Senior Director of Accounts – National
PureCars
What is the proudest accomplishment of your career thus far?
Given the unprecedented challenges we faced as an industry last year — and continue to face today — I am tremendously proud to have guided PureCars’ Digital Strategy team and 2,000+ dealer/agency partners through initial pandemic challenges. Dealers are a resilient bunch; our team proved we are too. Our digital strategists helped dealers navigate “the new normal,” announcing safety procedures, sourcing inventory and identifying opportunities across new, used and fixed ops profit centers. We tackled problems large and small, coast to coast, together. Looking back on what we accomplished, it is nothing short of inspirational!
What is your best advice to other women who want to excel in the automotive industry?
Great news — the automotive industry needs more women, so you’re in the right place! Pursue advancing your knowledge and expertise with relentless passion, and advocate for yourself early and often. Attend workshops, watch videos online, solicit a mentorship from a peer or leader. Opportunity will be sure to follow!
What are some of the ways you have seen the industry support women?
I have been impressed and inspired by the growing number of women promoted into executive leadership at OEMs. This sends the right message to the industry that women belong and can effectively lead in a male-dominated business environment.
At PureCars, we value diversity and inclusion greatly, and recently featured videos of our very own “PureLadies – Working Women” throughout Women’s History Month. Promoting visibility into a “day in the life of a working mom,” for example, is one small but impactful way to uplift women in the workforce.
What is one thing the industry could do better/differently to support women?
I would love to see recruitment efforts to hire more women in dealerships. As an example, we do a great job of recruiting in technical programs, which skew in favor of male candidates, for technicians. We ought to institute heightened recruitment efforts in hospitality and customer service programs, which tend to favor female candidates, to place more women in salesperson and service advisor positions.