2015 Automotive News 100 Leading Women

What attracted you to the auto industry? Funny story. I was in college and I was a fashion major and I wrecked my car. I had not paid my car insurance because my parents had paid it [previously] and I was buying all my clothes and everything to be fabulous. When I wrecked my car, there was no public transportation and all of a sudden I don’t have a car. The guy I was dating and who now I’ve been married to for 28 years, he had just graduated from college and was a football player and had gotten hurt and was selling cars and he said, “You should sell cars.”I said, “Well, I sell skirts now.” The only reason I should sell cars was because if you were a salesperson, you got a free car to drive. That’s really my story, and it’s a mortifying story but it’s the truth.I’m a fashion designer. I’m a true fashionista. So the thought of selling cars had never entered my mind - it was a necessity. And I’m so grateful I wrecked that damn car now.