I got myself hired at one of the best brokerages in Denver, which was a bitof a coup, as they’d never brought in anyone who hadn’t sold cars before.
The first month was a huge struggle; in 20 days I hadn’t sold a single car! Ivividly remember thinking that I just wasn’t cut out for this line of work. But I (^)
kept at it and helped three people get vehicles before month’s end.
Within 90 days I was salesman of the month, and super excited. I stayedwith the company until they changed management—and cut the pay plan, (^)
something that happens all the time in sales. I decided to leave and went towork for one of the oldest brokerages in the industry, which afforded more
autonomy. I began leasing undercover cars to local law enforcement andgrew that business until it was one of the largest in the state.
In the process, I learned a tremendous amount about how leasing works,as we created custom, in-house lease products for these entities. I stayed (^)
with that firm for almost 11 years, only leaving in 2005, when (you guessedit) a new pay plan was implemented that required more work to make the
same money.
The company I ended up moving to was smaller, and I took on many newresponsibilities: I bought cars at auction, gained more knowledge about
financing, and learned a great deal about service contracts (also known asextended warranties).
I continued to race cars and through another unusual set of circumstances,in 2003 I got a chance to begin writing about cars for a magazine,