What would you tell your younger self just starting out in this industry yeah right you got to hustle I I think that’s
the the biggest thing it’s it’s a bit of a grind and especially in the in the dealership world and and working with
dealers there’s often times a lot of turnovers welcome to the ride and style
podcast your turbocharged pit stop for automotive restyling buckle up with Jesse and Josh
Introduction & Background
Welcome to another episode of the ride in style podcast today we’re doing episode number 14 already can you
believe it uh we’ve got zanen Clark a VP of SEMA with us zanen thank you so much
for being with us today appreciate it now hey I’m I’m honored to be here and I’m I’m even more honored to know
that I’m like the 14th most imp person important person you could talk to so well in all fairness we’ve had a lot of
people cancel so yeah so I was actually lower down the list is that what it was
well I mean I’m not going to say that you draw your own conclusions but uh you know I mean we try not to get the people
who have perfect weather all the time uh we we you know during these January gloomy winter days we we try to uplift
other people it’s very rare that we go to Southern California for our guests so we’re honored to have you well I will
say that it’s it’s been like a 36 degrees in the morning I have to kind of put a sweater vest on and um my seat
warmers it’s wow it’s rough out here yeah poor guy Diamond Bar California are you in Diamond Bar right now I am in
Diamond Bar all right Diamond Bar California Jesse the uh headquarters of SEMA until I get it moved to Detroit and
then all the California guys are going to hate me well we have a garage in Detroit so I know but I want the headquarters to be in Detroit so that
all you California guys have to move to Detroit or or or work remote so wouldn’t
that be better don’t you think you should be in Detroit yeah I think is this where you edit the program where
comes out all right all right we’re not going to start with that then we want to hear zaye Clark all right Zane tell tell
us how you got started in the industry how much of the story do you want the whole thing well I want to know
I want I mean I want people to hear where you used to work at the dealership and you know and then how you got
introduced to even SEMA so 1974 I was born back out about
nine months from that my parents had a Okay so fast forward um I graduated college with a
degree in philosophy and a minor in Psychology um oh boy right there so you
had no options for jobs I actually had no options so I thought it would be smart hey if I don’t have any options I’ll just go to school even longer uh so
I enrolled in a graduate program the thought at the time was to uh teach
philosophy like a a college level um I was newly married and what I realized I
was going to school less um so I needed to get responsible right
so I I had a buddy of mine that I went to college with and he was working for an outfit out of Los Angeles called
Prestige products um and uh Prestige is no longer in existence but at the time
they had 40 to 50 satellite locations at dealerships across the United States um
and they would go into dealerships and run their aftermarket programs dress up all the cars for the showroom on
consignment run their tire department um and it was a really good good program we could talk a little bit more about that
if you want um so he got me an interview with them as kind of for a a sales
manager type position um and I did that uh probably
for close to 13 14 years through various dealers different areas of the country
country um wow I didn’t realize you did that that long I did wow yeah I probably
have been out of it as long as I was in it directly in the in the daytoday um
and we we can dive a little bit more into that it’s pretty interesting what what tell us was it like a I mean I’ve
heard of like Vogue tire where they came in and like had like a program where they sold all the customers and but they
were on your payroll and you just you were just a uh you weren’t part of you weren’t owned by the dealership they
just gave you the ability to talk to their customers and do stuff to their cars yeah so Prestige products at the
time was the West Coast sole distributor for Vogue Tires okay um so that’s really
where we kind of got our foothold into the the dealership selling the Mayo and mustard as we like to refer to it um but
it was a similar model we would go into a dealership um we wouldn’t be on their
payroll um they would give us a couple stalls we would dress the cars up they all the inventory would be on
consignment um then we were resourced there during the sales process um to get a turn to go
talk to the customer try to upsell them on some accessories um when the vehicle sold with accessories uh the dealership
would get a pre-agreed to rebate um and then we would compensate the salespeople that were involved in in
that vehicle um so no overhead for the dealer no risk um all plus business um
and generated you know a lot of Revenue in distinction for the dealerships by running an aftermarket program and was
that mostly Cadillac dealers cuz I mean Cadillac was really heavy obviously with the egg grills and the the wheels and
tires and everything like that yeah the old devils and even I CAU the tail into some some bromes and yeah we would do
the simulated convertible tops the fender flares the yeah the big egg grills um and then when the it was
primarily escal or Cadillac that I was at we did a lot of different lines but I spent most of the time at Cadillac GM
Chevy um and then when the Escalade hit that really kind of changed the whole deal on on what we could do from an
accessory perspective that’s when the word dub became popular yeah I mean we would sell accessory packages that were
more expensive than the vehicles themselves oh my goodness um and at the time the the the margins it was a good
business model oh yeah abely um so I worked for Prestige uh maybe close to to
five years um they were going through some internal changes um had some contract
negotiations with Vogue on the west coast distribution of of that tire um
and decided to make a pitch to the owner of the dealership um it was a piery
organization they have about five dealerships in Southern California um and he comes from the the Pensky line of
of dealer owners um he owns a couple Cadillac ones he owns some Chevy or some
Toyota Honda ones ones um but kind of put a business plan together to say hey
um how would you like to bring this program inh housee and run it through
the Dealer operations directly versus Outsourcing it to a third party um that
sounded like a good idea to them at the time um so I’ve kind of been on on both sides of the fence one kind of being the
the third party service provider to the the dealer um and then running the
program directly for the dealer and utilizing a lot of our local restylers and companies that uh supported us um
so did that for probably another six or seven years then I would say in
200 N um I was invited out to the SEMA show to be a speaker at the time they
had their dealer Day program um so I was just brought out there um to teach
