Automotive Repair News Today

Braxton Critcher [00:00:00]:
This episode of Good News and Automotive Repair is sponsored by autofix Auto Shop Coaching. What's going on? Back again. It's been a little while since I got to hang out with you for a little bit, so gonna catch up and put a smile on her face is the hope and the whole idea of this podcast. Good News and Auto Repair. I'm Braxton Critcher and I've got Ellie Lawhead with me. She is with Women in Auto Care and we're just going to talk about, well, automotive repair, the good things that are happening and how that pertains to women and auto care. And I have been following the improvement and, and the growth of women in auto care. And I know Ellie is a little more connected than even.

Braxton Critcher [00:00:58]:
I am so excited to share some of this stuff with you. If you've not subscribed to the podcast channel or the YouTube channel, now is as good a time as any to jump along the journey as we just try to tell stories of people who care about this industry and try to do good things that uplift it. Because I don't know about you. Many times when I look around the automotive repair industry, I find people that are negative, people that have, that do things that sometimes disrupt what the industry is trying to do, which is improve. And we're just trying to share good stories because I have found when I share a good story, that brightens someone day and that also often inspires them to do something good with whatever community they're in or industry they're in, if that's automotive repair. So that's what we're going to try to do today with Ellie Lawhead. Hey, Ellie, how are you?

Elle Lawhead [00:01:55]:
I'm great, thanks, Braxton. Appreciate you inviting me on. So for, for you all who do not know, I am the chair of Women in Auto Care. And Women in Auto Care is a, is a community within the auto care umbrella. So the Auto Care association really help lead auto care and automotive as an industry from the aftermarket for this entire country. They do a fantastic job. Women in Auto Care. We sit as a, as a nonprofit organization under that auto care umbrella.

Elle Lawhead [00:02:26]:
We are truly designed to engage, educate, and empower women within this industry. That's something that I think should bring a smile to everyone's face. You know, females are the minority group within the automotive aftermarket, but we might be small, but we're pretty mighty. And, and I hope over the next, you know, few, few minutes here with Braxton, I'm able to kind of talk to you about what we were able to accomplish in 2024 and how excited we are about 25.

Braxton Critcher [00:02:57]:
Well, Ellie, the thing about me, so my, my wife and I have been married for about three and a half years and I was single, living on my own for five or six years after I, you know, went out of the college space, whatever. And I've learned a lot about myself in the short amount of time I've been married. It is short, but when you kind of get into a routine as a man, you sort of let some things just, just kind of slide in life. And my wife, I'm so thankful for her. Candace, shout out to her right now by the way. But I've learned so much about myself. I've become a better person, more thoughtful, I think often more friendly. She's just brought some things out of me that I didn't know were there and needed to improve on.

Braxton Critcher [00:03:55]:
And so I'm thankful for that. And I think that usually women are wired right different than men. And this automotive industry is a male dominated industry more than most industries by a large, large margin. And usually that's just because of the nature of the business. And this probably will always for the end of time be a male dominated industry. But I think the inclusion of more women is going to make it a better industry because it's made me a better. Because women see things from a different perspective and can often be a little nicer when things get tense, going to be a little more cool headed, tempers aren't going to flare. And so I think the inclusion of women and the growth of women in the industry ultimately is a very, very positive thing.

Braxton Critcher [00:04:54]:
I mean, where are you on that?

Elle Lawhead [00:04:57]:
Oh, well, I mean, I hope you know that I think it's a fantastic thing and I think you kind of, you hit it on the head of it's any minority group, right. Anybody, everybody has a different story to tell and what's really exciting about women at Auto Care and what we've been able to bring to the table is a much broader scale, different perspective than a lot of the leadership teams you see out out there across the industry. So over the last decade, as more and more females have entered the industry, one of the biggest things that we as a, I would say minority group to an extent. Right. Been able to achieve is there is still just as much competition out there as there always was before between cor, you know, companies. We all have one customer, we're trying to chase the customer. But we realized very quickly within women in Auto Care that we're better together and that if I can teach you and you can teach someone else. Even if we're across multiple corporations, we're making the aftermarket better.

