Latest / Auto Collabs / Passion, Aggression, Humility with Diana Lee of Constellation

Transcript

Passion, Aggression, Humility with Diana Lee of Constellation · Auto Collabs

• 0:00
  Please welcome Diana Lee. [laughs] No kidding. Yeah. [laughs] [upbeat music] This is Auto Collabs. We decided we're just gonna really streamline the podcast. Attention spans are low.
• 0:15
  [laughs] So, uh, that's just what we're gonna do from now on. I, I'm excited about getting to sit down with, uh, Diana Lee today. Obviously founder, CEO of Constellation Agency. I mean, they're, they're massive.
• 0:26
  A huge success story.
• 0:27
  But, uh, I don't know about you guys, I've been following her for quite some time, so the fact that we get to sit down- Yeah, I got to, I got to, like, listen to her talk at the, uh, WOCAN luncheon at NAMAD last year.
• 0:37
  Oh. And the only thing that I remember is, like, by the end of it, everybody in the audience is, is like, like, it's basically like church, right? Mm-hmm.
• 0:50
  [laughs] Like, she's, like, bringing down the house, and then, like, everybody... Like, she ends with, like, a stand and everybody's up out of their seat.
• 0:57
  It was pretty wo- And, like, that's the WOCAN vibe in general, but, like, she had it, she had it keyed up. She rocked the house. You know? Yeah, yeah. You know, it's- So... yeah, I mean,
• 1:06
  she's, she, she's lived in Philly. She's a New Yorker. Um, she's an immigrant. Oh, so we're gonna talk about Philly. Oh, oh. Then, is that what it is? I mean, it is the best topic.
• 1:15
  [laughs] Um, unless we're talking about the Eagles, in which, no. That, that- But, but reality, you think, you look at the things that start to stack up, you know, really had to fight for everything.
• 1:24
  Um, came to the country as an immigrant not knowing the language. There is a special fire in someone like that, um, that I think is very...
• 1:32
  It, when you start reverse engineering it and looking at the success of Constellation, it makes sense- Yeah... that it is the way it is. And by the way, they have one of the best websites I've seen in a long time.
• 1:43
  It is strong. That's fair. I gotta put that out there 'cause I was impressed. I was like, "This is a really good website." Just saying. [laughs] I like. Just saying.
• 1:50
  Well, we hope, uh- Well, well hopefully we won't have to talk about their website, but, uh, we really hope that you enjoy, uh, this conversation with Diana.
• 1:59
  [upbeat music] Oh, Diana, it is so good to be, uh, on this episode with you. It's been a while since we've had any conversation. Thanks for being here. Yeah. Thank you, Paul. Thank you so much for inviting me.
• 2:10
  So, I mean, there's one part specifically of your background that is super close to my heart, and it's the fact that you've lived in Philadelphia. Oh, wow, that's so funny. Yes. I lived- Oh, no.
• 2:21
  Yeah, that's why I wanted to open the conversation. Girl, stop. Yes, yes. And it was like the good part- You've been driving me just on conversations by yourself. I'm, uh... Yeah.
• 2:29
  [laughs] Yeah, I grew up in South Philly, and so, like, I was born and raised in Philadelphia. Oh, no. Now I'm in upstate New York. Um, and I know you, you moved to... How old were you when you moved to Philadelphia?
• 2:38
  So I was five years old. I immigrated from South Korea when I was five, and we ended up in Philly and, you know, I come from South Korea. I still remember this, and, like, I can't speak the language.
• 2:52
  I don't know what they're saying. The diversity- They can't speak the language either, just so you know. [laughs] Can I tell you, though? You know what's so crazy, Paul? Back then, back in, like, 1974,
• 3:02
  the Blacks, the Asians, and the Hispanics did not speak to each other in Philly. Nobody spoke to each other. It was like arch- Really?... enemies, and we would steal each other's bikes. It was so crazy back then.
• 3:15
  [laughs] That sounds about right. [laughs] That's amazing. Did, did you... How long, how long, when did you leave Philly?
• 3:22
  Um, I left, well, my parents actually worked and then they ended up buying homes in the suburbs, so I ended up going to Springfield, um, which is in, um, Delaware County. Yeah.
