be different without her, but ultimately it's not without her, and she is truly my why. And if it wasn't for her, it
would certainly be something else that tizes the family as well. But it's all
family. That's why we do what we do. That's Right, it's so
good and such a common characteristic solution is rooting to their family. I know
so many people don't really have much motivation until they have somebody depending on them, somebody to love and encourage them, and then ultimately somebody to share the joy with and share some of the tragedy with. Right, it's so so
important that we do have them, and brother, we can tell that you have those roots. Hey, dealers, car Guy, coffee podcast and certified
solutionaries are honored to be part of Team Bank. You the solutions they've been
ruined for you to acquire more vehicles, advertise merchandise, and manage those vehicles has made them one of the most sought after deal of partners in the marketing.
They are one hundred percent CGC it prove, and when you visit them at BenQ dot com you'll see a whole hill of beans worth of reasons why t bank let's prove is that it's not just the family that you build in the home front, but you also build a family inside of the industry.
You build a family inside of your workplace. You build a family in the
commun unity of car guys and cargoes. Right, you're a regular face amongst
all of those movers and shakers in the industry that are trying to better, upshift and uplift the industry as a whole. And brother, we just appreciate
you for bringing your family to us because that's right. We consider you family,
so thanks, it does, and we got a lot of family on here right now. Don Brady, what's up, Don Brady? My man?
I love some Don Brady. If you all don't know Don, y'all
need to go check him out. He's amazing. Ship your car now,
man, I tell you what I know who This is the Eagles right there.
That is my man, Jerry Patrick, great dealer out there, and the Carolina is doing his thing. Love you, brother, Thanks for joining
us this morning. We also got step On Woe's nursing. Great job,
Fred, that's right. And then we have one more Facebook user says good
morning my friends, folks, thank you all for being here. Keep sharing
this out. Let people know that we have ed inside the cafe today and
we're about to bring some knowledge. He just dropped his why it's his family,
and I think that we all relate to the family, right we all relate what it's like to really have a purpose. I know that I use
that. I remember I tell people the story, and I trained with the
stories every time that I didn't want to do something. Every time I was
on the salesforce, when I looked out and I saw it up and it was a hot day, they pulled up in a buster car and I'm like, man, I don't know if they could buy. I would think about
what would my wife think? What would my son think? Right now?
Would they think I'm being lazy or would they think I'm working hard? And
it would make me go after it up every single time. It would make
me answer the phone every single time. It would make me help move cars
around the lot every time they asked us to. I wasn't lazy because I
thought about my family. Now, if I'm at work, why am I
here? Why am I away from my family? You got to go into
that why Because I'm here to make That's where I'm here to serve. I'm
here to be the best version of me. I'm not here to embarrass my
family. I'm here to make my family proud. So that is a big
why. So I love that this year? Why And I could tell because
you always exude love, right, you exude a smile. You exude all
the things that I absolutely love, and I know that's because of your family, brother, and you're blessed to have the family you have. Brother,
Yes, sir, Now what's going on, Jason Grimes, Welcome to the party. Let's see who's this linked end user. As much as we automate
processes, this is still a people business. Absolutely, Yes, that's right.
This is a people business and many different people find themselves into the in this business different ways. So we're going to get to a little bit of
the what that was justin? That was justin Aldridge, by the way,
justin Welcome to the cafe. Thank you for supporting Ed, and let's find
this part out because this is a question that we haven't had the chance to ask you yet in person. And now usually we saved these questions for the
show, but we want to know Ed Roberts, what is it that brought you to automotive? So that story gets a little bit deeper than just my
why. My why is extremely clear. What brought me to automotive is a
lot of guys out there just listening to this knows this element of it.
But I came up in very humble beginnings and when I say that I was missing a lot of elements of my family were different for different reasons. So
that's why my wife is as strong as it is. But really I stumbled
into the car business and just needing a job, needing to make something happen, needed to and I like things that worked and whatever else. But I
didn't really know much about it. And I went to a car dealer and
says I need a job, and didn't work out there. It started to
then it didn't, and because they said yes to begin with, I said we'll try another one, and I ended up had another car dealer as a tech apprentice and just grew from there. And my life has changed in different
ways than I would have ever imagine going into that and getting started there, because certainly I had goals when I got in the car business, and I said, right here, I'm good. If I get here, I've arrived.
We've never arrived. And as long as we looked at it from that
standpoint that the goal is only the goal until the next goal, the next one, and you set the next one, and you keep looking forward and you keep getting better. And that's so on the money, that is so
right. Here's the deal as Ed's telling you, he came in as an
apprentice, but he started from an apprentice, which is a great place.
