May 1, 2025 • 33 mins
Jack Salzman, founder of Lake Norman Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, joins Trent and Patrick on “At Home with Roby”. Tune in to hear about Jack’s education and time as a competitive swimmer, how a cell phone business led him to a career in the automotive industry, how he and his wife give back to the community through their charity, Giving with Grace, and his latest business venture, The Serve Pickleball + Kitchen. Slated to open this September, The Serve Pickleball + Kitchen is a unique indoor/outdoor sports and entertainment complex offering pickleball, Topgolf, dining and bar experiences.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the At Home with Roby Show.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'm Patrick mcaac from Roby Commercial in Services and one
with Trent Hason from the Roby Family of Companies.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
We are your hosts. Tren.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I still want to say good morning, welcome to the
at Home Wealby Show, but it might not be morning
when people were listening to this.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
I got it, I got it down, but I don't
know what you're cooking with. Brother, Obviously it's not I'm
cooking with gas. Maybe I'm like more like a propane.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Uh that is gas. I don't mean type of gas.
You might be cooking with.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Green grass that Burnwell, I don't know. I don't mean
anything by that heard.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
So the last time I talked to you, you were
headed to visit College of Charleston, which was yesterday.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Yep, how'd that go? It wasn't good, had a good time.
I was daddy daycare for the for the boys. So
we went actually went down to Folly Beach and looked
for sharks teeth for about an hour.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Did you really?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Rayan was like, you can go to the kid's museum
see what they want to do. I'm like, okay. So
then the girls all rolled out to go do the
college tour, and uh, I put in Folly Beach and
it was twenty seven months. So I said, hey, boys,
we got two hours. Y'all want to go to the
kids museum or do you want to go look for
(01:19):
chars te They're like Chars. So we went to the beach.
We had a good time, and then and then after
the tour, the girls shopped and did all that. We
went to lunch and me and Reagan and the boys
went down to a playground down by the battery and
walked around.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
It was good.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
So that's a cool that's a cool campus. So when
I went to Clemson, I was a pike Cap of
Fire like your brother was. And the very first chapter
of pie Cap was at College of Charleston. So we
had to do a pledge of treat, which I'm sure
you did when you were attorney at Chapel Hill. And
we had like twenty four guys stuffed in a two
bedroom house on Folly Beach and we had to go
(02:00):
like they set up all these different things that we
had to go see and then like report back with
the picture. And that's my only experience in College of
Charleston has done.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Some of that I had a pledge trip.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
But I did when I was circling around to pick
them up from college tour. At the butt of the
street where I was riding around the emissions part of
campus emissions building. The pie cap of Pire houses right
there in front.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
That's not that's new mirror. Let's see.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
I guess it is the chapter I took note did
But but yes, So yesterday was Monday. We're recording this
on a Tuesday. We're recording a couple of shows a day,
so we're recording this UH after Easter Easter Sunday for
everybody that celebrates Easter.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
God bless and UH.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Saturday night at at eleven o'clock, we picked up our
exchange student.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
From from franks for for the next four weeks. So
that was fun.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
They got up at the Charlotte Douglas Airport and I'm
I'm I got my phone. I'm looking at my phone.
Ala Eas is her name. We were calling her Alice,
and I'm sure I was calling her alas, you know,
dragging it out. I'm sure everything. I'm sure Ala East
is not right. But this morning, when I was exercising
for about an hour, all I did was repeat her
(03:26):
name because I I butchered it up on the whole
trip to and from Charleston. But she got to go
on the college tour with our girls with Tatum Rowing
and Piper.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
That's cool, Soday, I got to do it. So it
was this a ladies party.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I'm gonna call you out and I'm gonna give you
props at the same time, because I know why you
did that.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
You you are like me. You'll text yourself stuff.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
What do you want to have a reminder and you
have it Ala East broken out on your phone so
you won't forget.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
That's because I six forty five to day.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
I asked Rowlan to explain it to me so I
can get this right.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Syllable by syllable.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
I'm working on us. I do not want to offend
this young lady that's living in my house. She might
she might come out high, sleep hard.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
It's like Danielle Rojo not daniel had to get that.
I knew that.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
I never had that. It was about a year and
a half. Check check his show out Creative Player. Danielle
dan Yeah yeah, great guy.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
But uh yeah, so it's cool.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
So this is our second exchange student. I think and
and people were asking me. Saturday Friday, we were going
to pick her up and people said, you know, my
neighbors were, well, where's she from? I said, uh, you're Spain.
She's from France.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
I did not pay attention to that detail.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
But her dad, Uh, excuse me, her dad's a big
rugby player.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
But her granddad was.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
I haven't looked this fellow up, but he was a
professional rugby player. So man, Yeah, it comes from good grain.
And apparently her town she lives in France, which I
cannot recall, is a very big rugby town, great rugby
team there.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
So that's pretty cool. That is one sport you are
not allowed to play. I'm not playing rugby. But what
she did give the boys a rugby oh football, rugby ball?
I guess what you call it. I probably don't like
to be called rugby footballs.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
It's not a it's not a football, but it is
oblong shape, very similar, a little larger, and I think
it has a logo over team. But yeah, what else? Oh,
and last week we went to we had a YPO
Young President's Organization annual trip to Nashville, Reagan and I
which was wonderful. So reunion get to see all your
(05:45):
friends from the Southeast. We've been doing this for about
fourteen years, so got a lot of a lot of
great friends. It's truly like a family reunion, but it's
a singer songwriter event. And my good buddy who's been
on the Brent Beeson, is the chatter chair this year,
and we have a connection of really good friends, both both.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
He and I.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
With Enzo, I'm gonna mess up his last name does
the visio uh, but he is the manager. He was
groomed under George Strait's manager and helped manage George straight
for a long time. And he is Lee Brice's manager,
hailing from Clemson, hailing from Sumter, South Carolina. So Lee
(06:28):
Brice UH and Randy Hauser where our singer songwriters. They
both write a lot of their own music. It was
really cool.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
So, I mean, how many people were in this crowd?
Pretty small, four hundred people, just four hundred to watch
those two.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Yeah, it's all YPO.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Current active members and then when you turn fifty you
turn into YPO Gold, so you know, all the way up.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
The people that have been in the organization. So it
was good.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
But they told stories that at the I which is
very special and then uh, I mean just random, random
thing about ten years ago.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
I don't know if you remember when Alex worked for the.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Company and DJ and and those guys are connected in
the music industry.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
They asked me, They're like, hey, you want to host
Randy Hawser at Carolina Golf Club Friday's playing at Cody Joe's.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
I was like, yeah, so I did that.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
He wrote in my golf cart for five hours and
got all trent and uh, which he was a wonderful
guy and I saw I fell in love with his music.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
But I had that up my sleeve and I'm like, hey.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
You do not know who I am, dog, but now
but you did play But you did play at Carolina
Golf Club about ten years ago when you did Cody
Jay's and Charlotte.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
He's like, yeah, like I was the guy that was
in your cart. He's like it's I could tell. Over
the evening he was trying to figure it out. These memories.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Yeah, these memories started coming back to him. So anyway,
it was a good time. We had a great time.
Reagan and I. It's a couple of trips we bonded
and Brenton did really well. I'm proud of my man
and it's always fun. So, uh, tomorrow morning I leave
to go kite moarning here you get some of that.
