All In, All the Time with Steve Roessler

Michael Cirillo: 0:00There are few people I know in this industry.

‍Speaker 2: 0:09

This is AutoCollapse.

Michael Cirillo: 0:11

Who are willing to go all in committing to a word track, a shtick, a presentation. Steve Russell, who we're going to be talking to today, is one of those people. We're just at a SoduCon in Baltimore which went off like a big bang, big one, and Bro is walking around in this ratting suit Look in, you know ties, kind of undone cigarette hanging out of his mouth. And first I got to admit I'm like what is he doing? Cigarette, was the? Was the, the dead giveaway, the dead giveaway. He was going all in, fully committed to what he was going to be talking about at a SoduCon. And so you know, I'm excited to be able to chat with him today. When did you guys first meet, steve?

Paul J Daly: 0:57

I think one of the times I remember interacting with him I met him before this point, but it was taking a picture of his hair and Frank Lopes's hair and and posting a like who wore it better? A pole. I believe that was my first interaction.

Kyle Mountsier: 1:15

That's absolutely perfect. I probably met him on clubhouse and he was probably saying something about video at the like when you talk about all in, he's just he just goes all in. You know what he believes in and he has conviction about it and and the cool thing, like so much of what he talks about is right in line with with where automotive has been and is headed. So you know I'm always excited to chat with Steve. He's always got something up his sleeve and and and got something new he's working on.

Michael Cirillo: 1:48

So we hope you enjoy this conversation today, steve Russell at what point in your life, steve, did you start saying it's wrestler, like wrestler Really?

Steve Roessler: 2:07

And just all my life I've always said Hulk Hogan used to be a. Now, if I do talk to you know Texas people it'll be cattle wrestler, you know. So you got to be careful where you go, but so you got like the different ways that you say your name for each state. Absolutely.

Kyle Mountsier: 2:26

I mean now I somehow in, somehow in in Canada. You go up there and it's like it's rustler, like the queen.

Michael Cirillo: 2:32

Yeah, somehow it relates to that in Canada would be.

Steve Roessler: 2:40

No, it's, we call Rostler Rusler. You know it's, it's everywhere.

Paul J Daly: 2:45

Steve, we were. We were filming more than cars episode one in Frisco, texas, and we're sitting down and they're right, like in this interview scenario, and you can. You can kind of see where we were sitting If you look at all the interviews in that one and all of a sudden you just walk in the door and behind and I look. I was like Did he know we were here? Is this just completely random? And it was completely random that you were just visiting a dealership and that's part of your regular cadence. How often are you in a store? Probably a lot, right.

Steve Roessler: 3:19

It just depends. I mean, you know, because I'm going out there just like everybody else. You know you're going out there visiting stores, trying to, you know, get everybody bought into some of the new ways of going out there and selling cars. So and I'm in Dallas, I try to go visit. In that case it happened to be a Lithia account, so you know, you guys are happened to be there and seeing those guys so crazy.

Kyle Mountsier: 3:40

I mean coincidentally, but yeah.

Steve Roessler: 3:41

I'll go wherever the job takes me. You know, If I'm doing a 20 group I try to see local dealers in the area, try to do some presentations in the morning for dealers, just to inspire, whether they're on our product or not, just to have some fun with stores.

Kyle Mountsier: 3:56

But has travel always been a part of your like business life? Is that just something that's native to what you've done, or has it been since auto?

Steve Roessler: 4:03

Yeah, no, it's kind of interesting. My wife will tell you she felt like a widow for the last 20 years, just because of the fact that you know the last 20 years I've been doing.

Paul J Daly: 4:14

Wow, she must really love you.

Steve Roessler: 4:16

Well, that would be to make her together, you know.

Kyle Mountsier: 4:19

Yes, she's like leave.

Steve Roessler: 4:20

No.

Paul J Daly: 4:22

She's like that's the reason we're still together.

Steve Roessler: 4:26

But no, you know what's kind of cool is. You know I'm starting to wind down in my you know, older life. I'm trying to. You know I like to go out and travel. I like to be selective in my travel. But you know, everybody thinks it's glamorous beyond the road and you guys know it's not.

Paul J Daly: 4:39

You're living in the hotel room and you know as many times I've been in Lips are all chapped skins dry. The pillow is weird. It is just not nearly as glamorous as people think.

Michael Cirillo: 4:50

No.

Steve Roessler: 4:50

I mean, if you go out there and you can make time.

Paul J Daly: 4:53

Sahara.

