ADVERSITY AS A SPUR TO ACTION 

Addressing fellow minority dealers: Maria Luna Brem

February 4, 2007—As the Detroit Three are cutting dealer numbers, Maria Luna Brem pointed out to attendees of the Minority Dealers Breakfast today, minority dealers are vulnerable, since many are in smaller markets. “I don’t have a prescription for you. I only know we’ve got to stand out,” said the president and CEO of Love Chrysler in Corpus Christi, Tex. “I named my business ‘Love.’ I knew it would be ridiculed a little. But I wanted it to stand out.” 

Years ago, when Brem was undergoing treatment for breast and cervical cancer, she was a single mother of two with no health insurance and $500,000 in medical bills. She talked her way into a job selling cars, and, four years later, was a dealer. Today, she has 120 employees and her store has been ranked by Hispanic Business and is one of Working Woman magazine’s “Top 500.”

Brem is now a nationally recognized speaker on using adversity to get ahead. She spoke about the qualities of successful people, particularly successful women: resilience, nurturing (“They don’t just want their cars fixed; they want someone sharing their pain”), creativity, passion, and self-value.

And although the small numbers of minority dealers “obviously present a challenge and an opportunity,” she said, “the solution is within us.”