Transcript
WEBVTT
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I think there just is a reality to being a woman in a male-dominated industry that there's a struggle there and you're not going to be invited to the table almost ever.
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You have to bring a folding chair, pack your chair up and wear comfortable shoes and carry it to the damn table.
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Welcome to Get In Her Lane.
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I'm your host, Jamie, and I have a 25-year career in automotive.
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This is the show where we dive into the unique challenges and opportunities women face in the automotive industry, amplifying her perspective to drive positive change.
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Women influence 83% of car buying decisions, so it's crucial we see more women in leadership roles to shape the future of this industry.
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Let's try to get there together.
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Welcome back.
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Today's guest brings an incredible story of resilience, transformation and empowerment.
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Hilary Herron grew up in the automotive industry, rising to the top as a leader and paving the way for other women in this male-dominated space.
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But when life threw her an unexpected curveball the sudden sale of her family's dealership she faced one of the most challenging transitions of her life.
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Hilary doesn't hold back as she shares the raw truth about redefining her identity and rebuilding her purpose.
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Let's get into it, hilary.
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It's so great to have you on the show today, thank you so much for having me.
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I really appreciate it.
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Absolutely so.
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You were born into the automotive industry.
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As I understand it, tell me what that start looked like for you and how you grew your career.
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So I was born into the automotive industry.
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Our company was started by my grandfather and then my dad and then my cousin and I.
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I remember when I was about 11, I was playing softball.
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Our team kind of got knocked out of the tournament or the summer special season and I wanted this pair of sunglasses that I was an outfielder, so I wanted these like special Oakleys, and my dad was like well, $85 for a pair of sunglasses is outrageous, get a life.
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If you would like to spend a paycheck on them, then come on, we're going to work, you're not going to stay home and drive your mom crazy.
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So started working filing, sweeping, kind of emptying trash cans, random stuff you can do, like at 11 and ended up buying that pair of Oakleys and they still have them.
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There's a picture floating out somewhere of me wearing them.
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It's really kind of scary.
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That's kind of how I got into the business.
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I love the business of business.
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But the automotive industry came with being able to work with my dad and the idea of legacy that something my grandfather had started, and I really had kind of a love affair with our products.
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We sold Jaguar and Land Rover at the time, so it was kind of something that I knew from a very young age.
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I kind of had the idea of like, oh, maybe I'll be a veterinarian and maybe I'll be an attorney, but who doesn't think that at like 12 or 13?
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Right.
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Okay, so retail automotive.
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And then, what kind of roles did you have and over how much, how many years?
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So, I started working at the dealership full-time between high school and college and realized very quickly that I wanted to go back to school.
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So worked during college, I would say was there, call it?
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20-ish years, 20 plus years.
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I did a lot in the service department, specifically a little in the parts department and a lot in the business office.
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My cousin was heavily involved in the front end sales.
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That was more his personality, a little bit less my personality.
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So the backend is where I think I thrived a little bit more and, like I said, I love the business of business.
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So the business office was a good place for me to be.
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So you enjoyed that the most.
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It sounds like I did.
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Yeah, it's really interesting the way that a dealership runs versus the way we think it should run, versus the way people in each department think it should run, versus all the legislative hoops you have to jump through and all that kind of stuff.
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I bought into our company, my cousin and I bought into our company at the same time in 20, I think, 14.
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Okay, and also what the customer expects, how they think they should run.
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That's a whole different thing.
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Yes, and then how do we marry that up and align what actually goes on and how the processes work with getting very happy customers at the end of the day?
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True story, and then you have the manufacturer element as you well know, that there are certain expectations that you have to meet.
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What did?
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you enjoy the most, I'd say working at the dealership and in your family business, and what were some of the biggest challenges?
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I would say that I really enjoy working with my dad.
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I really enjoy advocacy and being able to help the people that are making the rules for everyone understand the reality of not only the dealership, the business, the people who work there, but the customer and what the customer actually wants.
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Alluding here kind of to EV and what we're seeing as like a huge push.
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People would accept it because that's what was being shoved down their throats, but when it came time for them to make their own decisions, they've pulled back a lot.
