By Ashley Reyes
Zachary Zajdel is the SEMA Future Leaders Network’s (FLN)—formerly Young Executives Network (YEN)—newest spotlight member. Zajdel is the technical sales and support manager at Brandmotion, an aftermarket company that integrates new technology into vehicles to make them safer.
Get to know Zajdel in his interview with SEMA below.
SEMA: What is the best advice you have ever received?
Zachary Zajdel: Always go above and beyond for your customers. You will always make a good impression that will reward you for years to come. This advice has propelled me forward within my career by helping to create valuable relationships within the industry.
SEMA: What keeps you in the industry?
ZZ: The unmatched passion within the industry is second to none. In this industry, exciting news comes each and every single day.
SEMA: Where can you be found on a Saturday?
ZZ: I can be found wrenching in my garage on either my LS Squarebody pickup or my wife’s Squarebody pickup.
SEMA: How do you prepare for an important meeting?
ZZ: I review notes and recent emails. If there is any bad news, I try to address it first, so that the meeting can improve from there and so that the last note of the meeting is not a bad one. After reviewing, set up an itinerary with a couple of notes or action items. You can easily cross these off during the meeting, avoiding missing anything important. These also give a great start to follow up emails or action items that need to be completed.
SEMA: If you could go to lunch with one industry leader, living or dead, who it would be?
ZZ: If I could go to lunch with one industry leader, it would be David Freiburger. I follow him religiously in MotorTrend as well as Roadkill and he seems to be a seemingly limitless fountain of knowledge of cars, parts and people.
If you are a current FLN member, fill out an FLN member spotlight form. Selected candidates may be featured on FLN’s social media, SEMA eNews and FLN member updates.