Culture, Accountability & Faith in the Car Business — Mickey Seelye & Stan Qualls

Mickey Seelye and Stan Qualls return to Keep the Change for an hour that turned into more than a business conversation.

Mickey runs Seelye Auto Group, five Southwest Michigan stores founded in 1963 by his grandfather — a wounded Iwo Jima Marine who went from bagging groceries to janitor to owner. Stan, the group’s VP and chairman of the NADA Kia 20 Group, came up with no legacy and no plan until the car business gave him an identity.

They get specific about culture: questions are your allies, don’t sacrifice the relationship to be right, be curious not judgmental. Empathy, certainty, professionalism. Accountability people thrive in — and why they’ve lost only two or three managers in five years. Plus why Mickey turns down faster growth to protect impact, and why he’d shut the doors before selling out.

Reach Mickey at mickey@seelye.com and Stan at squalls@seelye.com.

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