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Car Guy Coffee Podcast Presents #5Liner feat. Travis Hafer
Car Guy Coffee Podcast Presents #5Liner feat. Travis Hafer
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About this episode
Travis Hafer joins the Car Guy Coffee Podcast to share his journey in the automotive industry, highlighting his experiences at Reynolds and Reynolds. The hosts discuss the importance of mentorship, personal growth, and the significance of community involvement, especially in supporting veterans through initiatives like the Wounded Warrior Project. Travis reflects on his challenges, including job losses, and the valuable lessons learned along the way. The episode emphasizes the importance of loyalty, hard work, and the impact of positive leadership in shaping careers in automotive.
Topics:
mentorship
community involvement
job challenges
personal growth
veteran support
automotive leadership
sales success
work-life balance
Car Guy Coffee Podcast Presents #5Liner feat. Travis Hafer
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 Travis Hafer, a veteran in the automotive industry who shares his incredible journey. Travis talks about his path from working at an airport to becoming a key figure at Reynolds and Reynolds, mentoring others along the way. The conversation delves into personal and professional growth, the importance of mentors, overcoming significant challenges, and the meaningful rewards that come from hard work and dedication. Travis also highlights his biggest achievement, winning the prestigious RH Grant award, and discusses the innovative initiatives at Reynolds and Reynolds that are transforming the industry.
📲Stream it. Sip 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 Travis Hafer, a veteran in the automotive industry who shares his incredible journey. Travis talks about his path from working at an airport to becoming a key figure at Reynolds and Reynolds, mentoring others along the way. The conversation delves into personal and professional growth, the importance of mentors, overcoming significant challenges, and the meaningful rewards that come from hard work and dedication. Travis also highlights his biggest achievement, winning the prestigious RH Grant award, and discusses the innovative initiatives at Reynolds and Reynolds that are transforming the industry.
📲Stream it. Sip it. Share it. Let's Brew.
Don’t forget to share and subscribe!
carguycoffee.com
certifiedsolutionaries.com
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Ford Bronco
"...g enthusiasts for the moment. We've never taken a Bronco on a beach before. How many of you have ever driv..."
Car
Buick Century
"...between the three of us, we could probably take a century of it, right? But the truth of the matter is"
Car
Chevrolet Corvette
"...n I retire, it's gonna be on my little rapid blue corvette, RHD 49. I love that."
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Let's brew!
What's going on, Car Guys and Car Gals?
Welcome to the CarGuy Coffee Podcast.
I'm Lou Ramirez.
And I'm Frellin' Arts.
And I'm ready to rock and roll!
Man, we're about to have some fun today.
We got somebody that's been doing it for a long time,
a gentleman in the automotive industry,
somebody I consider a friend, somebody that always makes me
smile when I see him.
And I hope I do the same, that type of guy.
You know what I mean?
But I'm excited, Lou.
I know you are.
But more importantly, we're both home safely
after a long journey out of town.
I know that we had to spend a weekend away,
but we got to spend the weekend on a beach, right?
So that was awesome.
We had a blast riding Broncos on a beach.
Are you kidding me?
Shout out to Bozard Ford, Lincoln out there,
and also big shout out to the FL6G group out there
who's doing it with Broncos, trying to really raise money
for what we got to witness, the Wounded Warrior Project.
Man, that was amazing.
I think Final Tally, Lou, was $13,000
is what was raised that day.
Boom!
That's pretty big, yeah.
That's really big to be able to help
an amazing cause for our brothers and sisters in arms
who were coming back from wars and coming back
from being a veteran and struggling.
And this is a way to be able to help them
get some resources that cost them nothing.
So I love it.
Yeah, so Wounded Warrior Project is an awesome outreach
that is used to be able to help out so many.
And it is awesome that we had the chance
to be able to make sure that they were getting benefited,
which we really had no hand in.
We were just over there talking to everybody
and hyping people up and being enthusiasts for the moment.
We've never taken a Bronco on a beach before.
How many of you have ever driven on a beach?
Four-wheel drive, having some fun out there?
I know.
Four-wheel drive really matters out there,
but we had a blast.
And we have been touring the country,
going from coast to coast, having some fun,
caffeinating some dealerships and caffeinating conferences.
We did go to the DriveCentric DC20 event,
which was amazing as always.
And then we drove to Jersey, over to the Jersey Shore,
where we had a good time with a whole bunch
of other great Incredibles inside of the industry.
But one of the highlights for us,
and there were a lot of awesome people,
we had the chance to spend some time with Tom Stoker,
and there will be a lot of stuff brewing with him
in the future, but for those of you that know,
that's a very important person to be able to have some time
with, to be able to learn from,
because most car guys and car guys
are using his word tracks today.
And it's been reshaped by very many trainers
over the years, and it was just really awesome
to talk to the teacher that helped us learn from a book.
And I love it, I love it.
He was a great guy, so passionate,
such a great car guy, and it was awesome.