That's why I want people to hear me one more time. This business is
great because you can come in as apprentice and you can work your way through so many different things. He went from being an apprentice to a master technician,
shop foreman. He was a technical service engineer for Ford. He store
manager, service manager, fixed ops director. Come on, folks, I
could keep going. And currently he's a chief operating excuse me, chief operation
officer for the group. Now seoh, think about that. He went from
an apprentice all the way up to that level, started at five dollars an hour. That's my point, right, And this is business is wonderful.
The people in this business are great. But you know what, he didn't
just do it because he got lucky. He had to put work in.
He had a why. He thought about his family every time he didn't want
to do something, every time he needed a purpose. He used it for
drive all the way to the purpose of what automotive does. We're lucky that
we got you an automotive because you could have went into many different businesses and done really well. I know that's your heart. But you got into this
industry and you made it better. You made a dealership. Every dealership you've
been better. Every person you met had a better opportunity to have a better
service for their vehicle or whatever they were looking for. You were taking care
of them, and that is what's so great. I know there's big spans
out there. We got Aaron Sparks. Shout out to her. She's fantastic.
She's somebody that I know can understand what that's about. We also once
again enjoy the journey. Car business is awesome from Stefan and I love this
man, and it's so right. Automotive needs people like you. You out
there listening to what he's saying. Remember it doesn't matter. You can start
from the bottom. Now we're here, right, But he's not even here
yet, and he's never going to be here because every time he gets here, he knows that there's more. He sees a peak, gets to a
peak, there's another peak right there to go to. Right. That is
what's so beautiful about what we do in this industry is that we're opportunity to constantly reach new peaks. And if you keep looking for those peaks. That's
when you become the CEO of a company, not just a foreman, which is a great position. Not dogging, just saying, if you have goals
and aspirations, you got to keep looking for the next peak. I love
that we're on a journey. It's not a destination. Amen. Amen,
And that's what's so great. And as we go along the way and we're
doing all the stuff, we go from knowing what your why is to what got you in this industry, there's also people along the way that have mentored you. We do things, and we're great and we're smart people, but
we need people in front of us to show us the light. Sometimes,
somebody to encourage us, pat us on the back. I know I've had
people like that in my life. For you, who have been some of
your greatest mentors all the way up to today. I wouldn't give Charlie Waters
that I have several mentors, but Charlie is the one that gave me my opportunity in this business. Wow. And in that interview he says, what
do you want to do in five years? I said, I want to
take your job from you. And most people will be intimidated by that and
I think I don't think he was intimidated. I think kind laughed at me
a little bit and he says, you've got to learn to be here.
But ultimately he gave me the opportunity and all I did was crack the door open. Then when he cracked the door open, he has knock it off
the hinges and go make it happen. But I have numerous mentors. But
one of the things that's even better than being than having mentors, getting the opt in in to be a mentor, and when you can give back, that's huge. I agree, and I couldn't agree more. I think that
becoming a mentor is a great responsibility. It's to me, teaching is the
best way to grow. I think that when you get to a certain level,
you need to pour out into others. And when you do, it'll
hold you more accountable to your own actions, how you react to things, how you do things. You'll pay attention to it more because you have people
watching. Now, you have people who are looking to you and how to
do it, and we want them to do it right. So we're going
to do it right, and we're going to hold ourselves to even a higher standard than we ever have. So mentorship both ways is beautiful. Whether it's
you getting the mentorship or you giving the mentorship, it's powerful either way.
And I'm glad that you said that because a lot of people talk about not just who their mentors were, but also they don't talk about the fact that they get to mentor. And I think that you get to mentor quite a
bit, which is a beautiful thing being in the position that you're at.
Thus is why Bozart's killing it over there. Man, I'm excited to hear
that, you know, with the mentorship. Big shout out to your man.
I love that you got to get shout out. You've come along away.
Who've been some people I'm gonna just put a part B. Who've been
some people that you know that you've been able to mentor that you see do some amazing things. Now they're all over the place, they're here, they're
out in the industry there. And then it's cool because sometimes I've been walking
through stores or a restaurant or whatever and someone has worked for me before.