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Maybe I've learned more.
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I don't think it's as safe.
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I don't think it's as easily accessible I think that we're seeing that now in the statistics coming out as to repurchase retention.
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I love the advocacy part.
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I love being able to help somebody understand or talk about something that is factual versus something that is like a very beautiful dream and could perhaps be realized, but planning a way to get there Kind of a long way.
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To also say I love process and procedure.
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Okay, I love like following that through.
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Like what is the end goal that you want?
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How do we work it backwards to make everybody equally?
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This is my like coined famous phrase.
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How do we make everybody equally unhappy?
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Love that.
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So what were some of the biggest challenges, and was there anything specific to you being a female?
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in the industry.
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So I think that generational workplaces especially when you're talking about legacy within your own family, I think age plays a role with, especially when you have like a parent-child relationship, I think age plays a role with, especially when you have like a parent-child relationship.
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I think that plays a role and generation plays a role and in this industry in particular, gender plays a huge role.
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So you asked about gender being an issue for my career in automotive and I think that it was.
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I think it was an issue, but I also think it was something that fueled me, something that I see as there's just no reason my gender should play a role in my capability.
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While it was a challenge, it was also kind of the fire, so it kind of did both.
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It was a little bit more difficult to be taken seriously, but I am pretty tenacious for the most part and there's an old saying that says something like you can't beat somebody who just keeps showing up, and I feel like in a couple of cases that was how I stayed involved with CNCDA.
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That's how I stayed involved with NADA.
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They just couldn't shake me, no matter how hard they tried.
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Yeah, no, I think that's so true.
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I mean, sometimes it can really wear on you, but also for me personally too, it's been the fuel to the fire and to keep me motivated and to say, okay, you know what, let's look at this as a positive and I have a unique perspective.
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So they actually need me and they need more women, and that's a positive.
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So I agree with you on that front, absolutely.
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Is there anything specific you can share about any of the challenges you face?
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I'm always interested in little stories or anecdotes that can be really helpful to our listeners.
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A couple just kind of fun facts that aren't really a secret.
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I was going to be the second chairwoman for CNCDA before we sold out, if you will, and that is in their hundred-year history.
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And in comparison to the way that women make purchase decisions for this industry, those two numbers don't really align and I think that being a next-gen also, so being a dealer kid, I think also works against you.
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The definition or the perception?
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I guess not.
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The definition is you're entitled, you have a skewed perspective, you have this side or the other thing.
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So I felt like I was kind of pushing a boulder uphill in multiple ways.
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But it also creates a huge opportunity to enlighten people, to create new communities, to make friends.
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Some of my best friends I've made through the automotive industry by simply reaching out on LinkedIn and being like hey, I see you, I see you being a dealer kid over there and just wanted to tell you you're not alone and I think what you're doing is awesome.
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Nice, nada.
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In particular, I ran for a board seat that I didn't initially get, but I will say it was a very high turnout on the vote and I lost the seat by one vote, which is crazy 49 to 50.
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And I thought as I was running not only am I a woman, I'm a dealer kid who knows me, I'm not really out there, or I don't think I'm out there.
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It's come to my attention that maybe I'm perceived a little bit differently and I was really, really proud of that loss actually, because I put myself out there for something that I didn't think in a million years I would be even close to qualifying for.
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And the dealer community showed up and by one vote they told us what they wanted, but it was very evident that they wanna see something else too.
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Do you know what they were wanting to see?
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Do you know what they had preferred at the time?
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I mean I don't know if I can really answer that for everybody else, but I ran.
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The final run was between me and a dealer from the Bay Area, a man who had been involved for a long time, who had been the president of CNCDA, who had been present in NADA for a really long time, and I felt like I came in kind of as a nobody in my opinion or in my view, and ran and I campaigned and it was something I didn't necessarily feel qualified for at the time and to lose by only one vote.
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To me, I think that represented that maybe they wanted to see something different than they'd always seen, but that they're also more comfortable with somebody that they know and losing by only one vote.
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That's huge.
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I mean, that's really like losing nonetheless, but still really proud of that, like I'm proud of that loss.
