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Let's brew! What's going on CarGuy's and CarGuy's? It's Lou Ramirez and it's Fred Lynn Arts
and we are brewing solutions on the CarGuy Coffee Podcast excited to bring some fun to you and
deliver a bunch of awesome just car dudes on this show today. It's going to be awesome. I'm pumped
up for everything that's on the horizon right now Fred. I don't know how excited you are but I know
that I am pumped up. NADA is coming. We got a fresh year and big things are already popping but
we're talking about how we're going to pull together the whole crew a whole bunch of awesome
CarGuy's and CarGuy's of Brewing Solutions into one place at one time. Boy it sounds like we're
mixing up a little bit Fred. I think we are. It's going to be the party to be at. I'm telling you
the after party to be at. The way to kick everything off. The way to go. I'm telling you it's getting
everyone together and I'm hearing the buzz about it right now. I'm excited because we're going to
be there. We may have some microphones. We may be pumping up while we're there but more importantly
the people that are going to be there is what it's all about. The networking that's going to be
happening. The communication. The fun. Even the drinks and some great music. I promise you we're
going to have a phenomenal time. I can't wait for this and it's happening very soon. We're less
than a month away. We're just like a few weeks if that away from having the best time of our lives
and I can't wait man because this is going to be big. DVM and V20 are doing some big stuff right
now and what we're going to do is notch it up some more with a little bit of CarGuy coffee inside
there and have some fun bro. Let's go. The best way to get a conference caffeinated is to get these
couple of CarGuy's out there with a couple of microphones getting things moving and grooving
but with that we need to go ahead and get this show popping and locking. We need to do we got a
bunch of great guys about to jump in here and really pour something out and build up some of
this excitement. So let's go ahead drumroll please everybody. We got a great lineup of awesome V20
leadership people up in here today and here they come first and foremost everybody on the CarGuy
coffee podcast we're pumped up to see him again the one the only Andrew.
Where are you calling in from? Oh oh I don't hear you're muted brother just gotta unmute your mic
real quick and you should be good. Damn. Figure that out. Hey join him from Bellingham Washington.
My man. Washington in the house. Washington in the building west coast. West coast. Heck yeah.
Are you looking good man you're looking good and something that we're all going to notice there's
going to be a theme tonight is that we have the starters in the building. I'm talking about the
starters like you got Letterman jackets the ones that are varsity leather people right they're out
here getting their stuff on it I can't wait this for y'all to see this notice the jacket on him it's
pretty smooth show that off a little bit. Oh that's right folks be looking for these if you have one
of these on you're having some fun right so let's go ahead and do this. Can't wait to get ours can't
wait to get ours but let's go ahead and welcome them in for these stars so let's welcome to the
show the one the only Jeff Gonzalez. What's up boys how we doing. I'm telling you to with the matching
jackets is looking so good together man look at that starting two right here let's go. These are
good man aren't they nice and fresh they got the badges on them I don't know if you saw the back on
Oh I haven't seen you back at all right turn around yeah take it out he's nice even car guys gotta
shout hey I can't wait for yours to come in you're gonna love yours. We're blessed and we're excited
about that man really pumped up about it and this is and look at this I'm already getting excited
and it's just two of us up just two of you guys up here so far wait till we get the rest of this
lineup Lou keep it coming it's like the start like the bull starting lineup in the mid 90s let's go
let's go let's go let's keep it rocking and rolling so help us to make welcome our friend
and one of our favorites to have a conversation or see him have a microphone is the awesome the fun
the awesomely smart and well-connected the one the only Dave Sponnie. What's going on guys great
to be here. I absolutely love you my friend and you know what I love is everybody that I'm pulling
up here my wife has met and absolutely loves everybody up here to include who's getting ready
to come up also and it's just good to do things like this with people that are more than business
to us and we absolutely love that so Dave you're one of those people you know that we celebrate
birthdays and half birthdays together don't we that's right y'all don't know nothing about the
half birthdays good to have you on here my friend love your jacket too that is sharp yeah I've got
I got the v20 but also one of the sponsors is also reunion so I gotta represent that
we got the dual dual sponsorship on this one we're pumped to be on it man looking good dude
looking good looking sharp looking good let's go ahead and make welcome the gentleman of the auto
industry who I believe has helped make sure that all of us here have gotten connected together
he is a master connector inside of this industry he is consistently finding new ways and new people
to accelerate this industry to new levels and he can't stop he won't stop he is the one the only
