00:00
Hello and welcome to the CarGuy Coffee Podcast.
00:03
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00:19
What's going on, CarGuy's and CarGuy's?
00:21
It's Lou Ramirez, the CarGuy.
00:23
And it's Felonard's subprime hero.
00:25
And we are excited to be bringing you a five-liner.
00:28
We're going to have some fun with a little bit of CarGuy Coffee
00:33
And we are excited to have blowing things up
00:36
with C4 and analytics, an individual that
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is hanging out inside of Cali.
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We got a California girl up inside of the building today.
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And we are excited about it.
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Fred, I'm pumped up.
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I'm way pumped up, man.
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We just had a little speak right before this.
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We got to talk and learn a little bit more about her
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And I already know this is going to be dynamite, man.
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We have some really great guests come on the show.
00:58
And the energy is always infectious,
01:00
but this one got me hyped up, bro.
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Like, I'm over here, been sipping on my coffee,
01:03
ready to go, ready to just have this conversation,
01:06
And I have a feeling this five-liner
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is going to be dynamite, like I said.
01:09
So let's get the explosions going, bro.
01:11
I'm ready to get things popping.
01:12
And for those of you that are ready to get things
01:14
popping with us, you got to help us out.
01:16
Make sure that you do tag a CarGuy.
01:20
And share, share, share, share, share.
01:23
Get this out there, everybody.
01:25
And if you're listening to this on the podcast,
01:27
make sure that you do lean in, listen in.
01:29
Turn it up, everybody, because we know
01:32
that you're going to learn a little something new.
01:33
And you might be a little bit inspired.
01:35
This is a fun cup of encouragement
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that we are excited to bring to you today.
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And we are pumped up to have for the first time
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on the show from C4 Analytics.
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She is making things explode inside of the car business.
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She's got some time in the biz, everybody.
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And we are proud to bring to you for the first time
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Oh, welcome to the show.
02:06
Good morning, team.
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I need to bring you all with me everywhere I go.
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Goodness, what an introduction.
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We are hyped up with C4
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and all of you awesome people that are over there.
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There is a lot that's brewing,
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but welcome to the show.
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Welcome to the party.
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Where are you jumping in from?
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Where are we talking to you from?
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San Leandro, California.
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Told you she was a California girl, everybody.
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Thank you all for having me.
02:31
But Noel, there's a lot that's brewing,
02:32
there's a lot that's cooking inside of the business.
02:34
Just about every single conference that we've been to,
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especially from the beginning,
02:38
from us first going out as Car Guy Coffee,
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we've been running into the C4 Analytics crew.
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We have a friend that is a hilarious person
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who always makes their way around,
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whether they got bright, flashy, shiny shoes.
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We are excited to have friends inside of the car business
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But for those that don't know you
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and don't know about C4 Analytics,
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please tell us a little bit about yourself and C4.
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As you said, my name is Noel Ong Robinson.
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I've been in the business for 15 years.
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Started in the box as a finance manager.
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We'll actually start on the line
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and then in the box and then over to C4.
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And it has been quite a journey.
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Yeah, I started with C4 during the pandemic.
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And wow, what a company, what a time.
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They have given me a platform and opportunity
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to travel around the country and just like support dealers.
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So we are full service marketing firm.
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And I hate to even say that
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because truthfully what we are as a partner,
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we come in to support dealers all sizes.
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And it's such a pleasure to work with the team
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We have a team of really amazing people.
03:49
And we do have some amazing people.
03:50
Shout out to everybody over at C4.
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We're excited to get this five liner underway.
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Now, this five liner Noel,
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this is a simple five liner
03:58
for those of you that are in the car business,
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you understand, you can't get a car deal done
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without having a minimum of a five liner completed.
04:04
Just telling us a little bit about the person
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and some things that are specific to the person now.
04:09
None of these are gonna be questions
04:11
that you do not know the answer to.
04:13
And these should usually be something
04:15
that others can lean in, listen to,
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and learn and actually adapt to your story
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and be able to use some of the things
04:22
that you've gone through to apply to their life.
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Now, we are excited to get this party started.
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And Fred, why don't you go ahead and kick this off?
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Man, I love to kick these things off.
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And this first question,
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really it just drives at the heart of me.
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It's every thing that I do every single day.
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I look at this first, it starts with my gratitude
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and they aren't the very first part of my gratitude.
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But for you, your why, what is your why?
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What makes you say, you know what?
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I'm taking it to the next level.
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I'm gonna take a jump in the middle of a pandemic
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and go do something more.
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I would say personal growth in community.
