Brad Griffin, 29
Vice President and Operations ManagerGriffin Tire & Auto Tire Pros
Brad Griffin, a third generation tire dealer, didn’t always intend to join his family’s business. Griffin attended the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with plans of working in real estate.
A bleak economy and bright opportunities at Griffin Tire & Auto soon persuaded him to follow a career in the tire business. When Griffin’s father was approached with the opportunity to purchase some old tire stock, he ended up buying the dealership’s second location.
“As a child, I stayed with my grandparents during the day and could be found out in the shop ‘learning’ all I could from the technicians or playing inside a stack of tires,” he shares. “In high school I worked at my father’s shop changing oil and tires in the afternoons and during the summer. My first real position in our company was to up fit and prepare our second location to be opened.”
Griffin spent more than two years managing that second location, and he learned a lot from the process, he says. Today, he is responsible for ensuring the success of Griffin Tire & Auto’s sales and service teams.
What Griffin likes most about his job is that it constantly surprises and challenges him.
“The ever-changing pace of our industry is what wakes me up every morning ready to go,” he says. “I know that each day, I can potentially see a rare classic car, have the opportunity to work on someone’s pride and joy or keep a family safe on their next road trip.”
In addition to his job at the dealership, Griffin is currently on the Tire Pros Regional Dealer Council.
FUN FACT: When Griffin was younger he wanted to race stock cars. He competed in the Bandolero series and later the Allison Legacy Touring series. “Racing not only fueled my passion for cars but gave me some working knowledge of how cars work and what symptoms generally lead to what problems.”