But we did all of this stuff knowing that today
we have to be back in town for a five day, five liner.
And I'm excited about it because we got a cool guy
out here that's always so nice to us,
anytime that we see him, hangs out, makes us laugh,
encourages us, and even the encouragers need an encourager.
And we're so thankful that we have somebody
like our special guest on here today
to be able to get things started
for your Friday to finish strong.
Fred, I'm ready to get this party started,
but what do we got to do?
Man, we got to tag a car guy.
And tag a car gal.
Share, share, share, share, share.
Let's get this out there, folks.
We need people to know that we have
some really great information for you.
We're going to give you these five questions,
the five liner.
We hit everyone that we believe
are making impact in automotive.
And we're going to have fun doing it in this show.
It was brewed by Edifice Automotive Marketing.
Got a shout out to them.
We got the website scrolling down.
Got to throw another shout out to our friends
over at connect.com and then see for analytics
doing big things.
And a big shout out to Reynolds and Reynolds right now.
You know, we got somebody from there right now.
I got to give them big credit for helping shape
what's happening in automotive.
They've been doing it for a long time.
And we got to go to headquarters.
Remember that, Lou, last year?
That was an amazing building, bro.
They have a mock dealership,
like a mock showroom dealership going on in there,
like a think tank, a lab, if you will, for automotive.
That was amazing.
And it was cool to tour.
There's like a whole part of the building
that's just literally computers.
It's like a-
Server, everywhere.
That was crazy.
Because giant server area, right?
It was like amazing what they're doing.
Shout out to Reynolds and Reynolds.
But man, big shout out to who we're getting ready
to pull on the screen.
And I'm excited to do this.
Again, thank you for all our sponsors
that have been sponsoring us over the years even.
Shout out to everyone.
But today, I want to shout out to our man.
This dude's been doing it for a long time.
He's in here with Grace.
He's a father.
He has a son coming up in this industry slightly right now.
I love seeing it.
There's so many big things happening with this guy.
But I'm excited to put him on the screen,
put him on the show,
because one thing about being a solutionary, Lou,
it's not easy.
We go around talking to people about being a solutionary.
It's not easy.
But this man is an honorary solutionary.
Somebody who's doing things
that doesn't need to show off what he's doing.
He's out there making it happen.
So let's make it happen with him today, Lou.
We got the one.
Holy.
Travis.
Hey, sir.
Welcome to the show, brother.
How are you?
I'm great, guys.
How are you doing?
We're doing amazing.
A little caffeinated, little energized,
got a little something to sip on.
And we're excited to be brewing solutions.
Go, cards.
Cheers.
Go, Browns.
Go, team.
Let's go.
Oh, is that the right way?
Don't put those L's down.
Is that the right way, my bad?
Cool big blue.
Anyway, so great times, man.
Welcome to the show.
Welcome to the screen.
Excited to hear more about you, brother.
Yeah, appreciate you guys having me on.
So we gave a little bit about Travis, where he's from,
and what amazing company that he's with,
who's tied into so many parts of this amazing industry.
Reynolds and Reynolds, if you don't know,
you probably should, or you've never been exposed
to some really awesomeness innovative thinking
and innovative ways to be able to connect
different pieces of the industry together.
Travis, give them a little bit about Reynolds and Reynolds,
what Reynolds and Reynolds does for those that don't know,
and just to be able to make sure that you give
a little bit about you in the meantime.
Yeah, sure.
And with Reynolds and Reynolds, if you don't know,
you probably haven't been in the automotive industry
very long.
So that would be the first and foremost.
Reynolds and Reynolds have been around for hundreds.
I think we're almost to the point
where it's actually hundreds of years,
it's back into the 1800s,
they started with just the documents.
And like solutionaries do, you got to evolve,
you got to adapt.
And we're to the point now where we've got robots
delivering parts and dealerships.
Obviously like a lot of companies out there
reutilizing AI, Avery is in auto vision
and it's really starting to change the way
that dealers acquire their inventory
and look at vehicle acquisition.
I mean, everything out there
and what I'm really excited about
for my going on 15 years with Reynolds
is the leadership that we have with the company right now.
For dealers that are familiar with Reynolds,
especially back in the 80s and 90s,
there was a lot of love,
not only for our products, but for our people.
And with the leadership that we have,
with Chris Walsh at the helm as president
and acting CEO, Chris Rulon, Josh Allen, Kyle Smith,
I could go on and on with all the great people
that we've got.
We're starting to see some more of that excitement
hearing from dealers.
And when I go to events like Asodicon
and digital dealer, Neda,
and I bump into you guys and give a little something,
it's great hearing the dealers feedback
about Reynolds nowadays.
So I'm really excited.
Thank you.
We are excited to get this five-liner started
because you are an interesting individual
that just keeps things buzzing around
inside of the industry,
but can't say that we've seen too much out there
about you, you, not just what you do,
what you're doing, but about you.
