Episode 2 - joewauto - The Car Connoisseur
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Brand
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a famous car brand from Germany that makes luxury cars, trucks, and buses. They are known for their high-quality vehicles and advanced technology.
Concept
AMG
AMG is a special division of Mercedes-Benz that makes high-performance versions of their cars. These cars are faster and have better handling than regular Mercedes models.
Brand
Porsche
Porsche is a well-known car brand from Germany that makes fast and luxurious cars. They are famous for models like the 911 sports car.
Brand
Bentley
Bentley is a luxury car brand from Britain that makes very expensive and high-quality cars. They are known for their comfort and style.
Brand
Aston Martin
Aston Martin is another luxury car brand from England that makes stylish and fast cars. They are often seen in movies and are known for their beautiful designs.
Car
Mercedes-Benz G550
The Mercedes-Benz G550 is a fancy SUV that can handle tough terrains. It has a strong engine and a comfortable interior, which makes it a favorite for people who like luxury cars.
Term
manual transmission
A manual transmission is when you have to change the gears yourself while driving, using a stick and a pedal. It gives you more control over how the car drives.
Term
automatic transmission
An automatic transmission is a system that changes the car's gears for you while you drive, so you don't have to do it yourself. This makes driving easier, especially in stop-and-go traffic.
Term
Mopar
Mopar is a brand name that represents parts and services for cars made by Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram. It's often used by fans of those cars to talk about performance parts and accessories.
Brand
Chevy
Chevy is a nickname for Chevrolet, a popular car brand in America. They make many types of vehicles, like trucks and sports cars, and have a lot of fans.
Car
G-Class
The G-Class, or G-Wagon, is a luxury SUV made by Mercedes. It's known for its unique shape and ability to drive off-road, making it very popular.
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This is kind of rare for you to have a conversation.
I mean, you're known for your short-form car reviews, but there are probably a lot
of people who don't really know how you got to this point.
I think it would be interesting for them to learn what you were doing before the car business
and how you've gotten to the point you were at now, where you're surrounding yourself
with some of the most exotic and luxurious, amazing spec cars in the entire world.
Maybe tell everybody a little bit about what was Joe doing before he got into the car
business.
Yeah, for sure.
I would say the vast majority of people do not know my story or much about me or
anything like that.
A lot of that just to myself, but before I ended up doing what I'm doing now for four
years, when I was even younger, I was 19 at the time, there was a store downtown Cleveland
called the Restock, and that was before it was a sneaker resale store, clothing resale
store, somewhere like StockX's, Go Grail, and some of these online places today.
That was a place that was downtown, a friend of mine, Joe Hayden owned the store.
I had a business prior to that that basically did the same thing through Instagram,
through referrals, everything like that for a sneaker and streetwear resale, and got
tapped into help run that store for four years, turned a little broad years here in
Cleveland.
Everyone you could pretty much think of knew he had that store, knew of the store
when it came to a lot of athletes, artists, celebrities, stuff like that.
So he referred a lot of that business to me or everything went directly to me.
Another friend of mine who helped run the store as well too.
So that was naturally what built up my relationships, friendships, a lot of
these connections from that side of things.
Cars has always been my number one passion, as you know.
So whatever that naturally was getting to a transition point where I'm like,
I kind of feel like I'm at the top of what this could be.
And I knew cars would be the number one thing that the rest of my life basically
surrounded itself with naturally made that transition.
And I was actually going to go out to LA at the time.
This is back in 2019 to be a, you know, not a broker, but advisor, kind of
whatever you want to call it.
But a lot of those for those same people that I have relationships with a
lot of people that I was getting more referrals from and everything in
that space again, whether it be athletes, artists, celebrities, business people,
whatever the case might be.
Um, and then actually somebody at Mercedes-Benz and North home said that
I was friends with, uh, reached out to me and said, Hey, no, you're not
really a dealership guy, but this obviously isn't a regular dealership.
You know, one of the top Mercedes dealers, you know, and the Midwest for
sure, uh, one of the top AMG dealers in the country.
So I'm like, I don't want to be in the dealership space, but this
was in Northeast Ohio, you know, prestigious place.
We have that dealership Porsche, including motor sports roles, Bentley
Aston.
I'm like, I think there might be an opportunity here to at least see where
this can go before I completely did, you know, my own thing.
And that was six and a half years ago.
So it's been, uh, it's been a great time over these, these last six
and a half years and yeah, that was the starting with it.
And then transitioned to not only the dealership side of things and
what you know my day to day to be, but then everything's still now with
doing the vehicle sourcing and, you know, nurturing and, you know,
growing a lot of these relationships and everything like that, you know,
outside of those dealerships as well.
So yeah, yeah.
I remember by the time that I met you and got to know you, um, I, the
joke was always, I would tell my wife that, oh, we call a cool Joe
because he just knows so many people.
Like you just were so well connected from your time before the car business.
Yeah.
Um, and like you said, a lot of athletes and artists and celebrities that, uh,
kind of were in that world of, of high end clothing and accessories,
sneakers, all that sort of thing.
And so I feel like it was a very natural transition for you to
now represent Mercedes Benz.
And of course we had, you know, portion, as you said,
at that time we had motorsports.
So some really, really amazing cars.
Um, but I just, I remember I couldn't figure you out.
