Auto Care ON AIR
"Auto Care ON AIR" is a candid podcast dedicated to exploring the most relevant topics within the auto care industry. Each episode features insightful discussions with leading experts and prominent industry figures. Our content is thoughtfully divided into four distinct shows to cover four different categories of topics, ensuring collective professional growth and a comprehensive understanding of the auto care industry.
The Driver's Seat: Navigating Business and the Journey of Leadership
To understand organizations, you need to understand their operators. Join Behzad Rassuli, as he sits down for in-depth, one-on-one conversations with leaders that are shaping the future. This show is a "must listen" for how top executives navigate growth, success, and setbacks that come with the terrain of business.
Carpool Conversations: Collaborative Reflections on the Road to Success
Hosted by Jacki Lutz, this series invites a vibrant and strategic mix of guests to debate and discuss the power skills that define success today. Each episode is an entertaining, multi-voice view of a professional development topic and a platform for our members to learn about our industry's most promising professionals.
Indicators: Discussing Data that Drives Business
This show explores data relevant to the automotive aftermarket. Join Mike Chung as he engages with thought leaders in identifying data that will help you monitor and forecast industry performance. Whether global economic data, industry indicators, or new data sources, listen in as we push the envelope in identifying and shaping the metrics that matter.
Traction Control: Reacting with Precision to the Road Ahead
Every single day, events happen, technologies are introduced, and the base assumptions to our best laid plans can change. Join Stacey Miller for a show focused on recent news from the global to the local level and what it may mean for auto care industry businesses. Get hot takes on current events, stay in the know with timely discussions and hear from guests on the frontlines of these developments.
Auto Care ON AIR
YANG Special: Open Mic Sessions
Our Young Auto Care Network Group (under 40s in the Auto Care industry) gather at Auto Care Connect in Phoenix to discuss how mentorship, community building, and self-awareness shape career development in today's rapidly evolving marketplace.
• Traditional mentorship is evolving – valuable guidance can come from peers facing similar challenges, not just industry veterans
• YANG's mentorship program creates circles of support with both peer and experienced mentors
• Career paths are no longer linear – professionals must adapt to rapidly changing industry landscapes
• Finding and nurturing your strengths may lead to unexpected but fulfilling career directions
• Building collaborative communities goes beyond networking – it creates deeper relationships around shared goals
• Technology and innovation drive industry change – finding people with similar interests helps navigate new tools like AI
• Leaving your mark means identifying problems you're passionate about solving, not just climbing a predetermined ladder
• Women in Auto Care provides crucial support networks to help industry professionals discover their potential
• Attending in-person events remains critical for building meaningful relationships that virtual connections can't replace
• Your unique path doesn't need to mirror anyone else's – find your own way to contribute and grow
Session Chapters:
(00:00:00) Mentorship That Matters – Matt Fowler & Jose Perez
(00:18:35) Building Collaborative Communities – Tanya Hunt & Michael Reynolds
(00:31:51) Crushing Your Career Goals – Alexandria Gaston & Brandon Crenshaw
(00:48:37) Leaving Your Mark – Lauren McCollough & Joe DeLorme
(01:07:35) Owning your Strengths & Shaping Your Journey - Autumn Lamb & Brooke Peckham
(01:24:32) Finding Your People – Clifton Gurley & Jamie Francis
Applications for YANG's Mentorship Program will open again in the fall. The program meets quarterly for about an hour each session, connecting you with peers and experienced mentors.
To learn more about YANG and it's FREE membership, visit: autocare.org/yang
To learn more about the Auto Care Association visit autocare.org.
To learn more about our show and suggest future topics and guests, visit autocare.org/podcast
Welcome to Auto Care On Air, a candid podcast for a curious industry. I'm Jackie Lutz, content Director at the Auto Care Association, and this is Carpool Conversations, where we collaborate on today's most relevant power skills. We're all headed in the same direction, so let's get there together. Okay, welcome. This is our Yang open mic here at Auto Care Connect in Phoenix, arizona, and I have with me Jose Perez. He's a category manager at Cloy's Gears and Products and also a subcommittee member of Yang. You're on the mentorship subcommittee.
Speaker 2:Correct.
Speaker 1:So this topic is perfect for you and you just did a five for five.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was the most nervous I've been in my life.
Speaker 1:So that's five minutes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, five minutes, five slides and you present. I guess when I was going it was the most packed. I think there were like 175 people in that room, yeah, so I'm glad I wasn't walking around, because I know I would have probably fainted.
Speaker 4:So I just stood up there and gave the best I could.
Speaker 2:That podium holds you up, yeah.
Speaker 1:People are just like hanging on to it for dear life. Yeah, I was.
Speaker 3:I looked like I was about to Hulk it at one point.
Speaker 1:I always love the five for fives. I missed them, I was recording during that time, but I always love it because I know the people that are raising their hand for that are usually people who have never public spoke and it seems like five minutes would make it easier, but in so many ways I think it can make it harder.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because I kind of had to reduce my knowledge kind of in a sense, so I can fit it in that time slot. But knowledge kind of in a sense of, so I can fit it in that time slot.
Speaker 1:But I think it went pretty well, I got a lot of exposure for sure. So, as someone that public speaks quite a bit, I think it's such a good way to learn is to learn how to be simple and brief and you know, quick yeah because then it like keeps you from drawing everything out. It's actually like a really good program.
Speaker 3:I love it being simple is the best thing you can be, yeah. You know, I am a professional at it.
Speaker 2:Straight to the point.
Speaker 1:And this other voice is Matt Fowler. He's the account executive at Pivotree and he's also the Yang chair this year, so he's kind of led the conference this year at AutoCare Connect. So how's it going? Yeah?
Speaker 3:no, the conference went great. We wrapped up yesterday Best attendance we've ever had, which is fantastic. It's just been an awesome year. You know, we had a council this year that just took every piece of thing they could and ran with it to its fullest. We have every single committee has stepped up from the year before. We're doing more newsletters, we're doing more YPSs, we have a bigger conference. It's just fantastic. We've launched a ton of new programs. We're expanding the mentorship program, which is great to talk about here today too. So it's just awesome.
Speaker 1:That one's near and dear to my heart. So I was really happy to see the mentorship being a topic that you guys chose for your guys' open mic, so let's get into it. So what is mentorship to each of you guys? How have you guys used it in your career and what has it done for you?
Speaker 2:For me it's actually been my lifeline. You know, I came, I'm a first generation, so my parents, they work at restaurants. They don't know nothing about professional or you know how to achieve your career goals and all that stuff. So anytime I would have a question or anything, my mentor was my go-to and I've been fortunate enough to. All my mentors were really cool. They all like to drink, so that's when you get the most out of a conversation, in my opinion.
Speaker 3:Yeah, when people finally loosen up a little bit. Yeah, that's the key. And for me, mentorship is kind of understanding that it can come from anywhere. And for me, mentorship is kind of understanding that it can come from anywhere. I mean, I think that a lot of times, you know, we always think of the. You always think of like an old person, VP, like just really out there right, like they're bestowing this wisdom from decades of experience, like a wizard.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like Gandalf's out there. But you know, some of the best advice I've gotten is from people my age, younger than me Like sometimes, mentors can be people who are just going through the same mud that you are and just taking the time to ask questions and be like oh well, that was a, that was a. I wish someone would have told me that.
Speaker 1:Yeah absolutely, I actually really relate to that. I feel like some of the greatest mentors I've had had been people working alongside of me or even just peers in the industry. You know that that are kind of doing the same things, and Matt and I were kind of discussing before this and it kind of hit home for me just thinking you, uh, we mentioned the word peer mentorship and that's what, like yeah, it's so great about Yang is that you guys get together. You see people at your level, a little bit above your level, you might find the person that's one step above you. That that's what the job you want someday and you actually get to like create these relationships with the people around you that actually understand what you do and where you're trying to go, cause I know that's always been something in my career where I don't know that somebody exists. Today, that is is where I want to be so like, like, how do you find that perfect?
Speaker 3:when the trajectories aren't as, uh, linear as they once were I think I think that sometimes you think about it and it's like, well, I have to want to do what the next person in line is doing.
Speaker 1:I'm like I don't know, might not be what I want to do yeah, well, innovation in companies is like 10 times what it used to be right things move so quick, so like, so like. You know positions change, you know corporate structures change and shift all the time. So yeah, there's just no clear ladder.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I think that sometimes just finding people that share the same values as you can be more meant, even if they're not in the role you want. But you know, you're talking to them and they're like hey, you know and you're, you would just agree with the way that they look at the world, so you can bounce ideas off of them and they can give you advice that it may not be pertinent. Oh, big word.
Speaker 1:Uh to, I crushed that big word.
Speaker 3:That's my $3 word of the day, Um, so it might not be like what you do every day, but it's someone that you can trust, that you're like hey, what if I? What would you do in this situation? Because it's more about you know kind of who they are as a person these days, I think, than trying to be where they're at. That's kind of the way I always thought about it, anyway.
Speaker 7:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah for sure. I mean just trying to surround yourself with the people that want to. You know you got to surround yourself with people that want to achieve more Cause. At the end of the day, you're both going for the same goal, so yeah, I heard it.
Speaker 1:I heard something somewhere where someone was like you surround yourself with billionaires. You're going to be a billionaire. If you surround yourself with, you know, people who play video games all day, you're going to also have a great marriage. You know, it's just like you know, you surround yourself. That kind of feels like a peer mentorship plug a little bit.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you just surround yourself with the people who are always on the same, I mean, I think, alex. Yesterday Alex Weber did his keynote.
Speaker 1:Is that where I got that from?
Speaker 3:He was talking a lot about how you know you just surround yourself with people who are going to push you. You know people who are also ambitious in the same places that you're ambitious. Because, sometimes it's like well, this decade I don't want to be the VP of a company or I don't want to go there. I want to figure out how to manage my kids and do my life and that thing. And so you know your mentors can also change throughout phases of your life, like you don't always have to have the same ones.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and kind of like you mentioned too. Like anybody can be a mentor, and I think that that's a huge point too. Like I mean yeah, if you've ever had somebody come up to you and been like, oh, I just really look up to you or I've learned such and such, has that ever happened to you? Oh my gosh, minute by minute that's a lot of short people so funny, so funny.
Speaker 2:No, yeah, I mean for me, like the biggest surprise was my brother. He was like you know, I mean you're not, I'm not necessarily in the same profession that he is, but he sees me wanting to better my life and he's like you know, how do you do it, what steps do I need to take?
Speaker 1:And I was completely blown by it because I did not expect that from my brother and I was completely blown by it because I did not expect that from my brother. You don't know who's watching and who you're inspiring For sure.
Speaker 2:So you know, always try to do their best and be resourceful.
Speaker 1:And I mean you're in your 20s, but someday you're going to be in your 30s. Like Jackie, like me, I'm not ready for it.
Speaker 2:My knee's already hurting.
Speaker 1:Matt still claims to be 20, so I'm just going to play along yeah 29. That's what I heard On the brink. I heard that I'm right on the edge of 30,. I think, yeah, you're right there. Mentally Well, you don't look it.
