Chris Saraceno is back on Keep the Change. As VP and Partner of Kelly Automotive Group (12 franchises, 7 locations, ~500 team members), Chris knows what it takes to build and sustain culture at scale. In this conversation, Bart and Chris go deep on why culture is really about behaviors, how great leaders adapt their communication style to each individual, and why being questioned by your team is a sign of a healthy organization. Chris shares lessons from his mentor Eustace Wolfington — includ...
Aug 7
53 min
Ken Cook, owner of BZ Automotive in Indiana, sits down with Bart Nollenberger to share his journey from a short career in the Marine Corps to becoming a successful independent dealer in a market dominated by giants. Ken opens up about the power of core values in shaping culture, why he rewards employees based on those values (including sending a long-tenured couple to Hawaii), and the personal decisions — like giving up alcohol — that transformed his leadership. Bart and Ken also ...
Jul 31
53 min
Rob Ruth from Bob Ruth Ford joins Bart Nollenberger for a second time to pull back the curtain on the buying center model that transformed his dealership. Rob shares how he went from personally messaging sellers on Facebook Marketplace to building a six-person team that acquired a record 362 vehicles off the street last month. He walks through the staffing, the daily metrics, the hiring profile, and why your used car department is the single biggest lever you can control as a dealer. Th...
Jul 24
42 min
Sam Sweis went from washing cars at a California Dodge store to owning Sweis Infiniti in Indiana — with 27 acquisitions along the way. In this episode, Sam and Bart dig into what actually drives long-term success in the car business: building your bench from within, understanding that every customer walks in with an unidentified problem, and knowing that used cars are the one department the factory doesn't control. Sam talks COVID strategy, the exotic car market, why he'll never buy a h...
Jul 17
53 min
Bart Nollenberger just got back from twelve days in Lusaka, Zambia — and he came home with a message he can't stop thinking about. Invited to speak to more than two dozen audiences, from children in the slums to recovering men in a treatment center to business leaders and church congregations, Bart realized he wasn't giving twenty different talks. He was giving one. In this episode, Bart puts leadership, recovery, and faith on the same table and shows how they all connect. Drawing on 41 years...
Jul 10
34 min
David Long returns to Keep the Change to talk about his new book, Step Zero — and why winning isn't just about executing the process, but everything that happens before step one. Bart and David break down the three things that separate top performers: attitude, energy, and approach. David also shares his personal journey — building four businesses, walking in faith, life as a grandfather, and his path of sobriety, with a message of hope for anyone struggling. David Long is the COO of VAN (V...
Jun 12
47 min
COVID didn't just inflate paychecks — it gutted a generation of car people. Old dogs cashed out, GSMs got promoted before they were ready, and salespeople learned to take orders instead of build value. Now the margins are gone and a leadership gap is staring the industry down. Bart sits down with John Alcorn — Operating Partner of Dogwood Auto Group (Mazda, VW, Volvo) — for a raw conversation on: → The mistake quietly costing managers their best people → John Maxwell's 5 Levels of Leadership ...
May 30
56 min
Your team isn't underperforming. Your feedback loops are. The best leaders I know aren't failing because they lack knowledge. They're failing because nobody around them is telling them the truth. Their team nods. Their managers agree. Their numbers stay flat. And somewhere in the back of their mind, they already know something's off, they just can't name it yet. That's exactly what this episode is about. If this resonates and you want to go deeper, I work one on one with dealership leaders wh...
May 1
14 min
Most leaders are making this mistake daily, and their team already knows it. Drew Tutton has built what most people in automotive only talk about at 20-group meetings and never actually create. Multiple dealerships. Multiple partnerships. A reputation that precedes him across Georgia and Alabama. But what's driven all of it isn't what you'd expect. It started on an airplane. One book. One mirror moment that showed him exactly where he was winning and exactly where he was quietly failing the p...
Apr 13
48 min
What separates thriving dealerships from failing ones? It's not the tools. It's not the leads. It's the culture, and most dealers are building theirs on a cracked foundation. In this episode of Keep the Change, Bart sits down with Wendy Reeves, founder of BDC Angels and EiQ Performance Solutions, and one of the most connected and results-driven operators in automotive for a raw, unscripted conversation about what's really broken in dealerships today and exactly how to fix it. Wendy has spent ...
Apr 3
48 min
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