dealers how to sell accessories or at least the ones that would listen to me um met up with some seam employees um
they posted an opportunity to be a council director shortly after the show that was you know 8 n 10 where the
dealerships you know were really going through a hard time um I had a young kid
at home and I’m like you know maybe it’s time to make a little bit of a a change um so I joined SEMA initially in
2010 um as a council director I got a good appreciation for our our volunteers
and everything that they do um did that for three years pro was one of my great
yeah what was the worst counsil you I had to deal with well let’s be honest it was you I mean the most high maintenance
it’s us at Pro I get that I’m admitting it so and I’m giving all the other eight
councils or and networks uh a pass so yeah so I’m not gonna I don’t want to disagree with you Josh because that
would be disrespectful um I will say that Pro was the hardest for me just because I was so so close to
it it was hard for me yeah it was hard for me to move into my role as the
association person and not take it from a perspective of an industry person so
was a little bit yeah I had to grow up a little bit I think in in that role um
but great experience um but all the groups are are good there’s there’s
varying levels of good right absolutely um did that for three years uh then
moved into the uh education role Director of Education um I’m just giving you a high
level overview here and anything you want to dig into Let’s Do It um so education program produces all the
professional development training programs for you know primarily the SEMA show and support the the councils and
the association on any kind of programming throughout the year the other 360 days of the year that we do
things for the industry um that evolved into our career path student programs
scholarship youth engagement those things kind of all fell in one way or another under my area oversight um then
in 2020 had an opportunity um to go lead another Association um it’s a um
professional Society versus a trade ass Association so their members are individuals um and it was the society
for the advancement of material and process engineer earns uh primarily in the Aerospace uh sector Aerospace and
defense uh but they did have a lot of crossover into Automotive um so I they I
mean was ner D was that the acronym for it I think that’s
etn um yeah I’ll let you and Kelly hash that out but yeah yeah I’m sure she will
after this I would aerospace engineers oh my
goodness it was really intimidating at first on time I can guarantee that but then the meetings have to go long right
I will tell you that um I think there’s a certain perception of Engineers as being introverted um I wouldn’t go so
far as to use the acronym that you used um but they were very passionate about
their industry and supporting their Association and I will tell you that um
their bar time could counter uh sema’s bar time and the after hours events wow
I never would have guessed that wow good for them good for them that makes me feel safer as I fly the
world right yeah yeah you did that for what two years then uh close to three
close to three close to three yeah um and then SE was going through a lot of you know leadership changes and evolving
uh Mike Spagnola took the helm um always had a good relationship with Mike we we worked together when he was here running
the garage um and so the opportunity opened up to rejoin SEMA um and started
back here in 23 um January of 23 so just about a year now um as the vice
president of Merc which is the longest title possible but that’s membership
education market research and our our Council groups and anything else they want to throw at you yeah recognition
programs I think fall under that but the way I I look at it it’s really the association side of of what we do and
how we kind of connect and relate and provide services to our members outside the the SEMA show which is a huge
benefit but it’s extending that relationship that from the SEMA show the rest of the
year Zane I have a question uh I I’d love to go back to the early days again
Advice For Younger Self
uh fascinating that you started out restyling and working in dealerships you’re were in the
trenches um and looking back what would you tell your younger self just starting out in this industry
H that’s a great question what would I tell my younger self about the industry yeah just getting started and working in
it got more Escalade products yeah right you got to hustle I I think that’s
the the biggest thing it’s it’s a bit of a grind and especially in the in the dealership world and in working with
dealers there’s often times a lot of turnover so you’re constantly having to resell the value proposition
um so I think hustle and I think that applies to to any field as you’re as you’re maturing in it um but because the
accessory thing is um you know a want versus a need it’s a a luxury item for
the most part right there are some practical and safety ones that you want to you can incorporate differently um
but it’s to get out of your own way meaning that your thoughts or perceptions on what you think looks good
doesn’t look good to everybody right uh and your job is to really help that
customer build a closer relationship with their vehicle um to have some connection to it um I built some ugly
vehicles that I thought there was no way in hell they’re going to sell um and
somebody come in and love that thing and then conversely I I built something that I thought was the best ever um and it
sat in the dealership for like eight months and I’m like they’re never going to let me build another car for them
right um so I you know I that’s a a big part of it
um so you worked so with Prestige how many how many people would you have in
that one dealership was it just like one salesperson uh maybe two installers on the the team that I would
overse yeah um depending on the size of the account the size of the volume that
that dealership had right um I had uh myself an assistant manager um and you
know as we grew it we would get up to maybe like five um installers that would work in that area but it’s really
leveraging the rest of the dealer resources to kind of subsidize what you’re doing um so we always had experts
there that could help with you know vehicle programming timing issues that came up uh we certainly activated the
Salesforce and tried to provide training and services so they could do it and be
less dependent on you know the one or two person team that we had to sell and we couldn’t be there all the time time
yeah what why do you think that why I mean that was such a successful Niche for a long time and I
know there’s probably pockets of it but why do you think that you know kind of had that was it 0809 just the market
just it and it never built back up after that or what what do you think that was was there any issues with that model
yeah why does that that model seems like it’s could still be successful it could be successful but it doesn’t there’s not
a lot of companies or maybe it’s I don’t know or maybe restylers have taken more
