40 Under 40

Jessica Cupini believes her ability to focus on many different things at once has helped her succeed in auto retail.

"You have to have a lot of attention to detail, but it's controlled chaos and I like controlled chaos," she said. "It's something different and new every day — you're constantly learning and growing and developing new skills and practicing new skills."

Cupini's auto industry career began while she was in college at West Virginia University. She completed a management internship at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, where her interactions with people who were working on commission inspired her to try sales. She knew she liked cars, could sell and wanted to make money.

"I thought 'Well, if I am going to be selling anyway, then I may as well be able to reap the benefits of it,' and that's when I decided to try to sell cars," Cupini said.

She became a sales consultant at a Volkswagen-Subaru dealership after her internship and worked as finance manager at another store before joining #1 Cochran group.

Today, Cupini is general sales manager at Audi Pittsburgh. In Cupini's first full year in that role, the dealership achieved Audi Magna Society standing for outstanding performance. This year, she's going for the even harder Magna Society Elite.

Cupini helped spearhead #1 Cochran's implementation of virtual finance and digital retail systems through pilot programs at the group's Volkswagen South Hills dealership in Pittsburgh.

"Anybody can purchase something like Roadster and utilize it as a tool, but we actually developed it into a process," Cupini said, adding that the digital retailing system has sharply boosted showroom sales closing rates over the last few years.

When Cupini joined Audi Pittsburgh in August 2021, the store wasn't using virtual finance. In 2022, the store completed 99 deals virtually with an average vehicle delivery time of 39 minutes.

Cupini focuses on clear communication, teamwork, accountability and goal setting.

She sets three goals for her team every quarter, sometimes metrics-based and sometimes focused on personal development. She takes time to reflect on what did and didn't work in the previous quarter before setting new goals.

"You kind of have to sit on your achievements and deficiencies and kind of let them sink in and then decide where you want to put your time and energy," Cupini said.

— Abigail Ham