{"id":31,"date":"2026-01-15T21:34:59","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T21:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T14:44:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T14:44:15","slug":"car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/","title":{"rendered":"Car crazy: Alumnus\u2019 journey from garage to general manager"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lenny Gordon has been crazy about cars since childhood, when he shadowed his dad at a car dealership.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a teen, Gordon was tinkering under the hood of his own Chevy Camaro and interning at Monument Chevrolet through a high school auto tech program. It was Monument\u2019s owner, Carroll Smith, who encouraged him to continue his studies at San Jacinto College.<\/span><\/p>\n

The College\u2019s General Motors Automotive Service Education Program alternated between classes and dealership internship hours. The fast pace gave Gordon plenty of variety and hands-on practice. Dave Norman, the program director, also proved to be a great mentor.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Lenny

Lenny Gordon<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cHe went out of his way to make sure everyone felt welcome,\u201d Gordon said. \u201cHe was always encouraging and taking extra time to help us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After completing his Associate of Applied Science in 2006, Gordon earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in general business administration and management from the University of Houston-Clear Lake. He continued working at Monument, where Smith \u2014 knowing his goal to become a general manager \u2014 rotated him through every department.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the service counter, Gordon learned how to anticipate customers\u2019 needs and turn a bad experience into a positive one. His most pivotal moment was transitioning from service to sales, from rebuilding cars to building relationships.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad had always been in service,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s all I ever knew. I had no idea how to do sales \u2014 I was scared and nervous.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Gordon not only succeeded in commercial and retail sales but built lasting customer relationships along the way.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Lenny<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2019, he transferred to Norman Frede Chevrolet in Clear Lake, which became Fertitta Chevrolet in 2024. Now as general manager, he wants Fertitta not only to become the biggest Chevy dealership in Houston but to lead the industry with a hospitality emphasis.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe want the experience, regardless of the service, to be like none other before,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

What does hospitality look like at a dealership? It could be a service technician visiting customers\u2019 homes to change oil. Or Uber dropping off customers at the mall while vehicles are getting serviced.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under Gordon\u2019s leadership, Fertitta boasts a 4.7 out of 5 Google rating, one of the highest for a Texas dealership. More than seeing the dealership grow, though, Gordon enjoys cultivating his team and taking on the next generation of San Jac auto technician students as interns.<\/span><\/p>\n

At 17, he determined to become a general manager and never looked back. Today, he focuses on growing not just the dealership but the people.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI love seeing the success of people below me,\u201d he said. \u201cI love seeing people buy their first car, buy their first house, get married, and have kids. Set your goals early and set them high. Every day strive to get one step closer to that goal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Learn more about San Jac\u2019s auto technology programs<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

By Courtney Morris<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lenny Gordon has been crazy about cars since childhood, when he shadowed his dad at a car dealership. As a teen, Gordon was tinkering under the hood of his own Chevy Camaro and interning at Monument Chevrolet through a high school auto tech program. It was Monument\u2019s owner, Carroll Smith, who encouraged him to continue… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":65,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7,1],"tags":[],"article_type":[],"class_list":["post-31","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-spotlight","category-automotive-technology","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nCar crazy: Alumnus\u2019 journey from garage to general manager - Spring 2026, Volume 7 \u2013 Issue 1<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Car crazy: Alumnus\u2019 journey from garage to general manager\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lenny Gordon has been crazy about cars since childhood, when he shadowed his dad at a car dealership. As a teen, Gordon was tinkering under the hood of his own Chevy Camaro and interning at Monument Chevrolet through a high school auto tech program. It was Monument\u2019s owner, Carroll Smith, who encouraged him to continue... read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Spring 2026, Volume 7 \u2013 Issue 1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-15T21:34:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-21T14:44:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2026\/02\/Automotive_800.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cmorris\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cmorris\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/\",\"name\":\"Car crazy: Alumnus\u2019 journey from garage to general manager - Spring 2026, Volume 7 \u2013 Issue 1\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2026\/02\/Automotive_800.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-15T21:34:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-21T14:44:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/#\/schema\/person\/7be5bce9c0ff45d685592f0e586086d8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2026\/02\/Automotive_800.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2026\/02\/Automotive_800.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Lenny Gordon, Fertitta Chevrolet general manager.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Car crazy: Alumnus\u2019 journey from garage to general manager\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/\",\"name\":\"Spring 2026, Volume 7 \u2013 Issue 1\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/#\/schema\/person\/7be5bce9c0ff45d685592f0e586086d8\",\"name\":\"cmorris\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9045624ec36d6a26bc9bf21507c7f4a5c0a976dd9a328cbf036b1eda0be7794?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9045624ec36d6a26bc9bf21507c7f4a5c0a976dd9a328cbf036b1eda0be7794?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cmorris\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/author\/cmorris\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Car crazy: Alumnus\u2019 journey from garage to general manager - Spring 2026, Volume 7 \u2013 Issue 1","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Car crazy: Alumnus\u2019 journey from garage to general manager","og_description":"Lenny Gordon has been crazy about cars since childhood, when he shadowed his dad at a car dealership. As a teen, Gordon was tinkering under the hood of his own Chevy Camaro and interning at Monument Chevrolet through a high school auto tech program. It was Monument\u2019s owner, Carroll Smith, who encouraged him to continue... read more","og_url":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/","og_site_name":"Spring 2026, Volume 7 \u2013 Issue 1","article_published_time":"2026-01-15T21:34:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-21T14:44:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2026\/02\/Automotive_800.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cmorris","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cmorris","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/","url":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/","name":"Car crazy: Alumnus\u2019 journey from garage to general manager - Spring 2026, Volume 7 \u2013 Issue 1","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2026\/02\/Automotive_800.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-15T21:34:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-21T14:44:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/#\/schema\/person\/7be5bce9c0ff45d685592f0e586086d8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2026\/02\/Automotive_800.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2026\/02\/Automotive_800.jpg","width":800,"height":400,"caption":"Lenny Gordon, Fertitta Chevrolet general manager."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/car-crazy-alumnus-journey-from-garage-to-general-manager\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Car crazy: Alumnus\u2019 journey from garage to general manager"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/","name":"Spring 2026, Volume 7 \u2013 Issue 1","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/#\/schema\/person\/7be5bce9c0ff45d685592f0e586086d8","name":"cmorris","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9045624ec36d6a26bc9bf21507c7f4a5c0a976dd9a328cbf036b1eda0be7794?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9045624ec36d6a26bc9bf21507c7f4a5c0a976dd9a328cbf036b1eda0be7794?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cmorris"},"url":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/author\/cmorris\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64,"href":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions\/64"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2026-volume-7-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=31"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}