In 2005 Don Miller retired from Mike Albert as vice president sales manager. Miller has been enjoying retirement with his wife of 56 years. They spend half the year in Cincinnati, Ohio, their hometown, and the other half in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. 

Along with his wife, Miller loves spending time with his children and eight grandchildren.

While Miller retired from working in the automotive world 15 years ago, he spends a lot of his leisure time surrounding himself with all things automotive. He started his love of cars when he was 3 years old, sitting on the porch of his house identifying the cars that were driving by the sound of the motor. 

Miller surrounds himself with model cars, car books, and pictures of cars in his home office in Cincinnati and Florida. He especially enjoys talking to people about cars, meeting people and watching exotic cars sell, as people still consult with him, asking what he thinks a car is worth. Or whether they should buy or lease, and how they would get their car shipped to Florida.

Miller enjoys going to many different types of auto auctions, from regular sales to exotic and collector cars. This keeps him up-to-date on resale values.  

Looking back at his career, Miller fondly remembers all the special relationships he built throughout his 45-year career. What he’s most proud of is having had the ability and desire to coach people through their careers.

Miller worked miscellaneous jobs while in high school. Miller always had a passion in automobiles and worked part time in the used car business.

One of these part-time jobs while in high school would end up connecting him to a man that would start him on his path to Mike Albert, Bob Betagole.

One of the most beneficial tools that helped him throughout his career were his membership to industry associations.

“Belonging to AALA was very beneficial for me,” said Miller. “Meeting people in the same field nationwide. From time to time, they would call me and I would call them to get different suggestions or ideas or thoughts, not necessarily gaining a competitive edge, but just understanding the aspects of the leasing business.”   

In 2012, Miller was inducted into the Automotive Fleet/AFLA Fleet Hall of Fame. 

Toward the end of his career, Miller began noticing how the industry was rapidly changing.

Most work could be accomplished remotely, with little need to leave the office. To some respect, Miller acknowledged that it was good because it saved time. On the other hand, Miller felt that the business lost a lot of the personality that he was accustomed to and enjoyed but it also made the business lose a lot of the personability that he was so accustomed to.

“The most important aspect of the business when I started was you had a contact with the prospect and fleet. Face to face was so important in order to find out their need of each customer. Not having a face-to-face meeting for me leaves something to be desired. However, because of the tech world, leasing has changed,” said Miller.