JOHN GRIFFIN, FOUNDER, PRESIDENT & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
The term "Entrepreneur" is synonymous to John Griffin. Throughout his professional career he has been a pioneer and an innovator. He grew up in a family owned business and upon graduation from college in 1976 he began to carve his own niche. In the fall of 1976 he received his Real Estate License and began the first chapter in his professional life. Over the next 15 years his firm had constructed, built and developed over $65 million in residential and commercial properties. In 1989 his firm, Griffin Contractors, was listed as the 18th most active builder in the Greater Nashville, TN area as ranked in the "Nashville Book of Lists".
As a child Mr. Griffins' father was an active baseball card collector and operated a small baseball card business in addition to other business interests. In 1992, combining his passion for NASCAR and Motorsports and his foresight that the Motorsports fan was as dedicated to their sport as fans were to the other sports, Griffin founded, Music City Motorsports in Nashville TN as a collectable and souvenir business. As the popularity of NASCAR grew over the decade that followed, Music City Motorsports became a force in the distribution of licensed sports and Motorsports apparel, souvenirs and memorabilia becoming one of the largest distributors in the US, successfully marketing and distributing over $80 million in merchandise from their 46,000 square foot distribution facility in Nashville.
While still in the Motorsports distribution business the entrepreneurial spirit hit again! Griffin recognized that NASCAR had proven, the most eye-catching spot on the race car is the hood and advertisers pay millions for this coveted placement of their brand message. Griffin also recognized the race fan identified their favorite team by the branding message their driver displayed on the hood of their race car and the AutoGlove Hood Cover idea was born. Griffin believed that there was a market for a product that would, unlike the vinyl wraps in NASCAR and traditional vehicle advertising, allowed a sports fan or an advertiser to cover the hood of their vehicle with their favorite team or branding message, be safe at highway speeds, have the look of painted on high quality graphics and could be simply installed over and over in a few minutes and removed with ease. Now after several years of research and development the patent for the AutoGlove Hood Cover has been granted by the US Patent Office and the dream has become reality.
To take advantage of the new and innovative AutoGlove Hood Cover and the belief that sports fans and automotive enthusiasts would display their favorite team or automotive theme on the hood of their vehicle X-Treme Sports Group was formed. Focusing on Griffins' expertise in the Motorsports and licensed sports marketing and distribution business, X-Treme was formed to license, manufacture and distribute the AutoGlove Hood Cover to the automotive accessory market, sports and other licensed products markets.
Never loosing sight of his passion for Motorsports and the branding message brought to the consumer on the hood of a race car, Griffins' flagship company, AutoHood Media, was launched. AutoHood Media is now one of the fastest growing outdoor media firms in the U.S delivering a unique brand message for advertisers to the consumer using the innovative outdoor advertising medium that was once just an idea, the AutoGlove Hood Cover!
John Griffin is married and has 3 children and is a member of First Presbyterian Church.
DEVIN S. JAMES, SR., CO-OWNER AND CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
Nicknamed "Baby Genius" Devin James, Sr. has a natural ability to market and sell concepts and products. From real estate marketing to brand development James has proven himself a leader in the game at the tender age of 25.
The founder/president of Native Graphix Marketing, Partner/Global Multimedia Specialists of AutoHood Media and Marketing Director for Salton Companies has developed a phenominal program for rapid business growth based on his "Relationship" marketing deliverables. And as a real estate development consultant he has completed the development advisory services of over $40 million in real estate developments across the United States and counting.
In addition to development, his professional experience includes brand development, marketing/advertising and project development of restaurants, hotels, office buildings and housing. In 2006/07, Native Graphix Marketing, an MBE (Minority Business Enterprise) certified through the Tennessee Governor's Office of Diversity, was ranked as one of the top advertising agencies of the year by the Memphis Business Journal. At the same time the Black Business Association of Memphis nominated James for Outstanding Business Professional of the Year.
James serves as the lead project manager for a team of experienced professionals assigned to the project to ensure project success and timely accomplishment.
Always involved in the community, James has been active in the following organizations: Sisters Network - Memphis Chapter Marketing Director, 100 Black Men - Memphis Marketing Director, ITT Technical Institute Advisory Board, River Arts Festival Marketing Chair, the Downtown Neighborhood Association and the South Main Association. He is also a member of the Memphis Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Black Business Association of Memphis. In his leisure, the Memphis native enjoys speaking about the significance of education, training the youth, and most importantly, spending time with the kids.
Devin
James, Sr.’s Specialties:
Strategic Messaging & Image Development
Account/Project Management
Account Planning & Research
Media Planning
Outdoor
TV
Radio
Print
Direct Response
Media Buying
Traditional
Online
Advertising Development & Production
Prior to his position as the National Sales Manager for AutoHood Media, LLC, Doug Snead was the managing Broker for One Beale, a two hundred million dollar mixed use development. He has fifteen years of experience in new construction management, new construction on site sales, general brokerage and REO sales. Snead has worked in multiple areas of Real Estate including new homes with Pulte Homes, luxury condos up to five million dollars and REO properties for multiple banks in depressed areas of Charlotte, NC and Memphis, TN. Snead is a licensed Broker in Tennessee, North and South Carolina, a member of NAR, holds a CSP designation and still manages a team of REO specialists. He has been involved in over 120 million dollars of closed transactions in home sales. Snead earned the prestigious Top Gun designation while employed by Pulte Homes which is renowned as one of the best training programs among the nation's top builders. He has worked with one of the top sales trainers in the country and also trained multiple new agents.