of that more TurnKey outside the dealership I don’t know what I that’s what I’m curious yeah I don’t know that I have
the the right answer I certainly have my opinion well that’s what I want I want your opinion I want Zane Clark opinion
not seem a staff member I want sorry do you keep hearing that no
anyway all right um so I I think the the recession had an
impact one second here sorry no worries it it’s probably everybody from staff
going hey are you in a meeting right now hey are you in a meeting right now because they get paid per email they send out yeah um that’s why they you
know they’re trying to get their daily budget in yeah sorry about that um so I
think the the recession did have a big impact on it um I think it’s a culmination of things you have the OEM
manufacturers that were being more aggressive in terms terms of trying to capture some of that that business as a
revenue line for them um the ob’s got a little more aggressive in in the accessory space and um what they
Envision the the vehicle to look like and to be like once it hits the road and and that continues to be an ongoing um
you know opportunity for us to to navigate for sure um you know profit
margins got it maybe a little bit tighter um I think is is part of it um
but I don’t know that I have a a great answer I don’t know what are your thoughts Josh you’ve seen the the market evolve a bit no I think you’re right I
think it probably the problem with that model is you had you have the OES that I mean
your big thing when you had an Escalade come in you put a great looking Grill on it you would put uh you would put some
22inch wheels and tires on it well now that comes standard from Cadillac um
yeah yeah I mean they’re you’re not putting 26s on it they’re just happy with the 22s and the grill looks great
for that it comes so um I guess the manufa like you said the manufacturers have done a better job with their
accessory programs or even making the vehicles look bigger but the other problem I think is you know for that
margin you were you were paying out the salespeople you have your own expenses then you had to take a piece the
dealership was getting a piece so like you said when those margins go down you’re better off having an outside
facility like myself servicing a 100 dealership ship um versus being stuck in
and maybe just a couple dealerships and really having to work that dealership hard I don’t know I don’t know it’s it’s
interesting how it’s kind of gone away though yeah I think that that business model of of how you run things is
is probably provides an elevated level of service to the dealer and some flexibility in terms of how that is
structured um so I think that is a good path to go down um and like we mentioned
earlier there’s always been a lot of turnover at dealers and so it’s having to resell that value proposition over
and over and you know there’s been a lot of consolidation in the industry where you have you know first second third
generation uh dealership owners that have sold out to you know bigger conglomerates and they have a a systems
approach to everything they do and you know an in-house aftermarket or a third party aftermarket
program they don’t always understand that from a corporate level yeah yeah and well like you said they I mean they
took you from Prestige and they they had a smaller and they wanted to bring it all in house so they were thinking hey we want a bigger piece of the pie now
and now there’s some dealers that still kind of do that but it’s hard I mean it’s just it’s more overhead it’s more
it’s another department to manage and you got to have the right person and you got to have the right text and so it’s
some dealers just prefer to make their money for with a third party and move on so yeah it’s a complicated thing to run
if you’re not in it every day and so what happens is you you try to do it um
but then you realize you’re not an expert in this space so you’re you’re better served by finding a you know a local restyling professional to do what
they do well and to guide and assist you in your in your accessory business
yeah so on the on the SEMA level so so now you I mean you were the direct you were a director a council director for
three years you re I mean because you managed the three directors now um how
do you think that perspective has helped you to say okay I know what you’re kind of going through I mean you you’ve
actually had to do what they do on a day-to-day business do you think that how does that help and hurt
you well I always have an opinion for them so I don’t think they always love that right you always have an opinion um
but it’s a really hard job that they have and we’re very fortunate to have a fantastic um team they call themselves
Triple Threat um that oversee our our nine groups they each have three um and
they’re tremendously I think in tune and strong advocates for what the groups are doing and you know we we try to take
this approach um of another acronym which I don’t think you’re familiar with
Josh but I I just coined it it’s sap sa a p um and that’s creating an
environment for the volunteers where um they feel supported appreciated
productive and that we’re evolving the industry um and if I had my wits about
me or my my way I would require every sea staff person to spend a period of
time working with our Volunteers in the in the council’s program because I think it gives you a whole new appreciation
and perspective on um really what we’re built to do as a member member-based
organization and that serve the industry um and our Council leaders and volunteers are our most um involved
vocal members that that carry that passion with them so
um you know certainly having that experience um if I didn’t have it I
don’t know that I would understand their day-to-day challenges and how to advocate for them to do be to be
successful at their job um and it’s it’s a lot that they they manage so I think I
can at least offer some empathy for what they’re going through you do you do have
a good team those three girls I mean they they do a really good job I mean
I’ve seen a lot of council directors over my 12 years volunteering and um
they they do really care they do really care and that and it’s hard dealing with I mean Jesse you ever deal with
volunteers their biggest pain in the butt ever I mean they expect everything and they’re like well I’m not getting
paid and they just demand and especially us padas we’re just very much like demanding all the time and so well then
once you become person of the year then it’s it’s really gets Quantified it’s really bad then it’s really bad then you
try having your own podcast and everything it’s it’s horrific it’s horrific but go ahead Jesse sorry no a
Toughest Challenges
problem Zan what was uh what are some of the tougher challenges that you faced in the industry either either before you
joined SEMA or after and and how how are you working through all
those yeah I mean I think now right I I think the issues that we’re facing are are
different and there are you know real threats from government agencies that are trying to to mandate you know
technology advancements relative to the you know internal combustion engine and
