I’ve always thought that complaining about something will probably not be the most productive thing for people around me. Most do not understand how hard I’ve worked. And I don’t expect anyone to give me sympathy. I’m human. I have good and bad days, just like everybody. I’ve eliminated many of my financial concerns, which was a big deal for me. Growing up, I always said, “I want to be a millionaire.” That was one of my biggest goals in life. So, for me to look at one of my employees and tell them how bad my life is, that’s not good. I was dead broke when I was 23 years old. I had just graduated college. My dad passed away. Everything bad that could happen happened. I didn’t have a girlfriend. I didn’t have a wife. I didn’t have kids. I didn’t have anything. It was just me, and I thought, “What am I going to do to make it big in this business?” I dove in headfirst, worked harder than anybody and started building my business. Back in those days, I could call my brother and complain and bellyache about how bad I had things. But, when you become more successful, you must watch what you say. That was a big aha moment. Today, the only person who will listen to my problems is probably the psychologist who I pay $200 an hour to listen to me. When I was young, I always said, “Set small goals that you can achieve, and they’ll lead to big success.” That’s how I lived my life. I set goals, and once I reached them, I would set another goal. It’s a process of small steps. For me, I set goals of being a good salesperson, then a good sales manager, then a good used car man and then to be good at F&R. Once I reached a certain point, if the companies I worked for didn’t want to teach me anymore, I moved to the next one. I did that a few times in my career. If you can’t grow anymore, it’s time to leave and prepare yourself for the next thing. Setting goals will keep you motivated. You also need to be very disciplined and marry someone very disciplined. My wife and I lived in poverty conditions until we were 40. When I bought my first dealership, we lived in an $800-a-month apartment with only two bedrooms and three kids. We had means, but I couldn’t buy this dealership if we had spent all our money elsewhere. My wife had to have 100% faith in me. I don’t know how she did it, but she did. She was there with me, taking all the chances with me. I would ask her, “Do you want me to get a different job where I can make money, and we can buy a nice house? She would say, “No, just keep going. I trust you.” At age 40, she was starting to get a little impatient. She’d tell me, “I’ve never even had a garage or a house with decent heat. When our daughter was born, she had to sleep in a cot at the foot of our bed.” That was hard. People don’t know that part of my story when they see me. That was only 11 years ago. What is your all-time favorite car? And what are you driving today? I am a car fanatic for really nice, expensive cars. My all-time favorite car — that I would do anything to own but would never buy — is a 2014 Ferrari LaFerrari. It’s worth about $4.3 million right now. If I owned one, I couldn’t sleep at night. I’d be afraid that that car would get hurt. So, I drive a newer Tundra and have been driving Tundras for 15 years. What do you do when you’re not working? Do you have any hobbies? I enjoy hunting and fishing, and I own a farm. I bale hay and have cows, chickens, pigs and a donkey named Lulu. My donkey is great. When I purchased the farm a few years ago, my employees bought Lulu for me as a Christmas present. They usually give me something like a rifle or a bow, but one of my wise guy employees thought that I needed a donkey since I have a farm now. They delivered Lulu to the dealership, and my kids were there. They asked me to walk out back with them. I questioned as to why, but they just insisted I come. We finally walked out back, and there she was, Lulu the donkey. I don’t know if it was a gag gift or a real gift, but she’s been with us on the farm ever since. WVADA NEWS 19
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