TimTalks: Automotive Leadership and Beyond

The Mirror and the Mission with Kyle Mountsier

• CarNow • Season 2 • Episode 23

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Tim sits down with Kyle Mountsier, COO and co-founder of ASOTU, to explore the journey from retail automotive to purpose-driven leadership. 

Kyle shares powerful stories of culture transformation, the origins of ASOTU, and how creating an environment where people see the best in themselves can change everything. 

From personal faith to professional breakthroughs, this conversation unpacks what it means to lead with intention, build empowered teams, and reflect the true heart of the automotive industry. 

Connect with Kyle on LinkedIn. 


[00:00 – 01:22] Guest Introductions Tim welcomes Kyle back to the podcast, reflecting on Kyle's previous appearance and the journey since leaving retail three and a half years ago. 

[01:22 – 03:12] Visionary Leadership Kyle recounts his transition from dealership life to co-founding ASOTU, sparked by early career experiences and a desire to reshape the industry’s reputation. 

[03:12 – 06:03] Mission-Defining Moments Kyle shares the story of his mentor, Aaron Hill, and the pivotal moments that drove him to pursue automotive as a career with purpose and integrity. 

[06:03 – 07:11] Faith as a Leadership Foundation Tim and Kyle explore how faith and values can inform leadership styles and shape individuals’ missions. 

[07:11 – 10:47] Inside ASOTU Culture Kyle discusses recent milestones, team culture, and how their internal environment encourages personal and professional growth. 

[10:47 – 14:03] Encouragement, Leadership, and Legacy Tim reflects on personal losses and life lessons, highlighting the importance of pouring into others and leading with authenticity. 


[14:03 – 17:37] Empowering Industry Transformation Kyle and Tim discuss how creating empowering environments leads to better outcomes in business and life. 

[17:37 – 23:34] How to Break Mediocrity They dive into the tension between profitability and purpose, sharing real-world examples of high-performing, people-focused dealerships. 

[23:34 – 26:17] Crisis, Resilience, and Opportunity Tim reflects on past industry disruptions, how dealers have adapted, and what separates those who thrive from those who falter. 

[26:17 – 29:33] Living with Intention and Leading with Love Tim and Kyle get philosophical as they discuss fear, faith, and the power of living and leading intentionally and lovingly. 

[29:33 – 31:23] Final Thoughts Kyle and Tim close, encouraging leaders to love their people more than their profits, live fully in the present, and be the impact they want to see. 

00;00;00;12 - 00;00;35;08
Speaker 1
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to yet another episode of Tim Talks Leadership and Beyond. My guest today is, the one and only. You know, I think there's some people that you just know by one name. You know, Bono, Rocky. And then there's just Kyle, Mr. Kyle himself. We have from a Soto from so many other things today, they, we were just talking, about what is happening with Soto, what they are doing, not only with the Soto.

00;00;35;08 - 00;00;54;06
Speaker 1
Well, what was happening in Kyle's life and what's going on. And I am super excited. I did, to have a chat just for a few minutes today. Hopefully it encourages you, as we continue to say no one is smarter than everyone. Let's just get better together and we're going to get better today. The one and only. Hi.

00;00;54;09 - 00;00;56;11
Speaker 1
How are you doing, brother? Welcome.

00;00;56;13 - 00;01;10;05
Speaker 2
I'm I'm good. I you know what's interesting? I think I've been on Tim Talks before back in a former iteration of it, back almost four years ago. At this point, I had zero gray in this beard. I now.

00;01;10;09 - 00;01;10;17
Speaker 1
Now you're.

00;01;10;22 - 00;01;11;28
Speaker 2
Donning the gray.

00;01;11;28 - 00;01;16;12
Speaker 1
Yeah, I've got it too. You just can't see it. It's got that special, camera angle.

00;01;16;15 - 00;01;17;17
Speaker 2
It's a lighting thing. Yeah.

00;01;17;18 - 00;01;22;05
Speaker 1
Lighting. So you can't see my gray. What's been going on, brother?

