My Story
Rumors travel faster than the speed of sound. I thought I would devote one full blog to share my full story with everyone with a hope of dispelling many rumors that are incorrect about what is going on with me.
I am a third-generation recycler that grew up in a family business. I have an older sister, Tammy, and a younger brother, James that also grew up in the same family business. My parents, Ed & Pat, allowed each of us to work in the business as much as we wanted. My actual work for the family business started in 1993 when my dad bought the largest competing salvage yard to our existing yard (that was founded in 1966). The ‘new’ yard was about 6 miles from our original site and I began working there in the summer and after classes got out - I was attending the University of Mobile to get a degree in Business Management and Accounting. I worked part time for three years while in school and became the full-time manager of the site in 1996, when I graduated from college.
In 2001, my dad bought the largest competitor that we still had in the area. This turned us into a 3-site operation that was linked together through EDEN Exchange and phone calls from yard to yard. We quickly worked to consolidate the systems into one server and one phone system - which revolutionized how we did business - not to mention that it spurred our sales radically.
In 2008, my brother, James, and I formed Counselman Automotive Recycling, LLC as 50-50 partners and we bought the inventory and assets of each of the three sites that dad owned. We closed down the original site and consolidated the entire workforce into the two remaining sites. With 30 employees across two sites and 30 cars dismantled per week, we were doing good.
From 2008 to 2019, we grew the business to 75 employees across 2 production sites, 4 distribution centers, and 5 sales offices. At the same time, I founded the Alabama Automotive Recyclers Association in order to fight for the rights of recyclers in Alabama. My work within Alabama led to an offer to serve as a Regional Director of the Automotive Recyclers Association, which is the international association of our industry. After two years as a Regional Director of ARA, I was asked to join the Executive Committee as the Secretary. After 3 years on the Executive Committee, I became the President of the association in October, 2019.
Around the same time, I started a conversation with my brother about the possibility of me selling my half of the business to him so that I could pursue other opportunities within the industry. The two of us agreed on a buy-out plan just before Thanksgiving, 2019. We inked the deal on December 31, 2019 where I sold my half to him yet I remained on as an employee of the operation for two years so that I could complete my tenure with ARA.
My thought at the time: “I am retired and will devote 100% of my time to ARA work - until my term as President ends in November, 2020.” I was WRONG. It is HARD to go from running a 75-employee operation to leading one conference call per week. I got BORED and started looking for something to do. Several opportunities popped up, but nothing seemed to be the right fit for me. My passion is to help recyclers - either through strategy development, business coaching, or education. My goal is to prevent small yards from failing and to help large yards grow. Then it happened - the right opportunity popped up. I received an offer to educate yards about recalls, help them become compliant related to recalls, and have an opportunity to help them fulfill their growth goals. This is the perfect job for me - I will get to visit recycler’s facilities and have the chance to serve as a catalyst to help spur imagination and planning. And the icing on the cake - the job is in Australia! After a weekend of prayer and lengthy discussion with my wife and daughter, we agreed that this was it - a job that I would enjoy yet would challenge me.
It is with great excitement that I agreed to join Chris Daglis and his team at All Auto Recalls in Melbourne, Australia.
In an effort to remain above reproach within the eyes of the membership of ARA, I agreed to resign my position as President and Board Member of ARA so that I could focus on my efforts in Australia. Therefore, I resigned from ARA at the exact time that I accepted the offer from Chris.
My goal now is to educate the Australian Recyclers about recalls, help them become compliant with laws related to recalls, and to help the Australian Automotive Recycling Industry as a whole.
Here is my new contact info:
Chad Counselman
All Auto Recalls, General Manager
PO Box 325
Moonee Ponds, VIC 3039
Australia
+61 426 473 561
ChadC@cdps.com.au
Chad Counselman
Chad@WiseCounselGroup.com
I am a third-generation recycler that grew up in a family business. I have an older sister, Tammy, and a younger brother, James that also grew up in the same family business. My parents, Ed & Pat, allowed each of us to work in the business as much as we wanted. My actual work for the family business started in 1993 when my dad bought the largest competing salvage yard to our existing yard (that was founded in 1966). The ‘new’ yard was about 6 miles from our original site and I began working there in the summer and after classes got out - I was attending the University of Mobile to get a degree in Business Management and Accounting. I worked part time for three years while in school and became the full-time manager of the site in 1996, when I graduated from college.
In 2001, my dad bought the largest competitor that we still had in the area. This turned us into a 3-site operation that was linked together through EDEN Exchange and phone calls from yard to yard. We quickly worked to consolidate the systems into one server and one phone system - which revolutionized how we did business - not to mention that it spurred our sales radically.
In 2008, my brother, James, and I formed Counselman Automotive Recycling, LLC as 50-50 partners and we bought the inventory and assets of each of the three sites that dad owned. We closed down the original site and consolidated the entire workforce into the two remaining sites. With 30 employees across two sites and 30 cars dismantled per week, we were doing good.
From 2008 to 2019, we grew the business to 75 employees across 2 production sites, 4 distribution centers, and 5 sales offices. At the same time, I founded the Alabama Automotive Recyclers Association in order to fight for the rights of recyclers in Alabama. My work within Alabama led to an offer to serve as a Regional Director of the Automotive Recyclers Association, which is the international association of our industry. After two years as a Regional Director of ARA, I was asked to join the Executive Committee as the Secretary. After 3 years on the Executive Committee, I became the President of the association in October, 2019.
Around the same time, I started a conversation with my brother about the possibility of me selling my half of the business to him so that I could pursue other opportunities within the industry. The two of us agreed on a buy-out plan just before Thanksgiving, 2019. We inked the deal on December 31, 2019 where I sold my half to him yet I remained on as an employee of the operation for two years so that I could complete my tenure with ARA.
My thought at the time: “I am retired and will devote 100% of my time to ARA work - until my term as President ends in November, 2020.” I was WRONG. It is HARD to go from running a 75-employee operation to leading one conference call per week. I got BORED and started looking for something to do. Several opportunities popped up, but nothing seemed to be the right fit for me. My passion is to help recyclers - either through strategy development, business coaching, or education. My goal is to prevent small yards from failing and to help large yards grow. Then it happened - the right opportunity popped up. I received an offer to educate yards about recalls, help them become compliant related to recalls, and have an opportunity to help them fulfill their growth goals. This is the perfect job for me - I will get to visit recycler’s facilities and have the chance to serve as a catalyst to help spur imagination and planning. And the icing on the cake - the job is in Australia! After a weekend of prayer and lengthy discussion with my wife and daughter, we agreed that this was it - a job that I would enjoy yet would challenge me.
It is with great excitement that I agreed to join Chris Daglis and his team at All Auto Recalls in Melbourne, Australia.
In an effort to remain above reproach within the eyes of the membership of ARA, I agreed to resign my position as President and Board Member of ARA so that I could focus on my efforts in Australia. Therefore, I resigned from ARA at the exact time that I accepted the offer from Chris.
My goal now is to educate the Australian Recyclers about recalls, help them become compliant with laws related to recalls, and to help the Australian Automotive Recycling Industry as a whole.
Here is my new contact info:
Chad Counselman
All Auto Recalls, General Manager
PO Box 325
Moonee Ponds, VIC 3039
Australia
+61 426 473 561
ChadC@cdps.com.au
Chad Counselman
Chad@WiseCounselGroup.com
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