How Farshid leaves a lasting legacy

As a retail sales leader at Cox Communications, Farshid Maleki is responsible for inspiring and motivating his people to be the best they can be. Read his story below.

A motivational leader

Farshid Maleki could be a TED Talk speaker. 

That’s the kind of energy he has as a sales leader at Cox: an upbeat, gracious attitude that inspires others to unleash their potential.   

“In sales, you can’t be afraid,” Farshid said. “You’ve got to do everything in your power to upscale yourself. Lean on others and hold yourself accountable to meeting your goals. If you challenge yourself to be a better version of yourself every day, you will flourish.” 

Farshid is Director of Retail Sales for Cox Communications West territory, leading retail stores in Arizona, Nevada and California. He oversees a total of 30 stores, 34 leaders and about 300 employees. 

“We are responsible for achieving sales KPIs and retaining customers,” he said. “We uphold customer experience standards and making them feel valued and heard, and that we’re a place they can come back to. You’ve got to be sound with operational excellence. And because you represent Cox in that neighborhood, you’re an ambassador of the company and the brand.”  

What does a day in the life look like for Farshid as he supervises 30 stores? 

“My responsibility as an organizational leader is to make sure I’m aligned with our strategy –that the execution in our field is in line with the strategic asks that our business needs out of retail and my division,” Farshid said. “And I work very closely with my store managers to determine what their pain points are. What do they need to be more successful? How can I remove hurdles for frontline employees? What can we do to provide even better customer experiences, and employee experiences?” 

Farshid emphasized that as a leader, he tries to focus on the bigger picture of creating an excellent customer and employee experience. 

“I don’t sweat the small stuff,” he said. “I focus on the big things that will position our employees, leaders and company for success and work hard on those things. I don’t want to become uncalibrated from our real priorities: people, results, leading through change and investing in execution plans.” 

Put to the test

Farshid has been with Cox for 17 years, experiencing 11 different roles within the company. He said that one of the biggest catalysts for his growth as a leader was the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“We went through this experience that none of us have ever gone through in our lives, and we had to learn how to push and lead in front and position people for success, as well as how to create comfort and security through tough times,” Farshid said. “You have to care. I think sometimes that gets glossed over. But if you’re authentic and you care about people and their health and their families, you’re going to have the right effect on people and lead them with grace.” 

Farshid said that he aimed to role model how to care for people during a difficult time filled with unknowns. 

“I mean, think back to March 2020 when we didn’t know anything about what was going on,” he said. “You have to make sure you’re responsible to every one of your employees. Be there for them, admit what you don’t know and make sure they’re safe. As if the Cox culture and values weren’t already clear before the pandemic, I think in the last 18 months it really shone with a never-ending commitment to employees’ safety, health, mental state and wellbeing.” 

Maximizing the impact

Farshid was born in Iran and moved to the United States with his parents and older brother when he was five. He recalls the way his parents worked and sacrificed to give him and his brother a comfortable life, and that inspires him to give back and pay it forward.  

“I’m committed to maximizing the impact I have on the people I lead and the people I’m around – whether it’s coworkers or friends or family,” he said. “I get one chance at life. I want to make sure I’m a good human. I try to do everything with intent and think about the impact I’m going to have on people.” 

Farshid also strives to cultivate a community of caring leaders – which, he remarked, is easy to do at Cox.  

“I tend to surround myself and hire people who care,” he said. “I try to be a student of the business and a student of leadership. I’ve been fortunate to be around some really great leaders, leaning on them and learning from them. They make up who I am. When you’re leading large organizations, to ensure and foster a great environment, you’ve got to care for your people.” 

Interested in Cox sales jobs? We’re hiring! Click here to view open positions.

How Luke creates buzz-worthy solutions

Luke Wagner is an Advertising Account Executive at Cox Communications. He’s also a beekeeper, athlete, outdoorsman and graduate of Cox Media’s sales associate training program. Read about his journey below. 

Freedom and flexibility

Luke Wagner is a modern-day renaissance man. 

He’s a beekeeper who manages 30 hives. He’s an avid soccer player, playing four days a week. He’s an outdoorsman who loves fishing and hunting.  And he’s a sales and marketing expert at Cox Media (a division of Cox Communications), helping local businesses find brand success through television and digital advertising. 