(08:21):
The number one decapitated sport, Well, don't get to capitation.
I'm not don't. That's for people that don't. I've learned
this because when when I go with these these folks, Uh,
they're really good. But even they have coaches that go
with them on a jet ski or whatever follow them around.
(08:41):
They're trying to do tricks. And if you went, I'm
sure a lot of people say I want to go
kite and they get a kite and go out and
win and they don't have a clue what they're doing.
Which I still I've done this for ten years. I'm
like a three out of ten.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
With a coach.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
I could not go do it by myself at the beach.
But I'm sure that's how people get hurt. People do
not get hurt when you do it correctly. Well, they
might pull a hamstring or something, but they they don't lose.
They're not really getting seriously injured other than a muscle
or something.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
But I'm excited about that. Get to go get in
the cold water for a couple of days. That'll be
a lot of fun. So check it out.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
If you don't know what Kyp Bordon is looking up
hell to author Sammon and Claig Grubb, who are both
alumnis of the show Grub Properties in Semon Corp. That's
who kind of got me into this. I go with
those guys in this great fellowship.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
So Patrick introduce.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
I guess, yeah, I think that's the first time you've
met Jack Salizman. Jack and I played in a golf tournament.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
I think we've met.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Maybe I had to make a wish forgot let me
let me regress there, but yeah, Jack and I played
in a golf tournament. He is a fellow entrepreneur, was
in the car business and now has a new concept
in Corneli's called Serve. If you can see my hat
representing Jack Man, I think you really enjoyed it heat.
Like I said, we spent about four or five hours
together and I gleaned a lot off of his knowledge.
(10:08):
So looking forward to having I like how you got
the flex fitsticker still on.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Uh, that's that's a cool style. That's how all.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
The kids are doing it these days. With Jack, It's
gonna be fun. Can't wait to talk to you and
learn about you. Uh, you're listening to at Home with Ruby.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
And don't forget.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Roby Services is your one stop source for all your
electrical heating, cooling, plumbing and handyman needs.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Keep it easy and.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Get it all done by one Roby servicesnow dot com.
That's robyservicesnow dot com. Welcome back to at Home with Roby.
I'm Patrick Pakasik from Roby Commercial and Services. On the
Trent Hayson from the Roby Family of companies. Check out
the last segment. Trent just gave me a weird looks.
I'm not sure what's going on, but we got Jack
Salizman in the studio, Trent. Jack and I met at
(10:54):
a golf tournament that our buddy Jeff Naper had invited
us both on mutual friend I think you two met,
as you remind me at the end of the last
segment through make a wish, Jack, welcome to the show.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
I'm excited to hear you tell your story.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Thank you, appreciate you inviting me, Yes, sir, Yeah, and
nice to formally meet you now. Now will be long buddies.
That's right, that's how this rolls.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Yeah, exactly. Speed dating on steroids, I tell everybody else.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
And you probably remember his wife, Robin two, that was
really involved with Make a Wish and still is. We
ran to each other at that to make a Wishball
a few weekends ago as well, and she did a wonderful.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Job, thank you.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Yeah, she's been the chairperson for Making Wishball the last
three years.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
She's been the ball chair leader. Yep.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
And do you know the numbers off the top of
your head that the ball has raised the last three years.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
Yeah, So before Robin got involved and our cabinet got involved,
they're raising like six hundred thousand dollars, which is a
great job. And then every year since we've been over
two million dollars. Yeah. Yes, we attended two of those.
I did not wasn't able to make it this year.
But it is amazing.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
I mean, it's unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
If you just if you want to find a charity
to get involved with a one, Make a Wish is
a wonderful charitable organization. But two, this isn't just a ball,
it's a production. I mean, it is unbelievable. It's like
going to a show.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
Yeah, we go to a lot of events throughout Charlotte.
It's one of the best events there is, and obviously
it's just a great cause, especially have healthy children and
just to be there, not a dry eye in the place,
understanding what everybody's gone through. So it's just a great,
great charity.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
And everybody knows.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Leading up over the last fifteen years doing the show,
the ten shows before our annual cornhole tournament, which solely
raises money for the Make a Wish Foundation of Central
and Western North Carolina, we tell a wish story at
the end of our show about a child and the mission,
(12:56):
just to let everybody know.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Is to grant, uh.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
To be, to do, to see, to have for a
child that's going through a life threatening illness and give
them and their family a wonderful experience and hope and excitement.
And there's medical evidence factual that it works and helps.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
Yeah, there's all sorts of stories. Some doctors that they
can see, you know, exact results when a child gets
their wish, and it's those stories are remarkable.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
It really is.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
I mean, it's cool too me And the misnomer I
think before we jump into your story is that these
children are not curable. But that is absolutely not the case.
Most of them do walk away from what they're dealing with.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Correct, Well, God bless over the I think it was
Chris gracious first wish in eighty two or eighty one
or eighty three, I can't remember exactly that date. But
you know, medicine over the last forty five years has
come a long way.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
So folks that have life threatened in.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Illness, there's a lot more cures out there and a
lot more progress. So that's wonderful, well said. And then
they're able to then recycle their hope and give back.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
And you see that so much in this organization. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
So we've been involved for over fifteen years, our organization
at the Rugby Family, and I served all my terms.
I can serve on the local board.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
That's awesome. I'm unserverable. Oh man, no, no, no, tell
the sheriff that. And now who serves you? You've been served.
I see what you did there, hopefully not by experience.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
But before we get jumping in, Jack, I know you
wore that shirt in particular, it's the New York Yankees
twenty twenty four World Series shirt. To poke a little
bit of fun at our buddy, our mutual friend, Jeff,
who is an Orioles fan, because I don't think they've
snuffed a World Series in quite some time, in a
little while, so he'll enjoy hearing that. But yeah, take
(15:05):
us back. You said he grew up South Florida. You
obviously have some family in New York, but kind of
run us through uh your upbringing.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
So I was born in uh North Miami Beach, grew
up in Sarasota, swam competitively as a kid, earned a
full scholarship to Auburn. It was the number one rank
somewhere in the country leaving high school.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
And oh, wow, you're not strong. This is what I
love about this show. How strong.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
I did not know that my brother lives in Auburn,
huge Auburn person. Uh met his wife that through Auburn.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Our nephew, My nephew, Travis's going Auburn as a freshman
this coming year.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
And those that you don't know Auburn swim program is.
I mean, you're as good as a kid's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
So that's awesome. You were you in a fraternity down
here at Auburn.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
No, somebody took takes up so much time. So we're
in a pool five hours a day, turns out after
my freshman year I tore both rotator cuffs. So back then,
you know, the surgeries weren't as easy. You know, the
scars were probably six eight inches long, where today there
may be a half an inch. So I didn't swim
after my freshman year. So how to we kind of
purpose myself and figure out I'm gonna get out of
(16:13):
Auburn and what am I gonna do? And then from
there end up going to law school and graduate law
school and never practiced a day and then got in
the car business.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
You look like a daggerline lawyer. Hey, question for you?