I'll walk up to me an introducement to his wife because it wasn't married at the time and whatever, and they tell their life this is the guy that gave me the opportunity, and when you hear those kinds of things, that's gratifying. Hey, dealers, franchise and independent, we have some great news
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have people here. When I moved into this role a COO, it wasn't
that I had to go find somebody to replace me. It's about growing the
ones underneath you so that it's just the next step up. It's the next
step up. A lot of times we talk about millennials and Gen c's don't
want to work and the world's coming to an end, and this, that and the other. They don't want to work when they don't know what tomorrow
looks like. As long as they know what tomorrow looks like, they're reaching
for and even though there may be a goal out there, they can chase after that next position, they can chase after they know what they got to do to get there. They may put forth the effort because they want to
get there, but sometimes they're just good here. But without this being there,
they kind of lose their why of why they do it. So you
always got to keep that goals out in front of those guys, and so they're notorious here. I have Matt Norris that took over my role. I
have John Douglas that started here as an advisor and is now one of my service managers. I have Crystal that now runs my multile department. Let's talk
about Brent. I have a twenty four year old shop for well not long
ago was going through my tech development program. And a lot of times we
take shot formans and they're the guy that's kind of whining their career down a little bit. Nothing against them, let's use that talent and make the most
of it. But he's so much of a progressive thinker that raises a level
of others around them, And I can go on and on with people outside of hearing people here. But when you can give back and they look up
to you and ask for advice and they take that and run with it, or they say, hey, let's look at it from different angle and they challenge you as well, then we all grow from those things. Boom,
that is a mic drop everything that he just said there because it's powerful.
I love that you talked about a twenty four year old shop forman. I
think a lot of people think, what that's young. No, it's not.
There's no such thing as age limits. It's ability and what they want
to do. Like it's if you stop people from doing what they want to
do, eventually they're going to leave. They're going to go somewhere else that
will allow them to do that. I think out a twenty four year old
shot forman that has skill like you just talked about can be very crucial for you to have success in today's market. We have to be able to speak
the language of the new customers. And if you have the right people in
there that understand what's happening and why they want it a certain way, they're gonna work a little bit smoother that way. They're gonna use technology. Let
me just tell you, they're gonna use videos. They're gonna make sure that
all these things that we want our customers to have right on. So powerful
speaking, we were at Business Breven and Cigars. We're doing the roundtables and
it was on the last day and we're doing a lot of stuff about fixed stops that morning, and what a great morning that was. That's all.
It's all fresh to me. I know some stuff about fixed ops, but
sitting there and really masterminding with everybody and being I learned so much that morning.
Wow, to include what you just said right there, just understanding that level of what you need to do and how you can just flip the scrip a little bit and make a huge impact. But also inspired the young generation,
the next generation to be more involved in this, not just sitting in the back hoping things happen, but they're making things happen. You're showing them
how to do it with the way our generation did it. And I love
that. Man. That's a great thing. Ed the key guys over at
sorry those guys over Business Permanent Cigars, they get it, and then bring in industry leaders that we can all learn from. It's not us given or
what we're hoping. No one's learned from each other. No one's pitching anything.
That's the thing I love about it, And I'm not saying, folks, I'm really no pitch fest. None. It's it's just straight education and
edutainment. It's a great time. It's smart, intelligent people, small group
setting, not overwhelming, just the right amount of people to have a good time, but learn enough and have enough people to be able to learn a lot. So it's wow, powerful impactful. But having people like you there
is why it's so impactful. Man, Your knowledge and your experience is powerful.
It's impactful. It's all those things that people need. And I'm gonna
pass us to Lou because i know that we've I've been jamming a lot, so I'm gonna let lux Lou had something you wanted to say. Just talking
about the keys that actually open up the doors for us to all have advancement is exactly what we're leaning on right now. Is that mentorship is being able
to have people that are succession minded. In saying that, listen, I
want to make sure that we are sowing seeds into a generation that is going to take our position. They're going to fill it. And when there's something
that people get the chance to sit inside of a seat or fill a set of shoes and be able to inherit, it's important that it comes from people that are very much about seeing an advancement of not just the company, not just an industry, not just a culture, but ultimately the growth of the people, because, like we were saying, this is a people business.
If you stay in that mindset, LinkedIn, anchored down with your why for your family. Right inside of our family, we're always trying to build up
that generation to be better than what we were. That's always every single generation
has been the same way. We want our kids to have better than what
we had. Right, it's the broken record that's never gonna end, Right,
it's never gonna stop. That's ultimately what family does. And in an
industry where it can be crazy competitive, we can almost chop the legs out from somebody that looks like they would raise up above us. Instead, you're
mindset and the mindset of those that you collaborate with is to continue to pour into them until they do swell up to being stronger, more thoughtful and at the same time doing things that we never would have dreamed of, but said, give them the ball, let them run with it, and if they can take it to the next level, hallelujah. Look at the NFL.
