While some people around the repair shop industry lament the bad rap today’s shops and technicians still get, women who own, work in or manage those shops often have different issues they face.
But one group is working to help women overcome perceived or real barriers, building up the women — and their businesses. The Leading Ladies 20 Group, part of the Automotive Training Institute (ATI), features women from around the country banding together to better their businesses and themselves.
“When the email came across my desk (about the group’s creation), I think I was number two who responded to it,” says member Beth Amazzalorso, who with her husband, Steve co-owns Sunny Sunoco in Margate, N.J. “Sometimes in this industry as a woman, you generally get, ‘Can I talk to the technician?’ or ‘Can I talk to the owner,’ and I say, ‘I’m the owner.’ Even 30 years in, you still get frustrated. Being able to talk to women who understand where you’re at trying to run a business in the automotive field, it’s a big plus.”
“We felt the need for women to have the confidence to speak freely and speak their opinion in a way that they felt they were being heard,” Bennett explains. “Being involved with ATI, they focus so much on education and they’re always trying to think ahead in what’s going to be good for the industry and individual businesses.”
George Zeeks is the group’s ATI facility, but the female duo lead the group, with Haglin doing the facilitating. Bennett says the setup is a great match.
“We joke around in saying we’re the perfect married couple. She’s the driver and is more vocal, whereas I feel I’m sitting beside her and I can be a voice of reason if she goes out on a tangent and I can pull her back in and say, look at it this way or from this point of view,” Bennett jokes. “I think with the women, they’re all very comfortable with both of us, but there maybe some things that I’m more approachable with or she’s more approachable with.”
The group is similar to other 20 Groups in that it discusses business-related topics at each meeting. Bennett says the group blended so quickly, that they hit the ground running; there was “no two or three meetings ramping things up.” The one area that has changed over the years, though, is the format. Haglin explains that the first meeting featured someone from human resources throwing so much information at them “like a fire hose. It was like a class.” No one liked that, so the leadership changed it to make it so they could really work for a day or so, focusing on one topic, learning it and getting it down “so we come away with a product or a concept that we really understand and are applying.”
Haglin offers the example that the last meeting included working on their shop’s individual Google+ pages. Each shop was at a different level, so they were able to talk about what works, gather pictures and learn how to make effective posts. They did a lot of marketing prep work, including creating a marketing calendar, “so everyone would come home feeling like they’ve accomplished something.”
“When we first met, we talked about what the picture was that we were going to do – community stuff, humanitarian stuff, marketing stuff, the ‘fringe.’ We had women that were in the business, where Shelle and her husband were working together and now he’s a coach and she runs the business,” Haglin says. “We had the people who were in it in it, to women just doing books, just doing marketing, just doing that outer-lying stuff, not really in the business a lot. We thought this is going to be interesting and how are we going to pull all this together.”
They spoke about marketing early on, but have moved on to other topics, including discussing KPI numbers and what they mean. “We’re bringing along everybody. The roles of the women who are on the fringe, such as Michelle (Long), she partnered with her husband and her whole life changed because of this group.”
The Women-Only Benefit
While some of the topics the group covers could be learned in other 20 Groups, the women-only environment is appealing to many.
“My husband and I are part of another 20 Group. There are some husband and wife teams in there, but it’s mostly guys. Sometimes I have a hard time speaking up in front of a group like that. I’m not always comfortable or confident,” explains Amazzalorso. “This is the warmest group of women I’ve ever worked with. … It’s just been such a growth. I’ve learned more in the two years working with these women probably more than anywhere else.”
Fellow original member Michelle Long, vice president and shop manager of Long Car Care Center in Woodinville, Wash., adds that women in these roles are so unique, it’s a great benefit to have the time to talk to people who do the same thing she does and also is empowering. Kelli Weatherby, who is newer to the group but not to the industry, had similar feelings in joining the 20 Group.
“Most of the women who are involved in the Leading Ladies group have worked in the business like I do, like I have from day one. That’s really appealing to me that those who have been in as long as I have or a smidge longer can help mentor me,” notes Weatherby, co-owner of Lee Weatherby’s Accurate Automotive in Mesa, Ariz. “And I can help mentor those younger ones who are thinking that every bump in the road is a disaster.”
Bennett adds that this is a great way to draw newer, younger women into the industry. “I think it’s being proud of what you do,” she says. “Being so involved in the business and talking to women, telling them this is not just a man’s world any more. You see women in sales at the dealerships , but you more and more women in service writing. I think it’s getting the word out there that it’s not a man’s world and when you’re out in the public and speaking to people, it’s being proud of what you do and being positive about it.”
