August 5, 2024 • 38 mins
Ariah Daniels shares the vision behind a new monthly conversation with women leaders at the Zeigler Auto Group.
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Karianne Thomas (00:05):
Today, there's not an opening. Tomorrow, there
is. And you need to be preparedfor it. You can't prepare
prepare tomorrow.
Sam Darc (00:16):
Welcome everyone to the Driving Vision podcast
brought to you by the ZiglerAuto Group. And here with me,
auto group director of talentdevelopment, Mike Van Ryn.
Welcome, Mike. Hey. Thanks, Sam.
Be sure to subscribe to thepodcast. Like it if you do, and
leave a comment. So, Araya,there's a group that you're
working on that you have puttogether, and I am not invited
(00:37):
to the group. And I'm I'mfeeling very jealous, and I'm
wanting to know why have I notgotten an invitation to your
latest group. Will you tell usabout it, please, and why you
came up with this?
Why I'm not invited?
Ariah Daniels (00:49):
Well, not that you're not invited. Okay. So
let's back let's back up. Soit's been, been on my heart for
a while. In the last couple ofyears of helping out with our
training and development piecesinside the auto group is I it
was I was starting to notice asignificant amount of a need for
a group of women to be able tocome together and a space where
(01:14):
traditionally has not alwaysbeen there in our industry, for
being sort of male dominated.
Right? So we have recentlykicked off our leadership
coaching series calls of womenleaders of the ZAG.
Sam Darc (01:28):
So I love that you're doing this. On our social media
pages. We had a quote of metalking about how the auto
industry is one of the greatestlast American institutions. You
can come here with anybackground. It doesn't matter.
Religion, ethnicity doesn'tmatter where you're from, who
you are. If you're willing towork hard, you'll have success.
And somebody posted angrily.They said, well, women are
(01:49):
underrepresented in thisindustry, which is fascinating
because it's true. Right?
Like, what percent did you sayare women in automotive overall?
Yeah. So I think right now andwhat the stat most recently,
automotive overall?
Ariah Daniels (01:57):
Yeah. So I think right now and what the stat most
recently over the last year wasaround 21.8% of our industry are
female. And very subsequentlywith our auto group, we have
around roughly 20% femalesinside our organization. So
while what you're saying was a100%, our, you know, our means
(02:18):
to wanting to start somethinglike this wasn't just for the of
saying, oh gosh. We'remisrepresented.
Right? It was an opportunity forus to say, hey. We know that
this is a statistic. This is a aperfect opportunity for us to
create a space that allows womento come together and have
conversations and learn fromother females, who've maybe been
(02:39):
in this industry or evendifferent walks of of business
and walks of life to just learnfrom. So our mission in entirely
creating this new series ofcoaching calls was really to
empower and champion all womenof our organization through
these different leadershiptopics and conversations,
speakers that just help usconnect and engage and be
(03:00):
educated and feel more inspiredto do our best here at Zigler.
So it has, just recently takenoff. We've had 2 calls so far.
Our goal is to really do kind ofa rotating every other month, 1
hour Zoom call that reaches,every single one of the females
in our our auto group that wannabe a part of the conversation.
(03:20):
So, yeah, it is up and moving,and it's been a few short
months.
Sam Darc (03:26):
It's awesome. It makes sense. You know, we have, calls
and groups for finance managers,for salespeople, for general
managers, for all differentroles in kinda categories within
the auto group, and we supporteach other. Yeah. And that's
kinda what you're doing withthis.
What's your goal with thisgroup, Ari, as you meet once
Karianne Thomas (03:44):
a month?
Ariah Daniels (03:45):
Absolutely. So I think really, like, ultimately,
as more women continue to takeon different leadership roles in
this industry, inside ZieglerAuto Group, we just really feel
that it's so paramount to have aspace for women to be able to
grow and be able to network andencourage and support and
collaborate in different waysthat maybe the conversations
(04:07):
wouldn't have be the same inlarger group settings across the
auto group. So, ultimately, mygoal and my vision is to
continue to keep creating aspace that allows women to come
from any position inside ourorganization to come together
and learn from each other andlean on each other for support
and direction in certain, youknow, certain instances that
they would face inside ourindustry or just in work or life
(04:31):
in general and continue to keepseeing that grow. You know, I
have I have a grandiose visionto see this turn into something
that even hits, hits otherfemale leaders outside of our
organization. So, ultimately,it's been really fun to kick
this series off, and really getthe the buy in too from our
other leaders inside theorganization.
(04:51):
You know, Aaron Ziegler and,Mike Van Ryan both kicked off
the first call that we had. Soreally great to see their
support in such a great,powerful, thing that we're doing
here. So, yeah, been fun.
Sam Darc (05:05):
So so we guys are not invited to this, which is fine
because what's neat is you'regoing to actually bring people,
female leaders and participantsfrom across the auto group onto
the podcast, and we'll have whatyou're going to join us into
those conversations. Why bringthat to our podcast audience?
What benefit does it give to therest of us to be able to see the
(05:26):
conversation, the narrativethat's going on, in that group?
Ariah Daniels (05:29):
Well, you know, I think I just go back to thinking
the conversation sometimes hit alittle bit differently. And I
don't know if you know this, butwe're we're built a little
different than you than youmales. Right? But not
Sam Darc (05:39):
I'm shocked.
Karianne Thomas (05:39):
No. Yeah. Not in a
Ariah Daniels (05:41):
way that's condescending or better than you
or whatever. Right? It's amatter of bringing bringing
different perspectives ofbusiness, in life and in
conversation and relationships.I think that's just such an
important piece to be able toshare with other industries and
share with the world, that thatelement is there that maybe
(06:03):
doesn't always get the voicefor.
Sam Darc (06:04):
It is interesting. In our world, we always talk about
how their strengths andweaknesses. Everybody has
different areas that they leaninto, and they contribute to the
auto group. They contribute tobusiness. And that's probably
true equally with the groupyou're talking to.
Right? That by not everybody hasa voice that they should have to
put their strengths out there.Do you find sometimes with women
(06:26):
in the auto industryrepresenting 20%, do you find
sometime there's less of avoice, and maybe this group
helps to create that voice andhelp extend that influence.
Right?
Ariah Daniels (06:36):
Yeah. Absolutely. I think, you know, and that the
word that's coming to mind forme is just just simply
empowerment. Right? And I Ithink that when you put a group
of women together, not in a hugeroom with a a group of men as
well, they feel a little bitmore inclined to wanna speak up
and help build that confidencein maybe a smaller group
setting.
And I think that's okay. I thinkthat's something that people are
(06:57):
like, well, gosh. You know? Whatwhat is what does it mean? You
know?
It doesn't matter that you're afemale. You should still be able
to speak up. Right? But the thereality is is that the
conversation is just simply alittle different. And in doing
this, it sets the tone forpeople who might feel so less
inclined to wanna speak up, tobe able to feel empowered to
(07:17):
speak and have a voice, and thenbe able to grow from there.
