About Executive Profile with Jim Fitzpatrick, Powered by CBT News
The Executive Profile is a podcast from CBT News featuring in-depth interviews with the most influential leaders in the retail automotive industry. In each episode, you'll hear from top car dealership executives, auto group CEOs, and industry innovators as they share how they got their start, key career milestones, leadership insights, and the obstacles they’ve faced along the way. If you're looking to learn from the people shaping the future of automotive retail, this show delivers real stories and practical takeaways from the industry's top decision-makers.
New episodes drop monthly:
Listen now and visit CBTNews.com (https://www.cbtnews.com/) for even more expert interviews, dealership news, and solutions.
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Frank Carbone on Holman’s Strategy for the Next 100 Years
Frank Carbone, President of Retail Automotive at Holman, shares how a career that began parking cars and changing oil evolved into leading nearly 60 dealerships across 32 brands. In this episode of Executive Profile, Carbone discusses Holman’s disciplined approach to growth, its unique acquisition strategy, and how the 100-year-old family business is preparing for its next century. He also explores affordability challenges, talent development, AI, and why operational fundamentals and customer...
3 Aug 2026
Paul Sansone Jr. Shares His Blueprint for the Next Generation of Auto Retail
Paul Sansone Jr. discusses how resilience, innovation, and customer-first leadership have shaped Sansone Jr.'s Auto Group through decades of change. In this Executive Profile, Sansone reflects on launching his own dealership group during the financial crisis, embracing AI across dealership operations, and preparing the next generation of family leadership. He also shares his views on pricing transparency, compliance, dealer-controlled financing, and why exceptional customer experiences remain...
29 Jun 2026
Ryan LaFontaine on Building a Family-First Dealership Empire
Ryan LaFontaine shares how family values, resilience, and a long-term vision helped transform LaFontaine Automotive Group into one of Michigan's largest dealership organizations. In this Executive Profile, the CEO reflects on the lessons he learned from his parents, overcoming cancer during one of the company's most pivotal moments, and why culture remains the foundation of every business decision. He also discusses fixed operations, affordability challenges, Chinese automakers, pricing trans...
28 May 2026
How Jay Feldman Scaled From One Store To 25
We sit down with Jay Feldman to trace how a kid selling cars at 15 becomes the leader of a 25-store dealer group built on discipline, culture, and smart deal-making. We dig into what’s changing in retail automotive right now, from EV swings and digital shopping to FTC uncertainty, fixed ops growth, and AI’s impact on dealership operations. • growing up in a Chevrolet dealer family and starting in parts at 12 • turning around a losing small-town store and building from there ...
3 Sept 2025
The Pohanka Legacy: A Century of Automotive Excellence
Geoffrey Pohanka shares the remarkable story of Pohanka Automotive Group, founded by his grandfather in 1919 and now spanning 22 dealerships across three states. He reveals how the company's focus on service excellence helped them survive the Great Depression and World War II when many dealerships failed. • Third-generation dealer whose grandfather was a jockey before starting the business in 1919 • Promotes from within - including a former switchboard operator who will become NADA chair • B...
24 Jul 2025
The Zeigler Legacy: Building an Automotive Empire
Aaron Zeigler has transformed his family's single dealership into a nationally recognized automotive powerhouse with 41 locations and 88 franchises across four states while fostering an exceptional workplace culture with remarkably low turnover. • The Ferrari dealership in Lake Forest is one of the largest in the country, spanning 70,000 square feet with vehicles that can sell for over $3 million • Zeigler's father started the company in the mid-70s after saving money from selling cars to pu...
15 Jul 2025
Leading with Purpose: The Jane Vaden Thacher Story
Jane Vaden Thacher didn't expect to follow in her father's footsteps. Her primary goal after high school was to escape Savannah and the family name plastered across vehicles throughout the city. But thirty years after returning to the business her father started in 1968, Jane has transformed Vaden Automotive Group into a powerhouse representing Chevrolet, Cadillac, Nissan, Infiniti, Hyundai, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram across 13 dealerships with 762 employees. The journey wasn't easy. Jan...
