Gaining and Edge on the Competition

This episode dives into Kaylee’s journey from managing a Subway store to becoming the Sales & Marketing Director at PartsEdge, a company focused on helping dealerships optimize their parts operations. Kaylee shares how her nontraditional path gave her unique perspectives on leadership, customer service, and process efficiency. She emphasizes the often-overlooked value of parts departments in dealership profitability and highlights how culture, education, and proactive strategies can transform fixed ops.

The conversation is equal parts personal growth story and operational playbook for dealerships, showing how transferable skills, discipline, and curiosity can reshape an entire department.

 5 Memorable Quotes

1. “I didn’t know what I was getting into—but the parallels between running a restaurant and running a dealership were surprisingly close.”
2. “The parts department is the heartbeat of fixed ops, but too often it’s treated like a storage room instead of a profit center.”
3. “Inventory isn’t just numbers on a screen; it’s customer trust sitting on a shelf.”
4. “If you’re not educating advisors on how parts flow through your system, you’re creating friction instead of speed.”
5. “You don’t need to reinvent the wheel—just commit to doing the basics consistently better than anyone else.”

 5 Takeaways

1. Transferable skills matter – Leadership and management lessons from other industries (like food service) directly apply to automotive.
2. Parts drive retention – Having the right part at the right time builds customer trust and supports service efficiency.
3. Culture of respect – Treating parts departments as partners instead of back-office silos changes how dealerships perform.
4. Education is leverage – Training advisors and techs on parts processes reduces errors and delays.
5. Data + discipline = profitability – Using tools to track inventory and enforcing simple processes can unlock hidden revenue.

 5 Strategies You Can Use Tomorrow

1. Audit your inventory flow – Check where delays or double-handling occur between parts, advisors, and techs. Fix one bottleneck immediately.
2. Run a cross-department huddle – Bring parts, service advisors, and techs together for a 10-minute daily sync. It builds alignment and respect.
3. Reframe the parts department – Stop calling it “the back.” Start calling it a profit center in team meetings to shift perception.
4. Create a quick-reference guide – A one-page cheat sheet for advisors on parts ordering rules and timelines can cut down mistakes.
5. Review one parts metric daily – Instead of drowning in reports, pick one KPI (like fill rate or obsolescence) and track progress as a team.

What is Fixed Ops Mastermind?

“Leaving the industry better than I found it”-Dave Foy

Each week, Dave sits with a panel of guests to discuss the topic of the week. From Coaching for Success to Sales vs. Service, Dave talks to the industry and professional leaders that can bring their insight and knowledge to the viewers.

Our W.E. A.R.E Feature airs on the third Thursday of the month and spotlights Women in Fixed Ops and how they are changing the industry and leading the charge to a better customer experience.

Welcome to FixOx Mastermind.

I am Kyle Morrissette,

and today I'm joined by Kaylee Filio,

who is the sales and marketing director

for PartsEdge.

Welcome to the show, Kaylee.

Thanks for having me.

Happy to be here.

I'm excited for today's conversation.

I know you have so much to bring

to the table that, you know,

you started your career managing a subway

store and next thing you know,

you've worked yourself into parts edge and

grown a,

you know, help grow a great company.

Can you share what first attracted you

from leaving being a sandwich artist to

becoming a parts maestro?

You know,

I didn't know what I was getting into,

I think.

And it's so crazy to think that that

was that was so long ago doing and

I was so young.

Not that I'm old now.

Still pretty young.

But yeah,

just what attracted me to stick with it

and stay was there was a lot of

parallels in managing a restaurant and

and dealing with a franchise and going

into auto and learning about dealerships

and that franchise.

Then when it comes to the parts department

and just managing an inventory,

it's very similar to managing an inventory

at a restaurant.

I picked up a lot very quickly,

I feel like,

and just kind of stuck with it.

I wasn't always in sales and marketing

with PartsEdge.

I first started in customer success

support and learning the ins and outs of

what we actually do for the dealerships.

And then that position opened up.

So I jumped on that because I always

knew that sales and marketing is really

what I wanted to do.

So, yeah,

that's that's what attracted me to it.

Awesome.

So with almost a decade with them now,

and you are still young,

you've built a marketing and sales

presence basically from the ground up.

What guiding principles shaped you to

develop the brand and connect with the

parts managers who are unfamiliar or maybe

didn't know that they needed to be guided

in that direction?

Wait, go back.

Sorry, what was the question?

What guiding principles shaped how you

developed the brand and connected with

parts managers who were unfamiliar with

the vision?

Really,

the guiding principles was going back to

education,

just helping to educate on inventory,

the health, the parts department,

all of that,

because it just isn't something that's

talked about a lot.

So when I started in the role,

because there was really no marketing in

place, I mean, we had a website.

That was pretty much it.

And a lot of the growth happened from

word of mouth, which is a great strategy.

But you also have to scale that too.

So I just went back to the core

and that was just creating education and

helping put that knowledge out there

because the founders are very,

very knowledgeable and they're very,

very good at executing.

So I just kind of took that and

turned it into the brand.

Yeah.

I don't know how else to explain it

because I kind of don't,

I feel like I always say I don't

know what I'm doing,

but everyone says I know what I'm doing.

I think when you know how to do

it and you have that ability to be

able to sometimes be able to put it

out there and say, well,

this is what I do.

