THE OPENING OF THE SHOW. "Small business is about courage . . . " These are highlights from the show. The entire transcript is always available to those people who are part of LEARN ONLINE and are helping to keep this site up and alive.

Hi, I'm Hattie Bryant. Where do jobs come from? What fuels the economy? Why do some companies grow and others close their doors? Each week we try to answer these questions and at the same time introduce you to founders of companies who have a dream. These are some of the most interesting people in America. Here you will always find men and women who bet on themselves and their ability to pull themselves up to new heights.

Today, we take you just south of Detroit, Michigan to the quiet suburb of Woodhaven to meet Pamela Rodgers, owner of Rodgers Chevrolet. She's the car dealer that doesn't look like one.

Let's go to Pamela Rodger's Neighborhood.

HATTIE: Where do the dollars come from in a dealership?

PAMELA RODGERS: Well, new car and used car sales actually represent maybe 75% of all revenue generated, and service will maybe represent the remainder. But, you need a good Service Department. We don't consider service our back-end; we consider service our backbone, because we know this is where our customer stability is going to be, by providing good service to our customers. That will keep customers coming back, and the referral business coming back.

HATTIE: Pamela is the right person in the right place at the right time. She is one of the few women in the world who owns a car dealership in her own right. It wasn't passed to her by her father or a husband. And, she took a failing location and turned it around. Today, with a team of 85 employees, her business, Rodgers Chevrolet, generates 73 million in revenues by selling nearly 200 cars per month and by servicing as many as 1200 a month.

HATTIE: So you all just make it happen.

GERALD MROZ: We make it happen. To make the customer happy is #1 in Pam's eyes.

HATTIE: Right.

GERRY: I mean she told me one thing: "Just take care of my customers. 'Cause if you don't take care of them and they get to me, I'm going to take care of them."

Driver: Hit it!

HATTIE: There's plenty of competition for Pam and her team. This is Detroit, Motor City, the psychic birthplace of the automobile.

HATTIE: And on a perfect August Saturday, car lovers come to see and be seen. The annual Dream Cruise down Woodward Ave. attracts hundreds of cars worthy of display. Americans and cars go together, like hotdogs and mustard, like summer and sun.

HATTIE: But for Pamela, this is all strictly business.

HATTIE: Don't you think women influence the purchasing at a huge percentage?

PAMELA: Huge! Very huge!

HATTIE: I mean do you all have any research?

PAMELA: The statistics are women own or purchase 50 % of all automobiles sold, and influence on about 85 to 90% of all automobiles that are purchased. So women play a major role!

HATTIE: And, you've got some women sales--

PAMELA: We have women salespeople; we have a woman Parts Manager, F&I Manager, Controller. We have women at all ranks of our business –

HATTIE: That's great!

PAMELA: Which is unusual for a car dealership.

HATTIE: Have you ever worked for a dealership other than this one?

BECKY DOYLE: A few. I've been in dealerships for 22 years.

HATTIE: Wow! How is this different? And you don't have to – I mean just how is this different?

BECKY: Well, I don't know that it's uniquely different, because I've worked at a couple of pretty good stores, and this is certainly, I would say, one of the 2 very top stores that I have ever worked for. And what I like about it personally is I have my own latitude, if you will. I mean at other dealerships that I was in, I wasn't necessarily doing things that I always liked so well, so I like what I'm doing here.

HATTIE: Tell me what you do here.

BRENDA WOODRUFF: I'm the Business Manager.

HATTIE: What does that mean?

BRENDA: Basically what I do is, I help people with their financing of their vehicles. In many cases, we're doing a counseling, you know, helping people to understand the position that they're in, how they got there, how they can get out of it, what we can do to best serve them so that they don't get themselves in a worse position.

HATTIE: Tell me why I feel so different in here – when I drive up to get service on my car, it's just a bunch of metal and gray. What is this going on here?

PAMELA: A little creativity, if you will. When we renovated the building 5 years ago, we created this window in the customer lounge, for customers to wait while their cars are being serviced. So we found a person that actually does play sets.

HATTIE: Oh! A set builder.