And that's what we love about this five-liner
because we love to be able to speak about
the awesome people that are inside of this industry.
Whether you are new to the industry, that's okay.
So glad that you're paying attention,
so glad that you're listening,
so glad that you're early into this culture
of caffeinating how it is that we do cars
inside of this incredible industry that we have.
But we love to expose the great people
that are doing great things
and some of the challenges
and some of the great rewards that they have
as they go through it.
In exposing that through this,
you might find the story might say something to you.
If you're inspired by it, make sure that you do comment.
If you're inspired by it,
make sure that you do send out a nice message.
Make sure that you do reach out if you want some advice.
If you've gone through a similar situation,
you've come through a similar struggle.
Share it, find out how to get through it
to the next level.
And that's why we use this show
to be able to show everybody the people.
Everybody does it, I'll interview so many people.
We'll talk to so many people, Fred,
and a lot of times everybody goes,
man, the best thing about the whole thing
is it's the people.
You're right, it is the people.
But we want to dig a little deeper.
We want to at least get that five-liner lined up
to be able to know some of that
beneath the surface part of the people.
Because yes, the high fives and the hugs are cool,
but when we tend to get a little bit deep,
maybe penetrate the heart a little bit,
we start to find out what's really inside of that beam.
We try to extract that out, turn on a little heat,
have a little fun.
Don't worry, Travis, people have laughed on this show.
They've also cried on the show.
They've done everything in the middle
between laugh and cry.
Sometimes it's cry laughing.
Whatever it is, let's just keep it real,
let's have a good time.
But I'm ready for a five-liner, Fred,
but what do we got to do before we drop these five lines?
We drop F-bombs in the car business, guys.
Been in the car business for over two decades.
I think between the three of us,
we could probably take a century of it, right?
But the truth of the matter is
F-bombs are dropped everywhere.
But one thing that we believe, Lou and I believe,
you do have to drop F-bombs in order to grow.
But these F-bombs are a little different.
These are the ones that don't offend the moms.
These are the F-bombs that don't offend the moms, right?
And these are to forgive, focus, and fly.
Because if you're able to forgive,
let go of the weight of unforgiveness by wiping it off.
I tell you, if you do it quickly,
you move forward quickly.
You grow faster.
You actually start to find things in people
that you didn't realize were in them
because then they forgive you quickly.
There's something about the way you lead, right?
So you forgive.
The most important thing you forgive is yourself
a lot of times, just got to say it.
The next thing you do is once you're forgiven
and you forgive in others, you're so freed up now.
Your hands are free, you're able to focus.
And there's something dangerous about all of us
when we're focused, we could do anything.
I could run through a brick wall if I'm focused, right?
There's something special about that.
Focus is huge, but once you're focused,
there's nothing better than stretching out and flying.
So when you're flying, you get to see the views
that other people don't get to see.
But most importantly, you get to see the other view
that you didn't realize was there.
And when you go after that, you just keep growing
and keep growing.
So let's forget Focus Fly together.
These drop these F-bombs and get this party started.
Lou, break it down, bro.
All right, so we got to get our hands on our shoulders,
everybody.
Hands on the shoulders, on three,
let's forget Focus Fly.
One, two, three.
Forgive.
Forgive.
Focus. Focus.
Fly. Fly.
And keep growing.
Keep growing.
Now we are ready to rock.
We are ready to rock.
Solution session.
Here we go.
Five-liner, let's roll.
So anyway, five-liners.
Very first question, Travis, is your why, brother?
It's all about why you do what you do.
What motivates you?
What gets you up even when you don't want to get up?
What's your why?
Yeah, my why is really it started coming out of high school.
Like a lot of people had no idea what I wanted to do.
I wanted to be a professional hockey player,
but at five-seven and about a buck-twenty
coming out of high school,
that probably wasn't going to happen.
We had to start looking at some other options.
Had a little snippet in a movie when I was 16.
Thought that'd be a direction.
Hey, I've made it a nice 30-year run
for four seconds of fame in that movie,
but that didn't exactly work out either.
Trying to figure things out was a challenge.
And I did the college thing,
because back in the mid-90s, that's what you were told.
You got to go to college.
If you don't go to college, you're not going to succeed.
I'm not a college guy.
I'm not a school guy.
Adult learning, just learning in general,
I struggled with it.
And so I went to work at an airport
and I was tossing heavy freight.
And that was my thing.
And finding ways to always prove people wrong
when they would tell me I made a mistake
because I dropped out of community college,
I figured I'm going to find a way to succeed
no matter what the case is.
I'm going to find it on my terms.
And so that's what started it back in the 90s
and that's what has continued to drive me
through the last 30-plus years.
Wow, that's awesome.
And I got to ask...
Give me two.
What movie?
What movie was it?
Yeah, yeah.
I'm moving it right now.
I'm like, what movie?
Yeah, ironic.
It was the movies called Airborne.
It was filmed in Cincinnati, Hamilton.
Fred, do you know this movie?
I know the movie.
