These boots are made For driving. Cars and careers. By Bonnie Kenaz-Mara “When is the last time you got your boots dirty?” Emily Miller, founder of Rebelle Rally, a women-only off-road competition, said to the crowd gathered for Women’s Day at The Chicago Auto Show, as she changed into her desert dusty boots. Miller has…
What Drives Her at the Chicago Auto Show: Meet the Women Who Are Taking the Auto World by Storm
And sharing their advice so you can, too. Five years ago I fell in love. With the automotive industry. And along with it, cars. It wasn’t the most natural journey for me; cars were not really my passion. I like design, I like to shop, I like innovative industries and I like to be a…
What Drives Her: Amanda Osmer is Reshaping How Cars Are Sold
Her no-haggle car sales strategy is just part of a unique approach. When Amanda Grappone Osmer entered college, she had no plans to join the family business started by her great grandparents in 1924. Once a gas station in Concord, New Hampshire, Grappone Automotive has grown to a successful 5-dealership group in Bow selling Ford,…
Meet Emily Miller, the Force of Nature Behind the Rebelle Rally
From A Chance Meeting at the National Automobile Museum to Building an Off-Road Rebelle! Emily Miller was part of a car-loving family growing up but it was a chance meeting at the National Automobile Museum for a totally unrelated project that literally put Emily in the driver’s seat and leading a movement to empower women…
How Jackie DiMarco, Ford’s Chief Programming Engineer, Built Some of the Worlds Greatest Cars
Doctor? No Thanks. She’d Rather Build Cars. No one wants to be that kid who disappoints her parents by deciding not to become a doctor. But growing up in Youngstown, Ohio, Jackie DiMarco knew it wasn’t for her. “That was definitely not my path.” It wasn’t until she stumbled into an engineering session at her…
What Drives Her: Michelin’s Claire Dorland-Clauzel is Breaking Glass Ceilings and Wants You To, Too
Confidence, Trust and Good People Fueled Her Journey to Lead Michelin’s Global Sustainability Brand and Communications. Becoming a widow with three children under the age of 7 might be enough to derail your career goals. But when Claire Dorland-Clauzel lost her husband twenty years ago, she didn’t retrench. She altered the demands her bosses could…
Meet Victoria Schein: A 23-Year-Old Rising Star Who’s Engineering Ford’s Future
How many patent applications did you have pending when you were 23? Most of us hadn’t even considered developing an idea for a patent at age 23. But Victoria Schein took full advantage of her opportunities in Ford’s College Graduate Program to do just that. As of this writing, she has 15 patent applications pending….
What Drives Her: Lisa Copeland Is Crushing It in the Auto World
And She Wants You to Crush It, Too. Lisa Copeland was a college student majoring in fashion, and she had curated a regrettable habit of spending the money her parents had sent her for car insurance on new clothes. It was most unfortunate, she says, when she totaled her car in an accident. Her father…
What Drives Chevy’s Lisa Hutchinson? Believe It or Not, Psychology
Growing Up in Detroit, Cars are Just What You Do Cars have always been a part of Lisa Hutchinson’s life. “I grew up in Detroit, it’s just what you do,” she says. “There were always car magazines in our house and my dad and brother are both big car fans.” With cars woven into the…
What Drives Her: Elizabeth Curran, Fashion Major, Ends Up Running Color & Trim at Hyundai North America
Two Lucky Moves, One Amazing Career. Despite growing up an hour outside of Detroit, Liz Curran never thought she’d end up in automotive. “I went to school for fashion design,” says this 20-year veteran. “I didn’t even know color & trim existed.” So how does a fashionista end up running a design division at a…