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43:09
Term
retention rate
A retention rate is how many customers keep coming back or staying with a business. She’s describing what her Honda dealership thought would make a good salesperson.
Term
Power Sports
Power Sports is a category of fun vehicles like motorcycles and ATVs. April says people usually buy them for enjoyment, not because their regular transportation failed.
Car
Honda Element
The Honda Element is a Honda vehicle with a very boxy, practical design. April says she chose it because she thought it would handle snow and wet weather well after moving to Minneapolis.
LIVE
Hello and welcome to the CarGuy Coffee Podcast. This brew has been brought to you by Certified
Solutionaries and if you want to consume more brews or want more information about how to
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Let's brew! What's going on, CarGuy's and CarGuy's. It's Lou Ramirez. And it's Fred Lynn Arts.
And we are excited to be bringing you a five liner today. Man, we are really,
really pumped up. We are at the halfway point of the year, everybody. Hopefully,
you're taking a look at what it is you've done and what it is you want to get done.
And you start making the most of each day that you got left of this half point of the year.
Fred, it's the end of the month. It's the end of the quarter, half year. Oh my goodness.
I can't believe this year is moving so fast. That's right, man. It's been crazy. You said it
right now. It's about adjustments. It's not about am I behind or I suck or way ahead. It's about
making adjustments so that you hit your goal, exceed your goal and do all the things that you
need to do this year. Just because you're not where you want to be doesn't mean you're not
going to get where you want to be. Trust me, folks. We've all been there. This is where you have to
make it happen. In the automotive industry, we say the second half of the month is the best half of
the month. We say the second half of the year is the best half of the year. And the biggest reason
why we say that Lou is because it has to be the best part of the month. It has to be the best part
of the year. And we're going to make it that way. That's what CarGuy's and CarGuy's out there
doing right now. They're strategizing and making adjustments. I'm excited about that. But today,
the show is about some really awesome stuff. Lou, we just experienced a ton of rain over the last
few days, right? Kentucky got flooded with rain and rain and people were like, man,
I want the rain to stop. But today we're bringing the rain. We're bringing some more rain today.
And I'm excited about that because it's going to be a flood of some great information. We're going
to learn more about somebody that you and I have become friends with over the years and completely
just love what she's doing for automotive. She is a lady of automotive out there making sure that
things are happening. She's behind the scenes in a lot of situations. This is probably why we
haven't seen her on a show that much. She's usually putting people on our show. She's always, Fred,
hey, I got somebody that should be on your show. And I always appreciate it. So the point where I
thought she was on the show multiple times because she's suggested so many. It is her time right now
is the right time. I'm excited to do this five liner with her because these answers that she's
going to give us are going to be dope. I already know it, Lou. Let's go. It's going to be exciting.
And to get things more exciting, let's go ahead and get some people invited in. Whether you are
watching this on the replay or you are watching this live, you can still tag a car guy and tag a
car gal and share, share. Get this out there, my friends. We need to
get some people inside of the cafe today. And I know there's plenty of people that are going to be
inspired by the story of this incredible, solutionary car gal that we have inside of the cafe today.
But folks, we want to make sure that we build this up to the level that it needs to be built up,
because this is a dynamite packed lady that finds her way into many rooms and is always making sure
to sweep those corners in the room for improvement and make it better. She enhances every conversation
that she's a part of. She enhances every business that she gets to input her great vast knowledge
in organization, in automotive, and folks, she is just genuinely a great person to be around
and enjoy the presence of. So, folks, help us to make welcome our very special friend. For the
first time on the CarGuy Copy Podcast, we're a five-liner, her second show, folks, the one
the only. Hey, welcome to the party. Hi, guys. That was
fantastic opener. I want that recording. And anytime I'm having a bad day, I'm just going to
play that intro. That'll be my hype song anytime I go on stage, just the two of you.
Yeah, we appreciate you. And everywhere you go, you are the hype song for so many. You deserve
your roses. And we wanted to give you as many as we could today. And we're going to continue to
do so. And we appreciate you. Thanks for taking your time after literally just flying in from a
beautiful vacation. We can maybe talk about this some more in a minute, but you literally just
coming off. It's a busy day for you. It's Monday. It's the end of the quarter, year,
or end of the half year. It's the middle of summer. You've been gone for a week or so. You're back
and you're on our show. So thank you for being here today. No, I appreciate it. And I will always
make time for you guys. You guys are the best. My whole calendar. You tell me it's done. Oh,
wow. It's too nice. We honor that. Thank you so much for that. April, but cheers to you and everything
that it is that are brewing right now. And at the last conversation that we had when we were
over at the NCM, the fixed op summit, there was an opportunity for something to really start
developing inside of the NCM group and all the things that are actually brewing with them.
What was it like coming from that event and actually being a part of it?