I love this this is so fun guys and it's so cool because I am in my office in New
Lou downtown Louisville and it's normally NULU but we're today renaming it to New LOU
so out of honor to you Lou Ramirez there we go yeah let's go let's go another
building everybody come on the New Lou babe that's awesome that's really awesome and I love that
of course Kentucky is really true and through to us we absolutely love that you're from Kentucky
and that's another piece of what we love about you David it's just familiar you're being familiar
with you because you're from here just it was instant rapport when we met you the very first
time and absolutely love that I love how you always been open to Lou and I the very first
time you invited us to one of your events and you had us come in just as guests you were so gracious
and just so nice just say hey come watch what we do here come see and every year you always
gave us more opportunity and I want to thank you for that so much and to this day you still do so
and we will always honor that and we look forward to seeing what you do next because
you keep doing things and we keep going wow this is amazing so congratulations for you and all your
success thank you and let's give it up for Andrew and Jeff because without their vision of seeing
the benefit of a dealer vendor mixer and bringing all these parties together we couldn't be where
we're going to be and if anybody gets an opportunity to watch the video where you see Jeff playing the
role of George Clooney and Andrew playing the role shockingly look at his hair he really pulls off
Brad Pitt perfectly so it's amazing that's awesome and I tell you I wish I had that on here to show
to people right now there's a way to be able to do that I'll make sure that I do but we'll make sure
we get that shared out because that sounds like a lot of fun right there I haven't seen that honestly
I got I can't wait to see it just went out like literally 45 minutes ago maybe an hour ago and
Andrew put it together and he said it to me yesterday he's like hey what do you think about this I'm
like this is incredible hold on why is George Clooney's face look all weird I'm like oh that's
my face that's George Clooney's face but yeah it was a great job and David thank you for the
sentiment there we all learn from the best in this industry and you are certainly one of the best
that are in in most humble gentlemen that's out there so I appreciate it thank you it's a pleasure
to be with you guys man there's so much love in this room and everybody Dave right there brother
right there in the middle you are such a great connector and I love how you when you heard about
the v20 opportunity and how you just went full steam with it you and David both I mean everybody
who's involved all of it but that was great then this DVM opportunity happened and I love that
we have all of us in here right now building something special trying to make sure that
everybody's connecting not just vendor to vendor not it's everyone it's people in automotive coming
together and having a good time sharing ideas and really getting better that's what we really want
here and I love that folks I'm going to put up a really quick QR code I want you all to see this
this is if you want to learn more about the v20 group this is the QR code later I'll put up another
one I'll make an announcement the QR code will have the DVM for you to be able to sign up learn
more about it be part of it it's very limited tickets so make sure that you get in there and
if you're there I promise you you're gonna have a great time if you're not next time
but awesome I know there is so much that's buzzing with this and we're hearing more and more people
start to talk about it of course we're doing all that we can to talk about it yesterday
you've got to hear some awesome quick snippets from different people from the v20 camp that
have been telling you where you can find them that video is actually out right now Dave right
now we've actually put out that video from yesterday yeah actually we have all four of them so all
four groups we we've got different sneak previews anybody who's interested in what's going on quick
two-minute recaps of all of the things that all the companies across our community are doing and
there's some pretty exciting stuff so it's a great way to go into nada and get that much more out of
nada while you're there but we're not just putting together a party either we're also combining our
forces to do a full v20 booth tell us a little bit more about that guys sure Dave why you take the
booth you've done so much work getting all the schedule together so what's so fun about it is
literally every 15 minutes we're going to have a different member talk about something valuable
for a dealer to use at their dealership so despite the fact that we're going to have 20 plus companies
up there presenting we've learned from each of them the right way they're not up there to pitch
they're up there to teach so if you're walking down the highway 2001 west is our booth number
and what's cool about it is on the big screen we're going to have a couple of benches in the front
just sit down stand i promise you'll spend 10 minutes learning every time you walk past there
and then we're going to have three rotations where we're going to actually have what we call
speed dating and two minute they're going to get up and they're going to talk about what their
solution is with the expectation that if you've been considering one of their solutions you've
now met someone that you can go back and form a better relationship with i hate to confess this