Right? So it's such a great,pivotal kind of stepping stone
for a lot of women in our autogroup and to be able to learn
and hear from other leaders inthe organization that have been
in their shoes at one one time.Right? And I think about my own,
my own story and thinking that,you know, I look back and being
(07:38):
in this industry for almost 17years and looking back and,
gosh, 10 years ago, I wasn'twhere I am today. And I think I
have been able to grow becauseof the relationships that I have
built, not only just withfemales, but the men in our
organization as well, which hasbeen been wonderful.
So this just creates, kind of asmaller scale opportunity to
bring women together and havethose conversations to feel
(08:01):
empowered.
Sam Darc (08:02):
And by the way, one of the things I love so our
audience is about to hear aninterview that you did, with
Carrie Ann Thomas. I was able tosit backstage and listen to it.
This group is not a group that'ssitting around saying, Woe is
me. You know, I'm only 20% of aworkforce. Carrie Ann Thomas is
the only person in the autogroup authorized to carry a gun
at all times.
Yeah. And she was a police chiefin an area and an industry where
(08:26):
that industry is lessrepresented than auto. And, you
know, she she'll talk aboutyou're gonna hear in a few
minutes how early on in hercareer, she actually had to
change in a janitorial closetbecause there was there wasn't a
place kinda set aside for afemale chief, let alone a female
police officer. And so I'mexcited as I listen to that
interview you did with her,which was just awesome. Our
(08:47):
audience is about to hear it.
I'm excited for everyone to beable to see the narrative in the
conversation because it's notfrom a position of of, hey.
We're 20%. It's from a positionof there is strength when we
have a voice and we're able toextend that influence. What what
are your thoughts on that?
Ariah Daniels (09:05):
Well, absolutely. And I think what you're hitting
on and I am very much, theperson when I when I started
thinking about this series ofcalls to create, I didn't want
to match the agenda of, like,oh, gosh. Woe is me. I'm a
female. I have no opportunitiesbecause that is not me, and
that's not the message that wewanna send.
Right? So the message really wasclear to create a space and just
(09:27):
learn from each other. So Ithink that's such an important
piece to add this element to ourleadership and development, kind
of platform is being able toprovide that space and not feel
like we have to be limited bywhatever limitations we wanna
put on ourselves, whether that'syour gender, you know, your
race, your ethnicity, or, youknow, all of the different
(09:48):
things that we talk about thatcan be limitations. It's a
matter of just bringing ustogether and having good
conversations in order to justconnect and engage and inspire
each other for sure.
Sam Darc (09:57):
Alright. So if I'm listening to this interview
right now and I want to joinyour group, I can't join again.
But if someone out there islistening and wants to join the
group, how could they join or Iis it open to women across the
auto group?
Ariah Daniels (10:10):
Absolutely. And so, you know, we started this
thing small. I had 6 people inkind of a core conversation that
I leaned into for, advice andkind of brainstorming of what
this should look like. And weslowly but surely have continued
to keep adding on, people whowanna keep joining. And so,
ultimately, I would say ifyou're listening to this and
(10:31):
part of team Ziegler and want tobe a part of these future
conversations, they arecompletely optional for you to
come join us.
You know, ultimately, we'd liketo continue to, keep recapping
the calls that allow you tokinda listen into, you know,
what what was some of the mainpoints and join that way, but
wanna be a part of the liveconversation, just simply reach
(10:51):
out to me. We'd be more thanhappy to to welcome you in open
arms to join the conversation.
Sam Darc (10:57):
I love this. As part of team Ziegler and we're all
part of this team, we know weare stronger together. And this
is a great way for an importantgroup within team Ziegler to
come together, to learntogether, to commit together, to
challenge each other, to have avoice and to give back in super
meaningful ways. We're excitedto see the outcome of this as
you progress down the road.We're excited to hear the
(11:19):
interviews that, you bring,forth over the coming months,
and we're excited, Araya, herein just moments on the future of
Zach Today Driving Visionpodcast to hear your premier
interview with, Ziegler directorof security Carrie Ann Thomas.
Any closing comments on that,Ariah?
Ariah Daniels (11:35):
Yeah. You know, I think just to if anything, just
such a great reminder to thatwe're part of such a great
organization that allows theopportunity in platform like
this and, something that's justwas I was passionate about and
genuine genuinely wanted tobring everyone together is now
underway. And so excited to seeit grow, excited to see who we
(11:56):
bring in to speak and learnfrom, and continue to just keep
engaging and inspiring new setof leaders come in into the
industry. Alright. Before weroll
Karianne Thomas (12:04):
the interview, though, I have one last
question.
Sam Darc (12:04):
It takes it's a risk to try something new. And some
ideas are bigger risk than otherideas, but something like this
could be because it could go offthe rails. It could turn
negative. Nobody could decide toparticipate. What were your
thoughts as you were like, hey,should I do this?
Can I have this voice? Can Ibring this group together? Is it
(12:24):
worthwhile to do? What what kindof pushed you over the edge of
risk to say, hey, this isworthwhile. This is worth doing.
I mean, I have no doubt afterlistening to your interview, and
our audience will in a momentthat it's it's worth it. But
what what was the thought inyour, head as you
Ariah Daniels (12:39):
You know, so all of those emotions, Sam,
everything that you justmentioned ran through my head,
the judgment, the fear of it notworking. You know? At the end of
the day, I knew that what wewere doing and being intentional
about it and genuinelyinterested in the growth of
others is where my heart lies.And so I knew that I was coming
(13:01):
into this with really goodintentions to know, like, I just
wanna help people grow. I wantpeople to not feel alone and
know that they can also have avoice and feel empowered to
speak up and have theseconversations and learn from
each other.
So all of those emotions, yes. Iwent through every everything,
every self doubt that I couldhave, but ultimately, yeah, I it
(13:23):
it's such an innate nature forme to wanna take risks like that
in order to just be a betterforce for good in the world. So
Sam Darc (13:30):
We're glad you silenced the critic. You stood
tall in the arena. And and toteam Ziegler and to our driving
vision podcast, we're excited toturn now to the premier
interview with Araya Danielstalking with Carrie Ann Tallis,
Ziegler, the group director ofsecurity. Thank you, Araya.
Ariah Daniels (13:45):
Thanks so much, Sam. Well, hello, team Zigler
and friends of the ZAG. Welcometo this extra special episode of
our podcast. Here today with me,our director of security of
Ziggler Auto Group, KarianneThomas. Carrie Anne, thank you
so much for joining today.
So we've got some reallyexciting things going on around
(14:07):
the auto group right now andspecifically on the training and
development piece, side ofthings. We recently kicked off a
new series of leadershipcoaching calls specifically for
the women of our auto group. Andso women leaders of the ZAG,
series has now had a few calls,and this is something that we
just recently started in orderto provide a space for women in
(14:32):
our auto group to come togetherto help champion and empower
each other. And what in in thisgroup, what we've really tried
to create is a space foreveryone to come together to
learn from different leadersacross the organization and
connect in a space that allowsthem to grow personally and
professionally. So it's beensuch a wonderful thing,
something I know that's been onmy heart to do for a while.
(14:56):
And with me, Carrie Ann Thomas,was kind of volunto.
