This YouTube interview clip features Chris Collins talking with Amanda about her entry into the car dealership industry. Amanda recounts early memories (running in the showroom at age 4–5), being pushed into dealership work at 17 after becoming pregnant, and learning discipline from her father who rose to general manager. She started in sales, aspired to become a GM, but was fired at 18 for napping in a GMC Envoy; shortly after the service director offered her $1 more per hour to move into service, which began her service-management career. The clip ends with host sign-off and subscription/CTA information.
Questions this video answers
Four to five years old.
17 years old.
She reported back about a week after having her daughter Gianna to work as a lot attendant.
A GMC Envoy.
He offered to pay her one dollar more per hour to come work for him.
Chapters
You were born into this, in a sense, right? Kind of. Tell us your first memory of our industry as a kid.
I remember being four or five years old, running around the showroom. My dad was a salesman. He started as a salesman and he worked his way up. He was a used car manager, a new car manager, and then ultimately retired from the general manager position. He always stayed on the side and sort of had his opinions of the service side because it was a different world at that point in time. And he. I got pregnant my senior year in high school and my father said, we do not do that. So you're coming to work at my car dealership and it's going to be bell to bell every single day. So at a very young age, I started off at 17 moving cars for my dad on the sales side. And he was the type of GM that would literally get in the parking lot and put a string from the first bumper to the 100th bumper. And if every one of those bumpers didn't touch that string, I would be there until 11 o' clock at night making sure that every car on that lot was in a perfect line. So.
He was very drill sergeant is the best way that I could describe him. Everything was his way, but he was the GM that got to work before anyone else, and he was the GM that left after everyone else. So he was there at 5, 30, 6 o' clock every morning and he wouldn't leave the store until 10, 11 o' clock every night. So I, at a young age, really respected that. I knew that it was my dad that pretty much, you know, kept the family afloat. My mom worked, but she was the one that was there for us and she was the one who. I remember doing things with me throughout, you know, childhood. I was thrown into the business at 17. It wasn't something I was looking forward to doing, but I did respect my father and I knew that I couldn't afford to raise a baby and I couldn't afford to do it without his help, essentially. So I said, yeah, you're right, I have to start working instantly. So with Gianna, my oldest, I had about a week after I had her that I instantly reported to the car dealership and I was a lot attendant for the sales side, working those crazy hours. And my mom sort of took care of my oldest child when I was much younger. But I realized very quickly that there was a lot, obviously, that you have to put in and you have to learn within the industry. Started on the sales side and was 100% gung. Ho. I'm going to be a GM. I'm going to be a gm just like my dad. I'm going to work my way up these ranks and I'm going to do everything my dad did because I knew that it worked out for him in the long run with the hard work and the perseverance, you're going to get to the end. So.
That was a crash and burn pretty quickly because.
My dad ultimately let me go from my position that I was in. And at that point in time, the GM ran the sales side and the service director ran the service side. And the service director knew me and called me and said, hey, I'll give you a dollar more an hour to come work for me. So that is what started my trek down the service.
Why did your dad let you go?
Okay, so it was my 18th birthday and I had requested the day off with pretty short notice. But expecting that my father knew it was my birthday, thought he might let me have the day off. I drank a little bit too much. And when my dad went into his morning manager meeting with all of his sales managers and finance manager, I went into the back showroom and I took a small nap in the backseat of a GMC envoy. I set my alarm for 10 minutes before my dad's morning meeting was over. So it was only going to be about a 30 minute nap. I woke up, I had a call from my dad. He said, I need you in my office. I walked in, he instantly looks at me, he's so mad. And he said, were you asleep in a car? And I said, no, why would you think that? And this is long before cameras were ever at the dealership or anything like that. And he said, you have the seat impression on your face. Amanda, you're fired.
Busted. Busted.
So the lesson is you don't really need cameras.
You just need to pay attention to details.
Thanks so much for watching this clip of Service Driving Revolution. We're uploading new stuff every day, so make sure you subscribe and click the bell icon so you don't miss out. If you have a question you'd like us to answer on the show, call 8333 Ask SDR and we'll answer your question on the show. That's 8333 Ask SDR. For special deals on our books and training, head over to offers.chriscollinsinc.com now that's offers.chriscollinsInc.com I'm Chris Collins and I'll see you in the next video.
