The Clay Cooley Automotive Group journey to success is rooted in Clay’s early experiences. His family left Dallas for Lubbock when he was young, and at 14, he took a part-time job at a supermarket chain. it wasn’t until after high school that Clay returned to North Texas and continued laboring at an Alpha Beta store in Plano. The change of environment, with greater hustle and bustle, left an impression on a young Clay Cooley. It wasn’t long before Clay figured out he was in a big city – there had to be more to it. So he started selling cars. Clay focused on preowned sales at local dealerships through the mid-80s, until he married his wife, Lisa. While working at a dealership owned by Gary McKinney and Glenn Polk, Clay’s focus on creating a great buying experienced helped him excel and, during the nine years he spent at the dealership, he rose from preowned manager to general sales manager.