Karianne Thomas (15:00):
I hate to say
Ariah Daniels (15:04):
no. She didn't say no. So in a part of these
series, what we're looking foris to ask, one of our female
leaders in the organization tocome share just a little bit
about their story and thinkabout a topic that makes them
who they are, that they canshare with others in the auto
group. And so this, this lastweek, which thank you, Carrie
(15:24):
Anne, for joining, and I know,still undergoing some sickness
there, but still plan to joinus, which was awesome. Spend
some time talking with us.
So, Carrie Anne, I just wantedto introduce you and maybe give
a little bit of a background onwho you are and where you've
come from in joining Zigler AutoGroup.
Karianne Thomas (15:42):
Thanks, Araya. And I just wanna thank Araya for
inviting me to speak to thegroup. And, you know, we all
have our own story to tell, andeveryone out there and on those
calls we're founding finding isgonna have a story. But I wanted
to start it out, hopefully, togive everyone the confidence
that this is a safe space. Wewanna hear what you have to
(16:03):
share.
And the more of us that do that,those that that maybe are
hesitant will do that in thefuture. And so that's why I was
eager to help out and do it. Ihave a long career in a male
dominated field. I was, in thearmy and then, in law
enforcement and firefighting formy entire life. And now I'm, you
(16:24):
know and this this is anothermale dominated industry.
So I have a lot of experiences,throughout my career of how to
be successful, how to surviveit, how to have a voice, and,
try to figure out, you know, howyou wanna move your career
forward and where you want thatthat to go. And I consider
myself very fortunate to havelanded in my I call it my
(16:46):
chapter 2. Right? Got my chapter1 behind me. Here at Ziegler
Auto Group and able tocontribute, you know, with all
the skills I've picked up.
You know? We're not born withthese skills, but we grow, and
we're we're able to grow in ourprofession and personally by
doing these sort of things. AndYeah. I've had a lot of those
experiences, and I'm alwayshappy to share on my some
(17:09):
stories that can be told in agroup like this and some are
told over a beer, but, I got alot. Yeah.
Ariah Daniels (17:15):
Well, too you know, and it's interesting,
Carrie Anne, because, you know,when I was thinking about who
would I want to have come kickoff some of these calls with us
and, you know, I thought of youin your background. And this is
something that we didn't reallystart the conversation of
saying, like, hey. Like, youknow, where are we not, you
know, represented as a female inour organization? And that was
not the case. Really, it wasjust a matter of, like, you
(17:36):
know, we are in a male dominatedindustry and really it's like,
the the numbers is a good, like,only 20% females.
Right? And so the conversationsare just a little bit different
when you get a group of womentogether to have those
conversations, to have those tohave those kind of like minded
experiences that we've had, butultimately to not allow that to
be a barrier in our successes.And so that's been really cool,
(17:58):
and I I was thinking immediatelyof you because of your
background in the military andon the police force. So I think
it was just such an importantpiece to have you come share.
Like, hey.
There are no boundaries. You cando what it whatever it is that
you want, regardless of of whereyou are. So I think that was
such an important piece and aninteresting one to,
Karianne Thomas (18:18):
to start with. I just wanna say because you
never told me that statistic,20% of our organization is
female. That's the highestpercentage of female of any
organization I've ever been
walking to. I was like, woah.
We're moving up there. You're you're moving up.
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. And we
don't wanna define or separate ourselves
because we are female employeesin this industry. Absolutely. We
(18:39):
just need a space to figure outhow to operate at our best.
Right? And we can do that withpeer support.
Absolutely.
And having those. And, you know, we'll
probably talk about this later,and I mentioned it on the call.
But, you know, spending almost30 years in law enforcement.
When I first started, right,very few females and even not a
(19:02):
lot today.
Right.
But I never had, peer support because there
just weren't women out there inthe same positions and at the
same ranks I was. Sure.
Ariah Daniels (19:11):
Right.
Karianne Thomas (19:12):
And I wish I had. And I did get get some peer
support later in my career, butit came from, other female
chiefs throughout the country,not nearby. And once I had that,
it really made a difference
Yeah.
You know, in in helping me handle some of the
situations I had to handle. So Irealized right now that, you
know, it's up to us who have hadopportunities and where we stand
(19:33):
to open doors for others.
Ariah Daniels (19:35):
Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah.
Karianne Thomas (19:36):
And once the door is open, they can walk
through.
Ariah Daniels (19:38):
Well, and that's a huge part of this leadership
journey, right, is being able toknow and use your story and use
your journey as fuel to helpother people see, like, hey,
you're not alone. Like, you youcan move in any direction you
want regardless of whateverbarriers you think are are in
the way because they aren'tbarriers. They're just they're
opportunities to overcome. And Ithink that's so important. And
one thing I thought this wasreally funny when you shared and
(19:59):
you've shared this with mebefore is that, when you had
first joined the force that, youdidn't have
Karianne Thomas (20:04):
a locker room of your own. So there wasn't a
female locker room, so they madeyou dress in a closet. Is that
right?
Yeah. Me and the mop in the bucket. Yeah.
Yeah. But, you know, and andand, you know, I wasn't
directed.
Right?
This is
what I chose to do, and I knew there were gonna
be hurdles.
Yep.
And in the best way is just use your sense of
humor and then figure out how tofix it. Right? Yeah. Absolutely.
(20:26):
Figure out do what you gotta dobecause bitching about it's not
gonna get you anywhere.
Yeah. Exactly. But,
yeah, have a good sense of humor and figure
out how you're gonna fix it. Andso that no one in the future
ever tells you that story ofthey started that way.
Ariah Daniels (20:39):
Yeah. Absolutely. So we're jumping into kind of
the conversation of really whatyou're hitting home right now,
and those are your own corepillars. Right? You're utilizing
the core pillars of your, ofyour being to be successful in
any span of your control, whichI think is so important.
So that was the topic of thisconversation that we had in this
(21:00):
coaching call, which by the waywas an hour call, which we had a
good 40 of our, women leadersacross the auto group on this,
Zoom call altogether, which wasawesome, and we only continue to
keep seeing these grow. And, youknow, that's at least my vision
for it and move it into acapacity where it even reaches
others, maybe even outside ofour organization. So I think
(21:20):
that's such a a cool piece. Butso going into this topic, I
really just wanna kind of recapwhat we talked about and the
important pieces that reallycame out of the conversation
and, just talk a little bitabout those. So when we
brainstormed initially aboutwhat do we wanna talk about, you
immediately were like, hey.
Like, I'd love to talk about mycore pillars of success. What is
(21:42):
it about, my values, the thingsthat drive me that keep me
moving in the direction of whereI wanna go and being successful?
And then one of our questionswas, how do you use those core
pillars when you get off trackin order to kinda get back on
track? And so I wanna just havethat kind of conversation. So I
guess first, let's just, youknow, ask you and open you, up
(22:03):
to what are your core pillars,what has made you be successful
in your career, not only justhere at Ziegler, but in years
past?
Karianne Thomas (22:12):
When we did talk about it, you know, I was
eager because it takes you alifetime to figure these things
out. Right? I didn't wake up,you know, and when I started in
the army in 18 and say, hey.Here's the 4 things that really
I know are gonna make me successand I believe in. Right?
You grow into those. Right.Yeah. And when you look back and
have to lean on some thingsduring tough times, that's when
(22:34):
you figure it out. So when Iwhen I thought my core pillars,
you know, was confidence,consistency, always willing to
do more, and then genuinelycurious.