Steve Roessler: 4:53

Fun in the area great, but otherwise it's. You know it's the hotel room You're out to eat all the time and you know it's. I don't know. I like the home cooked meal more than anybody.

Paul J Daly: 5:03

So great and it is impossible to like eat not impossible, but real challenging to eat well and be good to yourself when you're on the road. Why? Because you're exhausted and there's a shake shack.

Michael Cirillo: 5:15

I gotta admit, Steve, I gotta admit, when I, when I look up chief evangelist officer for a brief moment, I'm like what does that even mean? But but we were at a so do come and I stopped by one of the booths. You were hanging out for a minute and out of nowhere amidst the conversation, you're like Guys, you need to listen to my daughter single, and you like pulled in like 17 people to this booth, Like it just happened like that, and you dropped your phone on the desk and we're all sitting there listening to your daughter who, by the way, a beautiful voice and and singing. And in that moment I was like that's what I. I see why Steve's making believers. Yeah.

Steve Roessler: 5:58

Well, you know, what's funny is I can't even take credit for the title. Kerry wise gave me the title way back when she was a true car. So when I met her we were talking in Denver at the state meeting out there that Colorado does for the dealer association board. So I that's where actually I came up with the title and then we looked it up and if you go look up chief evangelist officer, as far as the title, it is a perfect fit for what me and Kerry and other folks like us do, because I always like that, you know, if I can get up on stage and speak and, you know, hopefully, you know, convert somebody over into a new way of thinking, that that's really what I love to do is really inspire change through data and but that title is great and like in the last 20 years, just with all the travel, because I've been a part of startup, you know, as I even say like now that drive centric, you know we're getting, you know, got a lot of momentum in the industry. It's really, really cool and I look for projects that keep me going and so, with my daughter singing, for example, she's kind of like my new startup project and I don't know anything about the music industry I'm being a sponge in this world that Kyle and I live in here in Nashville and just I love the network. Network with good people and and I said, this is my daughter's time to shine. So, yeah, it's her release coming out October 13th, so I might as well give her a plug.

Michael Cirillo: 7:21

So are you saying you guys moved to Nashville to help your daughter get into the music? Is that what you're saying?

Steve Roessler: 7:29

Yeah, 100% yeah. It was a. This was her dream. I've lived my dream for a number of years and I thought this is her time.

Paul J Daly: 7:37

So let's give her some love. Like, where are we finding her on Spotify? Let's do it right now.

Steve Roessler: 7:41

Well, yeah, you can go look at just we create. My wife created the website, it's Jenna wrestlercom and again, we just created all this stuff literally last week, so I don't have everything, but I go to Jenna wrestler, all the links are there, and you can go to Spotify, I believe and just get ready to download your music.

Paul J Daly: 8:01

If you're listening, it's Jenna R O E S S L E R.

Steve Roessler: 8:07

Yeah.

Paul J Daly: 8:08

Yeah, we got a mailing list going on. I'm on the site right now.

Kyle Mountsier: 8:11

Man, unbelievable.

Paul J Daly: 8:12

You got a whole thing here, got a little shot with the red boots and the guitar. Upcoming gigs hey, if you guys want to interview her afterwards by all means. You know it's pretty cool, maybe, maybe we have a cameo at a soda con next year.

Kyle Mountsier: 8:29

Hey whoa, there you go. That'd be so probably have like.

Steve Roessler: 8:33

We're going to release one song a month for the next 12 months.

Paul J Daly: 8:37

That's the way to do it now. That's the way to do it.

Kyle Mountsier: 8:39

That's the way to do it.

Paul J Daly: 8:40

Absolutely. I'm so excited for your trip.

Kyle Mountsier: 8:42

This is what's cool, because when, when I see that devotion and dedication and when you say startup life like we've actually had this conversation we had it with with Jimmy Douglas yesterday and there's so many startups in auto of people that are just creating net new things and you've you said I've had experience about that I'm listening and like the thread is well, my wife kind of like she was like I've been a widow for 20 years, you know, and I've been, I've been alone. And then you're like yeah, we just we picked up and move everything. And this extreme dedication to craft, I think is the through line here when it's like no, all in all the time, even like right now, you're wearing a team jersey that size. Live with drive.

Michael Cirillo: 9:29

I thought that was a pirate sailor costume.

Kyle Mountsier: 9:35

You know, but like this, all in mentality, that it takes to create net new. And I think and and dealers have this too, because it's constantly this ever evolving need and necessary necessity to create net new because of the change in the way that the vertical operates. Where do you think you derived that desire and that drive to just be always all in in whatever you're creating or a part of?

