Refuse to Walk. Instead, Run.

I thought a lot about what I should say today and after a good morning run, which I’ve recently gotten into the daily practice of, it came to me. Speaking of running, my dad made me run cross country since middle school - partly because I was quite chubby. Anyways, it sucked. I was often the slowest on my team and in the bottom of every race. I was great in the classroom, but far from athletically gifted - so feeling a sense of failure time and time again didn’t necessarily get easier. To see the light in that multi-year long experience, and reframe what I considered failure, had taken some time - but eventually, I did. Regardless of how “slow” I was, I always beat my personal record every race, even if it was just by a few seconds, and more importantly, never did I walk regardless of how bad by body hurt or how tired I was. I never gave up and persisted through the pain every time.?

I tell you this because giving up has never been a part of who I am. When I put my mind and time towards something, I make sure it gets 110% of my effort. So, as I reflected on my experiences running, I drew many parallels to how I catalyzed my journey here at Schomp Automotive Group .

The rush of pride that finishing a race brought to me was how I felt when the tireless commitment, dedication, and grit paid off four years ago on my 17th birthday when all I remember asking my parents, and God, for was for my persistence towards passion to come to fruition. And, it did.?

I remember first coming to Schomp BMW long before that day on a cold November morning where I met with Chris, a former client advisor, to work on a project where I was to recommend a client whether to lease or finance a car. I couldn’t have been more excited that day when I sat down with Chris and learned how to hand calculate leases and learn a plethora of automotive finance jargon. I knew that I was going to blow that school project out of the water, and I did, but I also made it my goal that day to figure out how I’d get a job at Schomp before the end of High School. From a young boy loving BMWs, I felt confident to bet on my ability to potentially realize my dream, tangibly.

I advocated for an opportunity to work without pay or volunteer in absolutely any capacity time and time again. Countless rejections later, my time had come, and I finally got my first job at Schomp MINI . I guess I proved that I could be trusted with handling thousands of dollars in checks as a teenager.

I remember one of the initial days at work over at the MINI dealership where I was testing my accessibility to the handful of systems we use in the Finance office. I remember the first time I logged onto Infobahn and saw the BMW, MINI, and Rolls Royce logos side by side – and as hard as I tried to resist, I couldn’t help but smile.?I'm sure my former department manager thought I was crazy.

I remember the slow days at MINI where I’d instantly take the opportunity to walk down the street over to BMW where I happily carried a mighty stack of deals back to my desk to clean up. I enjoyed keeping busy and honestly felt like an absolute boss working on BMW deal jackets. More importantly, however, those slow days gave me a great excuse to go see the cars I loved too much.?

My other fond memories over at MINI include Travis Taggart 's Panda Express on Saturday’s, my afternoon mocha with a cheese and berry danish, and the small team atmosphere that was filled with laughter and love. Driving to work after high school on Friday’s was something I greatly looked forward to during my week.

Following the renovation of the BMW facility, I was finally given the opportunity to officially work for the brand I loved, and I couldn’t have been more excited.?

Later that year, I recall hearing about the company’s expansion with BMW of Fairfield . That day, I emailed Tony offering my willingness to assist and support the new store launch if needed. Holding no expectation and ultimately to my surprise, Tony and Jason trusted me with the opportunity to train two of our finance employees both offsite here in Colorado and assist with the new store launch onsite in California. I considered it my freshman year internship and wow, I learned so much. I learned how to successfully train two employees with vastly different styles of understanding concepts in a given time frame. I learned the importance of listening, exhibiting patience, and establishing trust as a leader. I learned how to solve sudden pain points methodically, without panic. I learned to never make assumptions, speak in facts, and when in doubt, ask questions. As a leader, I came to feel a personal responsibility for the success of my team, ensuring that they felt supported and confident. I was also passionately invested to prove to Tony, Jason, Mike, and others that I could succeed in this endeavor.

My experience in California also grew my bond towards my day one advocate, Tony Ianucilli. From the day he picked me up from the Sacramento airport in a white on cognac BMW 540i to the day we walked over 22,000 steps all over San Francisco on the 4th of July, I never thought I’d get along so seamlessly with some dude almost twice my age. Among the sea of vast advice, laughter, and real conversation, I recall the morning of the 4th where we overlooked the Pacific Ocean at Point Reyes. Tony advised me to close my eyes, get in tune with my senses, and soak in the moment. He encouraged me to go back to that memory in times of stress. So, from that day on, I did. On occasion, I recall the cool wind brushing against my arm, the sound of the waves calmly crashing against the shore, and the sun attempting to penetrate through the dense fog and onto my face.