I was like, I've never met anybody who knows so many people for sure.
Um, but that is, I think one of the, the most unique things about you is
that you, uh, you have some of the most, um, influential people, uh, in
the world that you know very well, but you don't, nobody would ever
really know that, you know what I mean?
Cause you don't kind of like, you don't act like your friends with celebrities.
It's everyone's just people to me at the end of the day.
So, um, I am a very private person, as you know, too.
So it's like, unless you're someone like you, who's, you know,
a good friend of mine outside of this, um, couple of other people
that are, you know, close to me and even that, I don't really
say much of my day to day or anything with a lot of, you know,
people around me, I don't like to talk about myself.
But yeah, so I don't, I don't really like to, to talk about
anything I or me or whatever the case may be.
So yeah, for all intents purposes, unless someone's asking
me about something very specific, I'm not going out of my way to let
anybody know anything that is going on in my, my life, business,
personal, whatever the case may be.
So yeah, that's an especially when it comes to the social media
side of things, a lot of people can, you know, assume certain things
based on, you know, people that follow either one of my pages or, you
know, things of that nature and people always did even before, you
know, the page got to where it's at now.
Um, but you know, as for posting, you know, who clients are,
who this or who that, like I keep everyone's, you know, information
and any transactions, you know, both online and offline, extremely, you
know, close to myself, nobody knows stuff that's going on, unless
there's one or two other people that might be involved in a deal
that I'm doing that have to be, obviously, even then that
information still extremely private.
So yeah.
No, a hundred percent.
And that's, um, I think that's super cool because you could
choose to approach it in an entirely different way, right?
There's people out there that make it very well known and
who it is that they're working with and they take that angle of it.
But, um, I'm sure that that has helped you to meet a lot of the
people that you've met and to get a lot of the referrals that you've
gotten, knowing that people can be kind of anonymous while working
with you for sure.
And, uh, that's the constant thing that I've always heard.
And again, this was even before I started doing cards, even
back at the restocked is with everyone else taking care of
from that, it was this exact same approach.
It's again, everyone's people, I really personally don't care
like who you are or what you do or anything, uh, like I care
about how you are as a person, like, yeah, and this and that.
And that was kind of the word of mouth or referrals that were
back then, and it's even, you know, a hundred X now, it's
just like, you know, Joe is going to take care of you, do
whatever's needed, you know, ASAP, a lot of the people that
I deal with are cross country, cross the world sometimes.
Um, and it's just things are handled.
You get a good friendship relationship.
Some of it's just business relationships, whatever the
case may be, but it's nobody has to worry about it.
You know, kind of BS that for that exact point, a lot of
people, especially in the car space, like to, you know, self
promote themselves of, oh, I'm dealing with so-and-so or this
person's this or that or whatever the case may be.
And that's actually the opposite of how I am.
It's in, I think that's definitely, you know, a big
contributing factor, aside from just how I handle business
in general, that, you know, this has got me to where I am
and where it continues to push me.
So yeah, no, totally.
So you had been posting on social media for a long time before
there was Joe W. Otto, you had kind of your personal page and
it was a mix of everything, right?
Things that you were doing, places you were going, you
know, dinners you were having, you loved to cook, you
loved to go out and eat and cool cars, just everything.
And you had grown a really impressive following on the
back of nothing but like pictures, which I think in the
early days of social media, that was like kind of the thing.
And then when video took off, it was interesting to me to
see that you had built up this following of people without
ever posting like a video of you.
I mean, maybe there were a couple of little videos of
like where you were, but nothing major, certainly not
any of you talking or showing a car or anything like
that for sure.
And then when you did start making videos, it just
immediately took off.
And what do you think the reason for that was?
Yeah, I think it's a combination of things.
I think it's one, just whatever you want to call it,
like a natural eye for knowing, like I've known social
media and how to do social media.
I would say in a correct and unique way since probably
2010, you know, when I was a junior high or high school.
So I think that once it got to the video part was
important, but everything throughout the years was,
I mean, basically how I am offline is how online
presence was where it's like, whatever people want to
call it, like, almost serious or this and that's
like, that's not, I'm not trying to do anything.
It's just, I would sprinkle in little bits and pieces
of my life online to just basically like a proof
of life kind of thing.
Like, hey, still here, like, you know, occasional
photo dumps or whatever the case may be towards
like people knew something was going on with me or
things go on with me or whatever.
And it's like, but you never heard me talk.
I hated videos.
I would never be on video on camera.
I still don't prefer it.
I still don't like to, but it is what it is at this point.
So when again, for years, people were telling me,
Hey, you should start making videos.
You should start doing this.
You should start doing that.
I'm like, maybe at some point, you know, and a big
background of my knowledge for cars is also
automotive YouTube, you know, been very affluent and
like following that for probably, you know, going
on 12, 13 years at this point.
So I know how to do like everything if I ever
did want to, as we had conversations about, and
then it was you that were the final person to
just be like, you need to like, at least try
this and see how it goes.
And I'm like, okay, to see how things went with
you pretty early on and your success with it.
Again, among other people that I know, but just
you specifically being right in front of me.
I'm like, all right, let me do one video.
So I did one video and that video went and
mind you on Instagram at the time, I think
I only had like 20 ish thousand followers or
something like that.
Yeah.