John Paul Gidry highlighted the other day the important that we need to learn from these thirty five year old head coaches that are taking the game to a different level and stretching what it was that we thought the limitations were and just completely obliterating them, getting them out of the way and going to the next level.
And that's so key, and we honor that you do that. But
we can tell that's something that you're not just trying to keep within your home.
You're trying to pour that out to everybody and encourage everybody with that.
So we appreciate that, brother, We did glad to be a part of it. When you can allow someone to grow, they challenge you. When
they challenge you, everybody learns, everybody grows. I love a challenge.
Heymn me too, me too, And challenging me is the only way that I feel comfortable in life. Like I get really, when I start to
get bored, I get I come up with all kind of excuses why don't want to do something because I just get bored. This is too easy.
I never like things that were too easy my whole life. I like things
that pushed me a little bit, that made me wake up every day and go, how am I going to handle? Thisis for the mind, It
truly is, And there's nothing better than getting through that challenge and looking at the other end of it and saying, look what I just did. I
can't believe that just happened, and look at all the great things that came about it. Or if I messed up completely, Wow, I just messed
up completely, But I tried it. What did I learn from that?
What could I do better next time? And in nine times out of ten,
I could become better every single time. It's rare that I ever digress.
Always I always progress right, and when I do that, it's a great feeling. And that is the best way to get a young person to
get confidence. It's not doing things for them. It's letting them do it,
make their own mistakes, but in showing them and how to do it better as they go, Hey, let's try it again, but this time try a little different. It's the only way that they're going to get better.
It's just like when I was a kid, and I would get like a remote control car, driving around for a few days, and all of a sudden, You're like, you know what, let me get my screwdriver and open this thing up, and let me see how I could take it apart and put it back together. I would put it back together sometimes and
it wouldn't work, so I'd take it back apart and I'd put it back and I would keep doing it until it was perfect again. But I knew
that I knew how it all worked. I knew where the little motors win.
I knew I understand where wires were going. I understand joints since it
taught me so much. It really did. But I had to learn through
trial and error. No one showed me. There was no manuals back in
the eighties. We didn't have Google and YouTube to watch the fix things.
I had to figure it out myself, but I did. I did because
I went through the trials and errors, and I went through in troubleshoot, learn how to troubleshoot without knowing that I was troubleshooting. And that's the key
to life period. So I feel very blessed to be grown up during the
time I was when we were still using encyclopedias that were like ten years old, getting information out of those, right, all those of stuff, maybe going to a library that we had to drive ten twenty miles to get to.
It was just it was a different time, but it was there in the pain that you're looking for was missing. That has happened to me.
That's so true, man, that is so true. But you know,
that's the life and that's what we went through. But we are very blessed
that we still can do that in today's world. We can still teach people
that same way. They don't have to go to Google, but if they
want to guess what, it's quicker, it's easier. They can learn and
get confidence faster than we did. We know you're joing the show so far.
We just wanted to quickly remind you about our partners at fixed Ops Digital and how they are automotives premier service marketing and technology company not only proud sponsors of the Car Guy Copy podcast, but they also serve as your dedicated point of contact for all your online service marketing related needs servicing dealerships throughout the US and Canada. The mission is to create a better online experience for your service
customers while using data intelligence to drive more fixed operations revenue. If you want
to take your service marketing efforts to the next level, go to fixed ops digital dot com, back to the show, Let's go, and so using all tools from old school to new school, the new generation has great advantages compared to what we had. And I think that if they get taught by
people like us on how to troubleshoot without using those things, by using your own mind and then using times when you can't go any further to like where I would have stopped and probably like I'm done with it or thrown away the toy because I couldn't put it back together. Now I can watch a video
and I could figure it out right. So it's all those things are important
for all of us. But the tools that we have today are phenomenal.