Elle Lawhead [00:06:06]:
So as a whole, that is the number one objective is to be able to take care of our customers. And even if you work elsewhere, I want to empower you and I want to educate you. And I think that that's critical. And that's been something that's key within females entering and having a greater presence within this industry is, yes, we're just as competitive, but we also realize that we're better together and we can educate and help each other as a smaller group.

Braxton Critcher [00:06:35]:
So by the way, if you're watching or listening to this episode, throughout the episode, I want to hear from you. So YouTube, hit me up in the comments your thoughts about women in auto care and the growth that we're seeing, other things that we need to improve on. Obviously there's always those. Also, if you didn't know, Spotify now has a comment section. So if you're listening on Spotify, you can comment on this video. Well, I guess on this podcast episode and let us know your thoughts about what we're talking about here. So I want you to be included in this. It's what we want to have a community here with this podcast.

Braxton Critcher [00:07:13]:
So Ellie, where, where are we at? Last time I looked up numbers, the percentage was still real small and I don't want to say something because I'm sure I'm incorrect on it. So where are we at? You know, what's the percentage of women versus men in the industry right now? And what kind of growth did you see last year?

Elle Lawhead [00:07:34]:
So we, it, we don't track it quite as, as our, you know, as, as well as we would like to. I'll give you a little bit of info to, to get you to that answer. So we were, we were tracking closer to about 25% prior to the pandemic and, and unfortunately the pandemic for, for women in auto care and for auto care and many corporate, many industries as a whole, we, we saw a big drop off in females working. Many women either retired earlier, decided to, to stay at, at home. And so over the last couple of years we've actually had to rebuild, if you will, our growth. So we saw a little bit of a decline. So we're still, we're still around that same percentage that we were pre pandemic, but unfortunately that was a little bit of a hit to us. Now the, the biggest piece that I'm more proud of since we've seen a Little bit of a, a stagnant climb, if you will, is that we've seen more and more women enter into management in leadership positions.

Elle Lawhead [00:08:46]:
So although our percentage as a whole has remained relatively flat because of the decline we saw in the pandemic and where we are today, we have seen more and more female leaders emerge. And so when we look at, for example, our scholarship winners, or we look at our award winners, or we look at all of the things that we have at our disposal within women in auto care, we're seeing more and more females for the women of the year being nominated. And that means somebody that's been in the industry for 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 years. And that's something that for the longest time never occurred. So percentages remain the same. However, more women are entering into that C suite, the leadership, the director, management and above.

Braxton Critcher [00:09:34]:
Do you have percentages on some of those things? Like percentage of the 25%, you know, about how many are in leadership or technicians or service advisors? Do you have any numbers like that?

Elle Lawhead [00:09:49]:
I don't have any off the top of my head, but it's definitely something that, that Braxton, we should probably have a, maybe a spinoff podcast, I think.

Braxton Critcher [00:09:58]:
Sure.

Elle Lawhead [00:09:59]:
Benefit for us yet to talk through that because there a lot of more intelligent and greater experts than me on those percentages that I have spoken to recently. But I don't want to misspeak either, but we've got it. It is something that we can definitely talk about and kind of understand now. One thing that you, you just mentioned that I think is, is an industry wide challenge that we need to make sure that we're mindful of is that percentage and pipeline of technicians. So we've always and continue to have a challenge with technicians entering into the aftermarket or the workforce, if you will. And that has continued to decline. Women within that sphere, exceptionally the minority group. Right.

Elle Lawhead [00:10:49]:
I mean, and you're seeing a lot of women actually exit that technician channel. So I think that's probably an even better sidebar conversation that we can have in the future is ways that within the automotive industry we can try to retain that talent because again, I mean, yeah, we all want the talent to come work at our respective companies or within the technician side, wherever it may be. But we've got to do a better job of bringing people in and keeping them. And if they're here, it's a benefit for all of us. So one of the things, just to tease out something I'm extremely proud of that women in auto care does is we Actually are the only group within the auto care umbrella that offers scholarships for those that want to be within this industry. So in the last several years we've offered about 1.5 million in scholarships to women who want to go to trade school. And so within that last year alone we did about $425,000. So even though I don't have that percentage for you today, I can tell you that 81 females dreams were able to come true last year as a result of our sponsors efforts and those within the women in auto care community being able to come to the table and support that shortage and making sure that, that technicians, female technicians for that matter, have a home.