00;01;22;08 - 00;01;43;04
Speaker 2
Man, I think. Well, I actually, I posted, on LinkedIn a couple days ago. I said it's been three and a half years since I left. The retail side of the business. And, you know, everybody tells you when you're starting something, all of an entrepreneur books, all the posts on LinkedIn. It's like, no, just you got to get past the three year mark.

00;01;43;06 - 00;02;00;17
Speaker 2
And, you know, it's it's it's starting to finally kind of like get to a point where like, oh, this was all worth it. This is all coming together. And so that's been a lot of fun. Families. Amazing. You know, we, we have three wonderful kids that we get to homeschool, and I get to work from home now.

00;02;00;17 - 00;02;09;24
Speaker 2
So I come down and, you know, rub their heads at lunch and all that type of stuff. So, yeah, that's that's kind of like the the broad overview of how's it going?

00;02;09;27 - 00;02;42;18
Speaker 1
Yeah. No. You're exactly right. It is. It's a lot of hard work. But at the same time, when you realize that, you know, what you're working on and, and your vision, that was just, a vision. In fact, I would argue. Let's go back a little bit talking about that. I think it's really important, you know, very important, quite frankly, to know the genesis of, you know, your conversations with Paul and creating a Soto and even before that, before there was even a so, do you know, Jew at the car dealership.

00;02;42;18 - 00;03;02;00
Speaker 1
But I can remember, you know, having, I think it was lunch, not breakfast, lunch with you. And we were kind of casting the vision, you know, on the back of napkins at, you know, at the. I don't know if we actually wrote anything down, but but let's talk about, you know, because you actually spent time in a dealership and did a little, very similar to my my store.

00;03;02;00 - 00;03;12;18
Speaker 1
You spent a lot of time in a dealership setting a lot of different chairs, but talk about, you know, wanting to, you know, give back and create something, that made a difference. Let's let's take us back there.

00;03;12;20 - 00;03;19;10
Speaker 2
Yeah. I'm going to give, like, two very short stories. The first one starts with this guitar actually behind me. And I haven't told the story a lot.

00;03;19;12 - 00;03;20;15
Speaker 1
I want to hear.

00;03;20;17 - 00;03;56;15
Speaker 2
This guitar right here. It's a really nice guitar. I love it, it plays beautifully. The story isn't about the actual guitar. It's about Aaron Hill. Who is is now not in the car business. Has has done some amazing things in the car business. But he was my general manager at Sandy sensing Nissan back in 2010. And it was there that I realized that the car business was way more than just like me selling the next car.

00;03;57;00 - 00;04;20;25
Speaker 2
And Aaron Hill gave me the impetus to go like, no, commit to this as a career, be a part of this industry. And the way that he got me to do that was because my mind's eye at my very young age was on buying this guitar, and he said, if you commit to this as more than just selling the next car and commit to it as a career goal, to be in this business, then it it can do wonderful things.

00;04;20;25 - 00;04;37;11
Speaker 2
And in my mind's eye, at that young age, it was buying a guitar. But that, that kind of broaden my horizon for, oh, this is an industry that I can be a part of. Nine months later, I'm sitting there. I was, at that point, I was leading worship at a at a church, there in Pensacola.

00;04;37;13 - 00;04;57;29
Speaker 2
And I'm sitting there in the front row after I had just led worship in the pastor sitting standing there. And he and I can't remember the exact thing, but it sticks in my mind because he goes, you know, some of the professions out there that are known for lying, like lawyers and used car salespeople and like 4 or 5 things.

00;04;57;29 - 00;05;19;00
Speaker 2
And I'm sitting in the front row. He knows what my job is. I'm selling cars at this point right? Yeah. And calls this out as like a lying profession. And in that moment, I was just like, no, that's not that's not true. Like, I know that's true in every industry. And there are aspects of of any industry that has that in the use.

00;05;19;00 - 00;05;38;20
Speaker 2
And the, the car business has, has made a bad name for itself. But like I know personally, I know the people around me are not that persona. And so I think it was that moment that actually like is the full circle moment to what I'm getting to do now. And that like, kind of like stirred in me four years ago.

