Freewheelin' - A Quadratec Channel Exclusive
Welcome to Freewheelin’, a question and answer session appearing every other week on the Quadratec Channel and featuring a person somehow involved with Jeep and its aftermarket/off-road/entertainment/lifestyle.
If you have any suggestions or ideas about someone you feel would make a great Freewheelin’ addition, hit us up at [email protected].
-----------by Matt Konkle
Quadratec Channel Editor
Dreams. We all have them. Some we remember, most we forget.
And some, well, some we decide are genuinely worthy enough to pursue. To nurture. Develop.
You may not know the name Al Azadi, but he had a dream, too. Not just a tiny one mind you, but a big picture dream. His, fostered by a childhood spent helping at his father’s Jeep dealership, was to eventually open his own Jeep parts’ business.
I know, I know - kids often have this ‘join Dad's business’ kind of dream all the time so what makes this one different? Well Azadi, see, he never gave it up.
At the age of 31, in a 1992 America just starting to emerge from recession, he finally decided to 'jump off the ship' and start swimming.
He took all the money he had saved, drew on all the experience he had stored, and brought that dream to life.
It wasn’t always easy, stress-free, or pretty - he’d be the first to tell you - but the payoff one could argue totally reshaped the Jeep aftermarket industry.
Yeah, you may not know his name, but if you are any type of Jeep enthusiast then you most likely know his company. Or should. Heck, you probably have something his company made on your Jeep.
Azadi is the founder and President of Omix-ADA, the world’s largest independent manufacturer of Jeep parts and accessories. With an inventory over $100 million and almost 20,000 Jeep parts across three respective brands, Quadratec has long turned to Omix-ADA for accessible, affordable and exciting Jeep products.
His dream, thanks to years of hard work, became a successful reality and now helps others across the world attempt to realize their own.
So, for anyone with a dream, we present the inaugural Quadratec Freewheelin’ with Omix-ADA founder Al Azadi.
Al, you’re first up on the trail!
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Quadratec: We head out to a lot of Jeep events during the year, and one of the things that strikes us is just how many people have something from Omix-ADA on, or in, their vehicle. It may be a Rugged Ridge bikini top. Or a replacement front chrome grille. Or even a replacement valve cover you notice when they open their hood. For you, what do you think it says, first, about Omix as a company that so many people trust your products on their vehicle? And, second, what does it mean to you personally that something you created has been this well received?
Al Azadi: Covering all the bases of the Jeep was by design. My dreams and, later, my plans for Omix-ADA from the beginning were to become a one-stop source for all your Jeep parts’ need: hard parts, accessories, restoration and performance products. Creating one source for those on the retail side of the Jeep business to get all their needs from just one supplier/partner. Seeing our products on vast numbers of Jeeps naturally makes me proud, but it is more than that. It is the approval stamp on my initial dreams, then road plans to achieve those dreams. Sometimes I refer to this as “My” American Dream.
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Quad: Take me back to 1992. I know you grew up around Jeeps as your family owned a Jeep dealership, but now you have a dream to start your own business. Were you nervous? Apprehensive? And why Jeep products? Was it something you were just comfortable with, or did you have a feeling the industry would grow as is has over the years? How did the family react when you told them your idea, and was there ever a time at the start when you were like 'whoa, this may not have been the best plan?'
Al Azadi: Nervous? That is for normal people - I developed hypertension instead! But not knowing what hypertension was, I thought I was having a heart attack! My doctor asked me whether anything had changed in my life or family, I said none. Except one little thing, that I had started my own business. Doctor said that explains it, and went on to say she too developed hypertension when she started her private practice. At least I understood it is not uncommon to be that nervous when one finally decides to jump off the ship and start swimming. Good thing was that I had plenty experience among family members who owned their own business, including my father, and had plenty of support from them. Nevertheless, the beginning stage was tough. I didn’t worry about the possible financial losses or those sorts of things, my biggest worry was the failure itself in making my lifelong dream come true. You see, since my childhood when I was working in my father’s Jeep dealership during summer breaks, I dreamt of establishing my own Jeep parts business. In 1992 when I was establishing Omix-ADA, I felt I had only one chance to make it right, and that perhaps explains how nervous I was.
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Quad: Omix-ADA is such a unique business name in the industry. How did that naming come about? Did it take a while, and were there other names that you looked at and rejected? How many times do you think you've answered the name question over the years?
