He began by telling us a bit about himself: where he was from, his interests when he was younger and things he liked to do while growing up. “I grew up in the central part of Mississippi, in Neshoba County, about 10 miles from Philadelphia, Mississippi. We were country folk living primarily off the land, and my family had all the agricultural accompaniments, like pigs, cows, chickens and a lot of red clay. As a child and young adult, I constantly came up with ways to get away from the red dirt.” “As a child,” he went on, “I earned money by selling greeting cards, newspapers, and seeds up and down the highway. That continued until the last two summers of high school. Then I lived at a local hotel in Philadelphia and worked there as a waiter and cook.” We asked him to tell us more about school. “I enjoyed math and science in high school, played all sports, and loved being outside to hunt and fish. I was very active in school, and as I progressed, I joined clubs and attended state conventions for different organizations. The state conventions meant traveling to cities I had never been to, and I liked them. They had different foods and nice restaurants and hotels.” After high school, he attended Mississippi State University, but in a roundabout way. We asked about his experiences there and to tell us about his bachelor’s degree in Transport and Marketing. “The guy who ran the hotel pushed me to In the latter part of 2021, CFADA was able to sit down and talk with Mr. Elliott Burnside of the Central Florida Lincoln Store in Orlando. Our conversation with him was interesting, informative, and even fun. We’re happy to share this little bit of him again in this issue. go to college at Mississippi State, but I blew my first year of school there. In the next couple of years, I got married, did my active duty time in the Army National Guard, and attended a junior college. “While attending junior college, I worked for the local newspaper until I got a night job as a billing clerk for a trucking company. The business interested me, and the job paid me more money than I had ever made. I tried to learn as much about it as I could.” We asked him what happened next. “The inspiration for my career in the trucking industry came,” he told us, “when executives from other parts of the country visited the terminal where I worked. They were from places such as Chicago, Milwaukee, and Indianapolis. They were always very nice to me, but they worked with the local manager, who then took them out, entertaining them. So I thought, ‘Why not me?’ and began to study transportation.” Elliott has been all over the world throughout his career. Working in different industries allowed him to travel extensively, to Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North, Central and South America. We asked him which places he enjoyed the most. “My favorite was Hong Kong,” he replied. “London is in second place.” After traveling so much and seeing so many places, we were curious when he became interested in the dealership This article was originally published in 2021-2022 Issue 2. CFADA VISITS WITH ELLIOTT BURNSIDE Pub Yr 2 | Issue 4 27 CFADA.ORG
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