Yeah.
All right.
There's some movie stars.
There's a lot of movies right now in that movie.
Yeah, so that was Jack Black's first movie.
Seth Green was early on.
So it's been great, been part of it.
I got to fly out to LA and do a little autograph signing
and special screening last year.
But yeah, it was a fluky thing,
but they got a little shot of my head there,
about four seconds said my name.
I was off and running after that.
I mean, I skateboarded most of my young life,
you know what I mean?
Okay, that would be the tie-in right there.
Rollerblading and skateboarding in the 90s.
They loved that movie.
That's cool.
This announcement could have been way better.
So let's act like we rewound it.
Maybe we'll put this and put it to the back.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,
help us to make welcome one of the stars of Airborne,
the one that is Airborne.
Airborne.
There you go.
That movie did definitely get people to want to be in line.
And that makes you feel more 90s than watching that movie.
You know what I mean?
And seeing the whole thing.
That's hilarious.
My line sometimes today is having people like you
that actually know the movie
because now my buddies are gonna be like,
oh no, they said the beast.
It's over.
I'm going back to watch the movie.
That's how many it is.
I'm gonna go on.
If you're with us, that movie,
if you get any royalties,
you're about to get something from the one I've reviewed.
I wish.
I said some months would be nice.
Oh man.
Well, that's awesome.
That's awesome.
That's on your resume and list of accomplishments
or in the back, it's just cool talking points.
With that, we definitely identify with your why.
We definitely hear your heartbeat behind that.
And with it, we do understand
that jumping into this industry,
there is a whole lot of acting that goes on anyway.
There's a lot of mirroring.
There's a lot of improv that you gotta go through
when dealing with a situation,
dealing with a customer
or dealing with confusion
or just having a bad day
and you still have to make it look like
you're having a great day.
That's all part of what is still a showman at work.
And we are completely convinced
that especially inside of car sales,
the star of the show is still the car.
The key audience is the person buying the ticket
and that's the customer.
But for everybody on the backstage,
which is all of us,
no matter what end of this industry
that we're on, we're all the stage hands
making it work, making it move, making it groove.
And then putting some of our sales pros
and our actors on stage
to be able to get things going and get things popping.
But the star of the show truly is the automobile.
But the relationships get built, of course,
with the actors that are on there doing their thing.
Now, there's so many different roads
you could have taken from there.
That's a good conversation starter working anywhere.
But like, hey, did you see me in the movie?
You know, whatever movie it was, it doesn't matter.
Did you see me in the movies?
By the way, I'd love to work here.
But what was it that actually brought you to automotive?
Yeah, I told you about that airport
where I was tossing heavy freight.
And it was a great job.
Like a lot of jobs back then,
my dad packed brake booster for 30 years with GM
and they ended up closing all the GM plants
in the Dayton area.
So that phase of being able to grow up
and just end up at a company like that
that made good money, but it was physical labor.
That was starting to ease its way out
in the late 90s, early 2000s.
So I was looking for another avenue
to fit some of my strengths that I was starting to see
as I got into my early 20s.
And Dave Arbegast, Buick GMC, Pontiac,
DeWoo for a minute gave me an opportunity
to work as a second job during the day
while I was still tossing freight at night.
That was early on in my marriage, the kids.
I think we'd already had my daughter
and my first son was born.
So I was just looking for that extra money
to get things going
and working at Dave Arbegast and selling cars,
learning the nuances of it
and just how much fun it really was.
And that was a phenomenal dealership to get that started
because Dave was amazing.
He remembered people's names
that he hadn't seen, had worked at the dealership
apparently like five, 10 years ago
and watching how he was raising his son
up in the dealership world.
At that time, Blake Arbegast
who now runs both of their stores,
he was actually working as a lot boy.
He was detailing cars.
He was doing all the grunt work
that you would typically not expect a dealer son to be doing.
But yeah, he was phenomenal
and it was a great introduction for me
into the car business.
What a way to get into it.
And I love that you said, DeWoo, you dated yourself.
And he was like, yeah, Dave, did he go like, DeWoo?
I was like, oh, wow.
That is my number one credentialing comment
that I ever throw out there.
If anybody wants to question me
and my experience in the business,
I throw out, I saw DeWoo, they're like, okay.
You've been around a block, I've seen you.
You've been around.
You've been around.
You've got skills, and you've got skills.
And you've got skills.
If you saw DeWoo, you know how to sell cars.
Yeah, I saw the wrong DeWoo.
I learned what a spiff was.
Let me tell you that.
You've been through that, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
There you go.
You know, I appreciate you telling us the story.
That is a great welcome to,
we're so blessed to get people like you
in the industry, whichever way it comes.
And usually it's just a unique way.
We're not, to everyone's point, most of us,
99% of us do not plan on doing this.
It wasn't our, I just wasn't like,
when I get out, I'm gonna do this.
Like you said hockey, but it was like all day,
but 125, a little tough, right?