PAMELA: A set builder for a theater -- we came up with the Speedway theme because Chevrolet is known for their car racing and auto racing, that type of thing. So we tried to take that theme, bring it home, and make our own speedway. And customers love it. It takes the edge off of when they come in, and kids really seem to enjoy it, too.

HATTIE: It seems like we have your neighborhood here.

PAMELA: That's right, Ms. Rodger's Neighborhood, if you will. A service customer will pull through the drive lane here. They will talk to our Service Advisors who sit here, and describe the concern or the problem with their car. Our Service Advisor will record the problem, discuss any maintenance needs that the customer may have --

HATTIE: Right.

PAMELA: And make sure that the customer has a timeline, in terms of when the car will get in for service, when it will be repaired, and to call the customer when the car is ready to be picked up. So those things are very important. Communication with the customers.

HATTIE: 'Cause people don't want to do without their cars.

PAMELA: They don't want to do without their cars, and then they like to know what's going on with their cars, so we try and keep those lines of communication open with our customers so that they know what's going on with their cars at all times.

HATTIE: Right.

PAMELA: Our Service Advisors talk to each and every customer. So it's important that they know their stuff, if you will, that they're trained properly, that they have good communication skills and good customer relation skills.

HATTIE: We're surrounded by heavy metal, the machines we all can't live without, but I find in this soft-spoken woman with an MBA in Finance what must be the perfect balance for leadership.

HATTIE: What makes her unique?

DIANE LABAN: Pam is very intelligent. She can read a financial statement. (laughter) And she knows what questions to ask.

MAUREEN MONROE: She's great to work for. I'm glad she gave me the opportunity to be the Parts Manager.

RON LEWANDOWSKI: She's really good to her employees.

TERRI MAHONY: The easiest person I've ever worked for.

BEN HEER: It starts from the top, obviously, and Pam's direction and motivation – she obviously – Again, it's just Pam coming out.

DIANE: I think Pam demands excellence in a way where people want to give her the best that they have.

HATTIE: While working at Ford Corporate, Pam found out about the Minority Dealer Program. You've done your fourth application into the Minority Program, and finally they said, "Yes."

PAMELA: Finally they said, "Yes."

HATTIE: Did that have anything to do with that particular mentor writing a letter for you, or this particular location becoming available because it had --

PAMELA: Well, he played an important role, in terms of my acceptance, in terms of making sure that I met the right people, learned some of the jargon, cut through some of the, you know, political tape, if you will, at the time.

HATTIE: What do you think he saw in you?

PAMELA: I don't know what he saw, but whatever it is, thank God for it. Maybe just my willingness to work, my tenacity for work, my willingness to come early, stay late, do what it takes to get the job done. Follow-through. Discipline. So -- because I volunteered to do things. When they needed help, I'd step up and say "I'll take care of that," and was hopefully helpful to him in his business, in growing his business, that he took me by the hand. Because you're right. He didn't just look at me and say, "I want to help her." A relationship had to grow and nurture –

HATTIE: Would you say meeting him was a turning point?

PAMELA: It was a very important point. A very important point, yes.

HATTIE: So when you got out of that, then they found you an opportunity –

PAMELA: In Flint, Michigan. Now you're not from this area?

HATTIE: No.

PAMELA: Flint is a GM town, with nine GM plants.

HATTIE: Oh my gosh! So you're going to try to sell Fords in GM territory.

PAMELA: That's exactly right.

HATTIE: Was that like throwing the babes to the wolves? It's like, "Just throw her deeper in the ocean, see if she can swim out of this thing."

PAMELA: It was very tough. It was a very tough market, and we went in right in 1990. And you know the economy was not very strong at that time. So, of course, it was impossible to make that boat float. It just, was just going against the grain in way too many areas. My partner passed during that time.

HATTIE: Your partner died?

PAMELA: Yes. And then again women still weren't accepted into that business. We're still talking – 9, Yeah – 10, 12 years ago, and they didn't think a woman could do it. So, we liquidated the store.

HATTIE: You've had two failures so far – you couldn't sell cars and your first dealership you had to liquidate. Did you ever think about going back to that corporate job since you had that big fat MBA? I mean really, people with MBA's –

PAMELA: Often, often – but that's a lesson in business. Not necessarily giving up every time you hit a bump in the road.