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Yeah, absolutely, and you got the information to know how close you were too, so I think that's great, and, of course, I know what NADA is, and I think everybody does but I don't know what CNCDA is.
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What is that?
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Yeah?
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The California New Car Dealers Association oh okay, gotcha.
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Arguably I hate to say this out loud, but I started the sentence Arguably just as powerful as NADA.
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California is a unique place for the industry.
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Yes, it is CNCDA.
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Actually, that was kind of how I got my step into advocacy Again, just kind of minding my own business, being a dealer kid, and they called and asked like hey, do you want to go to Washington DC?
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We have this thing called Washington Conference and NADA has a group called NextGen.
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It's a part of the pack.
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But you go and you lobby and you help I mean you help educate the people making the decisions about the industry that you work in.
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Yeah, that's huge.
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I had no idea what it was until I got there and I remember one specific moment.
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I ended up taking a meeting with a staffer in a hallway that was so ridiculously busy and knowing as soon as I had been dismissed, before I even got a chance to talk and we started having a conversation, I said listen, this is what I'm here to do.
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I know that, you know that.
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I want to try to put it in practical terms for you.
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And we talked about how one of the things that they were doing at the time would make it almost impossible for somebody to buy a used car at a reasonable price and if they were able to buy it at all because grounding used cars for an open recall on a sticker seems unreasonable and it just so happens that they had recently purchased a car and so this really resonated with them.
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Well, I think that's, by and large, the reality of lobbying is finding that common ground and then going through a situation with somebody in the way that they would understand it, as opposed to trying to shove your needs down their throat.
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And that moment, in that really busy hallway, I can still feel.
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I can feel the shift in that moment, and I was like this is cool, this is fun, this is something that other people aren't doing.
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And in that particular instance, I think being a woman worked against me.
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And then it worked for me, right, because it worked against me.
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They had dismissed me, I was young, I was female, we're taking a meeting in a hallway, I don't even care to talk to you.
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Okay, cool, fine, okay, but let me like do my spiel.
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And then that lit a complete fire in me, like there is a way that we can do this.
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And it turned out, and has been ever since.
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When you show up in a legislator's office and you don't look like the people that they see all day long.
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When you're younger, older, female, you're of a less represented demographic they take notice, whether they mean to or not.
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They're listening a little bit differently, so I think that in that case it worked great.
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Right and it sounds like you brought a real life situation to light and they identified with that and you made progress and impact that way.
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That's what I try to do.
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That's what I tried to do and that's what I continue to try to do, even talking to our legislators now being out of the industry.
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It's funny when you sell your dealership, I mean you're on kind of the brokerage side now, so I don't know how much you hear this, but when you sell your dealership, you are dead to the industry.
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It's really crazy.
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You don't exist anymore.
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People that you're close with, that you got close with over the years, that you shared crazy things with, all of a sudden you don't exist.
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So when you're still participating in things or talking to people about the industry and like continuing to try to aid these situations, and you don't exist to them, I mean it feels really funny.
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Yeah, I'm really digesting what you're saying right now, Like are they classifying you essentially as irrelevant now that you're not working in or operating or owning a dealership, and you're like, okay, nope, they're done.
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They're kind of like off the automotive grid, I mean sadly perhaps I know that I have personal relationships with some people that have persevered, but I think that they have a job to do and they have an end to meet and they only have so much energy, just like anybody, and there's not a ton that I can do for them without a dealership right?
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How relevant can my knowledge really be?
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I think that there are places where I can be helpful if I'm tapped into that way, but again, I think that it's just easier to think of the people that are immediately available.
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I don't know how to answer that in a PC way, because there's feelings in it and there's a reality in it, so I try to compartmentalize the two, but you do kind of get dropped like a hot potato.
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Wow, that's so interesting and yeah, I want to dig into that a little bit with you.
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On the journey of this transformation and sudden change in your life, of stepping away from the automotive industry, what were your initial feelings and what went through your mind when you, when you heard the news?
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And I'd love to hear too, like when did you hear the news?
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Like in the process?
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I'm just curious.
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We were all partners, so I was involved in the process from day one, um, and if we were ever going to do it, it was going to be now or it was going to be then, I guess, and frankly, I'm still processing through a lot of that myself.