Steve Roessler: 10:05

Well, you know, I'll tell you what. So there is. I think everybody has this like pinnacle of their career and they get knocked down to rock bottom. At least that's my experience. So you know, you guys know I was in the medical industry for a number of years. I thought I was going to live and die in the medical industry and the pinnacle or the downfall of me was when I got let go and Medtronic. You know I was doing all the spinal cord stimulation and you know it's just like. You know the pinnacle of everybody's career is to be a general manager, for example, and owner of a store and automotive. When you're in medical it's to be in surgery. That's where the action is, and I learned at a very young age, at around 30, that you're just a number. When you go work for a company like Medtronic, when you owe 90% of the market, if you lose 1%, that's when jobs are getting cut and you know you start seeing that even in automotive, with these big companies doing layoffs. So I got my first startup and literally I went from making a bunch of money all the way down to like rock bottom and so just like Shark Tank, you know, when you are living on peanut butter and jelly and bologna sandwiches. That was really the inspiration and I had a family just then. So I was. You know, working at Dynalabs was my first startup and then, you know, I was tutor in math on the side, so I was doing two, three jobs delivering flowers. So you know, when you work for a big company, you can hide. When you work for a small company, you can't hide. So that's the way I tell everybody that's in the entrepreneurial world is you become living what you work. And I love what I've done, you know, even with those previous companies. But there's nothing like hitting rock bottom. And even now with DriveCentric, my mentality is, I still feel, worse startup and I think mentally that's what keeps me going. If I ever thought we were a huge company like the big boys that are out there, I think it would get boring, and so I try to find new projects to do, new verticals to get in. So it keeps me hungry.

Paul J Daly: 12:09

I have to say, like just witnessing you kind of like on the field, you totally behave like a startup entrepreneur, right. And it's and it's, and that's one of the reasons that, like I move closer to people like that, you know what I mean. So I see that and I'm like I understand the game you're playing. So it is interesting that, like you try to keep that fresh. I think all of us aspire to the point where we can actually not have to be in that game but realize like that's the way we continue to win.

Steve Roessler: 12:37

So it's true. If you get comfortable, that's. That's your demise. There's just you got.

Paul J Daly: 12:43

Industry is moving too fast, like it's constantly moving and if you get comfortable, it's like it's just getting further and further away from you faster than ever actually.

Steve Roessler: 12:53

What I do is I love to create new vernacular. I like that in automotive, that word vernacular.

Paul J Daly: 12:59

So you know please, maybe some more acronyms would help us.

Steve Roessler: 13:04

Well, it's like, because I've been in three industries, now I try to bring things from outside of automotive to make it fresh in automotive and I think that's kind of like the fun part of what I do every day is, you know, because once I start talking, like you know, I talked video, we talk AI, we talk a lot of different things, but but now I'm on these, you know new things that I'm kind of thinking. I'm studying the customer's behavior and I think how can I bring this in a medical, into automotive or like DC 20, you know is what an event we do, and I brought that kind of event in.

Paul J Daly: 13:35

I was going to ask you about that. Explain that event, because I think a lot of people have seen it on LinkedIn and seen it around where, like you're in your headquarters and you have like this big screen and kind of a decent size but still small group of people like paying attention is is my observation from the outside in.

Steve Roessler: 13:51

Yeah, no, that's exactly what it is. What we've done is you basically create in the medical industry. What you would do is to make doctors better, surgeries better, so they can go from two procedures to three procedures. I would take, like, let's say, a surgeon down to Miami or to rush hospital wherever, and they would go in there and witness how to do a procedure quicker and faster so they can make more money. So, in the world of automotive, I, until we got to a facility where we could do it, I thought, man, if we learn all best innovative practices of what stores are doing progressively to change the customer's experience to be a positive experience, a positive reaction, so as dealerships will come to us and they're on our product, they're sharing how they use it. So, just like we would train like doctors or you know pharmacists to teach other pharmacists kind of do the same thing, we were trying to develop speakers that are in automotive, whether it's general managers, whether it's internet directors, marketing directors and so they come in and they share their insight of what they are doing. To make their dealership grow Doesn't have to be around drive centric, it has to be inspiring others to go out there and think differently. So, like this next one we have. We're having, you know, walls are coming in for marketing and shop automotive. James Kurtbach from shop automotive does a brilliant job. In my opinion, marketing what they do at shop Walls are Sammy does a great job over there and then we're bringing in, like other dealers to talk about internet processes, hopefully Travis Morris and Chip from Sealy, and then they just go out there and they share. They say this is what we're doing, and then dealerships collaborate and become small little workshops. So we have 65, 70 dealers come in and then we break 65, 70 people up into four groups and they rotate around, kind of like a progressive party at you know in college, and they go in all the different rooms and then it becomes more intimate and they basically say if I'm going to look at you from my eyes, this is where you suck. So it's very different. It's more workshop driven than presentation driven. If that makes sense, it does.