Because you're, but at the same time,
that same, and with the automotive industry,
doesn't matter the size, doesn't matter your background,
doesn't matter that, it just matters your intensity.
Just like you would, if you always said,
I'm sure when you're little,
I had the body of this with my intensity
and the skill I had, I could have,
I have tons of friends like that.
Some of them got way bigger as they grew up too.
And it's saying, why weren't you like that in high school?
You would have been big.
But that being said, it's do our time.
I think that we all have a plan.
I think that I'm a believer.
I think God always has a plan for us.
And a lot of times it's not what we think we want.
Later we find out what it is, right?
And you've found your plan.
And I think you're going that direction.
And matter of fact, you've been in that direction.
You're gonna keep going.
And you're mentoring down.
You're getting people into this industry.
You've been somebody that is like a mentor
to so many others right now in your career.
You have a son that's trying to do some things now.
You have other things.
You've even, I've even talked to you about,
hey, and you were like, hey, you even hooked my son up.
And I appreciate that.
We're gonna talk about that some later.
But that being said, just the idea
that the next generation are people
who want to get in this industry.
There's a difference now.
We're starting to see that.
Especially within our kids.
They see the good that this industry is, not the bad.
They don't think of us as the liars,
cheat, drunk, cocaine users,
whatever you want to think of a car guy, right?
We're not those people.
We're great humans that love our families,
that love the people we do and our clients.
And we want to take care of them.
A lot of that skill that we learn on that
was not what we were taught at first
or we see or we are perceived as.
It takes mentorship along the way to learn that
and to really become a better person.
Along your journey, I'm sure you've had some mentors.
You know, you being one now, I know you are.
But I'm sure you still even have mentors
inside your back pocket that you call up
and you need some help.
Who have been some of your greatest mentors?
Or if you wanna just name one, that's fine too.
But I believe mentors are a big deal.
Who have been yours?
Yeah, I've always tried to be very open minded
to anybody's advice, regardless of background,
situation, age, you name it.
So when I was at that airport and I was tossing free,
that was obviously a very mixed up time for me
because I was trying to figure out,
do I stick out college?
Do I try to figure that out?
Do I maybe go down and try to find a career path?
And maybe it was with that company then.
So Scott Sayers was a supervisor
and he really helped mold me while I was 18, 19,
20 years old there and helped me really get
into my very first leadership role.
I was a team leader by the time I was 19 years old.
I ended up being a supervisor managing 80 airplanes
and hundreds of semis that would come in
and out of Dayton at 2021.
A lot of my team had been with the company
longer than I had been around.
So having Scott show me the way at such a young age,
I was getting that real life experience
that it's really difficult to get in college.
Fast forward, there were a few other people that helped me
but I'd say over the last 15 years,
I've been blessed with a lot of great leaders
even before they were in leadership roles at Reynolds.
So like Chris Walsh, it's funny to see him
in the president and acting CEO role now
because he was the VP of the BDC when I got hired.
He did my interview.
I actually tried to sell him a life insurance policy
for his daughter in the interview
because he was such an impressive interviewer
that he took what I was doing at the time
and turned it into a test.
And I didn't drop a minute, I was like trying to sell it.
Walsh has been really key in my career.
Otherwise, I'd say Craig Lawson.
Craig Lawson's with Reynolds.
He was one of the first field reps
that I was assigned when I was in the BDC.
He ended up becoming my sales director for a while
and he's probably a key reason
why I get to live here in Florida now
because he had an opportunity
he was willing to let me grow and leave his team
which shows just how good of a leader he really is.
He's probably one of the greatest salesmen
in any industry that I've ever met.
If you ever get a chance to spend time with him,
you're always better off.
He's one that's just, he's meant so much to me
and I always will.
Man, that's a huge shout out right there.
I love how you dropped a bunch of just really amazing
people along your career since the beginning
of just being in trying to grow as a person professionally
and I think that's amazing.
That's good stuff Lou, don't you agree?
That's awesome and it's awesome
that you have that history
with those people mentoring them through
and we encourage each and every one of you,
those that are watching, those that are listening,
those that are hearing this,
understand you need a mentor.
You need somebody to cut on you.
You need somebody to help you.
You need somebody to help see some of your blind spots
and you also need somebody to help dig out some of the diamonds
and some of the gold that's inside of you
and show it to you and keep it in front of you.
If you don't have a mentor, get one.
If you don't have somebody to mentor, get one.
But make sure that you get one
after you have somebody pouring into you.
It's very hard for you to be able to pour into somebody
else if you don't have somebody pouring inside of you.
So get your mentors.
With that said, it's very important
that you have mentors during times that are joyous
but also during some of the hard times
for sometimes them to tell you to get over your own stuff
or to say, hey, look at it this way
and know that they want what's best for you.
So with that said,
you run into a lot of different things Travis
and we know this life as much as we put on the smile
and we do our things.
We know that there's some ugly in it
and we know that there's some challenges in it
but we never think that they're wasted.