Do you do? You know? Peter was going to ask
the same question. Peter Hollett lives in Charlotte.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
Good friend of mine, fellow IPO or the show own Thurmer,
King of the Carolinas, came on the show about three
weeks ago. He's been on the show several times. He
was a swimmer in Sea State and y'all look alike, old,
old and bald.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
He is still swimming. In fact, I swim, you know,
most every morning if he can. And he was doing
a big national meat probably right around this time.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Competitive right probably right now. Yeah, But I joke with
him we play golf together. I'm sure you and I'll
play some golf together. I asked him right when I
see him in the morning, like, if we're going to
hang out all day, did you get your swim in
this morning?
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Because if he didn't, he's a little more grumpier. You know,
where's he swim at his house? I don't know.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
I'm sure he swims places because he competes. But he
has a lap pool at his house that we built
for him.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
A little plug there you go.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
That's how we met him. It was fifteen twenty years ago.
We built a poolhouse put the pool in, so that
is really cool. Where'd you go to law school?
Speaker 1 (17:32):
I never Southeastern and Fort Lauderdale.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
My sister went to medical school. She's an er doctor.
Went to Nova Southeastern after the College of Charleston.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Small world. That is a small world. I have been
on that campus. I went to a graduation there the auditorium.
What do you think about this past?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
I honestly thought your sister went to m USC this
entire time, so I'm glad you have cleared that up.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
She did her, She did her undergrad No MUSC as
a hospital, right, well.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
A medical university. Of South Carolina.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Okay, that's where she works or has worked, got it,
That's where she did her residency.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
So I got someone stayed there.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
She went to College of Charleston undergrad and went to
Nova Southeastern to get her daughter.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Cool.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
So after law school, you said he'd never practiced law.
How'd you get into the car business?
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Just a friend of my wife's introduced me to a
car dealer, and I said that sounds really cool. I
knew I never wanted to practice. I just my mom
wanted an attorney or a doctor of CPA. I knew
I couldn't add very well, so I chucked off the
CPA off her list. And I knew certainly wasn't smart
enough to be a doctor. So I figured I could
read and write, and I could try to be a lawyer.
(18:42):
And so I did that, and then I just got
in the car business. And I know, ninety two and
never looked back.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
So you were already married when you went before you
went to law school? No, okay, right after right after? Yeah?
So where were you living when you got out of
law school? Orlando? And did you start working for a
car dealer? Yep? Really? What were you doing with was
your first job at car dealership.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Never sold cars, which is anomaly. He just met me.
We hit it off, We talked, and I left out
a little small segment. So I opened up a little
cell phone agency and we're selling back and you guys
are too young. But they had these bag phones.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Back in the day.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
My dad had one, I'm sure, so we gave away.
I came up with this promotion. We would give away
a bag phone with every car purchase. And the car
dealership had a ton of success. And then that's when
he asked me to become a sales manager, and then
from there became a general sales manager. From there became
a general manager.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
And then the dealership that I was worked at the
time sold to automation. They had about two hundred dealerships
around the Country's general manager for three of their stores,
and then it got promoted as a district vice president
running twenty five thirty stores.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
From mister Wayne Hazinga. Yep, Oh yeah, cool. Did you
know him?
Speaker 4 (19:58):
I met him, But I ut with a guy named
Mike Mcrooney, who's legend in the South Florida area.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Wow, man, what do you think about that? That's pretty cool?
Started in the cell phone business, all of you. Yeah,
you're going to grab on to that.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
I knew that you're with Rich Ballad and who's been
on the show as well. Were you all the dealerships
basically Florida base, I mean you were got you to
North Carolina?
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (20:22):
Well, when I went to became a district vice president
for audination, I was over all sorts of franchises, but
I started at a you know, Chrisler jeep store, and
that's where I knew the most, you know, I was
comfortable with the brand. And then h the manager for
Chrysler at the time, told me about a store becoming
available in Lake Norman at the time, so I googled
(20:45):
Lake Norman, North Carolina, not knowing Lake Norman. It's not
even the city, it's a region. And so rob and
I drove up here one beautiful March day and it
was seventy five degrees and by that time, it was
already ninety five in Orlando, and so we you know,
looked at the store. But one small thing. I had
to convince Robin to quit her job. And she was
(21:06):
vice president jeral manager for CBS Radio, running three radio
stations at a big corner office and she just won
market Manager of the Year for the entire country. And
you know, they had like a thousand radio stations at
the time. And I'm like, man, come to North Carolina.
You can retire, and you know, we'll own a car dealership.
And fast forward. She never retired and we ran it
(21:27):
together and she handled all the marketing, the community and
HR and some things like that, and I ran sales
and service. And we just never looked back. And like
Norman became one of the top selling Christian Dodge sheep.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Stories, like Norman Chrystler Dodge Jeep Yep.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
We my father bought several Jeeps at McKinney's in Belmont
because we live on Lake Wali.
Speaker 4 (21:50):
We bought that store too. Gastonian christ Dodge. Yea really
yeah twenty thirteen.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Really had a grand Wagon are growing up?
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Oh yeah with the woodpand yes, sir, a navy blue
and wood panel and that thing was cool. Favorite favorite
car worth a first car. I had a Missus Beech
Montero as my first car. But then my hanging me
down after that was a Jeep Cherokee.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
That was my first car, ninety three Jeep Cherokee country
was white with gray trim.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Yeah, I love a Jeep Cherokee. And then I liked
all the Jeep products.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Great vehicle that got totaled, and I got up grade.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
So we came to Charlotte and the Lake Norman area
in two thousand and three. June is, two thousand and three.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Gosh, your Tommy was perfect. Unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
I moved here O four, and I mean the difference
between that area and and now it was unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
I mean any probably School Road was a two lane road, yep. Yeah,
we lived out there and then school. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
We first lived in the Point, and every morning I
kept missing my sales meetings or any meeting that I
would call, and I'm like, I can't do this, and
I just kept leaving earlier and earlier. But if you
got behind us school bus on two lane road, I mean,
that's a long way to get behind the school bus.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
So ye, yeah. We moved to Cornelis after that. So
that was O three. You started.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
You purchased Lake Norman Chrysler Dodge Jeep, and then you
said you purchased McKinney's. At some point, I do a
Bible study with mister Ray McKinney. I do not know
him that well yet.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
But uh, great guy, have just this happened in three
months ago?
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Yeah, super good guy. Yeah, seems like a wonderful, wonderful human.
So you grew the platform, so tell us about it.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
So hey, listen, we were really blessed at Lake Norman.
We had an incredible team, We had extremely low turnover.
We ran it like a family business, which it was,
and you know, we rob and I always say it's
like a Mama Pop organization. Even though for new vehicles
we're top ten the country. For certified pre owned, we're
top five in the country. I mean just every metric.
(23:54):
Just that store was just just one of those just
great stores, and and we just decided it was the
size of two three four stores, and we just said,
let's just keep growing it. And so we just focused
on that. Then Race Store became available in twenty thirteen,
we bought that, and then we just ran with those
two for twenty years at Lake Norman and then thirteen
(24:16):
or ten years at Gastoni before somebody came knocking on
our door and we sold in January twenty three.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
The cycle of life, right, I hear you? So what
are you doing now well, the cycle of life is well.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
I retired unsuccessfully for a couple of months from January
of twenty three two, and I got this crazy idea
to open up this pickleball top golf swing suites and
a restaurant and a bar in a community room where
we can meet you. Up to seventy five people can
meet in there. So it's about fifty thousand square feet
(24:50):
under roof, and then we have six so it's got
ten indoor courts, air conditioned, and then four top golf
swing suites, and then outside it's got six courts, so
all all total probably almost sixty thousand square feet.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
So I got that.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
And then, as you said, psycho life where under contract
right now we're buying uh our first dealership.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Again. I wouldn't expect that. Wow, this is great in retirement.