Yeah, one, I love the NCM team and I have a lot of friends that are now participating in different
events. Ashley is going to be managing the one in September. So I'm really excited for that.
It's a great organization. I think anything that's focusing on education,
there's a lot of conferences out there that are just really about hype or just about schmoozing
or, but I really liked that this was very, you just saw a lot of people that wouldn't normally come
out of the dealership at that event. There was a lot of fixed ops, that were sitting there taking,
I think the sign of a good conference is how many notes people are taking. So just when you were
in there and you just saw people just riding away, that's such a good sign of people learning
and being able to take things back to the dealership. So that was the first event of
its kind for fixed ops. I thought it was phenomenal. My clients got a lot out of it and so I thought it
was great. Plus I got to be on the show, right? That was your first opportunity to be on the show
and to our surprise, when we got ready to announce you, we were like, this is their first time on
the show. We can't believe it because we have seen you and you've been so much of a part of so
many different events we've been at. We figured we've already put a microphone in your face,
but now we're actually doing that to be able to make sure that we do give the public an upgrade
to what it is that they've been brewing and what it is that we've been brewing. So thank you for
upping the quality of CarGuy Coffee and let's get ready to rock this five liner. We are pumped
up to learn a little bit more about you April. So Fred, let's go ahead and hit it with a few good
ones. Yeah, let's get it going. But first thing I want to drop is right there above Lou's head.
There's a QR code. And during this, at any point, if you guys are more interested to learn more about
her business, go check it out. This goes straight to her website. Folks, anytime you want to learn
more, please do. I'm telling you, I tell you to do that because you're going to learn really some
really amazing stuff that she's doing and it's just a little digital rain for you. All right. So
anyway, we're going to get this thing going. First question I have for you, April, is your why?
What drives you? You do so much. Literally behind the scenes, it's not for the glory for you.
I know it's deeper. What is your why? What drives you to keep doing what you're doing?
No, it's entirely about the glory. I really just, it's all glory. I think it's the satisfaction
of accomplishment. I get to work with a lot of really good people and they give me a lot of autonomy
to help them move their brand and their product and their messaging. And for the longest time,
we had this unofficial business model of we get shit done because there's so many agencies out
there that are all talk and all ideation. And we used to just do so many different things for
clients that it was the sense of we get shit done. People come to us when they have something that
they need to have happen. And we not just come up with ideas and try to create experiences, but we
make it happen. We put things into reality. Every once in a while, I'll have my kids interning with
me or helping with you with different things. And they get to see all the work behind it,
but then they'll come to an event and they get to go. This is so cool. They have your ideas
put out into the world. You get to see the manifestation of what you worked on,
and then you get to see happy faces at parties, or you get to see people taking a lot of notes
at conferences, or you get to see your clients just really happy that whatever their goal was
that it checked that box. So I just like seeing things come together. I don't know if I could
work in a job where you work day after day behind the scenes, but yet nothing ever comes of it.
You just never really see it go out into the world. So I like to be at that point where you
can build it, create it, make it better, and then put it out there for other people.
I love that. You have an engineer's mind. You think of how to create it and build it
and make sure it structurally stays together for everybody. But more importantly, it creates the
atmosphere they were looking for. You do a hell of a job. So I appreciate that. And that's a great
why to have. It's so generous and it is. It's for everyone's sake that you'll see that. But yeah,
at the same time, it feels good. But make sure your heart feel warm up and fill up. I see you
behind that. I see you how you are when you're at these conferences and where you mingle and where
you tend to lean and what you pay attention to. And yeah, there's no doubt. I could second that's
exactly what our heart feels. That's great. I mean, it's the win-win, right? It's where you put
good out into the world, but I get it back, right? This is extremely self-serving as well, right? I
have a great network of friends. I have a great network of clients. I do it because I put it
out there. But I also, I'm not gonna lie. I love the accolades of, good job, April. I love seeing
things come together. I was a theater kid in my school. So I obviously love the, I love the
production of everything and the energy of it. So it's win-win when you get to do things for
other people and see them happy as well. And it makes sense. And that's what's fulfilling,
right? Being able to give. It's always been preached and known that it is better to give
than to receive. And it's not because it's just better morally or it just feels right.
It literally feels better to give than to receive in many cases. And when you're able to
give of your efforts and see it enhance other people, that actually helps to bring fulfillment.
And that's part of theater, right? At the end of the day, you have these great,
magnificently talented people that put on a performance on stage and they feel the joy
and the exhilaration of the moment, but they can see the fulfillment and the excitement for
somebody that's paying to see a good play and see something produced for them well. But being able
to be on all sides of that, because you get the chance to see, encompass an entire experience
for different events for people. And it takes somebody with specific eyes of detail. And that's
something that we respect. That's something that we honor. But it does make a little bit
more sense. I didn't know we have the theater background and that flow and that makes more sense.