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If we're being completely honest, it wouldn't have been my first decision.
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And sometimes, when you have partners and you can be outvoted and there's no reason to cause an uproar or an issue, there's really no reason to cause problems, like okay, this is what the masses want, this is what we do.
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And I think that, while it's still kind of hard, I'm still kind of mourning that it comes up in harder waves here and there.
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Some days there's this feeling of like who am I?
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And I'm like completely reinventing myself, and but most days there's this feeling of like this is just who I've always been, and while there is like a legacy and there parts of that that I really miss, it was never who I am.
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And I think that a lot of times women, especially in the automotive industry, start to get lost in that they want so bad to be taken seriously that they make it who they are as opposed to what they do Right.
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It's not making it your identity.
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It's about how you're spending your work life, right.
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I mean it is a big part of your life.
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But I can understand to an extent after having to make a big career change definitely different since I didn't have any ownership in it, but I still spent 25 years of my life there and it's a change, right, and it is a sense of loss in a way, and it definitely takes time and is an adjustment.
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It is a part of you that you do have to mourn and I feel like normalize that.
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Yes, you got paid for your business, but it doesn't make it feel any less crappy sometimes.
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Or, yes, you made the right decision for your life and you know that you did the right thing but that doesn't make it hurt less.
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You mentioned that it necessarily wasn't going to be your decision.
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If you had the final decision, but obviously you were going to cooperate with your family and do the overall right thing.
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What was kind of pulling you in the direction of thinking I kind of want to keep it or I would love to continue on and not make this decision.
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What was the pull there for you?
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I still have work to do here.
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I still have work to do in this industry.
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That's why I cannot seem to like walk away from it.
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I'm launching a.
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I don't know how to explain what it is I hate the word coaching, but it's a community really for women in the automotive realm, because there's still work to be done here.
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It keeps pulling me back.
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I keep seeing all the things that frustrated me when I was in it and perhaps even more so now that I'm out of it and there's still work to be done.
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There's also the legacy element.
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Right, this is something like your grandfather did, your father did.
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It's in my cells.
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I took this on, I've made this me.
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How do I make me anything else?
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And so there's that element to the journey.
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But we're all constantly rediscovering who we are.
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I think especially our generation is probably the right word where we're so exposed to information.
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Now take this, since you're saying there's still so much work you feel that you need to do and be.
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A part of that needs to be done and it sounds like it's still going to be automotive industry.
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That's automotive industry to me, you know, having having a dealership or not.
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So I'd love to hear more about what you're creating and what you're starting.
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Can you talk about that?
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I felt in the industry.
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I initially felt really kind of lost in our own business.
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Family business has a lot of dynamics that are tough and they get swept under the rug a lot and at some point I'm sure I'll talk about them more openly.
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But it kind of leaves you feeling lost, like wait your turn, wait your turn, wait your turn.
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Okay, but I have so much to offer right now and I have energy and I have like, let me show you all these things I can do.
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And okay, fine, you don't want to hear it, that's cool, but I'm going to find somewhere where it can be used.
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And I felt really isolated looking for that stuff.
00:19:37.092 --> 00:19:59.673
I felt really isolated in general and I think that this is for all of the me's out there who feel underrepresented, who feel like when they go to an event for women in automotive, that it's about the money, it's about them paying, it's about the vendor, it's about whatever sponsors they can get, it's about what kind of margin they make on that event.
00:19:59.673 --> 00:20:14.826
This is a a space I'm trying to create, a space that is not only gives people a little bit of ownership over their participation in it, rather than just buying a ticket to an event and builds like meaningful connections.
00:20:14.826 --> 00:20:21.143
I've had a couple people recently ask me like what organization for women in automotive would you join?
00:20:21.143 --> 00:20:26.732
Organization for women in automotive, would you join?
00:20:26.752 --> 00:20:33.873
And I'm like I have a miserable time answering that question because while all of them do some good things, I sometimes don't understand how they.
00:20:33.873 --> 00:20:37.722
I feel like they're missing some low hanging fruit which is just the basic connection.
