Right, we wanted to take our dates using that plane and go somewhere and we were so excited about it. My dates mom said, That's not happening. And it's funny, because in the moment, I was like, How dare she, and now I'm looking back at it 47 with my kids, I'm like, I would never let my kids
I wouldn't either.
In this episode, you'll get to know Sam D'Arc, the automotive executive. And you'll hear the story of how he went from washing cars as a teenager, to becoming CEO of one of the largest auto dealer groups in the United States. I'm Dave Crenshaw, and this is my success project. Welcome back friends to the Dave Crenshaw Success Project. This is the show where I teach my children how to be successful through the life stories of remarkable people, and you get to come
along for the ride. I'm a best selling author, I speak to Fortune 500 companies around the world. And I've taught millions of people how to be successful through my online courses, especially the ones on LinkedIn learning. And I'm a husband and father of three, and my children mean the world to me. So when I was thinking about the idea of doing a podcast, I wasn't really excited about it until I thought about the idea of leaving a
legacy for my kids. And so what I do is I interview people that I've met in my life's journey, who are so successful, and have great stories to tell some of the guests you maybe have heard of in the news or social media, while others have flown under the radar, so to speak, but they all have great stories. And my guest today is a special one, because he and I go all the way back to when we were teenagers, we were in junior high. I'll get
to him in just a second. But I want to be clear about what I'm doing here. I interview people who have balanced success and happiness, and they've achieved it in their own unique way. As a leadership expert and a coach. I know that success isn't one size fits all, there are infinite numbers of ways that you and I and my kids can become successful. And I also want to get the stories of people who have balanced success and not just financial not just career success, but in multiple facets
of their lives. In fact, I think of success as having six facets. I'll share them with you right now. And you can self evaluate as you're listening to it. So first is relationships. Second is your health. Third is your profession or your career. Fourth is money, how you manage your finances. Fifth is having a cause or a charity that you support. And six is fun, you got to just have fun. And I know with today's guest, having fun is a big part of his success.
Now, as I go through this episode, I'd like you to do one thing. And I'd like you to do this for yourself. I'm not asking you to like or subscribe, I want you to listen for one action. Now you may hear dozens of things that you might do because of Sam story, you might be inspired to do a lot of them, I'd like you to pick just one. Because if you do just one thing, then Sam D'Arc will be a part of your life forever. Now, like I said, Sam and I go all the way back to the beginning.
And we'll share a little bit of that story. But I want to highlight some of the things he's accomplished. Sam D'Arc has over 30 years of service in the automotive industry, both in retail and with a vendor partner. Currently, Sam serves as the chief operating officer for the Ziegler Auto Group, where he works with the organization's 35 locations across four states and over 2500
employees. Sam joined Ziegler, also a decade long client, after nearly a two decade career with a global direct insurance provider. Sam is a recognized speaker at automotive association meetings. And he is the host of the driving vision podcast. I recommend you subscribe to that. He's a husband and a father. And he's a long, longtime friend of mine. And I'm thrilled that he would take some time to share his story with us. Sam, I'm so glad you decided to come on the show.
Thank you for saying that. Dave. It's nice. It's great to be here as friends. I'm excited to be with you, especially on your show. So this is fun.
Yeah, you and I we knew each other pretty much since junior high, right? Yes. And we knew each other through high school. And there's even a little fun time where we worked together in a professional sense. So I want to start at the beginning. And then I also want to hear what happened in the time in between the gap where we weren't hanging out so much together. In the beginning. I'm going to all the way back to when you were a kid. What did you think you were going to be when you grew up?
Oh, that's a great question. So I remember as a kid I always wanted to be a pilot, right? I was fat fascinated with airplanes and thought it would be neat to be a jet fighter pilot, maybe an F 16, or F 15. And I loved all things aviation looking up at the sky and identifying planes, even in those early on years, going to air shows early. Aviation was a
fascination. But it was interesting as I grew between Junior High in high school, I remember coming to the realization I'd be probably too tall to fit into a fighter pilot cockpit and didn't really understand what the path would be to that anyway.
So you just jogged my memory about something I totally forgotten about what you had your pilot's license, right when you were like 16, or 17.
So when I was younger, in that age, I went to the airport in Provo, and I said, Hey, I would love to fly, I have this passion for flying. And I'm willing to work washing airplanes in exchange for flight time. And so I kind of talked my way into that. And they let me do that. And I was able to exchange that for flying. So I actually did not get my license, but went down the road quite aways and had a blast doing it. And I do remember that, you know, I remember your date saying, hey, there's not a
chance, right? We wanted
to take our dates, using that plane and go somewhere. And we were so excited about it. And my dates mom said, That's not happening. And it's funny, because in the moment, I was like, How dare she and now I'm looking back at it. 47 with my kids, I'm like, I would never let my kids I wouldn't either.