I'm understanding April a little bit more and that's really good. That's good for us to know,
good for our listeners. If you have some questions from April, make sure that you
drop them in the comments. We'll make sure that we get them to or whether
here on the live show or you'll get them answered after on the recording. But we do
got to know because some people don't and I don't, what was it that actually brought you
to automotive April? Oh, let's see. Other than my family being auto enthusiasts,
I had uncles that raced cars and my brother probably had four or five cars before he was
even 20 just being like a car junkie. Truly early, I think I was like, not even 20. I sold
motorcycles for a car dealership because I had somebody for a Honda dealership that said basically
you could have a decent retention rate. You can remember the horsepower of something.
And you were just out going. That's all you needed to be in sales at the time. Just be social,
be able to hold a couple numbers in your head if somebody asked you a question or be able to
look it up fast. So I sold motorcycles in Arizona early on when I was going to college and that was
a super fun job and they were right. Power Sports is one of those things where everybody's coming
in because they want it. It's not a necessity. It's not like their car broke down. I got to
first start out with something a little bit more fun because it's a leisurely buy. Then I went into
retail for a couple of years and then I moved to Minneapolis and I was buying a car in Minneapolis
because I'd gotten from Arizona to Minneapolis. So I thought I needed like a really waterproof car
and so I was buying the Honda Element from a Honda dealership because I thought that's a
waterproof car. That's what I need to live in the snow now because I'm so new and foreign.
And the lady, Julie, that was checking me out. She was like, hey, do you have a job here since
you just moved? And I was like, no, we literally day one. She's like, you should sell cars here.
And I was like, no, no, I have a retail manager. And she's like, look, I used to own my own restaurant.
She's you can make more money, have better hours and have a lot more fun selling cars.
And I was like, okay. And I feel like this is the statement that so many people in the car
business say they're like, I'll take this job until something better comes along. And then you
realize this is this something better. It just, yeah. So I saw selling cars when I first moved
to Minneapolis and then I got recruited by a company called CarSoup, which is a company in
Minneapolis that had almost 100% of the franchise dealers on board. It was a classified
listing site that got my toe in the water for retail, digital retail instead of on the lot sales.
And my thirst for like unders trying to figure out how things work. Like what you said about an
engineer's mind, I am a compulsive problem solver. I can't look at things and not try to fix it.
As a parent, that's really hard for me not to overstep because I see problems that I want to
fix them. And I have to remember to let them figure it out. But I'm, but it was like the early age
of digital online, we were just putting cars online, which is really going to date me age wise,
but we're literally just like auto trader was like publishing PDFs. And like, we were moving from
that to actual vehicle listings. And so my eagerness to learn, I kept asking the owner of
person, I want more teach me more. So I became head of business development where we would go
and seek out different tools to put on the website was the first website portal to put like live chat
on the contact of ones live chat was the first person one to put it on. They had
three employees. So like early stuff like that. So yeah. And then I just got, I got such a platform
to learn how dealers work, how things, the business products, how the marketing part of it works for
advertising. And then I moved to their sister company, Coonio advertising. And so I got to
handle every aspect of agency, life, car sales, digital. And that's, and I was just hooked,
like, I love the problem solving of that. And I love the interaction with people.
And car dealerships are the most loyal people in the planet. They're like the Italian mob.
Once you're in, you're in, there's dealers that I know for 25 years ago that I could call and I,
they would take my call and they would help me. They're just, they're right or die kind of people.
Family. Yeah. Yeah. They're tough. They're tough, right? They're tough, but once you're in forever,
you're like, it's locked in. So who could not love that? So yeah. And that's why we,
that's exactly why we asked the question, because there's an element of you being
welcome to the family. And inside of automotive, there's a family, you understand the business,
right? And it's a certain, there's a certain swag to automotive that is custom to automotive.
We have a lot of jumping up in here and she's another woman in automotive,
making big things happen. She is definitely a solutionary that's, that I can see
doing such big things inside of her future, enjoying the moment that she's in right now,
moving metal, building relationships with customers, selling cars. There's nothing
like it, folks. And that's the one thing about this business that we absolutely love is that
no matter what we do, no matter if there's advertising opportunities for us or event
planning or podcast to be on, if it all ends on the platform that we're on at the moment,
we can go sell some cars, folks, and we can have some fun and we can make some money and we can
provide for our families. That's the great thing about this business at the absolute worst case
scenario. You can still have an absolute blast hoping upgrade people. And it's awesome that you
have that. And that is awesome on the side of street cred with car guys, because of course,
there's a lot of people that do talk to advertisers and organizers that don't know what
enough is, that don't know what an application is, that doesn't know what somebody's
stepping you on a point and feels like and doesn't know what it's like to be cursed out
or to be hung up on or to deal with any of the psychological stuff you deal with when dealing
with people, their frustrations, and them upgrading into a nicer, newer ride. You become
a therapist, you become a alana nose, you become a babysitter, you become all kinds of things for
your customers inside of the moment. And it helps you to understand the business in whatever
element you go into when you understand that simple point of the connection between the face of the
store and the actual customer, whether it's in fixed ops or it's in variable, there's an element
actually knowing and feeling that and then being able to translate that into every other thing that
you do to compliment a dealership, compliment a business and so true better. That's something
that you can't get without really getting it. And that's something that we honor. Good Cargal
coffee, I would say. Yeah, absolutely. But April, we appreciate you so much. These first two questions
are really big questions for us because knowing your why and then what brought you into this
industry and what keeps you in this industry is pretty big. There's been a lot of things. I want
to quit do a quick shout out. She mentioned Alana threw up that women in automotive and there's an
event coming up and I know you're going to be speaking at it, right? We're also very blessed
to be speaking at that same event. This is the women in automotive conference that's coming up.