That identity trickled down into the individual members growing themselves. “Personally, something that surprised me is the confidence that I’ve gained from it. It really gives women that voice, that confidence that what they’re thinking and feeling is right and don’t be afraid to speak up. It’s not a silly idea. If you have a question, ask it. Nobody looks down on you for that,” Bennett recalls.
“I’ve learned to have the confidence that if I feel something needs to be addressed and changed, to speak up,” adds Amazzalorso. “We’ve changed everything from marketing to I now have monthly meetings with my technicians and my service writers all so they know where I’m at. It’s allowed me to step a little bit out of the business and work on the business, which is really, really important.”
Both Long and Weatherby note that they have taken that knowledge and confidence back to their respective shops. Long explains that her husband now counts on her to work on the business’ numbers, all of which she understands more than ever thanks to the Leading Ladies.
“My husband said it best right after I started. He felt what I was learning made him have a business partner. Before, I was here every day, but I didn’t really understand the business; I knew when we had money and when we didn’t,” says Long. “I now understand the why, how the business runs, the car count, the average RO. I manage our techs. It’s made me like my job again.”
Weatherby adds that the unity of the women has been a bonus, and, like others mentioned, being able to reach out to the women between meetings for help and ideas is a great asset.
“It’s been instrumental in pointing out some areas that needed changed. I wouldn’t say a weakness, but some areas that Lee and I could use change,” she explains. “Our crew has been with us a long time, and Lee and I have been together working in the business a long time. Being involved in the Leading Ladies, there are some sharp ladies in our group. They are working it hard and are able to walk you through understanding things and instructing how to make things better.”
Amazzalorso experienced help in rebuilding a shop first hand, after Hurricane Sandy hit the Jersey Shore, where her shop is located. The group actually was meeting in Baltimore at the time, a point of pride that Haglin points to, as it was one of the few groups that picked up and met in a makeshift room at the hotel to keep moving forward.
“I’m in a class and I keep running out looking at the news,” Amazzalorso recalls. “They were saying they’d help me, but let’s stay focused because right now there’s nothing we can do. When it was all done, both (of my 20) Groups said they’d send people, techs, whatever. They were just there for me.”
It Goes Beyond the Shop
All of those experiences have helped the members grow and employ those new or improved traits outside of their shops. For example, Haglin has been able to grow her love of teaching and mentoring.
Both Amazzalorso and Long have grown to understand themselves more, with Amazzalorso explaining that she now is more likely to be outgoing in a social setting, while Long says she is just more comfortable in her own skin.
The leaders see all of this in the members, too. Bennett’s own confidence has soared thanks to the group, and she has become more of a leader and approachable in areas such as her children’s school and sporting events. As for the shop, it’s even stronger there.
“For women that are more involved, maybe the same thing but to a higher level. If they’re more reserved that they may not be afraid to speak up. They understand their husbands do need their support,” Bennett says. “They have a lot to offer, whether it’s in marketing, as a service writer, it could be just making sure the place is presentable and is nice. I think we look at things differently and we have different opinions on things.”
The opinion of the group as a whole now is quite high. Chris “Chubby” Frederick, ATI’s CEO, says he was not sure how the group would take off when Haglin and Bennett first approached him. But the light bulb soon came on.
“Then it dawned on me after I sat with three or four of them. When you’re flying and you’re the co-pilot, you’re probably not paying that much attention as the pilot it because he’s accountable and responsible. A lot of times that’s what happens with the wives,” he states. “They don’t know everything takes place and they depend on their husband. But if something happens to their husband, then they don’t know how to run the business. The neatest thing was watching them be able to be the pilot and take over and run the business without their husbands being there. The confidence it gave them, I was shocked how all of them said to me how their confidence level tripled for being accountable in a classroom of 20 other women.”
It goes back to the support of those 20 Leading Ladies, all of whom understand from where the others are coming.
“In life you don’t have many places you can go, especially with people who can really relate to what you’re going through. If you’re a woman in the automotive industry, you have experiences that outside of it, people really are not going to experience,” says Weatherby. “When you go to Leading Ladies, you can talk down and dirty. … They’re working in the realm that you’re in. They can sympathize with the world you’re in. If you expose weaknesses, they’ll help you.”
