The Revheads story may only be formulated into a brick-and-mortar store now in 2023, but the Revheads story started in the mid-80s as I was growing up. When I reminisce on my childhood memories, most revolve around two familiar things: cars and my dad, known to me as “Pops.” Pops was always working with his hands. He was either tinkering on his cars or telling me stories as he reminisced on years prior of the adventures of my Pops and Uncle Lynn drag racing. I remember countless hours watching him take something that wasn’t working or something he wanted to upgrade and transform into a working masterpiece of machinery.
As I got older, and when we would go on car rides, Pops would randomly ask me, “Boy, look at that badass ride. Can you tell me what it is?” At first, I had no clue, but I would do my best and take a guess and ultimately be wrong most of the time. But Pops took those opportunities to teach me about cars he asked me to name. He would either point out the differences or explain to me what made that model unique from the previous years. As time passed and we continued to play our now routine “Badass Ride” game, I could accurately name the year, make, and model of the vehicles in question, all with the knowledge Pops had drilled into me.
When I was shy of 16 years old, Pops had a Mazda truck that he stored in the garage. This truck had not seen daylight or run in quite some time, but one day, Pops threw me the keys and said, “Boy, if you get that truck running, you can drive it.” Of course, with determination, I saw this as an opportunity for teenage freedom, so I took the challenge head-on. This truck’s transformation was a project that I held near and dear to my heart and was the first project that Pops and I did together from start to finish. It allowed us countless hours of father and son bonding time without anyone else interrupting. I remember going to the junkyard on weekends to scavenge for parts needed to resurrect the truck from the despair of our garage. We spent countless hours in the garage on weekends and evenings reconstructing this stationary metal statue into my first set of wheels. I took so much pride in that truck, not just that I was driving but also that I could restore the car and the knowledge I had learned while doing it with Pops.
I have always held those words of wisdom that Pops taught me throughout the years. Vehicles are built differently than they used to be. With the wise words from my previous generations (such as my pops or uncle), I know what I know now, from simple useless trivia car knowledge to pertinent insights like how something works and how to repair or manipulate something to make it work again.
Since obtaining my license at 16 years old, I have bought and sold cars and motorcycles regularly. I always enjoyed finding a reasonable vehicle, driving it around for a while, and then moving on to something else. As I entered adulthood, I decided to be like Pops and work with my hands. After trade school, I joined the union and worked in the construction industry as an electrician for over 18 years. I loved doing this type of work because it was something Pops and I had in common.
In December 2016, I lost Pops, who was also my best friend, unexpectedly, and since his passing, I felt like something was missing. He wasn’t there for our multiple daily calls to check in on each other, asking, “How are you doing?” or “What’s new?”. These phone calls were routine and without fail, and I looked forward to them throughout each day. I found myself picking up my phone and dialing his number to quickly be hit with the reality that he wouldn’t pick up, and I would never hear his voice again. I tried to push on and get through the day-to-day routine of life and my career, but it became harder and harder as time passed. My work, something that had brought so much joy to me in the past, quickly became the one thing I hated because each day reminded me that Pops was gone.
In the summer of 2018, my wife and I were presented with an opportunity to relocate across the country to Las Vegas. After much deliberation, we decided as a family to take the chance, uproot ourselves, and move to Las Vegas. I knew I needed to find a job when we arrived at our new destination. Still, after searching, I came up short with available positions in the construction field. I mentioned to my wife about transitioning from construction into car sales. Of course, my wife and I were nervous about a new career change and the cross-country relocation, but we knew this was a new chapter for us. And with my family’s support, I took the leap and transitioned careers. During my job search, I learned there was an open position for a salesman with the world’s largest classic car consignment dealership at their brand-new location in Las Vegas. Of course, I was excited that I could do something I love: work with classic cars. I quickly applied and was interviewed for the job. After getting hired and getting to know my direct manager, it was brought to my attention that not everyone in the company wanted to offer the position to me because I didn’t have sales experience and didn’t fit their mold. However, my direct manager told me he knew I had something special and wanted to give me an opportunity, so he advocated for me and offered me the position. I am truly thankful to him because if he hadn’t fought for me to get that sales position, I probably would have figured it wasn’t meant to be and had gone back to the job search and ultimately settled on a less-than-desirable construction job.
After six months of living on the West Coast, I was given an advancement position and the opportunity to transfer with the same dealership back home to St Louis to their corporate location. As much as we loved now what we call our “extended 6-month vacation”, Las Vegas just didn’t fit us as a family, and I accepted the position in St Louis. After our move back to St. Louis, I was quickly promoted to Showroom Manager. With the help of my team and under my leadership, our showroom alone profited $100,000 plus for the company almost every month. This was a vast improvement from the prior years and former leadership. I ultimately worked for the dealership for three years and was one of the top 3 salesmen for the company during my time with them.
After repetitively seeing how customers were being treated by management, I tried expressing my voice of concern to them. I was either turned down, ignored, or reprimanded for trying to do the right thing. I watched customers being taken advantage of repeatedly and unable to get anyone in Corporate Management to listen to my thoughts or concerns; I knew it was time to part ways. I learned a lot while working at that dealership; it gave me the needed experience and confidence. It also taught me what I wanted and did not want to do as I started this next chapter.
-Damon Bounds
Comments