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And I don't want that to sound like cliche,
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but yeah, automotive has been such a special community
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And I think when I left automotive briefly
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during the pandemic,
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I thought maybe I'll go into real estate.
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And then I got in contact with C4 Analytics.
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I'm like, I can't leave it.
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And if I could use and leverage the knowledge
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that I have similar to what you all are doing, right?
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And be able to leverage that into supporting
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in growth in other ways
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and like sharing that messaging
05:37
and like being out of that like that dealership structure.
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And then when I was in automotive,
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it was my community of my clients.
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Like I worked in Richmond, California.
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It was a really like low income demographic
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immigrant communities.
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And I'm love to hear you spy-fy hero
05:53
because that was like my day in and day out.
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It's like you have that difficult deal
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you're gonna get done and you get to experience
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like the joy, like the joy of them.
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A lot of these people really needed cars.
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So it's like, you're working really hard
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to get this thing done at an affordable payment,
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which like, again, I don't want to sound cliche,
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but it was like that driving force
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every day to get up early to stay late at my dealership
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and ultimately like just get things done.
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All of that tied with the bow of competitive nature
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It's like your icky guy, right?
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What you're good at, what you love to do
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and what serves your community.
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And I think that's definitely what it is for me.
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Wow, that's an awesome one.
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And being competitive is crucial
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for this particular industry, this particular business.
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There is competition all over the place.
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And we're always really like competing
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for the attention of our customers.
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And when you team up with a dealership,
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you're helping them to have that competitive edge.
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And you can also do way worse than having somebody
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like C4 Analytics helping you out.
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But I absolutely love the name C4, love it
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because it just to me,
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I'm always using different wordplay.
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But to make things blow up
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is what it is that you guys are doing.
07:09
You want a business to blow up,
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you need some C4 in it, right?
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And you guys actually do help to advance people
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on a different level and you do it consistently.
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But welcome, your why is awesome
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and it is inspiring for those of you that are listening
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or those of you that are watching.
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We do challenge you with what is your why?
07:27
If somebody was to ask you that question
07:28
or you made it onto the Car Guy Coffee Podcast,
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which if you wanna be on the show, just let us know.
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We definitely wanna brew
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with some great Car Guys and Car Gals.
07:37
But Noel, it is inspiring to know
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what it is that's driving you
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and definitely not cliche.
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I can't say that anybody actually described it
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the way that you did.
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Please continue to share that story.
07:47
We're gonna make sure that we keep sharing this out.
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But there is a little bit more to the story.
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So you explained a little bit
07:52
of what you did in the car business,
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This is a very important question on this five liner.
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What brought you to automotive?
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This is a loaded question.
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I would say a little bit of necessity,
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a little bit of circumstance.
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I was 17 years old,
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my first real selling retail job.
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I was working in a sprint store
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that was right next to the auto mall.
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And the guys lose their phones all the time.
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Young finance managers, sales managers,
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and they'd come in the dealership
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or come into the sprint store
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and need to get new,
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whatever, all the new stuff,
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like new phone, cash.
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And they're like, you keep,
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like you're a closer man.
08:34
Like you need to get into this industry.
08:35
Like you do so well.
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I'm like, no, I'm okay.
08:38
And then I really thought about it.
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One of, he's actually still friends
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with this gentleman named Antonio Mejia.
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He came in with one of his sales people's
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like commission vouchers.
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And he's, if you want to go to school,
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you want to do this, get in this business.
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And so the rest was history,
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but funny thing, side note,
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I'm actually adopted
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and I found my biological family three years ago.
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My biological parents met in a car dealership
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and worked in a car dealership
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together in Oakland, California.
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And my entire biological,
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many of the people in my biological family
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are also in the car business.
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You were meant to be a car gal.
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It was in the snow.
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Literally DNA, literally.
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That's pretty strong.
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So I guess I'm stuck.
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This is not in a bad way,
09:29
but I guess this is like what was destined for me.
09:34
Wow. I absolutely love that.
09:36
I love that you gave us the side note
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of your biological parents meeting there
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and you have even blood family
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that are automotive people.
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And that's pretty amazing to see
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that you did that blindly.
09:46
Just happened to fall into it.
09:47
We all do this by accident.
09:49
You, somebody saw a skill in you
09:50
and they showed you something much did for Lou, right?
09:53
Did for me is they basically said,
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here's my paycheck.
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Here's a paycheck you can make.
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You want to go to school.
09:59
This will pay for your school real quick, right?
10:00
You want to go do this, this will do that.
10:02
You want to be in a rock band
10:03
and you can buy all the instruments you want.