Luke, who lives in Baton Rouge, finds that the flexibility of his “day job” allows him ample time to explore his many interests outside of work – be it harvesting honey, playing sports or taking fishing trips to Alaska.  

“I love the freedom of working here,” said Luke, a media consultant who has been a Cox employee for three years. “If I’m doing the right things and hitting my goals, I don’t have a set clock-in and clock-out time. The PTO policy and pay scale are amazing, and I have a really great team behind me. From my very first day at Cox, everyone was so nice and treated me like a member of the family.”  

Learning the ropes

When Luke graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree in marketing, he knew a bit about sales; he had worked part-time in college, selling health and life insurance. But he wanted his full-time career to be something more fun; optimally, something that combined his passion for marketing and sales. 

“I knew a good bit about television marketing – I interned at a local broadcast station one summer – and I knew that’s the area I wanted to be in,” Luke explained. “I knew that Cox had plenty of avenues to explore that.” 

To help Luke learn the ins and outs of working in sales, Cox offered Luke a position in the Cox Media sales associate training program. This program is designed to help new sales employees become better acquainted with sales best practices and progress their careers. 

“The sales associate program really helped me get off the ground,” Luke said. “They teach you, instead of throwing you to the wolves. You learn how to sell, how to be a better salesperson. If it wasn’t for starting off with the sales associate training program, I wouldn’t be the successful media consultant I am today.” 

Luke fondly remembers his very first client at Cox Media. 

“It was a local garden center,” he said. “We helped them launch a Christmas tree campaign in November and December, and they ended up actually selling out of inventory and having to order more, which had never happened before. That was a really fun day.”  

Now, Luke oversees 20 clients each month, managing their requests and concerns and ensuring that they are getting the most value for their money – clients like a local restaurant owner, who was struggling to attract customers, and was uncertain about the future of his beloved business. 

“He was going through a really hard time a couple of years ago trying to get his name out there,” Luke said. “We started at a low budget, but I stretched it as far as I could and now, he’s thriving.”  

Forging connections

As a salesperson, Luke is keenly aware of the importance of relationships. 

“I love being able to start conversations with strangers,” Luke said. “That’s a lot of fun in the sales world – striking up a conversation and talking to someone as if we’ve been friends for years.” 

Luke strengthens relationships with his clients by listening to their needs, providing bespoke solutions and delivering excellent sales results. He’s even been known to sweeten the deal by sharing honey and beeswax soap from his own hives. 

Luck recognizes that it’s vital to have strong interactions with teammates, too. 

“Your workplace relationships are a big part of your job,” he said. “Find a good group of people that makes you happy. I definitely have that at Cox.” 

Interested in Cox sales jobs? We’re hiring! Click here to view open positions.

How Mo hits home runs in sales at Cox

Based in Mission, KS, Mo Zahabi is committed to building next–generation leaders through a culture of inclusion and diversity, as well as a clear focus on team member career pathing. Keep scrolling to learn about his experiences working in sales at Cox Automotive.

The field of dreams

There’s no shortage of sports lingo and analogies in the world of sales. From the inherently competitive nature of the business to the fact that you need a team of A-players to succeed, there are plenty of parallels between both worlds. 

Sports play a huge role in the life of Mo Zahabi, Associate Vice President of Sales Engineering at Cox Automotive. When asked about what he enjoys most outside of work, Mo’s answer was “Being on a baseball field.” He also spends most of his free time on a baseball or softball field supporting his children’s athletic talents.  

“What I do for fun is hang out with my kids,” Mo said. “It’s one of the reasons why I work so hard, and it makes my time with them more enjoyable.”  

Developing talent

Mo began his career with Cox Automotive in 2008. Drawing from his background in technology, and his father’s 40 years of experience in the automotive industry, Mo has created a personal brand of leadership that allows him to be the liaison between product and sales.  

Mo considers himself a solution architect who “builds value in our products and solves problems before they occur.” Although his role is focused on heavy research and subject matter expertise, he has never lost focus of his number one asset: his team members.  

“I just like to see people succeed,” Mo said. His open-door policy to assist team members with career pathing extends to all who are interested, as he recognizes this as an important tool in developing the next generation of leaders. Mo stressed Cox’s policies of honest transparency when he said: “You don’t have to wait for a mentor to pick you, as our leaders are passionate about giving back.”   