I don't think that God wastes any of the things
that happened inside of our life.
Even the bad is used for our good.
With that said, what has been one of your hardest lessons
that you've had to learn professionally
or just personally?
Yeah, hardest lesson for me
was really just the experiences at the moment
that they hit.
The first one was probably 2005, I believe it was.
Maybe a little bit before that
and UPS had come in and acquired that heavy freight company
and we knew there were some things going on
but a week before Christmas, I was laid off.
Why is that the time?
I don't know, end of the year, fiscal, financials,
whatever it is, but I was working two jobs already.
We weren't really, we were just trying to make ends meet
with the kids and the family
and man, to have it hit right there mentally,
I broke and I'm not one to break often
but that one really hurt and I dug out of it, came back,
landed on my feet a little bit
but then fast forward into the 09, 011
and all that fun that we had.
I was with another company
and running material handling forklifts
and things like that and I was an operations manager
and I knew things were getting tight.
It was a smaller family owned company
and I went to the only other person
that was in management with me at that facility.
I was like, hey, if things get too tight,
all I ask is my wife at that time,
she was going back to get her master's degree.
So this is after three kids,
this is, we're both in our 30s at this point
but we had made a decision,
like we couldn't let someone else dictate our future
and our family and how we were doing.
I was doing this thing,
I was working part-time delivering pizzas,
working at a drive-through,
just anything I could do to try to get a spot
and so all I asked was, if anything happens,
just give me notice.
And of course, come in on a Friday,
asked me into the office and laid me off.
And the problem that I've had with both of these
is I was always very hardworking,
very focused on being a team player.
My production, my results always backed it up.
I was always bothered by this and I vowed,
I was like, nobody's gonna take this for me ever again.
I'm gonna find a company
that gives credence to loyalty,
gives credence to results,
good people and I'm gonna find that
and I'm not dealing with it.
So those were probably the hardest lessons I had,
which it was one of those things happened for a reason,
I kept hearing that,
but that's actually right about the time
where anybody that knows me,
you can't force me to do anything.
I've got to make that decision on my own.
That was when I decided to start going to church.
I didn't grow up in the church,
but that was when I started going
and the pastor that we had at that time
could not have been more perfect for me.
To meet a pastor that's off there drinking some craft beers
and every so often saying something that I'm like,
wait, is this real?
That was perfect for me.
So it was the right time
and things do happen for a reason,
but it took me probably five, six years
before it really start to hit
because I was just so in my self,
I'm the husband, I'm the father,
I gotta be supporting it.
I'm not doing a good job of that.
So that was hard.
Wow, that's great that you did have a pastor lean into
and it's amazing what ends up happening
when we run into those situations that humble us.
And the idea isn't that we get humbled
in the way that we think less of ourself,
we just start being more mindful of the bigger picture
and what actually matters.
And at the end of the day, realizing, you know what?
If I want my kids to trust me,
to help to be there for them,
to provide for them, to love for them,
I need to trust my daddy.
I need to trust the father to do the same
and to have me because he's got me.
And at the end, that lesson that I need to teach
is to them, is to my children too, that he's got you.
Whatever happens, he's got you.
He will provide for you, let him do his job.
You find out what you're supposed to do for his people.
And that's what we get to do now.
We get to figure out how we get to serve his people
and he's always gonna make sure
the funds and the ends meet.
He won't let you go without bread.
And it is also awesome that you get the chance
to go through that and meet somebody
that you can relate to that is approachable,
that has the right words at the right time
and meets you where you are.
Shout out to all pastors out there.
We know that's not an easy job.
We know that people give you a bad rep
just like car guys and car guys get a bad rep.
But there's some really great pastors out there.
I know that we are where we are
because we have great people speaking into our lives.
With that said, those harder lessons
are way easier to get through
when you actually get the chance to connect to the creator
and figure out what it is that he's actually doing
because he is the potter of the clay.
Sometimes it feels like we're spinning out of control
but he's shaping us.
He's making something out of us
and he's using it for good.
Again, none of the struggles ever get wasted.
Never believe that folks.
Never think that anything is wasted on you.
Just understand it's always working for your good
but Travis, you're hitting the heart brother.
You're getting the heart going over here.
No doubt.
And it is a beautiful thing to see that
and hear this and feel that
and the lessons learned.
The lessons that you've learned there
knowing that take the time to find the right company.
Take the time to really see how they treat their people.
Are they in it for the long game
or are they willing to sell themselves off short?
And if they are, if you're somebody like you
who has a heart of I'm a loyal company man
who will do everything I can to be able to do my part
and help others do it too.
That's, you wanna be part of a company
that'll do that for you.
And so take the time.
Folks, don't chase the money will come.
Chase the place that has great work environment.
No different than dealerships out there.
Be at those places.
Don't be at the ones that are doing it
and taking the short cut and make money today.
Instead, look for the places that are doing the right work
to be able to make sure that they make money forever.