• 3:33
  And I grew up in Springfield, went to high school, and then ended up going to New Jersey and then to New York. Yeah. Well, that's, that sounds about right then. Yeah. [laughs] That sounds about right.
• 3:43
  Okay, I had to start there. Um, but you could- You had to. The, I know- You had to... the next question he's gonna ask is the- No, I'm not, I'm not gonna do it. But... [laughs] I'm not gonna ask any sports questions. Oh.
• 3:52
  [laughs] I'm not gonna ask any sports questions. It's gonna be sports, and then he's gonna be like, "I heard that you worked in a dealership." Have you worked in a dealership? Yeah. Yes. Yeah.
• 3:58
  [laughs] Like, you're the perfect guest for me. I'm like, you've lived in Philly and you've worked in a dealership, which in my mind- Yeah... makes the perfect industry partner.
• 4:05
  [laughs] I have to tell you some of my dealer stories. They are crazy. Tell, well, tell us one right now. Tell us, tell us one that you still remember working with the industry. Okay. So I started the dealership.
• 4:15
  It was in Worcester, Massachusetts, which is the worst armpit of the nation, literally. Oh my God. [laughs] Wow. I mean it. I'm like- See, and I thought that was Lubbock, Texas. Yeah, but, you know.
• 4:26
  No, I was going to college, and I still remember this, right? I got robbed three times in my entire, in my apartment at college. [laughs] That's how crazy it was. All night. That is.
• 4:36
  But the story, at the dealership, like, back in, like, those days, and this is back in 1989, you know, uh, I wasn't allowed to go inside of the dealership unless I actually had a customer. Had a customer.
• 4:50
  [laughs] You know this? Yeah, you're not on the point. Didn't care- That's old school... if it was snowing, it was sleet, it was rain, I was out there. And then unless you had a customer, and I would lie.
• 5:00
  I'd be like, "Oh, come and follow me to get my card," so I could actually warm up inside. [laughs] That is, that is as old school as it gets. Like, I think- Well-...
• 5:09
  there are a lot of people in the industry who don't understand. Like, you could be in, like, Atlanta, Georgia heat in 106 degrees, and you are not walking.
• 5:18
  You better not walk in this building unless there is a customer with you. I know. It's like a street fight in order to survive back then, right?
• 5:28
  And there's, like, fi- and there's, like, five people, like, on the point at any given time. Like- So you see somebody, you're like, "Please, I know you're waiting for the bus." We're all... Yeah.
• 5:36
  And it didn't matter if I was Asian, if I was a woman, it, like, all the dudes were gonna compete with me, and they were gonna take me out, so I had to take them out before they could take me out.
• 5:45
  And this is how- Well, that makes one of the, that, that, I mean, this explains why you're so successful now because, uh-Okay, so I worked in, I, I, I, I'm proud to say, like, I worked in a dealership. I was in sales.
• 5:54
  Do you remember? And I, this was back in only, like, 2009, 2010. Yeah. But, you know, you're having a conversation with someone. Out of the corner of your eye, you see someone pulling on the lot.
• 6:03
  [laughs] And you just kinda turn and you just, like, talk, like, "Look over there at that cool thing over there." And then you're like, "And by the way," running off to grab a customer. [laughs] I know.
• 6:14
  And you know what? Like- Unbelievable... I feel terrible because I love, you know, dealer people, 'cause what they have to go through in order to survive.
• 6:22
  But just realizing that they get $100 flats for what they have to go through. Like, imagine. Or $90 flat deals. Like, think about that.
• 6:32
  Like, the amount of, uh, hostile customers coming in, the amount of the environment, how it's competitive, all of the situations, social, political, all that you have to deal with to sell a car, and then you get a $90 flat.
• 6:47
  Like, we have to, like- [laughs] Dealer employees are seriously heroes to actually go through all of that. Oh. Come on, now. Don't get snaps from me here real quick. It's true, though. That's true. It's true. All right.
• 6:58
  So I, obviously that's something that incentivized you to say, "You know what? I think I'm gonna learn about marketing." [laughs] You know, it didn't happen like that. Okay. It was, like, survival instincts.
• 7:09
  Like, think about it, right? Auto back in 1989, and it's like street fighting there. We had a guy named Don the Pimp because basically- [laughs]... Don was, like, five foot tall. He would smoke a cigar every single day.
