In parking, if success is a pie everybody wants a big slice of, then the best, most inspirational leaders aren’t the ones wielding the knife.
Rather, they’re the ones with flour up to their elbows.
Our true leaders are the ones kneading the dough, mixing the filling, and investing in industrial-grade ovens to make more, bigger pies at scale, ensuring that nobody’s ever left scrounging for crumbs.
Today’s parking origin story is a three-Michelin star tale of one of parking’s best-known leaders: David Hoyt, Chief Revenue Officer & Managing Director, North America at ParkMobile.
“It’s been a pretty rapid trajectory,” he says.
Starting Off
David’s parking journey kicked off in 1997, when he joined Standard Parking (now known as SP+). This period was formative for David, as it’s where he laid the foundation for his career and cemented bonds that hold strong to this day.
By the end of his tenure at SP+, David was a Vice President of Operations and running Florida – and completely head over heels for parking.
As a next step, he decided to move from human capital operations to technology with Parkeon, focusing on building business through equipment sales and client satisfaction in the Southeastern United States and the Caribbean.
He continued his tech trajectory with his next role at T2 Systems. He joined in mid-2012 as a National Sales Manager, which allowed him to leverage existing relationships for win-win outcomes.
According to David, spending 5+ years at T2 Systems was a great time to be an operator transitioning to technology because the industry was moving from antiquated manual operations to more digitized parking.
His next move was an organic one. T2 Systems was an integration partner of ParkMobile. ParkMobile was looking to commercialize their online reservations program, which fell smack dab into David’s wheelhouse.
Over the next three years, he expanded the scope of his responsibilities through sales and partnerships, eventually taking on zone parking. All of this ultimately resulted in his promotion to Chief Revenue Officer in April 2021.
As CRO, David operates at the intersection of sales, partnerships, and corporate development. And when asked how he’s able to knock it out of the park in such a high-pressure position, David’s response is immediate:
“I’m not a traditional salesperson,” he says, “and I don’t try to hire those folks. Parking is a relationship business and we believe in being long-term problem-solvers who help people. I want to do right by everybody involved, always.”
One of David’s core tenets is that ten out of ten times, he’d rather find a solution that makes sense for everybody than walk away from a deal because it doesn’t fit the rigid model of what a deal should look like.
“We look at how we can grow each others’ pies together,” says David.
It’s a Michelin-star approach, and one that leaves everyone satisfied.
“I’ve had the ultimate coaches.”
Becoming a Leader
In June 2021, EasyPark Group, a global parking technology company, acquired the entire ParkNow Group, including ParkMobile.
The EasyPark Group entered the North America market with the largest mobile parking payments provider, and ParkMobile employees were welcomed with growth potential and focused commitment on growing the region.
David took over as Managing Director of North America the next year.
David really jives with EasyPark’s global vision of creating change in the parking and mobility space that immediately, meaningfully benefits people in cities.
“The company focused on making cities more livable, and our values align with that. It’s more than just a tagline. After all, you gotta believe in who you work for.”
“I feel like I’m on a rocket ship.”
Recently, David rang in his eighth year at ParkMobile.
Such significant tenure is an achievement in and of itself, and especially in parking, where the landscape shifts so quickly and new technologies are always taking off.
“Ultimately, for me,” David says, “it’s about the people, the product, and the process. I love the people I work with; I love the product we offer, and I love how we touch all areas of mobility. There’s never a dull moment.”
Seeking Out Role Models
When asked about his vision as a leader and mentor to other parking professionals, David cites his own as top-tier role models.
Going back to one of the first individuals with whom he worked at Standard Parking, years ago, he shares this memory:
“We sat down together after a bunch of things happened and we started seeing what the future could look like. And we were like, okay, this is either gonna be really big or really small, but no matter what, we’re going to do it right. And within a few years, we were dominating the market, because we did it right.”
His advice to the people he works with today is to never be fooled by a quick win. The quick win will never be worth more than the long-term relationship – period.
Another piece of advice that he passes on is this:
“You can get so much done without raising your voice.”
Creating Teams
People who know David know him as someone who’s soft-spoken, direct, and carries himself with integrity. He’s categorically not the type of person who needs to cause a ruckus in order to make his opinion heard.
“Well, I hate to lose,” David says with a grin, “but I’d much rather be a good loser than a bad winner. Treating others with respect is fundamental to success.”
David says that one of the great joys of his career has been having so many amazing people around him who mean a great deal to him personally.
He recalls that when he was first coming up, things were sometimes “nasty” between operators. He heard horror stories during transitions about bad things happening and people attempting sabotage.
But today, he says, the industry has undergone so much positive change. People started coming up who understood how important it is to prioritize relationships in order propel the industry forward.
David’s vision for the future of parking is one of connected mobility – and it’ll be accomplished through open, honest conversations between true partners.
“Each and every day, it’s getting better.”
Finding Solutions
With the industry moving from analog to digital over the past few decades, parking has become easier, better, and more accessible for individuals across the board.
“For so long, the general social thought was that parking is inconvenient, clunky, messy, and an overall negative experience,” David says. “But with technology and a commitment to change, we will flip the script for a broader audience.”
At ParkMobile, the organization-wide goal is to take the friction out of parking, making it easier for people to access and simpler for them to get around.
They believe that partnerships between best-in-brand businesses that share this vision are what’s propelling us collectively towards this goal.
It all comes back to growing that pie.
“What’s key is that we continue to work together to solve these issues around parking and mobility,” David says. “It’s not an ‘us vs. them’ situation for any one of us. Having a common goal and working together is how we develop an understanding of how that pie can grow, and what it’ll take to make it happen.”
Want to learn more about David’s parking journey? Connect with him on LinkedIn. And if you have a parking story of your own to tell, contact Sarah Becherer, VP of Marketing, at Ocra at sarah@getocra.com.