Braxton Critcher [00:12:17]:
You said 81?

Elle Lawhead [00:12:19]:
81, yep.

Braxton Critcher [00:12:20]:
Wow. What is that? Is interest growing in more women trying to get into the industry? Where, how is that interest is growing?

Elle Lawhead [00:12:30]:
So I. Over the last. Ooh. Probably, you know, you, you realize how quickly you age, you know, as, as you're within a job for so long. I think for the last seven years, maybe six years I've been a scholarship reader for University of the Aftermarket foundation. And then I also do it for women in auto care. And I have been extremely impressed by the number of scholarship entries we've had that have grown from that female audience. So we're seeing growth every single year.

Elle Lawhead [00:13:00]:
For women interested in coming on this path now, a lot of them, it's interesting, you've got to, it's kind of bifurcated. So you have those females that this is a passion of theirs and has been a passion of theirs from day one. And then you've got this camp of females that this is a second career for them. Many of them are choosing this path because maybe they got a divorce, something happened. They had an experience where they realized I didn't know when I went into a shop what I needed and I realized that there's an opportunity to educate women on car parts. And so I want to open up my own shop and be a place that, that people feel safe and comfortable and coming through. So, so I kind of bring all that up. Is, is something that we're excited about, but it's, it's a growth.

Elle Lawhead [00:13:52]:
You're definitely seeing more and more women interested in trade school.

Braxton Critcher [00:13:56]:
Right, right. You know, I, I think about, you know, so I'm pretty connected with Lucas Underwood and he over the. He does not currently employ a woman at a shop. But I remember a year or two ago this woman, she recently left. She was there for a couple of years. But I remember the camaraderie in the Front of the shop being, I felt a little more friendly, homey maybe. And it seemed to me like when she left, and it may have been just because she left and anytime somebody leaves there's a there, they leave a hole. Right? You can't replace that hole sometimes.

Braxton Critcher [00:14:55]:
But it felt like she was just some. The perfect fit for what he was trying to accomplish there at the front of his, of his business. And it's, it's like that, that piece is missing right now. And I wonder how many women out there could be the missing piece for whatever business, whether that's a technician role or anything in the automotive repair, because they've never really considered it and that I always think about that. And Lucas can tell you stories about, you know, what kind of a worker she was and how great of an employee and how friendly she was to people that came in the door. What, what kind of stories have you heard or can you tell about success stories of women in the industry and things like that? Because I think telling those kind of stories of how this has gone well for so many women almost invites more women to consider it. Because it's not like most. I feel like most women don't wake up and say, you know, I think I'm going to try and get into automotive repair today.

Braxton Critcher [00:16:11]:
Like, that probably doesn't come up. But the, the few that I have encountered that have, I would think, would say this was a huge plus for my life and my career. And the industry is becoming so much more accepting and inclusive of women. It's like a match that sometimes women don't even know is there. So, I mean, do you have stories that you might could share of successes and positive things that have happened lately?

Elle Lawhead [00:16:44]:
Oh, definitely. So few things. One, and you're gonna hear me say it now, and the more you and I speak, you'll probably hear me repeat myself. But the question that I ask every large group that I'm with within women in auto care is I asked the audience, and most recently at the breakfast that we had that had over 300 people at apex, it was, please raise your hand if you did not choose the automotive industry as your career path. And, and it's usually about 85% that raises their hand. And, and then I, you know, the follow up is, please raise your hand if you feel that you are going to remain in the automotive or you love the automotive industry and you think it's, you know, we're fantastic or whatever, you know, and 100% right, raise their hand. And it's, it's so Impactful, just that alone for everybody to look, to look around and realize I got here by chance or I had a friend or, or, or and I didn't choose this path and now I'm never going to leave. And so at the base level we have a recession proof industry, right? That first and foremost, right, we have a purpose.