• 7:24
  And these p- these, uh, women would come in and basically he would... He was Don the Pimp. Like, literally this is him. [laughs] Wait, was he really a pimp? He was really a pimp. He was really a pimp.
• 7:35
  [laughs] He was a five-foot tall- Oh my God. What she just described an Italian family reunion. [laughs] [laughs] I, I don't, okay. I've not laughed in five minutes of a podcast this much in a very long time.
• 7:49
  I just have to say right now. It's crazy. I mean, I already know the headline for this one. Meet Don the Pimp, right? [laughs] Okay, I, I have a question I'm dying to ask. Um, you, you had mentioned your parents, right?
• 8:02
  Yeah. And immigrating from, uh, South Korea, coming here. You said they worked and then they, uh, uh, you know, it sounds like they, they worked tremendously hard and that's something that they instilled in you.
• 8:13
  So he- here's my question, 'cause I've only immigrated from Canada. However- Uh-huh... I have noticed a difference in mindset coming from one place and going to the next- Uh-huh...
• 8:26
  around how I think about and see and capitalize opportunity. Mm. Is that something that you feel is instilled in you? Like, I know you, you're talking about dealerships in '89 and survival instinct.
• 8:36
  Like, do you recognize or feel there's something in you where you're like, "Holy crap, there is so much opportunity to capitalize on, on, in this country"? Yeah.
• 8:45
  So my parents, uh, it was the Korean War, um, at one time, and they both had lost their parents during the Korean War.
• 8:54
  So they end up, my dad went to the Vietnam War, not because he had to, 'cause basically it was because he needed to make money. And so he joined the Vietnam War so that he could actually make money.
• 9:06
  He comes back and he said, "There is a land of opportunity. It's called America. We must move there." And- Mm... everybody wanted to move to America.
• 9:15
  It was very, very hard, so you had to get invited by, like, somebody, a relative. Somebody had to invite you into the country. So we get invited and I'm, like, thinking, like, "Okay, I can't speak to these people.
• 9:28
  I don't know their language." I, like, my face would turn bright red when anybody would talk to me. And then, you know, so I was very, very shy.
• 9:38
  And then I end up at the dealership because I was going to college, and I didn't want my, to ask my parents for money.
• 9:45
  Like, that was the key is, like, don't ask them for any money 'cause they already have all this burden. They're working 15 hours a day.
• 9:51
  They try to get us out of s- uh, you know, Philadelphia, where there was street fighting and, uh, drugs- [laughs]... and all that.
• 9:57
  And I go to Catholic school my entire career life because they don't want me to get into trouble. And then I end up in college and I'm like, "Okay, I don't wanna ask them for money."
• 10:06
  And here is, the auto industry is amazing to allow people to join. Immediately you are a part of the clan. Don the Pimp was part of the clan.
• 10:17
  [laughs] And they protect you, but you're competitive with them at the same time, but it's still a dealer family. And the pay is- That's facts... and the pay is good.
• 10:26
  Like, you could actually make enough money to pay for college. So that's what I did for four years. I went to college. I paid for schooling.
• 10:35
  And I realized, like, that was when I finally could make money that wasn't, like, waitressing or doing, like, babysitting. Mm-hmm. That could actually make money to pay for something on my own.
• 10:46
  And then that gave me the drive to say, "I should be a finance manager and be a GSM and move up the ladder."
• 10:54
  But without the experiences of being at that car dealership and feeling included into a family and knowing that you were gonna disappoint the family if you didn't sell enough cars- [laughs]... right?
• 11:05
  'Cause you don't do it for the $90 flat or the $70 flat back then. You do it because you don't wanna let each other down. Wow. And that's what I remember. Wow. Okay, not what I expected this podcast to start as.
• 11:18
  You just, you just explained... Th- okay, so I have, I, I actually had someone last week ask me, they were like, "So you, you know, you didn't plan on being in the car business.
• 11:26
  Explain why you're so passionate about it." And I've never been able to articulate it in that way.
• 11:31
  It is, it's like, you know, every single person, even, even the guys that, you know, I've, I had salespeople, they'd be like, "I don't learn anyone's name till three months in 'cause they may not survive," right?