Be mature, I'd love my 17 or 18 year old girl by himself, let alone as part of a date. But
exactly. But already, there's something I want to call out about you. And the fact that you are so successful is that drive that desire, like you're saying, I want this so bad. I'll do whatever it takes. Yeah, I'll wash planes, I'll do all those things. That's the SAM dark. I know. Right? Those
that's who you also work on times. And it was fun, particularly being at that age and being young like that, where you could be curious about different options and alternatives. And, you know, there was something about that time in life, whether it's by age, or just that generation in the 90s, where it did seem like there were so many avenues open in the world was kind of just there for the exploring. It was a fun time.
Yeah, so we knew each other in junior high. We were friends for a while. And then we started to do some projects together. We were doing video. So the thing I wanted to be when I grew up, I wanted to be Steven Spielberg.
Remember that? You're good at creating videos. There's no question.
Yeah, well, and so you and I started to create projects together. I think we call it D and C production. Yes, darkened Crenshaw, yes. And we started to do things. And this is where I first realized, oh, my gosh, this guy who's a friend of mine, he's wired differently. And so we were creating this ridiculous movie. It was called The Adventures of Slim shade. Right? Yes. And it was like this kind of a Naked Gun sort of take on private detectives. And you were like, Let's get some
sponsors. I'm like sponsors, like, yeah, you I'll call some people. And you just started picking up the phone and calling random places. Like you got free lunches for us from Tommy's burger, you finally contacted newskin That led us into edit. Yeah. It talked to me about have you ever been afraid? Or hesitant to ask people hard questions?
Oh, I think terrified. But I've always seen it as a challenge. So there's something as I look at kind of the themes over life that has been fun about seeing a big vision. So in your case, the vision is this movie that really would be unique among high school students. And the excitement that that vision creates. And once you see something like that, it's
exciting to share it. And so that translates easily into sales or selling, which ended up being a form of the career I have, but in any way, you know, whether it's marketing or selling for a movie, or doing something else, being able to share that with people and then asking them to do something in exchange. That's always been kind of fun. For me, it's always been a challenge. And then it's always you know, how far can we take this right, if newskin is willing to let you in to use
their editing bay? You know, then do they want placement? And are they willing to pay to have their logo in there? And then at the point they're willing to pay and the logos in there, then can you upgrade the equipment or get more rental time on the equipment? It's the art of what could be possible? If and, you know, vision is a big part of that.
And that's a skill you still use now, right?
Yes. Oh, yeah. There's no question. I've enjoyed that. Throughout my professional career up to today. Yeah.
Yeah, you make things happen. You create things that sometimes didn't exist previously, or you're able to negotiate so that bigger and better things happen. Yeah,
yeah. Or I can also align with people that have big visions and get excited and be taken in by their vision and say, hey, look, you know, together, we can actually make this even better.
That's fascinating, and we're going to share a story and just little bit about how I roped you into another vision little later. But I want to pause here for a second. Talk to me about your home life at this time because I was kind of in a place where I saw what was going on. And if I remember early on, there was some turmoil. Are you okay? Yeah. Talking about that a little bit.
Yeah, absolutely. So you know, it's interesting as a kid, as a teenager, life is so simple. You see things very black and white in terms of that's okay, that's not okay. That's right, that's wrong. And you know, as a parent, you have a little more empathy for how difficult being a parent truly is. And parenting is not easy. But I still remember to this day, being in high school and parents taking on a philosophy or a different approach to parenting that, by measure today
is insane, right? And they decided, hey, we're going to put some separation between us for a period of time and you're going to kind of be out on your own trying to figure your own world out at what age did that happen? And what that's a great question.
It seemed like it was around 17, wasn't it? Yeah,
it was. I think it was junior in high school, wasn't it? I think it was junior in high school. Yeah.
So they they essentially kicked you out of the hat. 100. That's what we're talking about. Yeah, yeah. And so where did you go when that happen?
It's crazy. Don't
have a home. Yeah, your parents were supporting you and now gone.
Yeah, it's it's crazy. I still remember to this day. Those are some formidable memories. You know, walking down the street wondering that myself, I had some good friends and good people around me where I was able to stay for periods of time and relied on them. But you can't do that for very long. And I remember a few hotel nights, but without an income. That becomes a little bit of a
challenge. And it's interesting, because it was during that time period where I got connected with the auto industry, I remember walking up and down State Street in Oregon, 1635, South state and walking past and Isuzu dealership, they're saying, Hey, I could do that. Right, I could do something for them that would be beneficial. And, you know, at that point, I think the world was in a recession. You know, as a school kids, you don't really understand the economic state of
things. But things weren't as good as they are today, certainly. And I went and met a man by the name of Matt Melville, who I didn't know up to that time, but it would later become evident. There were a lot of connections, even the kids around me in high school at that time, I was able to tell him, Hey, I'd make a great guy washing cars. You know, I had washed airplanes, the airport up to that point, and he gave me a job. Actually, two things came out of that he gave me a job.