Kyle Mountsier: 16:01

That's cool. That's cool. The other thing that is similar that you guys did a long time ago and I'm not sure like where the creative juice for this came. But you've created this like feedback loop within the drive centric platform that allows for people to essentially like read it up, vote, kind of the ticker requests or the feature requests yeah. Talk a little bit about that and like where the idea for that came from.

Steve Roessler: 16:32

Well, you can imagine, and there's other platforms out there that take feedback like that, but you know we obviously want to listen to what dealers are saying to make the product better. We have a dealer advisory board that we were doing, but we're, like you know, it's still so small and sales people, because they're used in the platform, they go out there and they say, like you know, just how can we reduce like one click? Right, I mean how you used it? So if I can help reduce one click and make it easier on the users to use the product, let's do it. But we get feedback. As you can imagine, when you're a technology company like we are people, the baby's always ugly, so how can you make the baby more beautiful? And so that's the feedback channel. So if people go in there and say I want, for example, text templates, yes, if you're on here listening to it, we are building text templates. Now, we have fought that, but the audience has spoken, so we're going to build text templates inside Drive. Yeah, ok, but anyway. But those are some of the things. If the audience goes out there and speaks and they vote on it, then we build it. So it is pretty cool to see how everybody goes in there and they search for different topics, like AI, talk in Spanish, or how to reduce a click. I mean, there's a lot of different feedbacks and we just take it with a grain of salt, but if there's only people that vote on one topic of five things, then obviously they're trying to get more votes on it, so it's pretty cool. It's awesome.

Paul J Daly: 18:03

You know, doing the staying in touch with the people on the front line is kind of a lost art and I think a lot of the times you see, as companies get bigger, they lose that. Oh right, and fighting to keep that because that's inevitably the path right. Somebody comes up quick, innovative, team, super attentive to the product and what's happening at the front because they have to be, because if they're not, people stop buying and they don't have enough critical mass to actually keep the company going. And then they get bigger and then just gets a little more bloated and then more and more the dev team is separated from what the actual need is right. So you get in this little box where people just start building and making decisions.

Steve Roessler: 18:43

And so, like, I'm encouraged to hear that you're just very intentionally staying close to the front line, because it's all about just listening to the users and whether we believe it's right or wrong or that's not what we're trying to build. That's critical.

Paul J Daly: 18:59

I mean that's a critical element. So, like in an agency life, you know, my position is this is that you know, especially when you're dealing with creative, especially when you're dealing with creative is that is, that you speak your piece and you say, hey, you hired me to advise you. This is what we think is best and this is why. But in the end, after you speak your piece, you still have to do what the client or the user wants, Because if you don't, they're never going to get behind it Like it's doomed to fail. It's doomed to fail Because now they have a vested interest in it not working, because they're like I told you it wouldn't work, you know, or I told you it was bad creative or whatever.

Michael Cirillo: 19:36

So that's Well. This also kind of ties back to that whole startup mindset that we were talking about earlier. When you I mean we see it all the time there are, you know, if you look at Amazon or Google and you try and recommend some, you know, a fix or a whatever to them, their mindset is did somebody just did you guys hear something? You know, somebody say something? You know, and Just something as simple as what you're talking about is really a testament of that startup culture where you're like no, the people that pay us for this are the ones that are going to guide it. How do you? How do you balance that, though? Because there's got to be some Outland requests.

Steve Roessler: 20:20

I would imagine oh, there's not, you just got to go out there. I mean like, look, the users of drive, and maybe you know people will kind of feel this. We try to point everybody there. I think people will have a whole bunch of feature requests and what we're trying to do and it's like I would say hey, michael, do me a favor, it's an interesting request. Go under the megaphone and put your request in or see if there's other ones like it so we can listen to it. We take a lot of that and we point to it, which can get annoying to a lot of people, as you can imagine. Kyle, go on there and vote. Don't tell me to go vote for it. You know, that's what we get right, but it's the way we accumulate the data and make better decisions. And you know, if I because I do I get a lot of phone calls about integration requests or the feature requests I mean, it just never ends.

