“You wouldn’t buy a car without a heater, so why would you buy one without air conditioning?”
I got to know Alan when I hired him as a salesperson for an auto magazine I was publishing in the 1990s called Car & Truck Market. You know it today as Auto Trader. Alan quickly became our top salesperson. He was successful not only because he was great at sales. His true success came because he was also a great person. You see, Alan not only made sales, he made friends.
When a customer of his was in a motorcycle accident, Alan was at the hospital by his side. When a past co-worker was in a coma that he would not come out of, Alan made the difficult visit to see him. When an elderly friend was locked down during COVID and spending his final days in a nursing home, Alan walked outside his ground floor window to smile and wave. That’s Alan.
We have continued to talk through the years, and most of the credit goes to Alan. We grab lunch from time to time and get caught up on the old days. He refuses to make excuses for not staying in touch.
“If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, it would be Christmas every day.”
Alan and his wife Irene spent much of their lives in Marshalltown, where they raised two wonderful boys who they are justifiably proud of. In recent years, they moved to Urbandale where Alan continues to enjoy his hobbies, which include collector cars, antique oil cans and his wonderful Post Car Registry of America newsletter, which we print for him.
Alan is 71 now, and he still works harder than people half his age. He makes a living these days doing wholesale buying and truck sales for Truck Center Companies. He is good at it because he is knowledgeable, he is honest, and he is passionate. And it shows.
Alan is not only passionate about his work. He is passionate about his customers and his friends and his family and his hobbies and his hometown of Centerville. In fact, if he has the slightest interest in something, that passion shines through. Alan may not have said this one, but he lives it every day:
“Do what you love, and success will follow. Passion is the fuel for success.”
We could all learn a little something from Alan.
Have a marvelous Monday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305 | 