and i'll show that hair this is my 40 plus 40th plus year of going to nada and it's i'm not tired
i'm excited about it each and every time and i come from an automotive dealer family and when
you think about the fact that our family started our dealership in 1952 and my dad started taking
all of us to the nada i've got eight brothers and sisters we used to swarm the floor and my
dad said any swag any pins we never bought pins back at our dealership we always got them from the
vendors at the nada just take the time to visit the booths of all of the vendor 20 group members
most all of them will have some sort of badging to identify their affiliation with the vendor
20 group but then if you'll come by v20 the v20 booth 2001 west we'll take care of you and we'll
get you signed up for the party and make sure that you get to participate in the dvm program
because it's just starting we've been in in norland we're going to be in las vegas where are
we going next year gentlemen orlando here we go let's go i love it i love it i love it and it's
so important to do things like this and be so inclusive for all people right and really putting
together the right people that they can trust it's nice to be together in groups that you can
look at all the businesses around you and say i trust you all to be able to do this together
that i can bring my clients here and know that they're going to be in a safe place for it that's
huge because a lot of times we worry that people are going to take and steal but we don't have to
do that here this is something that we have all got together we've all agreed we vote people in
we get to do all these things now there's what four v20 groups right now is that right how phenomenal
is that they just in such a period of time to see people who vendors and i got to give shout out to
vendors i and we all knew this was going to happen vendors want to do the right thing and
vendors want to get better they don't want to rest they want to they want to find ways to do and
they want to connect and they want to learn from others they want to know what other people are doing
and how are they doing that and being able to have that resource from people that they can trust
is massive and i'm so excited that's what's happening right now and there's and that's this
is just the beginning wait till we see what five more years looks like so it's pretty yeah i will
ask you all this because i've been a benefit beneficiary of the certified solutionary training
that you guys provide we know not all the time that you all spend is on just doing podcast
but you guys are in there rolling up your sleeves and getting things done helping with leadership
and just overall business operations i just really want to thank you all for your all's
contribution to the industry well david we honor that that means the world to us that
means the world to us we appreciate you and of course we appreciate you always being us the
biggest cheerleader for all people that are trying to do the right thing in the industry
and also do it in a way just like the environment we're trying to make sure is available at the
of the events that you are part of hosting making sure happen is make sure that everybody
can come there knowing they're not going to get pitch slapped right that it's about just getting
that pitch right outside your head all the time and we're going to a zone where that is what's
happening everybody is practicing their lines everybody is practicing how they take drugs
and doing all that other stuff but the pitch slapping salesperson is the one that doesn't
really know how to build a relationship and a key part of any great relationship is being able
to educate each other that is a core piece of how we even train people we want them to be educated
encouraged and empowered but that educational piece is why we're going this is why people
are going they're not just going to the parties don't get me don't get it twisted everybody
good though something special about the parties especially for you all that no you get all of
your education you get to learn you get your cards you get your numbers you get all your
exchanges and some of your conversation started but some of your real business and relationships
build at the party at the bar with the drink in the hand with a free space for you to be able to
laugh with an opportunity for you to let the conversation linger rather than being on on
on a mission at work basically which is what it's like being on the floor we are working
we're moving we're trying to make the most of every moment and when we're able to let loose
and be at a party and have fun being able to learn from each other and make those connections
that's where the conversations the next week the next month the next business deal goes down
and you guys are curating something special so we're going to shoot this over to Jeff real quick
I know that you work to make sure that this is happening brother what's been bubbling up inside
of your percolator for this particular party man I'll tell you what everything this is this goes
beyond just party planning right that's that's it's tough I've learned a lot in it right because
I'm not a party planner right just play one on TV but there's a lot of thought that one into this
process and it combines the ideas of v20 all but in that party setting right we want to bring
people that we trust to it to an area and all of these vendors that are part of there there's 23
of them it seems like a lot but when you look at the entire space of automotive we're only a small
