“Dedicated to conservation, innovation, and community.”
Charlie Clark
Who
Charlie Clark Nissan El Paso was founded by Charlie Clark, who grew up in McAllen. He spent his childhood with his nanny, Mari Cruz Aurora Aguirre, whom he calls «Nana.» A native of Montemorelos, Mexico, she worked with the Clark family for generations.
Charlie was born into the automotive industry, influenced by his great-grandfather’s car dealership from 1933. His parents traveled often, leaving him in Nana’s care, leading to a strong bond.
Nana, married with her own daughter, loved Charlie as her own. He spent time in her home, exposed to Mexican traditions like «Posadas» and «Carne Asadas,» which he cherished. These experiences helped him learn Spanish and connect with the community.
Charlie graduated from San Marcos Academy and earned a communications degree from Texas Christian University. He maintained close contact with Nana, eager to return home.
After college, he worked for The Hendrick Auto Group, learning the business from the ground up. He preferred to earn respect through hard work rather than family connections. He gained valuable lessons working with Saturn, known for high customer service.
Returning home, Charlie helped his father with a new dealership, increasing sales and becoming general manager. He then took a risk and purchased a bankrupt Nissan dealership in Harlingen in 2001, targeting the Latino community by communicating in Spanish.
His marketing efforts, including featuring Nana in campaigns, led to success. He became a local celebrity, hosting shows with Nana and using humor to connect with customers. His dealerships thrived, leading to a second Nissan store in Brownsville, achieving top sales rankings.
In 2017, Charlie Clark Nissan El Paso opened, quickly gaining popularity and becoming the number 1 Nissan dealership in the U.S. by volume sales in 2019. All his stores rank among the top 50 Nissan dealerships nationwide.
Charlie’s success is attributed to his family’s work ethic and Nana’s teachings. At 96, she reminisces about their time together, which inspired the atmosphere at his dealerships. Charlie’s marketing led to interest from Hollywood, resulting in a film featuring stars like Danny Trejo and Renee Victor as Nana, set for a 2020 release.
Reñihué & Charlie
Ancestral voices hold that at Fundo Reñihué, every blade of grass, river, lake, mountain, old-growth tree, puma, pudú, kodkod, chucao and huillín, and even the wind and the waterfalls, speak to us with the voice of Mother Earth -the Ñuke Mapu, the Pachamama. Small wonder, then, that a few decades ago noted entrepreneur and philanthropist Douglas Tompkins and wife Kristine should choose to leave the comforts of city life behind to start the Pumalín Park project. And just as the ancient guardians of the land were sworn to do, the wildlife sanctuary they founded succeeded in preserving a vast natural paradise from the predation of modern times. As fate, or Newen –the infinite force of the guardians of the forest– would have it, following Douglas Tompkins’ tragic passing, Charlie Clark, also a benefactor from the north end of the biosphere, felt it in his heart that it was his turn to rise to the ancestral duty of guarding this unspoiled landscape.
Clark was born into a family well acquainted with the hustle and bustle of urban life, steeped in the vibrant car dealing business and the market ups and downs. They aimed to serve the local Latino population, and they thrived. During his infancy, Charlie was introduced by Mari Cruz Aurora Aguirre, his Nana (nanny) to Mexican customs and to Spanish, the language of the South, rich in rites, in magic, in the lush nature that lies beyond the Rio Grande. The car dealership business Charlie launched after college prospered with the help of Nana, who was key in helping him gain a foothold among Latinos and to be recognized as one of them, in their own style and language; as a brother who respected their ancestral world, traditions, and customs. His unfaltering business ethics, for its part, he inherited from his own family.
Such was the impact on the local imaginary of the advertising drives Charlie Clark conducted with Nana’s help, that one day, out of left field, Hollywood studios came calling about a new project. So came about his acclaimed films The Green Ghost and MexiCan Show, movie epics connecting the values of kindness and fraternity to the fight for justice. Charlie made new friends, including renowned martial arts actors, who further connected him with the idiosyncrasies, people, stories, and mysteries of the south.