Right?
Mhmm.
And I I'm telling you, I was in some such
situations, you know, as a 19year old private that I had zero
confidence. Right? And watchingother people who did, I knew I
(22:56):
needed that. Yeah. Right?
And so figuring out in those,and and I said this on the call.
Right? As I got into roles wheremy span of control increased
until, you know, at the end, Iwas the chief, man, had to be
confident. You had to be on 247,and you had to, you know, fake
it until you make it and whatyou need to be confident, no one
(23:18):
should ever know you're not.
Ariah Daniels (23:19):
Yeah.
Karianne Thomas (23:19):
Right? But when you have those peer support
groups and groups like this,that you know going into
something tough, that you canhave those calls like, oh, I
gotta do this today, and it'sreally gonna suck. Or I gotta
you know, whatever it may be,and I've had the extremes.
Right?
Ariah Daniels (23:33):
Yeah.
Karianne Thomas (23:35):
But having that confidence because people give
you that confidence back. Right?You feel that same feeling back.
Ariah Daniels (23:42):
Yeah.
Karianne Thomas (23:43):
And, you know, I and I learned one thing really
early as I became an officer inthe army, and I had a a trainer
who once said, right, wrong,indifferent, just make a
decision.
Yeah.
And I live by that, and that comes in the
confidence. Right? Well, yeah.
That you're never gonna make all the right
decisions Exactly.
Ever. Well, I think confidence is obviously
something that's built as you dothings that are uncomfortable.
You don't
Ariah Daniels (24:04):
you don't have that confidence. And when you
come through on the other sideand realize that you've done it
is when that confidence getsboosted. And I think that's such
an important piece to rememberthat in your journey
Karianne Thomas (24:13):
Because many
of them.
Yeah. You fall back on that and say, hey. If I
made it through that
Yep.
Whatever the situation is, right, it's like,
well, I can make it throughthis. Right. Or at least it's
not it's never as bad as I thinkit's going to be. So, yeah,
you're you definitely hit thenail on the head. Yeah.
And then, you know, when we lookat another one was consistency.
Right? And what I always did notlike about leaders or people
(24:38):
that I had to work for was wishywashy. Right? It's like, oh,
what side of the fence are theygonna flop on today?
Yeah.
And I'm just a very decisive person, and I
always tried to be consistent.Mhmm. And everyone always knew
what I was gonna do. They knewthey weren't gonna like it a lot
of times, but I was veryconsistent. Consistent.
(24:59):
Yeah. Because of thatconsistency, when I had to make
the tough call or do reallytough things, I knew in my mind
that, hey. In my heart, I don'twanna do this and I have to, but
everyone knows I'm going to, andI have to be consistent.
Yeah.
Because consistency in a leader helps
the organization. Right? Youcan't go back and forth, and our
(25:20):
hearts lead us different placesin our heads, and so you have to
have that pillar to lean on.
Ariah Daniels (25:25):
That is so powerful. And one I think is
just goes back to what you'resaying is, like, you've
developed that over time. Andthat became really powerful
everyone on the call too, Ithink, to understand that, like,
hey, some people may they maynot even know what their pillars
are. They may not know exactlywho they are, and they might be
evolving and morphing right now.And to know and and appreciate
that those can be developed overtime, I think, was an important
(25:48):
piece we really took away fromthat question, where people just
realize, like, okay, like, whatmaybe my core pillars are today
probably weren't what they were5 years ago and 5 years ahead.
You know, they're they'reconstantly evolving and helping
you grow as a person. So I thinkthat was a really cool piece to
to uncover that on this call.
Karianne Thomas (26:07):
Especially when I saw so many young women,
right, on the call and new tothe industry, a lot of them new
in their positions. Yes. It'ssort of nice to know as you're
trying to, you know, herd thekittens in your own world Yeah.
Know that it you do come out theother side. There is light at
the other side.
Yeah. And, you know, and Ialways say it doesn't matter
(26:27):
your position. Right? We allhave our own span of control.
Whether you're span of control,it's the titles on your desk,
whether it's, you know, thecars, the vehicles, whatever it
is, your span of control will bethe very best you can be at your
Hispanic control because thatprepares you for a greater
Hispanic control.
Ariah Daniels (26:43):
Oh, that was that was such a strong piece too. I
really loved that. The otherthing that came up for me, I
think, to, to hit along thatlines is, you know, being in
your span of control and beingthe best you can be at that
particular thing, but also goingback to and a couple people said
it in their answers to thisquestion, about just being
(27:04):
radically authentic tothemselves and being radically
authentic and good at what theycan they know that they're
capable of, but also being loyalto that person first, being
loyal to yourself first beforeyou try to jump into helping
serve anyone else. Right? And Ithink that that was such a cool
piece because that I look atthat and I think people are
really finding their why andtheir passion and who they are,
(27:28):
before they jump into some ofthose things.
And sometimes and we encouragethis so much within team Ziegler
is, like, if you don't feel likeyou're in the right fit of a
position somewhere, we wannareally help you expand on your
talents and your strengths thatmake you good at what you do.
And so maybe we might put you inanother role that you thrive and
shine in. So I think therethere's kind of a dynamic there
(27:50):
with that is that you, you know,you're in control of whatever
your span is, but you have theopportunity to grow or pivot
into a different direction,which is something we heavily
promote here. So I appreciateappreciated that.
Karianne Thomas (28:03):
Yeah. And I think that feeds into one of the
other pillars was genuinelycurious. And what I mean by that
is always have the willingnessto learn and ask questions and
even things that are out of yourscope. So, the willingness to
learn and ask questions and
even things that are out of your scope. So
because you wanna have that thatknowledge base. Right? And when
you say, hey. If I'm not a goodfit here Yep.
But if you're curious aboutlearning
everything there is in there, and you're
not a good fit here Yep. But ifyou're curious about learning
everything there is in thisindustry Yep. You're gonna be
(28:25):
prepared when the time comes.Like, I always tell people when
you talk to people coming up,it's like, hey. Don't figure out
what you wanna do.
And when it happens, go getprepared. You're like a job
interview. Right? You should bepreparing all the time. So when
it is and we all know how thisgoes.
Right? Today, there's not anopening. Tomorrow, there is. And
you need to be prepared for it.You can't prepare tomorrow.
Ariah Daniels (28:46):
100%. And, you know, so you and I share that
same pillar. So in certainpersonality profiles and things
that I've taken or strengthsfinder, they also call it
learner. So one of my topstrengths is learner. I'm
constantly curious about newthings and wanting to just soak
soak any and every information Ican get.
That just makes me a little bitmore valuable like you're saying
(29:08):
in different different spans ofcontrol. So I think that's an
interesting piece that both ofus share in common. And and it
goes to show, I guess, from mybackground too. I'll be here. Be
17 years with Zilara Auto Groupin November.
And, you know, I look back atmyself 15 years ago and think,
gosh, I would have neverexpected to grow in the capacity
that I have or have been giventhe opportunity to learn new
(29:30):
things, and I have just I'veloved every minute of it. So
that's such an important piece,and I think one that anyone can
adapt. Right? You've just gottabe willing to want to learn. So
I
Karianne Thomas (29:40):
love that. And not thank you. Not never gonna
have the mentality, I don'twanna do it because it's not my
job Right. Or the only thing I'mresponsible for is what's in
front of me. Nope.