Elle Lawhead [00:18:03]:
And if the pandemic didn't teach us anything, yes, we are not those that are medical professionals, right, saving lives, but we are making it possible for people to save lives. So, so that's, you know, part two. And so, you know, you've mentioned a little bit today about, you know, the perspective of a female coming in and some of that, that to me there was nothing more powerful and impactful for me during the pandemic than realizing every single day I'm going to come to work or I'm gonna be on some call with my peers within the automotive aftermarket through women in auto care and realize that everything we're doing is making a difference and allowing hopefully multiple, many, many lives to be saved. So that's just anecdotally a happy story. I'll tell you for myself, I have worked at autozone for nine years now. I would have never picked this path. This was, this was not where I was going to go. I wanted, and I did work in retail, I wanted to travel the world and be a buyer.

Elle Lawhead [00:19:12]:
And I had a very good friend from college that kept telling me what I do you want to do? I promise I was like, I don't think so. I don't think. And ultimately I met with people from AutoZone immediately realized how incredible the culture was. So we talk about the culture within the automotive aftermarket. Autozone is an extremely great example of that. I'm biased, of course, and we, sorry, I'm about to get kicked out of this room. Braxton, just so you know. And so I came and I day one, I was like, this is the right place for me.

Elle Lawhead [00:19:48]:
Well, since then I, I have moved up and I'm a director at this point in time and I'm the only female director within the sphere of merchandising that I work in at the category level. And so it's, I've been honored and excited that I've had the opportunity to grow and expand and do what I've been able to do. And there are hundreds and thousands of examples just like mine that exist. But I'm getting kicked out of this room. So I don't know Braxton, from a, from a timing standpoint, if I need to can we re. Can we find.

Braxton Critcher [00:20:25]:
I mean, hey, we'll keep recording while you move if you want to. It'll be a first on good news. An auto repair relocation in the middle of an episode recording. It's just right.

Elle Lawhead [00:20:34]:
I'm going to mute myself so I can see if I can find another room.

Braxton Critcher [00:20:37]:
Okay, sure. Go for it.

Elle Lawhead [00:20:38]:
Yeah, well, I might get kicked out of this room as well, so.

Braxton Critcher [00:20:42]:
Hilarious.

Elle Lawhead [00:20:43]:
We're going to make it work. Great. So that was my story and I'm going to. There. I've got many. Right. But, but there are some that I, you know, I don't want to, you know, speak for, for certain people, but one of my good friends and the vice chair of women in auto care at Kathleen Callahan, who is an incredible human being, I think she's an excellent example of a true success story. She worked within her shop with her husband, got a divorce, ended up owning.

Elle Lawhead [00:21:11]:
She now owns. She is a shop owner. You may have talked to her in.

Braxton Critcher [00:21:14]:
The past and yeah, I've connected once.

Elle Lawhead [00:21:17]:
Okay. Okay. Well she, Kathleen is one that I look up to her and I aspire to have the level of empathy that she has and the perspective she has. I had the opportunity with Missy from AutoCare to go and visit her shop this summer and she gives. You talked about your friend Lucas and how Lucas lost a little bit of that homey atmosphere when he lost the female in the shop. So Kathleen went from not knowing a lot about this industry coming in, owning a shop. She now you walk in in her shop and they do monthly swag items for those that are, that are coming in. So her customers feel like they're a part of something already.

Elle Lawhead [00:22:07]:
Is it a, is it a coffee mug, whatever it may be. So she's, she's has that personal touch. Well then you expand to she single handedly and I say that but truly it's a village. Right. There are Many, many other AutoCare team members within women in Auto care and whatnot has helped grow drastically the shop owner presence within women in Auto Care. We now, you know, as chair and vice chair have intentionally created content within women in auto care for shop owner education. Kathleen was able to go to D.C. to, to a myriad of leadership team members within Washington D.C.

Elle Lawhead [00:22:54]:
she, I mean she spoke on behalf of Right to Repair. She got to interview Erin Andrews. She is a mentor for a handful of shop owners. And so you think about success of you started here and her world has grown and she has changed. I mean I, I think I can say confidently hundreds of lives and it's all because she was given a yes by one person to start a shop and then her confidence has grown and now she is, you know been able to to be as successful as she possibly can from a leadership perspective and then as a shop owner. So I give you two different, you know, the corporate, corporate change and then you've got from a shop owner side and there again hundreds and hundreds of those examples as well.