emissions and um SEMA historically has remained somewhat neutral meaning we
represent over 7,000 companies were the voice of the industry in many ways and
on any particular issue there’s going to be opposing viewpoints and understanding
that we represent all of those constituents um our position has been to
educate and inform and we haven’t really I guess taken an active role in in some
of these conversations um but I think with the the leadership of Mike Spagnola
and Karen belly Chapman who leads our DC office uh we’re realizing that um it’s
not to Advocate one way or the other necessarily on these conversations that around the The Ice um engine um but to
strongly position that there’s a lot of different Pathways to achieve what you’re wanting to accomplish in terms of
Admissions and that we need to be technologically agnostic and not have the government pick winners and losers
um so I think that is a an issue we continue to face currently and in that
narrative and and we’re making some inroads there um you know certainly close to Pro there’s the the right to
modify right to repair and and we’re putting our our best foot forward there to try to get positive outcomes for the
industry and are are working with coalitions on how to make sure that the language and the messaging is
appropriately tailored uh to reflect our industry needs um you know that one is
still sitting um currently with the uh in consideration with the you know
Energy and Commerce Committee um but we have bipartison support on that one so I I feel pretty good about it um but those
are just some kind of current Hot Topics um you know an
ongoing um area for me is just how are we going to continue and and get younger
people excited about the automotive industry um you know in my first stent
with SEMA I spent a lot of time working on youth engagement and students um and you can see the passion
but it is this ongoing thing where in a lot of ways is the vehicle becoming a commodity is it just Transportation you
know the uh the the business model of uber and and these different
Transportation models has put um less onus on the need to own a vehicle um and
so how do we continue and and Foster excitement about our industry and and
build a a meaningful connection to these vehicles for the Next Generation it may be different than what we came up with
um you know maybe it’s more the the software the technology of the vehicle that people connect with um but it’s
maintaining that the the vehicle is an important way to kind of express your individ ual personality and to have some
connection to that it’s an art form for a lot of folks personalization so key yeah I
don’t know that we’ll ever get to a society where it’s like okay do you want white red or black car and nothing’s
different I mean people are just so different clothing house everything so um you know one thing I would like you
to explain to the audience if they’re not familiar um is how big SEMA really
is because a lot of people think oh yeah that’s that car show out in Vegas but maybe you know maybe let the folks know
how many staff members there are and how it is like a 365 day machine yeah um so
I mean the industry is is $ 52 billion and and that’s just the industry where
consumers are spending money on aftermarket parts um about 12% of that comes through dealership transaction so
that’s a big chunk of the world that that that Pro spends time in um but the you know the economic impact of that is
$337 billion and that’s the trickle down effects for automotive events races
industry Gatherings so it’s a huge thing um and and SEMA is really trying to um
leverage those numbers in that position to further some of the causes that we’re making um but our team here specifically
is um the number is probably around 170 staff that we have full-time uh between
our offices here in Diamond Bar uh you know we have um offices in Indianapolis
which incompass our PRI um business uh we have the Detroit garage which we
referenced earlier um and we do work with you know the sea data Co-op and we have our DC team so all in um about
170 employees that keep this machine moving all year round and um it’s the
show it’s market research it’s you know our Affinity programs on insurance it’s
education um it’s like I mentioned the SEMA data the SEMA garage there is so much that we can offer the industry
throughout the year um and a big value for us is is getting people more actively involved and and the council
program the council Network program is really the way for people to kind of raise their hand and take a little bit
more active role in terms of how Sema allocates resources to support the industry yeah and what do you think if
if people are thinking okay well I’m part of this industry but I don’t really understand SEMA that well and you mentioned the volunteer what are the
volunteer opportunities that you that directly you know correlate to what you do on a
day-to-day B basis and you know what what’s the benefits of being part of a
being a volunteer well I I might flip that back to you Josh I mean you
volunteered while no I’m joking I’m joking yeah um listen I think there you
know our we have nine groups there’s three councils which are kind primarily focused on building benefits and
services for businesses and then we have three networks which are more vertically integrated tailored towards individuals
in professional development um so there are ways to actively get involved in in
all those groups um and and would encourage you to do so it’s it’s one of those things that um you probably once
you’re integrated into it and immersed in it the hope is that you you get as
much out of it as you put into it and a a big part of it is the relationships
the business contacts that you build um so if you’re used to kind of working in your bubble in your Silo and you know
your head down all the time um that’s necessary especially when you’re running a small business um but you need to
build a kind of a professional Network that you can lean on when you have questions that come up when you need to
be introduced to other folks expand your business so a big part of that uh
Council program are the communities that are built so you would have those people to lean on to pick up a phone and call
um if you have a business question or you need help on on something it it really is I would say um a big family
that takes care of each other right um um so we you know you know we spend a
lot of time and effort trying to to build those up and and and support those groups uh we also have our SEMA cares
which is I think the uh the heart of SEMA giving back to some organizations uh like child hell Victory Junction um
to you know do good things that help young people the Austin Hatcher foundation for Pediatric cancer is
another one that that we support um and people are very passionate about that um
we have scholar ship committees um we have student program committees um so
the uh short answer to a long answer is that if there’s something you’re interested and passionate about um we
can find a a home for you to to help us out and and to help you out yeah and I
