There are many silver linings to be found in this economic crisis cloud and here I bring you one of them involving -- really, I swear -- someone in the auto industry.
Howard Sackaroff started a new job in December and he loves it. After 30 successful years working at auto dealerships, the writing was on the wall in October: the dealership he was working for in Danbury, Conn., was being sold and there was a mutual parting imminent in a less-than-desirable economic climate.
Undaunted by those circumstances or the fact that he is in his mid-50s, Sackaroff prepped his resume -- which included positions over the years as auto mechanic, service manager, sales manager, fleet manager, general sales manager and general manager, and his penchant for taking over troubled dealerships and righting their course -- and posted it on some automotive job Web sites. That’s when a company called Ride Away came persistently knocking, looking for a new general manager.
“I kept making assumptions it was a tiny little company,” Sackaroff said. “But I was home doing nothing, so I agreed to the interview at a Norwalk, Conn., industrial park. I walked in kind of jaded. I had been pushing metal and plastic for 30 years and fixing dealerships, but I figured there’s got to be more to life than that.”
After the first interview, Sackaroff did some research on Ride Away and what he found “completely floored” him: 11 locations, a solid business plan, a mix of government and private funding, and they were philanthropic.
“I was ready for a change,” Sackaroff said. “I said to myself, what’s the worst that can happen? If I hate it, I can go back to the auto business.”
As it turned out, he doesn’t hate it. According to its Web site, Ride Away is America's “largest provider of accessible vehicles and vehicle modifications including hand controls, wheelchair and scooter lifts, ramps, raised doors, lowered floors and specialized gas, brake and steering controls.” In other words, it holds the key to an independent life for the disabled. Hence, its company slogan -- We Deliver Freedom.
The customers "get so excited,” Sackaroff said. “Life is easier for them. A person who’s confined to a wheelchair can become completely mobile. They’re not stuck in their houses anymore. And for the spouse who was loading them into a regular car, folding up the wheelchair and putting it in the trunk, imagine what these vehicles do.
“Our job is to ask, ‘What do these people need to buy?’ It’s not always what they think they need. This is not a five-minute process. It’s very intricate. It gets you close to them. It’s always an hour and a half conversation. A lot of them are angry. They feel life has been unfair. In other moments they accept it. They like to talk and I like to listen.”
That is one of the biggest challenges of the job. The listening. Sackaroff diplomatically asks about their prognosis and then bases his recommendation on that. For example, he needs to ascertain if they have a disease that's degenerative.
“If the doctor says the person is probably going to be stable for the next two years, what they need will be different from someone who is getting worse by the month,” Sackaroff said. “Then I have to ask, ‘Why do you want to spend money on this if you can’t drive it in four months?’”
It’s kind of an ironic twist for Sackaroff, whose family pressured him into applying to medical school as a young man. He did and was accepted, but opted instead to get a job as an auto mechanic at a car dealership.
“From when I was a little kid, I loved cars,” he said. “I was taking engines apart at an early age.”
That first job led him to 10 years in service and 20 years in management, so he got to know every facet of the business and even bought and sold dealerships a few times. He worked at Chevrolet through 1991 and then Honda, Dodge and Hyundai right up to last year.
“Those years were financially satisfying, but by no stretch was it emotionally satisfying,” Sackaroff said. “I was trapped in the kind of income and lifestyle I wanted. I didn’t hate it but it became repetitive.”
And so now he is happily sharing his gifts at Ride Away. He took a small cut in salary, but negotiated for a “bigger piece of the pie” and he is maintaining the suburban lifestyle he was living. In all, Sackaroff was job-free for less than a month, but his advice to those who have been laid off is valuable nonetheless.
“I went out of my comfort circle,” he said. “I was willing to do something different with the intention of some kind of emotional reward.”
When asked if this job is a culmination of everything he’s done, he didn’t hesitate with his answer: “Yes.”
Silver, silver everywhere.
Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com.
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