Today we’d like to introduce you to Steve Hall.
Steve, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My journey with driversselect began back in 2004 with a belief that there has got to be a better way for people (employees; customers; key suppliers; consultants; local communities; shareholders) to experience the used car industry. The prior decade before starting the company I had the fortune and misfortune to experience the best and worst this industry had to offer and knew that a conscious company could not only exist but thrive in this space.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
In my first 4 years in business I had reached levels of success I only dreamed about. Driversselect was one of the top 3 fastest growing companies in North Texas, reaching revenues over $70M and generating very healthy profits. But I noticed something very unusual that I didn’t anticipate and that was how little I was enjoying the growth and success of the business. Even though I felt I was achieving everything I was taught in business school and from my early mentors I couldn’t overcome the fact it was out of alignment with my core values and guiding principles. As a result I could see the impact the business was having on my emotional, spiritual, intellectual and physical health as well as my personal and professional relationships. I began to see how being out of alignment with my values put me out of balance with all areas of my life. Luckily, the business was slowed down by the great recession in late 2008 through 2010 because had it not I believe either the business or me would have eventually imploded. It was during this time I started to ask myself the question why success didn’t feel as good as I had thought it would. What was missing? The search for these answers led me to the Conscious Capitalism community where I met Rand Stagen, founder of the Stagen Leadership Academy. Through my involvement with the Stagen Academy I got to experience a different approach to business— one that focused on playing the long game, creating win-win relationships and becoming more aware of the impact business and its leadership has on being a force for positive change and elevating humanity. This was the moment everything began to change-starting with my personal development in becoming a more conscious leader.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with driversselect, an Echo Park Company – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
If you are on the outside looking in as consumer you will likely see driversselect as company that sells “nearly new” vehicles well below market value. While our brand promise of “get the new car feel without the new car price” is what we deliver it does not tell the story of who we are and why we do what we do. Our vision goes way beyond just being a highly respected national retailer. We see ourselves as reimagining the workplace by inviting people to connect with the unexpected thrill of personal and professional growth, learning skills and behaviors that build healthy relationships, and bring things like vulnerability, care, love, commitment, support and collaboration into our work. We believe what we practice all day shapes who we become at home and at work. So if we can practice learning how to develop great relationships all day in the workplace we have more fun, more success in our jobs as well as improve the way we show up at home, around friends and as leaders in our communities. What sets us apart is the level of vulnerability we share at work, how we support one another’s success and operate with a core belief that if one or more of our key stakeholders is unhealthy for a period of time then the business is eventually going to be unhealthy, making it all of our responsibility to support, care for and create value for every stakeholder. We are best known for our “culture of care” that is based on our culture pyramid of providing our people with a sense of security, belonging, personal achievement, meaning and financial upside. When know that when people work for an organization that has these things embedded in the culture they feel inspired to take care of all the other stakeholders.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We were just acquired (September 2017) by an amazing organization called Sonic Automotive who shares a similar passion for creating value across their stakeholder community. We are so fortunate to have the opportunity to infect some of their 10,000 employees and key stakeholders with our culture of care as well as leverage their incredible technology, training programs, and strong industry relationships to build a national used car platform that any retailer would admire. While we will lose our name and our bright orange colors as we roll up under their used car brand Echo Park, we could not be more excited of the possibility of combining the Echo Park brand and technology with driversselect business model and culture. This is going to be an amazing journey of growth, learning and impact.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2615 W Interstate 20 Frontage Rd
Grand Prairie, TX 75052 - Website: www.driversselect.com www.echopark.com
- Phone: (866) 612-2892
- Email: brandi.beakley@driversselect.com
Image Credit:
Brandi Beakley
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