Jeff Wallick is living his dream. All he ever really wanted to do was sell tires and talk to tire dealers, and now he gets to do both every day.
Wallick has been around the tire industry his whole life. He said that from the day he was born all his family talked about at home was football and tires. His father, who has worked his entire career in the tire industry, played a huge influence on Wallick’s career choice.
“I was on my first sales call when I was 12 years old and I was hooked at that point,” says Wallick. “It was with Raben Tire and I got to see my dad in action for the first time, and I just thought it was the coolest thing ever.”
Being the sales manager for a region that includes Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana, Wallick says he is usually spends most of his time traveling and in front of tire dealers. He also says he can wake up in the morning motivated and ready to go because his personal values are parallel to the company’s corporate values.
“I think the right way to stay close to the industry and make sure I’m living my company’s corporate values is by making sure I’m staying close to our customers, to understand what their needs are and take care of them the way they deserve to be taken care of,” says Wallick.
To Wallick, success is fulfilling your potential to the greatest degree you possibly can, which has pushed him to never stop learning and working hard.
While working in training at K&M, Wallick says the company’s president once asked him what he was doing to train himself. Lacking a sufficient answer, Wallick has been dedicated to continuing his education ever since.
“I didn’t have a very good answer for her at the time because I really wasn’t reading much then, but from that point on I decided I was going to read an average of one book per week. That was about two and a half years ago and I’ve been able to do it so far,” says Wallick.
Next up is becoming bilingual, Wallick says. He believes that Spanish is becoming more common in the world and in the tire industry.
Fun Fact: “When I was really young I wanted to be a garbage man, I don’t know why, but I think it was because I liked that they got to hang off the back of the trucks.”