00;05;39;20 - 00;06;03;22
Speaker 2
That said like, no, this like you have to do something about this. And so when I was in retail, I was doing something about it in what I could impact. Right. The leadership that I had, the, the that when I was selling cars, selling cars the right way, the, the training, the organization, the the process management, the marketing, all of those things was a very personalized approach to doing it in real time.

00;06;05;00 - 00;06;15;01
Speaker 2
And I just saw, you know, four years ago and got to sit with you and a lot of other leaders and go, okay, no, it's it's time to like, broaden that message and, and bring it to, to more people.

00;06;15;04 - 00;06;31;19
Speaker 1
So no, I think it's, you know, I think faith plays a big role and the, the foundation of how you serve and how you because at the end of the day, we're serving people at the end of the day, you're, you know, and there's a lot of great people out there that, that, that don't think the same.

00;06;31;19 - 00;06;47;00
Speaker 1
And that's that's fine. I just think that that having that foundation really sets the tone for, you know, wanting to make it, you know, Maxwell says, I want to make a difference. I want to be around leaders that say, I want to make a difference with people that want to make a difference, doing something that makes a difference.

00;06;47;00 - 00;07;11;06
Speaker 1
And speaking of that, you know, I, I don't know that there's too many people in the space that don't know or haven't heard about a do you guys have done an incredible job at social media and your events are extremely high tech and, and, and the presentations and, and the media around them. So, so before we went live, you were talking about how excited you were.

00;07;11;06 - 00;07;26;10
Speaker 1
You just came off a, a management meeting, where you were fired up. So I'm here, I got my popcorn. I want to hear what's going on. So I'll just, you know, first time caller or. She's a long time listener. First time caller. I'll, I'll sit back and listen.

00;07;26;12 - 00;07;49;02
Speaker 2
Well, there's a lot from a business perspective. There's a lot of really fun stuff happening. We had a great nadda got to do a lot of cool things in collaboration with Nadda at the show. You know, the More Than Car series getting on Amazon Prime tube, YouTube TV. So that's amazing, So do kind of shaping up, it's, you know, just over a month of, away at time of recording this.

00;07;49;02 - 00;08;21;22
Speaker 2
It's shaping up to be our best yet highest attended, some of the coolest partners coming alongside. And, and I know, you guys will be there with car now. And so all of that, like, from a broad business perspective and the impact that we get to have because of what we do as a business, are growing at a pace that I think, you know, a three year old company should expect to grow at if you've done the right things and put in the work and, and have the right team, the the thing that I'm fired up about this morning is a lot more internal.

00;08;21;25 - 00;08;44;14
Speaker 2
But, it really reflects externally what, what Aso do is all about and the mission behind it. We we go through our highs every single week, on our, on our all team meetings. And so it's just like 60s what was your high of the week? And we have a young lady on our team that was sharing that for the first time ever.

00;08;44;14 - 00;09;19;04
Speaker 2
She had felt like there wasn't political jockeying or like positioning, and it wasn't trying to downplay her role because of, you know, what she could or couldn't do. And I'm listening to this conversation to to her share this. And also, like all of the other highs that everybody's listing and the the only thing that I could think in my mind is, is the ability for these people to be, like starting new newsletters about their faith, writing cookbooks.

00;09;19;07 - 00;09;45;04
Speaker 2
Right. Starting new YouTube channels externally is all because not like what Paul, myself, Michael have done, but it's that the team is holding up a mirror to them, going no, look at who you really are. Not the thing that you've been like, falsely told or the lies that you've told it about yourself to yourself for so long. But like, look at who you really are.

00;09;45;04 - 00;10;03;00
Speaker 2
Because if you look at our slack threads, they are there's some of the most inaccurate. It's almost like it'll gross you out. How kind of encouraging they are. Sometimes it's like, oh my goodness, I love that you did that. Whoa, that is so cool. This is amazing. Great job. So kudos to this. Wow, that's a really cool creative thing.

00;10;03;00 - 00;10;22;09
Speaker 2
Like, oh hey, this person just created this and they shared it with me. I'm going to share it with the rest of slack. Right. All of that is happening. And what it what it really says is no, if you're a part of this, we're going to hold up a mirror to you and say it's going to be a clearer, better picture of who you really are.

