"I Was Devastated!" His Dad Sold the Store Out From Under Him. He Built an Empire Instead | Michael Brown, Owner at Empire Automotive Group

Michael Brown (0:00)

I ended up running that store for a while. We turned the store around, it was losing money. But we turned it around and turned it around, unfortunately too good, he sold it. I was devastated.

Matthew Haiken (0:08)

Mindsided by it?

Michael Brown (0:09)

Turns out it was probably the best thing that could have ever happened to me. And I said, if I'm ever gonna jump, I gotta try it. I gotta do it now. What I did then was what most people wouldn't do. And everyone said I was crazy, and I was crazy.

Matthew Haiken (0:27)

Hi, everyone. Matthew Haiken from the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. And today, I'm with Michael Brown from the Empire Auto Group. Michael, his story is amazing. He's a great friend. His dad was a dealer. He worked for the biggest names in the car business in Roger Penske and John Staluppi. And today, Michael runs Empire, his own group, almost 20 rooftops. This is the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. So your dad was a dealer. He had a Jag, Porsche store in Huntington, New York. He did?

Did you always want to be in the car business? Or I know you were like an incredible athlete, and you wanted to be in the NFL. Did you?

SPEAKER_3 (1:08)

We want a lot of things, right?

Matthew Haiken (1:10)

Was it always the car business?

Michael Brown (1:12)

So let me say this first.

He ended up with Jaguar Porsche. It wasn't an easy road for him. It was British Leyland. It was every franchise nobody wanted. Peugeot, Lotus, you know, just an array of brands that you really didn't want to pick from. But when I was in college, yes, I certainly had aspirations to keep playing football. And I also had a red shirt year in college for football, so I got my master's in business.

And no, I really thought I really didn't think I was going to be in the car business. Although I grew up working in the business, I figured I was going to be a big shot on Wall Street. You know, take a limo to work. This is going to be an easy piece. I got a master's. It's going to work out great, right? Well, I went on a couple interviews, and the starting pay back in the early 90s, it was like $35,000 a year. And I said, wait a minute, I made more than that college summer selling cars at the dealership.

And, you know, I learned real quick, like, if I want to make money faster, I could worry about my career later. I need to make some money coming out of college. I have to have something to show for it, right? So I jumped right into the car business, and it just felt more permanent, because I wasn't going to be going back to school. And I looked around really fast and said, you know, I don't got to be the smartest guy in the world. I just got to be better than the people here around me. And unfortunately, in the business, you know, at that time, it was, there was a lot of dredge. And I said, I just got to be the best at blocking and tackling. And that's what I focused on.

Matthew Haiken (2:43)

So you finished school, you jump into your dad's store. Was everyone like, oh, look at this kid, the boss's son is there?

Michael Brown (2:49)

You know, they all knew me because I had worked there growing up. You know, and I was in so many different positions. I was in parts, I washed cars, I was a good detailer. I hustled.

Work never scared me. Well, you know, one thing I will say is, you know, you're going to be around my dad, you're going to work really hard. That's just the way it is. He doesn't believe in the lottery, okay? So I was never scared to work hard. So I jumped in with both feet and put the time in. I was a Bell To Bell guy immediately. And that's where it really started to take hold. Because I learned that wasn't ingrained in a lot of people. Bell To Bell didn't really make sense to a lot of people. Well, it made sense to me. And I was a sponge and I want to learn as much as I could. And I drove up the ranks pretty fast. So I ended up running that store for a while. We turned the store around. It was losing money, tough times in the early 90s for Jaguar and Porsche. But we turned it around and turned it around. Unfortunately, too good. He sold it.