And it could be an idea that you

went to bed and

thought about in your head overnight and

woke up and there it is.

So it's not always planned for, right?

So the creative side of you can come

at any moment.

Is that how you feel?

Yes.

Creative.

It always happens right before bed or at

night.

I do have like a,

I don't know what it's called,

like a golden hour or golden couple hours

in the morning where it's just like,

so much.

And then I feel like in the afternoon,

it's like, it's just kind of,

I'm dead work, but it's like,

I'm my creative and my ideas aren't

flowing.

I'm just kind of executing.

If that makes sense.

But yeah,

it's just constantly just thinking of new

ways and then also just tracking what's

working and then just repeating that is a

lot of what I'm doing.

And I think a lot of people don't

realize too,

is because we are such a small company,

I'm the only one doing sales and marketing

and I don't have a designated person for

certain roles, which I probably should,

because there's so many areas I would love

to improve on.

And it's just, you know,

you can only do so much.

Right.

Yeah.

One person with so many hours in the

day and a family to take care of

and everything else.

So, yeah, I get it.

So I guess, you know,

one of the things that came up was

you launching the Parts Girl podcast and

really spotlighting our parts personnel,

which I applaud you for.

Far too often they just get forgotten

about back in the back and just how

important they are to us.

operation for all facets of the game,

right?

So sales needs you, service needs you,

counter needs you.

So what was the gap that you saw

in the podcast space that pushed you to

take on the role?

And since hosting,

has your perspective changed on the

leadership in the industry?

Has it changed at all?

Oh, man, that's such a loaded question.

Okay.

So I started the podcast,

I think it's been about five,

five years now.

So it was like,

people were just starting to podcast in

our industry a lot more are not as

much like now there's there's everyone

pretty much has a podcast.

So I feel fortunate that I will I

kind of saw that opportunity and was like,

Hey, we need this.

Because there was so many fixed ops

podcasts,

and they weren't really talking about

parts.

And then,

but then what I found was when I

started podcasting parts,

people are so hard to get onto the

podcast.

I mean,

and then I would always make comments.

I'm like,

why are the parts people never on the

websites?

And then some people told me like working

at the dealerships are like,

because they don't want to be on the

website.

So it wasn't just, you know,

them not being noticed.

It was them also not wanting to be

on the website or whatever.

So yeah.

Anyways, long story short,

I did the podcast and I rebranded it

actually recently.

I was going through, you know,

it just evolves over time when you're

podcasting and I'm still kind of trying to

navigate.

And I feel like I've got a good

thing that I shifted to because I've

gotten more clients on.

I have more founder spotlight of PartsEdge

on to really talk about the things that

aren't talked about a lot.

And that's really why I started the Parts

Girl or Parts Edge podcast is to highlight

some of those things.

So I don't know if I answered your

question.

I say that a lot when I'm doing

interviews.

But no, you did.

I think, you know, you're right.

There's there's a lot of parts personnel

just want that want to be the quiet

hero.

You know, they or they're they're

introverted in a way where it's

uncomfortable for them to put themselves

out in this way.

And take credit for all the awesome things

that they do.

Because a lot of times,

sorry to cut you off,

I'm just thinking about all the

conversations I have.

They're more than just parts.

They get involved in the shop efficiency.

They get involved in the service side and

appointments, recon with sales.

I feel like if you can break down

the silos in the dealerships,

They're so much more than just ordering

parts.

Oh, God.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean,

they're they're fully responsible for

keeping us going, right?

So if they're not sourcing the parts,

they're not figuring out how to get them

here quick.

They're not engaged with the technician

and asking the right questions.

You could have a car dead on the

lift because we forgot to order a seal.

And there's so much that happens with

them.

You know,

like fixed as a whole kind of is

second fiddle to the sales department.

The glory comes from there.

And, you know,

all the hard work comes from the backside.

But I think you're right.

I think it's it's there's some out there

that want to be in the forefront and

will be involved.

And there's others that are like, hey,

I just want to do a job.

And I collect my paycheck and I do

what I'm supposed to do and I keep

moving.

But they don't realize just how great they

are and what they could do.

for future people looking to come into our

business to give them another avenue of

employment, right?

So, I mean,

there's such a value there for sure.

so you know you definitely answered the

question and i i would say on the

podcast side uh i i definitely when dave

forced me into this uh decision uh that

i didn't get to make it was his

um i i won't lie i went back

and watched you know some of your early

stuff and as it is

Because although I'm comfortable talking

to any customer or employee or in front

of my team,

being in a situation where you're putting

something out to the unknown, right?

So, I mean, you know,

some people that are going to watch it,

but you don't know who it's actually going

to get to.

It's like, oh, man, I don't know.

I want to make sure that I come

across the right way.

And sometimes I'm a little too sharp.

And I say things that later on,

I'm like,

I probably could have softened that up a

bit.

I mean,

we can always change the way we say

things.

There's always a better way after we say

it and you think back.

Like, I do that all the time.

I'm like, man,

I could have said that a little

differently.

But it's like we can't do that because

the other person,

what they perceive is so much different

than what we think.

Like, you know what I mean?

It just doesn't help to over – I'm

the same way, though.

I completely overthink everything.

Yeah, I overthink everything.

But with the podcast, I was like,

I am not going to do this.

I don't want to focus on like,

oh my gosh,

I have so many downloads or I have

so many things.