think you know there’s opportunities you can go to the website and go to sema.org and you can look for a volunteer
opportunities but when you’re at the show too ask around look for volunteer opportunities there’s always all the
like you mentioned the councils networks the nine of them are always looking to recruit new volunteers and so is SEMA
cares and be part of the pack or whatever you want to do wherever your your Niche is but and he’s right you
know I was that guy he just said you know it’s so funny when he said uh you know you just keep your head down you’re
in your little bubble I’m in my little Columbus Ohio bubble and I’m just sitting there going okay and I actually
had the uh the kind of the idea that if I didn’t want anybody to know what I was doing
cuz the things were working I was like man if I if I kind of you know get out there a little bit PE people might I’ll
bring somebody to town and they’ll be my competitor um so but you know I got
drugged to a meeting and I’m like what is this Amway you know but no it was it it was uh it was eye opening to see that
other people around the country were dealing with the same problems I was dealing and that they were actually had
a voice to take the industry or to you know because SEMA is that vehicle that
has more power maybe more money than any indiv you know more influence you could say than any one company so together it
just really builds that Bond yeah I mean you know the whole business model of a a trade Association or not for-profit
entity is to reinvest back in the industry and how we do that where we do
that is really incumbent on people raising their hand and providing input
and feedback on what we ought to be doing and um you know SEMA just celebrated 60 years um in
2023 but it really has its roots all the way back to the the 30s and I won’t go in the whole history of SEMA but I find
it pretty interesting um and in the 30s especially in Southern California you were still
you’re starting to get like a real hot bed of enthusiasts all built around hot riding and and making their car look a
little different and go faster than their buddy um but then you know uh
Pearl Harbor happened we entered World War II um in December of 41 and it kind
of stalled that Community because a lot of the hot roders volunteered for service and went off to protect our
country um but when they came back there was this pent up demand for automotive
and they they had this newfound skill because they learned how to uh be technically proficient working on
military vehicles so you have passion and you have knowhow um and a lot of them landed in Southern California
because the weather was great um and they could work on their cars and in the garage all year round um but because of
so many resources were allocated towards the war effort there weren’t a lot of new vehicles out there so the only
really cars that they could get a hold of were you know older later model vehicles that they had to kind of
restore build customize and through that a lot of these innovators and uh
entrepreneurers created business models out of that and that was really kind of the the foundation of the special
equipment Market industry um so as that started to get popular a couple things happened you had uh Peterson start the
Hot Rod Magazine um with Wally Parks as editor and that created a national stage
for customizing in the special equipment industry uh so much so that there was a
toy company uh Revel that wanted to capitalize on this and build kind of
miniature uh you know scale cars that they could sell and to do that they
wanted the logo use of all these different companies well a lot of these business owners weren’t necessarily
understanding the the legal side of it um and so they had a lot of questions so they started to form this small group of
like-minded Manufacturers and Southern California to say Hey how do we kind of come together and better leverage this
relationship with this toy company that wants to utilize our logos and we’re talking about pioneers of the industry
like an ed escadaria Dean Moon El’s loan and they came together um and that
really was the kind of the germination of what ultimately became SEMA um and
it’s interesting they’re kind of founding principles all the way back in 1963 um when they when they formed the
association it was a different name at the time um but it was three things and
I I think they’re still true today and it was that more is gained than lost by coming together more is gained than l L
by coming together that competition dries business but cooperation makes life easier and it’s kind of to your
point Josh you didn’t want say want to share everything that you’re doing right because it business is competitive um
but the third bucket that they realized was that they through a unified voice you can protect and promote the
companies that they serve and that was really the kind of the founding principles of SEMA um and I would say
that that we still hold pretty true to to to this day 60 years later yeah oh
yeah no it’s so awesome that a toy company actually pushed this industry
and now it’s $52 billion and that was a it was licensing then there was a big that that started a whole licensing
business that probably didn’t exist before fantastic wow and just to give you an idea Jesse of how large this
industry is what were maybe Zan if you not to put you on the spot but I think they they attributed it to them like
it’s larger the impact of our business has more impact than like Hollywood right right yeah I don’t know I know
there was uh when Karen Bailey Chapman made her presentation once we got the results of our economic impact uh report
that it yeah it compared us relative to some Industries and I want to say we’re bigger than the wine industry but yeah
when you when you look at on that scale it’s like wow because I I don’t think we’re normally used to looking at that
um in the various circles that we run right CU we’re we’re hyperfocused but the the impact of what this industry
does and what it means to people um it’s is really vast and and really
powerful yeah it’s it’s so cool the way the that it’s come so far and where do
you where do you see the future going yeah what do you what do you think what do you think SEMA
2035 is going to look like the SEMA show and then the the maybe the or the
association as a whole yeah the you know the SEMA show specifically I think
is can and it is and it should be a reflection of the marketplace right
because it’s it’s a way to bring buyers and sellers together so as the industry evolves the the SEMA show should evolve
to really mirror the industry in some ways we’re providing the the playground for the industry to to come together
right um but you know we have seen changes in the the distribution channel
the way companies do business um I think uh I don’t think covid disrupted it but
it was an accelerator in a lot of ways in terms of how people do business um
and so you know when we talk about the value that we offer to exhibitors and
buyers it’s making sure that we continue to be relevant with the way their distribution model looks how can we
