Volvo dealer aims to boost presence of women in auto industry

Diana Kennedy dropped out of high school at age 18. She admits she was never the best student, often cutting class and struggling to stay engaged.

When Kennedy later took a vocational automotive class, she discovered she enjoyed being around cars and ultimately found a sales position at a dealership.

"Automotive became the outlet for me that got me focused on something," Kennedy said. "Otherwise, I really don't know what direction my life would have headed in. But I feel like automotive came to me at the right time in my life."

Kennedy was naive to the high ratio of men to women in the automotive industry until she joined Price Simms Family Dealerships in 2021 as general manager of Volvo Cars Marin, she said. She quickly realized she was the only woman in the room during meetings. Knowing what the industry had done for her, Kennedy set out to change this.

When she started at the store in San Rafael, Calif., women were 16 percent of the staff. Now, they make up 22 percent, topping the U.S. average for dealerships of 19 percent, according to the latest National Automobile Dealers Association Dealership Workforce Study.

Kennedy has been on an intentional journey to increase diversity, equity and inclusion in the store.

Last October, Kennedy implemented a policy of redacting applicants' names on resumes, so no inferences can be made about the applicant's ethnicity or gender. This allows managers to focus entirely on who is most qualified, she said.

But hiring more women is just one piece of the puzzle. The real work is creating an environment that makes them want to stick around, Kennedy said.

"The industry still has the 'good old boys club' feel where women don't necessarily feel comfortable," she said. "It doesn't matter even if you hired a female, but you don't have the right culture — they're not going to last."

Kennedy has bonded with several other female leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic. The women quickly realized they each had male mentors. So in 2021, the Price Simms Women's Circle was born to create woman-to- woman mentorships.

The circle is now active across all of the group's 14 stores and has 80 members. Quarterly meetings can include empowerment discussions, skills training, personal development or even a book club. Some members, including Kennedy, are both a mentor and a mentee.

Members make an effort to encourage diversity and learn about cultures different from their own, Kennedy said. During Hispanic Heritage month, Hispanic female employees shared stories of their lives and family traditions. During Pride month, LGBTQ+ employees spoke about their experiences.

"We really try to celebrate the different ethnicities and cultures within our group to help educate, because some of us don't know much about the other cultures and also to really pay tribute to them and who they are," Kennedy said.

These efforts yield a diverse environment that is noticeable to customers, Kennedy said. Having the ability to match clients and employees demographically allows customers, especially women, to feel comfortable when they come into the store for service or purchases.

Working in an environment that prioritizes DE&I also allows employees to see other points of view, said Christopher Vann, the store's parts and service director.

"It has a symbolizing effect on everyone and removes any assumption about people's ability because of their outward characteristics," Vann said in an email.

Volvo Cars Marin ranked No. 38 on Automotive News' 2022 Best Dealerships To Work For list and was No. 26 in 2021. The truest measurement of DE&I efforts improving the workplace is the result of the employee satisfaction survey conducted for this list, Kennedy said.

"If our employees are happy, then our customers will be happy, because our employees are going to show up to work, willing to help and do everything that it takes to take care of the customer."

Price Simms Family Dealerships ranked No. 85 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups. The group sold 11,878 new vehicles and 7,183 used vehicles in 2021.