We all wear that Ziggler righton our shirts. Right? We're
responsible for whatever we'reasked to do. And some things we
do really well, and some wedon't even know how to do yet.
Yeah.
So we can't have that mentality.It's not my job.
Ariah Daniels (30:00):
Such a good point. This so it takes me to
the third question and just,kinda moving towards the end of
the conversation that we had inour call. But one of the
questions we asked was when youfind yourself getting off
course, how do you recenteryourself? And I've gotta go
quote, so our BDC sales managerin, Subaru of Schererville,
Jalen Dunn, she said she willlook at herself in the mirror
(30:23):
and ask herself, are you doingyour best? And if that answer is
no, then she knows to re pivotand do what she needs to do to
put her head back down and andpush past it and do what she
needs to do.
Or if the answer was yes, thenit's like, okay, give yourself a
little bit of grace. Don't be sohard on yourself because I think
a lot of us, especially women inthis industry, we put a we place
(30:44):
a lot more pressure, onourselves because we think,
like, we've got something elseto prove. But, ultimately I
mean, so everyone does. Right?And I think that's such a,
important piece is to do someself reflection and say, hey.
Am I really doing my best, orcould I be doing more? Am I am I
limiting myself? So I think thatwas such a a cool quote.
Karianne Thomas (31:05):
I it's
such a mature answer, right, to be able to to
say, hey. I need to ask myself,am I doing my best? Right? I've
never said to myself, am I doingmy best? I'm all you know what I
mean?
But I always have regrets.Right? And so, you know, I I
always remember going home everynight going, oh, man. Walking
out of the building and and justin my head going through only my
(31:25):
regrets, never my successes.Right?
Because we're human. Right? Andwe we always wanna do better.
And I always manage my regretsas as that productive self
reflection because I had to tellmyself, like, listen. You kicked
ass today.
So what if these two things wentwrong? Like, how are you gonna
(31:46):
not have those 2 things go wrongtomorrow? Things that are within
your control. Mhmm. So use thoseregrets to build yourself back
up because otherwise, you know,you're kicking yourself all the
time because it's so easy tofall into that, man, I wish I
wasn't doing better.
Somebody else got the position Ididn't. It must be because of
this. And we can't let that takeover. And by being in this group
(32:08):
and and hearing other people saythat, you know, that gives you
an opportunity to come up
with a new skill set. And I read through
those answers before
we had the call, Araya, and there was a
couple things in there. It'slike, that's a dang good idea.
I'm gonna try that.
Ariah Daniels (32:21):
Oh, and that's that's what it's all about.
Right? It's being able tocollaborate and hear everyone's
message and take those differentideas to just help you grow and
become stronger. So I thinkthat's such an important piece.
So what's one that I feel like,you know, if you were to look
back at every single one of yourpillars, Carrie Anne, and when
you find yourself I sort of knowwhen I'm starting to wander, and
(32:47):
I gotta put
Karianne Thomas (32:47):
myself,
I sort of know when I'm starting to wander, and
I gotta put myself back in thezone. But I also have to say to
myself, why am I doing, youknow, what I do? And it's
consistent. I'm gonna come outand do it confidently even if I
don't know if it's the rightthing to do, because we're
allowed to make mistakes. Butalways know have an answer of
(33:10):
why you did what you did.
Right? And if at the end it wasthe wrong answer, you should be
able to explain to someone, youknow, why you did what you did.
But I think it's just comingback to these pillars, and, you
know, we did 4 pillars. I reallyhave a 5th, and that's valuing
people. Right?
I love people. I'm a peopleperson, and and people used to
ask me when I was the chief.It's like, you know, hey. Do you
like being the chief? And I go,well, I like people, and I like
(33:32):
problem solving.
So I got I got plenty of folks.So every and I look back at all
the positions I've had andopportunities I've had, and it
was always because I love peopleand problem solving, and the
problems always change. And, youknow, when I got the call here
at Ziegler, it was for theproblem solving. Right? And then
I got to meet a great group ofpeople, and I really I love it
here because of the people, andI love it here because it's
(33:53):
constant problem solving.
Ariah Daniels (33:54):
Yeah. Absolutely. And those that's really great
and great answers and ones tolean on. Some other ones that I
think, just specifically to givesome other ideas to everyone
listening, you know, we talked alot about, sitting to do some
reflection. We had someone say,you know, they sit and assess
and make adjustments and thenthey stay mindful.
And I think mindfulness is suchan important piece too is,
(34:16):
making sure that you're justdoing some continuous monitoring
of yourself and livingauthentically according to your
core pillars. That was a a greattakeaway. Someone also said,
hey. I go take a walk. Right?
And I think that's a that's onethat I lean into. I, love health
and health and fitness, and Ialways say that it's what helps
keep me sane. So I know that ifI feel myself getting off track
(34:38):
or if I if I'm feeling, anxiousor depressed or sad or angry,
like, I always lean in to gomove my body and there's so much
power in being able to just moveyour body to help support your
mind. So that was one that thatcame up. Another gal, I'll call
on Diane Johnson from ourHoffman Estates team or, one of
(35:00):
our controllers there.
She mentioned she's got a plaqueon her wall. She actually has a
couple of plaques on her wall.We talked a little bit about
some of, some of the things thatshe looks at in quotes that help
her get regrounded. And some ofthem, one of them said, just
breathe. So one of the plaqueson her wall just says, just
(35:20):
breathe.
And so that that gives her a cueto just say, okay. Let's just
pause for a second, take aminute to to slow down, self
reflect, and so I thought thatwas a really cool one. Someone
it was kinda funny. You and Ijoked around. Someone said they
go light a candle, and we'relike,
Karianne Thomas (35:35):
oh gosh. Let's not light a candle. I'm like,
don't light a
candle in one of our buildings. Give a candle
warmer. Yeah. Yeah. Thefirefighter in me came out.
Yeah. But that that's part of that mindful
piece, which is funny.
Ariah Daniels (35:45):
But meditation, like, doing what you can to
really slow your slow yourselfdown, give yourself some grace,
and recenter yourself, I thinkare really important ones. So
lots of really great things thatcame out, of that that specific
question and this conversation.So
Karianne Thomas (36:01):
It was just a great call. So much input.
Right? And you could just feellike everyone was on the same
sheet of music and was learning,but we were all at different
places. Right?
And, very, very productive. Thehour went back fine like that,
and I just can't wait to see howthis grows. Right? And really
(36:22):
you know? And and when we cometogether and then we talk about
how much we've talked offlineuntil the next call.
Right? That just your sign ofsuccess. So I'm really excited
to see where this goes. Iappreciate that you brought me
in here at the at the beginning,and, now I can sit back and just
light some candles. And, whydon't
you maybe go for a walk instead? Oh, too
(36:43):
funny.