00;10;22;09 - 00;10;47;19
Speaker 2
And we want to reflect that back to you so you can continue giving more of those things. And like, I got emotional in our team meeting this morning because it was just so clear to me that people were experiencing the best of themselves outside of their work environment, because their team has been reflecting the best of them in their work environment.

00;10;47;22 - 00;10;49;09
Speaker 1
So I love that.

00;10;49;09 - 00;10;54;22
Speaker 2
That's why I'm fired up today. No, not because like I saw it, a bunch of things or anything like that. That's why I'm fired up.

00;10;54;23 - 00;11;15;24
Speaker 1
Yeah. You know, it's amazing. It's almost like it's almost like the golden ticket, right? It's almost like Willy Wonka. And who gets the golden tickets? It's almost. You know, I had the privilege, this week, actually, to speak, to the students at Northwood University. Yeah. I believe, I believe it's the in fact, we're going to have the class.

00;11;15;24 - 00;11;39;15
Speaker 1
We're going to have the seniors on, an episode of Tim Talks, and we're going to set up the camera to where we just do it directly from, from there. But I was so, you know, you set out when you do things like that, to encourage and to lift up. But what we find is and this is a leadership and yes, this is a leadership, podcast, and this is a leadership and life lesson.

00;11;39;17 - 00;12;04;18
Speaker 1
You know, I wish that 53 year old Tim could go back and talk to 24 or even 20 year old Tim, is what I told them. And understanding that when we look at a lie at your life as number one daily, it's a gift. Absolutely, 100% is a gift nobody is promised tomorrow. You know, I, I, it's been a rough couple of weeks in my life.

00;12;04;20 - 00;12;24;18
Speaker 1
I lost a dear friend who you would never think in a million years would would pass, from cancer. I don't know if you guys have seen the show, Reacher. But that was my friend. He was a big man. He was sick. One 6 to 245. One of the strongest guys I've ever seen in my life. And cancer took that from him.

00;12;24;18 - 00;12;53;17
Speaker 1
But it did not until the, you know, listening to. I didn't see him on his last days. I've been on the road and that's what that's another thing that rocked me. But when you hear people talk about him, he was encouraging others up until the last day. And I think as leaders, whether it's a wso2 or whether it's a dealership, when you actually not just because there's a lot of people and I'm getting preachy because I know this for a fact and I'm not calling out any people.

00;12;53;18 - 00;13;18;18
Speaker 1
I'm calling out myself, quite frankly. Just to be, you know, because we we all love us. Him, us. Right. And we might say something on, on social media or make a post, but does that is that really reflect us? And once we really understand and we pour into our people, it's amazing what happens when we start thinking about less about ourselves.

00;13;18;20 - 00;13;41;05
Speaker 1
Wake up. You know, with gratitude and then allow the people that call us boss, allow the people that look to us, giving them an environment to where they can create in their poured into, and they know that they are, being encouraged and lifted up and given the platform to do it. Something miraculous happens, especially at 53.

00;13;41;05 - 00;14;03;25
Speaker 1
I told the students, I'm on the back nine unless I live to 107, which maybe it's possible. I don't know. There's some people out there, but but it's yeah, I'm in the back nine and you know, having this big strong man, you know, you know, three years ago he didn't know that. You know what I mean? I mean, it's just it's giving me a new perspective on life to truly pouring in to everyone that's put in front of me every day.

00;14;03;25 - 00;14;19;12
Speaker 1
And even when I mess up, because none of us are perfect, you know, making it right with that person, I think it's so incredible. And to live life that way. Wow. I mean, I dare you. I really, really dare you. And oh, by the way, you can still sell a lot of.

00;14;19;12 - 00;14;19;27
Speaker 2
Cars and all.

00;14;19;27 - 00;14;32;19
Speaker 1
By the way, you can still be really successful. In fact, what happens is when when each of your people again that call you boss have that type of environment in that type of culture. Incredible things happen when you agree.