And then literally nothing on TikTok.
TikTok was like 5000 followers or something.
That video went for, I think it's over a
mil on Instagram and about a mil on TikTok as
well.
Yeah.
And I was like, it was the one of your 63 wasn't
it?
It was a little bit of a walk around my personal
car at the time.
And I was like, okay, that's like again
reassuring, but like, maybe I'll do like a
couple of these and then same thing.
It just went crazy, went crazy.
And then over a two months fan of just
posting one video a day, I think the
page went from like 20,000 to around
100,000 by the end of the year.
So literally, you know, 80,000 followers,
I think in like two and a half months or
something like that.
Yeah.
I've just a lot of spreading.
But again, I think the way that I did
videos, the way that I still do videos
is very different from the way everyone
does stuff online where everyone likes
to be, you know, super bubbly and
super just yelling at the camera and
this and that.
And it's just like gimmicky and I don't
want to say that in like a negative
way, but like it's fake in a lot of
ways.
Sure.
And I think what naturally drew people
to my videos was again, first off,
they're not like nothing is sales
related, nothing is like in that kind
of way.
It's all, hey, I'm very picky about
what spec vehicles that I do, what
vehicles in general that I do, show
off a unique spec of a vehicle for
about a minute, yeah, a couple of
details that matter, not super high,
not super low, whatever the case may
be, but just, you know, kind of,
you know, a very easygoing video
unoffensive in any way.
And again, that's not by trying.
That's just naturally like how I am
exactly.
And and that's it.
And I think that was a more palatable
video, especially in like a one to
one and a half minute format to where
it's like educational, but not too
educational.
It's, you know, it's not too much
of anything, but kind of like a
balance that people liked.
And then obviously from the
background perspective of having,
you know, the black wall or whatever
the, you know, quote unquote, aesthetic
thing that people want to call it,
like just have an eye for how to
kind of set certain things up.
And that's it.
So yeah, I think that kind of
combination point is what kind of
moved it a good way.
Yeah, it's been your videos have
been remarkably consistent.
And I think that also makes it
easier for you, like, I think
the hard part for you, of course,
is do I have something that I think
is cool enough, unique enough to
film? But beyond that, you have
a formula and it's not gimmicky.
You're not chasing trends.
You're not, you know, always
changing it up in such a way that
you've got to really actively be
thinking about, OK, do I have to
script this out? No, it's I just
once I have the car that I know
is worthy of a walk around, it's
the same thing every time, which
is really cool.
So we've talked about, you know,
you watch a lot, you did and you
do watch a lot of automotive
YouTube. And that is kind of the
Mecca. I'm sure there are tons of
people that would love for you to
do full on long form YouTube.
Is it that you don't think that
you could do it the way you want
to do it while kind of also
working for a dealership?
Or is it just that you know
that that's going to be a big
project and you're and you don't
want to take it on just yet?
Yeah, I think that's something
that is definitely in the works.
It's definitely in the works,
but it's time related more so for
me, yeah, because to do that
right, like, contrary to what
people might think about my
Instagram or TikTok videos, like
that is a 10 to 15 minute
film process. It's a 10 to
15 minute edit process.
If that it's very easy to do
time wise for everything that goes
on in my day to day.
Like my day to day, as you know,
is again, from the dealership
side of things, a full 60 plus
hour work week in many ways,
even when I'm not in the office
and then you have my business
outside of the dealerships,
which is again, on the sourcing
side of things, on multitude of
things. And again, I'm not
just the person for, you know,
advice or selling people
anything. It is also if somebody
needs something from a service
perspective, from a, you know,
collision wrap, whatever the
case may be, they call me to
set it up a lot of times all
around the country, outside of
the country, whatever the case
may be, to make sure like I'm
the guy point blank for all
of these people to make sure
everything is handled
through. So that's yeah, a
lot of time and a lot of
that is also like unplanned
time. Like I, you know,
might have my day remotely
planned out, as you know, you
get tugged in 15 different
ways, you know, by lunchtime,
half the time towards like
keeping all of that in one
place is a lot to manage
time wise for my day to day.
Yeah. And I don't think at
this point, like I'm able to
give that the proper attention
it would need. Yeah. Which I
want to start dipping my
toe in to maybe if it's only
like one video every two to
three weeks or two, you know,
video a month or something
like that, I'm close to
getting to that point because
ultimately that is a space
for in both long form and
short form that again is the
Mecca for everything are
automotive in a place that I
definitely would like to get
into here on the on the
shorter side of things. But
it's all all time related.
So it's like to be able to
do it. I definitely know it
will go well. I feel pretty
confident that it's just
about when the right time is
for sure. Yeah, that makes
sense. So vehicle sourcing
kind of always something
that you've done. And now
based on our conversations, the
social media has really, I
think, brought more people
than ever before to you who
want to utilize you for
that. And I don't think that
people understand what an art
form it is and how difficult
it is to actually
effectively source vehicles
because most of the time
you're sourcing used cars
now it could be occasionally
a new car. But what is that
without, you know, you don't
have to, of course, reveal
names and sources. But if
somebody reaches out to you
and they're looking for an
incredibly hard to find car,
how do you go about, you
know, what expectations do
you set? And then what does
the process look like to try
to find that vehicle for
them? Yeah, for sure. So a
lot of it, to be honest
with you, isn't that
difficult. There isn't much
in the scheme of things.
