66 BCBusiness july 2015
The serendipitous journey
of Canada's e-commerce king,
Roger Hardy
b y M a r c i e G o o d
roger.me
The small, angular man in the grey suit
sitting next to me on the Los Angeles Metro bus doesn't
take long to strike up a conversation. He is a car salesman,
I am a writer, so naturally we are sponging each other for
information. He knows from my accent that I am not from
here ("European? Australian? Canadian"), and he gathers
that I am married ("But why are you hiding your ring?").
I learn that he doesn't smoke or do drugs or drink, and
his name is Gary Holt. As we pass block after block of
unadorned shops (Food 4 Less, Computer Center, Coin
Laundry), he tells me his story. He has worked on the
same used car lot for nine years. So what makes a great
salesman? "Well, you have to listen to the customer," he
says. "They will tell you what they want, and you have to
give them what they want. If I treat you right, that means
I get a chance to meet your family—and they'll buy a
car, and it goes on down the line. It's about people."
p o r t r a i t s b y a M a N d a F r i e d M a N
