Karl Malone Toyota has their own version of Stockton to Malone — in a general manager type of way.
The two NBA Hall of Famers formed one of the most successful pair of teammates in the history of the league during their playing days with the Utah Jazz.
Now, the Toyota dealership in Ruston owned by Malone has its own one-two punch with the recent promotions of Joel Benton and Julie Martin.
Joel is the new General Manager while Martin is the new General Sales Manager. The move came when James Necaise was promoted to General Manager of Karl Malone Ford of El Dorado and Operations Manager for the southern dealerships.
“Joel is a god fearing man’s man, who is an outstanding leader and friend to the organization and community,” said Necaise. “He is the first guy to show up and the last guy to leave. We are honored and grateful to have him as the face of our Ruston store. He has a big heart with bigger dreams. Someone you can look up to. There is a bright future for the community with him at the lead.
“Julie is outgoing and understanding. She is good at reading the situation and turning a bad situation into a positive one. She can talk with the best of them. She is honest and apologetic. She’s the one who finds the impossible vehicle to get and makes it possible, always finding a way to get the job done.”
Joel joined the Karl Malone Toyota team in 2019 as the Used Car Sales Manager when the dealership was purchased by Malone. He had previous experience as a salesman at another local dealership prior to making the move over. The Choudrant native has worked his way up, most recently serving as the General Sales Manager and is currently the youngest GM in the organization at age 32.
“I am pretty much the go-to guy,” said Joel about his new role. “I am pretty much the daddy of the dealership. I don’t know any other way to easily explain it. I am the guy if there are any issues or problems or decisions.”
Joel said he loves being a part of the Karl Malone Toyota family.
“It is family,” said Joel. “There is competition between the stores but if you need anything or have a question, everyone is there to help one another. Everybody covers each other and looks out for each other. We are family.”
And according to Joel, that culture and mindset bleeds over to the dealerships customers.
“We treat the customers the same way,” said Joel. “James always says, ‘We aren’t here to sell you a car. We are here to help you buy a car.’ We are here to help you figure out a way to put yourself in the vehicle. Yes. We make money selling the car, but we have fun helping the customers.”
His tag-team partner Julie Martin most recently served as the Sales Manager for the dealership prior to her promotion to General Sales Manager. Julie has been with Karl Malone Toyota for the past three and a half years.
Born in California, Julie’s family moved to Louisiana when she was young. Although she left the area early in her adult years, she returned to north Louisiana where she has made her home.
“Eighteen-year-old Julie wanted no part of Ruston, but 42-year-old Julie loves it,” said Julie with a smile.
In her new role Julie will manage the sales floor, manage inventory, and provide day-to-day assistance to Benton.
“We have always worked as a team,” said Julie about her and Joel’s working relationship. “Joel is like my baby brother who is my boss too. We fight and we argue sometimes, but we always have each others back. I would do anything in the world for him.”
Julie echoed Joel’s sentiment about what makes Karl Malone Toyota special.
“I think it starts with the people,” said Julie. “We take care of each other. We are family. Sometimes we spend more time here than we do with our other family. We treat each other right. I think it translates into success.
“It’s a choice here. Here we choose to be positive. We choose to care about our customers like they are family.”
It’s no wonder with people like Joel Benton and Julie Martin, Karl Malone Toyota is a first class dealership.
“We our proud of Joel and Julie’s accomplishments, and we are honored to have them helping the community and building leaders for the future of our company and for Ruston,” said Necaise.