I wanted to really just focus on having

conversations and connecting with that

person I was interviewing.

It wasn't about...

something going viral or anything like

that it was just you know let's just

have a conversation and it'll touch at

least one person like no matter what you

know it'll someone one person will at

least listen to this and benefit from it

hopefully not this but like any of the

conversations well that's our goal right

um and it's i'm glad that you said

that because um i don't know what the

show does

um, you know, I,

I watch it here and there and I

see four or five people and I'll text

Dave and I'll go, is that good?

And he's like, no, man, it's,

everything's going fine.

But, um, for me, same thing.

It's not about that.

It's about, let's get together, you know,

to be great together.

And the more people that we can get

involved in it, uh,

from all aspects of our business, uh, uh,

the better off we are.

So, um, you know, that's,

that's just kind

So far it's been fun.

I've talked to people from different

countries and learned how the business

goes and made great contacts like you and

a whole bunch of others.

So it's been super, super fun.

So pivoting just a little bit away from

the podcast and what we're doing.

So PartsEdge itself is helping dealerships

tackle idle inventory, obsolescence,

DMS efficiencies,

Can you walk us through a like a

high impact use case where these tools

helped a parts team reclaim profitability

if they were losing and now they're

profitable and what that meant for the

overall culture and workflow of the

department?

That is such a big question.

No,

I think that is such a hard thing,

I think,

to answer because what we're getting

involved in a lot is efficiency.

And that is translates into more profit.

And a lot of the dealerships we work

with are very, very profitable already.

You know,

we're starting to work with them and

creating like it's almost like giving them

another level up because there's a lot of

tasks and there's a lot of data involved,

as you know, in managing an inventory.

And then you also have your manufacturer

programs.

um so it's it's so much and then

the reporting so giving you some examples

i guess is a lot of times when

i hear from parts managers is they didn't

realize how much how easier the

information could be displayed so that

they can make better decisions um and on

the back end the dms

They really, I think in dealerships,

you only use ten to twenty percent of

its capabilities as far as the parts.

That's what I know about the parts

department.

So we we increase that capability and

that's really.

boils down to how it's set up and

maintaining that for the parts manager,

because they have so many hats that

they're wearing.

They don't have time to do the things

that they need to do in the DMS,

nor should they have to,

because it's like we're in twenty twenty

five.

This is right.

We're like,

you shouldn't be doing these tasks.

This should automatically be happening for

you.

So I don't know that there's so many

things I could go down.

But I would say, though,

When you talk about obsolescence and idle

inventory,

because I get this all the time and

it's almost really frustrating,

that dealerships just want someone to buy

their obsolescence.

And yeah, okay, that's a great strategy,

but what if you had less that you

didn't have to worry about?

What if you were maintaining less or zero?

It shouldn't be like, oh,

let's just sell it off or we're stuck

with all this crap.

Can I say that?

Yeah, go ahead.

But that's the most frustrating thing when

people contact me.

They're like, oh,

PartsEdge buys inventory.

No,

we do not buy idle inventory or

obsolescence.

We make it so that you don't have

idle.

We'll put strategies in place if you have

a problem.

But the biggest thing is maintaining that

at a low level so you're not having

to throw away so much year after year.

Yeah,

I think because of the lack of knowledge

on the part side in some case or

understanding like that's real money that

sits on that shelf.

It's already paid for, right?

So there's no,

that money is already spent.

You own that and there's no way to

get out of it after a certain point.

And a good point to make too,

year after year, there's depreciation.

So what you bought it for and what

it is worth, it's not worth.

And I think that's the thing that happens

when you're looking at the numbers.

It's like, oh, it's still worth that.

And it's like, no, it's not worth that.

Yeah.

I would say, though,

that some dealers look at it and it's

like that revolving door right where,

you know, I have obsolescence.

It's at this percentage.

I'm going to sell it off at fifty

cents on the dollar or in some cases,

fifty cents under what I bought it for

or fifty percent under what I bought it

for.

And we just keep repeating this process

over and over again rather than correcting

the problem.

So you make it so that the problem

becomes corrected and less and more

controllable without having to put

millions of hours of effort into it.

Does that sound right?

That's absolutely right.

Cause that's a good point too.

The amount of time you spend focusing on

getting rid of obsolescence and, um,

and try like selling air,

whatever strategy you use,

like how much time are you actually

spending when you should be spending more

time on that percentage of inventory that

actually makes you more money.

Cause you're in a way you're wasting time

and you aren't really making money off of

that time.

Yeah.

Um,

I mean,

anything for me right now that is going

to take administrative things away and

allow me to be with our people doing

what we're good at, which is training,

helping guests,

training them to be better at giving the

best guest experience and being hands-on.

Those are the things that make the big

difference now.

And we have so much more ability than

we ever have to be able to put

these tools in play.

And if we use them properly,

the expense that we put on those specific

vendor partners or whatever it may be

really is pennies on the dollar from the

value side of what you get.

Do you agree?

Oh, I, I completely agree.

I think, um, just to your point,

the time,

I just don't think that GMs or dealers

think about their managers time the same

way.

Like, it's like, oh, this is your job,

but it's like, yes it is.

But if there's,

there's so much technology to help.

And I feel like we, um,

What I love about what we do,

just being in the industry for so long,

it's not another tool that they have to

learn how to use.