tick of it right but all of these people are good people people that we trust just like dealers when
they talk to other dealers what do they say that what do they ask of David probably saw this a lot
when he was doing all this consulting dealers trust other dealers but vendors trust other vendors
as well so we wanted to bring that community together but then inside of all of that it's we
want to appreciate who we all work for and with and those are the dealers but bring them to an area
where hey man I can just sit back I can relax sit on that drink and you know what if you want to go
meet some of these other vendors these are the people that I trust in the community these are the
good people that we like to work with please go out there explore some other areas but you don't
have to feel like you're being pitch-slap the entire time it's more of a unique relationship and to
make it even better for our dealers and I don't know if you guys knew this so we even gamified this
and part of the networking event and here are friends over at zipdeal who are part of v20 obviously
yep and a sponsor here they made our jackpot journey the jackpot journey is going to be like a
digital bingo card that you can walk around and talk to any sponsor in these jackets and each one
of these sponsors will have a unique code to unlock their spot in that bingo card the more that
dealers talk to vendors if they wish to the more chances they get to win $3,500 in cash now this is
just an incentive to just say thank you now everybody else can play these games as well
they're not going to win the $3,500 but there's other ways that we want people to just interact
and hey we'll give you some cash we're in Vegas go spend it on the blackjack tables go grab a
really expensive dinner whatever it might be if you win so I think it'll be really fun to just
watch how people network they'll even be a leaderboard one of the biggest the screens I think
there's like a hundred inch screen that they have there we'll have the leaderboard so you'll
get to see how everybody's interacting it'll be super fun that I love it already I think that
people are going to enjoy that the more that you could bring gamification to anything in my life
I'm excited I treat everything like that the way I check things off my checklist to me it feels like
a video game I'm like dude I'm done like Tetris getting everything off with the way
places it needs to be so I know I'm excited folks I just want a real quick shout out I did
change the QR code this is for the D this is for the dealer vendor mixer so if you want to sign up
be part of it make sure you check it out hit this QR code while we all have this up for the rest of
the show come on let's go I love it it's going to be on Wednesday right Wednesday February the
fourth I had it right down ticking right now at 5 30 p.m. it's a couple hours right correct it goes
through 8 30 oh 8 30 so we're talking about three hours let's party this is this is definitely
something special that you want to make sure to attend I wanted to also point out the viewing
from that beer park is right across from the Bellagio fountains that's right and now often
those fountains go off every 30 minutes every 30 minutes 15 I think they do it just depends on
like this thing yeah yeah there's gonna be incredible yeah it's gonna be fun
yeah I'm excited I will say the only thing I would complain about is I need these to be
tear away or zip off because this is one hot jacket and sitting in my warm office I'm sitting
there saying man I hope it's chilly in Vegas so I was looking at the average temperature
beginning of February and it could be in the mid 50s we could be nice and in toasty over there and
feel good outside where other people running inside to get in the warm weather every time I've been
inside the expo hall in the morning it's always cold yeah right so it always but it starts to warm
up by the end of the day because people get in there so you tend maybe by the end of the day you
may not be wanting you might be wrapping it around your waist but you will stay warm and then
outside to exactly what Jeff just said when you go outside it's going to be cold there's no doubt
about it and that's something that these jackets it's worth the sweat I'm just saying we earn that
sweat again right and it's gonna I can't wait to rock mine I can't wait for people to be I can't
wait to be walking around the expo hall and seeing others and being it's like being in the jeep club
everybody's gonna wave at each other we're all part of it that's what we wanted to do we wanted
to have something that stood out right and I remember seeing these jackets you did it I gotta
do this is it and so every vendor will have their own color as well that's the fun part about it
Dave's is gray ours is black and green in this tan and then Dave's David Kane has his his tan and
black v 21 everybody will stand out yeah I will tell you Jeff when I opened up the box my wife goes
what is that and my wife said where's the class ring I think it's the one that we could bring to
it the more that we all feel like it's because it is this is an exclusive club my friends that
not anybody could be part of the v 20 group and it's we want everyone to be part of it but you
gotta be ready this isn't something that you just show up to but this is something that needs to
happen I'm excited for it I can't wait to see what's next there's so many things brewing up right now
and I know that the way that all these things are coming about having dvm having the v 20 booth