And he connected me up with someone who got me an orange Chevrolet Chevette that had been hit very hard and in the corner. Nice. So in one swing, I was able to get, you know, a job and I was able to get transportation, which, you know, at that age was super, super crucial.
Yeah. And that started your beginnings with the auto industry that's continued up to today. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Now, my recollection was when so you worked there for a while, what you were washing cars detailing cars, and then later you started doing sales? Is that how that
yeah, so it was interesting, washing cars. And I was not particularly good at it. Because I did not have patience for some of the real super details. So you know, there would be log in or kind of a fog or a glaze over the inside of the windows, in the hot summer, something called DASH sweat. And you would have to polish the inside of the window really heavily to be able to remove that. And then, you know, I'd wash cars for delivery and sweep
a lot. I mean, sweeping an asphalt lot of all the gravel, just to me was EDIUS. And then at nights, I would go to close up at a grocery store. So I would work both of those jobs. And, you know, as crazy Dave, I needed those to be able to have the income to pay for an apartment and on the car and do those other things. But I remember the start time, and the stop time for each one of those overlapped a little bit. So I would leave early, a little bit for one and then show up late
for the next. And as I recall coming into the semester of college, you know, I obviously couldn't have to I could only have one. And I'd been a lot guy for a long time. And it was interesting that summer, the road in front of the car dealership was being dug up. There was construction. And I would be out sweeping the lot and scrubbing the windows. And customers would come onto the lot and they would have questions about the cars, you know, how much does this car cost? And I didn't know anything
about cars. I wasn't particularly interested in cars at that time. But I love talking to people. And so as the salespeople wouldn't show up for work, because the road was closed and nobody could come on to the lot. I had the opportunity of talking to people as I was out doing my other job and asking questions and kind of learning a little bit about how to talk to people about cars. And I remember as months went on that first year, starting to get deals where I would split commissions with the
salespeople. You know, I would bring them a customer that had been completely closed, they knew exactly what they wanted to buy, and the salesperson would sell it. And then we would split it, they'd pay me cash under the table, I guess which I don't know if that's okay or not, but that's what we did and, and then coming into the first semester of college, they said, hey, you know, we're not ready to put you
in sales. And I said, Well, I'm not going to stay as a lot guy, I've got to make better money in college. And I'm not interested in continuing on this. So they had a tough choice, Dave, to make in that moment.
Yeah. So I'm gonna pause here for just a second before we proceed past this. So something happened, your parents kicked you out. You mentioned in hindsight, that as a parent, you see that maybe you have a little more empathy for them. So there are two questions that I have about this. Number one, do you feel that what they did was justified at the time? And number two? Do you feel like that moment helps define your future career and your success?
Those are both great questions. So justified, I think it's tough to justify anything like that. Right? Like, you just don't?
Yeah, that was extreme. I was horrified as your friend when I when
that happened, just don't put your kids to the curb. And, and, you know, there's all sorts of stigma around that I, you know, to this day, I'm sure there could be millions of dollars worth of counseling that could go into try to figure out what that means and the impact on it. And it still wouldn't be enough, right? That's a tough, that's a tough thing. But, you know, ultimately, we all determine our own story, and we get a lie and meaning to the
story. And in that case, you know, rather than sit and figure out, hey, you know, was, it was a bad idea. I mean, you can't, yeah, never do it. But right.
But you turned that into something extremely positive, right. And in
fact, I even in that moment, I was very motivated to say, hey, look, I can prove you wrong, I can prove that was a bad idea that you shouldn't have done that. And it was ridiculous, right? Like, even to this day, but even to this day, as an adult, it's still tough to look back. It's not something you know, we're talking about it now. It's not something I talk about regularly or even.
Right. And I appreciate you being candid about it. It's probably not a thing. Many people know, I just happened to be right there. We're seeing it happen. What has that experience? How has that colored the changes that you've made as a parent? Because you're also a fantastic parent? You have how many kids for four? Yeah, four children, happy, well adjusted children who are starting their own success. So what changes did you make to rewrite that story? As a parent?