HATTIE: Oh I know – I hearing it, I'm hearing it –

PAMELA: You know –

HATTIE: People look at you today and go "Look at her!" She made it easy –

PAMELA: But they didn't know it took a few hard knocks to get here.

HATTIE: Right – Right -- Okay, so what did you do when the liquidation happened?

PAMELA: Well, when we finished the liquidation, I continued to work with Ford for a couple of months. And then my stipend ended. We looked at a couple of other sites, but my stipend ended. And then I went back to work for the dealer in Flat Rock.

HATTIE: Oh, the mentor!!

PAMELA: Yes, I went back to work for my mentor. At that time, he had purchased a second location in Detroit and really needed someone to manage the smaller Flat Rock store. So, I didn't have a job. (laughing) I didn't have anything to do.

HATTIE: I'm on the street – (laughing)

PAMELA: Right – So I moved back to Detroit and I took a position – accepted a position as general manager of the Flat Rock store at that time. And, he moved on and ran his own second dealership in Detroit. He decided to sell his Flat Rock store. And that's when I became a member of the GM family. To put it delicately, the store was in a cash poor position. He had a huge following from Detroit, so when he moved to Detroit, that following went with him. So all of those other candidates in line from the GM family for opportunities –

HATTIE: Nobody wanted it –

PAMELA: It wasn't on the radar screen for --

HATTIE: Are you telling me you bought the ugly duckling?

PAMELA: I bought the Ugly Duckling -- Yes – as I said, it was cash poor and really didn't have a huge following.

HATTIE: But why – why – why? Because you had already had all of those other failures -- you are setting yourself up for failure to buy the thing that isn't working.

PAMELA: It wasn't working at the time – no it wasn't.

HATTIE: But what was inside of you that thought that you could do something different.

PAMELA: I wasn't ready to give up – I was still determined to become a dealer. I still thought I had an opportunity to make this plan work for me. It was my chance to get back into the game. I didn't think I would have any other offers. It was my chance to get back in the game. So, I took a chance. And I was thankful for GM for giving me the opportunity – even though it wasn't the best.

HATTIE: All right --when was that?

PAMELA: I became a GM dealer in 1993.

HATTIE: So how many years did it take you from when you had the dream "I want to be a dealer?"

PAMELA: To actually become a dealer?

HATTIE: Right –

PAMELA: With GM? I left Ford in 86 – so 7 years.

HATTIE: Pam credits her General Manager Joe Posby for much of the success.

HATTIE: What does it take to make a car dealership work?

JOE POSBY: It's a lot of different variables to that. One of the biggest variables is people – that is primary. Product is obvious and then Marketing. There is a number of things that has to be done. With an automobile dealership, we do know one thing. We will sell, primarily, all of our new and pre-owned cars within a 15 mile radius of the dealership. We know that we will bring some people in from further away, but predominately that's my market – 15 miles away.

HATTIE: Is that because when I come for service I don't want to have to drive?

JOE: Most people will either buy from where they live or where they work. Again, within 15 miles of the dealership. So that's where I primarily will put all my efforts in marketing, within 15 miles. A lot of people have different ways of looking at it. I look at marketing much like a bulls eye on a target, I am the centerpiece – I am the epicenter. And then I start looking at rings that go out from there. As we get bigger, I may extend my rings, I may look to go further in my marketplace. But predominately, I am going to start in the center. That's what we did 5 years ago and it has worked for us. We spend in direct mail marketing – that is one medium we use -- probably 50%. 50% there – I may spend 20% on newspaper. I have to be there, I want to be there. I want to have the visibility. And we may spend 20% in other mediums, other sponsorships.

HATTIE: I was going to ask, " What about local community involvement?" Are you a member of the chamber? The Kiwanis Club?

JOE: I am not – but Pam is.

HATTIE: Pam is – so does that help – is it just her being a member or do you all contribute to an event?

