From family to Ferrari: Herbert Appleroth and the secret to motivation

Hands up if you still remember your first car. For me, it’s something I’ll never forget. I had a secondhand station wagon, but the feeling that I had this car, that it was mine, will stay with me forever. Imagine, then, how Herbert Appleroth felt when he bought his first Ferrari, aged 26. Herbert and I recently spoke for Episode 11 of my podcast, From Thousands to Millions (listen here).

Herbert recently stepped down as CEO of Ferrari Australasia but his relationship with the brand began young. As a kid he would take the train to visit Australia’s first Ferrari showroom in Lindfield, NSW. It became his motivation to work hard. Coming from a family of car enthusiasts, he began working with cars from the age of seven – I mean, that’s almost two decades to save up for it!

“It’s like triple Christmas,” he says, remembering the anticipation, the day the Ferrari F355 GTS was delivered and then waking up the next day knowing it was sitting in his garage, that he owned it.

That new car feeling

Of course the ‘new car’ feeling is not just about cars, it’s about a zest for life and a passion for what you do. You can do just about anything if you have enthusiasm behind it, and that’s what drove Herbert.

He studied marketing at university and was then headhunted for one of just four graduate roles sponsored by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries to become a management trainee.

“I had to go through every single aspect of the industry. It was about working from the bottom up, working from the shop floor,” he recalls. “What that did was give me a really good balance and understanding of what the industry was about from all aspects – from parts interpreter to CEO – but most importantly it gave me a clear focus of what the most important thing is… the customer.”

Since that time he’s applied that concept – to give that ‘new car’ thrill to customers – to everything he’s done, which is why he was so successful at all the car brands he’s worked at, from Volkswagen and Audi to Chrysler Jeep, Maserati then Ferrari.

He has also used it in his own life to gauge whether he still had energy to give a role or whether it was time to move on. “I wanted to be number one. It didn't matter what brand or how successful it already was, I wanted to smash records. Success and doing new things are inside of me,” he says. “I could never do 80%, I can't do 90%. If I can’t put 150% in and if I'm not super hungry when I wake up in the morning and want to race to work then I know it's time for life to change.”

I feel the same way: if I do something, it's all or nothing – I'm not going to do a half-arsed job. If it’s not worth doing with all your heart, it’s probably not worth doing. 

Keep driving

I met Herbert at the Singapore Grand Prix a few years ago and what impressed me most about him was how genuine he was about giving people his time and attention. I was a bit nervous that the Ferrari people might not be so open, but the fact that we stayed in touch and are friends years later really speaks to how he has connected the brand to its people and how he continues to drive himself now that he has stepped down.

His top three tips for achieving success?

1.    Determination: “Do not give up. There are going to be so many roadblocks, there are going to be so many haters. Be determined. Fight for what you believe in. Passion is absolutely important.”

2.    Innovation: “Be innovative, don't be afraid to look at other people's ideas but don’t be afraid to innovate, create something new for the market.”

3.    Trust in your performance: “Don't get involved in politics because you're going to get burnt. Rest on your performance, keep your head down, stick to your lane and don't get involved in messy things like that.”

Find out how Herbert became the CEO of Ferrari Australasia – and why he decided to quit – what he’s doing at home while isolated and what he thinks of Ferrari going electric in Episode 11 of the From Thousands to Millions podcast.

Listen via Apple https://apple.co/3aPdB6z / Spotify https://spoti.fi/2RemJcX and all great podcast apps - God Bless.