And I believe you're speaking there and you're in the title is power moves. Is that right?
Yeah, people will be more about what your session is about and what day and what time.
Okay, my session sounds incredibly narcissistic. But sometimes it's all in the title, right? You
got to grab people's attention. So it's power moves. It's the power of networking. It's like
a how to guy because we were actually talking, I was talking to some of the people that run
the event and I first said, where's their gap? Because I think that there's a lot of different
things I could talk on if people actually want to take the time to hear it. But I was like,
what do we need? Where is there a need topic wise that they didn't have? And somebody commented
that they're like, we go to a lot of these events to network, but is there really a formula to
networking? What makes networking more successful? What makes it a good use of your time? Or how do
you do proper follow ups? I think women in auto is great because it's naturally a lot of people
in their same position. But I will see a lot of times at conferences, you just see a group of
people just huddled by themselves, maybe with the people they came to or maybe the one to two
people that I arrived with. And I've had some friends joke that I become like
the land of misfit card people because like, we'll start going to an event and I'll just see
somebody kind of standing by themselves. Maybe it's their new event and maybe they didn't come
with staff and they don't know anybody and they really don't know how to walk up and just start
introducing themselves. And I'll just pull them along. I'm like, you're now part of our crew,
you're part of your new best friend. I think even the first time I met you guys in Tampa,
it was the same thing. I was just like, I just jumped into your conversation. You guys were
talking to I think Ben and I just walked up and just been like, Hey guys,
can I be part of this conversation because we're coming out of COVID and everybody's like apprehensive
about eating and talking. And so yeah, so it's going to be, I am not so egotistical to think that
I have all the answers. But what I do is I follow really smart people. And so I'm putting together
a series of tips and tricks and recommendations and good habits from really smart people that I
want to talk and settle just be like the how to guys.
And I love that. And that's such a great subject. People, if you're not going to this event or
you're thinking about it, you need to go to this event. There's so many great opportunities to get
some education, but more importantly, you got to come meet April, right? I'm excited for you.
I can't wait to see yours. I'm going to definitely make sure I hit that session up as we're there
too. So excited about that. There's so much more along the way. You just, you're going to be giving
information to people as if like you're a mentor, right? And that's, it's a great thing. Our subject
is being a mentor inside there. Like what's a good mentor? What's not what to look for? What
to look for, right? What to stay away from? But that being said, this middle question,
this third question out of the five liner, it's about your mentors. Now, April, you have, I see
you mentor so many. I do. I know you're not looking, you just do it whether you want to,
whether they want to or not, you're going to be there for them because they, you love them. And
I know how you are. But that being said, along the way for you, who's been some great mentors?
Oh my God. That's such a great question. I'm continually really fortunate in that category
because whether they knew they were becoming my mentor or I just forced myself into their lives
and then just made it happen. Just every step, like when I was in the car dealership world,
I had some really great people that sometimes people can be standoffish with the green key,
right? Whether it's the whole, I'm not going to learn your name until you sell 100 cars or,
but I just, from day one, I've always had people that maybe, maybe I look like a person that needs
help. I've always had people that are just really apt to offer great feedback and good suggestions.