You have to look forward to year and a half
you made.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
You made a corp earlier. Equipped about being old and bald,
you do. You look very vibrant and I do not
think of you as old. Just so you know that
that was nic that has thought in my head, you
young whipper snapper man.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
So so where's your dealership? Can you say? I can
say the state South Carolina.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Okay, well you coming, you are getting country these days.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
You're gonna move down to the river. Man if you're
not careful. He doesn't, he doesn't like those commutes. He's
already done told us that.
Speaker 4 (25:52):
Yeah, yeah, I drive the Gaston and gets a little
rough every now and then.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Yeah, eighty five can be brutal.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Oh they got some shoes with eighty five and Wilson Boulevard.
I take my son the guest and Christian every day
from Mecklenburg County.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
So just to turn from forty five onto eighty five
is Unbelievabley're about to rebuild that.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
So what is uh, what's your wife doing now?
Speaker 4 (26:17):
So we've been very charity focused all our lives together,
and that was kind of a staple at our dealerships.
But once we sold, we created a family foundation called
Giving with Grace dot org. And she does that fills
a lot of her days.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Really.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
Yeah, so we hold she holds annual gifting luncheons where
we pick I'll tell you how we pick it. Since
it's a family foundation. But ten organizations they apply for
grants and she gets one hundreds of requests. She does
grants all throughout the year, but for the gifting luncheon,
there's ten that are picked. In each of those ten
organizations received twenty five thousand dollars. And these aren't typically
(26:58):
the make of wishes, right because they these are the
smaller ones that people just going, you know, they're really
they're twenty five thousands, you know, life changing for them.
But how how they're picked is we get all the grants,
we put them together and our board on given with
grace is our grandchildren and our uh and our three children,
so they pick them, so we don't pick them. So
(27:20):
it is you it is so cool to see the
next generation. And they have to tell why they picked it.
So you know, one was a Union County Humane Society.
They wrote they needed defense so they could protect their
you know, the dogs and everything. And my grandson Ian
who picked that. He said, uh, Gram which is what
(27:40):
they call Robin and Pappy. He goes, Gram and Pappy,
they need a fence, So I choose them so they
can protect their animals.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
And because you know, it's just so now you know,
we're I think we're impacting that next next two generations
to understand that you've got to give to receive.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Wow, that's really special.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Who is there a person grace or just the definition
of the word grace.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Nope.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
So our granddaughter who just turned sixteen, their name is
Lantern Grace.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Amen. So that is awesome. So how many kids and grandkids?
Do you have? Three kids? Nine grandkids? Oh? Man, that's cool,
God bless you. Yeah, it's exciting. Do your kids live locally? Nope.
Speaker 4 (28:22):
So we have a house in Dallas to be with those,
our two sons, and then the six grandkids there, and
then we're building a house in Clearwater Beach to be
close to our daughter with her three kids.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Man, you got it figured out. I told you. I
told you.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
Yes, I talk about I got chill bumps, look in
my arms. I'm gonna tell you this. I talk about
grace a lot. It's my favorite word. It truly is,
because you never know what the other side. Everybody's got something,
everybody every day.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Yep, and uh, if.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
You approach life, I spill. Coming back from college to
Charleston yesterday, I was riding hot gun. Reagan drove both
ways so I could work and catch up because I'm
doing all this crazy stuff. So I'm on the computer,
so I get a big forty big gult at the
gas station and a coffee.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
That's how I do it. I drink my coffee and
I have my.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Cold drink and I spilled it in my lap into
the floorboard when we were about to take back off.
Granted we got six kids with us too. I go, dang,
you might have even said aoul, foul word. And I'm
walking back in to refill my cup rowing my second
child jumps in to clean it up. I got it
all over my legs and this guy just going back
(29:35):
into gas.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
He said how. I said, how you doing, man? And
he said he sounds great. How are you?
Speaker 3 (29:39):
And I said, man, I just spilled my dag on drink.
He said, look, man, it probably saved you for something worse.
He's like, you might have had a wreck or something.
He's like, just thank god. And I was like, man,
that's some grace. That guy was an I'm gonna cry,
that's really it was an angel. I got back in
the car. I told my family. I was like, that
guy knew what was going on, and I had a
(30:00):
good attitude about it. I wasn't mad. I was asking
how his day was going. I was joking.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
I mean, it's kind of just funny, but uh, it
was still a bumping road, you know, but uh, God
blessed we made it home safe. So maybe maybe that's
what happened. But in any case, it's dried up.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
I can wash my pants and we're I got to
I got to do some work and it was good.
So uh well, great, Well tell us get give a
promo for your pickleball. And I got a question, is
the Top Golf is the top golf brand behind your base.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
Yep, so the facility, again, we have no experience since
we've hired a great top level team, somebody to run
our food and beverage, somebody to run the pickle ball
Top Golf, So we feel really really good. But you
know it's gonna be they call the space entertainment. So
our restaurant's gonna be kind of like a I don't
want to say upscale casual. It's gonna be nice casual.
(30:55):
We're gonna have some great options for salads and burgers,
and often if you want to eat healthy, you want
just to grab and go. We'll also have a cafe
in there right by the pick a ball, so you
can pre order a smoothie on your way out. Or
get your favorite you know, coffee fix and things like that,
plus grab and go sandwiches, and then the four swing
suite base they can open up where you can have
(31:16):
corporate meetings in there, or you can have events. We're
gonna have leagues for golf, so we're gonna you know,
challenge country clubs in the winter to you know, set up.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
That's idea.
Speaker 4 (31:26):
You know, Monday is you know this club, Tuesday is
this club, and then and then we'll have challenges and
things like that. So I just think it's gonna be
a great We have a great vibe, we'll have a
little music going on, and we just think it'll be
a great place to hang out. Where's it at Cornelius?
So right off of I seventy seven, next to some
jeep store I built not too long ago.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Oh yeah, yeah, that one might I know where that is.
He might own some real estate. We'll go ahead.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
So we bought thirty acres right there to build the
jeep store. And then then I knew we were gonna
do something, but never never imagine it would be this.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
That sounds like fun, that's really cool.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
And it's the serve, pickleball and kitchen yep, that's the
brand and how can people look it up online?
Speaker 1 (32:10):
The serve pickleball dot com.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
The serve pickleball dot com. And we're gonna have you
back when is your everything works out. What's your projected
timeline to be back in the card game?
Speaker 4 (32:21):
Uh, probably end of July early August, and then the
serve will open up in September. Yeah, Robin, she's real
happy with me right about now. She thinks that retirement's
going great so far.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
It looks like the page. Well, before then, you and
I will go play golf. I'm gonna host you. Uh.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
I already know what we're gonna do, and we'll have
you back in the fall before our cornhole tournament when
we do focus on make a wish and you can
give us an update.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Yeah, I'd love to. Maybe.
Speaker 4 (32:48):
Uh your corn hole sounds like it needs a little competition.