Braxton Critcher [00:23:39]:
Yeah. So you know there's probably women watching or listening now or a guy whose girlfriend, fiance or wife he they may be in a different career right now and are considering a change. Kind of go back in time for you when your friend was trying to talk to you about the industry and you were like eh, I don't know, like what kind of advice do you share to people now that are kind of teetering the fence of whether to or not to join the industry? I mean you kind of have shared why you should but it's scary. You know, it's even though if you, even if you hear like a success story you still think of well that's them that may not be me. You know what, what do you say to somebody who's thinking about joining?

Elle Lawhead [00:24:27]:
So there I'm going to answer your question with kind of given a background if that's okay. So one of the things that, that I'm pretty proud of that I do now because of what you just asked me was within women in auto care, autozone and other companies. I realized very quickly my life could have been a lot different and I could have been a lot more confident had I learned about automotive and anything from car care maintenance whatever it may have been at a young age. And so that's the first bit of advice I always tell people and it not justly advice but hey, it is never too late to join the automotive aftermarket. And then you can pay it forward if you will and educate others on the automotive industry as a whole. So one we actually now educate girl scouts every single year. We do it at high schools, you know, across the country on hey, these are what the dash lights mean. This is what when your blinker flashes, you know, makes the noise really quickly.

Elle Lawhead [00:25:33]:
That's what that means. And so that's about confidence in education. And I say the same thing to people that are like how I was right, pretty biased about it's automotive aftermarket, it's car parts. There's a lot of men, they're going to know more than me because they work on cars. That's ridiculous.

Braxton Critcher [00:25:51]:
No, that I mean I think a lot of women feel that way is it's intimidating and they're going to take advantage of me.

Elle Lawhead [00:25:58]:
Yes. And it's what I. So background. I've always been someone that, since I was a kid at my schooling, they taught me to speak publicly. Right. I was never a nervous speaker. Well, I got into AutoZone. I couldn't hold a piece of paper without it shaking.

Elle Lawhead [00:26:17]:
Right. Because I was so nervous. Because it was exactly what you just said. I, I allowed my insecurities, if you will, to outweigh the confidence that I had. Right. My, my whole life as far as just being able to speak in public. So what I quickly realized and what one of my, my mentors told me was, look, we all do the same thing every morning. We put on something that has one hole on the top and two holes on the bottom and they're called pink.

Braxton Critcher [00:26:51]:
Unless you do wear a dress. But that is a good analogy.

Elle Lawhead [00:26:56]:
Proverbial pants, right? No, but, but, but the reality was it's, it's about having passion, having your stuff together and being willing to, to put in the work, to learn the job. And if you do those things, you also have to know that you don't need to fight for a seat at the table. You have a seat at the table. And so for, for me, the, the thing that I, I always echo to people is, look, it's, it's an industry. So within an industry, you've got supply chain, you've got marketing, you've got merchandising, you have global sourcing, you have legal, you have audit, you have finance, you have, I mean technicians, you, I mean you can own a shop like it is truly an industry that you can do whatever you majored in school and achieve success. And so to me, don't let the bias of us being called the automotive aftermarket dissuade you from, from coming. Because if you went to school and you have your cpa, you can still work at any of these major companies and you also have the financial stability because we're recession proof. If you're someone that like me, wanted to, to enter into a world that is not recession proof, which is soft goods and fashion, you were, you were going to go into the wrong path.

Elle Lawhead [00:28:24]:
Automotive, it's the exact same thing. It's consumer buying behavior. You're getting to make decisions on what people buy. But, but ultimately it's, it's substantially more beneficial because this is about stuff that people need in order to survive, to go to work or you know, most importantly for me, as, as a parent, it's my ability to go from home or from work to pick up my kids from school.

Braxton Critcher [00:28:51]:
Yeah.

Elle Lawhead [00:28:51]:
Or to drop them off or whatever it may be. Don't you want to be a part of an industry like that? So that's usually the spiel I give. And it's again, it's all a matter of whatever job you take. It's becoming proficient in your field in knowing your stuff. So if you're a buyer for batteries, no batteries. If you work at a manufacturer, you have to know the manufacturing process. If you're in finance, your lane is going to remain financed and you're okay. But the automotive industry has something for everyone and that's exciting to me.