We got Stefan talking about something really quick. Ah, so I remember calling
on Fred Bozart at the old store. Bozart Ford has come a very long
way, and Ed is a very big part of that, very forward thinking dealership with great core values, no doubt, there's no doubt, and there's a reason why we were highlighting him and his company and so many things, but right on the money. And then we got Brian Ortega saying the remote
control car I had went forward and reverse into a court with a cord from he had the cord one. Yeah, Hey, I wasn't really a bally
And I'm saying, Brian, I appreciate you do whatever. Man living out
in California talking about ball all right. So there are always different challenges that
we embrace, whether it's a corded remote control car or putting it back together and we don't know what's going on, or we inherit an old school mentality that then we have to bring up to speed and be forward thinking and considering that years down the road we have to be prepared for what's going to come and the seeds that we sow today are going to affect that. But we
brought up challenges. You spoke about some of the challenges that we have faced,
and want to lean into that a little bit more because we do have you on here. We want to crack open this being a little bit more
and we want to know ed inside of your career, inside of the challenges that you've had the chance to face, what for you has been the hardest lesson you've had to learn. The hardest lesson I can't say it was the
hardest, but the longest lesson to learn is how valuable people are to you.
And we think that we have to do this, we have to do that. Well, we don't have to do it ourselves. We got to
do it with our team. And learning the value of people and learning what
their strengths are and building the right team to where they complement each other, not where they fight. There's infighting is what allows us to plug forward.
And that is not something you're born with. That is not tree you went
with. It's something that you have to exercise the mind and figure those values
out and connect with people and learn what their strengths are and then assemble the right pieces where they feed off of each other, because two of the same people does not make a good team to be able to opposing strengths where they can really feed off each other. Now we're rolling and to learn the elements
of what makes people tick and pair them with the right people and then watching that become a success. That's something you've got to or always will learning and
people change over time, and when they change over time, maybe it's time to shift a little bit and move them around. So you have to stay
fresh, you have to stay current. And I call it learning the currency
of our people. And when you learn the currency, you know what they're
why you are, you know what there is, you know what you know what their strengths are. And some of the things with that is I can
go around. I can ask somebody, Hey, how how's it going,
and they can give me an answer that's just very cliche. If I stop
ask them how's it going? They give me their answer, what did you
do this weekend? It was my daughter's birthday? How old is she?
As I walk away from them, Now I can program that in my phone and I can come back the next year and say, hey, is Amy's birthday tomorrow? What are you guys doing? And you do that over time
and it continues to compound and compound, and that's that personal connection that allows you to learn the currency. Now all of a sudden, they're telling you
the things that they're doing, and you can remind them of when their anniversary is, whatever else. And when you connect that level, they will walk
through fire for you. Oh they will. Oh they will. Brother,
that's good. You all better put that inside of your cup and sip on
that, right, because that is key stuff for leadership. Remember, we're
not just trying to get the job done. Look at that, You've got
a big old swig of it, right, We're not just trying to get the job done. We're trying to really develop people. And that's a fundamental
piece of what it is. Ultimately we're trying to do here in the cafe
and people like Ed and all those that we try to collaborate with our old time trying to do, and that's to develop people, developing themselves into people that are open and willing to learn, willing to advance themselves by way of advancing others. And the quality that you are as an individual is incredible,
and yes, that value of people is key, but it's not just the job. It's definitely not the job. That's why the why is so important
because it's usually never because I am made to be a great car salesman, I am made to be a great mechanic. Right, That's usually never the
why that anybody ever leans into. It's always something outside of and where I
believe we found ourselves in the business and again something that we got honestly right, If you don't have great leadership involved, then it's hard for you to ever pull from that and then to become that. Fortunately, all of us
have had great leaders inside of our life to be able to glean from, learn from, be cut on by, and be shown the way. But
with that it does find us at different places. So when I speak of
different places, right now, what we're talking about everybody, We're going to take a quick moment to remind you all that next week there is a whole lot going on in Vegas and we want to see you all inside of Vegas, and we want to make sure that you know about what promotions there are that we're putting out. Right now, we still have some discounts on tickets
that you need to take advantage of for Digital Dealer, for Driving Sales Executive Summit, and we want to see you at the Women in Automotive event on Saturday and Sunday, and we want to make sure that we are brewing solutions with us every one of you, So make sure that you do what it is that you can do. Let me show you, guys some of these
discounts, so check this out real fast. We got a few things discounted,
so right Now this starts off with Saturday. This Saturday at six pm
Pacific Standard time. If you guys show up, go to the Loft Kabba
Wobble Contina over at Plant Hollywood. They're having a big party starting from six
to nine. It's Meet the Leaders. That's all of us. We're all
leaders. We're going to be there. If you're there at the event,
you're a leader. That means you're learning and you're gonna go back and educate.
So stay there, go show up, have some fun, get some social and I'm gonna tell you the best place to network is always the after party. You learn a lot during the day, but when you really want
to do business, it's not even business, it's building relationships. That's what
life is about. Relationships over revenue, right every time, people over profit.