Wow, that's a great question. I'm not sure that I have it figured out. And I'm not sure that there's a great answer to that. I think part of me says, hey, you know, my wife does a great job. And, you know, I think on the negative side, I've probably deferred some to her just because, you know, I don't want to pass that challenge along to them. And so probably some of that I haven't really run into. I think, you know, as a parent, too, I think we want to make everything great
for our kids. We want to take away adversity. One of the things I've learned in my roles, different roles is adversity is good for growth that you learn, and we grow the most when we're confronted with adversity. So, as a parent, when you try to completely remove that for your kids, there's a tendency or a temptation to make things too easy. You know, where that mixes or where that nice balances. I have no idea. You know,
well, I think that's really insightful though, just first of all, that you recognize that someone can overcompensate. And just from my perspective, I think there's a difference between creating adversity, which I don't think parents should know, for their kid, but sheltering from them. That's where it's not healthy. It's also not healthy. We need to allow them to experience that and grow from them. Right? Yeah.
Okay, so let's go back. You're now are coming out of high school, you just got your job in sales. And I know from the beginning, there was a gift there. And I always forget the number but I remember you started selling cars, and it was absolutely far beyond what anyone else was doing. What were those numbers?
So in that world, the scorecard would be unit sold. It's also gross sold, so I think 4849 I never hit the I never hit the heart in one month in a month, right within one.
That's bonkers, right? I mean, for someone who doesn't have perspective, what what does an average sales rep selling cars sell? And um, you know, that's
a tricky one to answer because you have to look at how many cars a dealership sells the dealership. The Subaru dealership that I worked at, I'd have to go back and ask those guys but I don't think they probably sold 3040 Maybe 50 cars a month. And then the next dealership I worked for Saturday, we were definitely at that 80 to 100 a month. So my goal in the beginning of the season was to beat the house so sell more than everybody else
combined. And then it was very much the Same at the Saturn dealership, it was fun to see if I could challenge myself to be able to sell as much as everybody else combined, and particularly at the Saturn store was able to do that. Well.
Okay, so you develop the successful sales career. But then there was a break in there. Right? You chose to serve a mission for your church. Yeah, yeah, correct. Yep. And where, where was that?
So. So it's interesting. And in that optimal opportunity, you actually say, hey, I'm interested in doing this. And you basically say, hey, I'll go wherever, wherever you're asked to go. And in that case, you know, I remember reading a piece of paper that listed that location. And it was a place I didn't recognize, though many will today than
yesterday, Ukraine. And you know, I had the opportunity to go there for almost two years, 22 months, once you're there, after you go through some language training and walk away, not speaking Ukrainian, but Russian, probably in today's world, once all that sounds gets resolved, I imagine people will probably prefer Ukrainian, but Russians what I learned in that period.
Okay, and then did you end up speaking Ukrainian as well, when you were there,
some people spoke both, most of the younger folks. Both rough.
Okay, so give us just an idea of the skills that you learned through that experience that perhaps now influence what you do or who you are?
Oh, that's interesting. So it's interesting, I remember, you know, going into that having really had a couple of year career in selling and loving it. Like, it was tough for me to walk away from the car business to go live in Ukraine for a
while. But I remember once I was there, it was kind of like, Ha, you know, a lot of what you do and you reach out and you talk to somebody in the car business, you learn how to look somebody in the eye, you learn how to shake a person's hand, you learn how to communicate effectively write notes, you learn how to hold a conversation, you learn how to ask questions to help, understand need, and then match what you have to that need. And it was interesting, I found some similarities in that work in
Ukraine. And so that was a little bit of a challenge. I also saw the benefit of being able to message to a broad audience that would later play in to a podcast that we run at the Auto Group on that, and just the career overall. So you know, the Olympics were coming to to Utah in 2002. I was there from 95 to 97. And they announced it
while I was in Ukraine. And we were actually we went and said, Hey, wouldn't it be cool, if you know, a local TV station in Ukraine could run an advertisement for the Olympics and talk about, you know, what the church is doing locally? And also the connection between this area and and yet, back to Utah? And so
was that was that was your idea? Yeah, well, so
the idea to create a video and send it back was my idea. But it was fun to be able to, in a foreign language, make contacts with media outlets there, who's the idea and then have them say, hey, yeah, we're excited, we'll do that. So ultimately, when I came back, got together with the PR department for the church, and ended up making a video in Russian that we produce put together and sent over. And to my knowledge, I think it did play. So they're gonna think gives me a sad part in Ukraine
or not. But, you know,
so we record these podcasts, and someone may listen to this a year or two from now, who knows when they'll listen to it. But right now, things in the Ukraine are terrible. Russia is attacking them. They're fighting for their lives. They're fighting for their survival, and were behind them. What is the impact been on you as someone who has lived there? And do you have contact with the people who talk a little bit about that?