• 11:43
  [laughs] Um, but even them, there was this distinct, like, "But I'm still gonna try and help you survive. I'm still gonna tell, try and help you make it because I care that much.
• 11:55
  And I'm gonna beat you to the customer."But sometimes you're gonna beat me and I'm gonna help you out and, and all of that stuff. And it is this, like, every family's dysfunctional at some level. Yeah.
• 12:04
  And the auto family is dysfunctional. But it is a family, and there is a lot of care placed for the person sitting right next to you.
• 12:12
  Um, you know, the care is idiosyncratic, you know, in the way that it comes out, but it is care. So there was a guy, his name was Bobby. I still remember this. And Bobby was a coke- Bobby the Butcher? No.
• 12:23
  [laughs] Don the Pimp, Bobby the Butcher. Right, I feel like... Okay, you got Bob. [laughs] But Bobby was a cocaine addict. And drugs were at an all-time high back then, right? Yes. At the car dealerships.
• 12:35
  So he's a drug addict, and he used to do coke. He goes missing for five days. 'Cause this is what would happen, is people would sell. They'd make a lot of money, and then they would disappear. Yep. And so he disappears.
• 12:48
  So on the fifth day, we're all calling, trying to figure out where Bobby is, right? We're like, "Where is Bobby?" Somebody goes, "Bo- I found Bobby. He's locked himself in a closet in his house.
• 12:58
  [laughs] We gotta go find Bobby. We gotta bring Bobby here, 'cause if you leave him there, he's gonna end up dying."
• 13:04
  So everybody leaves to go grab Bobby, bring him back to the dealership, and we put him in the back of the room. His face is all cut up, right? And we're like, "You're gonna sit there, Bobby. You're not going home.
• 13:15
  We're gonna watch you 24/7 so you can't do any more drugs." But that's what I mean. It was a family. It was like we- Wow... wanna make sure Bobby doesn't hurt himself.
• 13:25
  And this is why I love dealerships, this is why I love the dealer community, and fuck Carvana, really, because- Oh. [laughs]... that is really- Ah. Mentions your ex again. That car buying community must always continue.
• 13:39
  There's- It is car family. There's like, you know, so we're talking about the, the dealership and just kind of, I think, what was even generally more cultural back in the '80s.
• 13:49
  And now here we are, you know, 30, 40 years later. Weird to say it that way, but here we are [laughs] 30, 40 years later. Um, and, and we've been able to, I think, as an industry, take a lot of steps forward in the...
• 14:03
  Instead of just, like, keeping people employed or keeping them, you know, like, out of drugs or off the streets.
• 14:09
  Like, now we're seeing a very intentional push to enhance people's lives, to help them be a better version of themselves, to kind of, like, think outside the dealership with this family mentality and saying, "How can I contribute to the families of those who work inside the dealership?"
• 14:25
  So it's almost like there's a mentality. That mentality that you're saying of a family exists very strongly.
• 14:32
  And it feels like we're in a season where the industry is able to reach further outside the store, if that makes sense, into, like, the next generations and invest. Are you seeing and feeling that as well?
• 14:45
  I absolutely do. And I talked to a, a VP, um, of sales one day, and he's like, "Diana, if I don't hire the immigrants, I don't have a staff right now." 'Cause a lot of the Gen Z-ers- Yeah...
• 14:59
  they don't want to actually work at a dealership, right? They're very careful about the places they work and where they wanna be seen. And even in Korea, it's, like, so crazy.
• 15:09
  These Gen Z-ers in Korea have a mommy card because they refuse to actually find a job that they- [laughs]... actually see that's, like, below them that they feel like they shouldn't have.
• 15:21
  So they have a mommy card that they charge on their card to live, for living expenses ver- Is that, is that, like, the slang name for it, a mommy card? A mommy card. In Korean, it's a mommy card, right?
• 15:32
  So it's, they have a mommy card. Wow. They'd rather be on their mommy card versus actually taking a job that's gonna be below them that they actually would have to ex- uh, uh, tell on Instagram or on social media.
• 15:46
  So- Seems like you have feelings about this topic. I... Like, listen. [laughs] Like everybody else, we all have to make a living. And why do we have to be ashamed of what we do for a living as long as it's legal?