The open and honest feedback that is provided to Mo’s direct reports have created a culture of leadership through accountability and collaboration. No team member is left alone to solve a complicated problem. Instead, they are encouraged to pursue help to seek resolution as a team. 

Creating partnerships

When it comes to being a sales leader, Mo recognizes the importance of teamwork, diversity and ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard. 

“We’re looking at each other like partners who are collaborating on what’s best for our customers, and where product advancements exist.” 

The accessibility of Cox’s leaders has motivated Mo to extend the same support to his team, where a collaborative environment welcomes ideas and questions from all team members and creates an opportunity to continue the process of building each other up.  

When asked where he saw himself in five years, Mo once again stressed the importance of leadership: “Developing future leaders who want to be in my seat” was his response.  

Developing next-generation leaders is important, but so is work-life balance. As a family man with two children heavily involved in competitive sports, Mo appreciates the variety of benefits to promote work-life balance at Cox, such as flexible work policy, flexible PTO, accommodating schedules, paid volunteer hours, and more. 

 “You can’t buy back memories, and you only have so much time to create them,” he said. 

Whether he’s in his office or on a field, Mo has an instinct to support those around him and invest in their talents.  

Interested in Cox sales jobs? We’re hiring! Click here to view open positions.

How Chrisey fulfilled her lifelong dream

Chrisey Bell is Vice President of Sales for Inventory Management Solutions at Cox Automotive. Her passion for the automotive industry and problem-solving merged when she began a career at the company that is changing the way the world buys, sells, owns and uses cars. Read her story below. 

An automotive ambition

When Chrisey Bell was a child, she was obsessed with cars. 

She has vivid memories of visiting a McDonald’s near her childhood home when she was seven or eight years old and staring out the window in fascination at the car dealership next door. She was enchanted by the rows of shiny cars and the bustle of activity on the lot, and decided that she wanted to work with cars when she grew up. 

“I saw new cars and fell in love with them and thought that I wanted to be a car salesperson,” Chrisey said. “I was just so interested in automotive.”  

When she got a little older, Chrisey wondered if a career in some kind of automotive engineering might be a good fit for her. After all, she had a knack for problem-solving and taking things apart to see what’s wrong with them. She ended up sticking to her original dream of working in sales, but that gift for getting to the heart of an issue has still served her well in a role at Cox Automotive. 

“When something is wrong or isn’t working, I really ingrain myself in understanding the root of the problem,” Chrisey explained. “One thing that’s been really interesting to me in working on the front lines of the field is hearing dealer feedback and understanding their pain points, and then seeing different teams in Cox Automotive coming together to solve the challenges of car buying and selling. We try to be a great partner for our dealers.” 

20 years and counting

Chrisey is Vice President of Sales for Inventory Management Solutions. 2021 marks her 20-year anniversary with the company, during which time she’s held eight different positions with multiple geographies, and met her husband, who is also a Cox Automotive employee. 

 “It’s crazy that 20 years has flown by,” Chrisey commented. “Working here is so much more than just a job; it’s the opportunity to have a successful career that you’re in control of. Having a sales position at Cox, you can find areas you’re really passionate about and have a career in multiple areas within one company. That’s something special.” 

To Chrisey, another special thing about working in sales at Cox is the company’s commitment to investing in people. 

 “I’m so grateful that I had the incredible leaders in my career to help me grow and develop,” Chrisey said. “That’s what motivates and excites me every day to help cultivate the next generation of leaders. Not only did Cox invest in me in terms developing sales skills, but they also covered the cost of my master’s degree. That was incredible for me to go through my educational process of getting my degree in e-commerce.” 

A pro-sales, people-first culture

Chrisey said that Cox’s pro-sales culture sets it apart as a place to work. 

 “Our sales department has such a critical role in how we run our business,” she said. “We bring back the voice of the customer to other aspects of the company, driving decisions we make on a daily basis. That’s recognized throughout the organization. We’re not making decisions in silos – sales is an important feedback mechanism.” 

Chrisey added that she can’t imagine working anywhere else in the automotive industry. 

“We have such great people, top-notch solutions and incredible leadership. I truly believe that we continue to put people first; just think about the benefits we receive. It goes beyond 401k and health benefits; Cox does so much to address the needs of individuals. People are treated well, and it comes from this incredible family that leads our company and puts employees first. Until you work here, you don’t get to realize how important and special that truly is.” 

Interested in Cox sales jobs? We’re hiring! Click here to view open positions.