And if they do that, you're at the right place, man.
I love that you learned those lessons, man.
And you're at the right place.
You're at Ray Ray, man.
You guys are doing the right thing.
And they're not going anywhere.
I promise you that.
You're always innovating
and they're always pushing to the next level,
which means you always could be innovative
in looking for the next level.
And that's a great thing to be able to do.
You, we've learned lessons.
You go, we talked about your why here.
And that's been an amazing why we talked about
what brought you in automotive industry.
Thank God you're here.
Appreciate you being here, my friend.
It provided for you and your family when you needed it.
And it's great.
And it also helped you find a place that cares for you
and wants to make sure that you come up in a company.
The other thing we talked about was mentors
and you laid it out for us
and you really threw some heart
and love to some of your favorite people out there.
I love it even to include people
you were currently tied in with, which is awesome.
It shows you you're at the right place.
Yes.
We talked about lessons just now.
I love the lesson learned here.
I loved tying in the fact
that you did get to find your faith
and you got to be somewhere
and meet someone that was guiding you.
Cause we all need mentors.
And that was another mentor in your life
that was perfect.
But man, we talked about all this great stuff.
But one thing we haven't talked about yet
in the final question
is what has been your greatest reward up to this point?
You've done all this stuff.
You worked hard.
And I know it's not end game yet.
This isn't the last reward,
but so far what has been your greatest reward
for everything you've done?
Yeah, it's pretty clear for me.
So Reynolds has an annual award
that you can only get if you're a sales rep.
So if you get promoted into any management position,
you're no longer eligible for this.
They've been doing it since 1972
and it's not just sales production.
It's definitely something that is geared towards
sales as a big part of it,
but what do you do for others within the company,
others within the community?
Just what kind of person are you?
And when I started, my first five years were in our VDC
where let's just say whether good or bad,
you're not exactly viewed as a top sales professional
because you were inside.
Sometimes things are easier because it's fed to you
or you're just taking orders, whatever the case.
And the first time I saw the award,
it's called the RH Grant.
And I don't know for those of you in automotive
that are familiar with RH Grant, but Richard H Grant,
he actually ran General Motors way back in the day.
He's one of the top sales people with General Motors.
He was with Reynolds and Reynolds.
And so before GM could get ahold of it,
we made sure it's a really honor and pay homage
to RH Grant and his success
and what he meant to just sales in general.
They've been giving out the RH Grant, it's a blue jacket
similar to this color a little bit actually.
So you get the blue jacket, you get your little plaque,
but it's only one person a year usually.
And they've been doing it since 72.
So to be at the time when I got it,
I was I think the 49th.
So many people, again, that self-motivation,
I had so many people that were like,
you really think you're blue jacket material?
You think you can get the RH Grant?
And I was like, yeah, I do.
Just hold my coffee and watch.
And yeah, yeah.
Fountain Blue, Live Night Club 2021.
I'll never forget the moment that had happened
because I just, I dropped blackout at the moment.
Apparently they played Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball
for me going up on stage.
But in that moment,
not only was it just my biggest achievement
for me personally,
but to see everyone around you
that had been supporting you
and to see their reaction to me getting it,
that meant so much more.
Some of our key executives now
that were maybe in different roles at the time,
Jared Klein, I mentioned one of my mentors, Craig Lawson,
Chris Walsh, teared up
because he was the one that made the announcement.
That meant so much to me.
Josh Allen even, who's one of our senior vice presidents.
I could go on and on, but it was huge for me,
but seeing the reaction that others were giving me,
and you guys know, you've been around,
if you're in sales, you can tell
when something's fake or something's real
and the hugs and the high fives and the fist bumps
and everything I got that night was unbelievable.
To this day, outside of even them surprising me
with the vice president role recently,
that's probably been the biggest.
That I can imagine.
That's a very, that's, like you said,
it's not just the sales.
It's about the person you are
and the company person you are
and all that included
and being able to be a team member,
be able to be a community member, family member
and also be good at sales.
All that stuff matters.
When it's, you have to be somebody who is always growing
and being an example,
because obviously RH Grant is somebody that did that.
So I was like, whoa, that's a pretty big deal.
So congratulations to you for that award.
Appreciate it, thank you.
One of many, but I love that.
Once you get into a leadership role,
because now you won't even qualify for a role like that
for that opportunity more, right?
Correct, yeah.
My goal now is to take one of my reps
to be able to earn it, yep.
That's it. That's my goal now.
Just like you just talked about when you got to see,
when they got to see you and they're tearing up
and they're emotional hugging you, cheering you on,
that was them passing the torch to you, right?
And now it's your job to pass the torch,
but then they're gonna be there too,
because it's their legacy.
They pass it through you,
you pass it through somebody else's legacy, my friends.
And you're continuing that legacy.
And it all started with Mr. Grant himself.
And that's pretty awesome to hear that.
And that's gone all the way
and it passed to your hands at one point.
49, 49, right?
That's right.
