For the members of Community Partners of Dallas’ The Circle like Lara and Bob Tafel, former CEO Paige McDaniel, Christie Carter, Sally and George Dutter, Francie and Steve Mancillas, Stephanie and John Stollenwerck, Lacie and Pat Crow, Lucinda and Barry Buford and Louise Griffeth with son Teal Griffeth, The Grateful Table on Wednesday, November 13, at “a local country club” was a family feast, with the father and son team of Carl Sewell Jr. and Carl Sewell III sharing stories about continuing the family legacy — Sewell Automotive Companies. Here’s a report from the field:
Community Partners of Dallas (CPD) hosted its second annual “The Grateful Table,” an appreciation dinner celebrating its affinity group, The Circle, on Wednesday, November 13, at “a local country club.”
Community Partners of Dallas CEO Joanna Clarke, along with The Circle Chair Mersina Stubbs and Membership Co-Chairs Elizabeth and Eric Gambrell, welcomed more than 115 patrons to the second annual event. Upon arrival, guests mingled and chatted while enjoying wine and cocktails before taking their seats in the ballroom.
The evening’s program began with a greeting from Stubbs as she thanked everyone for attending and for their support of The Circle, CPD’s affinity group for donors over the age of 50. In addition to raising funds for CPD, The Circle provides an opportunity for like-hearted supporters to connect and find community with one another.
Following, Reverend Linda Roby of Highland Park Methodist Church led the invocation before attendees dined on a spa salad with Asian pear, candied pecans, triple cream brie and pomegranate dressing, followed by filet mignon with red wine reduction served with parmesan risotto and roasted broccolini.
As dessert of chocolate salted caramel cake and fresh apple and amaretto tart was enjoyed, Clarke took the stage and echoed her gratitude to all, including the aforementioned Stubbs, Kristy Hoglund Robinson for serving as a special advisor, the Gambrell’s for serving as Membership Chairs for The Circle, all of the generous supporters in the room, and especially featured speakers Carl Sewell Jr. and Carl Sewell III and the entire Sewell family.
Clarke also shared that in reading Carl Sewell’s book, “Customers for Life,” there were many great lessons to be learned, including the importance of providing excellent customer service, which parallels in many ways to Community Partners of Dallas’ support to the CPS caseworkers in Dallas county.
“If we were to paint a picture of the career path that represented the anthesis of working at a beautiful Sewell dealership, that of the CPS caseworkers might be it. When investigators arrive to a home to explore a report of abuse, they often walk into dirty, tumultuous environments where they face anger, and sometimes even violence. While they are only there to ensure that the children are safe, they can be considered a threat and treated absolutely terribly. In those emotionally charged moments there can be chaos, pain, and fear,” she said. “This is why it is essential that we at Community Partners of Dallas do everything possible when they visit our emergency resource center, the Rainbow Room, to make the caseworkers feel as special as if they’d arrived at a Sewell dealership. They deserve those same commandments of customer service. We strive to be their safe place.”
In closing she had one final thank you for board member Heather Lewless, who secured Susser Bank’s continued participation as a sponsor for the event. She also extended her gratitude to Susser Bank’s partner for the evening, UBS Wealth Management, who with Susser Bank underwrote The Grateful Table, ensuring all generous donations went directly to the abused and neglected children served by CPD.
Lewless, along with UBS Wealth Management’s Daffan Nettle, then took the stage to introduce Sewell, a third-generation automotive dealer and the visionary behind Sewell Automotive Companies, and his son Carl III, partner at Sewell Automotive Companies and president of operations, a role he shares with his sister, Jacquelin Sewell Atkinson. Together, they oversee Sewell’s 20 dealerships across top automotive brands like Audi, BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz, driving significant growth, including the addition of 12 new dealerships in the past 13 years.
They also recognized the entire Sewell family seated nearby, including Carl Jr.’s wife Peggy Sewell, Jacquelin Sewell Atkinson and her husband William Atkinson and Carl III’s wife Josie Sewell.
Sewell and Sewell III then took the stage, with Sewell III acting as moderator of a fireside chat. Their engaging conversation included topics ranging from the company’s founding in 1911 by Sewell’s father, company philosophies, family and philanthropy. A few highlights include:
- In talking about family business, Sewell said, “Take your children to work – let them see what you do – it’s going to resonate with them. And they’ll grow and come back.” To which Sewell III added, “Another thing that y’all did, and huge credit to mom, is family dinners. It didn’t matter when you came home – we were going to have family dinner; talking about work. Jacquelin and I joke that ‘fiduciary responsibility’ were our first words.”
- About the role that mentors played in his life: Sewell said his father was his best mentor, along with his mother. And then his mother introduced him to Stanley Marcus, who turned out to be a wonderful teacher and mentor. Later on, he said, “I read a study that said the single greatest predictor of success is a mentor, so you should take the time to identify and spend time with a mentor who has been successful.”
- About Sewell’s guiding principles from “Customers for Life” — Sewell III shared that all associates at Sewell carry around the guiding principles from the book and that they open each meeting with a customer service story and a guiding principal. One that particularly motivates is: “Decide how good you want to be; if you decide to be the best, it clarifies a lot of things, it simplifies a lot of decisions.”
Sewell added, “I remember when we were still in our dealership on Preston Road and thinking that if we were really good at service, it would differentiate us and distinguish us from everyone else. And I decided, that’s the path we are going on, and we are still on it.”
Following a short Q&A session with audience members, Clarke returned to thank everyone again for ensuring Community of Partners of Dallas can continue to provide what abused children urgently need today to thrive tomorrow. Guests received a copy of Sewell’s best-selling book as a thank-you for attending.
More information about The Circle can be found here.
* Photo credit: Tamytha Cameron