Michael Cirillo: 21:11

Single sign-on requests for agency partners.

Kyle Mountsier: 21:15

There you go Just add to the list, Michael. Add to say it.

Steve Roessler: 21:21

Yeah, so, yeah, I mean, but it just it never ends and I mean I usually take two integration requests a day. I mean it's just hard. It's hard and then not alone. You got to build some of the things, like you know some of the things we have to do with OEMs, or you have to do with DMSs or you know things of that nature. It never ends and it's a hard job. I think if you were to talk to our CEO, dave Foles, who you know asked me to join this company, you know, nine years ago was literally October 1st, with my anniversary in Ottawa Wow, congratulations. Yeah, I survived nine years. But if you were to ask him, would you do this all over again? He would not do it because of all the headaches you know OEM certification, all the integrations, the request, and you know it is really hard being a CFO on opening in 2023.

Michael Cirillo: 22:11

What do you think he would do instead? Open up a chain of go-kart and mini-busts.

Steve Roessler: 22:18

I don't know what we would do. I mean I would do oh, he just froze, so I didn't hear the question. I would probably still be in the medical industry if he didn't build this. I mean, there you go. I mean I love the car industry so I'm so glad. Everything always happens for a reason. But this, I mean I was kind of like the black sheep in the medical industry. So this is an industry that really I can relate to Just how to talk to people and things like that. There's a. This is a great fun industry for anybody.

Kyle Mountsier: 22:49

Totally, absolutely Well. Steve, we are super glad you're in this industry and it's always fun being around you and having a conversation, never a lack for energy and insights. Congratulations on what you built, yeah, alongside David at DriveCentric, and look forward to the next coming years to see what you guys do. And, of course, on behalf of all of us, thanks for joining us here on AutoCollapse.

Steve Roessler: 23:10

We're still just start man Lots of stuff to come. That's why I always say, as somebody said oh you're here, I'm coming, no word technology. So we continue to innovate. So there's a lot of things on the horizon, so yeah, we're not done.

Kyle Mountsier: 23:28

Okay, if you have not gone and checked out Steve's daughter's website, you absolutely should, because JennerRustlercom. Jennerrustlercom, because we've all heard her sing and she's an up and coming artist.

Michael Cirillo: 23:44

And hey, why not?

Kyle Mountsier: 23:44

support someone in auto that's got some chops and and kudos. But I love how, like I was connecting to the doc, like oh my goodness, you said this serillo at the beginning like someone that can go all in on whatever he's doing right now. Whatever the word track the line of thought is, he goes all in. Like he's like oh daughter needs to be in the music industry.

Michael Cirillo: 24:06

We're moving to Nashville, move to the center of the, move to the nucleus of it yeah, you know. And also just like kudos, steve, what a good dad. You know what I'm saying. Like my 14 year old was like dad, I want to be in the NBA. I was like you're never going to be in the NBA, you're great. But he goes all in dude, like they drop everything. And I mean a move is recent in my mind. I never want to move ever again for the rest of my life. It is a what a what a thing. But you know good parents like this. I think this is part, partly what auto collabs is all about getting to know these people when we lift the cloak of the workplace and the company they work at. Like here are two parents that care so deeply about their children that they're willing to just go uproot boom. You know, we don't know if she's going to make it, we don't know it, but they believe so deeply in their hearts, like this is the thing that we do and how they support, and I think that's that's the thing that really was an underscore for me in this episode. Talking to him is just that's who. That's who he is as a person.

Paul J Daly: 25:15

I think the type of person in those situations, the type of person you are, shows very clearly and that's one of the things about the esota community and esoticon is that you you gather not just the like minded people but the like hearted people, and the speed and the speed that comes from that is like a multiple, just because once you know the person you're like, I know you're, I know your intention for me really is what what it starts and when, once you know someone's intention, you can take a lot of things that face value and then really start working on the work. So we hope you do a little working on the work and understood a little bit more of our intention today. On behalf of Kyle Mount Sear, michael Cirillo and myself, thank you for listening to auto collect.

Speaker 2: 25:57

Sign up for our free and fun to read daily email for a free shot of relevant news and automotive retail media and pop culture. You can get it now at esotcom. That's asotucom. If you love this podcast, please leave us a review and share it with a friend. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you next time.

Michael Cirillo: 26:28

Welcome to auto collect.

Paul J Daly: 26:32

Why are we recording?

‍