00;14;32;21 - 00;14;52;23
Speaker 2
Yeah. So, you know, Andy Goucher, I'm sure, or of at least heard of him. He, you know, we had Mohawk, on even more than cars season one. And in our interview with him, he said that the thing that always sticks with me is we want to make a place where people can become their favorite version of themselves.

00;14;52;26 - 00;15;18;06
Speaker 2
Right? But that takes other people making sure that they can become. You can't, like, just become your own favorite version of yourselves. Every self-help book, every ten steps, every you know, every coach, consultant. Like it takes other people pouring into you. You know what? What I think what that does is so, like you just said, you can sell more cars doing that, right?

00;15;18;08 - 00;15;45;04
Speaker 2
Like, what would it look like if you were a sales person and you were after your clients? Your customers seeing their favorite versions of themselves throughout the sales process, right? You reflecting on them? The best version of themself, right. That that that this is what's good. This is this is how it's good. And that takes that takes a lot of guts to kind of like think that way.

00;15;45;06 - 00;16;04;24
Speaker 2
But everybody wants to be the hero of their own story. And so that's really what you're doing is you're going, let's make you the hero of this story, this car purchasing story. So at the end, you get to stand up at the front of your car like Rocky and be like, I did it, you know, I bought this car.

00;16;05;29 - 00;16;26;26
Speaker 2
I think that's a win, win win. When we went through this and Michael Cirillo was on the call. You know him well, he said, you know what? That really encourages me in is that for us at a. So that's really what we're what we're here to do is not to shine a light on the. So do we we we obviously we love big stages.

00;16;26;26 - 00;16;46;11
Speaker 2
We love cool graphics. But the whole goal and Paul from the beginning has said no, our goal is to hold up a mirror to the auto industry and say, oh, look at who you really are. Look at the cool things you do. Scott Bilas building schools. We got, you know, people that are that are feeding entire like cities and kids.

00;16;46;11 - 00;17;01;21
Speaker 2
Yeah, right. We we've got we've got people that are that are going into middle schools and high schools showing them the career opportunities that they may have. I'm seeing cars given away left and right. You watch vehicles for change. And what they're doing was like, look at who.

00;17;01;21 - 00;17;02;07
Speaker 1
You really.

00;17;02;07 - 00;17;29;10
Speaker 2
Are, industry. You're not you're not the stories that everybody's been trying to tell you. Right. The best version of yourself is this caring, community centric, incredible industry that holds up the American culture on its back. Has it has a place in every corner and every little aspect of of this entire community and culture of of our, of our world.

00;17;29;10 - 00;17;37;19
Speaker 2
Like that's who you really are. Believe that and live in that. And that's when we become the most attractive industry to be a part of.

00;17;37;21 - 00;18;17;17
Speaker 1
You know, it's so true. And you mentioned I, you know, and Troy Duhon was on here. He builds an orphanage. It orphanage in, a different country every single year. He feeds a thousand people a day. That's just in, New Orleans. But what do you think? You know, you get to hang around the Patrick's arm ads in the, lies of Georgia's and all of those people and why do you think, you know, when we opened up and I talked about the golden ticket, like, this is, you know, pouring in your people, creating that type of culture.

00;18;17;29 - 00;18;32;09
Speaker 1
Obviously there's checks and balances. There's a lot more to it. It's just not that easy. You know, car guys and gals are listening to this thinking, yeah, you know, you got to buy the right inventory. You got to make sure that your turns right on your pre-owned cars. You got to me. There's a lot more. I'm not I'm not trying to wave a magic wand.

00;18;32;09 - 00;18;56;11
Speaker 1
And, hey, be nice to people in your office. So I'm going to sell a billion cars. Not what I'm saying, but it definitely is part of it. Understanding that the structure is the same. Why do you you know, because you know, as you go around the country, I wonder. And this wasn't planned. This is just. And you might not have an answer, but I'm just trying to figure out, you know, that is unfortunate, Lee.