It's a tool that's been around for years.

The DMSs have been around.

This is how you do your business.

So that's what I love about it is

it's not,

it's basically using the DMSs the way that

they should be used and setting it up

like actually for a parts person.

Like, you know what I mean?

Like it's not,

they're just kind of standardized.

Like when I've seen conversions or talk

about,

the setups it's like these are they're

they're just set up from ten fifteen years

ago there's no there's no routine to

change it i mean we've talked about this

yeah i mean it's just kind of the

way it is yeah set it forget it

and uh we're not going to change it

before you figure out how to make it

work for you

And then you're figuring it out and you're

just constantly making tweaks that

basically are more time consuming.

The best quote I could steal from this

one parts manager,

and I remember he was very hesitant

because he is running a very successful

operation and his inventory was great.

And he said he was like,

I didn't realize how much time I needed

or how much time you guys could give

me to be more creative with the way

I'm managing my inventory or how I could

set things up to really see things or

data.

So I just love that quote because I'm

like, man,

we gave you more time to be creative.

And I think that's what parts managers

want.

They love data.

They love looking at this stuff.

I almost threw my mic.

Thank you.

So that kind of was rolling into one

of the next questions, which was that,

you know,

parts managers and in a lot of cases,

service directors, fixed ops directors,

super analytical, numbers driven.

But parts managers specifically will know

their numbers.

You know,

I can go to a parts manager right

now and say,

how much how much money do you have?

How much is the inventory?

How much is coming in on SOPs today?

What do we have going out in wholesale?

And they're going to know those numbers

better than anybody else that's out there.

So for me,

my strength has always been in service.

I've gotten somewhat dangerous in parts,

but it's not my bread and butter.

How can fixed ops leaders like myself

better support and empower the parts

managers,

particularly through that communication

training?

And then obviously technology technology

exposure would be to bring you on board.

But I'm sure that there's things that we

can

co-op into that uh to make it stronger

um but so what do you think that

we should be looking at from you know

from thirty thousand feet where you know

the the ownership is looking all the way

down to the fixed ops director who's

supposed to be supporting them directly oh

your questions are so big okay so the

for a dealer jam like point of view

now i forgot the question

How to make better support and empower the

parts manager.

Thank you.

Okay.

Yes.

There's so many ways I can go with

this because historically,

I always say historically, but it's true.

We've always just kind of let the parts

manager do their thing because they've

done a great job.

And I think to empower,

you have to get involved in understanding

what they're actually doing because i

think that's everyone knows i think even

the parts manager knows that the dealer

typically doesn't really know what they're

doing or their role like they just kind

of let them do their thing so i

think getting more involved and not in a

way of like hey why are you doing

it that way but more of like

How can I better support you and help

you?

Because a lot of times the parts manager

won't speak up that they actually need

help.

I know most of the time when I

can't get a deal to move forward,

it's because the parts manager can't get

the approval and I don't have the

relationship with the dealer or the GM.

Um, I don't really know how,

there's so many things I want to say,

but ask me more questions.

So, so I, I guess be present, right.

Would that be, you know, um,

spend time there, uh, you know, uh,

ask questions and don't, um,

You may not either understand or like the

answer that comes from it,

because that's what happens to me i'll go

back there and i'll be like hey why.

Why do you think we have this many

of this one on the shelf and why

is it here,

and why would it be a little closer

or whatever and there's a strategic plan

in place of the way that they map

out the arts part that's just one you

know one example right.

or.

hey, the special on our shelf,

how do we know exactly how everything's

done?

Is there a list?

Is there this?

Is there that?

And asking these questions to figure out

because in most cases,

there's a reason why we've done things the

way that we do it, right?

So generally, if I'm selling this part,

this part's coming with it,

but if I do it in this way,

I reduce steps,

I reduce time away from the desk.

And so, I mean,

ask those questions because the greatest

parts managers, that's, it's a symphony.

You know,

the counter folks are doing what they have

to do, the back, you know,

the back wholesale staff or the, you know,

the people that are putting the parts away

and pulling them for you,

like all of this has to

coexist together.

And there's one person that's directing

the orchestra.

And I think if you spend more time

with them and show that you are invested

in your investment, I mean,

as an owner or a GM or whatever,

you're being paid on net.

So all that money that is sitting on

those shelves, that's straight expense.

It's not going to go away unless you

sell it.

And your job is to sell it for

profit.

So, you know,

I would say from your point of view

and things that we've talked about in the

past,

it's just try and be present and spend

time back there.

yeah i would say that and then also

just finding a partner that can help

translate because that's a lot of times

that i hear um in in the conversations

is like just having that partner there to

translate to the dealer like this is

actually what's going on because i feel

like that's a lot of times dealers are

like why do i have so much in

obsolescence or why is this it's like

well this is the you know the plan

or this is what's happening and this is

a different there's different ways to just

translate it different language um since a

lot of times i hear we translate it

a little differently so that everyone can

kind of be on the same page

Sure.

So do you think that that's a place

where the fixed ops director kind of jumps

in because normally they have more of an

ear to the upper leadership where they can

translate it the way that the parts

manager needs to?

Yeah, I think so.

I think that's where it really comes.

