Staff

I was born and raised in Puerto Rico and moved here in 1985 looking for a better life. My first job was doing landscaping and lawn maintenance for Radley Run, a local country club. A year later, I was hired by Scott Honda to work in the vehicle prep area, where I washed customers’ cars that had been in for service and also detailed new cars for delivery.

I was laid off in December 1992, but within two weeks had gotten a job here at Otto’s doing the same sorts of things. After a couple of years, however, the dealership volume had increased to the point that it was no longer possible for our Sales Advisors to inspect and process the incoming vehicles on their own. It was at that point that I transferred to the sales department and became our “lot tender,” checking over the cars as they came in from BMW, organizing them by model, and making sure they were nicely displayed on the lot.

In May 2007, my responsibilities evolved once more when I was chosen for this position. As Pre-Owned Manager, I deal directly with customers who simply want to sell us their vehicle without purchasing another, plus I support our Sales Manager by preparing appraisals on trade-ins and getting those cars into the shop for reconditioning and certification.

This is by far the best place I’ve ever worked. I love the people and I love my job. When I do have time off, my wife and I work on our house, cheer for our daughter at her soccer or basketball games, and on Sundays, spend time in church. It’s a wonderful life and we really feel blessed.

This is the best job I’ve ever had, and yet there’s no way I could have predicted the path that led me here. I grew up loving engines, engineering and mechanics, and helping my dad do basic service on his 1969 Mercedes convertible.

After I got out of high school, I had no clear sense of my best next step. I gave some thought to the military, but I also loved music and considered playing professionally. What I actually did was to enroll at St. Joseph’s University, and to give me some real-world perspective, including the value of higher education, my dad got me a job with my uncle’s construction firm. Pouring concrete for the next few summers convinced me to get my degree, a decision I’ve never regretted.

After graduation I joined Fresh Fields – now Whole Foods – as a manager trainee, where I learned how their stores operate, and then went on to become a butcher and ultimately the Meat Department Manager. Motivated partly by a desire to avoid hand injuries, I decided to leave the food industry and get my first sales job with Lucent Technology. Cold-calling door-to-door was tough work, but I persevered and became their top performer. I learned great lessons about motivation, self-discipline, and surviving rejection – all very useful life skills.

Lucent hit hard times around 9/11 and I was among those laid off. Fortunately, I knew someone who knew the sales manager here at Otto’s, and in 2001 I signed on as a greeter. After extensive training, I became a Client Advisor, a position I hope to hold for the foreseeable future.

Coming from a modest background, I really hadn’t encountered the sort of clientele we have here. I was struck not only by their affluence and level of education, but also the graciousness in our interactions. I think those things, as well as the decency and commitment shown by our owners toward customers and staff, are what I’ve found most appealing about this dealership.

I live in West Chester. I see my customers everywhere I go, and a lot of them have become real friends. For example, I’ve been playing pick-up soccer with a very diverse bunch of guys here in Chester County since 2005, and every year we go abroad to compete with senior teams internationally. Otto’s has always been our sponsor, something I find pretty amazing. We’re known as the Soccer Olde Boys – or as we refer to ourselves, the SOBs.

I love recording music and have a studio in my home. My former band mates and I get together and make demos, but I think our days of playing publicly are behind us. For us at this point, it’s really about having a good time with a fun hobby.

I was born and raised in the Lancaster County area. After college, I worked at a VW-Porsche-Audi dealer in Lancaster until I left to start my own company transporting high-line vehicles in the Mid-Atlantic region. A couple of years later, however, I decided I really wanted to get back into the activity of a dealership, and with my family history, BMW was the natural choice.

I was actually the ultimate BMW baby, having been born just as my mother was being lifted from our 1600 Alpina onto a gurney. Dad still has that ’67 Alpina, and has added a number of other BMWs over the years, mostly M cars. My first automobile was also a Bimmer – a 1976 2002.

Our family had been in the furniture business since 1820, but growing up my dad always had an interest in cars. He had a shop where he restored and repaired vehicles, and throughout the late sixties and early seventies he competed in a lot of road races, hill-climbs, and MINI stocks. I’m a big Formula One fan, and have been following the sport since I was a kid.

Here at Otto’s, my style of presentation bridges the early “enthusiasts-only” days to now, where BMWs are viewed and widely admired as the world’s best luxury sports vehicles. I like to talk to people, find out what’s important to them, and put them in the right car. I strive hard to make sure my clients find the perfect automobile for their needs and desires. It’s important to me that they’re completely satisfied with the entire process.

Beyond my family and Motorsport, my passions include traveling, mountain biking, and visiting vineyards, both here and abroad.

As is famously true for many born in the Philadelphia area, I grew up here and never left. My family and I lived in Delaware County until I was about eight, at which point we moved to Chester County, where I’ve been ever since.

After I graduated from Henderson High, I realized I wasn’t really a motivated student, so instead of going on to college, I started looking for a job. I did a few different things at first, but in my mid-twenties, decided to follow my passion for automobiles and applied for a position at a Pontiac-Buick dealership in Exton.

