Nealey Focuses on ‘Firing Up the Troops’

A.J. Nealey doesn’t call himself the president or CEO of his dealership, Nealey Tire & Auto. He refers to himself as “chief cheerleader.” And he takes that designation seriously.

"I'm trying to rally our employees and remind them of why we’re doing what we’re doing,” says Nealey, who has five stores in the central Maryland area. “That’s what cheerleaders do. We may not be in the fight each and every day, but we know what it’s like.

"Having worn every hat in a shop, I know what it’s like to be a technician. I know what it’s like to be an advisor at the front counter, selling work and dealing with customer conflict. I know what it’s like to run a store.

"I’m now in the role of managing managers and I know you can’t do things for them. You have to work through them. And I want to continue being their chief cheerleader."

Another hat that Nealey, age 41, proudly wears is that of an entrepreneur. “Growing up, I had a knack for working with my hands and putting things together. That culminated with having a passion to work on vehicles."

After graduating from high school, Nealey “pestered his way” into a technician job at a local auto repair shop. "I already knew that I wanted to have my own company some day."

He left the facility in 2011 and began working on cars in his home garage. "In 2014, I took a business management course that really opened my eyes” to the opportunities inherent in owning and running a business.

Inspired, Nealey also saw the need to work out of a more professional facility. After a long search, he found a nine-bay property, which was "a diamond in the rough." He bought the location in 2016, refurbished it and reopened it under his name a few months later.

Starting in 2021, Nealey proceeded to add four more stores – all fixer-uppers – within a span of 18 months. The locations, he says, “were broken," complete with outdated equipment, disheartened employees and a depleted customer base.

"A lot of sweat equity went into” the locations’ revitalization. “If you’re buying a place that has a bad reputation, you have to be in it for the long-haul. You have to invest in branding and marketing and just trying to regain the customer’s trust."

It didn’t happen overnight, but all of Nealey Tire’s locations - located in Edgewater, Deale, Owings, Pasadena and Rockville – are now turning handsome profits.

"One of the slogans I keep using is, ‘There’s no silver bullet,’” he says. "The vision, the passion and the messaging – it all starts at the top. We have a playbook. We have a process. And the expectation is that each shop is executing the same way, every time. We don’t allow much leeway in the basics and fundamentals. There isn’t a lot of wiggle room. We’re always open to feedback, but at the end of the day, the basics must be executed upon."

Nealey Tire’s employees have become “the champions of our vision, the champions of our culture and the champions of our process. And as a byproduct of that, they’re creating amazing experiences for our customers.

"We want to be a soup-to-nuts, one-stop shop. We offer loaner vehicles. We offer shuttles. We offer financing options. We want to make sure we can reduce any friction with the people who are doing business with us."

In the meantime, Nealey says he’ll continue “to fire up the troops. You can sit on the sideline and try to prepare for every possible scenario that might come your way or you can get in there and take it as it comes. A few years ago, I wanted to add and add more locations. But I’ve put my ego off to the side. There’s so much opportunity within the five stores we already have and creating an amazing experience for our customers.”