“This is going to sound strange,” she said, “but we are just trying to keep things as normal as possible at a time when nothing is normal. We are working to keep everybody safe and sane. The media creates fear and panic in people, so when we run into that, we talk people off the ledge, encourage them and get them back in the game. If someone gets sick, we get them tested. Other than that, we are not really doing anything special.”

Regarding the support of her employees, Shannon said, “We are keeping them positive, pumped up and employed, and we are also making sure we continue to engage customers so they come in through the door or submit a lead. That’s crucial because if our employees don’t get the opportunity to talk to customers, they don’t have a livelihood. We have done a lot of training and role playing on how to think differently and speak to customers differently.”

We asked her what she’s learned in the past that was helping her navigate the new unknown that was a pandemic world. She quickly said, “People skills. It’s important to know how to work with people, both employees and customers. If you can’t communicate with people effectively, you’re not going to be successful – now or in the future.”

Part of the unknown is what the pandemic crisis will have on the auto industry going forward. Not knowing what can happen often makes people think outside of the box, and we wondered if this was like-thinking for her, and her team. “This crisis is forcing dealerships to provide customers with more transparency,” she said. “That will continue going forward. But we are seeing that customers like coming into the dealership. In April, 60% of our deliveries were home deliveries. That went to 40% in May, 25% in June, and less than 10% in July. We still offer it, but consumers like coming to look at cars, and they don’t get that experience when they are at home.” Apparently, the pandemic was not hurting the dealership’s in-person sales.

We asked Shannon: as a leader, what takeaways from the pandemic will guide her future business decisions? “I’ve realized I can do the same amount of business despite the shutdown,” she replied. “We can pivot, make strategic business decisions and still be successful.” And concerning community outreach – such as support for essential workers like healthcare workers and first responders – she told us her dealership actively supports back-to-school drives and agencies that protect abused women and children.

We then asked about her work in the auto industry. “I wanted to do market research,” she told us. “Ironically, working in the car business is similar to many aspects of market research. You have to know customer wants and needs, as well as their reason to buy. You aren’t in a panel setting getting feedback; instead, you are on a one-to-one basis with the customer, helping them make a buying decision.”

Next, we asked her to share how she became a general manager. She explained that after she graduated from Mars Hill University in North Carolina (with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and minors in management and marketing), she realized she had no money, no place to live and no job. The only place she could live for free was back home in Orlando with her father. She began her working career in banking, but “despised” it, claiming it was “the worst job because it was not the right fit.” But while working at the bank, she became friends with someone who later accepted a job with the Holler Organization. One day, this young lady saw Shannon’s resume on Monster.com and called her to set up an interview for a finance position. Shannon was 22 and had no idea about the car business or the position for which she would be interviewed, but she got the job.

“This was a job I fell in love with immediately,” Shannon said.“I worked the hours doing what I needed to do to get to the next level, and I took on additional roles and responsibilities to improve my knowledge and resume. There was a time in my career when I needed a gentle nudge to get me out of my comfort zone and into the next role. I’m truly grateful for the leaders in my past who saw that I could do and be more. Without the long hours, tough situations and of course the tears that I shed, I would not be where I am today.”

She continued, “I’m truly blessed for the opportunities I have had and the doors that I have walked through.”

In February 2022, Shannon celebrated 21 years of service with the Holler organization; in October, she marked her twelfth year as general manager of Holler Hyundai.

During her tenure as the general manager, a lot of auto trends had come and gone. When we asked her what she believed some of the new trends would be, she said, “Electric cars and autonomous cars. There’s a lot of legislation and law to work through, but the shift is going to happen in the next 5-10 years.”

Which led us to our next question regarding the challenges in creating a balance in customer branch and digital-based transactions. She told us the major challenge is that the consumer forgets a person is on the other side of the computer. “Customers become very aggressive and forward sometimes when they are using a computer to communicate with us,” she elaborated.” The other (challenge) is just keeping up with the technology. There’s always something new just around the corner.”

Shannon shared her goals with us. “Many of my goals change every 30 days,” she said. “But a lifetime goal is to give back to the industry through service and mentorship.”

Elaborating, she said, “The crazy thing about the car business is that you do live 30 days at a time. You can be a hero or a zero in those 30 days, but no matter how you did last month, you get to start over again at the beginning of the month.”

She told us she didn’t have any long term goals per se, other than to keep moving forward and keep her staff. She explained the importance of minimizing turnover. Also important is to just continue engaging in technology as it comes. She said, “I embrace it and figure out how to use it to make the work easier and more efficient. The idea is to work smarter instead of harder.”

As incoming chair, we asked about her specific goals for CFADA. “I would like to see the technician recruiting initiative continue to grow,” she explained, “and through this initiative, I would like to build functioning partnerships with the local automotive schools. These partnerships will help backfill holes in technician staffing and, with results, improve member engagement.”

Regarding membership in CFADA, we asked Shannon to share the biggest impact one can make by being a member. “Being part of an organization that supports your industry,” she noted. “And helping improve collective challenges as a core group versus individually.” She also included serving the community and providing events like auto shows allows members to see the latest and greatest improvements the auto industry has to offer.

We asked Shannon to share an “aha” moment she may have had during her career, but she told us it was probably still to come. So, we asked her to provide us with three things she has learned while working in the auto industry that she would pass on to a new or younger member. However, she told us she only had one. She said, “My advice would be that if there’s a question that needs to be asked, and or there’s a direction where you need to go or an initiative you need to take, and you get a pit in your stomach, then you know it’s right. Sometimes we have to be uncomfortable to find success.”

She said she loved mentoring, stating, “I love having opportunities to mentor those with identified potential and I also love to watch those I have mentored get promoted and find success.” She also shared that she loves traveling, that she “works to travel” and she seeks new adventures. She enjoys spending time with her family and spoiling her sister’s children.

And finally, we asked her to describe the most rewarding part of her career. She smiled and said, “The people, especially my employees. We celebrate when they are successful, have wins, achieve goals, get married, have children and when their children graduate. A lot of those successes are impossible without having a place to come and work. Many of my employees fell into the car business by accident and have made successful careers.”
Rewarding, indeed.