We asked our honorees: What would people be surprised to know about you?
“It is the privilege I had to save someone’s life after getting a phone call to be a stem cell donor for a leukemia patient. A few years after the successful cell transplant took place, I was able to meet him and his family in Irvine, Calif. Fast-forward to this day we remain close friends.” — Carlos Vallejo
“There’s two events I do every year: I go to Las Vegas in the summer to go to [Electric] Daisy Carnival, a huge EDM festival that goes from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Every winter I always fly out to New York to go to the Met to watch an opera.” — Karmala Sutton
“I’m an avid golfer. It’s how I relax.” — Shelby Reed
“I collect Funko Pops. My office has … over 100 of these Funko Pops. Whenever people come into the office, they look and are shocked, to say the least, but impressed, too, in a way because they are super cool little figurines.” — Joey Mastrodonato
“I took three months off from the car business — which was absolutely the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done — in 2019 to be on season 7 of ‘MasterChef Junior’ because my son is a chef. …He made it all the way to the semifinals. Me and my daughter were all part of the season finale episode, and he was a participant, and it was a life-changing time in L.A.” — Erikka Tiffani Wells
“I bought and flipped my first car when I was in the fifth grade. I submitted to this essay contest for the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you. … I won $500, so I went to the auction with my dad. We bought a ’94 Ford Probe for $1,000. We each put in $500 and cleaned it up and sold it for $2,500. It was off to the races from there.” — Patrick Daly
“I’ve been working to get my private pilot’s license in my spare time.” — Brian Finegan
“My claim to fame on the Internet is that I am so sick and tired of seeing so many people fight and argue over politics and everything else that I just put dad jokes out there on Facebook all the time now. My goal is to fill the world full of dad jokes and punny jokes all day long.” — Matt Raymond
“My family and I sailed from New Hampshire to the Bahamas and lived on our sailboat for a year when I was a kid. It had a huge influence on my work ethic and gifted me with a problem-solving mindset that has served me well in my career.” — Emily Dube Gray
“When I was born, the doctors told my parents I would never walk.” — Melvin Cooper
“I played college baseball. I worked on Capitol Hill as an intern for a little bit.” — Andrew Riffee
“I’m an avid sports fan. [I] especially like to root for the Dallas Cowboys and the Hendrick Motorsports drivers in NASCAR.” — Jenny Mann
“I… was introduced to the automotive industry while in my college journalism career path.” — Laissa Sanchez
“I’m a first-degree black belt.” — Colton Ray
“I enjoy working on cars as much as I enjoy selling them. It’s mostly race cars, but also on a weekly basis if one of my techs need help, I’ll do that. I probably spend half my day back in the service department.” — Nick Anderson
“I’m one of nine children.” — Mitchell Harris
“I was actually a music performance major. … I’m like a jukebox. I’ll break out in song at times. The technicians think it’s hilarious.” — Lindsey Trett