Maybe you'll have a pickleball tournament to everybody, go.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
Do it, let's do it, let's do it. That's how
you do it, that's how it was made. Uh, Jack Salisman,
put it in your front, take it to yourself.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Get this pretty girl. Uh.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
He's a little upset, but thanks for being here. Listen
go do the Golden rule. Treat others the way you
want to be treated, even when they aren't doing the
right thing. Carry a smile on your face. Thanks for
listening to add home with Ruby
Welcome to the At Home with Roby Show.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'm Patrick mcaac from Roby Commercial in Services and one
with Trent Hason from the Roby Family of Companies.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
We are your hosts. Tren.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I still want to say good morning, welcome to the
at Home Wealby Show, but it might not be morning
when people were listening to this.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
I got it, I got it down, but I don't
know what you're cooking with. Brother, Obviously it's not I'm
cooking with gas. Maybe I'm like more like a propane.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Uh that is gas. I don't mean type of gas.
You might be cooking with.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Green grass that Burnwell, I don't know. I don't mean
anything by that heard.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
So the last time I talked to you, you were
headed to visit College of Charleston, which was yesterday.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Yep, how'd that go? It wasn't good, had a good time.
I was daddy daycare for the for the boys. So
we went actually went down to Folly Beach and looked
for sharks teeth for about an hour.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Did you really?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Rayan was like, you can go to the kid's museum
see what they want to do. I'm like, okay. So
then the girls all rolled out to go do the
college tour, and uh, I put in Folly Beach and
it was twenty seven months. So I said, hey, boys,
we got two hours. Y'all want to go to the
kids museum or do you want to go look for
(01:19):
chars te They're like Chars. So we went to the beach.
We had a good time, and then and then after
the tour, the girls shopped and did all that. We
went to lunch and me and Reagan and the boys
went down to a playground down by the battery and
walked around.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
It was good.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
So that's a cool that's a cool campus. So when
I went to Clemson, I was a pike Cap of
Fire like your brother was. And the very first chapter
of pie Cap was at College of Charleston. So we
had to do a pledge of treat, which I'm sure
you did when you were attorney at Chapel Hill. And
we had like twenty four guys stuffed in a two
bedroom house on Folly Beach and we had to go
(02:00):
like they set up all these different things that we
had to go see and then like report back with
the picture. And that's my only experience in College of
Charleston has done.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Some of that I had a pledge trip.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
But I did when I was circling around to pick
them up from college tour. At the butt of the
street where I was riding around the emissions part of
campus emissions building. The pie cap of Pire houses right
there in front.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
That's not that's new mirror. Let's see.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
I guess it is the chapter I took note did
But but yes, So yesterday was Monday. We're recording this
on a Tuesday. We're recording a couple of shows a day,
so we're recording this UH after Easter Easter Sunday for
everybody that celebrates Easter.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
God bless and UH.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Saturday night at at eleven o'clock, we picked up our
exchange student.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
From from franks for for the next four weeks. So
that was fun.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
They got up at the Charlotte Douglas Airport and I'm
I'm I got my phone. I'm looking at my phone.
Ala Eas is her name. We were calling her Alice,
and I'm sure I was calling her alas, you know,
dragging it out. I'm sure everything. I'm sure Ala East
is not right. But this morning, when I was exercising
for about an hour, all I did was repeat her
(03:26):
name because I I butchered it up on the whole
trip to and from Charleston. But she got to go
on the college tour with our girls with Tatum Rowing
and Piper.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
That's cool, Soday, I got to do it. So it
was this a ladies party.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I'm gonna call you out and I'm gonna give you
props at the same time, because I know why you
did that.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
You you are like me. You'll text yourself stuff.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
What do you want to have a reminder and you
have it Ala East broken out on your phone so
you won't forget.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
That's because I six forty five to day.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
I asked Rowlan to explain it to me so I
can get this right.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Syllable by syllable.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
I'm working on us. I do not want to offend
this young lady that's living in my house. She might
she might come out high, sleep hard.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
It's like Danielle Rojo not daniel had to get that.
I knew that.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
I never had that. It was about a year and
a half. Check check his show out Creative Player. Danielle
dan Yeah yeah, great guy.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
But uh yeah, so it's cool.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
So this is our second exchange student. I think and
and people were asking me. Saturday Friday, we were going
to pick her up and people said, you know, my
neighbors were, well, where's she from? I said, uh, you're Spain.
She's from France.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
I did not pay attention to that detail.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
But her dad, Uh, excuse me, her dad's a big
rugby player.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
But her granddad was.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
I haven't looked this fellow up, but he was a
professional rugby player. So man, Yeah, it comes from good grain.
And apparently her town she lives in France, which I
cannot recall, is a very big rugby town, great rugby
team there.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
So that's pretty cool. That is one sport you are
not allowed to play. I'm not playing rugby. But what
she did give the boys a rugby oh football, rugby ball?
I guess what you call it. I probably don't like
to be called rugby footballs.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
It's not a it's not a football, but it is
oblong shape, very similar, a little larger, and I think
it has a logo over team. But yeah, what else? Oh,
and last week we went to we had a YPO
Young President's Organization annual trip to Nashville, Reagan and I
which was wonderful. So reunion get to see all your
(05:45):
friends from the Southeast. We've been doing this for about
fourteen years, so got a lot of a lot of
great friends. It's truly like a family reunion, but it's
a singer songwriter event. And my good buddy who's been
on the Brent Beeson, is the chatter chair this year,
and we have a connection of really good friends, both both.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
He and I.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
With Enzo, I'm gonna mess up his last name does
the visio uh, but he is the manager. He was
groomed under George Strait's manager and helped manage George straight
for a long time. And he is Lee Brice's manager,
hailing from Clemson, hailing from Sumter, South Carolina. So Lee
(06:28):
Brice UH and Randy Hauser where our singer songwriters. They
both write a lot of their own music. It was
really cool.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
So, I mean, how many people were in this crowd?
Pretty small, four hundred people, just four hundred to watch
those two.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Yeah, it's all YPO.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Current active members and then when you turn fifty you
turn into YPO Gold, so you know, all the way up.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
The people that have been in the organization. So it
was good.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
But they told stories that at the I which is
very special and then uh, I mean just random, random
thing about ten years ago.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
I don't know if you remember when Alex worked for the.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Company and DJ and and those guys are connected in
the music industry.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
They asked me, They're like, hey, you want to host
Randy Hawser at Carolina Golf Club Friday's playing at Cody Joe's.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
I was like, yeah, so I did that.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
He wrote in my golf cart for five hours and
got all trent and uh, which he was a wonderful
guy and I saw I fell in love with his music.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
But I had that up my sleeve and I'm like, hey.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
You do not know who I am, dog, but now
but you did play But you did play at Carolina
Golf Club about ten years ago when you did Cody
Jay's and Charlotte.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
He's like, yeah, like I was the guy that was
in your cart. He's like it's I could tell. Over
the evening he was trying to figure it out. These memories.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Yeah, these memories started coming back to him. So anyway,
it was a good time. We had a great time.
Reagan and I. It's a couple of trips we bonded
and Brenton did really well. I'm proud of my man
and it's always fun. So, uh, tomorrow morning I leave
to go kite moarning here you get some of that.
(08:21):
The number one decapitated sport, Well, don't get to capitation.
I'm not don't. That's for people that don't. I've learned
this because when when I go with these these folks, Uh,
they're really good. But even they have coaches that go
with them on a jet ski or whatever follow them around.