Speaker 3:I'm a really hard 30. It's a hard, 30.
Speaker 1:Had a stressed out, 29. Stressful life, huh.
Speaker 3:But that's an interesting point. You brought up too, family and things like me and my sister. I have a twin sister and we took we're both in business but she's the accounting, like brain behind things, and I'm the sales, like gregarious one. But sometimes I look at her and I'm like how do you get everything done in a day that you get done in a day? She's got two kids, she drives like 45 minutes away to an ice rink for hockey and then she's doing figure skating and then she works for eight hours and then she goes and I'm like, yeah, I worked eight hours, I went to the gym, I barely made dinner and I am exhausted and you know. So sometimes it's just sitting down and chatting with people, like she doesn't.
Speaker 1:I would never admit that she's a mentor of mine because that would be absolutely terrible but she's definitely someone that doesn't throw out compliments.
Speaker 3:No, those are those those are few and far between, but yeah, just just you know, always looking for someone who's doing something you want to be doing and then just watching them, talking to them, asking them questions. That's a mentor at the end of the day, Like it doesn't have to be this very formal, very like rigid thing. It can be and there's a place for those. But there's also a place for like here's my mentor for the month, here's this person that I'm like trying to get this one thing done or I'm working on this particular habit or this particular skill Like a quality yeah, again, like you said before, like that shares your values and how they live them out, and you respect that.
Speaker 1:You want to do that too, yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean also too, I guess you don't even have to speak to them for them to be your mentor. You know, you kind of track their life like I got a lot of the speakers here. I was like I wrote down their names and kind of looked at how or how or why they became who they are. Because I mean, obviously, if you're a speaker, you're pretty some pretty important person, you've done something. So you know, just look up to them too.
Speaker 3:Yeah and the other thing is is never hesitate to reach out to those people, because that's that's probably one of the bigger lessons I've gotten in my short 30 ish year lifespan is, you know, the people are still people at the end of the day, and you know, just reaching out, most people are excited to hear that you were paying attention, that you want to know more, like everyone wants to tell their story and everyone, deep down, I think everyone inherently wants to help people, whether they they know it or not, and so when someone asks for it, it's kind of like this humbling experience of times of like, oh well, you were paying attention, even like you wanted to do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. I think and I would almost argue, especially people that might be more intimidating, people that put themselves out there a little bit more know and, like you, might be intimidating to come up to them and like ask them for help or something. If someone's putting themselves out there like that, it's usually so that people will look at them as a thought leader and you know they will be honored, like you said, or excited about the fact that they reached somebody and can and help you and make a difference in some in your life.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and then also don't be afraid, like if someone's like you. I've asked people before when I was trying to figure things out, in particular growth patterns of like, hey, can you mentor me? Not knowing what I was even asking, I was like I know I'm supposed to have one, I don't know what you're going to do, but I feel like you should be my mentor and sometimes it's like you just got to watch them first and be like, okay, and if they say no, it's also not an insult on anybody. It takes time. Sometimes some people do want to do that formal process and they do want to say, hey, we're going to meet once a month or once a quarter and we're going to talk about your career and we're going to talk about these things, no-transcript.
Speaker 3:Yeah so that doesn't mean you should stop or take it. Personally, I think that you know.
Speaker 1:I think I did that probably when I was younger is you know, when you do ask for advice and you receive said advice, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's a hundred percent for you or that you have to follow it. And I think there's still. It's important to note that you still have to kind of think for yourself, still critically think about you know that that mentor is not growing up in the same world that you did necessarily. You know they're not necessarily in the same position as you or has the same exact values as you. So you might still feel like you're being pulled in a different direction and you still have to kind of think for yourself. Don't take it as fact necessarily the advice you receive.
Speaker 2:I mean, a lot of my mentors were like learn from my mistakes. But I was like, no, I need to learn from my own mistakes Because that's how you actually you know you can read it miles before it actually happens, because you already learned from it, you already experienced that failure or that you know not succeeding.
Speaker 3:I'm really looking forward to my first mistake so I can learn from it personally. But no, that's definitely some of the best advice I've been given was the advice I didn't take. I was like I do not agree, I don't think, I think I'm gonna go the other direction, and that was right, but like gave you some clarity.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like maybe when you got that advice, you're like well, actually I think I know what I need to do now.
Speaker 3:I'm trying to think there was this thing. It was like you know, say, there's two options and you throw them in the air and you have to catch one, and in that second you grab one and it's like, well, that's probably the one you wanted anyway. I'm sure there was a way better metaphor for that than what I came up with, but I feel like I've heard that before.
Speaker 1:Maybe it's your first mistake. No I feel like I was just. I was misled in that situation.
Speaker 3:So I can't really claim that as my own mistake. Now it's all coming together, it's all coming back to me now.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So this is kind of like with this conversation. It's really why the Yang Mentorship Program is so cool because it sets you up in a circle. It's not just one mentor and then you kind of work with that one person. You have that person at your exposure and you talk about topics that are interesting to you, but it also introduces you to four or five other peers like Yang members. So it's like five or six younger Yang members with one mentor, and so you really start to develop that circle and that tighter network around you, and a little bit tighter than you know saying hi bye at conferences like this. This is like you actually can share some of the struggles you've had and get advice from peers and get advice from a mentor and people. You actually can share some of the struggles you've had and get advice from peers and get advice from a mentor and people. You can reach out outside of the circle. So that is something that listeners should consider.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean I think the mentorship program is fantastic in that way. I mean, one of the best mentors I had was two years ago and basically the best thing they did in the group was let the group talk. I mean it was, they were almost the facilitator of the conversations, and those are still five people that I talk to regularly because I know that. You know, hey, we aligned on this at this time.
Speaker 3:So, like, let me just run an idea past you yeah and so you know that peer mentorship is a big thing, in my world at least, because, much like yourself, we talked about this before. It's like I don't necessarily know if I've got someone that I can be like that's who I want to be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's what I want to do. Yeah, you know other than retired but, other than that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean one of one, one of my mentors. Like I went for that subcommittee or not, the mentorship program. He gave us a problem and you know the different people that were mentees were from. They were technicians, they were accountants. You know they weren't just in the same. You know environment as you were. So it gave you a light into the problem from different point of views for sure.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm. Yeah, and you know something? We don't really talk about a lot with these Yang-Ments, sorry there was a fly that just attacked me.
Speaker 3:That fly was going for you.
Speaker 1:That was like Jackie's done, for it was so little but so much in my eyeball. But something that we don't mention very much, that maybe we should, is like the benefits to the mentor of this program, because there is probably some kind of reverse mentorship that goes on, because they can see and get a glimpse into the world that these mentees are growing up in, the problems or the challenges that they have that maybe they didn't have back then but they're developing their leadership skills by seeing what's coming up and getting exposed to that in those conversations. So when you say the mentor just sat back and listened, I bet that was really beneficial for them.
Speaker 3:Yeah and I think that comes to the other topic that we were talking about earlier is the mentor doesn't have to be the one that would like, when you walk into a room, you'd be like that's the mentor.
Speaker 4:That's not always the case.
Speaker 3:They don't always stand out quite so abruptly and really it's always a two-way street, at least the way that the people that I've spoken with and the people that I've either looked up to or, god forbid, someone looked up to me, and you know it really goes both ways. Like you know, especially with the generational things of you know I'm not going to go like look up something in a book or in a newspaper for information.
Speaker 3:That's just not how it's going to happen, and then, someone comes up to you, they're like, well, that's how I would do it. And I'm like, well, I don't know that I would waste my time with that yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure. Anything else that.
Speaker 3:I think that, yeah, at the end, I think that one I would just obviously shameless plug during the mentorship program. It's an awesome program. I think that you know I am rolling off his chair, so it's not my technical responsibility anymore, but I think that the program itself has been super helpful for me. I've been in it since it started, when you started it, and so I think that it's just an opportunity to, if nothing else, develop deeper relationships with people, because networking and mentorship go hand in hand, and I think that you know you can find inspiration and you can find direction from anyone in any place, and so just being open to it and being honest about that just put you in a better spot. So I will definitely plug the, the young mentorship program for anybody under 40. And if you're over 40 and you want to share some advice, don't hesitate to sign up as a mentor, because you know you might learn something too.
Speaker 2:For sure. I mean, and you know, our process when we pair you with a mentor is not just 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3. We actually take the time to help you, pair you with the best mentor for you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a wonderful program. So thank you guys for being on.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Okay, welcome back to another Yang open mic session at AutoCare Connect in Phoenix, arizona, and I have with me Tanya Hunt, commercial project manager for TerraPower, formerly BBB Industries. She's also a Yang Council member, an Impact Award winner this year, which was so exciting and very well deserved, and she was also a previous Women of Excellence Award winner for Women in Auto Care and also Champion of the Year for them, so we have a little bit of a star on our podcast today. Welcome, tanya.
Speaker 6:Thank you.
Speaker 1:And then Mike Reynolds, inside sales manager for Go Power Train, and he was a five for five speaker and you spoke about hustlers mindset. I want to hear what was your message there.
Speaker 8:Honestly, it kind of aligns with this. It was kind of intensely about collaboration and you know the necessity to establish, you know, bilateral relationships with you know your vendor partners, with your consumers, with your internal customers, and just understanding that you know we really do exist in a in a multi dimensional space for in all facets of aftermarket, and understanding that you know all relationships work two ways, more so than ever in the past.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and like were you nervous?
Speaker 8:Goodness gracious, I can't, I cannot tell you enough. Not quite as nervous as I am now, but that was.
Speaker 1:It was good for me You're more nervous for this. No, this you can edit, that's true.
Speaker 8:No, but uh, it was exciting. It was a lot of fun. I hadn't done public speaking since grad school, so it was something that I definitely needed to refresh on and I definitely appreciate the opportunity to come out. So thank you guys.
Speaker 1:That's why I love Five for Five. It's always people or just challenge themselves, but I always say, it's actually, I think, a little bit more difficult even to keep it to five minutes.
Speaker 8:Yes, oh goodness, yeah, forces you to be. Mary had the one sign. It felt to me like two minutes in, but I'm sure it was five and a half minutes in by the time she had the sign up.
Speaker 1:She could have been standing there with like a hook.
Speaker 8:Oh goodness.
Speaker 1:I expected the gong, you playing some music over you speaking, trying to rush you off the stage. So today we're talking about fostering collaborative community, which I think is great. We kind of talked a little bit about like, well, how's this different than networking? And it almost feels like it's taking networking a step further because, obviously you can have multiple communities in your life.
Speaker 1:You know you even have like your family at home, and then you have your home friends and then you have your industry friends, or you have women in auto care or young auto care networking group or ACPN. We have all kinds of communities. So how do we foster that collaborative community and what does that mean to you guys and how have you used it?
