Garage Cordia, the main Toyota car distributor in Aruba for 58 years, was a magnificent family business, managed by the Schnog family, specifically Herbert and Hans Schnog.
Lisette Schnog, the only granddaughter and daughter, was considered the natural successor, being the third generation in the family. However, this family business, which for many years was the largest car dealership in Aruba and moved to a more modern building in Camacuri in 2005, faced challenging times, and now, in 2023, has been acquired by another group. With this, the continuation of the Schnog legacy has come to an end. For Lisette Schnog, this could represent the end of the legacy that started two generations ago, but it also symbolizes the beginning of her own journey and destiny.
"I can really say that I never knew anything different; I grew up in the car environment. It was just part of my identity." Her first car was a second-hand Toyota Celica she got for her 18th birthday. "I remember the car parked in front of the house with a bow on it." Then, the Japanese from Toyota wanted to send a new car style to see how it did in the Caribbean. So, Lisette got the first 3-door RAV Toyota (coral color) in Aruba. She went to school in Aruba but when it was time to study abroad, it was a logical decision for Lisette to attend the same car school her father also attended; IVA Driebergen for Automotive Business Management in the Netherlands.
A very clear indication of her preparation for the continuation of Garage Cordia/Toyota's future in the Schnog family. "I felt this expectation, so the aspiration didn't come precisely because I was a car fanatic like my father, but more so because it's a family company and I, as the only granddaughter/daughter, thought that this would be the path I'd automatically have to follow," Lisette says. After finishing VWO in the Netherlands, Lisette began studying at IVA-Utrecht, Institute for Car Industry and Management. Despite being the only woman among 30 men at school, Lisette made sure to work harder at school to prove herself in a male-dominated world at that time. "I carried that discipline with me to the end. The school was a condensed HBO training where I did 18 subjects per semester, from 8 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon." Her father Hans was still very popular at school back then. "He was on various committees; he was known and notorious," Lisette says.
"When I returned to Aruba at 23, I had a lot of energy. My father put me to work in the marketing and customer relations department because, in the latter, complaints would come in and thus I could learn faster. I managed papers with the Japanese, the efficiency of the technicians on each job, and was also in charge of launching the Yaris, which was to replace the Tercel and Starlet, which were our best sellers. I had to do this while my father himself was in Japan for work. It was 1999 and many people were superstitious about the year number change that was coming. Given that the design of the Yaris was completely different from what was known, with the speedometer in the middle for example, we had to create a 'hype' about it. I remember, together with my creative team, we came up with a concept to create anticipation that saw something coming from space and that could land in Aruba. We distributed the information as an 'infomercial' and unknowingly, people began to talk everywhere about this 'strange' phenomenon, when we revealed it was a Yaris, which was a new car model that had arrived in Aruba. We sold out immediately. I had a lot of desire and thought that would be my future, but as I said, this is a 'male-dominated business' and my father too, had a somewhat old-fashioned thinking about this."
During this time, Lisette met who would become her future husband and father of her three children, Presley, Leah, and Jean-Luc (Luca). Now as a mother, Lisette's father decided that Lisette's role in the business should change. "So, considering it's a family business, my father offered my husband at the time, a position in the business so I could have more time with my children at home. I didn't completely agree with that idea, but that was my father's vision. "If I had been given the opportunity, I believe I would have done well too, especially since it's a family business, it's in your blood, and then you do the job with a lot of love for the business, not just for a good salary."
Thinking back, it's clear to Lisette that from a very young age, she wanted to become a school teacher. "My mother tells me that since kindergarten, I would line up my dolls in a row and play that I was the teacher and my dolls were the students." After becoming a mother, she found herself more involved in her children's school and started a daycare called Little Einsteins, which she managed for 4 years.
"It was a labor of love more than a business. I wanted to do something I loved and create something based on the vision I had of good children's education or development, which I found very hard to find in the daycares that existed at the time in Aruba." In 2018, Lissette began her digital PABO training at Hogeschool Inholland. "Today, I work at EduCampus Aruba. I am the program lead for the Elementary Unit. "I get a lot of satisfaction from seeing our children develop. In such a short time at EduCampus, I see our children working to their capacity and growing in what they are strongest in. If you can touch someone, it doesn't necessarily have to be academically, it can simply be being there for a student to make them feel safe at school. We have many students who also play sports and compete abroad, and it's wonderful to see that they can make time for both. Our children can be good students and good athletes. I also like that the school places a lot of emphasis on the mental well-being of students and teachers.
Together with her parents, Lisette attended the farewell event of her father and the symbolic transfer of Garage Cordia to its new owners.
“It's still a grieving process, I believe. On one hand, now that 'it is done,' it's a relief that it's over. Of course, it's not what I thought my life would be, but it's also a moment of learning to understand that nothing lasts forever and that things in our life can change at any moment. Perhaps it's also a blessing because my passion is to see people develop themselves, and with my current job, I feel fulfilled seeing that and being a part of it. I am certainly grateful to all the customers and employees who were so loyal to Garage Cordia for such a long time. I hope they remain loyal to the new owner, who is young and will now make his effort to continue growing Toyota in Aruba. My three children, they are healthy, bright, and knowledgeable, and that makes me happy. Perhaps it's a pity they won't continue the legacy of the family business, but on the other hand, it's not something they should feel obligated to do either. They can choose and be who they want to be. They aren't tied to any family business legacy.”
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