10:06
Come in with a little hunger.
10:07
Come in here with a little bit of closing skills,
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personality, right?
10:11
That one, that DNA though.
10:13
You had it in the blood.
10:14
You know what I'm saying?
10:15
But it's pretty awesome.
10:17
That's a cool story.
10:19
It's a really cool story.
10:20
And that, but I want to just a little bit deeper
10:23
or you got into a dealership.
10:24
I got to ask what made you make the move
10:26
during that whole situation
10:28
during the pandemic saying,
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hey, you got out of automotive,
10:31
you said you mentioned that, right?
10:33
You got out and you were thought about real estate,
10:35
but what made you say, you know what, C4?
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It was really a short, it was maybe a few months break
10:41
and the real estate thing was more again, necessity.
10:44
Like my family, my mom does it
10:46
and she needed some support
10:47
and I don't do things halfway.
10:48
So I'm like, can't do finance halfway.
10:52
Like I can't do half.
10:53
I need to just commit to what I'm doing.
10:56
And I'm like, I don't know
10:57
if any of you have experienced this,
10:59
but when you're used to like instant gratification
11:02
of closing business as a sales and finance finance,
11:05
especially because you're in the box, your closing deals,
11:08
you get that ser, like that serotonin adrenaline,
11:11
like good feeling, like I accomplished something today.
11:15
And that like, I was really struggling with, wow,
11:18
This is hard to not have that every day, it's pandemic.
11:22
And so I just started browsing around
11:24
and came across C4.
11:26
And when I was looking at their website,
11:28
I saw something on their website
11:30
that I'm like, first and foremost,
11:32
big fan of Ricky Bobby, if you're not first or last,
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I saw that and I was like, oh, this is a sign.
11:38
Then I saw leaders lead leaders.
11:40
And I'm like, oh, I love that.
11:43
I love that and I live that.
11:45
Absolutely 100% leaders lead leaders.
11:47
And I wanna work with a company
11:49
where I have people around me who have that mentality.
11:52
Like that first and foremost, it's not about the money.
11:55
It's not about, it's about how we're serving people
11:59
and how we're serving our clients
12:01
and how we're leading them to success through leadership.
12:04
So that for me, I was like, this is the right fit.
12:07
And then I talked to Maria Terrio, who is there
12:10
at the time she's like, their head of recruitment.
12:12
And I'm like, oh yeah, done, I'm ready.
12:17
These are my people, I'm ready to go.
12:19
Look, now it's time to go by, hasn't it?
12:22
You've been there for a little while
12:23
and you've been blessed.
12:24
So just be around some really great opportunities
12:26
and even go back and find out about your blood.
12:29
Know all that stuff throughout this whole journey.
12:31
I think it's been a great journey for you
12:33
and it's still just the beginning.
12:34
And you got so much more left in you
12:36
to be able to do inside this industry
12:38
and whatever you end up doing.
12:39
I know that the lessons that you've learned from this
12:41
are gonna take you there.
12:42
Much like the people in our lives
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that give us lessons, right?
12:45
One of the greatest things that I have throughout my life
12:48
is I've had some pretty good mentors.
12:49
Some I listened to really well.
12:50
Some I wish I listened to more
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and I start to try to remember what they told me
12:54
and I'm trying to put those in my life now.
12:56
But made impacts no matter what.
12:58
Even if it was just a smile that they gave me
13:00
every single day, just to encourage me to be better, right?
13:02
Or to have a business partner like my bro Lou right here
13:05
who just really every single day he pushes, I push,
13:07
we push each other.
13:08
That's mentorship in the finest way, right?
13:11
And then our biggest mentor, our God, our one God.
13:14
And that's huge to see that.
13:16
That being said, for you,
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who has been your greatest mentor
13:20
or mentors along your journey?
13:23
That's also a really loaded question
13:24
because I feel like you don't get to this place
13:27
in your life without having a lot of support.
13:29
You meant to that though.
13:30
I would say probably my first mentor would be my dad.
13:33
So a recent piece to him.
13:35
But my dad was avid entrepreneur.
13:39
He had multiple art galleries growing up
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and I just got to watch him.
13:45
He had art galleries and car clubs.
13:47
So did a lot of community events
13:49
and gave me the opportunity to like curate events
13:52
really young and learn about balance sheets of business
13:56
and just got to meet really amazing people
14:00
and always supported me to just do my very best always.
14:06
And so I would say my dad, number one,
14:08
number two would be the automotive dads
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that I had along the way.