Speaker 8:I can certainly lead it off Sure at all. Sure. The biggest thing for me and I say it ad nauseum to my team is I take the word business partner extremely seriously and kind of circling back to the two-sided relationship piece, it's understanding that you're not going to necessarily win every transaction but you can win the relationship. You know, if you're there for your customers and you understand their needs and, honestly, in a lot of instances you need to put their needs first. That's the kind of collaboration that I, you know, really has worked really well for me in the past. You know I'll lead off with something that really irritates my balls. I'm sure he'll love to hear it when he gets back.
Speaker 8:I'm known for sending my customers to the competition at least once, and I mean particularly my good ones, because, number one, it shows trust. You know I can't service your need for this. However, I do know someone who can and at the end of the day, we're really looking towards the customer. Without the customers, none of us are here, none of us exist, and so, like that is one method of collaboration I use to really gain equity with my customers and they know that you know when they call me, when they call us, we're going to act as a business partner, even if we don't necessarily capture that transaction yeah, I feel like you just nailed it.
Speaker 1:actually, like you know, the, the collaborative community is more built on trust versus just knowing a lot of people and knowing who to go to for what. Right, and I was thinking like networking.
Speaker 10:you know, you know the name, you know the title, you know the company. But I think community is knowing the person, and so what I love about Auto Care Association and our industry is it's built on relationships, whereas before it was, the family ran businesses, and so those were deep and legacy, but we don't have those as much anymore. So we have to have these communities and the auto care association to help us establish those relationships and give us the opportunity to know each other from across the country and across the world.
Speaker 1:Yeah and like so. So do you guys have any examples of of times where you know a community has really come together, you know like in your circles, and you kind of witness this in real life?
Speaker 10:Yes. So very recently, we all we have multiple connection circles with women in auto care and I had just met a woman in auto care member. I think she's just out of school, she had her first job. I think she had been in the industry less than a year. I actually passed out my card, which was actually a scrap of paper with my name and email saying, like, reach out to me, I'll help get you plugged in to talk to you about Champion and mentors and the connection circles and I'll just get you all the things women in auto care that you need to know. And so she joined my connection circle, generation Gap. Well, she had an unexpected layoff and she was freaking out because I mean, obviously you're young, you just got your first job, like you're feeling comfortable, right. And so I was like, hey, let me see what I can do. So I reached out to Women in Auto Care and I reached out to her. I was like, hey, I would just like to share your LinkedIn, post your background, what you're looking for, and just see who may have something for you.
Speaker 10:The Connection Circles can have, you know, a couple hundred people signed up to attend, and so it's a pretty big network. Actually, I don't have relationships with all these people. It's always BC'd. So I reached out and I said hey, here's a Women in Auto Care member. She is new to our industry. We want to keep her. Does anybody have an opportunity or know someone? Please reach out to her. Here's her information. This is all done with permission and blessings. Well, it was probably like a month and a half, but she had four to six interviews and she now has a job and she's at Connect Week.
Speaker 1:That's wonderful.
Speaker 10:So I just thought that was amazing that we could come around a young person who's probably going to be an up and coming emerging leader, because, like she's in now, yeah. Like we came in, we surrounded her, we lifted her up.
Speaker 1:She's not going anywhere, so how do you develop that?
Speaker 10:I think it's just being open and available for that relationship. Like a lot of people have helped me feel plugged in and have given me a spark for the industry and on the daily I'm like what can I do to give somebody else that spark? Like we're passing it on. Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's a good way to look at it.
Speaker 8:And like bringing that into your company. Yeah, how do you do that?
Speaker 8:For me, it's about celebrating those moments of collaboration and I talked about it a little bit yesterday during the five for five. If you're in it, this, you know, works for sales, works for accounting, works for shipping. You know any facet of the business. But you really need to champion those instances of collaboration. You need to make them very public facing and so you know when you know if you have a co-worker or something to that effect that you know goes out of the way, you know to spark those activities you're looking to see. That collaboration, you know, goes the extra mile for a customer, it goes the extra mile for an internal customer, you know a co-worker. I think it's really important to kind of celebrate those because otherwise not only do they get swept under the rug, which is bad, but it kind of dissuades, you know, the persistence of those things. You know we really need to do a good job of just championing the behaviors that we want to see and I think that's one of the ways we can continue driving it forward.
Speaker 10:Yeah, I think any recognition it's free first of all, but you know, it goes a long way for them as well, and I feel like if you are celebrating those small wins, it encourages them to continue doing more and above and beyond their job. And so that does also just say like, hey, let's, what else can we all do? That's not our day job that we can make our company and our industry a better place.
Speaker 8:And I think sometimes too, it comes down to fictional barriers. I think sometimes collaboration is hindered by what people think they should do, or maybe you think they're allowed to do, and I think by communicating that, you know, even trying to get in front of it allows people the autonomy to go. You know, hey, I have this great idea and I'm empowered to then action upon it, and a lot of times I can foster collaboration.
Speaker 1:I almost feel like, too, maybe a space to say you can really develop your own communities, too, around whatever subject you feel like you need that community for. Like I was just talking to somebody I'm not going to say what it was because it's probably be too obvious, but they were talking about how they kind of created a little community of people that have the same lifestyle as they do, and they just only like nine or 10 people, he said, but they just kind of like said like let's be there for each other. And I'm just thinking of like all of the areas in your life and in your career where you can build community around something. It doesn't have to be super official. Like even for me, I have multiple you know um, I live in the Michigan, michigan, and there's a ton of you know automotive aftermarket companies there. So a lot of people and um, I've I reached out to multiple women that I knew in the area and I'm like we should get together every now and then. So now we have like a quarterly get together.
Speaker 10:I've actually heard about it. I'm in Alabama. Oh, it's too bad, you know.
Speaker 1:and then we have like a group chat and I think it's the same um girl, that you helped.
Speaker 1:Uh she's in that group and you know that was some. She reached out. Actually, she reached out to me and I told her to reach out to the group. I'm like you got to expand your efforts here when you get laid off and it was one of the first things I did when I got laid off is I reached out to that group and said hey guys, I'm looking. Please reach out to your networks. You can build a community around anything, but it's just people that know that the reason that they're there is to be there for each other and to give back. Right for sure, yeah.
Speaker 1:And I think it can really apply to a team. We can kind of go a little bit deeper than just what we do for our day jobs.
Speaker 8:Right, absolutely, and that always builds a lot of equity to you know. The more you get to to understand the people you work with, you know to understand their values and everything that goes along with that. I think that kind of you know fosters that collaboration as well, because you learn people's strengths and weaknesses. We ran into something interesting where our in-house AI experts, so to speak, is actually a contract sales employee and we would have had no idea that he had any you know toes in that field. But you know, by getting the necessity out there, you know we need someone who does this. You know he raised his hand and he's done an amazing job for us so far and we would have never expected that from him and he's just really leaned into it, done an amazing job. Shout out, adrian.
Speaker 1:Shout outs are allowed, so like how do we develop the culture? Culture of collaboration like, how do we develop the culture, culture of collaborative community? I mean, is it, is it just being more open? Is it? Is it, is it having like official times, like meetings, like meeting places? Is it regular check-ins? Like what does it look like?
Speaker 10:yeah I. So we've done a few things at terra power where, like, we've brought kind of auto care into the company, so like that we did like women of terror power, you know, you find you're under 40, just to kind of share the resources. And I mean I feel like that opens up the conversations like, hey, do we want to do a lunch and learn every month, which we have done?
Speaker 10:I've kind of done a few things that have not stuck, so you have to kind of wait and see what fits right with with the schedules and the different departments and things like that, but I think at least identifying those groups that have something in common that can do more together is a is a good a first start. Really, one thing that we have done that has been successful is we have corporate citizenship, which is just giving back to our, giving back to our local communities. So it's kind of an inside thing but reaching out. And it started with just Dne, where we were responding to a hurricane, but we got a small group together saying like hey, we want to get together and kind of have like a brain trust and like what can we do to help? And the answer was, you know, doing a blood drive and doing Toys for Tots, where our CEO, duncan, actually flew the toys to the community that was most impacted by Hurricane Michael. So this was back in 2018.
Speaker 10:It was really cool, but that sparked a whole thing of corporate citizenship. Becoming a global 25 location, 35 representatives, and we communicate every so many months about what can we do this quarter to bring positivity to our community, whether it is teach about sustainability, give toys for tots, do a blood drive or serve a meal to those who are underserved. So I feel like that brings a community where it sparked other people saying, hey, I have other things that I think we can do.
Speaker 10:We could go clean up this neighborhood or we could plant trees in this park, and so it kind of inspired others to kind of take up a mantle of saying like how, how can our location get back? And it's not a competition. It is very collaborative of you know. If there's something you're passionate about, tell us and maybe another location will want to do something similar.
Speaker 1:It sounds like. It sounds like networking with you know, like a small group that has like a similar goal or or a similar passion, and you're there very intentionally to support the people or whatever that initiative is.
Speaker 10:Yeah, I think it's just showing like, hey, this is an option, like this is something that's not your job, but it's something that we can all do because we have the permission to do so. And then you know, you let it organically, kind of go from there Like our remote team kind of took, found their own causes and they're all over the country. Yeah.
Speaker 10:But they chose some, some organizations that they wanted to support as a group, from all their different states. And so it definitely took like a life of its own, and so I think anytime you can spark some positivity and some goods you can put out in the world and people adopt it, that's when you know you, you found something, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, believe it or not, guys, we hit our time, oh wow. Didn't it go fast, good job.
Speaker 10:Good job you made it. I don't know if our story's all mixed together correctly, oh, I think it did. You did great, absolutely.
Speaker 8:Jackie has a talent.
Speaker 1:She has a talent. Absolutely Well. Thank everybody to another open mic session for Yang at AutoCare Connect in Phoenix, arizona, and I have with me Alexandria Gaston, senior talent development specialist, for who I don't have it written down ISN For ISN, and then Brandon Crenshaw, vp of strategic accounts and solutions for integrated supply network.
Speaker 9:Oh, that's why you guys have such this. I was like, why do?
Speaker 5:you guys have such a banter, Like you guys okay, I get it now.
Speaker 1:It all makes sense. It's all coming together. Um and Brandon, you're also on the Yang council and we just found out that you're also the incoming vice chair.
Speaker 9:I am.
Speaker 1:So that's really exciting for you.
Speaker 9:You have a busy year ahead busy three years ahead, busy, busy three years ahead, and it's been a journey getting there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so what like what? What? What made you want to raise your hand for vice chair?
Speaker 9:Um, I was actually the whole journey with. Yang's been interesting, so working remotely and new to the industry, Yang was the only way I could see myself networking right.
Speaker 9:At least virtually, the mentorship programs and all that. And so I had messaged Matt Fowler when he was the vice chair and was like, hey, how can I get involved? And then he had me do the five for five last year or told me to apply. I did that. Had me do the five for five last year or told me to apply. I did that. Uh, then joined the council and then, uh, Danny Hunt was like, hey, I think you'd be good for the vice chair.
Speaker 9:And I said, whatever you think it's going to help, and so, then, I was voted on by the peers, and here we are.
