For local women in business, car dealerships are a family affair

METRO DETROIT —  It’s all about family for Sherry Maxey, a second-generation owner of Bob Maxey Lincoln, 16901 Mack Ave. in Detroit.

Maxey and her two brothers, Bob and Michael, operate Bob Maxey dealerships in Fowlerville, Detroit and Howell.

“Something that my dad always instilled is that the three of us had to work together, that a first generation can start something, but it often falls apart in a second generation because they don’t work together.”

The late Bob Maxey got his start at a dealership on Gratiot in 1972, and in 1982, he moved to the Mack Avenue location. For Sherry Maxey, there was no question of whether she’d join her father and two older brothers in the dealership industry. From a young age, she recalls, dealership talk was common dinner table conversation. She remembers working at the dealership during the summers while finishing up her master of business administration degree at the University of Michigan.

“I think it was just a thing for all of us; this is where we were going to be. My brothers started out cutting the grass and washing cars. And luckily, as a female, my dad was more old-fashioned. I didn’t do that. I got to sell. So that was the difference, but even when I was going to school at Michigan and there were interviews, I did a couple, but I always knew I was going to come back here.”

She worked as a sales manager until she got married and raised her children. It was when her father passed away that she was pulled back in.

It was a full circle moment for Maxey to return to the Mack Avenue location where it all began for her. She honors her late father’s memory in her office with the original chairs and his desk.

Maxey explained that the hope is for the dealership to pass into the hands of a third generation through her children and her nieces and nephews. She and her brothers tried to foster a close-knit environment for their children to have a sibling-like bond, since they are cousins.

“So what we’ve tried to do with our kids is, because there are 11 grandkids, we knew they all weren’t going to go in. But we started taking trips together. Whether it was a cruise or whether we went to an all-inclusive, we made sure we did that with all 11 of them. So they are close.”

Maxey added that three of the grandkids are working at the dealerships. “We want them to feel that they have to work together and rely on each other in order for the business to grow.”

Liz Sellers is a third-generation dealership owner.

“From the very beginning, my grandfather instilled taking care of customers, taking care of employees, making common-sense decisions,” she said. “My father carried that on. He was a very benevolent, genuine human being that loved coming to work every day, loved interacting with customers and employees. I mean, he knew employees by name. So those were qualities that were bred into us, which is how we view it. Certainly, it’s a business, but the business’ success is because of our team members and our customers.”

Sellers said she understands the importance of legacy and working together with family. Like Maxey, she also works with two brothers, Dean and Blair, at their family dealership, Dean Sellers Ford, located at 2600 W. Maple Road in Troy. Sellers explained that her grandfather, Dean Sellers, opened the dealership in January 1948 in Detroit.

“He was born in Ohio but moved to Detroit in search of the automobile industry. He started working for Chevrolet at General Motors at the corporation. He then moved over to Ford Motor Co. He was a general sales manager for Ford and then headed up the Ford-Ferguson tractor division. He had told Henry Ford II that what he really wanted to do was own a car dealership.”

When her grandfather retired, her father took over the business in the 1970s and made the decision to relocate to the Troy Motor Mall in June 1980. Sellers added that the rest is history: Her brothers have been at the dealership for around 36 years, and she has worked there for about 31 years. Though Sellers knew she wanted to be in the business profession, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted it to be her family business. “I did not have a desire to go into the business. I had two older brothers, it was my dad and my grandfather. It was very male-oriented, which didn’t matter, but I just didn’t have a desire. I wanted to kind of go my own path. So I went to the University of Michigan, and through the career search while I was at school, I was down to several choices, and my heart told me to go with working for Ford Motor Co.”

Sellers accepted a job at Ford in the Philadelphia region. She worked there for around five years before returning back home to her roots.

“Through my experience with the corporation and also interacting with dealers, I realized that my passion would be back at the dealership level, still representing Ford, but at a more micro level. So I started at the dealership in 1993,” Sellers said. She added that she’s always had a desire to learn the whole operation, from the financial analysis to the personnel and management side of things. While back at the dealership, Sellers obtained her master’s in management from Walsh College.

Decades later, her spark for the family business is still burning. She and her family maintain a close connection through Sunday get-togethers with the entire family, including her 92-year-old mother. With the great-grandchildren of Dean Sellers dipping their toes in the family business through summer jobs and part-time work, Sellers explained that no fourth generation has come on full-time yet, but there is interest. “My parents made decisions and sacrifices. My dad didn’t sell the business so that we could continue it on. And our goal is to do the same for the next generation.”

For more information on Bob Maxey Lincoln, visit BobMaxeyLincoln.com. For more information on Dean Sellers Ford, visit SellersFord.com.