In Dublin, Ohio is an exotic car dealership known as Toy Barn. In their showroom sits cars created by prestigious automakers like Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Porsche and many others. The owner in charge of Toy Barn, Shawn Cunix, recently purchased the dealership with money that he has earned over a lifetime defined by hardship, passion, entrepreneurship, and success.
In an interview with BuckeyeLifestyle.com, Cunix told his story. He started his life with very little, but he always strived for success in order to provide for himself and his family. At a young age he was selling candy to fellow students, making little bits of money. He eventually went on to work three jobs at once, allowing him to save enough money for a 1986 Trans Am and even the chance to attend Ohio State University.
After graduating, Cunix went from selling shoes at Kohls, to becoming the top salesperson in the country at Ross Labs. He then left Ross Labs and began selling cell phones for AirTouch Cellular (now Verizon Wireless) and started making $170k a year. After fours years of a six-figure salary, he decided to quit his job, which would have been an insane notion to him years before, and started selling phones from his basement. This operation grew to his first Verizon Wireless store and then he ended up opening more than 80 stores. These stores would make $90 million in revenue.
In 2006, during his ownership of Verizon stores, Cunix also became infatuated with poker. While poker was merely a hobby for him at the beginning, it turned into something more quite quickly. Over the years, he has won many tournaments, earning over $2.2 million from poker.
In 2015, Cunix sold his Wireless empire and in 2016 purchased Toy Barn. He hopes that he can be the owner of a dealership that people can trust. How does he plan on doing that? Well, since he doesn’t really need to sell cars like clockwork in order to feed his family, he’s able to be straight up and honest with his customers.
Cunix’s life is a perfect of “started from the bottom, now we’re here”– going from a junior candy salesman to the owner of a prestigious exotic car dealership. If you’ve ever wanted inspiration, Cunix’s life story is a great choice.