In search of the healing roots of the land
I know now that I have a much higher mission. Something magic happened when I first set foot in Reñihué: I realized that it was the place I’d been looking for. I bought the land, and I wept.
Charlie Clark, speaking to a Chilean media outlet. Charlie’s entire being was suffused by a rare call that made his voyage of discovery to new latitudes inevitable. It was a journey of the spirit that he could not escape. His conviction and luminous prescience were akin to the call of the ancient shamans, of the Machi of the vernacular Mapuche culture of southern Chile. Everything that makes us living beings, everything that heals, was to be found in nature, in its roots, in the sprouting of leaves and branches. Charlie traveled, met, and listened to the heirs of the ancestral peoples. He opened up his senses and let his soul run free. “Somewhere in this planet is that which I seek and which is seeking me…”
While in Peru to collect jungle plant specimens, Charlie realized that his world had changed for good. He became determined. Deep inside him, something began to smile. It was the peace of the soul that comes from coalescing with ancient memories. At length, Charlie learned that Kristine, Douglas Tompkins’ widow, was willing to part with a share of nothing less than iconic Fundo Reñihué, the nature conservancy she and Doug started in 1991.
Where warlocks dwell
I first traveled to Chile about a year ago. I instantly fell in love with it and its natural beauty. Most sources say that Reñihué stands for “where the coligüe grows”, a reference to the hardy bamboo native to the southernmost rainforests of Chile. More recondite voices say that the name actually comes from Renüwe, “where warlocks dwell”, a reference to certain especially large cracks in the rockface, believed to be portals used by sorcerers to walk into other dimensions.
The meaning of the name may not be easy to determine, but the fact of the matter is that the philanthropist who dreamed of one day becoming the guardian of these and other pristine regions, of funding environmental research for the benefit of the planet and its guests, fell in love with these lands the moment he set foot in them. It may be that some primeval memory of the legacy of past generations of guardians of Mother Earth was locked up in his DNA. It may also be that his entire being realized that humans share a common origin that binds them together across regions and cultures.
What is clear is that the world is now hearing about a new epic of natural preservation, of wildlife being protected by a new guardian from the north. From the north, like the bald eagle, a sister to the condor, which according to old legends will join together at the end of times to unite the souls and hearts of the warriors of the Infinite, of those who deem all that dwells under the sky as their home, of those who inherited the stardust that made all creatures dwelling in this bountiful planet possible.
The movie
“How did it all begin? I guess I heard the call of Mother Earth. A few years back, the study of medicinal plants and the traditional knowledge of some Latin American cultures helped me awaken to our connection to nature and to realize that we are but one part of it.
Along that journey I discovered Reñihué, a unique place teeming with biodiversity that can contribute so much to science and conservation. We must strike a balance so as to live in harmony with nature, the forests, the land and the sea. We have to strive for that”.
Charlie Clark
Founding President
Nature Conservancy Foundation
Charlie Clark
Founding President
Nature Conservancy Foundation
Article Name
Charlie Clark Nissan El Paso was founded by Charlie Clark, who grew up in McAllen. He spent his childhood with his nanny, Mari Cruz Aurora Aguirre, whom he calls «Nana.» A native of Montemorelos, Mexico, she worked with the Clark family for generations.
Article Name
Charlie Clark Nissan El Paso was founded by Charlie Clark, who grew up in McAllen. He spent his childhood with his nanny, Mari Cruz Aurora Aguirre, whom he calls «Nana.» A native of Montemorelos, Mexico, she worked with the Clark family for generations.
Article Name
Charlie Clark Nissan El Paso was founded by Charlie Clark, who grew up in McAllen. He spent his childhood with his nanny, Mari Cruz Aurora Aguirre, whom he calls «Nana.» A native of Montemorelos, Mexico, she worked with the Clark family for generations.
Article Name
Charlie Clark Nissan El Paso was founded by Charlie Clark, who grew up in McAllen. He spent his childhood with his nanny, Mari Cruz Aurora Aguirre, whom he calls «Nana.» A native of Montemorelos, Mexico, she worked with the Clark family for generations.