Kate's at Maverick

She’s worked in big business, she’s worked in small business, and she likes small business much better.

“Huge corporations feel kind of cold. Sometimes if feels like they don’t care. There might be some big wig CEO who thinks he’s the smartest person in the world, and that you should do everything he says. For one thing, that’s not challenging. I like to be challenged, and get to use my creative thinking. That’s very gratifying,” Maverick’s newest salesperson, Kate Baucom.

“In a small business, my opinion counts. It’s okay if my idea isn’t utilized, but I like that it’s heard. In small business, things that need to be improved happen faster, where with large companies, positive changes take a long time, since there are several layers of approval to go through, and then it may or may not happen, anyway.”

 

“Also, in a smaller business,” Kate Baucom adds, “You have more control over the kind of service you’re able to provide. You don’t always have to have a manager’s approval in order to do something to help. The small businesses that have really good owners hire smart, independent-thinking people who have the natural inclination to take care of customers, and those employees have the freedom to do what’s necessary to make sure that good customer service happens.”

Kate was known at her former employment as someone who gave great customer service.

“I didn’t just sell them a computer,” she shares, “I’d tell them that if there was ever anything wrong, to call me first, and that I would help them. I didn’t want them to think I was just someone that sold them something and said, “Good luck”. I feel a strong connection with those people, and I definitely want to do the same thing at Maverick as a customer advocate. My job won’t be just selling cars, but to help them find what best fits their needs. ‘What are you going to use this for? Do you do a lot of this or that? Will you be using this for business?' "

“If you have kids,” Kate smiles, “You probably don’t want a two-door, because if you try to get them into a car seat, you might hit your head, for one…there’s little things you might not think about when buying a car. A salesperson, or ‘sales advocate’ should be guiding you through, they should be thinking about those types of things for you.”

I enjoy matching the product with the person, and then to be there with any follow-up questions, even after they sign on the dotted line. I’ll answer every email, and every phone call.”

Kate is clear about her goals.

“I want to make a difference in people’s lives, to be an adviser of some sort, where it’s my job to help people…that’s my dream career.”

Francisco Mateos Goes From Bicycle to Hummer

One of the best sights we’ve seen lately has been Francisco Mateos driving away in his newly-purchased Hummer.

Francisco began Best Valley Painting and Remodeling without a vehicle. In fact, when he opened his business in 2010, he was riding a bicycle.

“That’s how it all started. I knew everything about the business, but just didn’t have the funds for it. I had no truck, and no money for gas.”

Pedaling around to the different job sites, he then told anyone who would listen all about what he did. His brother later gave him a van, and it's the same van Francisco still uses on some of the jobs.

“People started calling me, and I showed them a bit of what I do, showed them around," he recalls.

Little by little, work started rolling in.

These days, Francisco is busy. He’s had to hire more people, and has bid and secured more jobs. He drove into our lot in a work truck that looked like it meant business.

“Now I’m tied up with everything, you know?” Francisco says, with the look of a wise entrepreneur, “I just need to decide which jobs I’m going to take, and how much to charge, because I still need to pay my guys and that.”

One challenge, occupation-wise, is that painting and remodeling can be seasonal, so he’s sometimes had to lay off well-trained, diligent workers, and then train up new ones.

Another challenge is that every so often, a customer doesn’t pay. 

“I’ve lost thousands, yet I still have to pay my bills and pay my employees.”

A credit to Francisco’s honesty.

When asked about a favorite job he’s done, Francisco smiles broadly.

“It’s the jobs I’m doing right now. They’re building this house for the cancer kids, for St. Jude’s. I’ve been painting this free house, straight right out, for nothing. The houses are in Meridian. The builder puts it together, and then we contract it as a donation. All of the contractors do their own donations. So, I donate my time to paint the house for free. That’s the jobs I’m proud of.”

He recalls, “When I did the first St. Jude house, back in 2012, I didn’t have much of an income. I wondered how I’d keep going, because I needed money to pay my guys.”

His sacrifice paid off in the form of a still-strong business, and involvement with a charitable event that blesses people in so many ways.