• 15:57
  To me, it's bullshit. And overall, it builds so much character of who we are and what we will be one day. But people don't wanna do that stuff anymore. A lot of Gen Zs want softer, you know, white collar t- type of jobs.
• 16:13
  And overall, they won't take these jobs. So the dealer was saying, like, "If I don't hire immigrants, I don't have any staff." And it's- What mark- what market was that in? This is- Out of curiosity...
• 16:23
  New York, uh, metro market. So it was in New Jersey. New York metro. For- Totally makes sense... for BMW. So I'm not, like, talking about, like, General Motors. I'm talking about BMW. Wow. And he had four stores.
• 16:36
  And he said, "All four stores, all immigrants that work for me." Wow. Yeah. You know, I, I think- That's cool, though. Yeah, it is cool. It is. I love it. Well, we're gonna see it, see a change there.
• 16:46
  My, my oldest is 17, and, um, so he's kind of, like, toward the tail end of Gen Z. Where's Gen Z end? Does anybody know? I don't know. Eh. No clue. He's in it. I know that much. Mike is in Gen Z too. Okay.
• 17:01
  Yeah, I think Gen Z can be as old as, like, 25. Yeah. Right? Like- I think so. Yeah. Michael's like, "Oh, I'm Gen Z." No. [laughs] Nope. No Gen Z-ers here. Oh, no. Um, but, but I un-
• 17:15
  Like, that's the experience that you're talking about. I was just talking about, like, last week or two weeks ago, I saw an article that was talking about Gen Z starting to think more about the trades.
• 17:26
  Like, maybe automotive, like, if it's not technician, right, it's not a trade, right? When you think about car sales. Yeah. You think of F&I.
• 17:33
  One of our things as, as Automotive State of the Union, this More Than Cars docuseries we've been producing, and, you know, Kyle put words to this when, when I first met him, you know, like, three, four years ago.
• 17:44
  He said, "I want to make this industry so great to be in that you literally are gonna need a referral to get a job in automotive." Yeah. Like, do you know someone who can get me into the industry? Hmm. Yeah. I love that.
• 17:56
  And, and, and I see, you know, what we see is- I see how proud Kyle is of that. That, like- He is. Look at him... I see the glimmer in your eye.
• 18:02
  I, I still, like, sometimes I forget about it, and Paul or someone else will remind me about, like, that moment when I stated that in front of people for the first time.
• 18:10
  And, and it's like-I mean, that's what you're talking about. It's, it's like why wouldn't this industry be so proud enough to tell that story such that all of culture is like, "I n- I have to work in that industry."
• 18:24
  There's like, how do you get a job in that industry? That sounds amazing, right? And I think it's, it's kind of on our shoulders to do that because we know it exists.
• 18:33
  It's just we haven't told the story of, of it existing, you know? Yeah. What's more American than the auto industry? Absolutely. That's what we're saying. [laughs] It's exactly what an American is, is the auto industry.
• 18:47
  And the, the stories are crazy at the dealer level. I love it. It's so damn entertaining. Like just- Yeah... talk to the dealers and just talk to the salespeople. They will entertain you to death.
• 19:00
  And there's no, like we've heard it said that there's no ceiling in the industry, but there's also no floor. Yeah.
• 19:05
  So you can come in at any point, and if you do, if you work hard, if you pay attention, if you learn the business, um, you can, you can be the general manager. Like, you can get there- Absolutely...
• 19:14
  without any college, right? With just...
• 19:17
  And story after story after story after story, we see people who are like, "Oh, uh," Kyle and I were with a general manager yesterday, one of the most successful Toyota stores in the country, and started as a detailer.
• 19:28
  Exactly. I was at Sonic and people told me at the executive level- Yeah, they're... Right, they're executives. I do- It's amazing. I- At a publicly traded company. Yes. Name another industry, right, that you can do that.
• 19:41
  Exactly. And they started- I- You know, they'd been there for 20 years, but they moved up the ladder and now they're, you know, EVP. Right. Yeah. Who does that? Exactly. You know?
• 19:51
  I do wanna ask because, like, you, you s- you have such a clear passion for the industry, for the dealers, and you now exude that through a different lens that isn't being a finance manager or a gen- uh, or a GSM or something like that.
• 20:06
  Like, how do you take that passion and translate that into the lens that you now have as a business owner operator at the, uh, agency and technology level?