those are just the beginning and when we see this evolution of what happens when vendors get together
and actually help their clients and actually care about their clients instead of just trying to hold
on to them because they're mine I don't want no one else touching them instead they're like no
I need help and that's what our dealers need our dealers need to trust us so much that we
could say hey talk to these people here yep they'll take care of you but just on that just before I
forget to thinking about all of us and we've got this qr code that's button up right now
the tickets are not just going to be at the v 20 booth actually every one of the sponsors that's
there has our own thanks for bringing it up so I think it's important just to remind everybody
go to that link dealer vendor mixer dot com look at the sponsors because chances are you work with
one of these companies we've brought in some of the best companies in the entire industry together
into v 20 as Jeff was saying earlier these are the best of the best the highest integrity folks
so if you reach out just say hey I want to secure a ticket there are a limited number of tickets so
we think there's probably we're probably gonna hit capacity so I would encourage everybody to go in
and reach out to your partners right now or plan to go to their booths early in the show make sure
you get those tickets come by and see us of course at our booth but it's just part of the community
coming together being stronger together and I just didn't want to forget that before we we got
away from yeah thank you yeah I appreciate you bringing that up that's important and I want to
ask Andrew a couple questions really quick Andrew I appreciate you brother you're every time I see
you dude you're just always so kind you ask questions like not just like surface level man
you're much deeper in that and that's what I really appreciate about you and I see back there you
played a bass guitar too I play the guitar so we should get together sometime and jam out my friend
I didn't know that that's pretty cool to see that back there but no just for you
when it comes to v20 and DVM what about these events what about getting together with these
vendors is so important to you it's funny how it started in the New Orleans back in like 2020
obviously it got canceled due to the or 2021 which got canceled because of the pandemic
then when we brought it up last year thinking on based on all the other after parties we went to
it's we're just a small company we know New Orleans pretty well but how can we make it big how can
we make it how can we put value in it to where people are coming and they're going to talk about
it afterwards and it was about nine months after we were a year after we joined v20 and that whole
concept of stronger together vendors helping vendors not being a dead end for services they
don't do but doing being a bridge to another qualified partner vendor partner that can help
their dealerships excel in what they do so the whole concept of what the party turned into last
year in New Orleans was very much inspired by what v20 was doing so after that success we got
together had some talks with Dave and David and hey let's this great opportunity to make this a
v20 exclusive party for DVM and showcase what this brand means to the whole industry at the biggest
show of the year so we're excited it's a great chance to not only for dealers to find out what
other like qualified vendors up there that might not have the same ad budget as some of the bigger
companies but also vendors and solutionaries like yourself to really get a pulse on the industry
from the dealer's mouth not some of the news networks reporting on like some of the dealers
they interviewed you're getting primary one-to-one information of what's going on at their dealership
so all that feedback is inspiring it's helpful it can create new products and our case with ATE so
all that's hugely valuable that's what we're looking to do raise the stakes in Vegas and
make it an event people talk about I love you said raise the stakes in Vegas brother raise the
stakes in Vegas let's double down right now and go for it and I absolutely think that's the place
to do it this is the biggest show of the year I said if you're gonna go big this is where you
go this isn't or you go home you might as well if we're in Vegas I ain't going home I'm here to do
big things and it's and that's important to do so it's people like you and your company all the
people in v20 and outside of v20 and all our dealer partners and all the people inside their
dealerships is why we do this man and seeing the greatness in the what can happen with automotive
if we keep pushing forward and how people are so worried about all this AI taking over our jobs
no it's not going to happen not if we keep doing things like this this is what it's about people
with people this has nothing to do with AI none of this stuff that we're talking about yeah maybe
some of our companies or most of our companies nowadays have AI involved or some kind of technology
going on but at the end of the day the people business is what we're in what we do everything
we do the way we talk the way we treat people the way that they feel when we do this all that matters
and having like really a collaboration I love that a collaboration with all of us together
doing something the great collaboration of 2026 is going down and it's just going to keep getting
bigger and I and my heart explodes when I think of stuff like that I think of my son who's getting