And when you figure that out and you know that, you're gonna find that all that other stuff the revenue and profit they work their way up to, but you have to first worry about the people and the relationships, and when you do that, you'll grow tremendously. Now this is the event.
This is how you get your tickets. Right down, scrolling at the bottom,
you go to this little website right here. It's for event Bright.
They're gonna be hosting the tickets. I think they're ninety nine dollars a ticket,
but they go to a good cause. It's for women in automotive and
we're trying to raise them up a little bit man, because there's not enough people talking about them. Let's get it out there, let's talk about it.
But this event isn't just for women. Don't get that confused, my
friends. It's for all of us. It's for people who support everything.
But it's about education. Women in automotive need help too, They need us,
they need all of us. It's not just women help women, it's
everybody helping women. The it's automotive helping women grow. Right. We need
more women leaders in this industry. So that's the first way it kicks off.
Right. The next thing that happens is the very next morning, starting
from nine am till noon, women in an Automotive are having their Recharged event at the DSES, the Driving Sales Executive Summit, and they're going to be doing three hour session of just great education. So be there for that,
and then DSES kicks off and that's going to be a great event. Now,
if you guys want discounts for that event, check out the code CGC one hundred right down there. I'm gonna get you one hundred dollars off your
ticket for that week, so worth it'll save you some money. Be there.
We're already given away both tickets. We had two free tickets to give
away. We've given those away. I can't wait to see who everybody who
shows up for that looking forward to that's going to be fun. And then
right after DSES we have Digital Dealer. Now, Digital Dealer has a promo
code for us to give away two wrong one. It's it's scrolling at the
bottom as you can see, it says promo code EM Promo nine. That's
Echo Mike Paul Romeo October Mike October nine. That's an October, not a
zero. Yeah, that's an October, not a zero. So just remember
that because not zero nine, it's nine October nine. Okay, so it's
EM promo nine for two hundred dollars off your ticket. That's great. We've
already given out both our passes for that too. Hey, we're gonna have
a great time. Quick question, do you know what smart pixel two point
zero? Location IQ and Audience IQ have in common, you know I do.
They are solutions that our friends and proud sponsors m one Data and Analytics are brewing for automotive and AMON. Once again, you're right, my friend,
and we want to invite all of our audience to go to and one hyphen Data dot com to see how they can help propel your business forward with the right data insight. Go check them out at m one hiphin Data dot
com. Let's brew. Come on now back to the show. But here's
what's so beautiful while we're at that event, and it's gonna be we have a booth. It's booth nine thirty three. Come by and see us.
We were booked with our interviews, but we might be able to slide a few in, so come by and see us and see if we can get you on the schedule. All the calendarly ones that we had booked within the
first hour. So thank you all so much for being supportive and wanting to
be on the show and being an interviewed. Can't wait to see you all
there. And the laundry list of people that we have is phenomenal, big
time people and automotive and then of course we're going to be hosting a room.
In this room that we're going to be hosting, it's going to have the last day. It's on the thirteenth. It's Thursday, starting at ten
thirty Pacific and then an eleven thirty Pacific. We have two different sessions.
It's going to be great. It's an exchange session. It's not about us
speaking. It's about you all you dealers coming in there getting some education,
but spilling out what you do too. It's not just about what we do
and what we know, and we know some things, but it's about what you know. I learn more from talking to my own clients than I in
sharing it with the world. Like I take things like essential duties. I
learned that from Ashley Church and I use that and I educate with that right And that's just one little example that I learned from everywhere I go. So
make sure you guys come check us out. Like I said, it's going
to be in Jamaica a at ten thirty and eleven thirty on the thirteenth, So come by and see us. It's going to be a pack room.
We're going to have a great time. It's on the very last day and
we're going to close out the event. As you can see right there,
it's called unveiling the power of diverse unity. That's involving a lot of people,
and we have a diverse panel of dealers out there. We got Jean
Paul Guidrie who's an owner from a pre owned store who started from the bottom, literally started from just little a couple used cars, worked his way up to selling over one hundred car used cars in a month, right, yeah, grow lab Doc Woo. And he's a Dravo Automotive. You guys all
know Alex Floores. This is one of his general managers. He's running a
couple of stores down in Victoria doing amazing things and he's one of the managers that's been there for a while, which is amazing, right, So I love that. A big shout out to Doc. And then of course I
just mentioned her name a moment ago, the GM of Volkswagen and Marion Ashley Church forty under forty unbelievable, like phenomenal young lady that's just doing amazing things, generational but just changing the way that people do business and deals and really focused on that, like focused on that. I love that about her.