It's actually very difficult
vehicles to find. But when
you have a network of people
that I have built up
thankfully on the dealer
side of things, on the
broker side of things, on
just a multitude of people
throughout the car industry. A
lot of it is, you know,
texts behind the scenes. Hey,
you know, so and so looking
for this or that. And when
you deal with things in the
supercar, hypercar, Rome,
yeah, that's when it becomes
tricky because a lot of off
market quote unquote vehicles
you don't want too many
hands in the cookie jar
with that because then it's
like, Oh, I know so and
so much so and so and so and
so like 15 different people
got to get paid. And that is
a different thing from a lot
of the I would call it more
relatively normal vehicles,
even though they're they're
not normal. Yeah, whether
it be, you know, performance
cars, sports cars, luxury
cars in the 75 to maybe
like $300,000 price
point. Yeah, to where that
is just people that I know
either have them or have
them an inventory that, you
know, might not necessarily
be online or some of it is
online. A lot of it is
still on market stuff, but
a lot of people just don't
have the time or care level
to go find it themselves.
They're like, Hey, I know
you know, you know, X Y Z
vehicle, just find it for me
like I'm and it's something
that's completely on market.
So a lot of it isn't even
off market stuff, but for
stuff that is a little bit
more unique and I'm starting
to lean into it more is
using the actual platform
for what it is. And putting
up a simple IG story of,
Hey, I'm looking for X Y Z
vehicle, a couple of very
specific points of it. And a
very interesting thing to me
is I have people all around
the world, not just the US,
but reaching out and being
like, Hey, I have this, this,
this or whatever the case
may be. And
we know what I'm thinking
of along those lines is you
mentioned using the platform
for what it is now that you
have the reach that you do.
Yeah. I think that you and I
have both realized just how
influential or how much reach
you do have to the point that
if you're looking for something
right, and you ask the people
that watch you to help you
find it, they will help
you find it.
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, a lot
of it is completely effortless.
So and again, I haven't
really explored that route.
I'm just now getting into
that kind of I would say
realizing the platform that I
do have, because like most
things in life, I kind of tone
a lot of things down.
Like, I'm like, OK,
like, don't get me wrong,
great platform, big platform,
whatever, but it's not that
in my head, like I don't
really let myself think that.
Yeah. But as a result
of that, you also kind
of I haven't been pushing
myself or that platform,
so to speak, for what it
can be used for, which is
a multitude of things.
But on the sourcing side
of things, it's super unique
to where I'll put up
something that is effectively
a unicorn car, you know,
something that there might
only be 200 of in the world
or something like that in
existence. And within a four
or five hour span of having
an IG story up, looking for one,
I have 40 of them being
offered to me, you know,
pretty much most of them
being off market or something
like that. Right.
So from the trying to
source side of things,
it's amazing for that.
But the one thing I haven't
tapped into at all, aside
from a couple of little
things here and there
is the selling side of it.
That's intentional because I
don't want that page or my
platform to be a sales thing.
Yeah, but I do know that
there's a lot, a lot,
a lot of my following
that is interested in that
that does want there to be
cars for, you know, posted
for sale and things of that
nature. So that is something
that is in the works
that I'm going to have a
solution for here.
And, you know, maybe a
little spin off platform
or something like that
for it for sure.
So got you.
So would that be
maybe in a consignment
in effect or just sort of
a way for people to list
their car with your
platform and reach?
Yes, something, something
along those lines for sure.
Where it's basically all online,
but something that, again,
you know how I do business
in general, I'm over checks
every single little thing
you could think of.
Yeah, I make sure
everything is bulletproof
before I am even, you know,
offering a vehicle to somebody
or, you know, I'm doing
all my homework to make sure
if my name is attached to it,
there's no funny business
on any way.
And if something were to ever
come up how to rectify
that situation or make sure
that anything is handled
because anything with my name
attached to it, I never want
a ounce of negativity to it.
There isn't an ounce of
negativity to it
or anything like that.
So that's that's how I would
always want things to be
with the platform,
especially if it's mine.
So yeah, yeah, that would
be that'd be pretty cool.
You know, I wouldn't you
remember the stronger
than Diamonds G550 for sure.
And that was
I've never really it's never
been my content style
to go out looking for cars.
But when when that video
got made, we had that buyer
looking for stronger
than Diamonds G550,
which now the number is
escaping me, but it may have
only been 350 units
for the world.
So yeah, I think it was
even less than that.
Yeah.
It wasn't a lot, right?
So I mean, when you really
whether you like the car or not,
there weren't many of them.
Yeah.
And it felt like
within a month of that video
going out that maybe half
of the ones that existed
in the United States
have been offered up to me
in some way, which was
pretty remarkable.
And I think it just proved
right there that
especially in this automotive realm
where what I love about cars
is people are so passionate
about them, like people who love cars
really love cars
and they love the community aspect
of it and they love
and the people that really,
really love them have a hard time
holding on to them for too long.
For sure.
So, you know what I mean?
If you are looking for one
that might be ultra rare
and you and maybe the average
person is thinking there's no way
you're going to be able to
find me one of those
because there's none listed for sale.
Right.
Well,
I think you'd be surprised, right?
And I think you're realizing that.
Yeah.
