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The Hidden Cost of Success in the Car Business | NY Auto Forum · Auto Collabs

• 0:00
  We're at the Auto Forum in New York, held by NADA and JD Power, but I'm so grateful to be joined by my good friend, Alan Cooper. We met, uh, about four years ago, and- I am...
• 0:10
  and this is, this is a conversation that is, is all about this Auto Forum, but also nothing about it, and I'm so grateful for what you're doing.
• 0:18
  Can you talk a little bit about, uh, something that you just kind of posted about, this Men in Automotive, which could feel like, "Oh, Men in Automotive," but what is it and w- and where did the impetus for it come from?
• 0:29
  Yeah, no, it's a, it's a great, great take on that there. No, it's not Men in Automotive. We're all about macho blokes that wanna have a beer and just hang out and just be men only.
• 0:38
  This is about men's health, men's wellness. This is a really brutal industry. Mm. And I've been blessed with 40 years in this. I loved it, but I had my battles through it.
• 0:49
  Um, and you know, 15 years retail, 15 years building a couple of companies out there, and through that, I got to see every type of personality you could come across.
• 0:59
  Both as, you know, you, you were in the, the industry like I was. You get to read character, right? Yeah. And one of the things that amazed me about this was that you have to be very resilient to get through it. Sure.
• 1:12
  And I always thought I was, and I wasn't, mate. I hid my demons, um, for a good 25, 30 years here. Um, so I suffer from depression.
• 1:22
  Um, you know, it's, it's something that could be a lot of different causes for that, but I gotta tell you, I nearly didn't make it through this stuff. Um, and I can go into depth on that another day. But, uh, it's...
• 1:36
  I found that there's, there's just too many people around me that are suffering. I've lost people to suicide in the industry.
• 1:43
  Um, family members of some of the people that work in the industry as well could be a contributing factor to around some of those things.
• 1:50
  But we need to be better as men to open up and break down the barriers and the moats that we put ourselves around. I'm Australian. Everybody thinks Australians are, oh, tough as nails- Big and lucky...
• 2:02
  you know, lucky, like- Good to go. Yeah... man, underneath, I was a absolute wreck, an emotional mess. I would have the brave face on right now that you can see. Yeah.
• 2:10
  And I could act like this, and that's really what we do in this industry a lot, is you try to read people, and you act to generate a sale. Yeah.
• 2:19
  No matter whether it's a car or as a vendor or as, as an OEM selling to dealers, and there's just a lot of pain out there.
• 2:25
  So I decided to come out of the closet, so to speak, uh, and I have, well and truly, that suffer from depression and wanna help my colleagues in this industry overcome it, get better, be a trusted resource.
• 2:38
  So Men in Automotive is just that. It's, it's just a, an entity that I've owned the URL and the social around it for many years.
• 2:45
  Some people thought I was gonna throw a conference together and be- [laughs] It's far from that. I've got so much respect for women in the industry. Yeah.
• 2:50
  We focused on selling to women in the dealership back in the day, which, you know, paid dividends in full. Lots of people that, that I'm involved with right now from a Women in Automotive side.
• 3:01
  Um, Women in Automotive knew all about this for, for years. Yeah. And I finally launched it. Um, so it's just... it's to help our colleagues, mate, um- Have the conversation... be better. Yeah.
• 3:11
  And the conversation and, you know, just having somewhere to turn. Yeah. You know, the people that need it the most. I've been...
• 3:18
  I, I only did this on Friday, and I'm amazed at the amount of communications I've had, texts, phone calls with a couple of cases, and some emails from people that you would know in the industry.
• 3:30
  Um, their confidences are always gonna be with, with me. Mm. Um, you know, this is, this is almost look like, like AI. Uh, AI. [laughs] AI when everyone's like, "AI." You're not using it. Yeah. AI. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
• 3:42
  You know, it's- But for, but the con- You've got to feel comfortable to be able to get out there and open up, and that's the thing.
• 3:46
  Well, here's, here's what I think is gonna happen, is I think i- initially, things like this start very confidential, right? It's like, "I, I don't, I don't know how to have this conversation.
• 3:54
  I don't know how to share this."
• 3:56
  But as more people have the confidence to stand in front of each other in a conference room like this or, or in the halls or, uh, in a sales conversation and go, "Look, like, there are amazing things about this industry.
• 4:09
  There's great push. The, the, the resilience that we have to have in this industry is great." Yeah. But there's also a moment to say, "Hey, there's a human standing across the, the, the way from me," right?
• 4:19
  There's a human sitting across the desk, and whether that be our client interactions or our interactions with our staff or our fellow st- or our fellow coworkers or people all the way across the country in the industry, it's the relative nature of like, "Hey, we're all humans, and there's pain, there's hurt, there's joy, uh- Yeah...
• 4:35
  and there's sorrow," and they equally, they equally exist. And, and being able to call those things out, I think, is gonna be such an important thing for our industry. 100%. I mean, I look at it like this.
• 4:43
  My retail days, I, I put in the hours. Um, and it's California. I mean, I started out bell to bell, seven days a week. Uh, that has an impact on you. Yeah. Then you get married, and you have kids.
• 4:54
  That has an impact on your wife, your kids, and everything else like that. We all suffer through that.
• 4:59
  Um, it's time that we're able to be able to find a place or people, and if it's nothing else, if I'm an accelerant and a catalyst to have people find people in their lives that they can talk to- Yeah...
• 5:12
  and open up and trust them, uh, I, I got that. I mean, I'll, I'll mention a couple. I mean, um, Charlie Bergheim, uh, David Kane. There's others. I shared my story with you, you know, this afternoon- Yeah...
• 5:24
  in more depth. Um, you know, it's because, one, you feel comfortable, and it's a great relief off your shoulders when you do this.
• 5:30
  When I first did that with those guys, I had enough courage to let them in, but I didn't have the courage to let others, you know, be judged, because we're afraid of that.
• 5:39
  And, you know, depression and anxiety a- and any mental health wellness issue that men have, it's time that we become more like women who, and I know it's a generality, but women are better at talking and, and sharing.
• 5:54
  We are so closed shop. [laughs] You know, we need to have this. We got, we have it all together. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And we don't. You know, it's, it's, it's just, it's time. Yeah. Uh, I think that's it. It's time.
• 6:04
  Yeah, yeah. That's gonna be my catchphrase to- That's good... to get this done. You ju- hey, look, sometimes you just need a little content to know what your catchphrase is, all right?
• 6:10
  But I think it is time, and I think it's time to have the conversation. I'm grateful that you're having it.
• 6:14
  I'm grateful that we can stand in a room like this, that we're talking about, you know, politics and greater automotive industry things and just have a moment to, to share this, and I hope that someone's encouraged by, by hearing and seeing this to say, "Hey, look, I, I might need to go to someone and just have a chat."
• 6:29
  Yeah, no, and here's a, here's a, here's a final thing. Men in automotive, how great are they? Women in automotive, how great are they? We in automotive are together, and that's what we need to work towards.
• 6:40
  Alan, I'm excited for your new journey, and, uh, thanks for sharing it with us a little bit. Thank you, mate. Thank you. It's a pleasure, Carl. Absolutely. Cheers, mate