Former jewelry salesman rises through ranks to become dealer

Jarryd Carver named his company Winners Circle Automotive Group because it accurately described his recipe for success: the critical circle of connections forged among his stores, employees, customers and the local community.

"There's a rhythm — a correlation — between those four components," said Carver, 35, dealer principal of Winners Circle Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram and Winners Circle Nissan, both in Hampton, Va. "The company has to take care of employees, employees have to take care of customers and we all collectively have to take care of our communities. If we all partner in those regards, it forms a winning circle."

But winner's circle also is an apt metaphor for Carver's place in the auto industry.

At age 33 — just two years after being named an Automotive News 40 Under 40 honoree — Carver fulfilled a goal he set a decade ago to become a dealer principal. He's among the country's youngest minority dealership owners.

Carver has become a bit of a turnaround artist.

His two dealerships are on pace to reach a combined $100 million in sales in 2021, he said.

During his prior stint overseeing two Sheehy Auto Group stores in Maryland, those dealerships notched three consecutive years of seven-figure net revenue increases.

Not bad for a former certified gemologist who traded in carats for cars when he took a dealership sales job in 2011.

Carver bought the Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealership in March 2020 and the Nissan store this January. He credits his career growth to having emotional intelligence, persistence and open-mindedness.

Those attributes were essential when the effects of the coronavirus pandemic swept over the auto industry just weeks after he became a dealership owner.

"Persistence is critical, especially when you open a new store a month before a pandemic hits and suddenly things are very unpredictable … sick employees, customers scared to come in and manufacturers shutting down," Carver said. "There were a lot of changing factors at the time, so you have to work through adversity and lead. When you're the owner, there's no one in the chair behind you."

It took Carver nine months to get financing approval to buy his first dealership, a learning process that included a lot of rejections.

"But I always asked people why," he said. "If I got a no, I also got the why, which provided me with some of the most valuable information."

That additional intel helped him get financing approval for the second store in just two weeks, he said.

Carver led a dramatic turnaround at his Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram store in 2020, generating $40 million in revenue in the roughly 10 months he owned it compared with $8 million for full-year 2019.

Fostering a culture of innovation was key. At weekly meetings, Carver calls for managers to contribute an idea to make positive change.

"I want everyone to always think about what can make us better," he said. "Learning and improving are nonnegotiable items around here."

One result was the dealership group's new digital sales processes driven by the pandemic. Employees helped develop an approach that enabled online car buying and free delivery of vehicles in a 150-mile radius.

"We're now doing hundreds of deliveries annually … and added several hundred thousand dollars a month in top-line sales we otherwise wouldn't have achieved," Carver said.

Carver enjoys helming two growing dealerships. But he also feels the weight of his membership in a club that's small and exclusive — for all the wrong reasons. According to the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers, only 6 percent of dealerships in the U.S. are minority-owned.

"Is there pressure to succeed? Absolutely," Carver said. "My performance could help open the door for the next wave of minority dealers. So it's very important for me to make wise moves and good decisions and take this responsibility very seriously."

Carver said he grew up in the Washington, D.C., area, without a lot of resources or career guidance. He only considered the auto industry after a dealership sales rep came into the jewelry store where he was working and "dropped a wad of cash" on an item for a significant other.

Now that Carver has achieved his own success, he finds it fulfilling to provide counsel to others, particularly young minority professionals who lack guidance, just as he did when he was younger. He often is contacted for career advice.

"It's very gratifying," Carver said. "It motivates me to continue to grow so I can continue to help other people maximize their potential."

And get them into their own winner's circle.