Al Azadi: I have to admit that when it comes to names, I always struggle. I hope my sons don’t read this email, but we ended up changing their first names, yes, both of them! Naming the company wasn’t any different and after spending a lot of time, I decided to go with an abstract name which had some resemblance of the family business I had grown up in, and added my initials at the end to make it even more abstract and unique. I guess answering this question about ten times a day is the price I should pay! But I had no help, no consultant or anything close to help me understand that the name has a huge impact. But I got some comfort in repeating to myself, cannot be that bad, after all brand names like Toshiba, Komatso, Mitsubishi and other abstract sounding names in English have flourished in the market once people hear enough repetition of them.
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Quad: Since beginning the company, you've added and built up several brands under the Omix-ADA wing such as Rugged Ridge, Alloy USA, Precision Gear, and Outland Automotive. What motivated you to expand like that? Was it just the opportunity, or did you like what these additions brought to the table? Maybe something else?
Al Azadi: We had started with hard parts. It is perhaps because I had heard it is best to tackle the hardest thing first! As we grew our hard parts to certain levels in the first 10 years, our customers educated me about the need for accessory suppliers in the market, due to issues with the dominant accessory supplier then, Steel Horse. As we established our accessory line created under its own brand, Rugged Ridge, we got an opportunity to acquire Outland Automotive, a Jeep specific accessory line from the former Smittybilt. All of a sudden we went from having no accessory brand of our own, to having two! Later on we acquired Precision Gear and Alloy USA with which we entered the performance powertrain segment. There were other brands between all these, like Mud & Shine, Ultra Axle that we gradually retired to focus on our 3 major brands: Omix for restoration and hard parts, Rugged Ridge for Jeep & truck accessories and floor liners, and Alloy USA for performance powertrain products.
Quad: It feels like the Jeep brand is currently in its 'golden age' now as far as popularity. You see things like Fiat Chrysler 'doubling down' on Jeep as a staple product because of strong sales, and now they're getting ready to release a few redesigns – even a Jeep Truck and Wagoneer are on the horizon. So what are your thoughts? Do you agree we are in this ‘Golden Age’, or do you worry FCA may dilute the brand with all the different offerings?
Al Azadi: But what FCA seems to really understand is that after 75 years, it’s the Jeep lifestyle that keeps the brand and following growing. Few if any other vehicles claim such influence in people’s lives and offer an avenue to express their personality in their vehicle. As Jeep importance grows for FCA, my trust also grows accordingly for FCA’s bringing the right Jeeps to the market. They seem also understand that at the core of Jeep brand is Wrangler, therefore, I believe the next generation Wrangler will continue to be fun to drive, versatile to personalize by variety of offroad products from aftermarket companies like Rugged Ridge, and yet more comfortable, efficient, for every day driving.
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Quad: What is it like for you going in to work each day at Omix-ADA? Do you have a set of priorities you try to live by each day or goals you want to accomplish? Or do you go in with more of a 'let's see what opportunities are out there for us as a company today?'
Al Azadi: Unlike the old days when I managed certain tasks throughout the week, now that we have experienced team members handling each department at Omix-ADA, my daily and weekly tasks have changed. I would like to think that I now work on the company vs. in the company. I am also a firm believer of the way founding fathers of this nation have planned for how the US government system should function, and the most important part of that to me is checks and balances. We have set up checks and balances all over our organization and this is mostly to make sure our customers continue getting top notch service. Another top priority for me is to make each and every team member at Omix-ADA understand that our customers deserve the best service, period, no exceptions.
Quad: People who buy and love your products may not know this, but you also have a substantial Jeep collection at your headquarters. All kinds of models from 1941 and up. Some have said there is no other collection like it around. I know you were able to secure some of these vehicles from Jeep Jamboree founder Mark Smith, but how does one go about amassing such a showcase? Is it something you've always wanted to do? What makes it so good, in your opinion, and do you have any favorites in the collection?
Al Azadi: I have to admit that the Jeep Collection idea was not part of the initial dreams or plans. The idea was planted when Mr. Dave Logan, a well-known off-road instructor joined our team around 2010. He made me to understand that keeping the Jeep heritage alive should also part of what Omix should be about, so having a museum of Jeep makes sense as part of our reason for being, especially that no aftermarket Jeep company had any plan to invest in a such a thing. Dave introduced me to Mark Smith and Mark invited me to see his collection in California. Right then, I understood how important it would be for Omix-ADA to have a Jeep collection of its own. Besides, we need these Jeeps to continue developing restoration parts for them.