Oh, yeah, I mean, it's terrible. It's, it's, you know, it's interesting from a war perspective, because it's a place where you live, that's people that you love, it's a language you learned, it's a culture that you understand and really connect with. So it's interesting, I remember people would say, hey, where did you go? And my answer always was Russia, because nobody knew where Ukraine was, I would have
to pull out a map. And culturally, those two countries are so aligned so close, that it would be a waste of time to try to explain it. And instantly, almost overnight, not only do they know the country, but now they know the places and I'd still have many friends that are there, both here and there that are from there. And they really say these friends do that. This is Ukraine's independence day.
And it's their opportunity to declare their freedom, their independence and their right to exist separate and apart from the former Soviet Union, and they're fighting like heck to do it. And you know, it's terribly difficult to see in your heart has to hurt and go out for them. But it's also kind of an important step in their history.
When I was there. It was an incredibly corrupt country, the mafia or the Bundy the, as they often called it were rampant and they have had a difficult time separating from Russian so Uh, you know, it's tough to see. And it's something that hopefully we can continue to help and support because I think with with the world support, hopefully it'll stop there. But hopefully one day, there'll be an autonomous and fully free and independent
country. But you know, it's interesting is in the beginning days, as you hear about rockets and bombs and attacks, you hear Dawn yet scan. And it's a place I know and live, you hear Mari Opal was a city back in 1995 that had no representatives from the church they're serving. And, you know, it's a crazy other story, uh, Miles is his last name, he and I were at a bus stop talking to people. And we were bored. And we met a great
family. And we thought, You know what, we need to be able to talk to these folks, what better way once we found out they were taking a bus ride to the city called muddy Opal, which I recall today may have been an hour and a half. We thought, You know what, let's just get on the bus. See what happens. We took the bus ride, which, you know, in our world, then was outside of our boundaries was complete. No, no. And you can't do like
that is taboo. If you understand the way that whole world works, you know, you've got a president that's over 100 or so healing kids, they've got to follow the rules. And and I remember as we came back with a commitment to each these, the family going to the president thing, what we done and him kind of looking at us and kind of hemming and hawing and say, Well, what should we do? And we said, well, you know, you need to, let's find a native, let's find someone local to there. And
we'll go down there. And we'll teach and talk to people until they allow us to register. And so he did that. And we were able to open that city. And now the theater if my memory serves me that ended up being bombed early predominantly was a place where we met early on and so a very deep connection to those people and, and just just incredible sadness over what's happening there.
What I think's interesting about that story, again, is sort of that theme of who I know, Sam dark to be, which is, you went somewhere that maybe you weren't supposed to. It wasn't, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. And you're always willing to take healthy, appropriate legal risks. Right? you view the world that is different than the way that most people view it. You don't see barriers, you just see things to try out. Is that accurate?
Yeah, that's an interesting way to qualify it in a whole bunch of different ways. But I think you can look at challenges and you can see them as opportunities. And then it's a great question of, hey, what if what if the world were a little bit different? What if we could go down to this city on the coast, which back then was a beautiful city, muddy Obul in the Sea of Azov? What if we could, you know, what if we could live there? What if we could grow that organization in
that area? And the answer certainly ended up being Yes. And, yeah,
yeah. Which is a very entrepreneurial trait, I would consider you an entrepreneur would you can consider yourself that
think so. And in the different careers and different areas I've been in. There have definitely been entrepreneurial leanings, though not working for myself, taking ownership of an area or a territory or responsibility or a piece of the business and wanting to grow, it has been part of it. Yeah.
So I don't want to spend too much time on this. But I do think it's, it's an interesting chapter in my relationship with you. Speaking of entrepreneurship, early on in my career, I started as a business coach, and I got certified by a company to start teaching small businesses, how to be successful. And I knew your ability to sell and you mentioned, you know, buying into someone else's vision. So I had this grandiose vision of Yes, how we were going to conquer the world, this business coaching,
yeah. And so you were kind enough to buy into that. And we tried it for a while. And it really didn't work out. I had a mentor who used the phrase entrepreneur and heat. And basically the idea is, you're just over investing over expanding far more than the growth curve dictator. So that didn't last very long. And I think it was kind of uncomfortable for both of us. I felt bad that I roped you into it, you felt a little bad because maybe you weren't able to get the sales that you
wanted. The truth was we were just young and arrogant. And a little overexcited. What did you gain though, from that experience of trying to support what was ultimately a failed small business?
