Women take the wheel as emerging dealership leaders

“I was always very competitive and wanted to do my own thing,” says Karen Sutton-Ford. “When I was young, maybe 10 years old, I told my parents I was going to run the dealership.”

“The dealership” was her family’s Ford store, started in 1989 by her dad, Nathaniel Sutton.

Sutton-Ford made good on her promise. Today she is Dealer Manager of Sutton Ford in Matteson, Ill. Her sister, Karmala Sutton, is Dealer Manager at the Sutton family’s second dealership, Honda of Kenosha in Wisconsin.

The Sutton sisters are among the group of young women emerging as leaders in the dealership industry—and receiving accolades for their achievements. Karen was named to the Automotive News 40 Under 40 list in 2019, while Karmala was the inaugural winner of the Ally Sees Her Award in 2018.

“Two years ago, we launched the Ally Sees Her Award to recognize women leaders of color at dealerships, … women who excel at business and at giving back to their communities,” says Jacqueline Howard, senior director of corporate citizenship at Ally.
“We believe that recognizing these women leaders—especially women of color, who are underrepresented in boardrooms across the country—lifts our entire industry.” 

The Ally Sees Her Award was inspired by the Association of National Advertisers’ #SeeHer campaign. “They wanted to give young women across the country role models they could see and aspire to be,” Howard says. “We wanted to do the same thing with the Ally Sees Her Award. We wanted to hold up women making a difference and help advance the goals of diversity and inclusion.” 

This year’s winner of the Ally Sees Her Award is Grené Baranco, manager of new and used sales at Mercedes-Benz of Buckhead in Atlanta.

“The award is our way of lifting women of color by spotlighting a leader who is making a difference in her community and at her dealership,” Howard says. “We want to showcase leaders like Grené who inspire other women.

“Grené has kept her eye on innovations throughout her career, implementing one of the first-ever auto internet sales departments in the country in 1997. She’s dedicated to continually improving the industry while also forging a path for the women who follow her.” 
Baranco, who has worked at her family’s dealership since high school, says she sees more women in the business today, "it’s rare to see a female manager --especially in a luxury dealership, but it’s starting to ramp up. I've noticed more women in general manager and other management positions lately” she says. "It’s important that women are represented in leadership roles.”
Karmala Sutton says that when she started at the family business in 2014, women were present mostly in dealership offices, often unseen to customers. 

“You wouldn’t see women on the sales floor or in F&I—and it was even harder to find a female tech,” she says. 

Although that’s improving at dealerships, Sutton says, she’d like to see a broader presence of women throughout the industry. 

“We need to see female and minority representation not only at the dealership level but at manufacturers as well as the organizations that support us—our dealer associations—as heads of committees and working with manufacturers and legislators,” she says. 

Karen Sutton-Ford, a mother to one young child, says women bring unique qualities to the workplace. “We’re strong, multitaskers and compassionate, too,” she says. “We bring that approach to the business as well.”

The presence of women executives is simply smart for business, says Natasha del Barrio, like Sutton-Ford a member of the 2019 Automotive News 40 Under 40. “When you look at the demographics of your current shoppers, it becomes more and more relevant to make sure women are equally represented in the industry,” says del Barrio, CEO of the Bert Ogden and Fiesta Auto Group. 

“Let’s remind ourselves that women are more than half the population. More women are independently purchasing cars these days and influencing men’s purchases as well.

“The better representation of all demographics we see at our dealership and in our industry—and particularly in leadership ranks—the better we relate to any customer.”

It still can be daunting for a woman, and especially a young woman, to move into a leadership position in the industry. Del Barrio was named CEO of her company, which encompasses 21 Texas dealerships and more than 1,000 employees, at age 35. She says she has benefited from the attitude of company President Bob Vackar. 

“I am astounded at how progressive he is, particularly in his beliefs about women’s ability in the workplace,” she says. “There are no limitations he’s placed on me. I’ve had so much support.”

Still, it hasn’t always been easy. Says del Barrio: “The biggest challenge for me may have been earning the respect of older and more seasoned men. But sometimes it’s also been the challenge of me believing I have the right to sit in that chair. What can get in your head is thinking that they think you don’t deserve to sit there.”

Del Barrio has had to stick up for herself—for instance, when implementing a new approach to selling used cars. 

“Everyone was up in arms,” she says. “It was tough to stand my ground when everyone said it couldn’t be done. The doubt started to creep in.”

But it paid off when her plan resulted in double and triple the number of used-car sales. 

Similarly, Karmala Sutton says: “The hardest thing I’ve had to deal with, being not only female but also the owner’s daughter, is being able to have a conversation with a manager and have it received in an equal way. I’ve had to deal with sexist behavior even in my dad’s store—with people who think I don’t know what I’m talking about and don’t understand what I’m doing. 

“I’m going against two biases or maybe three—I’m female; I’m the owner’s daughter; and then, on top of that, people thinking I didn’t have enough experience. That was hard.”

But in the wake of the #MeToo movement, Sutton says: “The culture in the world has changed. And that culture change has allowed women to feel more comfortable in this industry. 

“Do we still have a way to go? Absolutely. But compared to a decade ago, we’re all so much more comfortable.”