Speaker 1:It's interesting because our topic today is crushing your career goals, and I think one of the ways that you do that is raising your hand and feeling okay to reach out to people and tell them that you're interested in something, that you don't know how they'll respond or how it'll be taken.
Speaker 9:I think it's definitely. You have to humble yourself. Yeah, Put yourself in uncomfortable situations, being comfortable, being uncomfortable.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's kind of like a beautiful segue, so um. So tell me a little bit about crushing your career goals. What are you guys doing to make sure that happens?
Speaker 9:Yeah, so, you know, going back to humbling yourself, um, it is about asking for opportunities, whether you know you're paid for it or not, whether you know you have no idea how it's going to result. Um, but what I would consider my success being about 32, uh this year and being at the executive level. It's been a really cool journey seeing how I've got there, but it's only because of the people who have helped me get there. I've had strong mentors at work, strong mentors who have left my companies, who still advocate for me, and then just also the teams that have the you know, humble honor of leading and having them, you know, support me as well, because they're supported to do their job, and I think that's just what's helped me get to where I need to go, um, both as a leader, which automatically flows into the ability to execute my roles and responsibilities, and Alex has done a good job, um, especially at ISN.
Speaker 9:Um, because she um uh plug here. She launched our leadership development program at ISN. Because she plug here. She launched our leadership development program at ISN and we piloted that three years ago and I was part of that program I think I was a director at that time and again, with my peers and most people who've gone through that program. I would say a good portion of them have actually moved to new roles or elevated in their roles and it's been really cool seeing people's goals and get to where they want to be.
Speaker 1:What do you guys teach in that? Why are people being so successful after taking this? So it's a leadership development.
Speaker 7:It's LDP Leadership Development Program and it's really created for those leaders who either are in their role for some time or newly promoted. Right, and we go through the fundamentals of what it is to be a leader how to have those tough conversations, co-collaboration Can't think of what else do we do? We have a lot of keynote speakers. So, within the industry or within our organization, how did they get to where they are today? What stepping stones did they go through? And it's that cross-collaboration, cross-functional collaboration, that we work in such silos and it's really good to see the employees just piggyback off of each other. You know we'll have a DC operations speaking to somebody in marketing, somebody they've never, you know, wouldn't have connection with.
Speaker 4:It's evolved.
Speaker 7:I have. I've created them a capstone project, so we went from an eight week to 10 week program and they have to do a whole strategic plan for me. So if you're a leader, you have to think strategically.
Speaker 1:So yeah, and it kind of sounds like a big part of it too, is kind of rounding, rounding them out. We actually just did a podcast with Todd Hertzler, um, on our driver's seat show. Uh, he's the um.
Speaker 9:I want to say I'm going to get, he's the North.
Speaker 5:American president of Bosch aftermarket. Yeah, I did not want to get him. Yeah, that was a really good one.
Speaker 1:It was a lot of takeaways in that one, and one of the things that they focused on was, like, the importance of identifying your strengths, and not that you can't develop your weaknesses, but, like you'll, you might get more bang for your buck if you really focus on your strengths, like that's what's going to end up making you stand out, not being mediocre at something you're not naturally good at.
Speaker 4:Is that?
Speaker 1:something that you Yep Absolutely.
Speaker 7:So and with that, ldp is a prime example. Right, I came in and I said I we need a leadership program. It was about me getting really uncomfortable because I had to create this content. I had to create an entire workbook and curriculum for them, and I had to get uncomfortable to create this plan and I stumbled upon many challenges like no, it's not going to work. Pushback, but it's still evolving, and that's probably one of my crushing my career goals. You know, not giving up, resetting, refocusing yourself, what's going to work, what's not going to work, and you got to keep pushing.
Speaker 9:I think part of it is we are. Last night at dinner we were talking to a few people in Yang and one of the things we said that kind of goes to, I think, how she says she's hit her career goals is fail fast, right, don't be scared to fail fast and learn quick. Right. Um, then it goes back into being comfortable, being uncomfortable If you're not scared to fail, knowing that you'll learn from it.
Speaker 1:I think you're going to limit yourself on what you can really do in your career, saying um what would you do if you knew you couldn't fail? Yeah. It's a little scary to dream that big sometimes, but it's a good question to ask yeah.
Speaker 9:You just have to. I mean, I truly believe the way. One of the ways I'm here in my role now is because I humbled myself with my company and called them after I had turned down the offer, myself with my company and called them after I had turned down the offer, um, and my journey to ISN was. I was in supply chain but it turned in transportation. My passion is not transportation Shout out to those who do that Um. But I had applied for, uh, my original role with ISN they offered me. I turned it down because the fear of the unknown. And then I remembered why I wanted to leave Um in the first place. I called them a week later and said don't know if you've ever asked had anybody asked you, um, if the role is still available after you made the decision not to take it. But two weeks later they offered me a different role, um, still in what I wanted to do, and four years later, um, three, three different roles with ISN, so similar to me.
Speaker 7:You know I've always been part of I started my career 17 years ago large organizations, very large, ups and um. You know, I got a call one day. I wasn't looking for a job at all, I was happy, Um, and they said, hey, do you want to come up? You know, come to ISN and create. I was like create, what do you mean? Like it doesn't exist. I can, I can create this from what I know, and it was. I was so scared I didn't know how to respond back and it was a leap of faith and I said this is what I love to do. Now here's, you know, and I said this is what I love to do, not here's.
Speaker 7:You know, here's my chance. You know I get to do it. What what I know good looks like, and I took that chance in almost four years.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think a big part of of kind of crushing your career goals like, say, you're staring at a goal you're trying to get there is you know what it takes to get there. A lot of people see people in successful roles or see people who have the job that they want someday and they think that it just came easily, that they were like an overnight success because maybe they looked at it that way. But they don't see all the internal struggle that might've happened along the way.
Speaker 1:Kind of like that messy middle which I'm sure you see a lot of in your role as you watch these leaders go through their careers.
Speaker 7:And don't get me wrong, there's a lot of goals that are still up there. Yeah, you know, it's just navigating. It's just figuring out how to navigate the right way and how to crush them. You know, with the ever-evolving industry that we have, how do we navigate my role specifically?
Speaker 9:And I think one of the important things about crushing your career goals is having people who help you do it Right. Yes, you can be successful and go far with little people you know supporting you, but it's a lot more effective, it's a lot more fun when you have people who are in your corner supporting you to get there.
Speaker 9:Right and advocating for you behind closed doors, and then it also helps you do that for your team when you're leading others, because you've seen it done for yourself right. So you want to be the leader that you've had in your past, and I think that's probably one of the coolest parts about as you're growing in whatever role you are, if you're able to lead teams, it's supporting them even more so than you've ever been supported right, and I think that's that's really cool. To see your team be successful. Um, I consider that a a crushing my career goals when I have my team getting promoted, you know, to backfill my old roles or to go outside of the company to do something else they want to do.
Speaker 1:That's, that's the cool thing is to see them be successful. Do you ever think about that? And when you're developing this leadership program, you know, like having the difference between a mentor and a coach and a sponsor you know, the person that's speaking for you when you're not in the room and putting your name in the hat. Is that something that you guys work through too?
Speaker 7:Absolutely, and it's really. You know, it's very new right, so the language of mentor is new in our organization but, it's finding somebody who's going to be your, you know, your advocate, your ally.
Speaker 7:You know, make sure that you find that person, meet with them, let them know. This is what I want to work towards and the doors will open. You know, you just need that person to talk to. I recommend somebody at a higher level so that you can see what good looks like. Ask them to shadow. You know, shadowing is one of my number one things. Hey, talk to that person. What's a day in life Can I? Can I join a conference call without having to be assigned a project? You know, can I just listen? Is this something I want to do so?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it feels like a lot of like crushing your career goals and the things that you guys are talking about is is a lot of action on the person's end of like raising your hand, going and building your network and making sure, like I mean, a big thing for me is, you know, even in like going to events like this and you meet a lot of people, you build your network, you have all these like, I would argue, a lot of acquaintances, people that know your face.
Speaker 1:you know your face to a name or to a title, but the important part is to make sure that people around you know what you're trying to do with your career, what your goals are Accountability. Yeah, Well, it's like so that when they do see an opportunity like maybe you'll be first in mind, right, and it's like more it's. It's almost like expanding your advocates, like at a at scale you know, just you know, building your network through things like Yang.
Speaker 9:Yeah, cause there's been a lot of I mean, speaking of Yang, there's been a long of youngsters um who have either recently gone through um role changes and their roles have been eliminated, but the community they've built within the auto care industry has set them up to have a role somewhere else, or they're not happy and then somebody they know has a position open and they're able to go do that. So it really is cool seeing, specifically from the Yang community and on LinkedIn, which is where you really see these things play out, all the growth and changes that these people are achieving because of the networking at AutoCare you know, and what that creates. Yeah, and I know that's like one of the.
Speaker 1:You know, when I, when I do the presentations and things I do on like personal branding and stuff, I always end it with the photo I I have of like basically like a week after I got laid off, you know, just over a year ago, and I did a video just telling my network, you know, I'm on the market, I'm looking for a job, and then I always show the next photo of me, like drinking champagne, because I and I always have that slide and I say like if you're not going to do it for your company, if you don't want to do it to advance the industry, like do it for yourself because that's something that you can take with you and you can.
Speaker 1:you can make this brand for yourself.
Speaker 1:You can make it into whatever you want it to be and make sure people know they're attaching that brand to you and your goals to you and that you're building a community around you and not just necessarily your company or the industry, um, and that's a huge way that you can, you know, do exactly like what people you're saying in Yang, who, who might you know, feel like they're falling on their face, but then, all of a sudden, before you know it, there's all these people coming around you and offering you opportunities because you did that part of it Right, yep, and I've seen that.
Speaker 7:That prime example recently, you know, I know somebody that recently you know, got laid off and I remember looking on LinkedIn and I was like that person's going to be okay. Yeah, because I know the industry that we're in and they're going to rally up behind that person. And sure enough I was. Brings the best out of me as well, but allows me to network and, you know, socialize. And now I'm scheduling little coffee chats with people I've met at Women in Auto Care.
Speaker 1:And so it's kind of like it's just it's such a huge one. Your network in so many ways will define your career Absolutely.
Speaker 7:So, like.
Speaker 1:In the way you head, so like you have to be intentional, especially if you're somebody who works from home Like I work a hundred percent from home.
Speaker 7:Same here, you know.
Speaker 4:I take it.
Speaker 1:And that's why I I network hard at these things. Like. I will stay up as long as I can. You know, it's it's much earlier these days like nine o'.
Speaker 9:I will say I will go to all of the meetups and I will try to like take advantage of this time, just so that you know staying in front of mind for people yeah, I think that's the hard part too, like even coming to these events like you guys did a podcast a few months ago with mad around introvert and extroverts right.
Speaker 9:I'm an introvert. I work from home, you know I I get the chance to come to these, but still being an introvert, as something like this is uncomfortable. But in order to continue to be successful and get to where I want to go, I have to put myself in a position to network and talk to people that I would rather sit in the corner, you know, and just watch and observe, right, and those are the things that challenge me. But then I can also say I did it and here's the result of it.