00;18;56;14 - 00;19;21;02
Speaker 1
There's a lot of great people, but not the norm. You know, the we had the privilege of, you know, it's amazing to me. We just had the privilege of signing, Fletcher Jones and and it's not debatable. Not debatable. They're the largest, Mercedes Benz store in the world. In fact, I was told by Dave, the GM of the Newport Beach store, which, by the way, did 110 cars just on Saturday, just signed this.

00;19;21;02 - 00;19;21;22
Speaker 2
That's unbelievable.

00;19;21;22 - 00;19;44;10
Speaker 1
And they said that at any given day they will because obviously they have stores in north, North, NorCal, Southern California, Las Vegas, Chicago, they have more Mercedes-Benz on the ground than Mercedes-Benz USA. That's how big they are. But that being said, keyless. It's and by the way, the largest Audi store in the world as well. So they own Audi and Mercedes-Benz.

00;19;44;10 - 00;20;17;17
Speaker 1
And of course they have Porsche and they've got one anyway I don't know. But my point is this as successful as they are, every GM that I talk to, Heather Lewis, shout out to Heather like everybody is so happy they don't you would think because I've walked into other meetings where they're obviously not the you would think, you know, and they were listening to every word that myself and my team because they were they were looking at things like, okay, here's the closing percentage.

00;20;17;17 - 00;20;41;08
Speaker 1
It's higher than what we're doing now. If we add X amount of BDC reps, we could generate, that's how their brains worked. And they were happy and they were humble about it. That's why those are the people that keep breaking the glass ceiling to get better. It's never a good enough. It's, you know, it's better and better and better and better and the AB ads and the leases and the those type of people.

00;20;41;08 - 00;20;59;05
Speaker 1
But at the same time, we still have. Why do you think it's that, you know, the person that and I'm not being ugly because I wasn't the you know, I was the number one CPO store, but I wasn't the number one Lexus store in my town. There was a lot of work, but it's the people, you know. Why is mediocrity so comfortable?

00;20;59;07 - 00;21;03;00
Speaker 1
You know, why is mediocrity so just in life, man?

00;21;03;02 - 00;21;26;21
Speaker 2
I mean, I think, you know, and and it but what sucks is that you can make a lot of money multiple ways. Right? And like, money drives so many people. And so like you can make a lot of money lying, cheating, stealing. Yeah. You can you can actually in the car business, especially over the last five years, you can you you don't even have to lie, cheat and steal.

00;21;26;21 - 00;21;51;21
Speaker 2
You can be mediocre and make a lot of money. So the question always comes back to like, why change? Because I'll still make money, right? And I think it is. It's deep rooted in some people that that the person on the other side of that is much more important than the dollar. Right. And that actually, like if that's the case, the dollar follows it just like it just it's a trailing indicator of success with people.

00;21;53;10 - 00;22;19;05
Speaker 2
And there is like there's a natural thing that has to come from some people and you can either be born with it or or grow into it or be coached into it or lead into it, or see it and then reflect it. And I think, you know, maybe, maybe my the difficulty for me is I've just surrounded myself with so many of those people that I'm like, man, I think it's becoming ubiquitous in our industry that if you don't become that, then, like, you're just going to get drowned out.

00;22;19;07 - 00;22;37;06
Speaker 2
And I think that at some point will be the case, like it'll just be ubiquitous to be better. And the the ones that aren't will be will get drowned out, and it won't be because of like profitability. It'll be because consumers and employees are just done. They just get fed up with it and they just stop. They just see that there's better options.

00;22;37;08 - 00;23;02;11
Speaker 2
You know, it becomes universally accepted that doing business with a better dealer or a better person is just the only way, and that you can do it because the world is flat, essentially. But, you know, I go to my my buddy Ronnie Lowe and failed to cash out a group. Actually his brother Luke, I was on a phone call with him, and I was like, what do you really want people to experience when they when they when they do business with you or an employee?

00;23;02;13 - 00;23;34;28
Speaker 2
He goes, I want them to feel loved. And I'm like, threw me back in my chair. That's a different type of person, right? That's not like it. I want to make a lot of money. I want them to be successful in that. I want them to feel loved. And so yeah, I it that's not everyone. But I think the mediocrity and the, the negative side of the business will weed itself out over the next 4 to 5 years, because it will be the only choice to, that the consumer won't put up with that anymore.