• 20:16
  Like, where do, what's the translation layer that allows you to keep that fire in that business? I think that it's super crystal clear to me in terms of what I want to do if I remain in auto.
• 20:28
  And our mission is to innovate, like revolutionize. And so with all of this AI technology, I have an AI team, and literally they're the one of the best out there, and they're building LLM models, chatbots for the future.
• 20:46
  So to realize that, like, ChatGPT and Gemini and all of the chatbots, there's five of them right now, they're all pulling open source data of you right now.
• 20:58
  But being able to also do it at the dealer level and to be able to be able to do it for the regulated industry and innovate in a way where each individual dealer can actually be their own future chatbot is what motivates me to continue doing what I wanna do best, which is, like, I love the industry.
• 21:18
  I love the people. I am one of these people that fights direct to consumer brands, 'cause in my mind, I'm, like, thinking, "We only talk about the bad stuff of what happens at dealers," right?
• 21:30
  We always say, "Well, it's the dealer's fault." Well, do you know how many dealers gave to their communities? Do you know how many dealers funded projects during COVID?
• 21:39
  Do you know how many dealers fund the latest, you know, little league and the homeless center down the street? We never talk about any of that. We just talk about dealer bad, dealer bad, dealer bad.
• 21:49
  You know, you know, I wish I had, like, a soundtrack to play behind that- [laughs]... when you're saying that. [laughs] I heard, I heard it in my head. You probably, you probably- Oh, oh, oh...
• 21:58
  I'm gonna send you, I'm gonna send you a couple of links after this podcast to this docuseries we've been filming called More Than Cars. Yeah.
• 22:06
  And, and the point of it, Kyle and I have gone around the country telling the good stories from car dealerships for this very reason. It's literally like working on the brand of auto dealers. Yeah. Absolutely.
• 22:17
  Because we do such a bad job to stay away from the public because we're so afraid that we're gonna get bashed about- Mm-hmm... so many things. 'Cause, you know, uh, like, when Vroom took out that ad, I was furious.
• 22:32
  You know that ad I'm talking about, right? We know. Kyle actually made a response commercial to it. I was furious. Yeah. I was furious. We'll send you that, too. It's fun. Yeah. [laughs] Yeah.
• 22:40
  You're getting a whole bunch of links from us. Yeah. [laughs] So when they went under, I was like, "Yeah, okay. That's what happens," right? [laughs] You know... It's funny. You know what happened when they went under?
• 22:49
  We, we po- like we have a daily email and a podcast, and, uh, we went and pulled all the Vroom employees and scraped LinkedIn and made a list of positions, and then we put, we posted it saying, like, "Hey, we would love to welcome you into, like, the dealership model."
• 23:06
  And a bunch- Yeah... of those people now found positions in dealerships that have kind of, like, embraced them. It's a really cool story. Amazing. Yeah. Yeah.
• 23:14
  And so, like, when, when Vroom left, it was like, hey, like, competition makes us all better. Carvana, Vroom, Vroom, they really highlighted some things that the consumers want and helped us pivot, right, to deliver.
• 23:25
  Yeah. Like, we definitely stepped up our game. Yeah. But, but in the end, like, we're, we're never betting against dealers. That's what I'm saying. Ever. And so that's what my passion is.
• 23:35
  Like, 'cause I think, like, people think, like, because I'm educated, because I launched Constellation, because we're, you know, 65 fastest growing company in the US and we hired 200 people, moved nine times, and it is a success story.
• 23:49
  But in the sense that it should be about the story of supporting tier three and automotive at the franchise level. I get sick to my stomach when we start talking about switching everything to DDC.
• 24:02
  I go, "Then what about all the Americans that are employed by the entire auto industry? What are you gonna do? Blow them up?" Yeah. There you go. Yeah. [laughs] No one to buy... No one left to buy cars, right?
• 24:14
  There you go. It's, it's probably- Diana, you are clearly passionate. Yes. The people- I can't wait-... collapse[laughs]
• 24:21
  I can't wait till people get to meet you at ASOTU CON, and we get to hear m- more from you in the ASOTUverse because you're passionate about dealers, and that's, like, right up our alley.
