You come from a car family, and the automotive industry would have been the obvious choice. Did you always aspire to be part of the automotive industry?

I wanted to do something different because I was shy and preferred being quiet. When I was very young, my parents thought I might go into public service. Becoming a veterinarian was also on the table because I pretty much only really spoke to animals. However, I did work for my dad between the ages of 16 and 18 because I wanted money for clothes. I was paid minimum wage – I was the only person in the dealership making minimum wage.

I also worked as a waitress. I loved it and learned a lot about people.

During the summer between earning my bachelor’s degree and starting my master’s program, I wanted to sell cars to earn money for school, and I found that the whole experience had a different aspect than it had before. My first sale was to a man named Patrick Karem. It was such a good experience. We sat outside, with me sitting on concrete, and I wrote up the paperwork. He bought a car the next day. Then I sold another car. After selling four cars in two days, I was in love. I think that was the deciding factor that the auto industry was for me.

My master’s degree took three semesters to earn, and while I was studying, I also worked through all departments at the dealership. I especially liked the service department. Still, I saw potential there to improve the department, and I decided that someday I would fix the problems I saw there.

I liked parts, too. After I graduated, I became an operations specialist and used my newly acquired computer skills to build reports. We currently still use a lot of the reports I made.

Is your entire family in the auto industry?

My dad has five daughters. The first two older sisters dabbled in it, but they have both passed away. My other two sisters chose different career paths. So it’s me, my dad, my husband and my uncle who all work at the dealership. It’s all very organic.

Describe your educational background. What did you study?

I have a bachelor’s degree from Trinity University and a master’s degree from the University of Texas, San Antonio. Our president, Darren, is also a Trinity graduate, by the way.
I learned how to overcome my shyness while I was at Trinity University. When I was there, I was looking at the classes I needed. I thought, “What’s the scariest class I can take?” The answer was a speech class. I took it, and it was awful at first. I struggled. But I was hooked by the end of the class. My final assignment was about my journey as I learned to speak to others confidently. That class gave me so much confidence that now I won’t shut up. Afterward, I became a cheerleader at Trinity. My dad thinks that I got my confidence from being a cheerleader at Trinity, and that did help, but I credit the speech class. Now I even do stand-up comedy.

I initially chose marketing as my major at Trinity, with a focus on advertising and content. But then I fell in love with trading on the stock market, so I switched my major to finance and economics. I wanted to go to Wall Street and make my mark there. This goal was realistic because my dad had a cousin who had a relationship with the management at Smith Barney, and could have helped with securing an interview when I was in my senior year in college. But then 9/11 happened, defense spending increased and there was a U.S. debt crisis. The opportunity was gone there, but I found my passion for the auto industry.

As a woman in this business, why do you think there are so few other women?

The main issue is probably scheduling. This business is hard for women even though there are more and more stay-at-home dads. When I sold cars, there would always be a customer who could only come in on my day off; sure enough, I would find another customer once I came in, and I would end up working the entire day. I often put in long hours as a result of trying to help people.

Sales is just not a 9-to-5 job. Trying to do your job, and do it well, requires a lot of flexibility in that department. If you are unavailable, you often have to split the deal because you were unavailable for some of the time it took. In contrast, there are more women in accounting because the hours are more reliable and set.

Our society needs to shift culturally to accommodate people with families. Solving such a big, pervasive problem might be intimidating, but it has to be done. Sometimes people do have to take random days off to deal with issues such as children who are sick. As a dealership, you have to figure out how to accommodate those needs.

Do you think the industry needs to increase its efforts to employ more women?

The old stereotype was for dealership employees to talk business with men, but not with women. Now, I would say we need more women and also more minorities. There’s an industry trend to hire both because diversity makes for a healthy work environment, whether you are an employee or a customer.

We especially need to do a better job as an industry at increasing diversity in the sales and service departments. We can still accommodate our customers even if we have to juggle responsibilities. Once we do become more diverse, that’s a selling point, and we need to find ways to tell people about what we’ve done.

We all need an atmosphere where everyone is accepted, and customers can identify with some of the dealership’s employees. On a subconscious level, customers who see organizational diversity have a higher level of trust in the dealership. They know the dealership has a broader perspective than is the case at a less diverse dealership.

As a family owned business, we work hard to accommodate everyone’s schedule regardless of gender. But when I can hire a female technician, I get so excited. We work to be flexible because she brings a more diverse experience with her.

Why is the automobile industry an excellent place for women?

There are opportunities in this industry if you work hard. You can gain peace of mind from dreaming big and consistently succeeding.

The majority of dealerships are very entrepreneurial, and you can make lots of money working at them. If you are a go-getter and have personal goals, you aren’t limited to what you can earn with an hourly wage. Instead, you can pencil in financial goals and create a path: “If I make this much money, I can get to here.” You can have more control over your life, especially if you save as much money as possible.

We have a gentleman from the Middle East at our dealership. He rode a donkey to school when he was young if it was available. He is our best salesperson, earning $400k-$500K, and he is currently on track to sell 800 units. That’s the most he has ever sold. We can’t promote him; he makes more money than I do, but he doesn’t have the same responsibilities or expenses. The man is his own entrepreneurial business. That’s exciting.

The next most successful salesperson is at 200 units or so, which is still great. But we also have some people who sell just eight units a month.

Are there any specific individuals who had a major impact on your career?

First is my dad. He taught me that employees are like family; without them, there is no Ancira Auto Group. My husband, Jason, is important, too. He is the micro, I am the macro, and we work so well together day-to-day.

I also credit our former president, Bill Wolters. He was a visionary who also valued involvement, and he had a lot to do with my excitement with dealers as a group. He made me feel that dealers were more than people who sold or fixed a piece of metal. He would say, Look at the jobs you create and the good you do in your communities. He put numbers to it. I never looked at dealers the same way after he described them. Thanks to him, I value the industry.