You know? So it's interesting that you would point it as failure so that there are some financial implications that probably qualify it as that but I look at 100% as an important learning as an important step along the way. I think by nature, you know, you mentioned childhood, one of the things I got out of those experiences is a certain sense of being risk averse and a concern for doing
things. Uh, you know, particularly as I get older, you know, not wanting to take this blatant outright risk, right. And so I was impressed that you got me to do that, candidly, because I had to get going, get going in the car business, and it was such consistent and steady money. But I think it was an incredible background to be able to learn about businesses and coming in and consulting a business and the value and the importance of processes that repeat.
Yes, that was part of the training, right? The power of systems, and you'd latched on to that,
or 100% Yeah, and, and I think it was pretty bold of us, even those days, don't walk into, you know, I recently took my daughter who's who's a student in Provo, to a pizza place. So that's that you and I had insulted back then recover. And other than you know, when you think about that, like, the nerve it took for us to walk into that business owner and tell him we can make him better. That was pretty gutsy. Right? Because I
was that you who sold that? You know, I don't recall, I don't recall that Gleeson brand.
I don't recall that. But I do. Remember we had the account, we got a bunch of free pizza off of it, because he had a challenge. Yes. I told Dana, when we were at the pizza place, I was like, you remember eating here at town? And she says, Yeah, I kind of do remember that. But, you know, you did a great job with him. And, you know, it proved to me that success isn't about knowing. And it's not all about experience.
It's about action and doing. And a lot of times the best coaches, the best people that that can be mentors or help us walk down a road aren't necessarily the best at the skill, but are able to see things from the outside in. And so I think that gave me a unique perspective of that. And then also the other perspective that came from that was an understanding that partnership isn't a perfect art, right? Like a lot of these people were challenged in different ways.
There were significant pains in their business that they didn't necessarily know how to solve, that weren't easy to solve and needed to be solved. And, you know, the role of being a little courageous and bold and saying, Hey, this is a challenge, and you need to fix it, and then proposing some solutions to fix it.
Right? And our age, we were young, I was 23. And you're just a little bit older than me like six months or something like that, right?
Somebody walked in our business and said, Hey, I have a solution. I'd be like, let's prove that out a little bit. Right. Like at that age,
but yeah, you and you were able to sell that to people. And I was too sometimes Yeah. Yeah. So okay, so now you went back to the car dealership, you were selling again, and then our paths kind of diverged. But talk to me about and this is right about the time that you got married? Yes. Right. Yeah. Or you were having your first child? My remember? Yes. Yep. So talk to me about those transitional years where you're a young father, and things really start to take off for you.
Things really start to take off. That's a dramatic build. I don't even know where that is. You should tell me where that is. I, you know, well, okay,
maybe I'm wrong. But my perception was you went up to Idaho. Yes. You got this amazing job. You started investing a little bit in real estate. Oh, yeah. I remembering correctly.
Oh, so yeah. So it was interesting, that car sales thing was awesome. And it was a lot of fun. But I do remember, you know, it was kind of like can I do but better than the month before. And it just kept going and there was no end. And it was kind of like, what's the next big challenge? I had a friend come to me and he's like, hey, you know what I've done? Well, in the car business, you could put some of that consulting the practice that you
did. And you could work for a global insurance company and full car dealers not only on insurance acquisition, but also on a segment of their business, growing it and making it more
profitable. So I went up to Idaho, we moved our family up there and no three, I think it was to work for a company called universal underwriters back then actually, it ultimately became Zurich, which is a global insurance provider, at a great time, getting the no car dealers up there and really appreciating as we went through, particularly
the 2008 cycle. The challenge that is the car business leading economic indicator of health in the US economy, when lending starts to dry up and when demand starts to dry up, and there's
excess inventory on lots. So went through that had success with Zurich, initially, as an account executive in some leadership management positions, was able to get, you know, recognized 10 times actually for what they call their President's Club, which is their ultimate celebration of success among the field, didn't get into real estate, I would not label that
a success. So what did you learn from that? Because that you're turning success or failures into opportunities. So what did you do to make that a positive?
So I partnered with some people that I knew in my neighborhood, and in retrospect, I was not an expert in that area or didn't really well understand the real estate area and think The big learning from there is I'm not sure that I would go in with three or four people into a partnership. Again, like I think one equation for success is having total accountability and being able to be the person that makes the decisions to impacted things.
