Dezirea Blumig was born and raised in Spokane, WA as the oldest of ten siblings. Today, all but two of her siblings still live in Spokane. Despite being a big family, they are very close. “We have a family group chat with eight of us family members where we are constantly sharing things with one another,” Dezirea laughs.
Dezirea’s family of origin couldn’t be more different from her husband’s family. Unlike Dezirea, Bastian was born in Germany, immigrated to Michigan around age nine, and was the oldest of three siblings. At 19, he became a traveling, door-to-door salesman before ultimately finding himself in Spokane as a car salesman. “I met Bastian when he sold me a car.” Dezirea remarks. She was impressed with how kind and genuine he was: “He always wants to go the extra mile for his customers. To him, it’s more important that his clients are heard and not simply sold.”
Dezirea Blumig
After the two lovebirds blended their families and married, Dezirea and Bastian had an opportunity to purchase their own car lot. “With Bastian’s 20 years of experience and passion for selling cars, he wanted his own car dealership and to prioritize fairness and honesty, which is not always the case in the car sales industry. As for me, I’ve also wanted to be a business owner who operates with honesty, integrity, and fairness regardless of the industry. Both of us have the intention of being the boss that we would have wanted during our years in the workforce,” Dezirea explains.
On September 1, 2022 Dezirea and Bastian purchased Common Sense Motors, a used car dealership located on the intersection of Division and Mission in Spokane. From day one, Dezirea and Bastian have worked to show their customers respect and appreciation and to find creative ways to give back to the local community. “We are both very passionate about charity work and giving back to our community, so I began planning events as soon as we took over the lot!” Dezirea laughs.
Their first month in business, Dezirea hosted a free acupuncture day that was open to the public. “I really love my acupuncturist and wanted to give her more exposure to potential clients and also provide an opportunity for people in the community to come on out and do something fun with us.” Meanwhile, Dezirea also began planning a special event for local trick-or-treaters the following month.
“I decided to coordinate a Trunk-or-Treat for Halloween in our lot that would be open to the community. It’s important that kids can enjoy trick-or-treating without having to worry about their safety. Luckily, we have great people in our lives who also believe in giving back to the community. The entire event was volunteer-run and everything was donated. We had 20 cars decorated with someone handing out candy, a DJ with dance floors, a photo booth, free tacos, and local firefighters. We anticipated having around 100-150 children show up, and were shocked and delighted to host over 2,000 kids! It was such a great time and we’re hoping to find more collaborators and sponsors for next year to be able to meet the costs and continue to host an annual Trunk-or-Treat,” Dezirea shares.
Dezirea’s thirst to give back is unmatched. In addition to planning and hosting the successful Trunk-or-Treat, she also coordinated a wildly successful pajama drive in December. “We held a PJ drive with the plan of sponsoring 50 kids through Embrace Washington. Throughout the drive, we had an outpouring of love and support from the community. We received so many donations and offers for help that we were able to give each of the 50 kids a pair of pajamas, a game, AND a fuzzy blanket. After that, we still had leftovers! The surplus of toy donations we donated to Toys for Tots, and the two large trash-bags full of new blankets and PJs we donated to the YWCA. It was incredible,” Dezirea recalls.
Just wait, there’s more. Dezirea also coordinated a community blood drive at the Kendra Smith Agency where she was selling business insurance (in addition to being a mom, co-owning a car lot, and planning community events.) Wow! When asked why giving back to the community is so important to her, Dezirea credits her parents. “Growing up my parents had an open door policy. The door was never locked. If someone was hungry, they were fed. If anyone needed support, they got it. I have friends from childhood who still call my mom to talk with her even though I haven’t seen or talked to them in years!”
Despite all of the amazing work they have done, it has been a crazy ride for the Blumig family. “This year has been incredibly turbulent! I began the year very sick and required emergency surgery, despite having a brand new business to attend to. We’ve had lots of ups and downs in our health, finances, and overall sanity, but I’m learning I am most successful when I let go of the obstacles we are facing and trust that God has a plan to get us through,” Dezirea shares.
“My biggest piece of advice to anyone thinking of making a major life change is to make sure your mental and emotional health are in check. If your mind and heart are in the right place, you’ll be able to overcome any obstacle. There is no easy path in life, but you must take care of yourself if you want to serve others well in the process,” Dezirea offers.
On Sunday, April 30th Common Sense Motors is hosting a Blood Drive partnered with Vitalant from 10:45am until 4:45pm. “There is a critical need for blood in Spokane. If you can, please donate! We’ll have free tacos and a DJ to keep things fun,” Dezirea shares.To register to donate (which is highly encouraged), you can call Vitalant at 877-258-4625.
If you’re looking for a reliable and affordable used car or you’re wanting to get involved with the great community events Dezirea has been coordinating, give Bastian and Dezirea a call at (509) 327-5122 or email them at [email protected]. Be sure to follow Common Sense Motors on Facebook @spokanecarsales to give them your support and stay up-to-date with their upcoming great local events.