Ariah Daniels (36:44):
Well, such powerful points and one that I
you know, it's coming up for meright now. I think about one of
our Ziegler University guestspeakers, Jimmy Urie, really
ended a conversation with us afew months ago talking about
sharing your story. And I thinkthat's such an important piece
to hear your story, to hearwhere you've come from, to know
that people don't feel alone.Like, you've you have faced just
as much as well, I have facedjust as much in maybe different
(37:07):
capacities, and you have faceddifferent capacities. But to
know at the end of the day, toget through those and lean in on
who you are and your values andthose pillars of success to
carry you through, I think, wassuch an important message for
everyone on the call.
So I couldn't have said itbetter. I'm really excited to
continue to keep growing thisseries and invite different
speakers to the conversation sothat we can be educated and
(37:30):
learn from and share differentideas on just becoming a better
human being personally andprofessionally here at Ziegler.
So thank you so much for yourtime today. And if I
accidentally volunteer you tovolunteer again for a certain
Karianne Thomas (37:43):
topic, you won't be surprised, will you?
Okay. No. No. No.
I'll I'll help
out any way I can. And I just wanna say too,
and I said this on the call, ifanybody ever, you know, wants to
talk, has more questions, or,you know, just need somebody to
bounce something up, I'm alwaysavailable. I mean, email or
phone number away and never everhave anything.
Ariah Daniels (38:04):
Well, thank you so much, Carrie Anne. Thanks for
all you do for the organization.Alright. Thanks, Araya.
Sam Darc (38:11):
Bye. A special thanks to Araya Daniels and Carrie Ann
Thomas for joining this week'sepisode until next week. How are
you driving vision
Karianne Thomas (38:22):
today?
Today, there's not an opening. Tomorrow, there
is. And you need to be preparedfor it. You can't prepare
prepare tomorrow.
Sam Darc (00:16):
Welcome everyone to the Driving Vision podcast
brought to you by the ZiglerAuto Group. And here with me,
auto group director of talentdevelopment, Mike Van Ryn.
Welcome, Mike. Hey. Thanks, Sam.
Be sure to subscribe to thepodcast. Like it if you do, and
leave a comment. So, Araya,there's a group that you're
working on that you have puttogether, and I am not invited
(00:37):
to the group. And I'm I'mfeeling very jealous, and I'm
wanting to know why have I notgotten an invitation to your
latest group. Will you tell usabout it, please, and why you
came up with this?
Why I'm not invited?
Ariah Daniels (00:49):
Well, not that you're not invited. Okay. So
let's back let's back up. Soit's been, been on my heart for
a while. In the last couple ofyears of helping out with our
training and development piecesinside the auto group is I it
was I was starting to notice asignificant amount of a need for
a group of women to be able tocome together and a space where
(01:14):
traditionally has not alwaysbeen there in our industry, for
being sort of male dominated.
Right? So we have recentlykicked off our leadership
coaching series calls of womenleaders of the ZAG.
Sam Darc (01:28):
So I love that you're doing this. On our social media
pages. We had a quote of metalking about how the auto
industry is one of the greatestlast American institutions. You
can come here with anybackground. It doesn't matter.
Religion, ethnicity doesn'tmatter where you're from, who
you are. If you're willing towork hard, you'll have success.
And somebody posted angrily.They said, well, women are
(01:49):
underrepresented in thisindustry, which is fascinating
because it's true. Right?
Like, what percent did you sayare women in automotive overall?
Yeah. So I think right now andwhat the stat most recently,
automotive overall?
Ariah Daniels (01:57):
Yeah. So I think right now and what the stat most
recently over the last year wasaround 21.8% of our industry are
female. And very subsequentlywith our auto group, we have
around roughly 20% femalesinside our organization. So
while what you're saying was a100%, our, you know, our means
(02:18):
to wanting to start somethinglike this wasn't just for the of
saying, oh gosh. We'remisrepresented.
Right? It was an opportunity forus to say, hey. We know that
this is a statistic. This is a aperfect opportunity for us to
create a space that allows womento come together and have
conversations and learn fromother females, who've maybe been
(02:39):
in this industry or evendifferent walks of of business
and walks of life to just learnfrom. So our mission in entirely
creating this new series ofcoaching calls was really to
empower and champion all womenof our organization through
these different leadershiptopics and conversations,
speakers that just help usconnect and engage and be
(03:00):
educated and feel more inspiredto do our best here at Zigler.
So it has, just recently takenoff. We've had 2 calls so far.
Our goal is to really do kind ofa rotating every other month, 1
hour Zoom call that reaches,every single one of the females
in our our auto group that wannabe a part of the conversation.
(03:20):
So, yeah, it is up and moving,and it's been a few short
months.
Sam Darc (03:26):
It's awesome. It makes sense. You know, we have, calls
and groups for finance managers,for salespeople, for general
managers, for all differentroles in kinda categories within
the auto group, and we supporteach other. Yeah. And that's
kinda what you're doing withthis.
What's your goal with thisgroup, Ari, as you meet once
Karianne Thomas (03:44):
a month?
Ariah Daniels (03:45):
Absolutely. So I think really, like, ultimately,
as more women continue to takeon different leadership roles in
this industry, inside ZieglerAuto Group, we just really feel
that it's so paramount to have aspace for women to be able to
grow and be able to network andencourage and support and
collaborate in different waysthat maybe the conversations
(04:07):
wouldn't have be the same inlarger group settings across the
auto group. So, ultimately, mygoal and my vision is to
continue to keep creating aspace that allows women to come
from any position inside ourorganization to come together
and learn from each other andlean on each other for support
and direction in certain, youknow, certain instances that
they would face inside ourindustry or just in work or life
(04:31):
in general and continue to keepseeing that grow. You know, I
have I have a grandiose visionto see this turn into something
that even hits, hits otherfemale leaders outside of our
organization. So, ultimately,it's been really fun to kick
this series off, and really getthe the buy in too from our
other leaders inside theorganization.
(04:51):
You know, Aaron Ziegler and,Mike Van Ryan both kicked off
the first call that we had. Soreally great to see their
support in such a great,powerful, thing that we're doing
here. So, yeah, been fun.
Sam Darc (05:05):
So so we guys are not invited to this, which is fine
because what's neat is you'regoing to actually bring people,
female leaders and participantsfrom across the auto group onto
the podcast, and we'll have whatyou're going to join us into
those conversations. Why bringthat to our podcast audience?
What benefit does it give to therest of us to be able to see the
(05:26):
conversation, the narrativethat's going on, in that group?
Ariah Daniels (05:29):
Well, you know, I think I just go back to thinking
the conversation sometimes hit alittle bit differently. And I
don't know if you know this, butwe're we're built a little
different than you than youmales. Right? But not
Sam Darc (05:39):
I'm shocked.
Karianne Thomas (05:39):
No. Yeah. Not in a
Ariah Daniels (05:41):
way that's condescending or better than you
or whatever. Right? It's amatter of bringing bringing
different perspectives ofbusiness, in life and in
conversation and relationships.I think that's just such an
important piece to be able toshare with other industries and
share with the world, that thatelement is there that maybe
(06:03):
doesn't always get the voicefor.
Sam Darc (06:04):
It is interesting. In our world, we always talk about
how their strengths andweaknesses. Everybody has
different areas that they leaninto, and they contribute to the
auto group. They contribute tobusiness. And that's probably
true equally with the groupyou're talking to.