ready to graduate college and I was talking about this earlier I hope that he gets an automotive
right but just knowing that we're in good hands and I know there's great people coming up and we
as leaders now are great leaders out there trying to make some things happen and you're right this
is maybe a small sector of automotive but to me this is the best sector of automotive of automotive
is this v20 groups and the people inside who want to do it so congratulations to all of us and to
all of you all for what you've done inside your businesses and what you're doing together even
more importantly for everyone else thank you now David thank you you've done an incredible job
especially in pioneering and putting together the people that want to talk about how to master
things digitally and we're always looking at leaders inside of the industry like you four
gentlemen that are trying to find a way to make sure that we constantly are creating the conversations
that lead to solving bigger problems so ai is an important piece of this but the type of ai we're
talking about is actual interactions actual conversations with actual people and so for
these years it's been so important to do that there's nothing that replaces us actually being
close enough to catch a shush right David you know me all too well buddy you can't have ai unless
you have ai which is human intelligence and it's what we're all about and leveraging the great minds
of jeff and andrew to pull this together wow this is just really wonderful and thank you gentlemen
this is just really fun to be part of thank you thank you yeah we're excited we're i can't tell you
how excited i am now i know you are jeff you know we're pumped up for jeff your energy is something
special to us we definitely feel the reciprocation sometimes we're beating the loud drum and some
people are just taking it or going with a little bit of a clap you bring some of that energy you
feedback very well and we appreciate you and what you're doing to try to make sure that everybody
is finding a way to have some fun but being included in the conversation because car guys and car
guys you know how hard it is to corner somebody that you want to ask a question to we all know
the awkwardness right come on this is at fundamental levels the meet and greet is a such a vital piece
of the interaction with their customer with the client with somebody that we even work with it's
so important that we have that conversation but sometimes we stay at wall flowers sometimes we
stay in our own little clique sometimes we don't have somebody to introduce us their dealers
vendors we're trying to put you all in the same place together to be able to cultivate that conversation
ask that question that maybe you've been wondering or find out that thing that's on the horizon that
you would have never known about had you not have a cup of coffee or a cocktail and a conversation with
some of these car guys and car guys that are in the industry what you guys are brewing together
is awesome we're so thankful to be a part of it to grab a microphone and get everybody excited
to be there it's always more effective when you are having fun so much more effective when you're
having fun otherwise yeah right yeah people that you're having fun with you're gonna learn
you're gonna grow and you're gonna really build a better relationship because you don't you want
to have fun with the people that you're building with building your business and your community
goodness that what what an opportunity to find the friends to do that with absolutely let's make
some memories okay and we appreciate you all and we're so excited about the v20 booth each and
every one of y'all's booths real quick before we get out of here if you do is everybody here have
a booth outside no we got a party dude and what a big party it's gonna be but i'm sure we'll see
you at the v20 booth yes absolutely absolutely absolutely and then yeah you can see you can see
me at the v20 booth or reunion's booth is over in the far left corner so just walk in and go as far
left as you possibly can and we're right there in the back corner that's and he'll be right there
i'll be walking between them all the entire entire time so i know you will man i'm gonna tell you
i've seen a lot of places a lot of the booths and where they're at the west hall has a lot of great
people inside that one folks if you're in the west hall come check them out i promise you
it's gonna be a great opportunity not to get bitch i said bitch slapped pitch slapped i said it's
glued in i did so you're not gonna get either one of those slaps i promise you you'll come in
there and you're gonna just feel really good about it you're gonna get some education to be
able to take back to your store and most importantly you'll be part of a network that can really just
help you take it to the next level let's keep growing i love it you've grown you know what we
got to do to keep it growing we drop some f bombs everybody let's go ahead and forgive focus and fly
to get on out of here for those of you that don't know the moves it's wipe off the weight of unforgiveness
it's get focused and then stretch out and fly so we can keep growing all the time so help us out
everybody hands on the shoulders on three one two three forgive him focus fly and keep growing
as you see those jackets are flexible too everybody let's go
all right we appreciate it we're stronger together that's right together everybody
we'll see you soon thank you for brewing solutions on the core guy coffee podcast we're out
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