Another individual who would always critique me in ways that often resulted in borderline tears but had one big heart that would never refuse to cheer me on was Jeremy Behar . Jeremy was committed to my preparation for California when it came to the way I dressed, and though spending an entire summers’ pay on a couple of pants and shirts was far from my radar, I never felt more confident. I also don’t know of someone who’d come to Nordstrom with me, and pace across the aisles with a loafer in one hand, with the other hand determined to find a belt of the matching color.?

Speaking of Jeremy, I’ll never forget when he had me get a haircut in the basement of the dealership and had me be a lot-tech for a day. Jeremy was (and probably still is) quite the character, but I consider myself lucky to have had him vibrantly in my life.

Over the years in the finance office, I’ve seen my team cycle through three times which has allowed me to learn to work with different people and ensure the presence of laughter as a constant variable.?

Throughout my time, I’ve been blessed to gain mentors and pick their brains without judgement. I’ve always enjoyed tapping into my intellectual curiosity when given the opportunity and learn from the journeys of those around me. Fortunately, the environment that surrounded me at Schomp has always been receptive to this.

I’m thankful for Jason White , whom I’ve spent many hours in conversation with, always walking away in awe, simply inspired time and time again. I’m thankful for Jason’s commitment to my success, interest in my journey, ability to listen, emphasis on prioritizing education, and for sharing his raw and real advice.

I’m thankful for Michael Dunlap , who entertained the idea of having me aboard the Schomp team four years ago, for sharing his journey, offering his support, and believing in my ability to achieve greatness.?

I’m grateful for Aundria Ramirez sHRBP , who shared an interest in my takeaways from my experiences at Schomp and beyond.

I thank Jeff Edgell , who always would conclude every conversation with an open door to reach out, and for always supporting my ventures.

I share gratitude for Ana Pe?a , who graciously offered the ability for me to gain exposure to our accounting operations, and again for Jason, Tony, and Mike for supporting me in this enriching learning opportunity.??I can’t begin to express how often I would create scenarios related to Schomp to help me grasp challenging accounting and finance concepts at school.?

I would do no justice to my remarks this morning without thanking Mhamed Graoui , and the broader finance and sales team, who continue to be true advocates for my journey and occasionally deal with my lack in street smarts.?

I owe appreciation to our dealership and the greater 宝马 brand for serving as a beacon of inspiration and for proving that passion can be realized with intentional hard work.?

I’m thankful for the flexibility that the dealership group has given me to ensure the prioritization of my education. Working two days a week is often an uneasy accommodation, but without hesitation, every individual I came across empathized, understood, and rather championed my decision and supported my goals.?

No matter how challenging a week was in my life outside of Schomp, walking into the showroom was my avenue of escape and quite honestly, a second home. I always walked in with smile, and the consistent enthusiastic warm welcome from the client advisors only made me feel that much better.

It’s not easy to be up here today, not because I’m afraid of public speaking - I’ve done plenty of that … but because today concludes a chapter in life that I’ve valued so generously. A chapter that has witnessed my transition from high school to college and now college to life. I’m excited for what’s to come as I embrace my next corporate endeavor at Deloitte and hope that my passion for mobility will eventually come full circle. I am grateful to have you be a part of my journey, for elevating my aspirations, for giving me the ability to have my own ultimate driving machine, for offering your interesting relationship advice, and often, for allowing me to live vicariously through your wild experiences.?

So, in contrast to popular opinion, I don’t regret giving up just about every Friday and Saturday over the past four years to be here, sober, and not sloshed at a party.?

I’ll leave you with this, from the perspective of a young man with mighty ambition, who just doesn’t happen to be the fastest runner. Your life is your race, a race where you’re required to hold yourself accountable for your decision to run or to walk.?

The choice is yours, and the actions and consequences that follow are yours, too.

We’ve become increasingly accustomed to justifying our decisions to walk – criticizing others for our failures and lack of instant success or gratification. The only one to bet on your success is you and the only variable you can control is your hard work.

So, I hope you, like me, will champion yourself through every peak and trough in life, only continuing to run, and refusing every temptation to walk, regardless of whether you sell 1 unit or 10 units, with product or without.

Oh, and the next time you come across a passionate 17-yr old seeking opportunity, take a chance on them.

Thank you.