That's pretty cool.
It's gonna be on my, when I retire,
it's gonna be on my little rapid blue corvette, RHD 49.
I love that.
That's pretty cool.
I like where you're going with that, man.
And what a reward that this has been for us
to be able to hear your story.
Learning a little bit more about you, Travis, has been great.
We honor you.
Thank you for being the light that you are
everywhere we go.
He's sharp dressed too, folks.
If you guys ever see him, he's always clean.
That's one dude that you don't have to worry about.
Is he gonna show up looking?
No, he shows up.
That's my wife, Fred.
That's my little wife.
Yeah, between my wife and my daughter,
I'm like their little Ken doll.
They just in time.
Perfect, man.
As long as I pack accordingly, I'm good.
This guy, they even put it in order.
Just pants with this shirt, dad.
That's right.
Yeah, don't mess it up.
That's awesome.
Just like it's important to have people
to help you get dressed.
It's also very important to have people get you prepped
and dressed for the big moments inside of your life,
which is ultimately what that sounded like it was.
And I can hear the joy and I can hear
even being humbled inside of that moment
to see the people that are actually clapping,
actually cheering for you
and actually happy inside of themself for your success.
And that's when you know you got great people around you.
That's when you know you found your place
at the right space and brother,
we're very happy that you did that.
And we're excited to continue to see you flourish,
grow and to create legacy from this.
All of these people that you get to pour into
are very blessed because they have somebody like you
that knows why they're doing it
and knows what a challenge is like
and knows how to overcome it
and also knows how to keep smiling and love through it.
We are so thankful for the time that you've taken with us.
Are there any last words that you have
for those that are listening
or just wanna find out a little bit more
about what you do, how to get ahold of you?
Yeah, I'm always on LinkedIn.
So just look for Travis Hafer.
It'll be the most obscure profile pic you probably see.
Rockin' the blue jacket with some shorts,
browns t-shirt and some orange vans.
It's a little different.
It's Florida, so you gotta roll with it, right?
Other than that, you probably see me around
at various conferences,
just like I always see you guys
and seek you out for a little smile, a little talk.
I'm leading the central region currently
with our targeted solutions.
So my team only works with non-rentals, DMS customers.
So if you're out there and you're on dealer track
or Techianne or one of the others at right now,
you're likely to see myself and my team.
And we've got a lot of really cool products
that are out there.
It's just a good way to get introduced
to how Reynolds is doing things differently nowadays.
So if you're looking for a fully connected
retailing experience, Goobo Goobo may be the best routes.
We've got AutoVision that's completely changed in the game
with how you acquire vehicles and price things out.
The data is just very unique.
And then of course we've got ourself service kiosk
and we're working on some other things.
If you've heard of Curator,
I know Brian Pash and a few others have been working
with us and talking about it with Brad Tidal.
So it's really exciting and I'm excited
about what the future holds for us.
I'm excited about what's going on.
Again, we got to go to the headquarters.
That's a beautiful place.
You guys are doing big things
and I see the innovation constantly happening.
I can see the people and they're excited about it.
And for one, you dealers should be excited
that there's companies out there
that are always looking for ways to be able to
service you better so you can service your clients better.
Man, that's great.
Lou lost power, my friends.
He's been running hard, man.
He just texted me, he goes, friend,
I lost power, finish it out.
So that being said, Travis brother,
I appreciate you and your time.
Thank you for coming on the show
and sharing these five questions
that we love to hear the answers to, man.
So thank you so much for the answers.
I'm going to throw his email out there
for anybody who wants to throw an email.
Is it okay to throw your email up here?
Go for it, man.
I appreciate it.
If you want to email him, email him,
send him some stuff.
He'll be happy to get you
to who you need to be connected to.
But if you just want to tell him thank you
for sharing your story, reach out to him.
Send it to us if you have any questions.
I'm happy to get the questions to him.
I know he'll answer it.
If you have any other questions,
if you're watching this on the replay,
put a question inside the comment.
We will get back to it.
I promise you that.
Folks, we appreciate you for joining us
and tuning in.
Man, Travis, thank you, brother.
It's an honor to meet you.
You made me like even more, my friend.
Looking forward to giving you a high five
the next time I see you.
Let's go caffeinate the next conference
that we're at.
Can't wait, brother.
And man, let's just say goodbye
and forgive Focus Fly, man, on a count of three.
Ready?
Put it on there.
One, two, three.
Forgive.
Forgive.
Focus.
Focus.
Fly.
And keep growing, keep growing.
Well, I'm Frelin, our subprime hero.
We were co-hosted with Lou Ramirez,
who lost power, the car guy,
and we are here with the one,
the only, Travis.
Travis, Travis, let's go, brother.
Appreciate you.
Y'all be good.
Stay tuned for Mother One's coming up soon.
We got a show coming Monday.
It's gonna be great.
This one, watch it on the replay.
Watch it again, replay it, share it out.
Love you guys.
God bless.
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