Right? That by not everybody hasa voice that they should have to
put their strengths out there.Do you find sometimes with women
(06:26):
in the auto industryrepresenting 20%, do you find
sometime there's less of avoice, and maybe this group
helps to create that voice andhelp extend that influence.
Right?
Ariah Daniels (06:36):
Yeah. Absolutely. I think, you know, and that the
word that's coming to mind forme is just just simply
empowerment. Right? And I Ithink that when you put a group
of women together, not in a hugeroom with a a group of men as
well, they feel a little bitmore inclined to wanna speak up
and help build that confidencein maybe a smaller group
setting.
And I think that's okay. I thinkthat's something that people are
(06:57):
like, well, gosh. You know? Whatwhat is what does it mean? You
know?
It doesn't matter that you're afemale. You should still be able
to speak up. Right? But the thereality is is that the
conversation is just simply alittle different. And in doing
this, it sets the tone forpeople who might feel so less
inclined to wanna speak up, tobe able to feel empowered to
(07:17):
speak and have a voice, and thenbe able to grow from there.
Right? So it's such a great,pivotal kind of stepping stone
for a lot of women in our autogroup and to be able to learn
and hear from other leaders inthe organization that have been
in their shoes at one one time.Right? And I think about my own,
my own story and thinking that,you know, I look back and being
(07:38):
in this industry for almost 17years and looking back and,
gosh, 10 years ago, I wasn'twhere I am today. And I think I
have been able to grow becauseof the relationships that I have
built, not only just withfemales, but the men in our
organization as well, which hasbeen been wonderful.
So this just creates, kind of asmaller scale opportunity to
bring women together and havethose conversations to feel
(08:01):
empowered.
Sam Darc (08:02):
And by the way, one of the things I love so our
audience is about to hear aninterview that you did, with
Carrie Ann Thomas. I was able tosit backstage and listen to it.
This group is not a group that'ssitting around saying, Woe is
me. You know, I'm only 20% of aworkforce. Carrie Ann Thomas is
the only person in the autogroup authorized to carry a gun
at all times.
Yeah. And she was a police chiefin an area and an industry where
(08:26):
that industry is lessrepresented than auto. And, you
know, she she'll talk aboutyou're gonna hear in a few
minutes how early on in hercareer, she actually had to
change in a janitorial closetbecause there was there wasn't a
place kinda set aside for afemale chief, let alone a female
police officer. And so I'mexcited as I listen to that
interview you did with her,which was just awesome. Our
(08:47):
audience is about to hear it.
I'm excited for everyone to beable to see the narrative in the
conversation because it's notfrom a position of of, hey.
We're 20%. It's from a positionof there is strength when we
have a voice and we're able toextend that influence. What what
are your thoughts on that?
Ariah Daniels (09:05):
Well, absolutely. And I think what you're hitting
on and I am very much, theperson when I when I started
thinking about this series ofcalls to create, I didn't want
to match the agenda of, like,oh, gosh. Woe is me. I'm a
female. I have no opportunitiesbecause that is not me, and
that's not the message that wewanna send.
Right? So the message really wasclear to create a space and just
(09:27):
learn from each other. So Ithink that's such an important
piece to add this element to ourleadership and development, kind
of platform is being able toprovide that space and not feel
like we have to be limited bywhatever limitations we wanna
put on ourselves, whether that'syour gender, you know, your
race, your ethnicity, or, youknow, all of the different
(09:48):
things that we talk about thatcan be limitations. It's a
matter of just bringing ustogether and having good
conversations in order to justconnect and engage and inspire
each other for sure.
Sam Darc (09:57):
Alright. So if I'm listening to this interview
right now and I want to joinyour group, I can't join again.
But if someone out there islistening and wants to join the
group, how could they join or Iis it open to women across the
auto group?
Ariah Daniels (10:10):
Absolutely. And so, you know, we started this
thing small. I had 6 people inkind of a core conversation that
I leaned into for, advice andkind of brainstorming of what
this should look like. And weslowly but surely have continued
to keep adding on, people whowanna keep joining. And so,
ultimately, I would say ifyou're listening to this and
(10:31):
part of team Ziegler and want tobe a part of these future
conversations, they arecompletely optional for you to
come join us.
You know, ultimately, we'd liketo continue to, keep recapping
the calls that allow you tokinda listen into, you know,
what what was some of the mainpoints and join that way, but
wanna be a part of the liveconversation, just simply reach
(10:51):
out to me. We'd be more thanhappy to to welcome you in open
arms to join the conversation.
Sam Darc (10:57):
I love this. As part of team Ziegler and we're all
part of this team, we know weare stronger together. And this
is a great way for an importantgroup within team Ziegler to
come together, to learntogether, to commit together, to
challenge each other, to have avoice and to give back in super
meaningful ways. We're excitedto see the outcome of this as
you progress down the road.We're excited to hear the
(11:19):
interviews that, you bring,forth over the coming months,
and we're excited, Araya, herein just moments on the future of
Zach Today Driving Visionpodcast to hear your premier
interview with, Ziegler directorof security Carrie Ann Thomas.
Any closing comments on that,Ariah?
Ariah Daniels (11:35):
Yeah. You know, I think just to if anything, just
such a great reminder to thatwe're part of such a great
organization that allows theopportunity in platform like
this and, something that's justwas I was passionate about and
genuine genuinely wanted tobring everyone together is now
underway. And so excited to seeit grow, excited to see who we
(11:56):
bring in to speak and learnfrom, and continue to just keep
engaging and inspiring new setof leaders come in into the
industry. Alright. Before weroll
Karianne Thomas (12:04):
the interview, though, I have one last
question.
Sam Darc (12:04):
It takes it's a risk to try something new. And some
ideas are bigger risk than otherideas, but something like this
could be because it could go offthe rails. It could turn
negative. Nobody could decide toparticipate. What were your
thoughts as you were like, hey,should I do this?
Can I have this voice? Can Ibring this group together? Is it
(12:24):
worthwhile to do? What what kindof pushed you over the edge of
risk to say, hey, this isworthwhile. This is worth doing.
I mean, I have no doubt afterlistening to your interview, and
our audience will in a momentthat it's it's worth it. But
what what was the thought inyour, head as you
Ariah Daniels (12:39):
You know, so all of those emotions, Sam,
everything that you justmentioned ran through my head,
the judgment, the fear of it notworking. You know? At the end of
the day, I knew that what wewere doing and being intentional
about it and genuinelyinterested in the growth of
others is where my heart lies.And so I knew that I was coming
(13:01):
into this with really goodintentions to know, like, I just
wanna help people grow. I wantpeople to not feel alone and
know that they can also have avoice and feel empowered to
speak up and have theseconversations and learn from
each other.
So all of those emotions, yes. Iwent through every everything,
every self doubt that I couldhave, but ultimately, yeah, I it
(13:23):
it's such an innate nature forme to wanna take risks like that
in order to just be a betterforce for good in the world. So
Sam Darc (13:30):
We're glad you silenced the critic. You stood
tall in the arena. And and toteam Ziegler and to our driving
vision podcast, we're excited toturn now to the premier
interview with Araya Danielstalking with Carrie Ann Tallis,
Ziegler, the group director ofsecurity. Thank you, Araya.