Speaker 9:Again being part of Yang and on the council is a perfect example of how I did that.
Speaker 1:That's it. I didn't know that you were an introvert. I don't feel like you scream introvert.
Speaker 9:Oh, a hundred percent, I'm an introvert.
Speaker 5:Well, you do well when you're here, I call myself the extroverted introvert yeah same so.
Speaker 7:I'm like I. I love the four walls of my house. I'm fine. But opportunities like this allow me to reach my goals. You know, because in my role I want to do I do facilitation, presentation work on myself. You know I can't do that, you know, being an introvert, so I kind of have to get uncomfortable.
Speaker 9:Yeah, once the doors open right, then it's a lot easier to do things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I feel like events like this kind of energize me for the next three months, until the next one. But I'm kind of an introvert when I'm home. But like you know, the extrovert comes out when I come to things like this.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, believe it or not, guys, we've hit our Hi. Welcome everybody. We have another Yang open mic here at AutoCare Connect in Phoenix, arizona, and I have with me Lauren McCullough, co-founder and CEO of Trommel. She's also a subcommittee member for Yang, leading the events committee, and she is a women in auto care excellence. Oh sorry, women of women in auto care, woman of excellence. It's a mouthful back in 2024. Yeah, so welcome, thank you, and this is actually your second time being on auto care on air.
Speaker 1:Yes, so that's cool, and I'm sure there'll be many more too, because you have so much insight. You're kind of usually talking about AI, but we have you today talking about something completely different which is what I love, excited about it. Yeah. And then we have Joe DeLorme, director. It says DR. I was like doctor director of product management for Dorman Products.
Speaker 1:You're also a previous Impact Award winner 2023, which again feels like it was yesterday. It does, but it wasn't quite a while ago, so we're going to talk today about leaving your mark on the industry. So what does this topic mean to you guys?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think for me, right we, you know, as you come up in your career, like I think that there's there's a category of people who are just like I, just want to do the job and those people are really important. But I think that there's a large group of us in this industry that just really want to change or be part of this next changing tide right, and being able to kind of own your responsibility in that company by carrying your brand forward, carrying your company's brand forward, carrying the industry forward and and I think you know, as you look, coming up through your career, and you want to be able to look back and you know we see the people now kind of exiting the industry and what that they've done to build it. And I think for me it's like recognizing, like how do I exist inside this room in 20 years and what can I know about this industry? I'm leaving better than I'm coming and and making sure that you're an integral part of that journey yeah, well said yeah.
Speaker 12:I feel like you want to be able to make your mark in the sense of not just come in, punch in, punch out and really influence and have a greater good and, like you said, leaving it better than you came in and just being able to influence and kind of lift up the generation to come behind us, just the way we were lifted up by the generation before us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, how do you find what that is For somebody kind of like traveling through the industry and kind of, you know, especially the under 40 crowd, they're coming in, they're learning a lot really, really fast. This is a kind of an amazing but in a lot of ways complicated industry, which is kind of what makes it so amazing. And you know how do they discover, like, where are the gaps? You know what are they looking for?
Speaker 12:Yeah, I think Yang, as an example, is great, right, because you know it provides almost a roadmap. Right, you're unsure and you're just like all right, cool, like I'll follow this group and from there I think you've learned so much about yourself and what you want to do. And then, for me personally, you know yang has done so much, so I now feel like I need to pay it forward, right, and then bring that next one up, because you come in and you're like I'm a big automotive enthusiast, so I knew what I was getting into. I was so excited about it. But a lot of people just fall here because it's a job Coming out of college, they're going to give them a paycheck, but they're just not sure. And it's up to us to keep them engaged and keep them wanting to thrive within this fantastic industry.
Speaker 4:Absolutely. I think that for me, especially when it comes to Yang, I think it really does two things it gives you a network and it gives you exposure, and there's a Venn diagram of those things that are probably where Yang really exists. Because I think that when you come in, like let's just say that you come in on a sales role or a CSR or something like that, there are a lot of different jobs in this industry and I think about it less, about like what specific seat maybe you're in, but what problem do you really really care to solve? Right? And I think that this is where it goes with seeing the industry evolve in this, this journey of self-discovery and this parallel world, because you start to think about, like that's the problem, I want to, I want to master, right, Because we can all be this like master of our own little discipline, Like I mean, we have people here like this is like the aces person, right?
Speaker 4:Like this is the person who took us through that journey and really owned the adoption of digital commerce on these channels, and I think it's.
Speaker 4:It requires people to kind of figure out what they want to leave their mark about.
Speaker 4:Right and and I don't think there's a right or wrong answer to this, and there's, you know, we have, I know, the pitch competition later today and I helped get that kicked off last year, and the reason I was so excited about that is because I know there's amazing ideas that are happening within this industry, but we need to be able to give them a platform, one to make sure that those people feel empowered to have more good ideas.
Speaker 4:But then also so we start getting our innovation gears turned, cause if everyone came into this industry saying like I want to make sure I leave this a little bit better and I'm going to continue to swim against the current when things are hard, like how different of a place could we be in in 10, 20 years? Because I think we're in a situation right now where there's a lot of turmoil and there's a lot of change and challenges that we're facing. But I think that I'm a glass half-full person, so let's find the opportunities and let's use this as a way to push us to be better, and you get to choose today if you want to be part of that getting better, because there are other people who are right. The industry will improve and people will look back in 20 years and say I did that, but it's your choice if you want to be one of those people or not?
Speaker 12:Yeah, and I truly believe people have a desire to want to learn and be challenged and I think, with learning and being challenged, that's where you get the engagement. If you don't have that, you're not going to have the engagement and it's just going to be another job, off to the next thing, and unfortunately, a lot will leave the industry that way, because you know our industries it's different, it's really different, right. But I do think it's up to us to have that learning, have that challenge that you know increases and results in engagement.
Speaker 4:You know to make our industry attractive and sexy to you know retain Exactly, and I think too, like you know, if you can find yourself getting lost in the joy of that process, like it makes the work so much better. Like the reason I can, you know, start a company and and and do the hard things and and go through this like sometimes very painful process is because, like, I genuinely care about it. Like if I did not genuinely care about making this industry better and creating that path, like I don't know how I would get through the hard times. Because, like I tell this to like other founders too, I'm like, if you're in this to get rich, you picked the wrong career path right.
Speaker 4:And I think you could say that about someone who's in an organization but is just working those extra hours or taking that extra cognitive energy to do the hard thing. But if you fall in love with what that can create in that entrepreneurial spirit, I think that it just makes there's so much more joy in work and it also just creates a sense of resiliency that can help you any day, from you know a lost customer to you know some negative feedback from your boss, whatever it's going to be, because you feel that's more existential in what you're creating.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we mentioned this the other day on a podcast about kind of resiliency and kind of being kind of grit, you know, and like showing up the next day and being consistent day after day, month after month, year after year. Even. It's like those are the people that end up being successful. That people think was like an overnight success, but it was months of consistency and years of consistency and showing up for something that they believe in. So it really does help to have like a passion, and all I can think about sitting here next to you two is is. What a time to be alive and make a name for yourself, because it's just innovation and technology is, is, is is propelling this industry so fast.
Speaker 1:Pick one you know like there's so many things in front of you, and coming to conferences like this exposes you to all of this stuff going on and all of the stuff that there is to learn for sure literally pick one, it's at your fingertips yeah, super exciting.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think that too. Like you brought up technology and I've kind of I guess it's kind of become like a laurenism or whatever is one of the comments I'll make is that aftermarket, you know, we've spent so much time and energy innovating on our, on our factory floors and on our product lines. Yet we don't carry that same innovation and discovery into our business processes. And when I think about the next generation of technology and, you know, an AI driven world like the aftermarket shouldn't kind of be an afterthought anymore.
Speaker 4:Like we should be like. We should have the best technology, as good as healthcare, as good as finance, as good as anyone else, and it's our job and when I say our job, not just Joe and I right, it's every one of ours, especially people coming up to push that forward and recognize that the way things have always been done have built a foundation for us to innovate on top of.
Speaker 12:Right, and with the passion of the people in this industry. I mean, there's just there's so much Jackie's point, there's just so much opportunity out there and we just got to drive it. But it's, you know, being a product. We're always thinking innovation on the product, like how do we make it better, how do we fix the flaws of the OE, but also it could be with process right, it going around right now. We got to get creative, we got to get innovative. But yeah, there's no reason why we can't, you know, be leading the technology and innovation within our industry.
Speaker 4:And we have the spirit to do it together too, is, I think you know and I think a lot of people in this industry already look at each other more collaboratively competitive anyways. But I think continuing to foster spaces and you know, I think that's some place that some people can leave the mark inside their organization is not having this finite mindset around, like well, if the pot's only so big and if we just take it from our competitors, that's the wrong way of thinking. If we have a mindset of abundance and recognize that our biggest competitors actually just waste here, we can have a lot more innovative thinking and then we can all prosper and we can all do well, we can all make money here, and this market's only going to get bigger, and I think that the threats to it are yeah, it's not each other.
Speaker 12:No, and the time where they're in I mean the automotive aftermarket is just going to thrive, right. It's going to absolutely thrive and continue to give us abundance of opportunity. So I do think we're on the forefront of that and our generation has a great opportunity to do that, as we see some of our leaders starting to get to the retirement age and then fresh coming in, so it's fantastic.
Speaker 1:So how do you? So we're talking about leaving your mark, and there's a lot of marks to be made right and a lot of marks to leave. How do you do that? So how do you? So you find, you find what you want to do, you find what inspires you, you find something you want to work towards and you're passionate about and you want to be consistent with. So how do you get the word out? How do you get heard? How do you get recognized for that and become the leader in this space and really leave your mark?
Speaker 12:Yeah, I mean, for me, I always, you know, seem to run towards the fire, right, always run towards the problem, and I think that's when you're most creative and most innovative, right, we could keep following the same process, right, and come out with the same results. But, you know, if you go into the fire and realize, hey, this fire keeps coming up, right, so we're following the process, but it keeps, you know, reoccurring. How do we attack that? So I've always been one to go let's run to it and let's figure out, because, nothing, you know, there's no better time to try to get creative when things are burned down. So that's kind of my approach to it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and I think too, being more problem and solution focused in those kind of early stages, because you know we're looking for catalyzing events right that can kind of build on top of each other, and I think that sometimes people get so locked into the way something has to be that it's quite blinding.
Speaker 4:But if we come in and look at this in a situation where you're saying like this is the problem that I want to solve at my company, this is the problem that I want to solve, you can kind of have this like strong convictions loosely held type of execution about it, because you still need to have that conviction around how you think it should be, but you are still a student and and the what you think is the answer is probably wrong, at least a little bit wrong.
