I’ve been attending industry events since 1986. I never thought much about it until I sat down to write this month’s column, but women were scarce at industry events early in my career. Most of the women I knew or were familiar with in this industry were public relations professionals, my peers at other industry publications, or analysts with industry market research firms. There were very few women in prominent roles on the vendor side of the business, and even less so at leading dealerships at the time. The old joke that you could roll a bowling ball down the aisle and not hit anyone could easily be revised to: You could easily roll one hundred bowling balls down the aisle of an industry event such as NOMDA and not hit a woman. But the good old boys club? One could easily bowl a 300 game at one of these events.
Cut to 2021, and women are more visible than ever before in this industry, although we still believe they remain underrepresented, particularly in the upper echelons of the dealer channel. Think about it. How many women are running dealerships? Of the 1,500 to 1,800 independent dealerships still in existence, you can count the number of women owners on two, maybe three hands. We have seen more progress on the vendor and leasing side of the business. GreatAmerica Financial Services is one company that stands out. HP and Xerox (or at least Xerox was last time I looked) are others. That’s not to call the rest out because most have women in prominent positions. The positive news is that the dynamic is changing, but it may not be shifting as quickly as we would like.
A few years ago, Frank G. Cannata received feedback from a male dealer who felt that we shouldn’t single out women in our Annual Survey with a Female Executive of the Year Award. This dealer felt that in the 21st-century, women didn’t deserve special recognition. If you know Frank, those were fighting words, and he vehemently defended our decision to acknowledge women leaders in this industry. That commitment continues and is embedded in the DNA of everyone who works at The Cannata Report. We firmly believe diversity makes this industry stronger and that it is important to highlight that diversity.
We are proud of our efforts to raise the profile of women in our industry with our annual Women Influencers issue. We spend a lot of time researching the women we select, and then make a special effort to ensure that everything about this issue from the photography to the profiles represents the respect these industry leaders deserve.
You may already be familiar with the women we profiled in this issue; two directly interact with the dealer channel, while another is engaged in day-to-day activities that impact the channel. Their stories are inspiring.
Looking back at my early days in the industry, I couldn’t imagine a publication making it their mission to celebrate women leaders. Considering how few there were at the time, that would have been challenging. We encourage you to join us in celebrating the three women we are featuring this year, and please don’t hesitate to reach out to us to let us know about other women in this industry worthy of consideration.
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