And I think that's kind of
the the route
that I'm wanting to lean into with it
as well, too, because I think it's a
positive thing.
It's that's what I love about the car
community is the positive side
of the car community.
I don't like the
not to focus on any kind of negative,
but I don't like the people that are,
you know, in it for the money
in a negative way or they,
you know, are negative
or slimy or just like
whatever the all the bad stuff
you know to be about people
in the car community, whether it be
from a dealership side of things,
whether it be from a
broker side of things.
Just a lot of it is like money hungry
and like,
you know, people are very opinionated
in a negative way, like, oh, this
you're, you know, talk down on stuff.
Yeah, there's also a large amount of
the community that isn't that.
Yeah.
They genuinely loves cars
that loves a lot of different kinds
of cars as well, and even if they
only like a certain kind of cars,
but they're, you know, cool
about other people with what they
like, that's the
side of things that I like.
And I thankfully do think I have a
good amount of following for that
based on there not being
a whole lot of argumentative comments
on my page or negative, you know,
not even necessarily negative to me,
but people that get an argument
to the comments are back and forth.
Like, I'd like to think I have a pretty
positive platform and community
that does follow me, which makes me
happy because, you know, let me as
a person, like, that's how I like to
be as a person.
Yeah.
I, you know, don't like to deal
or to be, you know, around negative
people or negative things.
So I think
there's a lot of things that are in
my head about things in the future
with myself, with the platform,
with a lot of things about cars.
And I think there's
like a few different avenues
that I can take things, you know,
one or two or three or all of them
or whatever the case may be
that is a positive community
kind of things, whether that be a
positive community on, you know,
like a marketplace or sales
perspective on just like
almost a forum kind of thing,
you know, in a meeting or there's
a lot of different avenues that are
in my head that, you know, I'm
excited to think about
possibly pursue.
So could we be potentially
witnessing the the the path
of like a Doug DeMiro or, you know,
yeah, I don't know cars and bids
type of situation or yeah,
I don't I don't know nothing to
speak on like specifically on,
you know, on on record or on
camera because it's all still on
my head. But I think Doug
is a great example of that.
And Doug is one of the very few
people that like, I don't want
to say like, look up to or
anything. But like, basically,
since, again, I was really in
high school, Doug was making
videos. Yeah. And so him and,
you know, Hoovey, Tavares, a
couple of the other big names
on YouTube, I've been long
followers on them and also how
they go about things, again,
the positivity that's also,
again, in their comments of going
back to Doug, he's a great
example of that to where,
you know, he'll share some
opinions in the way I do, but
it's not, you know, super,
you know, edgier,
controversial or, you know,
sparking argument or stuff like
that. He has a great platform
in his, you know, YouTube
comments on other platforms as
well, that I think Doug is
actually, you know, a very good,
you know, kind of comparison
point to how I like to go about
my, you know, day to day with
cars for sure. Yeah. So this
kind of makes me think about
the sort of duality of
automotive content because you
and I are unique in that we
work in a dealership and make
automotive content that's
actually not super. Of course,
there's a lot of automotive
content now that's becoming
much more of a thing for sure
from people who work in
dealerships. But really, when I
think of automotive content,
you've got people like Doug
that are reviewing cool cars
and now they've got, you know,
this cars and bits platform
or Whovies garage, right?
They're around cars. They're
doing cool things with
cars, repairing them,
restoring them, right? There's
that form of it. And then
there's the dealership side of
it for sure. And the weird
dichotomy really of autos is
that you've got generally
everybody loves cars. Yeah. And
so when you've got people
like a Doug DeMiro or even
your content, which is really
just focused on the cars, it
tends to be mostly positive.
Of course, you're going to
have people that maybe want to
argue about whether a manual
transmission or automatic
transmission is better or, you
know, Mopar versus Chevy or
Ford or what's German brand is
the best. But when it comes to
the dealership side, it's a
much different world. Because
dealerships generally have
this negative connotation,
right? You could take the same
people, the same content and
then tie it to a dealership
and it can be received in a
totally different way, right?
Because my comment sections
tend to be much more like
this. It could be a war zone
a lot of the time, right?
Sure. Yeah, because my content
is is just what's happening
and the dealership and not
just the car. So
for you, because of the type
of person you are, because
of the way you like to
conduct business, what is it
about the dealership world
and this dealership specifically
that makes you okay to kind
of exist in that dual reality
of like you're around cars
that you love and showing
people how cool they are, but
you're also aware of the fact
that we have a career that
people like they want
not to like us and we're
trying to prove to them that
we actually want to take
care of them. Yeah, I think
it's my unique balance and
my like where I'm at
currently with with everything
that makes it work because
on the dealership side of
things, being in management
and more so taking care of
your team and a couple
other things with the
dealership is a different thing
than say if I was on the
sales floor and I have to worry
about, you know, the things
that a normal sales person
would have to worry about or
this and that like I it's
a really cool unique balance
to me to where I get the
people side of things
obviously immense amount of
cars in our day to day and
sales and everything like
that. Yeah. But it's more
so the people side of things
of taking care and helping
taking care of a team that
we both care about as well
as the clients that, you know,
we're blessed to have from
not only Northeast Ohio, but
all around the country from
our Mercedes store, Porsche
store, etc. I think that
is the thing that is still
a unique thing to me that I
like. And again, doing it in
Northeast Ohio, the cars
that again are, you know,
our Mercedes store is
one of the top AMG dealers
in the country top G wagon
dealers. So it's like
the inventory in the car
side of things. And again,
our setup is a very positive
unique thing that I do love.