So anyway, and we're gonna be doing some recruiting for her. Matter of
fact, she is looking I'm gonna throw this out there. She is looking
for her next sales manager. Are you it? Come out reach out to
me. If you're that person, you feel like you ready to make a
change and go somewhere that's doing it differently. I got the place for you,
so reach out to us. Anyway, enough about that, let's get
back to our man. Let's get to this Roberts right, So, thank
you for being patient, ed for sitting back there. We just want to
throw that out there because it's all about education. It's all about learning,
it's all about these events. Our exchange session is going to be like a
mastermind. So we're gonna formulate it very similar to way Scott did at his
thing. We're gonna pick three subjects. We're going to focus on one,
and we're gonna grow with it, and we're gonna just keep pushing it till we get a solution, and then we're going to the next subject. I
take notes wherever I go, trust me. Shout out to Scott and Sandy.
Great event again, business REVENI and Scars. You guys need to go
check it out. I love them. They don't even pay me to say
this. I'm just saying that's how dope it is. You got to go.
It's amazing. So I love it. I'm excited, and man,
it reaches us out all the way down. There's David Long. Love you,
David Brother. We'll see you tonight three pm My time or three pm
year time, six pm rs. We'll be on his tonight. Check us
out. Tonight We're going to be on David Long Zoom meeting, so be
there or be square. I can't wait for that. But anyway, love
that. Relationships over revenue, Yes, sir, let's get this thing moving.
We got one last question for you, bro, and that's it and then we're all done. Last question is what has been your greatest reward up
to this point in your career? So I will answer that both professionally and
personally. I tell people a lot of times that leadership is a lot like
parenting. We don't go beat on our kids when they can't walk or they
can't ride a bike. We pick them up, we put them back on
it, we encourage them to keep going. That's right, and we have
to shift from always counseling to coaching. I was gonna be some counseling,
but coaching as proactive counseling as reactivef they've already made the mistake, they've already done. If we shift that, then we make progress. And from a
personal standpoint, my daughter played across through high school and leading up to high school and played on a pretty good team, but ultimately building that team and building off each other's strengths, and lacrosse is very well known here in Florida.
It is certainly up in the Northeast. But being able to assemble a
team that became strong nationally. We ended up at number three last year nationally
and number one in the state with the states there. So from a personal
standpoint, it's allowing her to see in that team, to see the power of teams and to build off each other's strengths. And then for me professionally,
I woke up late October or maybe it was the first part of November in twenty twenty, the year of COVID and and the first thing you do on the Monday morning as you look at automotive News, Right, that's the bible in this business. You got your phone, you look at Automotive News,
and they have the All Stars for twenty twenty in there, and I look in there in the first one Bill Ford, and the next one was Elon Musk, and the next one's mister Toyota. And I look down the
list a little bit further and about seventh on the list is no other than Ed Roberts. That's amazing, dude, Let's cheer him on from that.
That's what I'm talking about. Well deserved. What a list to be included
on my brother. Absolutely it was. I had no clue and it was
an absolute honor to wake up to that and find that And don't know if I was deserving of it, but somebody felt like I was. And I'll
take it to you more than deserving of it, just so you know, looking from the outside end, there's no doubt your reputation proceeds itself. We're
honored to have you on the show. And I know where your heart is.
I know who you are in your heart. I can tell because every
time I shake your hand, every time I look in your eyes, you have this. There's just something special about your brother, and you deserve it.
Hey, thank you, guys. I appreciate what you guys do.
Man, You guys bring some energy a lot of times in the car business, you got these people that's been around forever and they get all gruff and oh my god, I let'll tell you what's going wrong, And you guys come in and wake them up, charge up, get them smile, and get them dancing. Man. I love the energy you guys bring to this
business. It's good stuff. We all know that, and that means a
lot. Ultimately, is what we want to make sure that we do is
to wake everybody up. We're not going to be the one that does your
job. You're going to be the one that does your job. We just
want to pour something inside of your cup that is encouraging. And I am
encouraged from what it is that we're sipping on from Ed Roberts today. I
know that Fred's encouraged. I know that you all that are watching, have
been participating with us, have been crazy encouraged for what it is that's going on inside of Ed's world. But make sure that you do share this around,
let other people know, and blow him up. Absolutely blow him up
with accolades and love and your appreciation for him, because Ed is an incredible pioneer in this industry that has been moving and shaking for so long and we all are gleaming and thankful for it. It's not just automotive news, right,
it's everybody that knows anything inside of this industry that has heard or seen or been around. Anybody that's heard or seen from you has something that they
can take, that they can add to their business, they can get better and ultimately just be more fulfilled because we're doing business with people like Ed.
