Attending an intro-level class doesn鈥檛 usually land a student a job, but that鈥檚 exactly what happened last fall when 草莓社区 professor of business and economics Andrew Miller took his Business 101 students for a tour of the Steven Toyota car dealership in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
鈥淚鈥檝e always been told I鈥檓 a people person, so any opportunity or anything, I reach out to people,鈥� said Zach Wheeler, a junior marketing major from Churchville, Virginia. 鈥淚鈥檒l take any opportunity I can. I鈥檓 always looking for chances to better myself, too.鈥�
That chance came as an off-hand mention during the tour by dealership owner Ryan Sodikoff that he had an open position.
鈥淚 pretty much came up to Ryan after the field trip and said, 鈥業鈥檇 love to be part of this team,鈥欌�� he remembers. 鈥溾�業s there, like, part time whatever you have for me? I can pretty much do anything.鈥� I honestly didn鈥檛 know what my job was going to be.鈥�
Miller put in a good word 鈥� as Wheeler tells it, he told Sodikoff, 鈥淚f you get a chance to hire this kid, go ahead and do it because he鈥檚 pretty good鈥� 鈥� and Sodikoff鈥檚 interest was piqued, he said, even though 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 trying to recruit or anything at the time,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was just a field trip.鈥�
It was the second time Miller had taken students to the dealership to get an overall view of the business but also insight into what he calls 鈥渕inutia marketing鈥� and working with customers. He also regularly takes students to Washington D.C. to visit a variety of workplaces and learn about the city.
There’s a few fellow Royals already employed there, including senior Zeki Salehi, who has logged five years with the company. He manages the buying center and used car center, overseeing all departments that relate to used cars, such as acquisition, service, sales and reconditioning. Tristan Childress ’19 is a sales and leasing consultant.
Now Wheeler is the dealership鈥檚 鈥渓isting specialist,鈥� which means he lists non-auto inventory to sell via online platforms like eBay and Craigslist.
At one end of the warehouse by his office is the car photo booth, but in the section Wheeler manages, there are rows and rows of overhead lights removed in a recent facility remodel, no-longer-needed office phones, car radios, tires and oil filters and parts that the service department can鈥檛 use, plus personal items from dealership employees 鈥� even furniture made in France 鈥� all waiting to be sold.
鈥淚 put a big task on him, to stage the facility and price out the equipment,鈥� said Sodikoff. But since Wheeler has 鈥渒ind of volunteered to do anything,鈥� Sodikoff has also made him the face of grassroots marketing. That means that Wheeler will take a new car to, say, a dealership-sponsored golf tournament where it will be the prize for a hole-in-one.
鈥淗e represents us well,鈥� Sodikoff said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a wonderful experience for him, and he鈥檚 loving it. He鈥檚 a great team member.鈥�
Wheeler鈥檚 a big dreamer; he said his 鈥渁bsolute biggest dream is to make a commercial for the Super Bowl.鈥� In addition to his ongoing marketing studies at EMU, he鈥檚 also studying to become a licensed car salesperson.
In the meantime, over the summer he averaged 35-40 hours each week at Steven Toyota.
鈥淚 never imagined I would come in here doing what I鈥檓 doing,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 given me exposure to a different industry that I鈥檝e never participated in before.鈥