“You can buy a ticket, and you can win the house,” Francisco says, advertising what St. Jude's does, “I painted a house 2-3 months ago, and the lady that won it had purchased three tickets. Her pregnant daughter, who’d been living in another state, was in the process of driving home to be near her mother. When her mom won that house with one of the tickets, she gave that house to her daughter and grandchild.”

The sight of Francisco pedaling to commercial and residential painting jobs is long gone, and he warmed the entire Maverick lot with the triumph of his purchase. Before driving away in his shiny gold Hummer, he shook each of our hands.

Just a little proof that sometimes, nice guys really do win.

*Best Valley Painting and Remodeling, Licensed and Insured (208)-353-9067

Justin "Truck Guy" Nyquist Visits Maverick Car Company

“We’ve got some boss trucks over here,” I told Justin Nyquist of Heartland Payment Systems, “you should visit and test drive one.”

“Now you’re speaking my language,” he replied, then added, “I think I’d prefer the Tundra to the Silverado. But, then again, I love trucks. So why not drive a nice car?”

“Exactly,” I agreed, “Why not?”

“But,” Justin said, “Then again, trucks are so much fun.”

I nodded to myself, just going with it, then gave him a verbal nudge,“Greg at Maverick says the Tundra’s ready for a cruise.”

“Well. That might settle that decision,” said Justin agreeably.

Which is probably why he drove the Ford F-150 EcoBoost. Too many great choices, and only time to test drive one rig. You’ve gotta hand it to Justin, though. Of all the choices he could’ve made, getting the keys to the turbocharged, direct injection, low-end torque EcoBoost wasn’t a bad way to go.

“My friends in the Marine Corps asked me how I could go from the military into PR work,” he smiled, “because nobody does that.”

“---and then people are wondering how I could go from PR into sales, because nobody does that, either,” he laughed.

By then, I was fairly certain Justin was a relative. Types such as us like to try everything life has to offer. Why be confined to just sampling a few things? Why not sample and excel at many things?

Exactly so.

 “I went from being an electrical contractor to a writer,” I told him, and it didn’t even phase him. It’s just the way people like us roll. 

“I’m basically A.D.D.,” I contributed, unashamed.

He nodded, like that was really no big deal, then divulged that he’s from Minnesota, which led to a whole other conversation about lutefisk, “hot dishes”, and the phrase “uff da”. 

Which led to a discussion on whether or not that is a nice word. Both my Minnesotan friend Lisa and Justin Nyquist promises that it’s family-friendly. (Of course, I had to look it up in the world’s most accurate source, Wikepedia: “an expression of surprise, astonishment, and at times, dismay. An expression with a variety of nuances, often used as an alternative for many common obscenities…aha).

Watching Justin drive away in the shiny, bright blue EcoBoost, and knowing that the test drive was probably going to make his day was rather fulfilling. When he returned 20 minutes later, there was that test drive smile we knew so well. Asking if he liked it was just a courtesy.

It was interesting getting to know Mr. J. Nyquist, and learning more about what he’s doing now. Very similar to Maverick, he wants to be that surprise within his chosen business, where you get better service and more attention than is expected. Justin also plans to provide common sense advice for those in need of payment systems.

“Never, never rent your machine,” was one of the things he told us, “You’ll wind up paying far more than if you’d have simply bought one.”

The payment systems world is fortunate to have Justin Nyquist, and we were fortunate to have him stop by Maverick today.       

~"Maverick" Amy

Guest Test Driver: Annemarie Olsen

Annemarie Olsen is my BFF.

Let me explain…

According to Facebook, we interact often enough about similar enough things, that we’d qualify as best friends. Which is actually okay with me, since Anne is a very nice person.

She works as a teacher at Lissa’s Learning Ladder on Cloverdale Road in Boise, overseeing the learning of 24 little ones. The kids call her “Miss Anne”, and adore her. According to owner Melissa Peterson, Anne has been the heart of the preschool, adding her particular brand of warmth with her arrival.

Quick to give hugs and encouragement, Anne has been a favorite with the preschool moms, too, offering sage advice, and not being afraid to show her spiritual side.

Anne wanted to ride in the Audi TT convertible, a current favorite at Maverick Car Company. She didn't want to drive it, though. 