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Quad: From what I see and know, Omix-ADA puts a lot of stock into 'giving back' to the Jeep community through its vast support of various charitable organizations as well as the Trail Access Program - even going so far as donating a fully–modded Jeep that is auctioned off for SEMA Cares (a program that helps support the education of students pursuing careers in the auto aftermarket). Why is this so important to you? Is it something that was instilled in you growing up? Do you think the aftermarket community could, or should, do more in this respect?
Al Azadi: Truth is we were late in the game of giving back at the beginning years of Omix-ADA, and now we have to speed up to catch up with what we missed! Since I started taking my young boys to Barnes & Noble story telling sessions over 10 years ago, I was reintroduced to books again. This was several years after Omix-ADA’s creation when I worked over 100 hours a week and had no time for anything else. And since that reintroduction to books in the last 12 years, I have literally read hundreds of self-improvement and business books. While at the beginning I was “fast-forwarding” give back chapters of these books, finally one of them, Thou Shall Prosper by Rabbi Daniel Lapin, convinced me to give it a try. And there is no stopping since. In fact one of our measures of annual success for Omix-ADA is how much we dared to give for worthy causes. Basically our give back has many dimensions, some may seem totally strange:
- Ideology: What is success good for if we don’t share its fruits with others? I believe just luck itself has a lot to do with most successful businesses, including Omix-ADA.
- Reality: the aftermarket and offroad business was good for us and we give back what we can as a token of appreciation.
- Connecting with Main Street America: In our threat analysis, we feel that the biggest threat to our offroad segment is probably from government over regulations at all levels. SEMA Cares and other industry charity arms are the best vehicles in connecting our industry with Main Street. If SEMA companies manage to elevate this positive exposure to the crucial high levels, we can better stand up to these threats and save our companies, our jobs and our automotive related hobbies. In other words, we can get double pleasure by just writing one check. I just hope many other aftermarket companies in the field join us with this mission.
- Truth: as it has been outlined almost in every religion, the giver is actually a receiver and Omix-ADA is not an exception to this rule. Of course there is no direct correlation between giving and receiving, it just eventually works that way, especially when giving is done without any expectation to receive anything back in return.
- Warning: Pleasure of giving is so strong that one who could afford a first class seat on a long flight would go with a coach seat instead to donate the difference for a good cause.
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Quad: For the past few years, you've had R. Lee Ermey - better known to many as "The Gunny" - as Omix-ADA's official celebrity spokesman. A master stroke, really. I mean, everything about him screams trust and toughness, plus he is really into Jeeps too so it wasn't just someone cool to stick in front of a crowd. How does something like that come about and what has working with him been like?
Al Azadi: To the best of my memory, the idea came up from our marketing team when we were exploring ideas how to position our truck floor liners in the market. We thought that The Gunny is great for this. But as soon as The Gunny got to know us as Jeep folks, he said he loves Jeeps and would like to play a role on the Jeep side as well. The Gunny is amazing man to work with and we are truly thrilled to have him again at the Offroad Success Center during 2016 SEMA.
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Quad: Do you ever get any down time during the year? If so, do you get a chance to go off the grid and do any off-roading to put your products to work?
Al Azadi: I get some down time, especially during the heat of summer in July and August and then middle of cold season in January and February. Unfortunately, neither of these down times are ideal for off-roading. We do some off-roading with our Omix-ADA team members in the southeast, but mainly I use the down time for traveling to visit our customers all over the USA and in 92 other countries around the globe. I hope in the future I will get more time for off-roading.
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Quad: As head of the world's largest independent manufacturer and wholesaler of Jeep parts, you have to meet a ton of people all year long. If you are outside talking with them, do you ever find yourself fixated on their Jeep - maybe checking it over for any of your parts?
Al Azadi: As one can imagine, most of us at Omix-ADA are like scanning machines wherever we go, either driving on the highway, or attending an off-road event like Bantam or Jeep Beach, or scanning off-road related magazines and of course when paging Quadratec catalogs! I guess it is not unlike a territorial animal watching its boundaries - I just hope that our “territory” scanning is more civilized!