14:13
And my management team at Hilltop Ford,
14:16
like Leon Thomas and Mercy Jones and Garnett Thompson,
14:18
like those three people.
14:21
And there were many others on that team
14:23
that like took a really young, unfocused,
14:27
just working through the business by sheer charisma
14:33
and taught me to dial it in, it's focus.
14:37
You're young, you have all this opportunity, focus.
14:39
And if you focus and you walk in with us,
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we'll continue to grow you.
14:43
And I would say those folks,
14:45
they sent me, gave me all the opportunity
14:49
to learn everything that I need to learn
14:50
to have the tools to be the most successful
14:52
that I could be from a finance standpoint
14:55
and within the automotive industry.
14:56
And I feel like I continue to like lean
14:58
on all of those lessons that those folks taught me every day.
15:03
Yeah, that's awesome.
15:05
And having those people, there's a part of you
15:08
that just carries on the legacy
15:10
and the seeds that they sowed into you
15:12
then create fruit down the line.
15:15
And as you continue to find other people to lead,
15:17
they're going to benefit from what it is
15:19
that you've had mentored into you.
15:22
Especially being a dad of daughters
15:26
and I have two granddaughters, a third on the way
15:29
and just loving of the girls.
15:31
I have a coffee mug that says,
15:33
you can't tell me what to do, you're not my granddaughter.
15:35
And today, it has been some great example of that,
15:38
just getting around this morning with my grandbaby
15:40
and her just telling me what to do,
15:41
where to go, what we're doing right now
15:43
and just having fun with that.
15:45
But that is something that does speak to the heart,
15:48
but nothing is like having a good father
15:52
or a good person to be able to lean in
15:54
and to teach you some of the things
15:55
that you do carry on into business.
15:58
There is what's called the law of first impressions.
16:00
When you learn something for the first time,
16:03
it's very hard to take your mind off of believing
16:07
that's the way that it is, right?
16:08
No, my daddy said this, right?
16:10
This is how that is,
16:11
just like all of our mentors in the car business, right?
16:13
When we were shown how to deliver a vehicle,
16:15
when we were shown how to work a pencil,
16:17
do a worksheet, do any of these things.
16:19
The first mentors that we had,
16:21
a lot of the times we're still doing those things today
16:25
because of the way the first person showed us how to do it.
16:28
And it is so hard for us to unlearn those things,
16:30
especially if we ever find out,
16:32
maybe we shouldn't have done it that way.
16:34
Or maybe we shouldn't have done this, right?
16:36
But it is awesome to be able to have those people
16:38
and you're right, there are so many core guys,
16:40
dads or so many core dads and moms in the business
16:43
and I'm so very thankful for them
16:45
and obviously you are as well.
16:47
Now these mentors, these people that have helped guide you
16:51
through the life that you're living right now,
16:54
you're thriving and you're growing
16:55
and you're making things happen
16:56
and you're helping to lead leaders ultimately
16:59
because you deal with decision makers inside of stores.
17:01
You help them to achieve big things
17:03
based off of their vision
17:05
and what it is that they wanna do.
17:07
But you probably had a bit of struggle at different times.
17:11
You probably had a few challenges at different times
17:14
And for those of you listening and watching the show,
17:17
it is very important that we do remember
17:19
some of the hardest things that have shaped us
17:21
into who it is that we are.
17:23
It's not easy for us to become great people
17:27
that do great things.
17:28
We have to actually have trials.
17:31
We have to be bent into shape
17:32
and sometimes we need to be cut down to size.
17:35
But with that, what would you say has been
17:38
the hardest lesson you've had to learn year to date
17:45
Life to date, we don't have time for that
17:47
but I couldn't speak in the context of,
17:51
in the context of business and specifically automotive,
17:55
I would say when I first started in the industry
17:59
being a woman in the business,
18:01
I really thought that I need to model myself
18:05
after these people.
18:07
I think that I had maybe one other at max
18:09
one other woman in the dealerships
18:11
that I was with at any given time
18:12
besides the controller and the business office.
18:15
So being in sales, I need to be tough.
18:19
I need to model myself after what I see
18:21
when I was really young.
18:23
But what I learned very quickly is that ego
18:26
that comes with that kills progress
18:29
and it kills longevity.
18:32
And then the second piece of that
18:34
is that you can't replace discipline and consistency.
18:39
And there's no, when you combine those two things
18:42
in this industry or it's in any business,
18:44
if you can have a little bit, like you need some ego
18:47
but the team aspect and collaboration aspect
18:52
of everything that you do,
18:54
whether it be on the retail side
18:56
or whether it be on the vendor side or the partner side,
19:00
your ego will get in front of you
19:03
and ruin your ability to grow.
