Fathers Influence Over Future & Current Car Enthusiasts - A Personal Story
Fathers play a key role in our future interests and hobbies, including cars. My story is not much different than others, but does come with a little twist that makes it extra special. I am grateful to my dad for turning me onto this hobby and profession.
Jason Herman
6/16/20232 min read
My father was a music man by trade, but he had a passion for cars his whole life. He shared that passion with all of his four children. As a result, three of his four children also developed a passion for cars and two ended up in the car business in one way or another. Unfortunately, my father passed away when I was 15 after a long battle with lymphoma, but before he left this world, he wanted to make sure I had my first car waiting for me at 16. He bought me a 1989 Chrysler Lebaron convertible that was a former rental car that likely had been wrapped around a pole and had the frame repaired, but that didn’t matter to me at 16. It was a convertible and a good-looking car for its time.
While I always enjoyed cars, that first car is what ignited my passion for cars and eventually led to the knowledge that would allow me to have a chance at being successful in the remarketing and automotive finance space. The Internet wasn’t around then to fill that craving for car knowledge like it is today. I subscribed to every car magazine at the time and read them cover to cover. After college, I started in human resources at U.S. Bank, but after a year in that role, I learned banks sold lease cars. What?!?! That sounds like the perfect job for a budding car enthusiast and it has been. I always said that automotive passion and resulting knowledge would pay for my annual salary and more by itself in decisions that most bankers didn’t have a clue how to approach. The rest was history, but it started with my dad and his shared passion. I will always be grateful to him for this and countless other things.
My father was a self-made man, twice over. However, he had a bad gambling habit as a younger many and gambled away his first fortune, but was able to make some portion of it back in the second half of his life when I was in the picture. I still recall as an awkward and scrawny teenager rubbing my dad’s feet on one of his final days of his cancer battle. His body was ravished by the disease, but his mind still had a lot of good advice to give. And on this particular day, he told me that I needed to avoid gambling, as it was a “rigged game you would never win”, but instead, find one good woman and own a lot of nice cars. Such simple advice, but I can still hear it like it was yesterday. And, yes, I have followed that advice. I think he would be proud, at least with that. 😀
As Father’s Day approaches this weekend, I wanted to share this story about how my dad inspired my love of cars and ultimately led to me joining the auto finance space after college. I am sure many of you have similar stories about your dad’s, and I would love to hear them if you are willing to share also. To all the fathers out there, whether your children are biological, adopted, or of the four-paw variety, here’s a toast to the lives you make better every day and the futures you make possible!