Speaker 4:And if you're not perceptive enough to figure that out, then that mark doesn't get to get left right Because you put the blinders on where, like, that actual opportunity was just two inches to the right. And so I think that that's one of the agility things that I see with a lot of the newer folks coming up is they kind of have that spidey sense to be like okay, like I thought it was this, but now I've gotten this new piece of information, I think the beauty of it when we come back to the community of the industry is that's why that can happen more effectively is because we're willing to have those dialogues and exchanges that allow you to continue to learn more things and understand the context within. You know each other.
Speaker 12:Yeah, and influence is huge too, right. I mean you need to influence and provide guidance, if you will, right? So sometimes I have to take a step back and balance that. But if I have an intern or a recent grad coming out that are just unaware and I had the answer, I got to kind of just hold back, but I could be there to influence. I could kind of set some guardrails, allow them to know it's okay If you're going to fail, fail fast and fail forward, but be able to support that. And I think that's also how you leave the remark, instead of always being the person with the answer, but helping to give somebody enough rope to be able to find the answer on their own.
Speaker 1:What's so exciting about this generation coming up and I'm talking about us here too and the one that's coming after but they're a lot more open about not having all of the answers and they're they're doing it on social media. They're creating communities around these ideas. They're they're kind of I think they're able to kind of get the word out and get heard a lot more naturally, you know, because it's been a part of their world since they were born. You know it's been a part of our professional lives, at least you know. So you know that's a bit. It's been a part of our professional lives at least you know. So. You know that's. It's a very exciting time. And just having these conversations and we talk about Yang and you talk about, you know, surrounding yourself with people that you know want to move the industry forward, want to move their careers forward, want to make a mark, it's more likely that you're going to also do those things and you kind of all move the pack together Right.
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah, it's really where like things like.
Speaker 4:Yang come in? Yeah, and I think you brought up earlier too. It's not. It might look like it, but it's not all sunshine and rainbows for anyone.
Speaker 4:Yeah, like this is all very, very hard and doing hard things is hard and I think that, like to your point, I think that there is a little bit more vulnerability shown and kind of some of the younger generations about those failures and about that build in public type of mindset of how you're going about things. But, like, in between every win there was 10 things that probably went back. Sure, right, and there's only us and I think the people who are going to look back and think and realize that they made the biggest impact were the ones who didn't let those wins deter them. Right, because it is pushing boulder up a mountain often, yeah, um, but it is. It is taking that tenacity and I mean I think I really always like connect.
Speaker 4:It's one of my favorite events of the year because I feel like, even though I was in the industry for a few years before, I wasn't super involved and I remember coming here just two years ago and I I barely knew anyone. I knew a couple people who you know, I met a few people and then I like come back the next year and I'm like oh well, I like kind of know a lot of people here and it's because I kept up those relationships in between. And then I come back this year and I'm like, oh my gosh, this is like very different world. And every time I come and so I look at this is kind of like a milestone type of conference at Connect, because I can see it's like you know, if you're you know that's like the clearing of the skies and you're like all right, like I can kind of like see, I don't really know where I'm going yet, but like I made some progress, so that's good.
Speaker 12:And it like snowballs that's a great point, like each time, like that network, just snowballs and the relationships you just build upon, and you mentioned this too. I mean nothing's done individually right it team work environment. I think part of leaving your mark is supporting those and knowing that you have their back on stuff like that.
Speaker 12:So I think that's a big thing right With the mentors and being. You know you go from a mentee to a mentor now, right In certain stages. So I think that's huge too, and people have support and they can rely on you. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I really equate, like the people here, the people that are attending Yang and managing to. I mean it's also a lot. I mean I understand a lot more people would love to be here that maybe couldn't for one reason or another, don't have the permission whatever. But the people that are here are kind of like you can equate them to the people that sit at the front of the classroom Right Versus the people that sit at the back.
Speaker 1:It's a great way, and those are the people that are asking the questions. They're engaged, they're in tune and they're the people that are really going to make the mark.
Speaker 4:Sure, 100%, and I think that's a great point. Right Is like this, like this conference and even and even many others.
Speaker 4:right, it's, the people here are only like a very tip of the industry, but it's such a sampling bias of the innovation happening because they are people who are trying to push things forward. They are the ones that I like the front of the classroom. I think that's a first perfect analogy to look at the group of people here, because you know it's it's, it's a really, really big space, but there are, you know, the people who are going to change the way we do business is probably a group of a couple hundred people.
Speaker 12:Right For sure, and leaving your mark, is this group here? It's not here, right? Because you said the people that want to be here are here. We got to take it back. We got to take it back to our companies. We got to take it back, you know, using LinkedIn and using our brand to be able to support that.
Speaker 12:And then maybe people are like, oh, maybe that is something I should go to, or maybe that there's an interest, right, because I feel, like everybody, if you're coming here, you're a part of that group, right, but it's getting it out, that ripple effect.
Speaker 1:That's really the hope of this open mic, frankly, is to have some of these conversations to a wider audience that can't be here or don't know that they should be here, you don't want to hear the kind of conversations that are going on. Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 4:You know and I think too, that's where, like I think, like I think, doing the the yang I know, we launched the ambassador program this year right of trying to have more people getting inside the organizations, at least through the lens of yang letting them know about yps right, and taking those those tiny little steps, because I think the other side of leaving your mark is figuring out how to build that brand around yourself. I think part of that happens very organically just by being here, like I think there's a huge amount of that just by the pure physical presence of it, yeah but when you start to think about, like, how do you really build that that brand around yourself?
Speaker 4:right, that carries you through every, every job, every step of your career, I think that you know there can be an overcorrection, right, it's not about like saying every single accomplishment and what you did, so your boss knows exactly. I think, when we think about it a little bit more broadly, of the impact on the industry and in the organization too, it's. It does come back to that why you're doing it. Like people don't care. It's not the whole thing, like people don't care what you do, they care why you do it, and I think that, too, that's some of the. I really noticed that that came up a lot during Yang over the last couple of days, because we really did centered around innovation, and many times the people weren't talking about their accomplishments, they were talking about the motivating factors behind it. I know when Jill and Rebecca did their panel and stuff, I feel like that was the real thesis is like you know that energy behind it and how that so naturally builds your brand, because it it's more with care and not like check a box on.
Speaker 1:You know my CV.
Speaker 12:It's about your, your calling yeah and how you implement that when you go back home or to your company, not just like, oh, I was here, I checked the box, but yeah, to actually implement that and execute upon that and bring those around you up as well, you've got to beat the drum.
Speaker 1:We did a full episode on mentorship back in December and Mike Moeller was on it and he said it's kind of like the lottery you got to show up to win. I feel like that's kind of the same sentiment here. We are sadly at our time and I feel like this could have been a full episode. I keep talking about this, you guys were fantastic.
Speaker 12:Thanks for having me, thank you for being here.
Speaker 1:Welcome back. We're here with another open mic session for Yang at AutoCare Connect in Phoenix, arizona, and I have Brooke Peckham, human Resources Manager for AutoWares, here. She is a member of the Women in AutoCare Council and you help with the scholarship selection committee, which is kind of cool because you yourself were a recipient of that, so that's got to be very rewarding yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 6:Being able to turn around and make those selections and especially the end result, making those phone calls and congratulating the students, is very rewarding.
Speaker 1:You tell them that like hey, I was in your shoes. Yeah, that's so cool, that's so cool, and I also have Autumn Lamb. She is the director of marketing and brand strategy for GSP. She's also an impact award winner this year. Congratulations, thank you. Super well deserved. I'm sure the whole entire industry agrees with that. And you're also a limited auto care council member.
Speaker 13:Yes, I sit a part of the social chair.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we were. We were joking earlier, because you guys basically have the same resume for this introduction, because they're also both women at the wheel Different years, right?
Speaker 6:Same year same year 20, 2024, 2024.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you're both women at the wheel, um, and you also both did a five for five this week, which is a big deal I love. I usually I missed it cause I was recording. But, um, the people that do five for fives are usually people who are either terrified of speaking and they want to dip their toe in the water or, like it's like they're just, they want to start being public speakers and it's kind of like their intro into it. So it's really cool that you guys volunteered for that. What was your topic, brooke?
Speaker 6:My topic was re-imagining turnover, so looking at it from a different lens and not putting it in such a negative light. Re-imagining turnover how? So thinking about it from the perspective that turnover is not always a bad thing, because sometimes an employee is leaving because they are going down a new career path and maybe you've helped them build that path and maybe you've provided them with mentorships or scholarship assistance, whatever that may be, but you were a part of that foundational journey. So it's important regardless, and sometimes those turnovers can be rewarding.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you may be like, exposed to them to a strength they didn't know they had, absolutely, and they decided to head towards that path. So, yeah, that's amazing. What about you, autumn?
Speaker 13:What was your topic? Mine was sowing your own seeds, nurturing an authentic and successful life. So as we develop our journey, as we're kind of going through this life journey, it's not just important to start off strong, but it's really having the growth and doing it intentionally right, making sure that your passion is behind it, nurturing your strengths, embracing that full potential of yours and, you know, just practicing patience, because growth does take time and we got to trust that invisible work. But you know we're all sowing the seeds to our life and hopefully our future selves can thank us for what we're doing today and I'm sure anyone who was at the Women in Auto Care conference.
Speaker 1:You both spoke there as well and if anyone caught yours, like Autumn, you basically likened this career journey to planting a garden, planting your seeds, Like how do you nurture those plants? You give it sun, you give it water, and you equated that to many different things. It was very, very clever, very well done. Sun you give it water, and you equated that to many different things. It was very, very clever, very well done. I'm very.
Speaker 13:I hope they recorded it because I would love to see how you combine that into five minutes because that's hard it was and it was really not focusing on the entire broad spec, the perspective of you know, sowing your own seeds, but really kind of starting off with the vital lessons of when you're planting that right, because that's really the most important thing, is when you're making the decisions of taking on new responsibilities or finding or rediscovering yourself or just anything you want to make sure that you're doing it with a passion behind it right, or something that you want to do right, because this is your life. Ultimately, you're going to be the one that's going to your future self is going to be the one living this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, and it's such a good segue because today we want to talk about really nurturing your strengths and also potentially developing your own path to your career.
Speaker 1:And, like you know, thinking of me, like you know, when I first started in marketing, you just kind of assume, like your end game is CMO, right, like that's the path of a marketer. That's not really the world we live in today. You know, technology changes at a rate that is was unheard of 20 years ago. So like positions today may not even exist five years from now, let alone the leadership path to get to, like whatever the end game for that role is. So there's definitely something to be said about the self-awareness that comes along with discovering your strengths and kind of deciding, like, what you want to do with your career and kind of develop that path as you go. For sure, tell me a little bit about nurturing your strengths, like did you guys, you know, do some work to try to find your own strengths or did you do like a tool to help you find your strengths? Did you just know it in your gut, like what you're good at told at a young age what was your guys' journey?
Speaker 6:Yeah. So for me, I always loved teaching. That was always my passion and my heart and I worked a lot growing up in like youth Bible study settings and that sort of thing. But I had always known that I wanted to be a teacher or that's what I thought and I was going to college while I was working at AutoWares as a stalker.