19:06
You're never too good,
19:08
whether that meant when I was working in the dealership
19:11
I had to clean the toilet sometimes
19:13
or replace a tissue paper, whatever it is,
19:16
help out in service.
19:17
On the C4 side, it's cross-functional organization
19:20
getting down and dirty and helping to do things
19:22
that maybe aren't in your scope of work
19:25
but that are gonna help your clients to get things done.
19:28
I find that when I was younger,
19:30
it was like, oh, I'm in sales
19:32
and like we got put on a pedestal
19:34
and I don't need to do those things.
19:37
And as long as I close business,
19:39
that's all that matters.
19:39
So it was very like short-sighted
19:43
and that wasn't how the business,
19:45
like leaning into that hard work ethic,
19:48
authenticity of who I am as a woman
19:52
and allowing myself to be authentic in that
19:54
and dealing with people differently
19:56
than maybe my male counterparts would.
19:59
And like really, that was when I really saw growth.
20:01
And I think before that,
20:02
it was almost like you're forcing yourself
20:05
into a place where you feel like maybe you don't fit.
20:08
It took a long time,
20:09
and I think probably until my like mid-20s to be like,
20:13
I had to change the way I'm doing this.
20:15
This doesn't feel right to me.
20:17
And then that discipline piece,
20:20
again, when I was really young,
20:22
I thought I'd come to work and just shake hands
20:24
and I'll make a few phone calls
20:26
and I'll get business done.
20:27
But are you doing your customers and your team
20:29
a disservice by not putting in the hard work,
20:33
being consistent and having that discipline
20:35
and what kind of team dynamic are you creating?
20:38
You guys worked in automotive.
20:39
So you always have those high performers
20:41
that are bad apples that bring down the rest of your team
20:44
because they have natural ability,
20:47
but they're not putting in the work
20:49
and other people think that they can do the same.
20:51
And then you always watch yourselves go down.
20:54
And I think at one point I was,
20:56
I had to have a talking to by my team
20:58
because I was that person
21:00
and had to really help myself out.
21:03
You saw something to hit that.
21:07
There were a couple of us.
21:08
It was like, you have to put in the hard work
21:10
and the discipline.
21:11
And I think once I started to be consistent,
21:15
then my entire career took off.
21:17
And I'm like, shoot, why didn't I do this sooner?
21:20
I was holding myself back.
21:22
And I still think about that sometimes.
21:24
Yeah, I wish I, I almost wish I could go back
21:26
and I could be who I am now then,
21:28
but just continue to move forward.
21:32
That's such a great lesson to learn.
21:34
I think we all go through that at some point in our lives
21:36
where we get in our own ways.
21:38
A lot of times we do mimic the people that we see
21:40
because that's what's happening
21:42
and that's where I see success happening.
21:44
So I need to be that in order to be successful,
21:45
but then it gets in our way and we don't feel right.
21:48
You start to really hate what you do.
21:49
I've been there too.
21:50
I know what that's like.
21:51
Lou, I know you've been there too, right?
21:53
Lou was a little bit more stubborn.
21:55
He stuck to his ways
21:55
probably a little bit deeper than most people,
21:57
but yet it still gets there.
21:59
You start to act as if
22:00
instead of being the person who you are, right?
22:05
No matter man, woman, doesn't matter.
22:07
Don't get me wrong.
22:08
I know it was definitely more difficult for women.
22:12
There's just not enough of you all in our industry.
22:14
I wish more of you all would go in
22:15
and try to be part of our industry.
22:17
I think that the more women we have
22:18
and just shout out to all women out there
22:20
who are watching this, spread the word.
22:22
This is a great industry for everyone.
22:23
And you ladies are really making a huge impact for us.
22:26
It's way better because of you all.
22:27
So that being said, we need more,
22:30
but there's not a lot of role models there for you.
22:32
I love that you saw that
22:33
and that you had to get out of your way
22:34
and say, you know what?
22:35
I'm still, I'm a badass.
22:36
I'm the best in here.
22:38
I know what that's like.
22:38
I'm never being like pounding my chest like,
22:40
you can't out close me, you can't do this.
22:42
It did, it brought people down
22:44
even though I thought I was just being the man
22:45
because it made my boss love me,
22:47
but everyone else hated it.
22:48
But usually, as a leader,
22:51
when you become a leader, people like that now
22:52
and you try to coach them
22:53
and you're like, hey, you shouldn't do that.
22:55
You shouldn't act like this.
22:57
I appreciate you selling these cars
22:58
but my team's falling apart.
