John Hiester is the founder and CEO of Hiester Automotive. He was born in Ohio and went to school to be a diesel mechanic but decided to go in a different direction after graduating. In 1986, he started his career in the car business working for Leith in Raleigh, North Carolina. John worked his way up through the company and then went to work with Darryl Burke Chevrolet in Fuquay. He worked there for nine years before purchasing his first store in Angier, North Carolina, a town of about 2,000 people. Hiester Automotive now has four stores and over 300 employees in the North Carolina area.

John and his wife, Lisa, have been married for 37 years and have two daughters, Amanda and Ashley, and now proudly wear the title of grandparents as their first granddaughter, Paige, was born in October.

He regularly speaks around the country to corporate leadership teams and automotive business conferences and is on the board of a number of automotive industry organizations, including the National Chevrolet Dealer Council. John published his first book, Why Jacob Matters, in 2019 and his second book, Hire Who You Want: Attract and Keep the Perfect Employees, in December. John is also an avid pilot, earning his private pilot’s license in 2019.