(08:41):
They're trying to do tricks. And if you went, I'm
sure a lot of people say I want to go
kite and they get a kite and go out and
win and they don't have a clue what they're doing.
Which I still I've done this for ten years. I'm
like a three out of ten.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
With a coach.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
I could not go do it by myself at the beach.
But I'm sure that's how people get hurt. People do
not get hurt when you do it correctly. Well, they
might pull a hamstring or something, but they they don't lose.
They're not really getting seriously injured other than a muscle
or something.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
But I'm excited about that. Get to go get in
the cold water for a couple of days. That'll be
a lot of fun. So check it out.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
If you don't know what Kyp Bordon is looking up
hell to author Sammon and Claig Grubb, who are both
alumnis of the show Grub Properties in Semon Corp. That's
who kind of got me into this. I go with
those guys in this great fellowship.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
So Patrick introduce.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
I guess, yeah, I think that's the first time you've
met Jack Salizman. Jack and I played in a golf tournament.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
I think we've met.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Maybe I had to make a wish forgot let me
let me regress there, but yeah, Jack and I played
in a golf tournament. He is a fellow entrepreneur, was
in the car business and now has a new concept
in Corneli's called Serve. If you can see my hat
representing Jack Man, I think you really enjoyed it heat.
Like I said, we spent about four or five hours
together and I gleaned a lot off of his knowledge.
(10:08):
So looking forward to having I like how you got
the flex fitsticker still on.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Uh, that's that's a cool style. That's how all.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
The kids are doing it these days. With Jack, It's
gonna be fun. Can't wait to talk to you and
learn about you. Uh, you're listening to at Home with Ruby.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
And don't forget.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Roby Services is your one stop source for all your
electrical heating, cooling, plumbing and handyman needs.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Keep it easy and.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Get it all done by one Roby servicesnow dot com.
That's robyservicesnow dot com. Welcome back to at Home with Roby.
I'm Patrick Pakasik from Roby Commercial and Services. On the
Trent Hayson from the Roby Family of companies. Check out
the last segment. Trent just gave me a weird looks.
I'm not sure what's going on, but we got Jack
Salizman in the studio, Trent. Jack and I met at
(10:54):
a golf tournament that our buddy Jeff Naper had invited
us both on mutual friend I think you two met,
as you remind me at the end of the last
segment through make a wish, Jack, welcome to the show.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
I'm excited to hear you tell your story.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Thank you, appreciate you inviting me, Yes, sir, Yeah, and
nice to formally meet you now. Now will be long buddies.
That's right, that's how this rolls.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Yeah, exactly. Speed dating on steroids, I tell everybody else.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
And you probably remember his wife, Robin two, that was
really involved with Make a Wish and still is. We
ran to each other at that to make a Wishball
a few weekends ago as well, and she did a wonderful.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Job, thank you.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Yeah, she's been the chairperson for Making Wishball the last
three years.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
She's been the ball chair leader. Yep.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
And do you know the numbers off the top of
your head that the ball has raised the last three years.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
Yeah, So before Robin got involved and our cabinet got involved,
they're raising like six hundred thousand dollars, which is a
great job. And then every year since we've been over
two million dollars. Yeah. Yes, we attended two of those.
I did not wasn't able to make it this year.
But it is amazing.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
I mean, it's unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
If you just if you want to find a charity
to get involved with a one, Make a Wish is
a wonderful charitable organization. But two, this isn't just a ball,
it's a production. I mean, it is unbelievable. It's like
going to a show.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
Yeah, we go to a lot of events throughout Charlotte.
It's one of the best events there is, and obviously
it's just a great cause, especially have healthy children and
just to be there, not a dry eye in the place,
understanding what everybody's gone through. So it's just a great,
great charity.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
And everybody knows.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Leading up over the last fifteen years doing the show,
the ten shows before our annual cornhole tournament, which solely
raises money for the Make a Wish Foundation of Central
and Western North Carolina, we tell a wish story at
the end of our show about a child and the mission,
(12:56):
just to let everybody know.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Is to grant, uh.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
To be, to do, to see, to have for a
child that's going through a life threatening illness and give
them and their family a wonderful experience and hope and excitement.
And there's medical evidence factual that it works and helps.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
Yeah, there's all sorts of stories. Some doctors that they
can see, you know, exact results when a child gets
their wish, and it's those stories are remarkable.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
It really is.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
I mean, it's cool too me And the misnomer I
think before we jump into your story is that these
children are not curable. But that is absolutely not the case.
Most of them do walk away from what they're dealing with.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Correct, Well, God bless over the I think it was
Chris gracious first wish in eighty two or eighty one
or eighty three, I can't remember exactly that date. But
you know, medicine over the last forty five years has
come a long way.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
So folks that have life threatened in.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Illness, there's a lot more cures out there and a
lot more progress. So that's wonderful, well said. And then
they're able to then recycle their hope and give back.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
And you see that so much in this organization. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
So we've been involved for over fifteen years, our organization
at the Rugby Family, and I served all my terms.
I can serve on the local board.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
That's awesome. I'm unserverable. Oh man, no, no, no, tell
the sheriff that. And now who serves you? You've been served.
I see what you did there, hopefully not by experience.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
But before we get jumping in, Jack, I know you
wore that shirt in particular, it's the New York Yankees
twenty twenty four World Series shirt. To poke a little
bit of fun at our buddy, our mutual friend, Jeff,
who is an Orioles fan, because I don't think they've
snuffed a World Series in quite some time, in a
little while, so he'll enjoy hearing that. But yeah, take
(15:05):
us back. You said he grew up South Florida. You
obviously have some family in New York, but kind of
run us through uh your upbringing.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
So I was born in uh North Miami Beach, grew
up in Sarasota, swam competitively as a kid, earned a
full scholarship to Auburn. It was the number one rank
somewhere in the country leaving high school.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
And oh, wow, you're not strong. This is what I
love about this show. How strong.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
I did not know that my brother lives in Auburn,
huge Auburn person. Uh met his wife that through Auburn.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Our nephew, My nephew, Travis's going Auburn as a freshman
this coming year.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
And those that you don't know Auburn swim program is.
I mean, you're as good as a kid's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
So that's awesome. You were you in a fraternity down
here at Auburn.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
No, somebody took takes up so much time. So we're
in a pool five hours a day, turns out after
my freshman year I tore both rotator cuffs. So back then,
you know, the surgeries weren't as easy. You know, the
scars were probably six eight inches long, where today there
may be a half an inch. So I didn't swim
after my freshman year. So how to we kind of
purpose myself and figure out I'm gonna get out of
(16:13):
Auburn and what am I gonna do? And then from
there end up going to law school and graduate law
school and never practiced a day and then got in
the car business.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
You look like a daggerline lawyer. Hey, question for you?
Do you do? You know? Peter was going to ask
the same question. Peter Hollett lives in Charlotte.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
Good friend of mine, fellow IPO or the show own Thurmer,
King of the Carolinas, came on the show about three
weeks ago. He's been on the show several times. He
was a swimmer in Sea State and y'all look alike, old,
old and bald.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
He is still swimming. In fact, I swim, you know,
most every morning if he can. And he was doing
a big national meat probably right around this time.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Competitive right probably right now. Yeah, But I joke with
him we play golf together. I'm sure you and I'll
play some golf together. I asked him right when I
see him in the morning, like, if we're going to
hang out all day, did you get your swim in
this morning?
