Meet Daryl Killian | The AutoNsider

We had the good fortune of connecting with Daryl Killian and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Daryl, we’d love to start by asking you about lessons learned. Is there a lesson you can share with us?
The most important lesson that I’ve learned, is that I’m never finished growing and learning. My father reminds me that everyone that we meet know something that we don’t know. No matter the business, we must always be open to and looking forward to change, because the only constant is life is change.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My primary career is advertising sales. In my role, I help businesses, large and small, grow and increase revenue by helping them to align with their target consumer. My duties include creating messaging that resonates with consumers to drive their consumer behaviors.
My secondary career is actually my passion and I use it to help businesses grow by allowing them to speak directly to our audience, which in turn provides service to listener’s and followers that find themselve navigating their vehicle ownership needs. In my role as a radio show host and social media influencer, I’m able to share my nearly 3 decades of experience in the automotive industry and my ongoing research and experiences into the day to day operations of the auto industry. It’s here that I dispel false narratives about the industry and share best practices for listener’s on each step of their transportation journey.
The radio company that I work for was looking for a radio show host with an automotive background, to educate consumers with compelling content for listener’s that would ultimately lead to increased ad revenue for the station. Former AJC entertainment journalist, and director of online services for CBS Radio in Atlanta at the time, Sonia Murray, recommended me for the role based on our interactions when I worked as the Service Manager at Baranco Acura. She also knew that had I studied English at Morehouse College and she felt like my background would be transferable and would resonate with listener’s on the radio.
The idea of hosting a live radio show weekly was terrifying for me, considering I had no radio background and the fact that I failed Public Speaking my freshman year in college, I was not excited about the possibilities.
In spite of my fears, I was motivated by the fact that I had a wife and two children depending on me to provide. I threw caution to the wind and embraced my reincarnation. With the tutelage, encouragement and advice of Ramona Debreaux (former Mid-day radio show host on v103 in Atlanta) I learned to prepare, produce and host a radio show. The best advice that I received in the industry came from Ramona. She told me to be myself, imagine that I was talking to group of my friends and to remember that I knew more about the industry than the majority of the people listening. That gave me the confidence to show up every week with a goal to make a difference and provide a valuable service to the community.
I tell my family and friends that my remaining goal in life is for everyone that I encounter on life journey, will be able to say that their lives have been enhanced by knowing and/or interacting with me…on any level.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The first stop would be the Atlanta University Complex in the West End. We’d visit King’s Chapel on Morehouse’s campus. Next stop would be Spelman’s Living and Learning Center, followed by a visit to Clark Atlanta University’s communication department and WCLK Radio. Lastly and maybe most importantly, I’d take him to Morris Brown College to witness the rebirth of such an important piece of Atlanta history, that was too important to let die.
We would venture over to the Herndon Home Museum, former home of businessman, Alonzo Herndon, a former slave, who’s journey to success is the epitome of the African American experience in Atlanta.
Next stop would be the Apex Museum on Auburn Avenue where I could demonstrate how and why Black people have found such success in the south.
The last stop on our field trip would be to Atlanta City Hall and the Mayor’s office that has been occupied by African American mayors since Maynard Jackson was elected in 1974 and currently occupied by Atlanta native, graduate of Atlanta Public School’s Benjamin E. Mays High School and Georgia Tech University.
I would take them to eat at Mary Mac’s Tea Room, the Colonnade, EATS, JJ’s Rib Shack, Yasin’s Fish, Bankhead Seafood, Big Oomp Studio Kitchen, Houston’s on Peachtree, C & S Oyster Bar in the Kroger Plaza on Cobb Parkway, Slutty Vegan, Tom Dick and Hanks and Local Green Atlanta.
We would spend an evening at the new hotel, The Forth, in the old Fourth Ward and have drinks at the rooftop bar and experience the amazing Atlanta skyline.
Atlanta’s culture is the most amazing thing about this city from the arts, music industry, athletics and politics, this city “Influences Everything” in our country.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My parents are the foundation for every decision that I’ve made. The consistency in my family dynamic provided me with safety and security which helped to foster my confidence.
My career has been guided tremendously by Ed Hardnett, former franchise auto dealer in Metro Atlanta, who gave me my first job in the auto business during my senior year of high school. That’s where I fell in love with the business.
After high school, I began working for the Baranco Automotive Group while in college and Juanita Baranco, became my mentor, before I knew that mentors were a “thing”. She showed me tough love, pushed me when I was unsure of my abilities and challenged me to be better everyday. And even though I had a strong family foundation, she became an extension of my family and treated me like one of her children.

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Image Credits
Sylvia Mcafee