14 Jul 2025
Car Dealer by Day, Racing Champion by Night: Ben Keating Defies All Limits
The journey from washing cars to building a 31-dealership empire and winning the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans isn't one traveled by many, but Ben Keating has navigated this extraordinary path with unwavering determination and a competitive spirit that defies conventional limits. In this revealing Executive Profile, Ben Keating shares the remarkable story of how a college engineering graduate who once "hated the car business" transformed into one of the most successful automotive entrepren...
11 Jul 2025
From Family Dealership to Automotive Empire: Ernie Bach Jr's Journey
Ernie Bach Jr. opens the doors to his private estate, offering a rare glimpse into the life of an automotive maverick who transformed his grandfather's humble repair shop into Subaru of New England, one of just four remaining auto distributorships in America. The sprawling 7.9-acre property houses not only his family home but an extraordinary car salon featuring 40 meticulously maintained rare vehicles that Bach considers himself a "preservationist" of rather than a collector. "If they're no...
10 Jul 2025
Cars and Compassion: The Troy Duhon Story
When Hurricane Katrina submerged everything Troy Duhon had built at age 39, he made a life-altering promise: "Lord, if you get me through this, the rest of my career will be giving back." That watershed moment transformed a successful car dealer into one of America's most impactful automotive philanthropists. Troy takes us behind the scenes of his dual passions—running Premier Automotive Group's 39 dealerships and operating the Giving Hope Foundation, which feeds 10,000 people daily through ...
9 Jul 2025
Rita Case carries forward a legendary automotive dynasty while breaking new ground.
Rita Case's remarkable journey from selling the first Honda car in America to leading one of the nation's most successful dealership groups offers a masterclass in automotive entrepreneurship and resilience. Following her husband Rick's passing in 2020, Rita has continued to build upon their shared legacy while charting her own course as a pioneering female leader in a male-dominated industry. As the daughter of Honda's first U.S. motorcycle dealer, automotive retail runs in her blood ...
8 Jul 2025
She Refused to Sell and Built an Empire Instead: Carina Diehl's Dealership Journey
Carina Diehl recounts her transformative journey from grieving widow to successful dealership owner, highlighting her resilience and determination in a male-dominated industry; this is an interview.
7 Jul 2025
Mike Maroone reveals how knowledge transfer and equity partnerships fuel dealership growth.
Mike Maroone shares his multi-generational automotive journey and reveals how knowledge transfer and equity partnerships fuel dealership growth, highlighting the power of margin over volume in this interview with Jim Fitzpatrick.
18 Jun 2025
The Dealer Partner Model That Keeps Joe Serra Sleeping Soundly
Chairman Joe Serra and President/CEO Matt Serra discuss Serra Automotive's decentralized dealer partner model, revealing how trust-based leadership fosters growth and success in the automotive industry in this interview with Jim Fitzpatrick.
18 Jun 2025
From Bar Owner to Automotive Legend: Building a $2 Billion Dealer Group
John Bergstrom recounts his unexpected entry into the automotive industry and reveals the foundational strategies that propelled Bergstrom Automotive to become a $2 billion dealership powerhouse.
3 Jun 2025
Beyond the Dealership: How Family Values Drive Business Growth
Automotive entrepreneur Mario Murgado discusses his journey from immigrant to building a successful 24-dealership empire, highlighting the role of family values and customer commitment in business growth in this interview with Jim Fitzpatrick.
Who has been a guest on Executive Profile with Jim Fitzpatrick, Powered by CBT News
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Carina Diehl
Mike Maroone
Joe Serra
Matt Serra
John Bergstrom
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 30 / 100
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Quality
61
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YouTube
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Engagement
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Questions about Executive Profile with Jim Fitzpatrick, Powered by CBT News
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Jim Fitzpatrick host the show. Published by CBT News.
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The show publishes monthly, based on its RSS feed.
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