Comprehensive variable operations knowledge. A passion for developing people.
14+ years in retail automotive — finance, F&I, GSM — then founder of Vyaxis, AI software created from a passion for solving problems inside dealership walls. Loves teaching, learning, and growing — wants to use that passion in the next chapter with a company that aligns well with it.
Dealer-tech vendor leadership or dealer-platform product — building for the industry. I founded Vyaxis from a passion for solving problems inside dealership walls with AI. Now I want to lead the teams and partnerships that set the next standard in retail automotive — training and developing the people who make it work.
“I didn’t just sell cars. I turned a net-loss store profitable, trained the people who now top the sales board, and built teams that stay.”
Results, not a résumé.
Before → after
Scale — career-arc growth
A 100-car store with 10 salespeople → a 300-car store with 27 salespeople and 5 finance managers.
Systems I’ve run
Drivecentric and CDK (Gallatin Ford & Gallatin CDJR) · proficient in vAuto and VINCUE · OpenLane, Manheim, ACV, and in-person auctions (OKI) · various CRMs and DMSs across my career.
Career timeline
Yark → Southern Maryland → Toyota of Ann Arbor — profit per unit (PRU) above $3,000
Trained finance teams; recruited and developed managers-in-training
Net loss → profitable
Recon 10+ days → under 5 · internet closing 5% → 10%+
Proof
4.2 → 4.4 Google rating — real customers, better reputation
CSI/NPS consistently above-average, meeting OEM standards
F&I: profit per unit (PRU) above $3,000 and PPD above 3.5, with top-10% F&I performance vs. NCM benchmark
Recruited and trained salespeople with no prior experience — several now top the sales board
186-unit record month as Used Car Manager at Toyota of Ann Arbor — a store record while maintaining #1 CPO dealer status in the Region
The Bridge — dealer · OEM · vendor.
All three sides. No translator.
Every side of the dealer relationship — the floor, the OEM programs, and the software vendors build for it. I’ve worked all three, and I don’t need a translator.
I led dealer floors that depend on OEM programs, working alongside OEM reps across brands and their standards. I founded AI software for those same dealerships — software born from the problems I lived inside their walls. Most people in this industry know one side deeply and translate the other two poorly. I know what a manufacturer needs from its brand, what a dealer needs to run the store, and what a vendor needs to deliver value that actually lands.
Vendor fluency: I’ve run numerous vendor platforms beyond the named stack — and I know how to hold a vendor accountable, because I’ve been the buyer on the floor watching which promises survive contact with it.
Why it matters
“Having multiple perspectives in different roles in my career has given me the ability to understand everyone’s stance and help bridge the gap where needed.”
That’s why the dealer-vendor relationship is where I’m most valuable. I don’t need a translator. I am the translator — for the partnerships that make retail automotive work.
Founder of Vyaxis — integrated workflow AI for automotive retail.
Competencies
AI that reads the market and helps dealers acquire, price, and sell right.
Making the data a store already owns work harder across service, sales, and finance.
Systems that make the best dealer practices repeatable.
AI is rewriting every workflow in the dealership. The people who wrote the old playbook should write the new one — and the leader who develops people should be in the room.
Ventures
Vyaxis started from a passion for solving problems inside dealership walls with AI — problems I lived every day on the floor. I founded the company, and we beta-tested the software in the stores I know best. The through-line: give dealers back their time and their edge.
I also co-founded The Daily OAR — an AI-native business leadership daily that anchors its values in the OAR/BED methodology: every decision is a choice between Ownership, Accountability, and Responsibility, or Blame, Excuses, and Denial. One verified leadership principle, every day.
“I have a passion for training with several people I have had the privilege of training from the ground up, now in leadership positions in dealerships.”
Culture creator
People matter — and ours kept showing up.
Gallatin CDJR Salesperson of the Month championship belt — a culture where top performers are celebrated like champions. Andrew Kirk, 4-peat Salesperson of the Month, grown from the ground up — now training into Finance.
Championship moments
Foundation.
MBA, Leadership & Organizational Development
BBA, Finance
Full-scholarship student-athlete — offensive lineman, #57. Honors: Scholar Baller Award (2012–2014) · Dean’s List · Beta Gamma Sigma.
I played under a staff that went on to lead Power-4 programs — Alex Golesh (Auburn), Jason Candle (UConn), Ryan Silverfield (Arkansas). (The rest of that staff — Matt Campbell, now Penn State; Tom Manning, now Indianapolis Colts — live in the Mentors section below.)
The books that shaped how I lead.
Trust — who vouches.
Big thanks to Robert Lisowski for believing in me so much and supporting me inside and outside the business!
I'm incredibly honored to be named Salesman of the Month again here at Gallatin CDJR — four months in a row! A huge shoutout to Robert Lisowski, whose influence and guidance make all the difference. He doesn't just expect greatness — he shows us how to achieve it. As he always reminds us, 'To go places we've never been, we have to do things we've never done.' Those words stick with me daily and fuel my drive to keep improving.
As featured in Car Dealership Guy
Mentors
“I’ve had a lot of great mentors. This is them. References available upon request.”
Matt Campbell
Dr. Clint Longenecker
Michael Speigl
Joe Barba
Tom Manning
Mike Resau
Cody Adams
People I developed — nine now in dealership leadership.
Hiring for dealer-tech leadership or dealer-platform product?
Dealer-tech vendor leadership (performance, product, dealer relations) and dealer-platform software roles. Open to either — the through-line is the same: I know the floor, I know what it needs, and I’ve developed the people and partnerships that make it work.