And there's some that like, actually a lot of them are still in my lives. I would say,
most people know this story because I share it so freely. But what am I first,
when I was at the car soup and I had to go sell a car dealer on digital services. It was my first
meeting after getting promoted. And I went to Walzer in Minneapolis and my first meeting was
with this guy, Alan Crutch. And I had to sell him on car soup services and I just jump into it all
eager. Here, let me show you our whole platform of services that you could be utilizing, that
you're not on. And he looked at me really calmly and said, I just met you. You don't know anything
about our business yet. And I'm looking for a partner. I'm not looking for a salesman. And I
was like, Oh, that was strong. So basically, it was like, learn about our business, make intelligent
recommendations, give me a reason to like, I'm not going to just buy because you walked in here
and had a PowerPoint, earn my business. And I went back and it was such a powerful learning
opportunity, because if like anyone said yes, or said no, I would have not probably learned
anything from it. But he was basically like, earn my business. And I did, I went back, I learned
all I went to every store at Walzer and I looked at their processes and I met with their service
managers and learned about their business. And then I came back with real recommendations that
would help. And I earned the client, business, I earned one of my lifetime mentors and
best friends, he's still somebody I frequently go to for feedback and for advice. And he's so
knowledgeable. But situations like that has happened throughout my entire career. One of my
biggest advocates is David Metter, who is an advisor, VC investor. But I worked with him on
his company up until it sold to Urban Science. And I got to learn so much about the way in which
you go through a buy sell or through an acquisition and mergers. And then he now sits on the board
of other other companies. And he's still, I used to make jokes that like anytime that we were at
could you just please write down a business model on this napkin for me? Could you just
shortcut it? Just tell me all the secrets to life right now, please. I don't want a learning
lesson. I just, I really want the answers to how do I get rich quick. But still to this day,
he's still a person that I can call at any time and ask, how do you do that? How would you go
about it? What can I do better? And that's only just a couple, I would say the women in my life,
Susan Gibbons, Jen Sanford, having powerful, smart, intelligent women that we are all on
text threats nonstop. But who do you know? How do we get this done? Is this too much for this?
Having great smart people that are smarter than you and your friend network is probably the
number one thing you do to succeed. Just having that network of brilliant people. It's the secret
to success truly. I can hit them up for answers for anything and they'll help. What a powerful
answer there. I love how you're, you understand the power of mentorship. You understand it and
the giving and taking of it too, right? There is you, there's a time where you're them, you're
getting all the information from a mentor and then there's the time that they're going to ask
you a question and you're going to have the answer and how satisfying is that for you and for them.
And they know that you have the answer and they're excited about it. They're like, oh,
I know somebody that knows this. This is their specialty. It's that's how networking works.
I'm actually really eager to see your session because I would say, I don't think I'm great
at being a mentor. I would, I don't, not out of lack of desire, I love to give back and I tell
everybody, I'm an open book. If you need help, I have a friend of mine that is a very successful
CMI when she was like, Hey, could you just tell me with some HubSpot questions? Cause I was like
asking, is it just easier than Googling? I'm like, absolutely. I'm always willing to help people,
but I don't think I've done a great job of truly making myself available to people. I think I get
really busy and I let my schedules run my life. So I'd love to learn about how I could do a better
job of giving back to people. So I'll have to definitely catch what you guys have to say.
Cause I think you do, you guys do a phenomenal job. You're always giving back your whole
philosophy is putting things back into the world. And like I said, I love to do it more.
I just don't, I don't have a formula for it or discipline to make it a priority.
You're doing it, whether you know it, but I understand because your heart's so big,
you want to give more to it. And there's, that's, that's what a great mentor is. You're already
there. Don't worry about it. But yes, please, I hope you're in the session. I'm guaranteed
we can get some from you there too. So please be there. But that being said, there's so much.
Thank you for sharing that mentorship. Oh, can't hear you, brother.
Am I just mean that you're back. You're back. No, you did. You said so much there, but
inside of that mentor, mentee relationship, sometimes you don't even, you don't even realize
that it happened. You don't even realize that you're the one mentoring. I'm sure that if
a plenty of people have the opportunity to speak on their relationship with you,
they would speak of you in the light of being some sort of a mentor to them that has inspired them
to go and to do things, right? Seeing April do some power moves inside of this business,
definitely has probably inspired many others to do so or to stay connected to you, answer the call
when it's time, be present when you need them. It's also healthy for everybody, right? It's
healthy for everybody to have somebody to pour into them and for you to have somebody to pour
out to, right? I can't say that there was anything that made me become a better person
other than one, picking the right person to marry and then two, having kids that I was responsible
for and having to be better for each of them. My wife was the first person to truly push me to
be a better human being. Otherwise, I was never going to get her. She was the first person that
made sure that I had to be that better guy in order to get her attention and to win her.
And then for my children, the reason why I stopped flipping burgers, to be honest, was because I
wanted my kids to say something better about what their father did for a living. So I became a soldier,
but you never know who's watching you make whatever moves you're doing. And sometimes
they're watching you from afar. Sometimes they just pick up a book and now you're a great
influence inside of their life. They read some of your thoughts or they've been
around you to see you in action and it's healthy for you to be able to see what they saw in you,
hear what they are receiving from you because a lot of lessons you don't even know that you're
given and it becomes something that is repeated down the road, whether it's in our kids or it's
in those that we get the chance to leave. I had somebody text my wife just today about their
kid talking about too legit to quit. It was something that I said while teaching kids in a
Sunday school scenario and basically it was just kids church and I was like too legit. You guys
don't know about too legit to quit and I played with that a little bit and got them to do it.
