Aman Abraham: After Losing Everything, He Became The First African American To Own a Toyota Dealership In Southern California

By Mukurima Muriuki

Aman Abraham was born in Ethiopia and migrated to America when he was 12. He made millions as an entrepreneur, then lost everything during the economic downturn of 2008, finding himself almost $4 million in debt. His first thought was to declare bankruptcy, but he feared it would affect his future creditworthiness. He made a trip to Mexico, his happy place, to strategize and came up with a 12-year plan.

This is the story of Aman Abraham, who today has the distinct honor of being the first African American to own a Toyota car dealership in Southern California worth millions of dollars .

Abraham was born in Ethiopia. His dad left for America when he was 2 years old, and he did not have a present father in his formative years. His mom worked as a nurse for the United Nations and provided stability for her only child. He played soccer a lot as a child; despite Ethiopia being known for middle and long-distance running, he tells me running wasn’t his strongest forte.

Due to the civil war, the Ethiopian government was drafting young kids into the military to fight. His father did not want him to be conscripted and had Abraham join him in America.

Despite not having a present father, Abraham tells me it was the best thing that could have happened because he was able to adopt his mother’s way of thinking and approach to life. His mother, unlike his father, is a risk-taker. To be where Abraham is today, it was through taking risks.

In America, Abraham got his first job at the age of 13. By this time, Abraham’s father had remarried, and things were rough because he was not being treated right by his stepmother. Asking for anything in the house was problematic. Soon, he was kicked out.

Abraham is resilient. He takes adversity head-on. He worked hard and managed to be admitted to California State University-Northridge. And this is where his life changed.

In one semester, there was a car sales event at the university. As he walked by, a car salesman tried to sell him a car, and he was honest that he was just a student trying to get through college and did not have money to buy a car. That conversation led the salesman to ask Abraham if he would be open to selling cars on the weekend and making extra income. He signed up, got his license, and started working.

Abraham proved to be very good as a salesman. He began learning more about the industry, who the players were, and what it took to own a dealership. His first lesson was that the biggest hurdle is that the manufacturer has to also approve you, and this is a competitive process where most black people do not have a fair shot. In addition, another hurdle is that car dealership especially in Southern California is a reserve of a few with an average age of 77, and they sell their business to each other or people known to them, and as such difficult for an outside to penetrate through.

Abraham took a break from selling cars because of the birth of his daughter. He tells me he could not balance the job and being a dad, so he had to choose one or the other. In the meantime, he ventured into real estate and other businesses. Life as an entrepreneur was going great, and he was now a millionaire. Then the economic downturn of 2008 happened. He lost everything he had and found himself close to $4 million in debt.

Mexico happens to be his happy place. And this is where he decided to go so he could think and strategize. While there, he worked on an action plan on what he needed to do to get himself out of the mess he was in and rebuild his life. He came up with a 12-year plan that detailed how he was going to own a car dealership.

Luckily for Abraham, while selling cars, he had connected with many people at Auto Nation which was then the biggest car selling group in the world, some of whom he had trained. If he wanted to pursue his goal of owning a dealership, he had to get on an executive program offered by an existing dealership. That meant he had to to start from the bottom as a car salesman.

Abraham did not have a problem starting all over again, from the bottom at Auto Nation. His dedication and hard work paid off, and in 4 years, he was selected for the Executive program he yearned for. He also climbed through the hierarchical ladder, to the position of General Manager. He was razor-focused on his plan

Where there is a will, there is a way…

In November 2022, Abraham became the first African American to own a Toyota dealership in Southern California. In fact, this became the largest financing Toyota had ever done in their history.

While it took a little longer than the 12 years he had planned for, Abraham is an example of how the art of planning is essential in one’s life, especially in business or career.

Abraham has two daughters. He is not married, and he is okay with it. When I asked him if he doesn’t conform to societal pressures, he told me, “I know what I am good at, and I know what I am not good at. I don’t have the set of skills needed to succeed in marriage, and I have come to terms with it.”

Abraham is a serial entrepreneur. He has also amassed real estate in America and launched a software company because he did not like some of the software in the cars.

In the words of Abe Lincoln, “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”