"I came here to use this as a stepping stone, not knowing that I was going to meet a Ray Huffines, not knowing I was going to meet a J.L. Huffines." said Roosevelt May, General Manager at Huffines.

He’s maneuvered through the business for the past 25 years after leaving the food industry.

"There was a manager actually, that worked here that frequented my restaurant quite a bit, so he gave me his card one day and said, ‘hey if you ever want to do something different, come see me." said May.

May called sooner rather than later after finding himself at a dead end.

That phone call, changed his life.

"When I came here, I felt the energy, you know, there was a lot of good people around." said May.

May started as a car salesman selling mostly Chevy Cameros and Geo Trackers.

This, while working for J.L. Huffines who he says set the bar high.

"He was always upbeat, he was always encouraging…" With Ray Huffines soon following in his footsteps, "…Always asking some of the same questions that Ray Huffines today asks about team members,you know, how is Johnny, how is Billy, you know, were they able to work out their situations, that shows a lot about character, that shows a lot about the love that they have for just people period."

May says he didn’t plan to be on this road for the long haul, but after talking to the person who knew him best, he had a change of heart.

"I just remember picking up the phone one day and calling my mom and saying mom, there’s a man here who seems to be a really really good person, you know, and my mom told me, she said you know, stick with him, learn what you can learn from him, and that’s one thing I’ve always had in the back of my mind was to learn from the Huffines family, from Ray Huffines and uh, because my momma told me too." said May.

A detour that led to many accolades, friends and a second family.

"That’s something we see everyday is businesses that put their reputation on the back burner for the dollar and that’s not something that happens here at Huffines, you know, we put people first." said May.

May says the example the Huffines family shows every day makes them successful now, and hopefully, for another 95 years.

"The Huffines family they probably don’t know it but they are actually changing the automobile industry as we speak." said May.