The kids out there reciting it today. All the things that I said yesterday, he's too legit to
quit in it. You know what I mean? Some hooks just stick, but you never know what gets picked up
and what people then get to attribute to you being the one that deposited it. So it is so healthy
for you and I'm sure there's plenty of people out there April that have received from your reign.
They've received nourishment and they have growth from what you poured out to them. But with that
there also is a lot that people can learn from you understanding what those lessons gave you
that were the ones you didn't ask for. Many of the best lessons we ever get in life is the ones
that we wish we never had and we would almost say God please take this situation away from us
where we had to go through those moments to actually learn and to become like you mentioned earlier.
Sometimes you want to jump in and do and want to fix but you've got to let them learn. You've
got to let your kids figure it out and you've got to let people that want to learn how to
solve problems have the opportunity to solve problems. But for you to get where you are today
what has been the hardest lesson you've had to learn to get here today? Oh my goodness.
Is there a little bit of color right now? Drop them. Drop them all. Let's go.
No I feel like I can't tell if it's the biggest or if it's just always the most recent that you
think about because like right now you give the example of to be a better person to your spouse,
to be a better person to your children and I would say now the third really most important
relationship in your life is also your co-workers, your employees, your business partners. You are
accountable to each other right? You guys had to learn how to be good partners to each other
and the lessons also I just said maybe I'm not the best mentor because I get I'm busy doing. I'm
not always I don't always take the time to ask people, ask people how they're doing, ask them
how I can be available to them. So slowing down in life can be a challenge for me and is always a
challenge where where I prioritize people over maybe tasks or projects making myself available
to my employees or to my co-workers in that sense and and some of those hard lessons are I would say
not to damper on the subject but really early COVID I lost a family member to suicide that
was shocking. This person was like brilliant and smart and capable and outgoing and social. The
person that you would have I would have never ever would have crossed my mind that that person was
struggling so much behind and I think my big one is stopping to ask and check in with people not
just in a business sense but checking in to see if they're okay and making reading people and
not just waiting for people to ask for help because most people don't ask for help and so
I think just being available, being available and listening to people is a hard lesson for
busy bodies for people that are very accomplished driven to stop, slow down and be available.
So I think that's something I've always tried to work on.
I love that answer.
That's a room improvement for all of us I believe.
Yeah I think you're right because all three of us are busy body but business people who are trying
to grow and help and be available but there's times that even though we try to be available we're
like you got three seconds. All right gotta go. Literally that's how it is and we don't mean to
be that way but we just have three seconds for this person we're trying
to make sure they all get their three seconds but yet we need to give this person 30 seconds three
days sometimes whatever it is that's hard for people and I love that your heart feels that way
that just the things that you know about yourself you tend to fix it's when you say it out loud and
you put it there we tend to go that way and I love that about life and those lessons that we need
in life are huge hardest lessons are sometimes tough to swallow right say and mid out loud but
yet you're able to do it so I love that and you brought your heart there because
I gotta admit that's how I get sometimes too you talked about mentorship I mentored a bunch
of people a couple years ago I was doing a handful of people and then recently I've been
yeah we mentor but not the way that I did because I've been so busy so I feel your
heart on that thank you for reminding me that I need to slow down sometimes with people especially
my wife right. I'm looking for something available and approachable right I think some of the feedback
I've received is despite how outgoing I am sometimes I can read as unapproachable if I
look like I'm too busy and people don't want to interrupt people don't want to be a nuisance to
someone so they don't and so just showing that you're present and available and I saw I heard
this phrase about one of the best things you can do to people when they're grieving is a lot of
people go hey if there's anything I can do let me know and somebody when they're in pain or when
they they don't know what they need and so the suggestion was if you there's something that you
think you should do for somebody don't ask just do it if you want to make if you think that they
you want to make them a casserole don't just make it drop it off like don't wait for somebody to ask
you just do the thing that thoughtful thing that you would have done or that you think you would
have done nobody's going to reject your thoughtful efforts and that really hit me just don't offer
don't that's the least common denominator to be like okay if you need anything let me know I'm here
bye and then never let them know because they won't but like if you think somebody's going through
something or hard time call them call them and go I want to hear from you I want to hear what's
going on with you right now don't ask them to want to talk no just call them and listen so
those those are my inspirations right now trying to be more available that way I love that and
that's it I love your heart on that and that's so big that's huge there's so many things that we
should all be grateful for is knowing that about people and being able to have that and people
will allow you you just got to be there you're right it's when you ask they're gonna they don't
want to be a nuisance so they're like no I don't need help but they need it more than ever we need
that because we know that you know why you say that because you know you're that same way
somebody asks you you're gonna be like no I'm okay you don't have to do that just do it for them and
we would we reject it no if they showed up with food at the house and hey I want to feed you you'd