Yes. Or having someone designated as that person is clearly equal partnerships. I've never seen those four companies
in control. And so nobody's going to ultimately take responsibility. And I don't have any ill will against the individuals that that we did that with, but it was there was a lot of those deals. But yeah,
so you work for Zurich for for many years? Yep. When did the transition come to now work for Ziggler, where you're CEO,
so 17 years was Zurich for the first decade I was in Idaho, you know, did my thing there, again, some of the greatest people you'll ever meet, or car dealers up in Idaho, because there are people who have taken massive risks in a state with not a huge population, they love people, they love the economy there and it's growing, it's on fire. Great friends there, again, got to the point at the end of the decade, where I'm like, hey, I
need a challenge. And so I joined a division within Zurich that service, the largest of the large auto dealer groups. So it was called their Mega auto dealer division. You know, we got a big map out. And somebody drew lines around the map, there were two of us initially, I got the Western United States, ironically, the western United States started to Ohio, and went west. So geographically, I had, like 80% of the US. And the mandate was, hey, go out and make connections with these mega
auto dealer groups. And it was offering what we call our f&i services. So when a customer goes in and buys f&i products from a car dealership, they buy service contracts, gap, painting, fabric and other products to protect their vehicle, well, an insurance company most traditionally will provide that to the auto dealer
group as we did then. And so I made some incredible friendships and relationships in the large group space, particularly in Michigan, where we had a lot of success, Illinois axis, ended up a little bit in Utah, but not a lot California, there was some, and that grew from 2014. We started with two of us. And then as we come into 2017, by then there were five of us, I
believe. And I took a role managing and leading a team in the west of reps that would service I think it was California, Oregon, Washington, there was a number of states in the Western US. But I had had such a great relationships with these large auto groups, Ziggler Auto Group being one, and really having a ton of respect for the owner, Aaron Ziggler, who is similar to me age wise, and has an incredibly bold vision of what an auto group could be, and our role in the business marketplace.
There's that vision. Yeah, you like that you like attaching yourself absolutely vision,
and really sees how, what we do contain to the world. And he's done that he took his dad's auto group from one store in Lowell, Michigan, which is Western Michigan. Today, we're now 35 stores across four states, plenty 600 or so employees a couple billion plus in revenue. So just an incredibly large organization. So in 2019, he came to me and he said, Look, come join us head up our f&i efforts within the Auto Group. And I tried it for a year
and had so much fun. It really reminded me of the early days in the car business from the mid to late 90s. That, you know, I've stayed around ever since. So yeah.
So I want to ask a question that I can imagine someone listening to this is asking, and they're listening, and they're hearing you, Sam, and they're like, this is a really nice, friendly guy, you can tell he cares about people, yet my experience speaking as the listener, my experience with auto dealers is mostly negative. Yeah. And sales reps, it mostly feels like they're trying to take advantage of me if they're not being honest. What is your
perspective? Or what would you say to someone if they expressed that to you personally.
So that's interesting. I was recently part of a forum where a big company called CDK, I sat up on the stage, and we were just talking about the challenges that are the auto business today. And it made me reflect so it's interesting, the auto business has had a stigma around it for a long time. And the stigma is what you talk about, you know, lack of integrity. And I think that stigma, Dave has actually caused the auto industry to need
to be the exact opposite. And I think it's actually gone the other way, drastically for a long period of time. Where, you know, if you look around at the geography of the United States, some of the greatest contributors to local economies and local charities and really bolstering people All locally,
those are car dealers. You know, it's the Ford dealer that will put cars in the parade and, and have people there that will send people to the homeless shelter to take on projects that will gather money for funds to send overseas to help with an award or a war. Auto Dealerships and auto groups are involved in ways that others aren't. That's one side. But that's not
everyone. Right? Let's be honest, they do exist there except out there. Yeah,
I think there are. Because when you don't do business the right way, in the auto industry, you instantly stand out and you're instantly shut down. But obviously there are exceptions to that. On the flip side, I think there's no other industry that allows people to develop and become themselves like the auto industry. So I called the auto industry at this forum, the last great American institution. And I truly believe that you can come with a desire to work hard, a desire to better yourself and
desire to grow. And you can learn all those things I said, I learned as a kid, which is save someone's hand, look them in the eye, have a conversation, right? Things that maybe you and I look back on and say well, oh, my gosh, those are so easy. But they're not today. And in this era of social media and cell phones and technology is an art
that risks being lost. And you know, you go into an electronics store to Best Buy that's tough to find you go into a restaurant today, that's tough to find that customer experience with people that truly understand what the goal is. That's tough to find in the auto industry today offers that no way that no other industry does. So
well. And I can certainly appreciate as we've heard your story, how all of those things that development, it created that for you. Right? Oh, absolutely. It was fertile ground for you to develop who you were. And what I would say is add skills to the gifts that you already possess. Yeah. Right. You already have that natural inclination. But now you learned oh, here's the system. Here's a way to do it. Here's the way to talk to people and provide service. Yeah,
yeah.
So what do you see ahead in the future, we've brought it up to where you are now. What are the next 10 years hold for Sam dark.
