"I Was Hungry!" From Bronx Projects to Launching a Dealership Empire & What It Takes to Build It | Frank Pena, President at Dare to Dream Automotive
Apple Podcasts 
Spotify 
YouTube 
RSS Feed Frank Peña grew up sleeping on a relative's floor in Washington Heights after his family immigrated to the United States when he was two years old, and by the time he left the company that gave him his start, he had spent twenty years working his way from used car salesman to company president.
He walks through how he took over three dealerships in South Florida without losing a single employee, and argues that most owners lose their people not because of pay, but because they disappear the moment things get hard.
Topics:
06:35 The Organization That Built A Dealer
08:35 The Knowledge Gap For New Dealers
16:35 Why F&I Is A Puzzle
19:15 Why Frank Kept Every Employee
20:55 Surviving A Dealership War Zone
29:30 Successful Operators Have To Be Crazy
38:20 Why Frank's Son Won't Get A Free Ride
This episode is brought to you by:
1. TARGIT - TARGIT is an end-to-end business intelligence platform that gives dealers complete visibility and control over their data.
Download your copy and learn more about TARGIT @ here.
Headed to the 2026 Digital Dealer Conference? Come meet TARGIT at Booth #737. Visit @ here for more info.
2. OPENLANE - The world’s best online dealer marketplace for used cars, bringing you exclusive inventory, simple transactions, and better outcomes. Learn more @ here.
Check out Car Dealership Guy’s stuff:
For dealers:
Industry job board ➤ http://jobs.dealershipguy.com
Dealership recruiting ➤ http://www.cdgrecruiting.com
Fix your dealership’s social media ➤ http://www.trynomad.co
Request to be a podcast guest ➤ http://www.cdgguest.com
For industry vendors:
Advertise with Car Dealership Guy ➤ http://www.cdgpartner.com
Industry job board ➤ http://jobs.dealershipguy.com
Request to be a podcast guest ➤ http://www.cdgguest.com
Car Dealership Guy Socials:
Everything else ➤ dealershipguy.com