support um their business model their needs for Branding um so forth and so on
that could constantly evolve and we just have to be flexible enough to evolve with it um so the show in
2035 um you know I I I’m excited about that Prospect I don’t know what exactly
it’s going to look like but it’s going to look different because the industry is going to look different yeah I think it I mean there’s a lot of things that
are going to happen I think over the next few years that we’ll see kind of dictate that but I think the the the
future looks bright especially for the and of of course I’m speaking more on the pro side because that’s what I know
on a day-to-day basis Professional restylers Organization but I know I do know also the wheel and tire guys I
don’t I haven’t seen any vehicles that don’t have wheels and tires so far so I think those guys are safe well if you
have they’re they’ve probably been jacked and they’re they’re on a flap Ed they are in Detroit they’re just sitting
on blocks okay uh but uh you know I think one thing that’s so great is and
and this is me as a buyer this is me this is why I come to the show it’s not necessar and so if I’m talking if if a
manufacturer is like looking at that line right everybody wants their Roi should I go to the SEMA show should I
spend tens of thousands of dollars because that’s what it costs you know for a manufacture or more to be part of
the SEMA show and I would tell you this we you the SEMA show has changed over
the years where used to go to see the new stuff and yes there’s still that
part of it however as a buyer I go to build my relationships and network and
do more of that cuz the new stuff comes in an email I can see the email they don’t the manufacturer not going to wait until the SEMA show to usually release
something some do and you still want to get around but as a buyer when you or yeah when you get to talk to people
one-on-one look them in the eye and these manufacturers or they come to they’re they’re volunteering like you
are or they’re in the same sessions and they’re putting their head together and you’re networking and you’re being
educated by them or they’re seeing the education from you when you have that
kind of camaraderie that where I’ve made the best uh relationships with
manufacturers it’s not by me showing up at their Booth oh what’s that product Oh that’s a great price great I’ll see you
on Monday and I’ll place an order that used to be I think the show but it’s evolved into being so much more than
just showing off new products and if manufacturers still think it’s well we don’t really have anything new I
shouldn’t go to the show then they are 100% missing the boat yeah listen I mean if you think about how the shows evolved
since 1967 which was the first year we did it at Dodger Stadium to what it is today um there’s been these kind of
tipping points along the way that has allowed the show to kind of evolve and
progress as its next stage so I think the the rate of change that we’re going to see over the next 15 20 years is
going to be significant because we are kind I think at another one of those iterative tipping points that will
accelerate what the show is doing um and that’s exciting to to be a part of um
for sure zanen I got another question um you mentioned a couple of times about
education and about getting younger people to learn more about SEMA um it’s
funny because just last night I I attended a local event my my brother-in-law teaches automotive
mechanics at an alternative high school program in my area and they have uh they also have Auto Body they’ve got diesel
mechanics and it’s sort of like you know a vocational technical uh mini program
for high schoolers start when you’re a junior um and he says in his program uh
every year now he gets maybe 150 applicants sometimes 200 and they got room for about 35 and he said it’s
completely changed you know when I when I was in school you you went Blue Collar cuz you failed you know and everybody
wanted to go to college had to go to college and and get a giant student loan and and waste a bunch of time and and
then it’s questionable whether you use it or not I think things are changing I mean my kids right now are teenagers I
got a sophomore in high school uh and a daughter who’s about to join High School
I think they’re starting to look differently at College they’re looking differently at career choices now they’re looking at the student loan debt
that everybody gets into and they’re they’re kind of thinking maybe there’s another all alternative to that but my point in all that was when I was when I
was there last night he my brother-in-law went to SEMA show this year he goes every 3 or four years and
he said he was blown away we went to one of the classes and learned that it was a huge industry and he was telling this to
all the other guys in this room and most of them owned shops or they were in the industry and most of them still don’t
even understand it they don’t really get what is SEMA you know they they get it some of them have been but a lot of them
haven’t and they’re still they’re understanding man this is a giant thing and the kids definitely don’t have a
clue that it exists so my I guess my question for you is what can we do what can people do about that and maybe you
know spreading the message or getting involved and you know and and maybe maybe that ties in with volunteering so
I don’t know if that is a clear question listen I think uh in a lot of ways um it
always surprises me how many people I run into no SEMA um and equally surprised me how
many people don’t know SEMA right so I think if you’re kind of immersed in this world you’re you’re very familiar with
it right or you’ve seen some of the the programs on Discovery Channel or battle the builders which airs on Saturday by
the way um so check that that out nice and um there is this kind of this this
void where people don’t know about it um and it’s a it’s a big thing to tackle
and we’ve tried different consumer campaigns over the time but we’re kind of a B2B trade Association and so it’s
trying to figure out how to extend our reach to different consumers um one of the things that we’ve implemented
recently is the SEMA individual membership program um and as that kind of continues involve and get some
marketing resources behind it I think that’s a great way to communicate to individual enthusiasts how to be
involved in what we’re doing and understand what we’re doing um and then it really takes all of us collectively
to you know Seema is representative of an industry so if they know SEMA great
but we want them to know the automotive aftermarket and the special equipment industry and get them excited about that and if they do they’ll find their way to
SEMA eventually um but you know the show this past year had you know 2200 2300
exhibitors 150,000 attendees and you know where else can
you go that you’re really bringing the industry together and we’ve brought and
do bring students out to it um that are not familiar with SEMA or have never
left their small town in Wisconsin and they come to the show and their eyes open and you get to kind of see what our