"I chauffeur people enough. I just want to sit there and get driven around," she told me.

This was followed by a comical scene as we tried to figure out how to take the top down, attach the seat belts (they're different than other cars), how to turn on the ignition (there's a special button that we laughingly called the "magic" button), and even how to roll down the windows. Unfortunately, portions of this were witnessed by Maverick's photographer, Jed Davis.

When asked where her deep warmth and wisdom came from, Anne reflects on a time in her life where she fully expected hostility, but instead, got reassurance and love. The attitude of that person changed her views, and set her on a path that’s blessed hundreds of others, with more to come.

Something else that cemented her commitment to living a life of kindness was her friend, Irene, who had contracted AIDS from a family member, and was terminal. Irene advised Anne to live life in love, and to live it to the fullest. Anne took that advice to heart, and is now influencing countless young souls to treat those around them with the love and light she exemplifies.

"Lexus" Laureen Quick

 “There’s a seat for every seat,” said Jason the Finance Guy, “My Aunt Cheryl loves her Prius, my mom likes Jeeps. Some like European cars; some like Japanese cars. 

“When people pick out what they want to drive,” he continued, “they’re already seeing themselves in it. They already have some mental ownership.”

“Sometimes people like the look the looks of Jeeps, but want something comfortable,” Jason said, making his hands look like they’re weighing something out.

I was sort of hoping Laureen would pick the Hummer to test out, since I’d never been in one before.

“They’re a little bit trucky,” Jason advised, “but they have these really poofy leather seats. They still ride solid like a truck, but…”

I wondered aloud if I could influence Laureen to drive the Hummer through subliminal messages, or perhaps the usage of micro-expressions.

That made Jason laugh. I actually made Jason laugh.

“If,” he concluded, “she says she’s always wanted something sporty, with a manual transmission, take her out in a Honda SI, or that little Audi convertible that’s like a Miata on steroids. That car’s fun, and really fast. But, if she likes four-wheel drives, take her for a ride in either the Hummer, or one of our trucks, like that blue F-150 out there.”

I’d only met Laureen once, and the first thing I noticed was her enviable hair. We’d both kept staring that day, having been “e-friends” on Facebook and recognizing each other. As the warm-hearted person Laureen is, she’d given me a hug on sight. She did the same this time.

Then, she chose to drive the ’07 gray Lexus All-Wheel-Drive RX.

And that was okay. It helped me to better understand her, since this was a get-to-know-you/ get-to-know-our-car type test drive. Laureen said she’d owned a Lexus previously, and would like to have one again.

It was a cold, rainy day, and we both quickly turned the heat up and the seat warmers on high. 

 As Laureen drove, she shared who she was, where she wanted to go in life, and I immediately felt an affinity. 

Eight years ago, her husband was involved in a car accident, which left him virtually unscathed. While walking away from the vehicle, he fell, hit his head, and things got complicated from there.

“He went into a coma, on life support,” Laureen shared, “and then passed away ten days later.”

Laureen and her husband had daughters, and she got help from friends and family to continue raising them for the past near-decade.

But only months after the passing of her spouse, the recession hit hard, and their downtown Boise business began struggling and continued to do so for a few more years, until its doors closed. 

It was a turning point for Laureen, having been hit from so many sides, including emotionally and financially. She decided to spend her time helping others through encouragement and consulting, putting in countless hours of research and study. She later added JuicePlus™ products and the aeroponic Tower Gardens into the mix, making the way she helps others both internal and external. 

I looked over at this woman as we rode along in the Lexus, marveling at what she’d been through, and how she’s using that now as her motivation to help others. She lost her business, but is helping countless people to save and grow theirs. She’s also deeply impacting lives by assisting others in restoring their health. 

The two of us rolled down the road in the smooth-riding, quiet Lexus as the wipers cleared the rain-dotted windshield and we luxuriated in the individualized climate control. Unbidden, I heard Jason’s words again, “a seat for every seat”, and thought about how Laureen continued to help, giving people a place to go during difficult times, or periods of health crisis, putting out ripples of positivity, regardless of what she’s been through.

“Yep,” I mused, “and there’s a helping hand for every heart.”