If you can create a good partnership with

your fixed ops and parts and then help

translate, that's, I mean,

that's a huge game changer, I think.

um but like you said with the process

and making improvements having the fixed

ops director you know asking those

questions but like not in a way of

like why are you doing it this way

you're doing it wrong but in a way

of like you know this is what happens

on our side this is what happens on

service how can we make like how can

we make those little improvements to be

more efficient i think everyone wants to

be more efficient have a better process

like we all

We all don't want to waste time.

We want to know.

No, we want to be we want to.

I mean,

time is is the number one thing that's

against all of us.

Right.

We're all fighting, you know.

So, yeah, no, I agree with you.

And I think, you know,

I've learned over the years a lot of

things from some great parts managers that

you've been able to bring over to service

that, you know,

you don't realize that they're doing back

there that you can actually actually bring

into the service side of it and the

engagement,

whether it be with the technician or even

a customer in a lot of cases.

But there's a lot of strength in parts

that gets overlooked and

and a lot of people,

I think for me, you know,

I've met some parts people recently and

last week I had Peter Kanab from New

York on the show and he,

I found him because he voiced that they

need to have a seat at the table.

And I implore just like I do everybody

else,

let's get together so we can be great

together.

in a position where you think we can

do something better and you have something

to bring to the table i don't care

what position you're in in the dealership

or from the vendor side or you know

vendor partner side or whatever if you

have it speak up and let's talk about

it um and and i think that's great

kaylee i think you know you you do

bring that

Thanks.

Thank you.

Yeah,

you just have to speak up and share.

You never know who's listening.

Yeah.

So in a recent conversation,

you had highlighted the pitfalls of dirty

core management and DMS discrepancies.

What do you find are like best practices

that can be adopted to make sure that

that's not happening to you?

Oh, my gosh.

Well,

I think it depends on what DMS you're

on.

So that was that was a recent.

Well, it's been a couple of months now.

Something that got brought up because I

think there were some changes with PBS and

dealer track and whatnot.

So it's just a lot of requests and

questions around that.

So we just talked about it.

But.

I don't know if I can really share

exactly because everyone's a little bit

different,

but I would say as far as the

DMS goes,

but just having that process in place and

just making sure that you're tracking

those things properly,

I guess is the right way to,

you know, to highlight it.

Cause there's different programs within

the DMSs.

Like you can turn on dirty core tracking

or whatnot in, I think it's in CDK.

Some of the programs work really well and

some of them don't.

So you just have to test it and

make sure and,

Yeah,

if you have questions specifically about

that,

feel free to ask me because I think

that's a whole podcast in itself.

You know,

I'd say that's one of my weakest things

is understanding the dirty core to a clean

core to which one is an expense,

which one are we getting a credit and

how's it all working?

You know, that in itself,

specifically with the way manufacturers

make them come back, I mean, that,

you know, if you have...

three or four cores,

that can be a whole day's worth of

work.

Yes.

And it's unfortunate because it shouldn't

be, right?

I mean,

there's got to be a faster way to

do it.

But do you think that from the OEM

side,

they could do something that's cleaner so

that it doesn't take a whole day to

send cores back?

Specifically on, you know, the brands,

Hyundai, Kia,

that are replacing motors every day.

I mean,

I've been in a couple of stores and,

you know,

the reality is that these guys can have

ten or twelve in a real short time

to get back,

which is taking up space and

depending on, you know,

how you have it set up.

I mean, the last place we were at,

we created a cage for him.

Um,

but he could be out there for six,

seven, eight hours,

just doing course where, you know,

there's so much more that we could be

doing in a, in a next level way.

Yeah.

And that's a good point that I think

it's a manufacturer there's manufacturers

that have more, you know,

that you're dealing with.

Um,

So I think that it's a matter of

just having a good tracking in place

because from what I'm understanding of

them too is you could send it back

and if you're not tracking it,

you can miss those credits and whatnot.

So that's a big deal.

And it just clouds up the health of

your inventory, I think,

if you're not tracking it properly and

looking at it because cores are worth a

lot.

Yeah, they sure are.

don't know if that answers your question

well uh no i mean they're they're uh

they can become a huge loss of money

if they're not done properly i mean i've

seen stores with a hundred thousand

dollars worth of course in there and

you're like oh my god how much of

that can we get back i don't know

if you're not actively on it you're just

gonna lose yeah i think

So going through having a podcast,

running the marketing and sales

development and everything,

there's been so much going on in your

world with the kids and the family.

um and and being able to pivot on

all of that right so uh being a

mom and being present and being able to

be effective in your in your um in

your career um how would you say that

these experiences have um you know shaped

your approach to leadership empathy and

and helping others be able to navigate

that that path

Well,

I would say becoming a parent has taught

me everything, really.

It's completely changed.

I mean,

I wouldn't say completely changed me

because I feel the soul.

I think you're always who you are.

But I think the perspective,

it's completely changed that perspective.

And just like,

there's a lot to being a parent.

And I think in those, especially,

I mean the whole life of the child,

obviously,

but like what I'm dealing with right now

is the younger years.

So it's very, very,

they're very dependent on me and just

trying to raise good humans.

Cause like I'm dealing with a toddler is

different than a, than a six year old.

And just like the emotion,

there's just so much.

I don't even know where to start.

As far as like career goes and leadership,

I feel like I've been super blessed to

be able to be in the role that

I am and still be able to be

there for my children,

because I know that's not the case for

a lot of people.