Braxton Critcher [00:29:29]:
Yeah. So I think you sort of just alluded to it, but not talked about it a bunch. But you know, it's still early 2025. What is kind of on the plan? What are you guys looking forward to this year? And if someone is trying to get into the industry, that woman listening or watching right now, how can they get in touch? And you talked about scholarships and other training programs, so. But what's coming up and how can someone get in touch?

Elle Lawhead [00:30:03]:
We've got all the things happening. So February 17th through the 20th is the annual Women in Auto Care conference that's going to be in Atlanta this year. So for those that are interested in coming to our conference, it is a two day, full day, jam packed education session and leadership. So we've got a keynote speaker, we have a handful of panel discussions and then there's going to be networking. One of the biggest pieces of that conference, outside of getting to know peers, being educated, ROI for your own companies, be able to come back and say, hey, I know this about this trend, or hey, I know this about emerging technology is we actually have a gala. You call it a gala. It's a fancy dinner if you will. But there's an auction and the auction is tied directly to raising money for our scholarship funds.

Elle Lawhead [00:31:00]:
Last year we raised $84,000. So biggest, most upcoming is our conference immediately following that and throughout the next 12 months we have a virtual event. It's called Empower half hour every single month. We also have a handful of connection circles. And so those connection circles are done virtually. It's a way to connect with like minded women within the industry. So we have shop owner circle, we have Diesel Technician circle, we have HR circle, we have balancing act circle. And all of that information that I'm saying very quickly can be found on the auto care website within the Women in Auto Care segment.

Elle Lawhead [00:31:48]:
And if you are a member of Auto Care, you just need to register and then you automatically can become a member of Women in Auto Care. So that is a big deal for us and something that you quickly can do beyond that.

Braxton Critcher [00:32:04]:
Just real quick, how much does it cost to be a member?

Elle Lawhead [00:32:08]:
It will. The, the cost is going to vary by, by company incorporation in size. So all of that's going to be through the, the Auto Care website. But if you are a Braxton, you work for X company, say you work for Napa, Napa is an Auto Care member or so. So as a result of that you as an individual contributor don't have to pay extra. So so it's twofold. Right. So one, make sure that you're, if you're part of a larger company providing to Auto Care and you're a member, then you have no from an individual contribution standpoint, pay now for the conference.

Elle Lawhead [00:32:48]:
If you are an Auto Care member, the conference fee is 5.95. And so all of that is on on the website and we'll put a.

Braxton Critcher [00:32:57]:
Link in the show notes description of the video. It'll be there.

Elle Lawhead [00:33:01]:
Awesome. But we're, I mean we're excited about all of that. And then beyond, as we continue to traverse this calendar year Apex next year we're going to have some updates to how we do our awards. We're going to elevate the award ceremony further. More to come that I'm not allowed to share today. But ultimately we did nine awards this past year. Over 100 females and a handful full like of companies were submitted or nominated. Those are unique nominations based upon the overwhelming number of nominations and the overwhelming number of support that we got as far as 300 plus people to come to our breakfast.

Elle Lawhead [00:33:45]:
You're going to see us elevate what our A awards look like. Kind of do a little bit of changes and then that stage will be elevated as well. So that's something that I'm really, really looking forward to in the future.

Braxton Critcher [00:34:00]:
And getting in touch. I guess they just go to the website and reach out that way.

Elle Lawhead [00:34:05]:
We also have LinkedIn, we have all the social media, Facebook, Instagram, all of that is on Women in Auto Care. Our social media team does an incredible job making sure that they're getting communications out there. Outside of all of that, if you go in when not if you go to the Auto Care website and you register, if you are not registered, you can subscribe to receive our emails. So our emails will, will also. I send out an email every single month within that email. It's it's going to allow you access if you have not registered for any of the connection circles for any of the monthly empower half hours whatever may come up during that time frame. Women in Auto Care also has presence at Fall Leadership Days and at our Spring Connect Week that our being Auto Cares so we have those in person stages if you will as well.

Braxton Critcher [00:35:10]:
Well this is really good news. Thanks for sharing Ellie. Of course happy to and again listening watching please hit subscribe or most importantly I think is to share the video, share the podcast with your friends, talk about it on social media as well. If you see any videos of ours hit share as well on on those and we'll get more people to hear about what is happening that's good in the industry and today specifically women and their growing influence and growing role in this automotive repair industry. So thanks for checking out good news and auto repair.