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Because if he didn't, he's a little more grumpier. You know,
where's he swim at his house? I don't know.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
I'm sure he swims places because he competes. But he
has a lap pool at his house that we built
for him.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
A little plug there you go.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
That's how we met him. It was fifteen twenty years ago.
We built a poolhouse put the pool in, so that
is really cool. Where'd you go to law school?
Speaker 1 (17:32):
I never Southeastern and Fort Lauderdale.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
My sister went to medical school. She's an er doctor.
Went to Nova Southeastern after the College of Charleston.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Small world. That is a small world. I have been
on that campus. I went to a graduation there the auditorium.
What do you think about this past?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
I honestly thought your sister went to m USC this
entire time, so I'm glad you have cleared that up.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
She did her, She did her undergrad No MUSC as
a hospital, right, well.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
A medical university. Of South Carolina.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Okay, that's where she works or has worked, got it,
That's where she did her residency.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
So I got someone stayed there.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
She went to College of Charleston undergrad and went to
Nova Southeastern to get her daughter.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Cool.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
So after law school, you said he'd never practiced law.
How'd you get into the car business?
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Just a friend of my wife's introduced me to a
car dealer, and I said that sounds really cool. I
knew I never wanted to practice. I just my mom
wanted an attorney or a doctor of CPA. I knew
I couldn't add very well, so I chucked off the
CPA off her list. And I knew certainly wasn't smart
enough to be a doctor. So I figured I could
read and write, and I could try to be a lawyer.
(18:42):
And so I did that, and then I just got
in the car business. And I know, ninety two and
never looked back.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
So you were already married when you went before you
went to law school? No, okay, right after right after? Yeah?
So where were you living when you got out of
law school? Orlando? And did you start working for a
car dealer? Yep? Really? What were you doing with was
your first job at car dealership.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Never sold cars, which is anomaly. He just met me.
We hit it off, We talked, and I left out
a little small segment. So I opened up a little
cell phone agency and we're selling back and you guys
are too young. But they had these bag phones.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Back in the day.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
My dad had one, I'm sure, so we gave away.
I came up with this promotion. We would give away
a bag phone with every car purchase. And the car
dealership had a ton of success. And then that's when
he asked me to become a sales manager, and then
from there became a general sales manager. From there became
a general manager.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
And then the dealership that I was worked at the
time sold to automation. They had about two hundred dealerships
around the Country's general manager for three of their stores,
and then it got promoted as a district vice president
running twenty five thirty stores.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
From mister Wayne Hazinga. Yep, Oh yeah, cool. Did you
know him?
Speaker 4 (19:58):
I met him, But I ut with a guy named
Mike Mcrooney, who's legend in the South Florida area.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Wow, man, what do you think about that? That's pretty cool?
Started in the cell phone business, all of you. Yeah,
you're going to grab on to that.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
I knew that you're with Rich Ballad and who's been
on the show as well. Were you all the dealerships
basically Florida base, I mean you were got you to
North Carolina?
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (20:22):
Well, when I went to became a district vice president
for audination, I was over all sorts of franchises, but
I started at a you know, Chrisler jeep store, and
that's where I knew the most, you know, I was
comfortable with the brand. And then h the manager for
Chrysler at the time, told me about a store becoming
available in Lake Norman at the time, so I googled
(20:45):
Lake Norman, North Carolina, not knowing Lake Norman. It's not
even the city, it's a region. And so rob and
I drove up here one beautiful March day and it
was seventy five degrees and by that time, it was
already ninety five in Orlando, and so we you know,
looked at the store. But one small thing. I had
to convince Robin to quit her job. And she was
(21:06):
vice president jeral manager for CBS Radio, running three radio
stations at a big corner office and she just won
market Manager of the Year for the entire country. And
you know, they had like a thousand radio stations at
the time. And I'm like, man, come to North Carolina.
You can retire, and you know, we'll own a car dealership.
And fast forward. She never retired and we ran it
(21:27):
together and she handled all the marketing, the community and
HR and some things like that, and I ran sales
and service. And we just never looked back. And like
Norman became one of the top selling Christian Dodge sheep.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Stories, like Norman Chrystler Dodge Jeep Yep.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
We my father bought several Jeeps at McKinney's in Belmont
because we live on Lake Wali.
Speaker 4 (21:50):
We bought that store too. Gastonian christ Dodge. Yea really
yeah twenty thirteen.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Really had a grand Wagon are growing up?
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Oh yeah with the woodpand yes, sir, a navy blue
and wood panel and that thing was cool. Favorite favorite
car worth a first car. I had a Missus Beech
Montero as my first car. But then my hanging me
down after that was a Jeep Cherokee.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
That was my first car, ninety three Jeep Cherokee country
was white with gray trim.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Yeah, I love a Jeep Cherokee. And then I liked
all the Jeep products.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Great vehicle that got totaled, and I got up grade.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
So we came to Charlotte and the Lake Norman area
in two thousand and three. June is, two thousand and three.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Gosh, your Tommy was perfect. Unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
I moved here O four, and I mean the difference
between that area and and now it was unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
I mean any probably School Road was a two lane road, yep. Yeah,
we lived out there and then school. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
We first lived in the Point, and every morning I
kept missing my sales meetings or any meeting that I
would call, and I'm like, I can't do this, and
I just kept leaving earlier and earlier. But if you
got behind us school bus on two lane road, I mean,
that's a long way to get behind the school bus.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
So ye, yeah. We moved to Cornelis after that. So
that was O three. You started.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
You purchased Lake Norman Chrysler Dodge Jeep, and then you
said you purchased McKinney's. At some point, I do a
Bible study with mister Ray McKinney. I do not know
him that well yet.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
But uh, great guy, have just this happened in three
months ago?
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Yeah, super good guy. Yeah, seems like a wonderful, wonderful human.
So you grew the platform, so tell us about it.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
So hey, listen, we were really blessed at Lake Norman.
We had an incredible team, We had extremely low turnover.
We ran it like a family business, which it was,
and you know, we rob and I always say it's
like a Mama Pop organization. Even though for new vehicles
we're top ten the country. For certified pre owned, we're
top five in the country. I mean just every metric.
(23:54):
Just that store was just just one of those just
great stores, and and we just decided it was the
size of two three four stores, and we just said,
let's just keep growing it. And so we just focused
on that. Then Race Store became available in twenty thirteen,
we bought that, and then we just ran with those
two for twenty years at Lake Norman and then thirteen
(24:16):
or ten years at Gastoni before somebody came knocking on
our door and we sold in January twenty three.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
The cycle of life, right, I hear you? So what
are you doing now well, the cycle of life is well.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
I retired unsuccessfully for a couple of months from January
of twenty three two, and I got this crazy idea
to open up this pickleball top golf swing suites and
a restaurant and a bar in a community room where
we can meet you. Up to seventy five people can
meet in there. So it's about fifty thousand square feet
(24:50):
under roof, and then we have six so it's got
ten indoor courts, air conditioned, and then four top golf
swing suites, and then outside it's got six courts, so
all all total probably almost sixty thousand square feet.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
So I got that.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
And then, as you said, psycho life where under contract
right now we're buying uh our first dealership.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Again. I wouldn't expect that. Wow, this is great in retirement.