And so I feel very fortunate that I

kind of get to be able to

run this like it's my own business in

a way.

I'm part of those larger conversations of

development, growth of the company.

I've earned it, of course,

but I would say if anyone is on

that path to looking back,

I feel like I'm rambling,

but trying to really look back on what

think what I did was I just I

set out what I really wanted what I

thought I really wanted to because you

don't really know until you start going

and then you evolve and

And I just kept writing it down and

kept thinking about it.

And really,

that's kind of where I'm at right now.

So I can't really,

because now I'm kind of reached where I

wanted to be.

Now I'm to this point in my life

or my career where I'm like, okay,

what's that next ten years look like?

What am I trying to do?

And then I keep going back to, okay,

what did I do to get to this?

i don't know if i'm helping at all

because i feel like i'm rambling because i

kind of don't really know what those next

ten years look like um or five really

but it's kind of having a baseline of

like okay this is how i see this

week going and then breaking it down day

by day and

of have a plan you know with with

your partner and and you know setting

things up um uh i would say you

know i'm on the tail end of or

the tail end of at least schooling um

you know my my son just started as

a freshman in college and my daughter is

a sophomore in high school so their needs

have changed they're much more

self-reliant now than they uh than they

were but uh i will tell you that

i much

and, you know, thank God, you know,

they call and check with me often and

I know what's going on.

And I mean,

they are a thousand miles away up in

the Northeast, but for me,

It was really hard being in the dealership

because, you know,

at the time I was working fourteen hour

days, so I was four on four off.

So I was there for four days,

twenty four seven.

And then I was gone for four days

where they didn't see me.

I was gone before they got up and

I was back after they went to bed.

So I missed a lot of things over

over the years or got pictures or video

while they were there or whatever.

I think as a whole,

I think our business is starting to

recognize the need for family.

I do.

I do see that for sure.

I think they're being more responsive of,

you know, when your children have things.

finding a way to try and get you

there um and making sure that you have

it uh i still think that there's some

some old souls out there that you know

hey this is what we do we're open

close and and that's the responsibility

and you know whatever um but i think

that they're more few and far between do

you see that in the groups that you're

working with or talking to now

Yeah, absolutely.

I see that.

And there's just more of that

understanding to across the board,

just even then when I'm talking to people

and,

and they're just understanding that I have

a family and I have kids and whatnot.

And it's,

it's just nice to not feel that,

that guilt that you're not,

there's a lot of sacrifices I make.

There's a lot of things I don't go

to because I have a family.

But yeah,

I think the nice part about it is

that guilt that you don't get from or

that pressure that you're not doing a good

job because you're not here.

You're not doing those things.

And what I'm talking about is joining the

after-hour conversations.

Or there's some conferences that I've

given up that I haven't gone to because

of the small kids.

So I don't know.

I just feel like...

there's a lot of,

there's just an understanding.

I think it all kind of goes back

to having the community on LinkedIn and

being able to be there and still be

connected without having to physically be

there, even though the physical,

like being there is so much better,

of course.

And then of course, because I live,

my husband is in a dealership,

so I get to firsthand see that as

well.

And then

been great and understanding like um my

daughter has soccer on wednesdays and he

gets to leave early so it's like and

be there and help me because yes i

work from home but i also like it's

i cannot be with them all day long

yeah yeah meetings come up things come up

and

You know,

and then you have like your household

things you have, you know,

taking care of the house,

making your dinner,

their snacks or if they're sick.

Like there's so many things that being

working at home.

Yes, you have that flexibility,

but you also have to be very,

very structured so that you can you're

working in an office basically.

Yeah.

and yeah so and having those have those

work i mean i i think there's a

misconception i know you know obviously a

bunch of people that work from home now

that i get to talk to um frequently

and it's like

Yeah,

I'm not just home doing laundry and baking

cookies and cleaning the house and

touching my mouse every once in a while.

I actually have things that I need to

accomplish.

And these roles require you to be on

camera quite often because you're on a

Zoom call, you're on a Teams call,

you're on this call,

you're on that call and this meeting.

I envy you.

I think it's hard to be honest with

you.

I think it's harder to work from home

depending on what you're doing specific

than it is to be in the store

where you can just, you know, for me,

when I walk into a store,

that's all that's going on right now.

I can completely shut off and everything

on the outside world and my responsibility

for the next, you know, ten, twelve,

fourteen hours is I'm going to I'm going

to do my job.

Whereas, you know,

right now somebody could walk in and say,

Hey, I, I broke my nose, you know,

and,

and you have to deal with that right

now,

instead of getting a phone call and then

have to adjust to it, you get to,

you know,

so I personally think that if I had

to work from home,

it would be miserable because there's too

many out, you know,

too many things going on.

Right.

So like right now I'm praying that neither

of these dogs bark and my wife's not

here to, you know, to,

you know it's like there's out there's

things that take my attention away from

what i want to be doing uh right

now so how do you how do you

find a way to truly stay connected when

you have to be dialed in connected to

like my work or like the outside world

like there's like so i guess um

guess either right because you know if you

make a commitment to your husband or the

kids or something like that and then

something for work comes up how are you

able to pivot the work thing to make

sure that you honor your commitment to the

family and then vice versa if you have

a commitment to work how do you pivot

to telling the family hey i gotta i've

gotta do this

Yeah.