JOE: Being involved in the civic functions of a local neighborhood is key. You have to be known in the area. It doesn't do me any good to be known in Ohio if I am up in Michigan. It doesn't do me any good to be known in Illinois, if I am in Michigan. I want to be known in my local area. I want to be top of mind when somebody wants to buy a car.

HATTIE: Okay, so now let's talk about your 50% expenditure on direct pieces that you create. And you told me that you do two different kinds.

JOE: We do targeted mailing. On a monthly basis, we do it every single week. We do between 7,500 pieces to 10,000 pieces a week, depending on the week and if there is holidays involved. And we do it a number of different ways. A direct mail piece will get right to my target. I can stay within 5 miles, 10 miles, 12 miles, 15 miles – I can keep going to the same areas – I can vary it if I want to. I can go to every household if I want to – I can go to people who just own Chevrolets. 5 or 10 years from now we are going to be at least – well in 5 years we are going to be double our production we are right now. That I know for sure. Last year we ended up very high on the scale and we are not at the top of the pentacle, but we are going to be there.

BEN HEER: It is hard to believe, coming from Flat Rock over to here – we have just quadrupled - really, and we just continue to grow.

HATTIE: Pamela Rodgers may have had a dream, but she is building this dealership by the numbers. With an MBA in Finance, she knows how to read the financial reports. She has calculated that the best way to grow is by strengthening what she calls the backbone. For Pamela, the service department is not the back-end it is the backbone. This is certainly not your father's car dealership where sell, sell, sell was the mantra. Yes, you have to sell, but everyone at Rodgers knows that service is what brings customers back over and over and over again. The service department is a-buzz. They know they're good. And the sales people think of themselves as service providers. What can we learn here? First, really know how to read those numbers then put your time and money into making the most important part of your business strong. At Rodgers Chevrolet, service is not the backend, it is the backbone.

HATTIE: The guys in the service department are serious about your cars, but they have some fun too.

HATTIE: So Keith and Dave – do you think these cars will have a rattle?

KEITH JAYSKA and DAVE MOON: Yeah – sometimes they do – they do quite often.

HATTIE: So somebody runs over a bump, goes in a hole – knocks something loose.

KEITH: Sometimes maybe a loose nut behind the wheel will cause a rattle. (laughs)

HATTIE: Otherwise it would be perfect -- right?

KEITH: Right

HATTIE: So where do you even begin to look?

KEITH: For rattles – start looking anywhere – anything that moves. Hey – see -- there's an easy one – there's a rattle right here. (laughs) I'm done. Let's go to lunch. (laughs)

HATTIE: Pam took me to see her new home under construction, then her parents arrived to have a look. Until now, Pam has lived her entire adult life in rented apartments. As she had to keep investing cash in her education and then in Rodgers Chevrolet.

MOTHER: I remember vividly the day that she announced that she wanted to become an automobile dealer. We were having dinner and conversation was going very ordinarily and she announced, "guess what?" I said, "What is it?" She says, "I have an announcement to make." I said, "Gee, let's hear it." So she said, "I am going to become an automobile dealer." Of course, I choked. I couldn't believe it. Because, it was so – so far fetched from what she's always done. And that is a pretty tough arena. And being a mother, you naturally think – well, my little girl is going into this tough competitive arena. I know she has what it takes, but – so I did have the reservations. But her father said immediately, "Go for it!"

HATTIE: Back to the dealership, Pam had more to show me. (Hattie and Pam arrive in Pam's yellow Corvette.)

HATTIE: So do you love it (the Corvette) because it goes fast or do you love it because it looks great?

PAMELA: Both – it goes fast, it looks great and it drives like a dream. It can corner.

HATTIE: It can corner – we got to get one.

PAMELA: Yeah – this one's for sale. (laughs)

HATTIE: Spoken like a true dealer.

PAMELA: That's the whole idea, you want to provide a place where people can earn a living and prosper. If they can have a comfortable living environment – and they can feel comfortable in the environment in which they work and grow and provide shelter for their family – and needs for their family. Then that's a win-win for everyone. And that is what business is all about, providing good service for your employees, for your communities. And growing.

JIM FREEMON: This dealership is doing a lot more things right, in my opinion. And that's why I came here. I watched from another dealership as this dealer got better and better and better. And I realized – hey – something is going on over there.

