Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathan Salerno.
Hi Jonathan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started servicing and repairing cars, as a business, when I was around 15 years old. From then I figured I should be working in a shop to gain more experience. I started in a small Mercedes specialty shop, which taught me values and work structure. I lived in Georgia at the time, and it was going great. My mother had a career change we ended up moving to Florida. At which point, after many interviews with no results, I got a lucky break and was hired at a BMW dealer. I was 18 at the time and It was an amazing feeling to work in a facility as high tech and beautiful as this one was. I worked there for 6 years, gaining experience and learning the brand. I then received an offer from a competing BMW dealer, I took that job and worked there for almost another 6 years. At this point, I was very well versed with the BMW brand, had master and hybrid certifications, but I wanted more. I interviewed at Ferrari/Maserati and was hired immediately. I worked there 4 years, learning this new brand and gaining even more experience. After the 2nd year of working there, I was put in charge of the Used car/Consignment service department, This is where it really took off for me. I learned how to manage a team, keep them motivated, and keep momentum while repairing and servicing every other exotic brand we had come in. From Ford GT40’s, Porsche, McLarens, Bentleys, Rolls Royce and so on, we serviced and repaired them all. After two years of running the department, I was offered a job at an automotive Tech start up in Silicon Valley in California. I moved to outside of San Francisco and worked there, helping to build up this start up for about 10 months. Then, the unfortunate happened, and the start up went belly up due to not securing investors and funds. It was a wild ride, but it was great living in California for almost a year, and the experience of working at a start up in the automotive sector was priceless. After this, I came back to Florida and decided, its time to do my own thing. I have the knowledge, I know how to run a team, and I know how to NOT run a team. I opened Corsa Technik, LLC in 2017 and from there, its been an amazing experience. There are lots of highs, and pretty low lows. Everyone always talks about all the amazing good stories they have when owning a business, And dont me wrong, I have more than I can probably remember, but owners dont usually speak about the bad and how it affects you and your life. The lows taught me how to take a handle of life, but this is a while different conversation. Either way, here I am, almost 9 years in with a growing business with an amazing team.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not at all. The largest struggles have been internally, like within myself. Expecting too much from my self and over stressing myself have put me in dark places. Spearheading life and starting a successful business feels like your in control of your outcome and your story. But then life bites back, and learning that Im not in control, was a very hard lesson for me to learn. Then reading these books about “how to make it” and “the steps to being successful” are all just crap because very few speak about the bad and how to maintain yourself mentally to keep going, to keep pushing through the world. I read about Enzo ferrari and his progression through life to make the brand, Ferrari. Yes the book spoke about all the negatives in his life, but only his personal life, there was no mention of his struggles, his concerns of going out of business, his sleepless nights, while the company was in its infancy. Once the company was large, yes there were issues discussed, but I don’t care about the issues when you have lawyers on retainer, I want to hear about the issues when the business was still small, still infant. This really affected me and led me down a path of being very negative. Long story short, I found how to see the good and the positive by just changing the way i think, and not to fight the “current” of life.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Corsa Technik Motorsports?
I established the business in 2017, and since then, weve been growing and creating our name in the market for being one of the best European Vehicle Experts and European Vehicle Service Centers in South Florida. We specialize in all that is European. From BMW, Mercedes, VW, Audi, Porsche to Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Lamborghini, Land Rover, Jaguar. What sets us apart from others? Our attention to detail, our quality and our commitment to providing the best experience possible to our customers. Im most proud of our growth and the trust the community has with us. From wipers to engines, if its European, we’ve got it covered. We truly are a dealer alternative repair facility with state of the art equipment and transparency.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Camping and working on cars with my grandparents.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.corsatechnik.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/corsa_technik
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/corsatechnik
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Corsa_Technik
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/corsa-technik-motorsports-pompano-beach-4