It was there that I found out how much I enjoy helping people through the process of buying a car. I discovered I have a gift for listening carefully and using that information to offer whatever level of guidance and advice my customers are seeking. I’ve been successful with that balanced approach, and because clients seem to appreciate it, I’m still doing that today.

After the dealership in Exton, I worked for about 15 years at Faulkner Pontiac, Buick and GMC Truck, and then went into the insurance business for awhile. It wasn’t too long, however, before I decided to come back to my automotive roots by taking a sales position here at Otto’s in 2004. The rest, as they say, is history. I love this place, and have no plans to leave.

I’ve come to realize a number of things set Otto’s apart from the competition. One is the third-generation family ownership and hands-on management. With that steady leadership comes high standards that are never compromised. But even as our bedrock business principles remain consistent, this dealership has shown itself flexible and sure-footed in adapting to the market shifts that have been pretty challenging over the past few decades.

One of the biggest changes since my arrival, of course, is the degree to which our customers have integrated the Internet into their pre-sales research. It actually has made my job more interesting and enjoyable. Our clients have generally done much of their own “due diligence” in figuring out the best match of model with their lifestyle priorities, which streamlines the process and makes it very pleasant.

In my free moments, I love to talk baseball – and attend as many Phillies games as I can. Family responsibilities make long vacations difficult at this point, but I look forward to the time when I can indulge myself with the kinds of travel I used to really enjoy.

I grew up in North Jersey and got my degree in business management in 2006 from Lock Haven University. Going into my senior year, I looked at the rather bleak employment landscape and decided I needed to nail down a job. Several professors had recommended the Enterprise Rent-a-Car program, so I went through the interviews and secured a position a few months before graduation.

The good news is that I did really well with the company, ultimately managing five stores and winning 20 consecutive sales awards. The bad news is that the hours were grueling, the pay was modest, and as is usually the case when people need to rent a car, customer attitudes were often a challenge, to say the least.

I was fortunate in one way, however. My territory included West Chester, and I often found myself providing overflow loaner cars for Otto’s. In working with various members of the management team here, I got very affirming comments about my initiative, dedication, and high level of customer service. They offered me a job on several occasions, but it wasn’t until I finally decided to part ways with Enterprise that I applied and was hired as a Sales Advisor.

In all candor, I wasn’t sure this would be the “dream job” I’d been hoping to find, nor did it seem to be getting me closer to my ultimate goal of owning my own business. But the irony, of course, is that here I am years later, and to my great good fortune, it seems I stumbled upon something I’m good at and like doing.

This position rewards me for hard work and still allows me to spend time with my family. And while before, it always seemed like I was seeing people on their worst day, here it’s the precise opposite: my clients come in because they actively want a BMW, and for them, that makes it a really good day.

Because of where and how I grew up, I find it easy to relate to our customers – and their love for BMWs. My goal is always to make the process fun, and to make sure it’s not only a good buying experience but also an excellent owning experience.

With the birth of my son and daughter, I’ve come to realize that being a father and husband is the best job in the world. Spending time as a family, whether at the beach or in our backyard, is absolutely the best.

One of the first things I did when I arrived at Otto’s back in January 2016 was to read the staff profiles on our website. It was a great way to get acclimated quickly, and I was fascinated to see how often an early exposure to BMWs was the first step toward working here. In a way, as you’ll see, that’s my story as well.

My roots are local. I was born in Wilmington and grew up in Newark, Delaware. I went to Delcastle Vo-Tech, where I was member of their first graduating class in communications and publishing. I was an all-state lacrosse player and won a state award for graphic design. My dad wanted me to be an engineer, but I took a more creative route.

In my senior year at Delcastle, I was fortunate enough to be invited to spend a semester studying in Germany, where my appreciation for BMWs deepened. I remember being driven in from the airport and having an M5 pass us as if we were standing still. It was amazing to see my ideal car in its natural environment. I’ll never forget it.

My college career began at Loyola University Maryland, but after a transfer to West Chester University to play more lacrosse and another to Lycoming College, I ultimately graduated in 2007 with a BA in Commercial Design.

Jobs were hard to come by, but I finally got a position with a small IT company as an in-house graphic designer. When the owners closed up shop and moved to Switzerland, I spent about six months in the insurance industry – definitely not a fit – before landing a sales position at the BMW dealership in Wilmington. I learned a lot there, but I had always had my eye on Otto’s, so when a position opened up here, I jumped. Other than proposing to my wife, it was the best decision I ever made.

I have always had both an analytical and creative nature, and being a Client Advisor allows me to use those gifts every day. As I listen to my customers, I can actually picture which model I believe will make them the happiest, and can articulate that vision in a way they seem to appreciate.

I believe strongly in the founding values that set this dealership apart. It’s clear the owners are in business for the right reasons, something our clients sense and respond to. For my part, my customers know I will always be their advocate, and that my motivation is not my commission but their satisfaction.

On the family side, I’m married with a young son. As he gets older, we’re able to enjoy vacations at the beach and like to foster his creative side with trips to area museums. We also have a handsome German Shorthaired Pointer, Steele, lovingly known as our four-footed child.