PAMELA: I was going against the grain at that time -- I was a woman, I was minority. They didn't think women at that time had what it takes to make it in this business. They thought this business was too challenging – too competitive -- that women were too frail, too gentle. That they just didn't have that tough skin to be successful in this business. So, yes, I was going against the grain, but when you're the underdog – and that is exactly what I was – there was more people trying to push me out of the way. So I was the underdog and there is always somebody rooting for the underdog. So you have to find those mentors, find those people, find that support system. I mean, it's difficult to do -- easier said – but as many people are trying to push you away there is somebody in there trying to help.

FATHER: She has been a success -- I am still expecting her to do more and more in the business. I don't think -- even though she has reached this pinnacle of success, that she has reached the top. And I expect her to do more and I know that she is trying to mentor and help many other women, black and white, come into the dealership.

HATTIE: What did she say to get you -- to entice you to come?

DIANE: I really, at the time, wasn't going to work for any more dealers because I enjoy the auditing phase. But I have never worked for a woman – Pam is the first woman I have ever worked for – and it was a challenge. And I enjoyed working for her.

HATTIE: And do you think that being nice translates to the bottom line?

PAMELA: Do I think being nice translates to the bottom line? Yes -- I do – there is a thing called negative reinforcement and a thing called positive reinforcement. It might not translate to the bottom line as quickly as negative reinforcement, but when it does transfer to the bottom line, I think you build a strong foundation. Something that can grow and nurture, that has roots -- if you will – where it won't blow away the first time something comes along. So, it may take longer to build, but it will be a much stronger sturdier tree when it does come to fruition.

HATTIE: Do you see the team at Rodgers – is this your family?

PAMELA: Yeah – I spend more time here than I do at home. They feel like family to me. We had an employee at one time and he had to leave us. So we had a little exit interview for him and we said, "What was the worst thing about working here?" He said, "People get in your business, they're always trying to find out what's going on – they're just nag, nag, nag." We said, "Okay, what was the best thing about working here?" He said, "People love you – they care about you, they nurture you." So -- yes, it is like family – just like family – you have your good times and your bad times and you just continue to grow together. Your biggest asset is your biggest headache - but you just have to love each other through the tough times and the good times.

HATTIE: Do you think back about why you might be so strong? Where do you think that comes from?

PAMELA: Well, I am very blessed. My grandfather was a graduate of the University of Michigan and he became a lawyer in the early 1900's. Followed by my uncle, who graduated from the University of Michigan, and was one of the first black judges in the Detroit area. Followed by my father, who is also an attorney and practiced with my grandfather and brother. So, knowing the prejudices and the obstacles they faced coming up – especially my grandfather in the early 1900's. And if he can make it back then without the support systems and networking that we have in place right now. Then I have no excuse not to face some of the diversity challenges that I have faced before in the past. Just knowing that it can be done -- we show that it can be done again.

HATTIE: Are you comfortable yet? I mean -- do you wake up in the middle of the night going, "Oh my -- how am I going to pay for everything?"

PAMELA: If I am comfortable, shoot me – I never want to be comfortable. I don't want to become complacent. They want to squash you out, they want to make it difficult for you. So what does it take to bounce back and get up the next day and face it again. You have to realize I chose this profession, this was my decision to do this. So, I chose this road – nobody put a gun to my head and said "Pam, become a dealer." I chose this path, so I have to bear those consequences. But, the rewards are great.

HATTIE: You can name the makers of automobiles because they are mostly big companies with hundreds of thousands of employees. However, all of the car-makers depend upon their dealer network, mostly small privately-held companies like Rodgers Chevrolet, to sell and service their products. We don't mind reminding you, the little guys are really the big guys.

So, how is Pamela building her business? She has the discipline and knowledge to completely understand her financials and then to focus time and money on the part of the business that will deliver customers over and over and over again. Her philosophy is that service is not the back-end, it is the backbone.

We'll see you next time.

THE CLOSING OF THE SHOW: ". . . the only way to compete with big business is to be faster, smarter and better. We are the engine of the American economy. We create the jobs. . .