You have to look forward to year and a half
you made.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
You made a corp earlier. Equipped about being old and bald,
you do. You look very vibrant and I do not
think of you as old. Just so you know that
that was nic that has thought in my head, you
young whipper snapper man.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
So so where's your dealership? Can you say? I can
say the state South Carolina.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Okay, well you coming, you are getting country these days.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
You're gonna move down to the river. Man if you're
not careful. He doesn't, he doesn't like those commutes. He's
already done told us that.
Speaker 4 (25:52):
Yeah, yeah, I drive the Gaston and gets a little
rough every now and then.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Yeah, eighty five can be brutal.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Oh they got some shoes with eighty five and Wilson Boulevard.
I take my son the guest and Christian every day
from Mecklenburg County.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
So just to turn from forty five onto eighty five
is Unbelievabley're about to rebuild that.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
So what is uh, what's your wife doing now?
Speaker 4 (26:17):
So we've been very charity focused all our lives together,
and that was kind of a staple at our dealerships.
But once we sold, we created a family foundation called
Giving with Grace dot org. And she does that fills
a lot of her days.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Really.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
Yeah, so we hold she holds annual gifting luncheons where
we pick I'll tell you how we pick it. Since
it's a family foundation. But ten organizations they apply for
grants and she gets one hundreds of requests. She does
grants all throughout the year, but for the gifting luncheon,
there's ten that are picked. In each of those ten
organizations received twenty five thousand dollars. And these aren't typically
(26:58):
the make of wishes, right because they these are the
smaller ones that people just going, you know, they're really
they're twenty five thousands, you know, life changing for them.
But how how they're picked is we get all the grants,
we put them together and our board on given with
grace is our grandchildren and our uh and our three children,
so they pick them, so we don't pick them. So
(27:20):
it is you it is so cool to see the
next generation. And they have to tell why they picked it.
So you know, one was a Union County Humane Society.
They wrote they needed defense so they could protect their
you know, the dogs and everything. And my grandson Ian
who picked that. He said, uh, Gram which is what
(27:40):
they call Robin and Pappy. He goes, Gram and Pappy,
they need a fence, So I choose them so they
can protect their animals.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
And because you know, it's just so now you know,
we're I think we're impacting that next next two generations
to understand that you've got to give to receive.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Wow, that's really special.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Who is there a person grace or just the definition
of the word grace.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Nope.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
So our granddaughter who just turned sixteen, their name is
Lantern Grace.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Amen. So that is awesome. So how many kids and grandkids?
Do you have? Three kids? Nine grandkids? Oh? Man, that's cool,
God bless you. Yeah, it's exciting. Do your kids live locally? Nope.
Speaker 4 (28:22):
So we have a house in Dallas to be with those,
our two sons, and then the six grandkids there, and
then we're building a house in Clearwater Beach to be
close to our daughter with her three kids.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Man, you got it figured out. I told you. I
told you.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
Yes, I talk about I got chill bumps, look in
my arms. I'm gonna tell you this. I talk about
grace a lot. It's my favorite word. It truly is,
because you never know what the other side. Everybody's got something,
everybody every day.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Yep, and uh, if.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
You approach life, I spill. Coming back from college to
Charleston yesterday, I was riding hot gun. Reagan drove both
ways so I could work and catch up because I'm
doing all this crazy stuff. So I'm on the computer,
so I get a big forty big gult at the
gas station and a coffee.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
That's how I do it. I drink my coffee and
I have my.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Cold drink and I spilled it in my lap into
the floorboard when we were about to take back off.
Granted we got six kids with us too. I go, dang,
you might have even said aoul, foul word. And I'm
walking back in to refill my cup rowing my second
child jumps in to clean it up. I got it
all over my legs and this guy just going back
(29:35):
into gas.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
He said how. I said, how you doing, man? And
he said he sounds great. How are you?
Speaker 3 (29:39):
And I said, man, I just spilled my dag on drink.
He said, look, man, it probably saved you for something worse.
He's like, you might have had a wreck or something.
He's like, just thank god. And I was like, man,
that's some grace. That guy was an I'm gonna cry,
that's really it was an angel. I got back in
the car. I told my family. I was like, that
guy knew what was going on, and I had a
(30:00):
good attitude about it. I wasn't mad. I was asking
how his day was going. I was joking.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
I mean, it's kind of just funny, but uh, it
was still a bumping road, you know, but uh, God
blessed we made it home safe. So maybe maybe that's
what happened. But in any case, it's dried up.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
I can wash my pants and we're I got to
I got to do some work and it was good.
So uh well, great, Well tell us get give a
promo for your pickleball. And I got a question, is
the Top Golf is the top golf brand behind your base.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
Yep, so the facility, again, we have no experience since
we've hired a great top level team, somebody to run
our food and beverage, somebody to run the pickle ball
Top Golf, So we feel really really good. But you
know it's gonna be they call the space entertainment. So
our restaurant's gonna be kind of like a I don't
want to say upscale casual. It's gonna be nice casual.
(30:55):
We're gonna have some great options for salads and burgers,
and often if you want to eat healthy, you want
just to grab and go. We'll also have a cafe
in there right by the pick a ball, so you
can pre order a smoothie on your way out. Or
get your favorite you know, coffee fix and things like that,
plus grab and go sandwiches, and then the four swing
suite base they can open up where you can have
(31:16):
corporate meetings in there, or you can have events. We're
gonna have leagues for golf, so we're gonna you know,
challenge country clubs in the winter to you know, set up.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
That's idea.
Speaker 4 (31:26):
You know, Monday is you know this club, Tuesday is
this club, and then and then we'll have challenges and
things like that. So I just think it's gonna be
a great We have a great vibe, we'll have a
little music going on, and we just think it'll be
a great place to hang out. Where's it at Cornelius?
So right off of I seventy seven, next to some
jeep store I built not too long ago.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Oh yeah, yeah, that one might I know where that is.
He might own some real estate. We'll go ahead.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
So we bought thirty acres right there to build the
jeep store. And then then I knew we were gonna
do something, but never never imagine it would be this.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
That sounds like fun, that's really cool.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
And it's the serve, pickleball and kitchen yep, that's the
brand and how can people look it up online?
Speaker 1 (32:10):
The serve pickleball dot com.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
The serve pickleball dot com. And we're gonna have you
back when is your everything works out. What's your projected
timeline to be back in the card game?
Speaker 4 (32:21):
Uh, probably end of July early August, and then the
serve will open up in September. Yeah, Robin, she's real
happy with me right about now. She thinks that retirement's
going great so far.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
It looks like the page. Well, before then, you and
I will go play golf. I'm gonna host you. Uh.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
I already know what we're gonna do, and we'll have
you back in the fall before our cornhole tournament when
we do focus on make a wish and you can
give us an update.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Yeah, I'd love to. Maybe.
Speaker 4 (32:48):
Uh your corn hole sounds like it needs a little competition.
Maybe you'll have a pickleball tournament to everybody, go.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
Do it, let's do it, let's do it. That's how
you do it, that's how it was made. Uh, Jack Salisman,
put it in your front, take it to yourself.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Get this pretty girl. Uh.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
He's a little upset, but thanks for being here. Listen
go do the Golden rule. Treat others the way you
want to be treated, even when they aren't doing the
right thing. Carry a smile on your face. Thanks for
listening to add home with Ruby
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