Speaker 6:And what's interesting about that is I only took on an HR role because I thought it would look good on my resume, but when I got into that position I really found my footing and my supervisor really encouraged me that. You know, there is a lot of similarities between teaching and human resources and that's really where I was able to let my talent shine, because I get to work with people every day and I get to nurture their growth, because we have so many employees who are at pivotal points in their life and I get to be that support system. Now I get to connect them with mentors, I get to run our internship program, I get to help them with scholarship applications and everything in between. So my journey isn't where I expected that I would end up, but it's really cool to be in human resources and I honestly could not see myself anywhere else now.
Speaker 1:That's so funny because even just hearing your voice you could be a great. You would be a great teacher. I could see you being a good teacher, like a nurturing kind of like feel immediately comfortable and like everyone immediately would trust you.
Speaker 6:I always joke that in retirement I'm going to be a kindergarten teacher.
Speaker 5:I just think that would be so fun. Still in my heart, for sure, I can see it.
Speaker 1:Kindergarten teachers are special people. Like I'm doing it like at an older age too, like I cannot ever imagine. It's like basically being a mom times 10 and I can barely do it times one.
Speaker 13:Yes, I love the fact that Brooke brought up. You know, it wasn't maybe the specific journey that she intended, but she kind of found her way in that, because sometimes I feel like we don't choose the automotive industry. The automotive industry just finds us. But you know, from my side of it I've always loved the marketing right and kind of that side, and so being able to enter this industry and have the opportunity to hone in on some of the skills that I've always wanted to do, or learn more things or challenge myself, and this industry allows me to do that. I never pictured myself in it, but now that I'm in it I don't think I'll ever see myself out of it. But I get to be able to challenge myself in ways that I never thought I could. And you know, the journey here is really been an amazing journey because it is a path of self-discovery too, of finding your strengths, maybe the strengths that weren't always a strength or you didn't know.
Speaker 13:I'm a very talkative person.
Speaker 13:If you ever meet me I can definitely talk a lot, and it was one of the things like back when I was in school the teachers always have compared teacher conference right, and they would be like you know, autumn does so good.
Speaker 13:She's amazing, she has good grades and everything. But we had to move her because she keeps disrupting the class and she keeps talking to everybody. So it just really showed that my personality was, you know, even at a young age, was always sociable and everything, and so just joining communities such as Yang and Women in Auto Care has really allowed me to flourish in that sense of being like wow, you know, there's a benefit to having some of this stuff. We don't always realize it until we're kind of in areas that we're like wait a minute, maybe this is a strength of mine, and so it has allowed me to join Toastmasters, to kind of hone in on that public speaking side, to improve that now that I'm getting a little bit more involved and having to see you know the stage a little bit more and not be so anxious on there. But you know, I want to be able to improve that and it's something that sometimes you don't know, but you kind of find this path and it leads you down an amazing journey.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's so funny. You know I'm thinking about when I first met you, I think. How long have you been in the industry?
Speaker 13:For about 10 years overall, but six years on the hard part side. How long have you been involved? Probably, I would say, about four years. Four years, has it been that long? Yes, because it's my last year as social chair.
Speaker 1:I know I can't believe it. So your first year, you like, raised your hand to be social chair.
Speaker 13:No, actually, I was a champion, so I was a champion, and actually what happened was there was a breakfast at the Women in Auto Care networking thing. It was my first year and I'm just like you know what? I just need to go. I need to meet other people, other women, you know, and so actually I sat next to Kylie Herko, oh, I love her and she's amazing.
Speaker 13:I have to give her that shout out because she's the one that really actually drove my involvement for Women in Auto Care. She's like you know what, okay, I'll join. It was a little nerve wracking to kind of you know commit or be you know involved because you're just like I don't know how much it's going to take or how much time and everything. But I was like you know what, I'll give it a try, I'll test it and hopefully I can help out. And then ever since then it was kind of like and help. Our social presence has been amazing. I mean, seeing the transformation of women in auto care and just representing in all aspects and all channels now has been a rewarding experience.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's amazing. Is that the same breakfast that I met you, probably, and came up?
Speaker 13:to my table. Oh yes, that definitely sounds like me. Hi Jackie.
Speaker 1:I'm.
Speaker 1:Autumn that was sweet, yeah, so let's keep going here. So, um you, you find your strengths, you kind of figure out what you're good at, you know. It's something that I wish people would know earlier on when they're talking to children or talking to people in high school and stuff where they were like you have really good grades, but you know you talk a lot. I wish people would just use the word and like it makes it automatically feel like talking too much might be a weakness, right, but I think it's amazing that you turned it out, turned out to be your strength, you know, used in the right capacity. So how do you, you know? How do you decide for yourself, like, what are the strengths that I want to really lean into and really make a career out of?
Speaker 6:Yeah, honestly, for me it comes a lot from our support groups that we have. Like Autumn was talking about having those people who call you out, having that group of women in auto care For me it was my supervisor, but I was lucky enough to have that same relationship with my employees, so watching her grow has been so incredible. And she's in human resources. But what was amazing about that journey is we needed a creative side for human resources, which you don't often see. But we needed somebody who could create design pieces for our handbooks and our employee resources and she just took it and went running.
Speaker 6:She is incredible at design and it's not something that she ever thought she would be and it's not something that is generally in the human resources realm, but she is so incredible at it and that is where her journey is taking her now and she is moving on to a new path and it's not in the automotive industry, but we were that foundational partner for her and that's something that I will always remember and I'll always have a good relationship with her. But that's just so cool that we have that support network where we can call each other out and say, hey, I realized that you were really great at this. Go on and pursue it. So, just like you had the person who called you out for me that was Kim Nolan so I think we all have those people in this industry who are like, hey, I see you doing something and I think you can do something with it. Keep going.
Speaker 13:And it's a great that you kind of brought up that support, because you know us as seeing ourselves in the mirror, just a reflection of us.
Speaker 13:We see just things, but we can also be our own worst critics sometimes.
Speaker 13:So we don't really understand or maybe we don't see all the positivity or all the areas that we could be stronger in. And when you have that support group, whenever I look at you know, seeing other women in the industry or talking to them, I'm like, hey, you're really good at this, let me connect you to this person or let me connect you to that person or stuff like that, and it's like it allows you to open up areas that you maybe you weren't thinking about but you can really shine in. And that's how you kind of start thinking, hey, I actually have a strength in this. Or, you know, kind of building and bringing together a more collaborative environment to open that right. Having some of those casual conversations, you know I always love seeing you, jackie, I love seeing how your career path went, because you know you don't see every, every piece of everything, but you do see people's growth and being that outsider looking in on people, you're like, wow, like it's amazing to see that path that you, as a person, has gone on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean I, I relate a lot to this conversation because I've never been a person that knew what I wanted to do. You know, I had a full ride to college, otherwise I probably wouldn't have gone and started out in business, ended up in communications, just because it was super broad and I knew I'd have a lot of options, fell face first into the you know marketing. Like I just kind of like every step of my career has just been usually somebody being steering me, someone being like, hey, have you tried market intelligence? Turns out that's not necessarily a strength of mine. Then turn me over to e-commerce or to training. It was really fun. Somehow I landed in content.
Speaker 1:It gives me anxiety though I'm sure there's people who can relate to this when I think too far ahead, because I'm one of those people that can't, don't necessarily see what I want.
Speaker 1:Like I don't have a person walking around the industry that I'm like that's the job I want. Like you know, that doesn't exist for me, um, and I wouldn't have thought five years ago that this job I have today would be what I want. So, like I, I really think there's something to be said about, first of all, having that network and that close community around you who can point out your strengths for you um help you lean into them. And there there has to be some kind of tips or tricks in in on the part of like how do you develop that into a career path that may not be like an obvious one, right, like, what do you like? How do you develop that into a career path that may not be like an obvious one, right, like, what do you like? How do you create that into something that's going to like people are going to pay you for necessarily?
Speaker 13:Well, I also think too, it's not so much about comparing right, your journey is your own journey, it's your own independent journey, so it'll never my journey will never look like yours. So when you stop comparing yourself and you just start aligning with, okay, this is something that I want to do. Like Brooke, she thought she was going to be a teacher. Maybe it didn't lead her there, but she still has passion with teaching and educating behind it, so that has allowed her to be in a different space, maybe a different application or environment, but she's still enjoying what she does. And so I think sometimes we can get lost in saying you know, hey, jackie, I want to be you when I grew up. When it's not, I want to be myself when I grew up, but I love the path that you've taken, or I love the steps that you've taken, and so it's learning how to do those same things, but applying it in your own unique way to your own life.
Speaker 1:It's a really well put.
Speaker 6:Yeah, I think it's really important to realize, like you said, we're all unique, we're all writing our own story, and that is what is so cool about this industry is everybody has their own book. How boring would it be if everybody's story was exactly the same. So the fact that we get to come together and share these stories of success and yes, we all have failures too and the fact that we can go through those with each other and lift each other up is truly incredible.
Speaker 13:Like Brooke, you and I have been on the same path women at the wheel and just kind of doing things together, but in different spaces. I'm marketing your human resources, but it's been such a pleasure to get to know you more and see that we're in the same journey together, just in different ways. But you know, we're seeing each other grow and it's, it's amazing, it truly is.
Speaker 1:And there's a lot of like uh, with you too, like you know you have. You have similar, you know accolades and stuff at this point, but you guys clearly have very different strengths too, and you guys are kind of on a similar path but obviously very, very different. And taking the time to step back and really think about what are my strengths? Some of the most successful people that I know know exactly what they're good at and they know exactly what they're not good at, and they have to be very comfortable saying I'm not good at that, I'm not good at this. You don't have to be good at everything to be great and excellent at something else. So there's a little bit of self-awareness that goes there and also being able to to picture, like see that in other people too, which is like something that you guys seem to do really well. For sure.
Speaker 4:Sadly, you guys were already at time.
Speaker 10:Actually we're a little bit over.
Speaker 1:It's kind of sad. I feel like this one could have been probably a full episode again, like it could have kept going. It just means Jackie, you have to have us back? Yeah, I might have to. This is going to be your third. That would be a record. We have never had a guest. I don't think we've ever had a guest three times. Jessica delicious managed to get on twice, but it was.
Speaker 13:it was because I had a cancellation and I'm like she can talk about anything. I listened to Brooke three times, four times. Yeah. Well, thank you, guys so much for sharing your insights. Thank you for having us.
Speaker 1:Welcome back. We have it. We're on another open mic session for Yang at auto care connect in Phoenix Arizona, and I have with me Jamie Francis, Director of E-Commerce for Highline Warren. He's also on our Yang Council Welcome. Thank you Is this your first podcast.
Speaker 14:It is my first podcast, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love newbies. Is this your first?
Speaker 11:It is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all right, and I have Clifton Gurley. He was the other voice you just heard a senior account executive for Bill Murray and Associates and you are on the Yang subcommittee for YPS.
Speaker 11:I am.
Speaker 1:I want to give you the opportunity to talk a little bit about YPS, what YPS is.