be like thank you you don't have to do that but thank you and your heart would fill and both heart
would fill and that's why it's important to take action is so much thank you for saying take action
my friends get out there make it happen we've talked about your why we've talked about what brought
you to automotive what's kept you an automotive mentors and I love that was a great subject you
had a lot on your heart on that I love that we talked about hardest lessons before we get to
the last question rewards speaking of rewards this year you you were given a reward at dmsc over
for a pretty big one congratulations on that I believe it was the marketing professional of the
year automotive marketing professional the year pretty big deal and I think that's right over
your left shoulder right now I think I see it sitting right there so congratulations to you on
your reward that you could win that every year that's how amazing you are every year that I've
known you this is definitely something that does not is not it like a surprise that you won you
definitely stand out amongst so many out there trying to do what you do you do it with such class
but rewards are a big part of everything we do but there's been big rewards I'm sure that's a huge
reward to you but I'm sure there's been even a bigger reward for all the work that you put
together so far in your life what would you consider your greatest reward up to this point
I was so grateful because like I said especially being a B2B agency we get
accomplishments for our clients it's really about putting them in the limelight like you said about
me not speaking on here I don't even speak at very many conferences I do it just at one not
be too rusty to get out there and only if I really feel like I can contribute something
because I'm really not there to get business most of what I do is referrals getting that award was
really cool and at first my employees submitted the application and I said I'm not going to win this
that's ridiculous and she's I'm going to submit it anyway so I was like okay but we've got more
important things to work on don't waste any effort on this and she's okay if I win you're going to
buy me a whale or if you win you've got to buy me a whale and I was like you know what I'll tell you
what if I win this award I'll buy you a whale so anyways point being is I had to buy her a lot of
well themed gifts but then Brian Pash was so kind as probably that I had multiple submissions
that brought the chair I was thinking like oh my employee did such a good job but and he said I
got several nominations and I got really were my heart so much that people took time out of their
life their busy busy busy lies to say something nice about me like how special is that so that's
the award itself is cool it's cool to have an award but more the fact that I have people in
my life that would take time out of their busy days to say something nice about me it's it was
really huge so that was a really big deal for me I would say other than that most people know
my pride and joy right now is ati autotech investments it's the um the conference that we
put together every year at an ADA and sometimes outside of an ADA but where we are helping to
bridge the gap with entrepreneurs that don't necessarily have budgets to be at an ADA or
budgets to be at conferences and giving them a platform to share their ideas to dealers to OEMs
to VCs to connectors that gives them such a platform to be able to talk about their product
and then on the flip side of that there's a lot of happenings that it like
it's crazy for a product to make itself into existence in the automotive universe there's
so many things that have to happen other than it being great tech it has to be great endorsements
great collaborations it has to be adopted by really smart dealers and then it needs to not
be shot down by the OEMs and there's just so many things that have to happen for a product to succeed
in automotive that when you put all those same people in the room and then you go great let's
solve this together let's figure something out let's have great conversations about
mergers and acquisitions or what the automotive industry needs or doesn't need more of
and so i'm really proud of that event just always seeing it to come together and seeing
it standing room and the only at the end just where people are jam-packed and then
that's probably my biggest accomplishment i feel so proud of so many people work really hard to
follow that together so it's not me it was a collaboration of ideas with some of my clients
like joe shaker and obviously stave greenfield he's such a powerhouse in the industry and and
then obviously our erik dedlinger who's with td securities who's one of the smartest financial
people on the planet so a lot of these people coming together really make it a dynamic event so
that's my biggest reward right now okay we can hear it in your voice that that sounds so rewarding
just because of the jubulance you can even see on your face for those of you that are listening
to this on the podcast after we've already recorded this she is smiling ear to ear while
explaining what it is that she enjoys and her greatest reward and really folks hear how still
selfless it is but yes it does bless us greatly to see great things happen for other people but
being able to collaborate and do this together with so many people i am sure it keeps your
plate full keeps your cup running over but folks my cup is at its last drop and i am so thankful
that you've enhanced our brew today and hearing your greatest reward hearing the stories and
just hearing more of your background again april it just solidifies the genuineness of
a high quality individual that you are we are on a quest to brew with the best you've affirmed
that today by being able to make sure that we've had the chance to hear your heart and hear more
about it folks i'm already telling you now just let it be said known hear you hear all
that can hear me that we will be doing some collaborations together with april she will
be helping us to be able to continue to enhance the experience that is our automotive family
there is so much more that we can do for not just our industry but for our communities
there is so much more that we can get from ourselves give to each other and find a way
to grow and i'm so thankful that in the efforts to expose to the world the great people inside of
automotive you have taken the time to let us show you off and show the rest of the industry
