We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mark Schlachter a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mark, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We believe kindness is contagious and so we’d love for you to share with us and our audience about the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

Being mentored.

My mentor, Scott Stockwell, has been guiding me and helping with my career for over 23 years.
He started off as my boss at a VW dealer. He saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. I had talent that was unharvested and needed development. At the time I was a 21 year old kid who was a bit lost in life at that point.
Scott took the time to and with his incredible patience I was able to be somebody. Make a good living and have a career that I could never had dreamed of.

Scott was there to give me sage advice, tell me when I was wrong, and what to do next to correct it.

A turning point in my career was when he told me “You’re the best that never was. You have a great talent that you’re wasting away.”

That was a sobering moment for me in my life and career that I really took stock in myself.
In that moment, I made the decision to buckle down and build a career beyond sales. I was hungry to go further and further in my career.

Scott’s sobering words were what put me on the right track to success.

Mark, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I was born and raised in a car family. My grandparents who raised me had a VW shop outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. There really wasn’t a choice to not be a car and motorcycle guy. I was around them 24/7/365. Upon graduation from high school, I got a job in the car business selling cars. Being car obsessed, it was a natural fit. I started selling cars at just 18 years old.

After two decades of retail sales, I decided it was time for a change. My spouse had a job offer and we moved.

Last year I came to work at Crawford Performance, an aftermarket Subaru parts manufacturer and tuner. We have the distinction of being the only aftermarket parts company to have a working relationship with Subaru of America for nearly 20 years. Running motorsports programs for them. We’re perhaps most known for building Ken Block’s Gymkhana 1 and Gymkhana 2 cars. To this day we still sell the parts that built Ken’s cars.

I’m proud that our parts are made in the USA. We do not make anything offshore and have went as far as procuring Pennsylvania steel, and more to guarantee when you buy a Crawford parts, it’s 100% Made in the USA. We are very proud that we provide American jobs with good wages to great hard-working people.

This past year we’ve dedicated our time to the all-new 2024+ Crosstrek platform, as it’s consistently one of Subaru’s top sellers. Now that this car is mostly developed, we are going to start work on the current generation of the WRX, Don’t’ worry BRZ and 86 fans, we’re working on your cars too.

I’m very proud to be chosen as the steward of this great brand. The hours are worth the smiles I see on people’s faces at shows and the great stories we share making memories. Recently we had a father and son who we’re building a WRX. Dad has been a Crawford fan for over 20 years, and now his son is too. We’re glad to be a part of the heritage.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Easily. I was raised by my grandparents when my parents decided not to raise me. I’m a stronger man for being resilient. Kids like me don’t get as far as I have.

While they treated me as their own, I knew my upbringing was untraditional compared to my peers. It was hard at times being different. That pain and loneliness became my motivator.

I didn’t want to be average. I was at a disadvantage. I wanted to succeed. I had to do the work.

Outworking my competition I rose through the ranks building a fantastic career.

As a result my life motto is “Just do the work”.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Anything and everything Gary Vee.

One of my favorite quotes is “I suck at selling, I’m great talking about the things I care about.”

If you have a passion for what you do or what you sell, your job becomes so much incredibly easier. Gary is self-made and his talks are a great boost of morale for you and your team. His reels and his book, “Crushing It!” are good tools to keep you on the write path.

Contact Info:

• Website: crawfordperformance.com
• Instagram: @crawfordperformance
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CrawfordPerformance
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/crawford-performance/about/
• Youtube: @crawfordsti