So I think it's not only
doing that that I love, but
it's also a good resource for
everything as well. And it's
a mutually beneficial thing,
you know, for both of us,
as well as the, you know,
the store and the stores
platform as well to be able
to, you know, do what we do.
So I think that's the
kind of uniqueness of my
situation that I that I
still do love because I
get asked that all the time
of, Hey, what are you
still doing in Ohio?
What are you still doing
in Cleveland? You know,
what are you still doing
a dealership? And it's
like, I'm very conscious
of how great of a setup it is.
Yeah. And how, again,
beneficial that it is
and making it work in my
home base. If I wasn't able
to like, I've told you this,
I wasn't able to to travel
the way I was. And the
flexibility and the freedom
that thankfully, you know,
our our brick and mortar
allows, I wouldn't do it.
Like I would not still be
at a dealership, no matter
how great the setup is.
Like, thankfully, we do have,
you know, the the ability
that we do, especially for
myself to be able to kind
of control a schedule to a
degree, be able to travel
if I need to, for whatever
that be, whether it be work,
pleasure, whatever, it's
a really good setup.
So yeah. Yeah. And is it
fair to say that
you know, you mentioned
there was a lot of people
that are in the in this
industry, in this business
that are money hungry
or they do business the wrong
way. Yeah. If this was
a dealership that operated
in that way, yeah, that
probably wouldn't work for
you. No, no, it wouldn't.
If if our dealership, I'll
be completely far dealership
was anything other than what
it is that wouldn't work.
And that is, you know, again,
client focus, relationship
focus, a lot. It's about
people. It's like the cars
as we talk about as a as a
byproduct of our day to day
like finding the right vehicle
for somebody is a relatively
easy thing, in my opinion,
when we do, you know, our,
you know, our fact finding
and our, our, you know, diving
into the person's situation.
Yeah. To figure out what would
be best for them as a, you
know, a collaborative effort
with a client, not pay, trying
to sell you something or doing
this. That's how I like to be
in life. And that's why our
dealership specific. And there's
you know, a couple out there
for sure that have now started
to adopt this, I think, but
be truly client focused
first. And people focus
first is definitely the
thing for sure. Yeah. Yeah, I
agree. I think that
you know, I think about this
all the time that we're very
fortunate to operate the way
we do to be client focused,
you know, not play pricing
games with people, not take
advantage of people, because
if if we I'm not that way, so
I wouldn't regardless of
whether I was making content
or not, I wouldn't be able
to be in a dealership that
operate like that. But I
most definitely would not be
able to be doing both at the
same time in any other
scenario. So we're very
blessed to have that that set
up and and to be in a place
where, you know, Cleveland,
I've always said is a very
misunderstood city. Yeah. People
don't realize the wealth that
is here, the cool cars that
are in the area, right, they
may not be flaunted as much as
they are in other parts of
the world. But this is a
very cool city. There's a lot
of really cool people here, a
lot of really cool cars. Yeah.
And to be able to have access
to those every day, but also
get to meet a lot of cool
people and help them. It's
been a great setup for both
of us, really. Yeah, no, for
sure. And probably my uniquely
favorite thing about our
dealership for one is, I
like to call it like a
Rolodex of, you know,
important, cool, interesting
people. Yeah, what I mean
by that is anyone and again,
out of state, of course, but
like what's important to me
is the Northeast Ohio part of
it and, you know, Ohio in
general, but especially
Northeast Ohio, but basically
anybody who is successful in
whatever they do in life, and
that has nothing to do with
money. It could be somebody
who's a very successful
teacher, someone who's a very
successful owner of a
business of all different
scales, whether it be, you
know, something very high end,
middle and low end, you know,
doctors, just about anything.
Most of those people are
clients of our store and
long clients of our store.
Yeah. And so not only again,
going back to the people
side of things, being able to
take care of those people
and hear their stories and,
you know, just instead of,
you know, like small talk,
have genuine conversations
about their day to day and
what their year is and
checking in on them and
everything like that. That is
why specifically to me,
our dealership is important
and what I love about it is
the people side of things
of just anyone cool, you
know, that we might talk
about it on a day to day
basis of, hey, we reached
out to so-and-so, he
wants something or so-and-so
reached out to us.
They want, you know, just
checking in on this or
checking in on that.
Like it's really cool to
deal with the people that we
deal with on that side of
things. And I think that goes
back more so to the original
point we were talking of,
of everyone being people
like, I just like unique
people. Yeah. I don't
care what it is. As long as
you're a positive person,
a good person, like I love
that about people. And so
again, whether it be the
people we were speaking
about earlier, people I'm
talking about now, like I
just like dealing with
positive, successful, you
know, good people in life.
And that's a lot of what we
deal with. So yeah. So the
way I like to wrap this up
is to kind of bring full
circle, the social media
part of what we do and
hopefully inspire the next
wave of potential creators,
right? Because at one
point, you and I were not
making content, right?
It's not like this thing
that we've been doing for
our entire lives, for sure.