I would say, of course things come up,

but most of the time it's very,

it's being, I don't,

it just goes back to being really,

really organized and planning.

So it's preparing,

like if I need to go on a

trip or there's big things happening,

like big meetings and I need,

I can't be around.

It's like, you just treat working at home,

like you're going to the office and you're

working.

And I,

I've been fortunate.

Like I'm not taking care of kids right

now.

The ones at school ones with a babysitter.

So, um, it's not all day, you know,

I have a broken up schedule and I'm

very fortunate to be flexible in that way.

But, um,

it's just planning.

You know,

if I want to join those after hours

events, it's letting my husband know like,

Hey,

I really want to join this and I

need you to kind of be extra with

the kids so I can kind of step

away.

I haven't been very good at that lately

because I haven't obviously been joining a

lot of those things.

But that's,

I think I go through phases where I'm

like, okay, I'm really going to,

do this but um and then I try

to join when you know when I don't

plan those things and and it's complete

chaos and I'm like I can't even focus

or listen to this I have to leave

you know because I'm the kids are so

young and so loud and playful like those

those hours uh before bedtime are like

those are the times to be together and

eat dinner and just kind of like crazy

so um

But yeah,

I would say planning is a big thing.

Like my calendar,

I have the littlest stuff on my like

stuff that probably you don't really need

on your calendar.

I just have it so I can visually

see how my day is going to go

because I have bus drop off.

I pick up for nap time.

I have to put him down for the

nap.

Then I have to pick up from the

bus stop.

And then I have my nighttime hours where

I work on like marketing things.

And then I have all the in-between

meetings.

So I'm just kind of overloading you with

because it is kind of chaotic.

it's but that organization allows you to

be successful and it's proven that that

that's working and uh i'm sure it's a

ever-changing process but you're obviously

navigating it in a in a fantastic way

it seems um i mean every time i've

talked to you if you are cool calm

collected and everything's you know under

But it's awesome to have a good support

staff from the work side and from your

husband and other support people,

and then being able to give that back

too, right?

Yeah, and asking for help.

I think that's the biggest thing,

getting that support system in place and

just asking for help.

delegating the things and not feeling like

you have to do it all.

Cause there's times where I'm like,

Oh man, I just,

I wish I could just do all of

this, but I'm like, no,

he can do this thing.

These things for me.

I can ask my mom for help or

I can ask the babysitter.

Like it's just kind of delegating.

So let me ask you,

what do you think the best non-automotive

lesson you've brought into your work in

the parts world would be?

Oh my gosh.

Did you tell me you were going to

ask me that question?

That was, that's hard.

Did you just think of this question?

No, it's all off the cuff.

Of course it's on the list.

It's on the show sheet.

You're not supposed to tell everybody how

this works.

I did ask.

I clearly forgot about that question.

That's a really good question.

So re-ask me it so I can actually

think about a good response.

So what is the best non-automotive lesson

that you brought into your work in the

parts world?

Non automotive lesson,

maybe something from subway.

I know I'm thinking like, there's,

I guess.

Yeah.

The non automotive lesson.

I just remember, I just, I mean, now,

because I did not prepare for this.

and I don't even know if this is

even valuable,

but I just always remember the owner of

the subway would always say,

the customers are your paycheck.

Like without the customers,

we don't have a business.

And I don't know if that's non-automotive,

but I just feel like that is so

valuable because that's how I always

trained the staff.

And I didn't say that's so blunt to

say it that way, but like,

In reality,

it's like they are paying your paycheck,

like you should be wanting to serve them.

And yeah, a sandwich in a car,

totally different.

But like that,

they're coming there to eat lunch and

they're spending their money on it.

So like,

how would you make the sandwich if you

were eating it kind of thing?

So that's so my non automotive thing off

the cuff because I did not prepare.

So I love that because it's something

that, you know, we talk about.

And honestly, I think that's just

If you're in retail of some sort or

another,

the only way that you stay alive is

by having customers come in and support

your business.

So if they're not coming in,

then the owner doesn't have the money to

write that paycheck.

So yeah, I love that.

kind of like the golden rule, right?

So treat others the way that you'd want

to be treated.

So make it the way, you know,

make it the way that you would want.

Younger, you know, I mean,

I was part of that,

but like high school kids work, you know,

you kind of have to teach them those

things.

Yeah.

Um,

so I'm going to catch you off guard

again and ask, uh,

so you get one superpower.

one superpower that you get to use in

a parts department.

What do you think it is and how

do you use it?

If I could have one superpower,

what should their superpower be?

Or what's the question?

Well, you get one superpower,

but I guess you could give it to

one of the parts managers so that they

could use it.

But what's a superpower to use in a

dealership parts department?

And what is it and how do you

use it?

I mean,

kind of part of that is one of

those superpowers is parts edge, yes?

Yeah,

but I don't want to plug parts edge.

But yeah.

it if it's a superpower it's it is

a superpower do you think that there's

something within the superpower that you

could use that would allow you to make

it a even bigger superpower so you know

the parts edge or or something else that

they would be able to uh to maximize

it even further

um i would say a superpower would be

like for i'm just it's such a hard

question i'm like why are you floating

with these questions come on man i gave

you three weeks i know you gave me

time i'm obviously i'm not very good at

preparing um i think that this a

superpower would be um

actually using the tools, the service,

I think that's the superpower.

It's not completely set it and forget it.