• 24:31
  Uh, thank you so much- Of course... for joining us today- Ooh, I had-... on Auto Collabs... so much fun. Good. [upbeat music] Ho, ho, ho. I think we're gonna make some trouble in Baltimore May 15th and 16th.
• 24:49
  [laughs] That's exactly what's gonna happen. I was like, "Can we say this on a podcast?" Halfway, like, several times through that. [laughs] I mean, we can sense- You know what I love?
• 24:57
  What do you- You know, you know what, like, sh- just stood out to me that I love? She has this passion and grit but, but, like, not, like, chip-on-your-shoulder grit. Yes. Like, she- Yes... y- I, I don't know.
• 25:14
  I can't explain it. The vibe was... 'Cause, like, you know people that have a chip on their shoulder. It's like- Yep... they only make a positive statement so they can make a negative statement.
• 25:23
  [laughs] And there were moments of that interview where, like, Kyle said it. He's like, "I've never laughed so much in the first five minutes ever." And then right after that, I was like, "Am I about to cry?" Yeah.
• 25:34
  [laughs] No. It's... Well, when you have that passion and that kind of, I mean, I'll call it aggression, right? Because it is, like, an aggressive, like, belief that is followed with action and words.
• 25:44
  But there's also just a very apparent humility, and it's the, the combination of those two that really is, is disarming, number one. And number two, it's like, yeah, I really want this person in my corner. Yeah. Yeah.
• 25:58
  Uh, you guys didn't, maybe didn't catch it, but she said this thing that, uh, n- now I'm like, I'm gonna corner her at ASOTU CON. She said this.
• 26:05
  When she was talking about the AI stuff that they're doing, she was like, "To allow a dealership to be their own language model." Yep. And I was like- Heard that... "Whoa, haven't..."
• 26:16
  Like, you know, you've heard about, like, leveraging the dealer's data or, like, uh, exploring the dealer's data or you've, you know, maybe, like, the chatbot on the website.
• 26:23
  But, like, that the, that the entirety of the dealership is a language model. That's a whole new, like- That's a good context. Yeah. Really. That, uh, I mean- That's hard-core stuff...
• 26:34
  you can't come to that conclusion without having all that history, you know? You know why I, I, I did hear her say that, but you know what I was thinking in that moment? And everyone will have to just forgive me here.
• 26:44
  What am I gonna have for lunch? I really want a cheeseburger. I knew it.
• 26:46
  [laughs] No, I was like, no matter how hard I try to make my studio or y'all's studios look awesome, nothing looks more awesome than having New York City skyscrapers in the background. You- Facts... absolutely.
• 26:58
  And you know what? It's not cheap. [laughs] Facts. Facts. Like- You're saying I can't make that happen with... Well, I got, I got Philly skyscrapers- Is it-... in my background. Oh, it is. That's the ASOTU CON scarf.
• 27:11
  Oh, look at that. It is. It's the ASOTU CON scarf. That's the OG. That's, that's- I feel, I must say, like, if you have not planned on coming to ASOTU CON, where you get to be in the room with individuals like Diana Lee,
• 27:26
  and, and you're sitting there right now and you're wondering, "Oh, man, there's so many unknowns. There's so many uncertain circumstances, the economy, interest rates. What do we do with all these EVs?
• 27:35
  How do we get people to buy stuff? What are we doing?" This conversation, for me, is the exact reason why you need to go to asotucon.com, get your ticket right now. Don't delay. It's in Baltimore. What's the dates?
• 27:46
  May 14th- 14th... or 17th? 17th. Yep. You gotta be there in the room. And this, this conversation for me was exactly why. Uh, we hope you enjoyed this conversation with Diana Lee. She's gonna be there in Baltimore.
• 27:58
  Come and check it out. Be in the same room with her and with us. We'd love to see you there. On behalf of Kyle Mountser, Paul Jay Daly, myself, Michael Cirillo, thanks for joining us on Auto Collabs.
• 28:08
  Sign up for our free and fun-to-read daily email for a free shot of relevant news in automotive, retail, media, and pop culture. You can get it now at asotu.com. That's A-S-O-T-U.com.
• 28:20
  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.
• 28:29
  [upbeat music] Welcome to Auto Collabs. Welcome to Auto Collabs. [laughs] Why are we recording? Are we rolling yet? Not yet