industry has to offer through a young person’s eyes and you know if you’ve been doing this for a while you get a
little bit jaded um but one of the things that we continually hear from
Autos school you know Educators um the kids are ahead of us to your point I
think they’re looking at College differently and I think the perception around Automotive is hopefully evolving
because it’s still a you know dirt under the fingernail type thing it’s a backup plan if you will um but the biggest
obstacle we found honestly was the the parents expectation of the kids so it’ll
be like hey I I’d love to get an automotive but my my parents tell me I need to be a doctor or an engineer right
um and so it’s starting to kind of shift that perception and um we used to have a
gentleman here that that land or LED our vehicle technology department and the
amount of code on a vehicle now exceeds the amount of code on like a a Boeing 737 and so these these cars
are really smart and you know you have to understand the mechanical side of it
because I think if you lose that connection to the vehicle maybe you you don’t get it the same way um but they
really are professional technicians professional restylers that um are
required a very particular skill set to to work on these vehicles and um you
know we’re pretty much in a consumer Society so if you have a trade and a skill uh you’re going to make yourself
invaluable and the automotive industry is is a great great place to do that yeah it’s probably a good point you’re
talk about the parents but I mean my son and my daughter and Jess’s kids I mean
we’re the parents now and we’re like hey don’t worry about getting yourself into $100,000 worth of debt uh there’s other
ways to make money yeah we’re all now we we all get it our parents senior yeah
yeah um so I got to tell you a funny story about Zay he he’s going to go uh oh no no this
is a good one do you remember so we were in Austin at a okay yeah he already knows where I’m going see I’ll let him
tell it we were in Austin at a meeting and uh
we went we went out to uh SEMA was taking all the volunteers out to a dinner so we went to a brewery everybody
got you know um some beers and food and everything like that well first of all I
saw the first marketing genius you know in a long time and I think you agree with that zaye there’s this Brewery and
here comes this girl and she’s pulled this wagon behind behind her and when I say girl I’m talking like 12 years old
yeah and she has this wagon full of Girl Scout cookies and she’s just going from
table to table selling Girl Scout cookies at a brewery it’s the most genius thing I’ve ever seen she was
hustling right she she was hustling and you know and she yeah I love her line she was like listen it’s uh how much is
a box it’s five bucks or three for 15 and you’re like that’s not even a deal
but I love what saying here so I’ll buy three boxes you know that’s like you I’ll get you three tires for the price
of four right yeah exactly so so anyway so somebody at our table well we we
interviewed Courtney uh on the on our La one of our last episodes So Courtney buys four
boxes but you know it’s the end of the night and uh you know some of the guy
some of the guys and gals were like all right let’s go hit another bar and you know I’m like I’m going back I’m going to bed zay’s like I’m heading back too
well Courtney goes well here take these four boxes of cookies back to the hotel for me now who in your right mind would
ever hand me and Zayn four box of cookies right but we did not eat them yes we did Zane tell tell everybody what
we did with those well I mean you were on a roll with that story but I I’ll try to carry
it on uh we got back to the hotel lobby and you know it was pretty sparse it was a little later at night um but we had
the idea to have a uh a Girl Scout cookie Challenge and so the the challenge was we had to see who could
sell our boxes of candy the quickest for the most money right so we were hitting up
strangers in the lobby um and I think they they they were very distrusting of us well I think probably so so we did we
decide this in the Uber on the way back you know we I have two boxes he has two boxes and you know I could tell it was a
little uh mono imano uh you know this game game on his old uh Prestige product
salesperson came out on him and he and I’m sitting there going well I can’t let this staff guy out sell a salesperson
right you know and so we get back and so what’s funny is so we go right in the hotel and zaye makes a beline right for
the the the desk lady the clerk the hotel clerk wrong choice cuz that guy’s
like yeah I’ll take some and then zay’s like well they’re 10 bucks a box and and
the guy’s like oh I made a straight line for the for the for the bar cuz those
people are who’s going to buy so smer not harder yeah so I just made it you know but what happened is I got I got
stopped by some lady and she’s like well what do you sell and she just start I’m like come on buy these cookies or not 10
bucks a box or two for 20 was my uh was my thing here well so Zayn comes over I
almost have these things sold the problem is I didn’t have the right flavor that she wanted and Zane did so
he’s like well why don’t you buy my cookies so long story short four boxes
sold that’s right $10 each and we sat at the bar and our beer our beers were
$10.80 each so so we got 80 cent beers that night but the real funny story was
the next morning we’re at at the meeting and Courtney goes hey uh Hey guys where’s my
cookies yeah you what do you say at that point I don’t remember what we said I just I could have made I would some lady
took them yeah we brought it back safe for you then Courtney out of blue she goes
what let me guess you so room for beer money and I was like uh wow Zay and I are that much that that predictable yeah
there there’s a good business story somewhere in there I’m sure right and you know what it was the girl that sold us the cookies she’s the only one that
made out the whole night I mean we basically got we stole cookies and got free beer but yeah don’t drink your
profits I think that’s the moral the lesson right don’t drink your profits never get high on your own Supply yeah there you go yeah the cookie
Supply right see yeah Zane um another question about about what’s going on now for you what are you most looking
forward to to doing next what’s exciting right now in in in CN all the projects
you’ve got going on yeah so we’re in our uh what we call our lrp which is our long range planning
season for our our nine volunteer groups um and so that’s always you know an
opportunity to take a step back and see what we’re doing and what we want to do moving forward um and typically you know
we we get reinforced with some Pathways or get some new ideas that come out of that that will you know keep the energy
Revitalize the industry revitalized and excited so um you know that’s on the the
shortterm side of things um we’re also um we had a Leadership Retreat a
week or two ago um with the executive team here at at SEMA we went off site in in Long Beach um
and really kind of were uh I think candid on what did we needed to do or thought we needed to do as an