Speaker 11:Okay, well, yps, I mean it's our young professional series and I sit on it with Jamie Francis here and through. There we collaborated with some, I guess, industry leaders that have either been in Yang, been associated with Yang and support Yang, and they talk about relevant topics to help our members develop in their career.
Speaker 1:And these are virtual. They are and free.
Speaker 11:They are free. They're not recorded, so there's no pressure no-transcript Yang programming.
Speaker 1:They're quarterly, are they still quarterly?
Speaker 14:We're trying to do about five this year, so slightly more than quarterly. We've had some great guests. We're always looking for other guests too. So if any leaders in the industry want to come chat with our group, we try to put it over lunchtime, so kind of make it a little bit of a, you know, 45 minutes over lunchtime to to allow for folks to be able to attend without conflict and it's really great to see. You know, the kind of guests we've had, the kind of topics we've covered, and we've got more really good ones coming up this year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I really enjoy them and I think one of the main one enjoy them and I think one of the main, one of the main things too to maybe mention do you have to be over 40 to be a speaker, or is this open to.
Speaker 14:We're always looking at speakers. You do have to be a member of Yang, which means you're under 40 to attend to the event, to view the event. We have Q and a at the end as well. So, really we're we're looking to as far as speakers. For someone who's been in the industry for a while and has some insights, yes.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, good to know. So today we're talking about finding your people and you guys are here at the Yang Conference, which I think is probably a really good start to finding your people, and you guys mentioned you guys did some kind of flash mentoring session yesterday in your conference. You want to talk a little bit about that?
Speaker 14:Yeah for sure. So we had great attendance. I mean, we had a full house for much of the last couple of days. It's been a lot of fun getting to meet a lot of really cool people and one of the things that we tweaked a little bit this year was the flash mentoring. So everyone was really seated at a round table and we had some topics really related to professional development and growth and networking. So we sat down and predetermined some questions and really had a free, flowing conversation with you know, different folks all over the place that you know might be from any side of this business.
Speaker 14:Um, and it was really amazing to see how, you know people want to meet with people, how to network with people and and how you can really sit down and, you know, create a circle. And you know you've been coming to this event for quite a while. You know whether it's Apex or Connect or Fall Leadership Days or other industry events, you know you see a lot of the same people and you do sort of build your network. It's not always someone you're, you know, doing business with directly, but it's someone who you know you enjoy saying hello to and chatting to, and it's always nice to have a friendly face.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was kind of something we did another open mic about creating collaborative communities and I was really having a hard time in my head deciphering the difference between that and like just networking right.
Speaker 1:And it feels a little bit like networking is casting a really large net. You know, and just making sure people know you, that you know the people, that you kind of have an idea, like if you needed to get a hold of a company. You know one person that's met you once that you can kind of send the LinkedIn message to and they'll answer you. You know, like that kind of networking, like acquaintances, and then you're building a community which is more like, okay, this group over here, like Women in Auto Care or Yang, like something connects us right and something makes us a community and you can have multiple communities, connects us, right and something makes us a community and you can have multiple communities. And then there's like finding your people, which feels more like you know, developing a smaller circle around you that you know really understand, maybe, what your goals are, really understanding what you're trying to do with your career. You know, however, you know deep, you want to go with that, but like it's another step of networking.
Speaker 14:For sure, and I think you know that's what's really cool about this industry too, right, we build this network, we meet these people and you start saying, hey, you know, there might be an opportunity to partner here. That's a really cool idea. I mean, I spoke with someone completely different part of the business who was doing something really cool. I said wow, and it was just great to learn about that and roll your sleeves up a little bit and just gain industry knowledge that, who knows, might help you down the road.
Speaker 1:Yeah, do you guys work from home?
Speaker 11:I do, you do, you work full time from home.
Speaker 11:For the most part. I mean I've got travel in there and then you know I've got an office that I, you know, try to frequent at least once a week. Um, so I try to get downtown, but um, yeah, I mean back on the topic. I mean part of like finding your people to me also is like finding that core group of people that you can also share ideas with and they help propel and motivate you and just spark new ideas and you can bounce them off without you know, I guess, fear of you know being, you know, shamed or anything about bad ideas.
Speaker 11:But, um, you know, I think that's part of it and you know, coming to the events and talking to people and you kind of just gravitate to people that you know can share your enthusiasm and there's a lot of it here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it kind of goes along with can share your enthusiasm, and there's a lot of it here. Yeah, yeah, it kind of goes along with. I asked for that, um, if you work from home because, um, it just feels like people want to be in person now and like what you just described, you can't really do. Virtually right, you can't accidentally meet somebody. Virtually right, you can't meet a new person.
Speaker 14:Yeah, and that was one of the really interesting things that came out of yesterday, the table that I was moderating. We were really talking about you know, how do you network? Let's say you're coming to your first connect and you don't know anyone that's here, or don't know a lot of people that are here. How do you network? And it's so much easier to do that in a setting where you know, so much.
Speaker 14:the industry comes and congregates industry comes and congregates and I think, if anything you know the last few years the pandemic and everything else I think it's given everyone you know, young and old, a real appreciation for in-person events, the ability to you know sit down, go through workshop activities, like we did here the past couple of days, you know, maybe have dinner together or meet in the bar or have breakfast, whatever it may be, because it really does help you to, to make those those connections where if you do have a question or have an idea, you know I could call it Clifton, or you know other other folks I've met through the auto care association and um, it's really valuable.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think, too, something that maybe isn't mentioned enough with Yang is under 40 is a really big number, like I mean you have anything from like 22,. When do people graduate? 22 to 40. So, like there are people who are, yes, brand new, really learning, kind of dipping their toe in the water at these events, and then there's people who are VPs and, like you know already, kind of like in that executive level suite, you know, in the same Yang group.
Speaker 1:So it's a really great way to get exposed to people who have an idea of the world that you're growing up in, you know where, like if you get a mentor, that's a little bit further in their career. They might not fully grasp, like how different it is today coming out of college and how quickly you have to learn new technologies and innovation, and how quickly everything changes where before you know, that change was a little bit, you know, slower paced. So it's kind of a really nice way to like find your people and find people who maybe are where you want to be and also, like help others who were where you were, you know, and maybe look up to you.
Speaker 14:For sure, and there's so much change and so much happening. I mean, sitting into the keynote today, hearing all about AI, it made me want to kind of, you know, go on the computer and start using ChatGPT and figuring out what I could do to go and better leverage those resources.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I really liked that keynote. It was excellent. He did a really good job of like making it applicable to to me, because sometimes people talk about ai and it's so big it just feels too big to.
Speaker 11:It's like a big elephant to eat he really broke it down into like some, you know tangible use cases and how you can incorporate it into your daily lives, or you know what you're doing at work, but highlighting some other tools that I didn't know were out there, so I thought that was really cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, did a Yang touch on any AI stuff in their conference.
Speaker 1:We did, I mean in general, nothing overly specific, but we had plenty of conversation about you know, ai technology, things like that, because you talk about building your network Like that's something that I tend to find myself clinging to people who are using AI right now, because I'm learning how to like use it to make my job easier, and I need people that are doing my job to show me how to do my job easier, and that's not always easy to find in your own company.
Speaker 1:That's true, you know, I don't know how big your guys' companies are, but there's not a lot of people doing my role. You know at mine, so yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this is one way to, like, you know, branch out and, kind of you know, see what else is out there. So how does you know? I know Yang has a mentorship program and it's unique because they don't just you don't just match them with a mentor, you match them with a circle of people. So maybe we just explain a little bit about what that looks like and it's. It's a tool to find your people.
Speaker 14:Yeah, the mentorship program has been going for a number of years now and, uh, every year we keep seeing more applicants to be mentors and more applicants for folks willing to be mentees. Um, so it's really great to see the growth on on both sides of that. Um, I know, for me personally, you know, just being able to have another friendly face, um, at apex, at connects, whatever it may be, it's been really cool to just expand my network and, uh, it's been really great to just kind of stay on top of different topics and ideas and thoughts. Um, so for me it's been super valuable. Um, I'm I think this is my third time through the mentorship program and I just last night actually was spending some time with my first mentor as part of that program.
Speaker 1:Who was your first mentor?
Speaker 14:It was Todd Campo oh.
Speaker 1:I spent some time with him yesterday too.
Speaker 14:Yeah, he's a great guy and certainly knows a lot of folks in this industry, so it's always been a blast and you know applications. We do have the waiting list open now. Applications will open up again in the fall. So I would encourage anyone don't be afraid, it's not a big time commitment meet about quarterly for an hour at a time and it's been super valuable yeah, it's been great.
Speaker 11:I mean it really takes out off the edge of like meeting new people and coming to these events because it gives you like a really safe space to meet, you know, four other peers and then a mentor to help kind of lead the charge.
Speaker 11:You know, both professionally and personal development, just different topics that you go through throughout the year. This is my third year as well and I can remember signing up for the first one and it was, like you know, a little nerve wracking Like, do I, you know, should I do this? And I'm glad I did. Yeah, Michael Rukoff was my first, and then well, that'll be baptism by fire, yeah.
Speaker 11:And then Bill Hanvey has been mine for the past two years, so we kept our circle Um and it was great cause um. Actually, at this event, I met one of um appear in my mentorship group for the first first time in person.
Speaker 1:Oh cool.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, that's so funny thinking of todd campo as a mentor only, like he just photobombed me last night. You know, I just like, but that's kind of the fun part of these connect events is like, you know, you get to see the side of people you don't necessarily get to see on the other side of the screen. Right, you get the chance to, like, see these people as humans and, you know, really make good connections with them. Believe it or not, we hit our time. I told you it would go really, really fast. But is there, is there anything else that you guys want to share?
Speaker 14:I would just say thanks for the opportunity to join you today for the podcast debut and, uh, you know this is a great industry. It's been a great event. I love the collaboration that we have here. I know there's a lot of excitement from all the keynotes and sessions through the week so far and I'm excited to take them home and put them into work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, good.
Speaker 11:The one thing left I think I would share is, if you do find yourself at you know, hopefully in the future, at one of these events, and you don't know, a lot of people just reach out and say hi to somebody, Cause I would say I've never been turned down, but you know everyone because I would say I've never been turned down, but everyone's going to turn around and say hi and just introduce yourself and say hey, my name's Clifton. I mean use your own name, of course.
Speaker 1:Everyone's going to be saying that across.
Speaker 11:But I mean everybody's very friendly and open and I think we've all got the same goal to network and learn people's stories and who they are.
Speaker 1:And keep everybody's car on the road. No one's here to not meet people, right, right? Because it's the wrong place to be. Well, thank you guys for trusting me with your first podcast. You guys did fantastic.
Speaker 11:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Found your next role. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Auto Care On Air. Make sure to subscribe to our podcast so that you never miss an episode, and don't forget to leave us a rating and review. It helps others discover our show. Auto Care On Air is proud to be a production of the Auto Care Association, dedicated to advancing the auto care industry and supporting professionals like you. To learn more about the association and its initiatives, visit autocareorg.
