Faces of GM

Mario: Haiti relief efforts have special meaning

February 12, 2010 at 3:33 pm

Mario with his classic Corvette

Early start in the business: My love affair with the auto business started as a child growing up in Chicago. I used to go with my dad car shopping at an Oldsmobile dealership. He was raised in Cuba, so I would act as his translator. The owner of the dealership always said he wanted to hire me one day.

Keys to success: I’ve always worked hard at my job. My greatest traits would probably be my willingness to listen and an attitude to never quit. Love what you do, do what you love, as many things will catch your eye, but few will catch your heart.

Outside of the dealership: My wife, Bibi, and I have two sons, 21 and 18 years old. I like to play golf, but when I’m not working, I mostly enjoy spending time at home reading and relaxing. I’m also active in the local community through organizations such as Miami Children’s Hospital, St. Thomas University and YPO (Young Presidents Organization).

I think all of us were moved when we saw the news accounts of the earthquake in Haiti. The cause had special meaning to me for a couple of reasons. My dealership is about six miles from Little Haiti, a neighborhood in Miami that’s become a center for the Haitain community.

The tragedy also resonated with me because I’m an immigrant. I came to the United States from Cuba when I was four years old, and have been blessed to live and work in this wonderful country. I was raised in Chicago but moved to Miami as a teenager.

My first job in the auto business was as a sales representative at 20 years old with Braman in Miami. I worked my way up from sales representative, finance manager, general sales manager through every seat, to general manager to partner to managing partner and then president of Braman. In 2001, I bought my own dealership, Brickell Motors in Miami. It was a dream come true.

The auto industry has its challenging moments, but this is a great business because it offers you a chance to meet so many wonderful people. It gives you a chance to be part of a community. Dealerships are important institutions within our communities — they’re the ones who support the Little League teams, the Girl Scouts and the Boy Scouts.

I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved in our community as vice chair of the board for Miami Children’s Hospital. In the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, the hospital sent doctors to Haiti to provide medical care for hundreds of patients. The hospital has brought some of the more severe cases to Miami for treatment.

Our dealership also has been able to assist in the donation by the GM Foundation of 30 GMC Sierra pickups to Haiti. We loaded down two of the trucks at Brickell Buick-GMC with relief supplies – tarps, rice, water and canned food products.

I was pleased to be able to help, and I was proud to see GM step up. The past year has been a difficult one for the company, but GM saw a need and took care of that need by offering its trucks. It stood tall during tough times.

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