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Quad: We've often heard that real Jeeps are built, not bought. What's your take on this? Do you think someone who buys your products should try installing the parts as sort of a 'Jeep code' kind of thing, or should people understand their limitations and not care how the parts go on as long as they are enjoying themselves? Does it really matter?
Al Azadi: Jeeps are unique in a sense that they can be personalized to the max to represent any lifestyle, use and expression. Availability of a huge selection of products to personalize Jeeps from numerous sources, like Rugged Ridge, is essential to feed this passion and in our judgment boosts the sales of Jeep Wranglers in the market. With demographic changes in Wrangler ownership, we now see more Wrangler owners who prefer their customization being done in shop vs. with their buddies in the garage over pizza and beer. But even with this new trend, the do-it-yourself segment is still very strong in the Jeep segment. Knowing these dual channels for installations, each with its own characteristics and needs, we are mindful in designing products that are suitable for both.
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Quad: In the years since you founded Omix-ADA, what would you consider the greatest moment of your career? Alternatively, is there something you wish you had another shot at doing that maybe didn't turn out the way you thought?
Al Azadi: I believe our greatest moment in Omix-ADA was when we made the transition from renting our office-warehouse to actually buying our 230,000 square-foot brand new facility in 2004. To me it symbolized our transitioning from childhood to adulthood or business maturity. I pinched myself many time to make sure I was not just dreaming it. One area I wish I had done better is convincing our customers 7-8 years ago to predict the outcome future then, when they tempted carrying competing products with Rugged Ridge from sources whom were also at the same time dominant retailers. Our industry is never the same since and I wish I had a better communication skill in relaying this message to our customers. As a result what we see today is private equity groups buying aftermarket manufacturers along with aftermarket retailers and combine them to bypass the retailers to sell direct to consumers.
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Freewheelin’ Express:
Quad: Your corporate headquarters is in Suwanee, GA, just outside of Atlanta. What are three reasons why someone should make the Atlanta area their next vacation spot?
Al Azadi: Atlanta up to now that you asked this question, was our big secret for success, really. All comes in to having:
- Reasonable real estate prices, both commercial for the company and residential for our team members, both to rent or own. This real estate price advantage contributes to profitability that boosts reinvestment and eventually a faster business growth.
- Geographically closer to many of our large stocking customers most of whom happen to be in east coast, like Quadratec. This allows an efficient and faster delivery of our products to their docks.
- And southern hospitality, modern infrastructure, world class Atlanta metropolis, and of course having the nation’s largest airport in our backyard with thousands of daily flights to hundreds of destinations are icing on the cake.
I often joke that if our competitors know how advantageous it is to run the business in metro Atlanta, all would want to move here soon! But this could be good thing for us though, after all there is a saying that “keep your friends close, but keep your enemies even closer”.
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Quad: The Summer Olympics finished up a few months ago. Say the IOC calls you tomorrow and asks your opinion about off-road Jeeping as an Olympic event. What do you say?
Al Azadi: I would say it would be a fantastic idea, and immediately try to scoop the title sponsorship for Rugged Ridge before others know about it, since I believe this will be one of the most watched events for the Olympics.
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Quad: What is the last book you've read, and why?
Al Azadi: I have shifted some of my reading focus from business and self-improvement books, and now I also mix in other topics. The last book I read was really a political book titled Jimmy Carter in Africa. The recommendation for the book came from my new friend, Ambassador Andrew Young, a prominent civil rights movement leader working along Mr. Martin Luther King. He was also US congressman from Georgia, Mayor of Atlanta and of course US Ambassador to the United Nations during President Carter’s presidency. I have a lot of respect for what the civil rights movement has accomplished, how positively it has affected the entire South, and what lessons one can learn from that struggle in solving current political issues and other challenges around the world (and of course in our industry!).
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Quad: Best piece of advice you've ever received?
Al Azadi: This may come as a shock to many, but the best piece of advice I got was an article I read in an entrepreneur magazine right at the time of establishing Omix-ADA. The author passionately argued that if you are a small business, especially if you have just started, you cannot afford to have a loan. It went on to explain that is because loans are risky since eventually one can default on the loan and, as a result, go out of business. It showed how to build the business without a loan, which can limit the business growth, especially at the beginning, but in return it would be built on solid grounds and hard to derail. This advice has worked for us at Omix-ADA to weather past financial storms and I would strongly recommend it to others.