23:01
I need you to lead by example.
23:03
And that being said, I love that you saw that
23:06
and that's great that you were able to admit that.
23:08
I have to admit that all the time, still all the time.
23:12
Pickleball doesn't matter what I'm doing.
23:14
I'm competitive too.
23:16
So it's like whatever.
23:18
You can always tell those high performers
23:21
that need a little bit of humble pie
23:25
or they need to be able to notice
23:27
that somebody is doing greater than them.
23:30
But when you actually make the adjustment
23:32
inside of your heart to recognize,
23:33
I'm really not above anybody.
23:35
I'm not better than anybody
23:37
on the scale of a more important as a human being.
23:41
But inside of sales, you're absolutely right.
23:43
Our industry is great at doing that.
23:46
Whether it's an entire department,
23:48
sometimes sales will have its glitz and glam to it
23:51
and we above having to do this cleanup.
23:54
We above having to do this rearrangement.
23:57
Because I'm a performer
23:58
where inside of the military we were trained,
24:01
hey, if you see the trash, pick it up.
24:02
I don't care what you are.
24:04
And when we were actually able to see
24:06
the people that we're saluting
24:08
do the exact thing that they're telling us to do,
24:11
that's when it became, hey, that's right.
24:14
We do need to take personal responsibility
24:16
The whole area needs to be beautified
24:18
and all of us can pitch into that.
24:20
Especially when noticing
24:22
when we're contributors to the problem, right?
24:25
Whether you're a salesperson,
24:27
you're flicking your butts out onto the lot.
24:30
There's a place for you to put those, right?
24:32
If not, cash it out, throw it in a garbage, right?
24:36
Whatever it is, remember that what it is
24:38
that your customers get to see,
24:41
you do that you don't have to do,
24:44
helps them to recognize what you're gonna do for them
24:47
even when you don't gotta do it.
24:49
And it's very important that we communicate that
24:51
to our customers, to our community.
24:53
But at the same time, we also recognize
24:55
that if we were moming or dadding ourselves
24:58
or in any way, just trying to coach ourselves,
25:02
what would we say to ourselves
25:03
if we saw ourselves acting out of line?
25:05
And it's awesome that you can admit that though
25:07
because sometimes people, they don't wanna highlight that.
25:09
There was a time in the car business
25:11
that I was, and we got there, right?
25:13
But we were making more money
25:15
than we ever knew in our life.
25:16
And can't nobody tell me nothing.
25:19
We get to that spot where ain't nobody gonna tell me
25:21
nothing, especially somebody on the outside
25:23
or somebody that I make more money than.
25:25
And that was so arrogant, so silly.
25:28
And it also showed a lot of the maturity that we have.
25:31
And as time goes on, we mature into smarter people
25:34
that do recognize that.
25:35
But I'm sure that those listeners out there
25:37
know exactly one, two, or maybe 10 people
25:41
that were in that spot.
25:42
And some of them might've been you,
25:43
but it's awesome that you can admit that and know it.
25:46
I gotta say it's the truth,
25:47
but it also points out the fact
25:48
that one of the things is that because you know that
25:51
you're able to help dealers recognize that inside themselves,
25:54
Like when you're dealing with somebody, it's, hey, look,
25:55
your store's doing good, beat your chest.
25:59
But man, there's room for improvement here.
26:00
And let me show you how, let me explode it up in here
26:03
for you with the C4 a little bit.
26:04
So that means, I'm sure examples of that all the time.
26:10
I mean, it's, I'm willing to admit that
26:11
because it's such, I think you get a lot of people
26:14
when you talk about like the money,
26:15
people who are young, they come in,
26:17
you're making money hand over fist.
26:19
And you, maybe you don't have the strongest role models
26:23
around you and you just aren't doing the right things,
26:25
but that, I think that vein, as you go into ownership
26:30
and you know, what I do consistently see is like that fire,
26:33
that tenacity is still there,
26:35
but maybe they're a little bit more removed from the business
26:38
and they're just looking at a balance sheet
26:39
and they're like, we're fine, we're doing good.
26:41
And so when I talk to a dealer,
26:43
I love this when I'm, when I ask them like,
26:45
you're doing good, do you want to do better?
26:50
Do you want to do better?
26:52
Are you complacent?
26:53
Because truthfully, if you're just complacent right now,
26:56
then it's probably not,
26:57
it's not a good time for us to have a conversation,
26:59
but from you, where we are now,
27:02
or where I am sitting now, to where I was sitting
27:04
and F and I, I never knew dealers to be complacent,
27:07
but it is something that I have surprisingly run across
27:11
as you, you'll run into.