and those that are watching how great automotive is if just looking through the window that is
april rain thank you so much for that what a great five liner we've had so much fun here
bread there's so much still brewing isn't there so much still brewing and so much to go we got
so many events coming up folks we got some shows coming up over the next month this one right here
i love this relief caps up our last the last part of the first year so thank you for
closing out these first six months with us it's been the best six months we've ever had in our
careers and i'm excited to see what the next six months brings because again like i said at the
beginning of the hour the second half is the best half my friends because it has to be and we're
going to make it happen because we got friends like april and so many out there doing big things
and make sure that automotive is in good hands thank you april for spending the time with us today
keep making it rain my friends let's go make it rain car guys and car gals and the event that you
were wondering if she actually has the cgc approved stamp of approval folks we're letting you know
that april rain is 100 percent cgc everybody let's go yeah we're excited about that yes she is
and folks if you want more access to her you can reach out directly to us we'll get you connected
but april how can they get a hold of you if they need to uh april at digital rain ink dot com
if you are available but uh linkedin message me we need uh women and auto honestly because we
any conference probably happy between now and nada he'll probably be there so i i open the door
that i'm willing to help people and be more available take me up on it if you have a question
that there's something you need for me hit me up i literally just said i'm going to be more
available to people so let's go let's go like she said you can see her at this year's
bam woman in automotive 2026 conference we are excited for that and she's going to be talking
about some power moves so make sure that you make it out there make sure that you make it to this
session and once you do make it to that session make sure that you also arrange to see us having
some fun out there talking about finding the right mentor because matters
everybody so make sure that you brew some solutions with us over at the women and automotive
conference and you make some time to visit april live in the flesh and let her reign some of that
knowledge and some of that love on you car guys and car guys today we have been reigning some good
car gal coffee for you and we are so thankful thankful for our incredible guests but you know
there is one thing left that we need to do and it's to make sure that we drop those f bombs and
that's to forgive to focus and to fly so we can keep growing all the time all of our life lessons
are always going to point us back to the importance of forgiving the power in our focus and that we
can do incredibly almost impossible things when we get the chance to step out and fly
and once we get up in the sky we got to keep growing we just got started once you start flying
now you just begun so let's brew together everybody let's fly on 3123
forgive focus fly and keep growing that's right growing thank you so much for brewing solutions
with us today everybody i am lou ramirez and i'm fred lennards and you've been brewing
car night coffee podcast with the one the only
let's go see you soon everybody keep growing solutions we're out
About this episode
April Raines joins Car Guy Coffee for a “five-liner” conversation about her path into automotive, from early car retail and digital listings to building dealership-focused work. She shares what she learned at the NCM fixed op summit, why she values execution over ideation, and how mentorship and networking can be practical—especially through follow-up and checking in on people. The episode also covers her award recognition, her ATI Autotech Investments conference, and her upcoming speaking appearances.
Original notes
Car Guy Coffee Podcast Presents #5Liner feat. April Raines
Welcome to The #5Liner, the show dedicated to the individual journeys that power the automotive industry. It's not about the company; it's about the individual, their career, mindset, and personal story. In each episode, we sit down with a high-quality selection of Car Guys and Car Gals to get beyond the title and into the hard earned wisdom they've gained. Join us as we uncover the wins, challenges, and #5Liner takeaways that have shaped today’s top talent.
In this episode of The Car Guy Coffee Podcast, hosts Lou Ramirez and Fred Lennartz welcome April Raines of Digital Rain for a conversation at the midyear mark, focusing on making adjustments to finish the year strong. April shares her why—turning ideas into real-world results—plus how she entered automotive through early powersports and car sales before moving into digital retail, agency work, and problem-solving for dealers. She highlights the educational value of the NCM Fix Op Summit, previews her Women in Automotive “Power Moves” session on networking and follow-up, and credits key mentors who challenged her to become a true partner to dealerships.
📲Stream it. Share it. Let's Brew.
Don’t forget to share and subscribe!
carguycoffee.com
certifiedsolutionaries.com
Welcome to The #5Liner, the show dedicated to the individual journeys that power the automotive industry. It's not about the company; it's about the individual, their career, mindset, and personal story. In each episode, we sit down with a high-quality selection of Car Guys and Car Gals to get beyond the title and into the hard earned wisdom they've gained. Join us as we uncover the wins, challenges, and #5Liner takeaways that have shaped today’s top talent.
In this episode of The Car Guy Coffee Podcast, hosts Lou Ramirez and Fred Lennartz welcome April Raines of Digital Rain for a conversation at the midyear mark, focusing on making adjustments to finish the year strong. April shares her why—turning ideas into real-world results—plus how she entered automotive through early powersports and car sales before moving into digital retail, agency work, and problem-solving for dealers. She highlights the educational value of the NCM Fix Op Summit, previews her Women in Automotive “Power Moves” session on networking and follow-up, and credits key mentors who challenged her to become a true partner to dealerships.
📲Stream it. Share it. Let's Brew.
Don’t forget to share and subscribe!
carguycoffee.com
certifiedsolutionaries.com
Car Guy Coffee
Car Guy Coffee Podcast
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