organization um and I think it was a good opportunity for all the different department heads to to kind of verse and
understand our our shared challenges and what we’re trying to collectively accomplish um and I think we’ll the
offshoot of that the benefit of that will will certainly pay dividends for how we deliver value to the industry um
that kind of bleeds into uh there’s a a board longrange planning meeting in in
February um and so just a a lot of groundwork I think being laid to evolve
what we’re doing and got to throw budgets in the middle of that you know some people like budgets some people
don’t but they’re they’re necessary um so you know those are just some business
side but there’s a lot of events going on right now in the industry that are just exciting I think next week our um
mpmc Motorsports Parts Council um manufacturers council is having their
media trade conference which is really kind of a a staple event for SEMA that connects you know manufacturers and
media to kind of build out their content calendar for the year um we have I think king of hammers is next week right uh
then on the tail end of that you have the grand n Grand uh National Roadster Show and
Pomona um you have the NADA show that’s coming up I think next week and so there’s there’s just a lot of hubs of
Automotive activity going around and it’s it’s great to see that you know these shows and the events are are
healthy and thriving because that that tells us that the industry is strong and um you know certainly we can’t be
everywhere but you know we have a lot of Industry folks um that are at these events and it’s it’s really just to kind
of be out there and understand what’s going on yeah so it’s that that’s exciting and
then you know in a couple months we’ll start working on the SEMA show again that thing you work on it never
stops I was going to say it never stops half that team is just working on that show Show’s so monstrous and all year
round yeah oh it’s unbelievable so wa out of at a scale 1 to 10 how big of a
car Enthusiast are you be Hest cuz I’m a one I’m a one everybody knows that I’m a
one Jesse’s like what are you a five Jesse or do you like cars better I might be a I’m becoming a a three or a four
now I used to be a one also I’m getting more excited about see I’m still a one and I’ve been doing this 30 years well
I’m trying to think what I what I said during my interview because if my boss he is that I want to be consistent well listen he’s like a he he
says no he’s really a six I’m I’ll get him on record saying that yeah yeah
people found their way in this industry in different ways and um I didn’t grow up a car Enthusiast um so you you were a
one yeah I think I you know I’d like to say that I’ve I’ve elevated to a five but I tell you what I’m I’m a I’m a 10
on the passion the people in this industry and that’s really what what drives me and it’s people yeah what gets
them excited and I I do have a profound appreciation for what I call this this rolling art and these vehicles are
whether you know you are at the uh you know the dealership level doing
accessories that maybe are are bolt on and and things like that um or going to full you know modifications or or
Restorations there there’s an art to it for sure um and when I got to work at
the dealers and customized my own vehicle I really got into it and when I had to start paying for it myself it it
scaled back a little bit um but yeah so I I would say you know five working
towards a six or seven if I can get an extra garage to store a car that my wife won’t let me
currently well I and I I I agree with you so I think it’s good I think it’s healthy if you had all tens you know I
mean nothing really gets done everybody thinks with their heart not their brain you have you need a few of us that are
ones and threes and fives and stuff like that but it’s the people the the the
industry has the best people everybody will help you I’ve never run into anybody that said now you know what I
you know because of competition or you know whatever they don’t want to help everybody is willing to help I don’t
care if you’re manufacturer media staff member or restyler buyer whatever
everybody’s willing to help each other which is so cool and that I’m a t on yeah it’s it’s rare and um yeah I think
this this industry is is very open to to help people out and Josh knows this but
we have an expression when you when you start volunteering is to take off your company hat and put your you know your
industry hat on and it’s it’s really about advancing what we do and and people are um very open and
accommodating and it’s yeah they everybody’s gonna help each other out yeah well before Jesse asks his final
question uh thank you for all you do you really I mean listen I I bust on you a lot right and I give you a hard time
sometimes but you know you guys you and the and the the Triple Threat have a very difficult role a lot of
expectations it’s you know it’s it’s almost like a thankless job that you have to do keeping volunteers happy and
then think about this Jesse you have new volunteers that start every year and it’s and they they bring up some of the
same issues that you know Z Zayn and his staff have been fighting for decades and
they have to not squelch the enthusiasm but also kind of guide them without
saying yeah buddy tried that 5 years ago it didn’t work but but they they have
that’s a tough tough tight RPP uh to walk every day and you guys do a good job no I appreciate that and I think
it’s this it’s this kind of two-way partnership um you know we’re there to to support what what you and the folks
are doing um by the end of the day I think we’re all trying to accomplish the same thing and that’s to kind of Advance
the industry and and protect the people and the products that that we care about
yeah totally awesome hey Zane uh if people have questions for you or and they want to get a hold of you or learn
more about SEMA um how do they do that where do they go websites or what yeah it’s
[Applause] joshp hit myride.com yeah sema.org uh my
email address is zanc sema.org and that’s probably the the best way uh to
make an initial contact and um I will will certainly follow up with you awesome thank you for being on the show
today yeah no I had a good time I appreciate bags he doesn’t have to worry about coming on the show if I ever call
him you know now now that you can go you can report back that hey it wasn’t you know Josh didn’t ask anything really
crazy it really wasn’t that hard it’s not like everybody thinks it’s like coming into like the dentist appointment
and there’s going to be a root canal I mean this was just a basic cleaning right yeah I think this is a hustle
though I I think you’re you’re easing up to get the bigger fish where you can really drill in on okay we got to end
the show Jesse before he catches on to anything else here awesome all right thank you guys I
appreciate time thank you all
right and there you have it another high octane episode of the ride in style podcast reved up and ready to go your
hosts Jesse Stoddard and Josh pson shifted your Automotive game into
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