27:12
It's like, things are fine.
27:18
There's plenty of dealers out there
27:19
that are afraid of growing too big.
27:22
They understand more money, more problems, more fat,
27:25
or I'm going to have to buy a bigger building.
27:26
I'm going to have to stretch out my lot
27:28
if I'm going to put more cars on it.
27:29
All these different things that come with truly growing
27:33
and some people are okay with that.
27:35
And that's where you often find,
27:37
like the, a lot of great car guys and car guys
27:41
go sour because they don't have a way to grow.
27:44
They don't have a way to advance up.
27:46
They just kind of, it's like still water
27:49
and it starts to create all of this other look and junk
27:52
just because there is no advancement.
27:54
And some people are okay with that.
27:55
It's like, if they're doing good,
27:58
if they don't require much more
28:00
when all the bills are paid, right?
28:01
We've seen plenty of dealers in that.
28:03
Luckily for us, we get the chance to choose
28:06
who it is that we work with.
28:07
And we want, we definitely want to be inside
28:09
of a culture of people that want to keep growing,
28:11
keep growing, just like Fred Sherrick says, right?
28:13
We want to keep growing all the time.
28:15
And sometimes you do run into people that aren't that,
28:18
but that doesn't mean that there's something wrong with them.
28:21
They just found their niche and they got a bunch of people
28:23
that want to stay where it is that they are
28:25
then more power to them.
28:27
But we are a little different on that
28:28
because we're always trying to advance.
28:30
We're always trying to find a way to grow
28:32
and find someone else to grow.
28:34
And that's the one thing about leading leaders
28:36
is that when you start to see them take the lead,
28:39
when you start to see them truly grow and to build,
28:42
that's for filming.
28:44
And that's why we're so thankful to do what it is
28:46
We see countless sales pros and managers
28:48
all throughout the industry, all throughout the country
28:51
and being able to see the light bulb come on
28:53
and start to see the habits start to change
28:56
and then start to see them enjoy the rewards
28:59
of what it is that they've changed into.
29:01
That's always a great benefit
29:03
because seeing the reward is a great piece
29:06
of the rules for change.
29:08
You got to be able to see the rewards in it.
29:10
And I love that you've advanced where you are.
29:13
It's important that you see the rewards.
29:15
And speaking of rewards, that gets us to the last question.
29:19
So that being said,
29:20
absolutely been a great conversation with you.
29:22
Noel, it's been a pleasure.
29:24
We look forward to having you back on the show again,
29:26
maybe to talk a little bit more solutions, right?
29:28
I could tell that there's plenty in there
29:29
that you want to share.
29:30
I can't wait for that.
29:31
We do have a solution session coming up soon.
29:33
I'll probably invite you
29:33
and the team that's looking forward to come through
29:36
But that being said, rewards.
29:38
We've talked about your why.
29:40
We love what drives you.
29:41
We talked about what brought you to industry
29:43
and then also that it's in your DNA
29:45
that you find out once you get in.
29:47
That's pretty cool.
29:48
We talked about mentors
29:49
and I loved how you started with your father, right?
29:51
It all starts there.
29:52
you moved it up the chain
29:53
and talked about your automotive fathers.
29:55
And it's just been a blessing for you.
29:57
I'm sure now you're mentoring others
29:58
and that's a beautiful thing.
29:59
But always remember,
30:00
even as a mentor, be a mentor-y.
30:02
It's always a good thing to be that too.
30:04
The next thing we talked about
30:05
was your hardest lesson learned.
30:07
And it's hard to admit that
30:08
for a lot of A-type people, right?
30:10
And that's nothing wrong with being A-type
30:12
but understanding that the room for improvement
30:14
is amongst all of us
30:15
and we all fit inside that room.
30:18
Glad you recognized that.
30:19
But let's talk about your reward.
30:21
Let's talk about what's been good for you
30:22
up to this point in your career, in your life,
30:25
whatever you wanna call it.
30:26
What has been your greatest reward
30:27
for all the hard work that you put in?
30:30
I would say probably the flexibility that I have now
30:34
but also the relationships that I have.
30:38
I never could have thought in a thousand years
30:44
when I started in this industry
30:45
that I would breed the kind of like rich relationships
30:50
My general contractor was my client.
30:53
I helped him to build his credit seven years ago
30:56
and I'm friends with his entire family,
30:58
like spend some cohab holiday with them,
31:01
go to Tahoe with them.
