What’s Driving Your Career This Year? Join Us at the Chicago Auto Show and Jump Start Your Journey!

What Drives Her Chicago Auto Show
Women who are changing the auto business take the stage at What Drives Her at the Chicago Auto Show. Photo: Chicago Auto Show

Need a little inspiration? If so, we’re here for you!

It’s the conundrum that pesters us all, especially when we are starting off in a new career: How do we follow our passions in a business where we may not necessarily feel welcome?

For many women, that’s the feeling in automotive. But the career paths are promising, the people are wonderful and salaries can be rewarding. And if you like math, science and technology, well, there’s hardly a better place to go to work every day.

Those of us in this space recognize the challenges. And if it weren’t for the guidance and mentoring of someone who saw our potential, many wouldn’t have stayed. We know we need to pay that forward.

So, 150 or so of us will gather at the Chicago Auto Show for the third annual What Drives Her luncheon on Friday, February 8th to share advice, insight and mentoring.

What Drives Her Chicago Auto Show
Our 2019 speakers include (from top left) Jeneen Rippey, Michelle Krebs, Kathy Gilbert, Jennifer Newman, Lauren Brandt; (from bottom left) Edie Wines, Laurie King, Jessica Petty, Subi Ghosh, Scotty Reiss

Mentoring and Networking: Where Careers are Nurtured

Several years ago a wave started in the auto business as women recognized the need to give each other a hand up in this career. Not just mentoring, but advice, insight, networking and community.

This was about the time A Girls Guide to Cars was born. And, Women in Automotive got started. The Chicago Auto Show saw an opportunity to be a voice in the movement, too. So, the show decided to host the What Drives Her Luncheon to foster these discussions.

The program will feature female automotive leaders discussing how women are driving technology changes, both as leaders and as car buyers. And, we’ll talk about the work/life balance issues we all face and the solutions we found.

This Year’s speakers include:

  • Jessica Petty, Manager of Customer Data Analytics, Hyundai
  • Michelle Krebs, Executive Analyst, Autotrader
  • Jennifer Newman, Editor-in-Chief, Cars.com
  • Kathy Gilbert, CDK Global Director of Sales & Business Development
  • Lauren Brandt, Facebook Client Solutions Manager and Returnity Project Co-founder
  • Edie Wines, National Automobile Dealers Association
  • Laurie King, Turtle Wax SVP, Global Operations & Strategic Solutions
  • Subi Ghosh, Senior Director of Dealer Strategy, Stream Companies
  • Jeneen Rippey, Vice President of Global Quality, Electronics Division, ZF
  • Scotty Reiss, A Girls Guide to Cars Founder

What Drives Her Chicago Auto ShowJoin Us and Be Part of the Discussion!

If you’d like to attend, we welcome you! Simply respond to our Facebook event and let us know why you’d like to attend. Qualified guests will be contacted and added to the guest list. And if you can’t join us in person you can join the event on Facebook Live and across social media. Women in Automotive will share the event on Facebook, and you can keep up with the rest of the fun by following the hashtag #WDH2019.

Need more inspiration? These are just some of the amazing women we’ve featured on our pages, women who are also changing the auto world from the inside: GMC’s Helen Emsley, Adient’s (and former Fiat brand manager) Nichole Longhini, sales crusher Lisa Copeland, FCA’s Alison Rahm, Nissan’s Rebecca Vest, Michelin’s Claire Clauzel, Genesis’ Kate Fabian, Lexus’ Peggy Turner, Ford’s Erica Klampfl. Find all our stories here!

LEARN ABOUT THE WHAT DRIVES HER LUNCHEON FROM OUR FACEBOOK EVENT AND JOIN US ON FEBRUARY 8TH!

Join Us For What Drives Her At The 2019 Chicago Auto Show – In Person Or On Facebook Live– And Give Your Automotive Career, Or Any Career, A Boost!

Scotty Reiss
Scotty Reiss

Journalist, entrepreneur and mom. Expertise includes new cars, family cars, 3-row SUVs, child passenger car seats and automotive careers and culture. A World Car Awards juror and member of the steering committee, Scotty likes to say the automotive business found her, rather than her finding it. But recognizing the opportunity to give voice to powerful female consumers and create a voice to match their spending power, her mission became to empower women as car buyers and owners. A career-long journalist, she has written for the New York Times, Town & Country, Adweek and co-authored the book Stew Leonard, My Story, a biography of the founder of the iconic grocery company Stew Leonard’s. Her love of cars started when her father insisted she learn to change the oil in her MG Midget, but now it mostly plays out in the many road trips taken with her family.

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