00;23;35;00 - 00;23;45;09
Speaker 1
Yeah. I think it's interesting. I think that, you know, I always say the truth will always lie somewhere in the middle, you know, with everything. And I don't want to get into a tariff talk at all. Maybe we'll have a podcast.

00;23;45;11 - 00;23;46;21
Speaker 2
You're about to. It's okay.

00;23;46;28 - 00;24;15;22
Speaker 1
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. No, I mean, I there's a lot going on. Yeah, but this, you know, this, industry, you know, I was I jump in clubhouse just a couple of times because the travel this year has been absolutely crazy, which is good. At least people want to hear from me, talk to me. But, you know, I, I was in there a couple days ago, and I said, look, I said, you know, a lot of there's a lot of.

00;24;15;22 - 00;24;39;23
Speaker 1
No, I can't remember. You know, I remember obviously after, you know, in 2000 and, one, nine, 11, we went through a couple months of, you know, oh my gosh, what what's happening? And then the automotive industry bounced back. We went through 2008, especially with the GM bankruptcy. And yes, I'm not taking, taking any of that.

00;24;39;23 - 00;24;59;23
Speaker 1
Granted, especially, a lot of, you know, a lot of GM stores and downsizing. Yes, that was difficult. But for the most part, cash for clunkers came out and we rebounded very, very quickly. But those two, were really the only ones that that, you know, you know, had a lasting, you know, a couple months. But then we bounced right back.

00;24;59;26 - 00;25;21;23
Speaker 1
You know, I can remember, obviously, you know, Covid, which was the first Tim talk, which was March 20th of 2020. And the reason we had that it was ironic, it was, you know, because because dealerships were shut down, in the state of Kentucky, which is close to you, but the state of Kentucky salespeople weren't physically allowed in their dealerships.

00;25;21;23 - 00;25;39;21
Speaker 1
And and I worked very closely with, with Sarah Fisher on how to, you know, so we put QR codes in text enabled, you know, their phone numbers. So where they go, work deals and all the stuff that we figured out there was almost 500 people live, which doesn't happen on any podcast unless you're Joe Rogan. Right. Like 500 plus people.

00;25;39;24 - 00;25;44;24
Speaker 1
It was almost like, you know, the churches across the country after 911 like churches.

00;25;44;24 - 00;25;45;22
Speaker 2
Oh yeah.

00;25;45;24 - 00;26;17;09
Speaker 1
Right. Like, oh my gosh. And then and then and then people have short memories and then, you know, 2020 ended up being, you know, we all thought our business was going away and end up being the best three years in the history of, of the car business. So it's going to be interesting to see. But I would argue the dealers like some of the ones that we mentioned here, that will probably not pull back but push forward and to increase their marketing spend, that we're talking about, you know, interest rates probably being cut 4 or 5 times this year, you know, who knows what's going to happen.

00;26;17;09 - 00;26;33;27
Speaker 1
But, you know, I do think that's when the things that we're talking about the right leadership mindset to become, it's our job as leaders to be calm and things are just going to take place and continue to pour in. You people, people still need. Yeah.

00;26;33;29 - 00;26;54;06
Speaker 2
Just remind your people who they are. Yeah. You're not you're not a failure. You're not weak. You're not, you're not you're not poor in spirit. You you've gone through this before. Remember? Remind them who they are. This is who you are in this moment. You are not scared. You are not afraid. You are not fearful for the next thing.

00;26;54;06 - 00;27;07;29
Speaker 2
You're not shaken by these external influences like you're, See, I'm gonna get preachy because I can't. Not that you're a child of God. Like, remember who you are, you know? Sorry. You. I knew that you could handle.

00;27;07;29 - 00;27;27;03
Speaker 1
That, but, yeah, I, I can handle that. And I'm going to add to it. You know, I, I really believe that, and I'm, I'm making this up. They say that, you know, most statistics are made up. This is made up. But I think it's pretty close. If we all want to examine our own lives. I know in my life 90% of the things that I've worried about.