00:20:37.722 --> 00:20:42.978
So anyway, that is kind of a long way to say I felt lost.
00:20:42.978 --> 00:20:44.560
I felt like I didn't have a space.
00:20:44.560 --> 00:20:46.183
That was what I needed.
00:20:46.183 --> 00:20:59.500
It was what I needed at the time and I'm hoping that it creates a space where other women can feel heard, feel seen and be motivated by their peers, without feeling like they're just lost in a sea of vendors.
00:20:59.882 --> 00:21:19.172
That's a great point, I mean, when it starts as something with the original purpose and intent but then it ends up kind of veering off because money gets in the way or status gets in the way or pride gets in the way, then I can see how that could affect the direction and then the feel around it.
00:21:19.172 --> 00:21:20.875
I can relate.
00:21:20.875 --> 00:21:27.865
So since the sale of the dealership, how have your family members gotten on?
00:21:28.171 --> 00:21:31.857
I think that everybody is in still identity crisis mode.
00:21:31.857 --> 00:21:41.323
So my core four family my dad, my brother, my mom and myself we're all close anyway and I think we've remained close.
00:21:41.323 --> 00:21:47.102
My brother he wasn't involved in the business, but I think that the sale was just as hard on him as it was on anybody else.
00:21:47.102 --> 00:21:54.613
I don't talk to my cousin much, who was our partner also.
00:21:54.613 --> 00:21:55.654
I know he and my dad still talk regularly.
00:21:55.654 --> 00:21:57.539
It's not that I think that there's anything wrong.
00:21:57.539 --> 00:22:02.836
We just don't have a ton in common and I think that just is what it is.
00:22:02.836 --> 00:22:11.417
Otherwise, I think most things are status quo, other than the depth of the identity crisis.
00:22:11.878 --> 00:22:14.183
Sure what direction would you like to go in now?
00:22:14.650 --> 00:22:23.660
I think there just is a reality to being a woman in a male-dominated industry that there's a struggle there and you're not gonna be invited to the table almost ever.
00:22:23.660 --> 00:22:30.250
You have to bring a folding chair, pack your chair up and wear comfortable shoes and carry it to the damn table.
00:22:30.250 --> 00:22:33.519
I feel like that's not as easy for everybody.
00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:49.221
It's not a simple thing to do, and what I'm hoping to create with my mastermind really is kind of a I hate the word sisterhood too, but I'm gonna use it of like a sisterhood of encouragement that says I did it.
00:22:49.943 --> 00:22:54.353
I got a folding chair and I walked up to my family business table and I just sat down.
00:22:54.353 --> 00:22:58.772
Nobody wanted me there, or some people didn't want me there.
00:22:58.772 --> 00:23:14.593
I walked up to the association table and I put my folding chair squarely next to the chairman and was like hi, I'm here and to create a space for encouragement for women who do want to take on those roles.
00:23:14.593 --> 00:23:18.631
A lot of women that I've talked to recently actually have said I really don't want to.
00:23:18.631 --> 00:23:22.126
I don't want the fight.
00:23:22.126 --> 00:23:32.164
I don't want to feel like I'm having somebody telling me that I'm not enough or that who's watching my kids or oh, I get that one all the time.
00:23:32.325 --> 00:23:33.429
Yeah, who's watching your kids?
00:23:34.342 --> 00:23:34.884
I don't know.
00:23:34.884 --> 00:23:37.951
Actually, they're feral, so they're taking care of themselves.
00:23:37.951 --> 00:23:42.607
They've driven me out, so they're in charge now.
00:23:43.490 --> 00:23:45.413
Good luck to all of y'all when they're in charge.
00:23:45.413 --> 00:23:55.816
But I think that you know, in all seriousness, it makes a huge impact when people ask stupid questions like that who's watching your kids?
00:23:55.816 --> 00:24:01.029
I don't know who's watching your business, and not just that, I mean.
00:24:01.029 --> 00:24:02.993
I'll give you an anecdote.
00:24:02.993 --> 00:24:18.817
I guess my first board meeting at an aforementioned association, my husband and I were at a welcome dinner and at the time I was the youngest person who had ever been elected to their board.
