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Chance Johnson

Mrs. Zehentner

Independent Study Mentorship

30 September 2022

Mentorship Interview Essay

Becoming an airline pilot or commercial pilot or any type of pilot I feel you should

always have knowledge of some aspects of business. Business is a large and always growing

industry especially sales, so learning a couple of facts from a professional on business will

always be a good outcome. From what I have learned over the past months since I gained an

interest in becoming a pilot I realized and picked up on many aspects of business being

incorporated in the aviation industry. Getting educated on business will make all pilots more

successful in the aviation industry and in life overall. Mohamed Raya is my mentor, and he is a

car deals man at Auto Boutique in Alvin, Texas. The reason I choose Raya as my mentor is the

overall benefits from learning about business and especially since I want to be a pilot. When

conducting my interview, I was making sure I was getting to know Mo and examining his

passions about car dealing and over learning more about him.

Pilots use a lot of aspects of business in the aviation industry. Many pilots buy their own

planes which they can negotiate prices for or start businesses that sells planes. Which is similar

to car dealerships in a way because as a car dealer you have to be an expert at cars knowing the

bad model from the good ones. As a pilot many already know bad planes from good planes, for

example any pilot should know that a Cessna 172 and a Fairey Albacore
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Mentor Interview Transcript

What interested you in the business field? Specifically in selling car and being a car deals

man?

“It was definitely the cars and being able to see so many different types of cars like the trucks or

the Lamborghinis and that is my first reason for getting into selling cars that’s what enticed me

the most. Then when I started working here (at Auto Boutique) I started to get really good at it

and liking it which is my second reason.”

Do you prefer selling luxury cars?

“YEAH, they are a little easier to sell because usually luxury means higher end folks in a sense,

and they know what they are buying and what they are looking for.”

Did you have to go to college to become a dealer?

“NAHH, you can be a college or high school dropout making six figures selling cars.”

Did you have to go through any training?

“You gotta learn the processes, you know there are legalities since it’s a business so definitely

there is training but honestly you can walk into any dealership and if they like you enough, they

will hire you.”

Did it take long for you to train?

“Me specifically when I started with this company, they threw me into the deep end and I was

signing deals from day one.”

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Do you remember your first deal?

“No. I sold 387 cars this year, from beginning of January to now. So, years ago I don’t remember

my first deal.”

How long have you worked here (Auto Boutique)?

“On and off for five or four years.”

Was this your first car dealership you worked for?

“Yeah and will probably be the only car dealership I work for.”

What is one thing you knew before entering the job field?

“Behind the scenes wise umm... I knew how cutthroat dealerships are… like they don’t play

around. As an employee you always have to stay on your feet you can’t mess up cus… its… like

it’s very cutthroat like I said.”

Is there anything you would like to change in your job? Or maybe like you level or rank

right now?

“I’d like to be a finance manager one day. That’s not something I would want to change in the

job that’s just something I would want to do for the future, is quit, like stop being a salesperson,

and doing financing because it’s a little more brain work than foot work.”

Sense you spend most your time at the dealership would you change your hours you work

at the dealership?
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“Yeah, that would be the other thing if I could choose what I want to be here that would be cool

but really in sales you never know when the next sale is going to walk into the door, so that is

why I am always here.”

During like the pandemic or when covid was on the rise did you see any drop of customers?

“Oh yeah! Actually, I quit when the pandemic was here. I went to work somewhere else from

home, but they had like two salesperson just at the dealership selling cars online so we were still

selling cars but nowhere near as much a pre-pandemic.”

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Work Cited

Raya, Mohamed. Personal interview. Conducted by Chance Johnson. 28 September 2022