You are an incredible individual that we are so very honored to have inside of the cafe today. We do want to welcome everybody as David is making sure
that everybody knows way to go ed right that today on that show, everybody is welcome. So do us a favor, David and drop the link.
If you can pull up that link, drop it inside of the comments there.
This way anybody that wants to get anybody wants to be at a party.
Three pm on a Pacific standard time, six pm Eastern, come jump in. This is a great Zoom meeting. It's for hit the Hansole Group,
but man, it's more than that. It's a lot of people in
there. Just inspired. Hundreds of people jump into the Zoom meeting and they're
just there to have a good time. They play music to start it off
with the DJ. They do it all. But then we get a chance
to speak today and inspire and thank you Ed for saying those nice things about us, because that's what we love doing. And that's something that even David
Long all the way out in California loves us to come in and host meetings for him aout a month, and I'm so honored to do. He keeps
saying, what should I charge. I don't want to charge anything, David.
I'm gonna keep doing it because I love doing it for you and your team. You inspire me. When I leave that meeting, I feel pumped
up, right, so we're excited. I do want to come out and
visit the group one day, though, so let's make that happen. If
you want to pay for anything, get us out there, David. We'll
be happy to come out and visit you. Same thing to you, Ed.
We'd love to come visit your store, just so you know we love everything that you're doing down there. Anytime that you want, just let us
know we'd love to come visit. But folks, we just had Ed Roberts
on the show. We just got some great knowledge. We just we the
way around. I just got to hang out with Fred lu that that brings
a big smile on up base man. We're honored to have you. I
know you're a busy guy. You've probably got to get back to work,
so we don't want to keep you too much longer, but we want to let you know that we love you. We appreciate everything you do. You
inspire us to be better, and I know you're inspiring a lot of other people. So we are great grateful to have you here. We're grateful that
you spent this last hour with us, and we look forward to learning more and more about you as years go by. Brother, keep growing, keep
doing what you're doing, and I know that it's going to go a long way. Folks. If you guys are looking how to get on the show
tonight, bam bam, there it is right there. So all of that,
all that it's in there, go to Facebook. Take that link,
copy, copy and paste it. I promise you guys will love it.
So we're excited to see you guys on the show tonight. But David,
you're amazing. Thanks for inviting us to the thing. And then Ed,
we appreciate you once again, and I can't wait to see you again in person. My friend, You're an amazing person and we love everything you're doing.
Bro. Likewise, guys, I frank greatly appreciate it and shout out
to David there because it's six thirty, seven thirty or seven thirty in the morning there, he got up early to join this deal. Yeah, all
straight up solutionaries. They tend to seize the day and get everything rocking and
rolling, speaking of season the day and taking advantage of the moment that we have ed. Is there any last bits of wisdom couple drops inside of the
cup that you can leave out there for anybody trying to advance and do the things that you're talking about in building up a succession of people and raising them up, any last drops of knowledge you want to give. You always want
to connect with your people. When you connect with your people, you may
not know that you become their mentor, but you become their mentor and they mimic what you're doing. And then because they want to be like you,
and so you always got to dispel that image. Don't go out and try
to be somebody different than who you really are who you are and allow people to grow and don't fear of growing your replacement because if you're not growing your replacement, you're growing the competitor down the street, because they will leave you when they stop growing. So people with you and Dragon wom Amen connection over
compliance. That is ultimately I believe the way forward and brother, we honor
you. So thankful Katie lamp here, welcome to the party. What's going
on? Huge inspiration and wisdom shared here. Every single time that we open
up the cafe, we want to bring somebody that is encouraging you all and pouring something inside of your cups. So with that, we want to make
sure that we keep growing and we keep moving in the right direction. We
have had the incredible Ed Roberts on the show today and we want to forgive focus and fly so that we can't keep growing. And let's get this rocking
as we get ready to way. Let's forgive focus fly on three one two
three, forgive focus fly and keep growing right growing. Let's have an incredible
day. Everybody. We love you all, We appreciate you all, and
thank you so much for being with us. I am looing the rest of
the car guy and I am Fredlin Arts is supprime Hero and we've been brewing solutions on the car Guy Called Me podcast with the Incredible, the one, the only rub that's right. Everybody, make sure that you have an incredible
day. Share this around and we will see you
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