31:03
My, just there's countless people that I can think of
31:06
and my life is just so much more rich
31:09
from the relationships that I've gained from this industry.
31:12
Whether it be clients, new clients on the C4 side
31:16
or even those networking opportunities
31:19
potentially that grow into like really strong friendships.
31:22
It's just such a beautiful community of people
31:27
and it's like sharpens iron that.
31:30
It's like I constantly, even this conversation,
31:33
the people in and around you
31:35
are constantly helping you to grow and to be better.
31:37
And so I know now that 15 years in
31:40
that another 15 years looking back
31:43
like those people are gonna help me to reach
31:47
where I am at that point.
31:48
And I think that's just really special,
31:50
the relationship piece.
31:53
The relationship that is what makes us rich
31:55
is having good solid relationships.
31:57
That's awesome reward.
31:58
I appreciate that well.
31:59
And I'm sure those of you that are listening
32:02
are banking on some of those relationships that you have
32:06
and are so thankful that you have those
32:08
for the hard days, for the great days.
32:10
You want somebody to celebrate with
32:12
and you want somebody to cry with.
32:14
You want somebody to learn with and to grow with
32:17
and you also need somebody to keep you in check,
32:20
keep you in place and to remind you
32:22
that there's a whole other side of you
32:25
that may not necessarily be done growing yet.
32:31
And just sometimes for the friendly banter,
32:32
me and Fred do it all the time.
32:34
We are highly competitive individuals.
32:36
So especially getting on a pickleball court,
32:38
even a basketball court,
32:40
we definitely love getting some of that competition in us.
32:43
But you know, a lot, we kept it going
32:45
while still trying to see each other succeed
32:47
and become our absolute best.
32:49
But Noel, that's exciting stuff
32:51
and love, love hearing about your greatest reward.
32:53
Love hearing about everything
32:55
that you just described about you.
32:56
We look forward to learning and hearing more about you.
32:59
Is there anything that you have for a listening audience,
33:01
those that are considering coming in the business,
33:04
those that are considering getting out of the business,
33:07
those that are considering whether or not
33:08
this business is for them or not,
33:10
any words of encouragement you would have for them?
33:14
This business, this guy is the limit
33:17
and you're gonna get whatever you're willing to put in.
33:20
I love what you said there.
33:22
Simple as that, that is factual.
33:25
What we do for a living is you get back
33:27
what you put in 100%.
33:29
So keep putting in, you'll get back a ton.
33:31
It's literally the work shows inside your paychecks.
33:35
That's just the way it goes.
33:36
That's why I love about automotive.
33:37
Great answer on that.
33:40
Car guys and car gals, we're so thankful
33:42
for each and every one of you tuning in to the podcast
33:45
and for those of you that are watching this
33:47
on any of the social channels on YouTube,
33:49
make sure you subscribe and make sure that you do.
33:52
Send some love to Noel, give her a coffee cup emoji
33:54
or maybe ask some questions.
33:56
We'll make sure that the questions get to her
33:57
if she doesn't see them.
33:58
But for those that really wanna know
34:01
how to be able to work with you, Noel,
34:03
tell them how to reach out to you.
34:05
You can reach out to me by email
34:07
at noel.ong at c-4analytics.com
34:10
and I'm happy to support.
34:14
And support, you will get everybody.
34:16
C4 is an incredible group of individuals
34:18
that are doing some big things for automotive.
34:21
Those of you that have actually used C4
34:23
inside of your business,
34:24
you know what we're talking about.
34:26
So please make sure that you do share this around,
34:28
let other car guys and car guys know
34:30
about some of the people behind the scene
34:31
like Noel that are making big things blow up
34:34
for the automotive industry.
34:36
We're so thankful for the time that you spent with us,
34:38
but there is yet one more thing that we need to do.
34:42
And that is drop F-bombs, everybody.
34:44
Now, as you all know,
34:45
these are the F-bombs that don't offend the moms
34:48
and we're gonna make sure that we do forgive,
34:50
focus, fly and we keep growing all the time.
34:54
Go ahead and get those hands on your shoulders
34:57
and let's forget, focus, fly on three, one, two, three,
35:02
forgive, okay, fly and keep growing, keep growing.
35:10
All right, everybody.
35:11
Thank you so much for tuning in.
35:13
I'm Lou Ramirez, the car guy.
35:14
Now, Frelinart, subprime hero.
35:17
And you've been brewing solutions
35:18
on the Car Guy Coffee Podcast
35:20
with the one, the only, Noel.
35:24
Noel, I'm coming soon.
35:28
All right, we will see you soon.
35:30
Keep brewing solutions, everybody.