But one way or another, you
know, I was inspired to
finally take the plunge and
then was able to kind of
talk you into maybe taking
what you were already doing
and taking it a step
further. But it's a two
partner. Part one, if
somebody is wanting to be
cut to start posting on
social media and find
successful that what are
the things that they must
do to be successful? And
then part two is what
everybody that is thinking
about it, you can find the
reasons not to do it. What
would you say to them? What
like why do they need to do
it? What's the all of the
benefits and the positive
outcomes that come from it
when you really fully
commit to it like you have?
So to answer part one of
that question, I would say
a little bit different from
what I normally hear, which
everyone is just do it, just
do it, just do it and you'll
figure it out. And that is
true. But I would encourage
people to take a little bit
of time to think about what
they can do, maybe a little
bit different or tweak a
little bit to do some sort
of unique thing. And so
since we're talking about
car specific things, I
think a lot of people
launch into especially on a
sales side of things or
whatever we're dealing with
cars. It's a word vomit
thing in the beginning, like
you're trying to sell a car
or, you know, oh, explain all
the benefits of the car. It's
you know, five or a lot of
that doesn't matter. Like
it doesn't people that are
watching car content, they
don't want to have a word
vomit sandwich of information
that they can either Google
online if they really cared
enough or be they probably
already know. I think doing
things in a unique way and
you can go a million
different ways with that is
something that is important
to do. Again, the person
being on camera, whether it
be for only, you know, five
percent of the video or the
entire video in doing things
just in some way that is a
little bit different. It
doesn't have to be anything
crazy than what they've
seen out there. Do with
that info as you will. But
I think there's a lot of
people that try and do the
same thing and then get
discouraged if it doesn't
take off even after doing it
for a handful of months.
Yeah. Because they're pretty
much doing the same thing
that like 70 or 80 percent of
people are doing. So I think
from that perspective, if
you're already you're
starting new, or if you've
already been doing something,
you're not finding the
success that you might be
hopeful for, you might be
doing something that's
actually great. But it's
enough to where it's not
getting the traction or the
views that you might think
because it's it's not
different enough. And again,
doesn't have to be a big
thing. But I think don't
be insane about it and
try and do the same thing
over and over and over. Find
something a little bit
different. But yeah, so I
would say that take take a
little bit of time to think
about what you're going to do
and then just be a little bit
more calculated with it. That's
all. And then do and
then walk around the car.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah.
Don't just be like I would
say you don't have to be
super polished, but don't be
super unpolished either to
work at us. A lot of that
is in car content. There's
many different things for
different other kind of
content. But if you're more
car content focused or
whatever your your business
is, I would say be a little
bit more intentional and a
little bit more detail
oriented to whatever you're
going to do with that. So
that enough of an answer for
part one, for part two, I
would say most part two
again about just like doing
it or so part two is for
everybody that all right,
maybe now you found your
idea, you are going to be
intentional about it. But
you still keep talking
yourself out of it, right?
You want to do it. You see
the benefits. Maybe you're
trying to bring more
awareness to your dealership
or maybe you're trying to
just brand yourself. Yeah,
but they keep talking
themselves out of it. What,
you know, what could you
go back in time and wish
you could say to yourself
about like this is why
you need to start doing it.
This is what can come of it.
Right. Yeah, I would I
would say to to just do
it like you do here.
People say that often.
Like again, if you're not
quite ready in a for a
variety of reasons, but
you're and you just
don't want to do obviously
like not force them
anyone to do anything.
But if it's something
that is on your horizon,
it's something that you know
you're thinking of doing
and you genuinely do
understand what the benefits
of that could be,
then do it for sure.
I would say and when I
talked earlier about, you
know, being calculated
this that don't be like
over calculated or this
and that I would recommend
that especially if you're
starting from basically
ground zero. It's more so
about getting practice in
or like, you know,
some other people I'm
sure have talked about of
hey, at least even film
the videos, then making
them private for a case
maybe until you like
actually get one that's out
and again, don't do that
for a long period of time
because that's effectively
the same thing as not doing it,
but doing whatever
like just actually doing it
at some point, I would say
that for sure.
Yeah, I think you just
have to get in the
routine of it, right?
That the and understand
that it's not going to
happen overnight, probably.
I mean, you know,
for you, you almost did.
But I think that you still
had many years
of practice for sure with
social media outside
of just the video portion.
Yeah, for sure.
For for me, it was
I mean, years and years
of of knowing how to do it
and and having other ways
of it before I ended up
doing a video specific thing.
Yeah, I had years of
knowing of what to do
in the following
and whatever the case may be.
But yeah, for for anyone
else, and it's just life advice
in general, I would say is.
Don't wait, especially
when you're younger, a lot
of people that, you know,
we're on the content side
of things or
in a dealership space
when it comes to like sales
and things of that nature now
or generally getting younger
and on the younger side
of things towards like.
Do an experiment
and try things, you know,
when you're younger,
push yourself when you're younger,
do it at any age, obviously.
But, you know, the
demographic we're speaking to
is largely going to be
on the younger side of things.
So it's like,
what are you waiting for?
Yeah, exactly.
It sounds cliche,
but it's like you don't get
the time back.
So it's like if you're doing
something and doing
something in a positive way,
especially when it comes to,
I think, one of the biggest
things as a fear point
for people is, you know,
take it as like
a public speaking thing.