00;27;27;03 - 00;27;52;07
Speaker 1
And I'm just pulling that out of my backside never happen. The things that you think are horrible never happen. And I was listening to an interview on a lady that was getting ready to turn 100. And hopefully this encourages you today, listening, because most people listen on their way into work and commuting. But but let me encourage you today, they said, what would one thing, what would you change?

00;27;52;07 - 00;28;16;02
Speaker 1
You're getting ready to turn 100. What would you change about your life if you could go talk to 20 year old you? And she said, you know what she thought? She paused and she said, I always said, I can't wait. When I can't wait, my kid can walk. I can't wait till maybe they graduate. And you know, I have the house back to me.

00;28;16;05 - 00;28;37;29
Speaker 1
I can't wait. And we live our lives. I can't wait till this tear of stuff passes and it goes back to normal. I can't wait to the stock market rebounds. I can't wait till you know this gets older, that gets. But I can't wait till. And before we know it, we look back. There's more years behind us than in front of us.

00;28;38;01 - 00;29;02;09
Speaker 1
And we missed, ladies and gentlemen, the opportunity to dominate every day. To love on people right where you are today. Because we don't know what they're going through. We have no idea. But it is amazing what happens when we encourage others. We pour into others and we lead that way. And sometimes there's things that maybe you can, maybe you can't lead that way.

00;29;02;09 - 00;29;20;15
Speaker 1
But when we have that mindset, I told the students this week, obviously I'm on, you know, I said it on this episode again, I have more, years behind me than probably in front of me. And I want I don't know who is going to get it, but I'm going to pour into somebody hopefully every single day.

00;29;20;15 - 00;29;33;18
Speaker 1
And what happens is it sets the tone, and lives are much better. Kyle, final thoughts? What do you want to tell, the team, the people listening. Just give us a little bit encouragement today, and we'll land the plane.

00;29;33;20 - 00;29;56;04
Speaker 2
I'm going to struggle to follow that encouragement, but I am like, yeah, I mean, by encouragement is to live. Live today. What you can today, tomorrow will worry about itself and love your people more than you love your cars, your profit, your home, or anything like that. And the rest will follow on their trail. They're all trailing indicators.

00;29;56;06 - 00;30;12;03
Speaker 1
Absolutely. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you. Thank you, Kyle, for taking. I know your you know, a soda was coming up. You've got a zillion I've put on conferences before you. You supported us on our first little conference that we did. It was so much work that we don't do him anymore, but, you know, and and I'll not.

00;30;12;04 - 00;30;15;29
Speaker 1
And, well, we, we end up raising in two years. We raised 100,000 for Make-A-Wish.

00;30;15;29 - 00;30;17;10
Speaker 2
So come on now.

00;30;17;13 - 00;30;36;07
Speaker 1
It benefited some people. But listen, ladies and gentlemen, you've heard it today. Number one, Kyle is not perfect. Number two, God knows I'm not perfect. All you got to do is ask my wife. But at the end of the day, I really believe that is the golden ticket. That is what people are missing. That's why the Fletcher Joneses do what they do.

00;30;36;07 - 00;31;01;29
Speaker 1
That's why the Beaver Toyota and the. And the Lexus, the South Atlanta's in the lives of gorgeous and Kimmy. That's why they do what they do. And every time you see them, there is joy on their face. Because something happens when we treat others, when we live life that way. And as I just said before, let's not live life that when we say, well, I can't wait until this happens, you know what?

00;31;02;02 - 00;31;23;04
Speaker 1
Life is happening today. Be the impact that you want to see. Be the hands and feet. Encourage someone today. Lift them up and I dare you, I dare you. Let's see what happens to your team and let's see if they're encouraged and fired up. And let's see how many cars you sell. And let's see how incredible a soda is going to be.

00;31;23;04 - 00;31;37;00
Speaker 1
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for tuning in to Tim Talks. We love you. Thank you for taking 30 minutes or so of your day. Usually on your commute. And as we always say, no one is smarter than everyone. It's just keep getting better together. We'll see you next time.