It obviously works in the background and

you don't have to think that much.

You don't have to think to get it

to work.

Does that make sense?

Yeah.

Because that's a lot of times with

technology and tools.

It's like you have to think to make

it work.

I'm like repeating myself,

but I think the superpower would be

just to actually use the tool.

Yeah.

Use the resources.

That's not really like a superpower.

I thought you were going to ask me

like actually like a superpower in the

world.

Like what could my superpower be?

I'm like, that's easy.

I can answer that.

Well, do it.

What's your superpower?

Well, what's not, what is my superpower?

What would my superpower be?

Like, what would I like to have?

Now I'm like,

really want to answer this really good i

would i don't know if this is cool

but like i would really like to i

don't know if i want to go back

in time to change things i don't want

to go back in time and change things

but it would be nice to go back

in time to to learn a little bit

better like i feel like you can remember

things and learn from them but if you

could actually physically go back to that

time and then really learn from things i

like that

I don't know.

That would be kind of interesting.

Or be able to go back and impose

what you've learned now into that time,

maybe.

Yeah, but then that would be changing it.

And I don't ever want to go back

and change things because that's how we

learn.

And that's how we grow.

But I think...

To go back in time would be to

slow down,

like to go back and experience those

moments.

And you can learn something different from

experiencing it by not being there,

but going back.

That's really confusing.

No, it makes sense.

So do you think that...

hard one for you because from the AI

side,

do you see automation and talent

development reshaping?

So the AI side of the world,

do you see it reshaping how parts

departments are being run or will be run

in the next

Absolutely.

I think we would be stupid not to

look at how we can use AI in

the parts department.

It's all data, and it's all efficient.

Isn't that what AI does?

It looks at the data and makes you

more efficient.

So I don't know.

I think it would be we're using it

in ways to translate the data.

Yeah.

And,

and we're really looking at more ways to

just make it just better.

You just like,

you're spending way too much time

understanding what's actually going on

when it could just show you and then

you can.

Yeah, I agree.

I think, uh,

I think there's a lot that can be

done in the cards department, uh,

for sure.

And things that are being looked at.

And, um,

I know you guys are using it for

sure.

And, and, um,

to help, but you're right.

I think everything that we can do to

provide more time for us to do what

we're great at,

which is to be talking to people and

communicating with people and coming up

with new ideas to make us better,

all in for.

I think that's obvious.

And I know you are too.

All right, so last one.

And maybe you're prepared,

maybe you're not.

But if you could have lunch with any

historical figure or anybody,

if you could have lunch with anybody

inside or outside of automotive,

who would you like to have lunch with?

Well,

the first person that comes to mind is

not really, like, historical.

I would love to have lunch with my

dad because he's passed away.

So that would be really cool to have

lunch with him again.

I'm not sure if I would, like,

learn a bunch of things.

Because, like,

when you think historical person,

you're like, man,

it would be so cool to, like,

I don't know, sit down with, like,

Buddha or something, like,

really crazy and just, like...

then like really ask them questions.

But like, I don't know.

It'd be really cool to have lunch with

my dad because he's been gone for eight,

seven years.

I don't know.

seven years i think you had to say

it out loud too long too long yeah

so it'd be really cool to go like

because i do think though now that i'm

like talking out loud i do think when

you pass um you get a different

perspective like you're there you're

you're living like your perspective isn't

like when we're on earth living if that

makes sense so i think um

It would be really cool to have lunch

with him to get some answers and

perspectives.

And I actually have had some experience

with him telling me in my dreams like

what it's like.

But I don't I remember in that moment,

but I don't remember in like the waking

life.

So I feel like we're really not supposed

to know.

So.

It's kind of a conversation.

I think that's super cool that you can

feel him and still be guided through that

channel.

Man, that's awesome.

I mean, I see spots where, like,

my grandfather and then my grandmother,

like, the cardinal show up or, you know,

I'll hear change jingling,

which would be my grandfather.

That's so cool.

You know,

I kind of know that they're there and

that they're watching over me.

But to know that you're getting that

guidance and giving you kind of a snapshot

of what's going on,

even though maybe we're not supposed to

have it.

Daddy's a little girl, right?

It's just the way it goes.

Yeah.

Man, what a way to close.

That was... Just bam, there you go.

Yeah.

I do think losing him and just to

kind of like close,

close the losing him gave and there was

a couple other people in my family close

to me that I lost in that same

time period.

I think that really gave me that push

and that perspective to really kind of

like grow and to where

And I feel like I really got some

guidance,

whether you believe in it or not.

I just feel like I was guided in

so many ways that got me to where

I am now.

And I'm,

I feel like I'm just getting started and

I didn't even feel like,

or realize I could even get here.

Yeah.

I, um, I love that.

Um, and I know, um, you know,

from knowing you for a little while now

and, and, uh,

you know, getting to know you and, and,

you know, becoming friends, um, that you,

you are just getting started, right?

It's, it's, uh,

you've got a long way to go and,

and, uh,

a lot of things that you're going to

bring positive to this industry and to

life in general.

Um,

and I'm excited to be any small part

of it that I can be.

So, um,

I look forward to way more conversations

and seeing you on the shows every once

in a while at night when

Thank you for a super fun show.

And I appreciate your time and everything

that you bring to the table always.

And we'll do this again soon, I hope.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

It was really great.

Absolutely.