African American Today: Harley dealer is driven to succeed

By Jasmine Washington

 Re-entering the conference room where his company’s board of directors awaits his return, Maurice Slaughter assertively provides the mostly white male group with  its next points of discussion .

He leaves and heads back to his office in his Harley-Davidson dealership in Portsmouth.

On the walk back, he  passes the warehouse-sized showroom that is a mosaic of slick motorcycles, metallic parts and leather intermingled with the steady bustle of employees and customers. 

Inside his spacious office, a marketing employee, at work on a project, has a toddler on her hip and a collapsible playpen splayed out in the center of the room.

Slaughter quickly confers with her . N ever once does he lose his train of thought or take any notes. It’s  a personality trait that his mother referred to as being “laser-focused.”

That type of sharp determination serves Slaughter well as the first African American owner of a Harley-Davidson dealership in the company’s history.

His stores consistently place in the top dealers list, with his Portsmouth and Kitty Hawk, N.C., stores in 2008’s top 10 and his Outer Banks store in the top 100 of Dealernews magazine.

His Bayside megastore in Portsmouth is a must-see for any motorcycle enthusiast and a testament to the the hard work he has done and the sacrifices he has made.

The importance of education

Growing up on the historically black campus of Southern University in Louisiana, where his parents graduated and worked, education was the foundation  of all his goals.

His father served as the head of the university’s continuing education department and ran a real estate company. 

Slaughter recalled when his mother, an elementary schoolteacher who helped write math books,  forbade him to work while he was still a student. As motivation, she clipped articles of success stories and potential opportunities for him.

“She didn’t want me to have any type of confusion or diversions from what I was trying to accomplish,” Slaughter said.

After he earned his degree from Southern and a  master’s of business administration from Atlanta University, he  set out on his own path in life – franchise ownership. Slaughter owned and operated franchises where he flipped burgers for Burger King and peddled sedans for Toyota. 

At Toyota, the brutal hours would find him leaving home in the mornings with his daughter still asleep only to return that evening as she was  going to bed. Even when the long hours took their toll, he never wavered on his goals. Slaughter contends his supportive family helped him become the successful entrepreneur that he is today.

Janelle Elliott, his company’s chief financial officer, said  Slaughter creates a work environment in which employees can bring in their kids and take a day off, if needed. “With some successful businessmen, their families fall by the wayside,” Elliott said. “Not only does he keep family first, he treats us all as family as well.”

Following in Dad’s footsteps

It seems as though  Slaughter’s success has paid off in another way – his son and daughter seem to have inherited his  entrepreneurial spirit.

His daughter, Tiara, 25,  earned her  master of business administration and worked for her father for close to a year in the Kitty Hawk store.

She said  her father sometimes was tough on her because he didn’t want to give the appearance of preferential treatment.

“I’m glad he was hard on me because he taught me that it’s hard out there, to stay positive and to stay focused on my dreams no matter what,” she said.

With plans to open a nail bar and day spa in Atlanta, Tiara said she used that “Slaughter laser-focus” to guide her through college. 

Her brother, Will, who works in his father’s Elizabeth City, N.C., store, plans to open a tattoo parlor.

Slaughter said he would love for his legacy to continue through his children, because he noticed that a lot of other Harley-Davidson dealerships are second- and third-generation-owned.

“I’m hoping once they venture out and pursue their own professional goals, they will come to realize maybe this isn’t such a bad profession and come back,” Slaughter said. “I’m keeping the door open.”  

 Slaughter said he encourages all people of color to  pursue business ownership – especially franchises – and to maintain that laser-focus his mother instilled in him. Slaughter said it’s important to be passionate if you want to run your own business.

“That’s the biggest part – because you really have to believe in it because there are a lot of hours you put in a business,” he said. “It has to be a passion, and it has to be a joy.”

Jasmine Washington, jasmine.washington@pilotonline.com