You know what I mean?
People are worried
about being on camera.
People are worried about this.
It's like nobody's judging you
the way you think
they might be.
And if they are who cares
you have no idea who these people are.
Yeah, I think the judgment
side of things
becomes a more negative thing
when you're doing something negative.
That's a little bit
a different thing.
But as long as you're trying
to better yourself or do something
like if someone has a negative
thing to say about it,
they're online.
Even if you're getting
generally like negative
comments off the bat,
or whatever the case would be again,
they're people online.
They're going out of their way,
taking time out of their day
to negatively comment
on something that says
significantly more about
that person than it does for you.
Yeah.
So I would not worry like
literally someone online
commenting anything negative
on anyone's thing.
I think less of you
as a person,
not to say anything in a way.
But like, don't worry
about people like that.
You know what I mean?
Just focus focus on the positive.
Do you do what makes you happy?
And again, that's easier said than done
because people are very conscious
of what other people think
and especially online.
But yeah,
don't worry about that, Sophia.
Yeah, I do think that you
if you're going to pursue
social social media,
you do have to at least have
some ability to, you know,
you don't need to read every comment.
You know, you can't take
everything personally, right?
So I'm not saying
that you have to be like
super thick skin.
Right.
But if you're easily rattled,
yeah, then you can also take it
the approach of like, you know,
call it the 72 hour rule,
the 30 day rule,
everyone has their different timeline for it.
But it's like, is this going to matter?
And, you know, a couple of days
from now or a couple of weeks
from now or something like that,
are people going to remember it?
No, like they're not like people
don't even have an intention
spend for that for people
that are like at the highest form
of their craft when it comes
to like professional athletes,
something that happens in the game.
It could be a talking point
on on Twitter for 24 hours
of the biggest trending thing.
There's another thing tomorrow.
Like it doesn't matter.
Somebody shoots over 10 behind three point.
Exactly.
Yeah, exactly.
So it's so it's like in that sense,
even if something does get bad.
So again, not to not to
yes, have thick ish skin to a degree.
But like you said,
you don't have to worry about that.
So just have that in your head of being like,
it's not going to matter
in a couple of days or a couple of weeks
or whatever the case would be.
So yeah, yeah.
Awesome.
Well, Joe, I really appreciate you
sitting down with me.
This is I hope that at least one person
watching and listening will finally
take the the leap, right?
And start because I think that
there's a lot of people out there
just like any of the automotive
content creators that you see today
that have been on the sidelines
and maybe they want to do it
and they've found reasons not to.
But there's more people out there
with great creative ideas.
I know and who knows,
maybe at one point
we'll be sitting down talking to them
and they can reference back
to this interview much like I
look back on some of the interviews
that I heard from people like
Russ and George and others
that started doing it before we did.
So I appreciate you sitting down
with me today and talking about it.
About this episode
Joe W. Otto shares his journey from sneaker resale to becoming a prominent figure in the luxury car market. With a background in building relationships with celebrities and athletes, Joe discusses how he transitioned to the automotive world, leveraging his social media presence to showcase unique vehicles. The conversation touches on the importance of authenticity in content creation, the art of vehicle sourcing, and the positive aspects of the car community. Joe emphasizes the significance of being client-focused in the dealership environment and offers insights for aspiring content creators.
Original notes
Welcome to The Doug Horner Show, an original series spotlighting timely, relevant dialogue across customer experience, agent performance, dealership culture, and innovation in retail automotive.
Hosted by Doug Horner, General Sales Manager at Mercedes-Benz of North Olmsted and a rising voice in automotive social media, this new podcast brings a transparent, high-energy perspective to dealership operations, leadership, and digital engagement.
Known online as @BenzsandBowties, he has amassed 450K+ followers and 25MM+ viewers monthly across his channels where he often blends humor into content resonating with agents, operators, and customers alike with authenticity and real-world dealership insights.
"We all are consuming social media all day long every day,” Horner shared in a recent Car Dealership Guy interview. “If everyone is doing this all day long, then that's where we need to be.”
The Doug Horner Show dives into what drives dealership success today through candid conversations with respected industry leaders, performance coaches and digital creators shaping modern automotive culture.
Episode 2 - , I sit down with Joe Wisniewski, better known as joewauto. Joe has made famous 90 second reviews of some of the most exotic, luxurious, and unique cars in the world. He has a keen eye for the specifications of the cars themselves and has amassed a global following of fans, celebrities, athletes, and other high profile individuals that rely on his expertise and automotive connections.
About Doug Horner
Doug Horner is General Sales Manager at luxury dealership, Mercedes-Benz North Olmsted, and the creator of @BenzsandBowties, a brand centered on real dealership culture and leadership perspective, and the joy of the work, as an auto industry influencer.
About CallRevu
CallRevu is the leading communication intelligence platform built for automotive retail—empowering dealerships to take control of every conversation, from the first ring to the final result. Our holistic solution combines an automotive-specific hosted phone system, call monitoring, performance training, and reputation management–fueled by AI-powered analytics that turn every customer interaction into actional intelligence. Founded in a dealership in 2008, CallRevu was created by the industry, for the industry to drive revenue, improve performance, and deliver exceptional customer experiences.
Learn more at CallRevu.com
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