I when I came on board here, I said, Hey, I would love to be part of building just a massive empire, we really would like to be part of force that ends up growing this group for a long time and ends up having a big impact. We just got word a couple days ago, and we'll have some media stuff going out Monday, which will be months in the rear by the time this plays. But the Ziggler Auto Group, we were ranked number six in Glassdoor for work life balance, which to your point is
absolutely unheard of Wow. In the in any industry, let alone the car business, right, where retail hours are long, and the commitment is big. We also have something called Ziggler University where we give people the opportunity to come and
learn. So again, those basic skills, looking someone in the eye asking questions, shaking hands, for people who want to better themselves, it's a great home and a great place to come and, and be a part of and not only become better, and help us grow, but also give back to the community and Florida family. So for the time being I think growing this is definitely a big part of the goal. So
well, you speak in my language, I certainly believe that companies when they invest in helping their people educate their people, helping them grow. That really inspires loyalty. Of course, you need to treat them well financially. But then the next thing is do I feel like I'm becoming a better person as my because of my experience with this. Yeah. And it sounds like that's what you're providing. And I
think younger people today in particular, for whatever reason, want that they want to be part of something that's purpose driven, they want to be able to know that they're making a difference. And that actually even supersedes competition at its core, right, which makes it a little difficult for older generations to understand where we value competition. Collaboration is an important aspect and making a difference.
Yeah, I see that about the rising generation, as well as one thing I love about them. So Sam, you and I could easily do this for like four hours we could dig into Yes, we go. Yeah. And we will Yes, outside of this podcast. So at this point, I reluctantly have to start putting a bow on it. So what I do every time when I interview someone for the show is I like to summarize a few
actionable points. So that means that someone listening to this, we just heard this very interesting story of sound dark. What can I do as a result of it? So here are a few things I'm going to cap it with and then I'd love for you to add one or two of your okay. So the first thing is, and this is just we've heard it so many times from you. When you see an opportunity. Ask, just ask. The worst thing that's gonna happen if someone says no, and then as you said, maybe ask for a little bit more.
You do it ethically. You do it responsibly. You're always polite. You always care, but you just simply ask for it. And you create good things by doing it. The other thing that I want to highlight is, and you mentioned that briefly, but I know there's, this is a really deep philosophy for you. Selling is helping. In fact, I remember you sing at some point, I can't remember where it was. But the core attribute that you need to have to be good at sales is
love. Right? You need to love the people that you're selling to. And a lot of people are afraid of sales, but just recognize that when it's done, right, you're just helping somebody make a choice. You're not trying to force them into something they don't want or need. You just helping them make the decision. And then the last gosh, is just how you took adversity, and always turned it for growth. You didn't even like it when I said the word that we had a business failure, right?
Yeah, there was no failure wasn't a failure, it was an opportunity for growth. And you said this phrase to I want to, I want to repeat it, we determine our own story. I absolutely believe that. And if you're listening to this, and you're in a situation where you're like, I'm failing, this isn't going well. This is an opportunity to learn something, you're just practicing for the next
opportunity that you have. So that's fantastic stuff, Sam, anything you would add for the listeners, or if my kids are listening to this something that we could do today to apply something that you've shared with us.
So it's interesting, Dave, as we conclude here, I would actually invite you back, you need to come on the driving vision podcast. So one of the things that we created within the Ziggler Auto Group is a podcast that's very similar to yourself. It's about how people are driving vision to change the world. There's examples of people all over that have done that many I'm sure you've interviewed. And so maybe that would be the kind of final call to action is what is your
vision? And how are you working towards that today? And, and to your point, Dave, I think it's important for people to have clear, compelling visions that both tell people where they're headed, but then also invite others to participate with you, or have you participate with others in creation, which, by the way, that's one of the great gifts of humanity isn't it's being able to impact and change the world through our actions. So, Dave, you're Are you in?
Well, you come on the driving vision podcast.
Oh, you put notice. See, you're asking on the spot. You're putting me on the spot? Absolutely. Of course, of course. I think everyone should subscribe to that podcast as well. Thank you, Sam. It's a joy. We're going to hang out soon. We're going to do some fun stuff together. Thanks so much, my friend for taking this time to share your wisdom with us.
Thanks, Dave. Appreciate it. Thank you.
You've been listening to the Dave Crenshaw Success project hosted by my dad, Dave Crenshaw, and produced by invaluable incorporated sound editing was done by my brother Stratton Crenshaw, research and assistant production by Victoria Bidez. Voiceover by me, Darci Crenshaw, and the music is by Ryan Brady via pond five licensee please subscribe to the Dave Crenshaw Success Project on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, or wherever you like to get your
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