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Auto is for Everyone: Pete Kelso

A smiling man stands in front of a wood slat wall.

Erica: Pete, tell us about yourself: who are you? 

Pete: I am a husband and a father, that’s who I am. I am a little league coach and an uncle, a friend and a BBQ Connoisseur. I love my dog, Gibson; he is a white golden retriever. I am everything but the auto guy because this is everything I work for. I’m a people person and a semi-decent golfer. I’m just a person who loves people, marketing & getting the most out of every day. I try to be curious & open minded every day.


 Erica: How did you get into the Automotive Industry? 

Pete: I went to college for advertising & production and learned a ton of stuff. Then when I graduated, I was trying to find a job with ad agencies. In college, I worked in my family business and delivered pizza. Every agency I went to wanted to see experience or internships because the jobs I was applying for were at the Tier 1 brand level in Detroit. One after the other I just kept hearing no due to the lack of experience or not having the connections in the industry. Finally, I found the connection within Jackson Dawson that did a lot of ride and drives. Back when I graduated from college, video production was a BIG production. Jackson Dawson did a lot of Sales Training and Marketing/Training videos - lots of training style production. My first job was Production Assistant for filming Car Commercials/Training Videos for Dealers. I mainly cleaned the cars! That’s ok because I said if that’s my job, then I’m going to be the best and have the right attitude. I would ask questions after I’d do that, and they were willing to teach me because I was willing to do the grunt work. Starting at the bottom teaches you a lot more than coming in at the top without the hard work. I also learned right away how important retail is – at the end of the day, who is buying these cars? The dealers are, and then they are selling the customers the cars. Acknowledging that chain of who carries each load for that car purchase. That car prep car led me to this path that allowed me to work along that journey.


A young family of a husband, wife, and two children stand in front of a Christmas tree, smiling.

Erica: What's the greatest career lesson you've learned that you wish someone had prepped you for? 

Pete: Ask more questions. Be more curious. Don’t be afraid to be curious. Ask for forgiveness not permission. “Do I speak up? Do I ask a question?” If you’re aim is true, then people should genuinely see that. Ask the right questions with the right true aim and don’t be ashamed to ask. And then shut up and listen when people are answering. Take Note.  

 

My dad would tell me when I’d work with him in the summer: when he married my mom, he was worried that his grandfather wouldn’t accept him because he was a blue collar worker. My grandfather said, “Just go be the best damn painter there is!”. I think there’s so many ways you can fit into this complex web of any industry, and you just have to figure out what you do well and go do it! If you’re a Swiss Army Knife person – you can be a jack of all trades and have a little bit of knowledge in everything and contribute in your own unique way. Value the People that you meet – they can help you progress forward.  


Erica: What piece of advice would you give to someone entering the Automotive Industry? 

Pete: Don’t take things personally. Keep being curious. Find people who recognize your passion for improvement and learning as well as whatever got you into this industry. Lean into those people. That’s any industry. Lean into people outside of your industry too! There’s so much commonality in sales or service/products that we sometimes forget to get out of our way. The world is like that too and there’s a lot you can learn and see new fresh perspectives. It may allow you to figure out a new way of doing things or allow your differences to power your career.  


A man, his wife and children stand in front of a waterfall.

Erica: What keeps you going in this industry of so many ups & downs? What keeps you passionate about it? 

Pete: What am I going to do? Am I just going to fold my hand and give up? No, I’ve got people to feed that I love that I want to make a difference for. I’ve been able to adapt and learn more and be flexible. What if in 6 months I’m like “This is awesome” and then go to not having a job anymore – but now I’ve realized, I’ve learned all this and have so many new skills.  


I don’t burn bridges, and I love people & relationships. I’m confident because I’m learning as I go because people are going to value that. It’s what keeps me passionate about it.  

I think the retail side has so many ups and downs versus the OEMs and so that is something that, as someone whose had a lot more experience working with OEM people, it’s not always so granular as it is for the dealers. Dealers live in a 30 day cycle more than the OEM. You’re more in tuned with the Volatility of the Market with the Dealers than you are with the OEM. You must believe you can help them though ultimately as a good partner. Be empathetic and always go back to “Who am I?” and remember it.  


Erica: If you weren’t in the car business, what would it be? What has stopped you from making the change? 

Pete: I mean, maybe like, I aspire to own my own business. Maybe it’s an ad agency given my past. Maybe it’s a Coaching business because I love coaching my son’s teams. Honestly though, I don’t even know. It could be my next job but at the end of it all, if something happened, I’d pick myself up and talk to the people I trust the most and figure out what to do. Opportunity has always stopped me from making the change. Every time I’ve needed to find something, I’ve always been able to find it. My network is deeply rooted in Auto, and I’ve never been able to get away from it. If I won the lottery, I’d open a baseball academy for kids & teens that would help make a difference.

A large group of people standing on a baseball field.

 Erica: What’s your least favorite part of the Automotive Industry? 

Pete: Negative Perceptions about the car buying experience and what that means for both the consumers and the folks at the dealership. Quelling those challenges and delighting the customers through a process that will never be easy. Ask a realtor for buying a house and it’s always “The Mortgage/Paperwork process”. It’s not always fun and sexy to go through the paperwork because it’s an important purchase. It’s a constant chase of the goal posts.  

I think a negative can also be a positive because it can be changed. The other would be all the noise that dealers must face. The perceived overlap and sometimes the competition. Competition can breed innovation and improvement but sometimes it’s hard – runways aren’t as long for new solutions, OEM’s forcing tech or solutions down a dealer’s throat making it harder for them to do what’s right by them. My least favorite part is that complexity of the lanes of work. The bad actors also can make it difficult to help that end consumer. I want to help others and sometimes that makes it hard to help them. It can get frustrating. It causes the dealers to get super defensive and I get it! It can be overwhelming. You need to just be a human and interact with another human at the end of it all.  



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