Ariah Daniels (13:45):
Thanks so much, Sam. Well, hello, team Zigler
and friends of the ZAG. Welcometo this extra special episode of
our podcast. Here today with me,our director of security of
Ziggler Auto Group, KarianneThomas. Carrie Anne, thank you
so much for joining today.
So we've got some reallyexciting things going on around
(14:07):
the auto group right now andspecifically on the training and
development piece, side ofthings. We recently kicked off a
new series of leadershipcoaching calls specifically for
the women of our auto group. Andso women leaders of the ZAG,
series has now had a few calls,and this is something that we
just recently started in orderto provide a space for women in
(14:32):
our auto group to come togetherto help champion and empower
each other. And what in in thisgroup, what we've really tried
to create is a space foreveryone to come together to
learn from different leadersacross the organization and
connect in a space that allowsthem to grow personally and
professionally. So it's beensuch a wonderful thing,
something I know that's been onmy heart to do for a while.
(14:56):
And with me, Carrie Ann Thomas,was kind of volunto.
Karianne Thomas (15:00):
I hate to say
Ariah Daniels (15:04):
no. She didn't say no. So in a part of these
series, what we're looking foris to ask, one of our female
leaders in the organization tocome share just a little bit
about their story and thinkabout a topic that makes them
who they are, that they canshare with others in the auto
group. And so this, this lastweek, which thank you, Carrie
(15:24):
Anne, for joining, and I know,still undergoing some sickness
there, but still plan to joinus, which was awesome. Spend
some time talking with us.
So, Carrie Anne, I just wantedto introduce you and maybe give
a little bit of a background onwho you are and where you've
come from in joining Zigler AutoGroup.
Karianne Thomas (15:42):
Thanks, Araya. And I just wanna thank Araya for
inviting me to speak to thegroup. And, you know, we all
have our own story to tell, andeveryone out there and on those
calls we're founding finding isgonna have a story. But I wanted
to start it out, hopefully, togive everyone the confidence
that this is a safe space. Wewanna hear what you have to
(16:03):
share.
And the more of us that do that,those that that maybe are
hesitant will do that in thefuture. And so that's why I was
eager to help out and do it. Ihave a long career in a male
dominated field. I was, in thearmy and then, in law
enforcement and firefighting formy entire life. And now I'm, you
(16:24):
know and this this is anothermale dominated industry.
So I have a lot of experiences,throughout my career of how to
be successful, how to surviveit, how to have a voice, and,
try to figure out, you know, howyou wanna move your career
forward and where you want thatthat to go. And I consider
myself very fortunate to havelanded in my I call it my
(16:46):
chapter 2. Right? Got my chapter1 behind me. Here at Ziegler
Auto Group and able tocontribute, you know, with all
the skills I've picked up.
You know? We're not born withthese skills, but we grow, and
we're we're able to grow in ourprofession and personally by
doing these sort of things. AndYeah. I've had a lot of those
experiences, and I'm alwayshappy to share on my some
(17:09):
stories that can be told in agroup like this and some are
told over a beer, but, I got alot. Yeah.
Ariah Daniels (17:15):
Well, too you know, and it's interesting,
Carrie Anne, because, you know,when I was thinking about who
would I want to have come kickoff some of these calls with us
and, you know, I thought of youin your background. And this is
something that we didn't reallystart the conversation of
saying, like, hey. Like, youknow, where are we not, you
know, represented as a female inour organization? And that was
not the case. Really, it wasjust a matter of, like, you
(17:36):
know, we are in a male dominatedindustry and really it's like,
the the numbers is a good, like,only 20% females.
Right? And so the conversationsare just a little bit different
when you get a group of womentogether to have those
conversations, to have those tohave those kind of like minded
experiences that we've had, butultimately to not allow that to
be a barrier in our successes.And so that's been really cool,
(17:58):
and I I was thinking immediatelyof you because of your
background in the military andon the police force. So I think
it was just such an importantpiece to have you come share.
Like, hey.
There are no boundaries. You cando what it whatever it is that
you want, regardless of of whereyou are. So I think that was
such an important piece and aninteresting one to,
Karianne Thomas (18:18):
to start with. I just wanna say because you
never told me that statistic,20% of our organization is
female. That's the highestpercentage of female of any
organization I've ever been
walking to. I was like, woah.
We're moving up there. You're you're moving up.
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. And we
don't wanna define or separate ourselves
because we are female employeesin this industry. Absolutely. We
(18:39):
just need a space to figure outhow to operate at our best.
Right? And we can do that withpeer support.
Absolutely.
And having those. And, you know, we'll
probably talk about this later,and I mentioned it on the call.
But, you know, spending almost30 years in law enforcement.
When I first started, right,very few females and even not a
(19:02):
lot today.
Right.
But I never had, peer support because there
just weren't women out there inthe same positions and at the
same ranks I was. Sure.
Ariah Daniels (19:11):
Right.
Karianne Thomas (19:12):
And I wish I had. And I did get get some peer
support later in my career, butit came from, other female
chiefs throughout the country,not nearby. And once I had that,
it really made a difference
Yeah.
You know, in in helping me handle some of the
situations I had to handle. So Irealized right now that, you
know, it's up to us who have hadopportunities and where we stand
(19:33):
to open doors for others.
Ariah Daniels (19:35):
Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah.
Karianne Thomas (19:36):
And once the door is open, they can walk
through.
Ariah Daniels (19:38):
Well, and that's a huge part of this leadership
journey, right, is being able toknow and use your story and use
your journey as fuel to helpother people see, like, hey,
you're not alone. Like, you youcan move in any direction you
want regardless of whateverbarriers you think are are in
the way because they aren'tbarriers. They're just they're
opportunities to overcome. And Ithink that's so important. And
one thing I thought this wasreally funny when you shared and
(19:59):
you've shared this with mebefore is that, when you had
first joined the force that, youdidn't have
Karianne Thomas (20:04):
a locker room of your own. So there wasn't a
female locker room, so they madeyou dress in a closet. Is that
right?
Yeah. Me and the mop in the bucket. Yeah.
Yeah. But, you know, and andand, you know, I wasn't
directed.
Right?
This is
what I chose to do, and I knew there were gonna
be hurdles.
Yep.
And in the best way is just use your sense of
humor and then figure out how tofix it. Right? Yeah. Absolutely.
(20:26):
Figure out do what you gotta dobecause bitching about it's not
gonna get you anywhere.
Yeah. Exactly. But,
yeah, have a good sense of humor and figure
out how you're gonna fix it. Andso that no one in the future
ever tells you that story ofthey started that way.
Ariah Daniels (20:39):
Yeah. Absolutely. So we're jumping into kind of
the conversation of really whatyou're hitting home right now,
and those are your own corepillars. Right? You're utilizing
the core pillars of your, ofyour being to be successful in
any span of your control, whichI think is so important.
So that was the topic of thisconversation that we had in this
(21:00):
coaching call, which by the waywas an hour call, which we had a
good 40 of our, women leadersacross the auto group on this,
Zoom call altogether, which wasawesome, and we only continue to
keep seeing these grow. And, youknow, that's at least my vision
for it and move it into acapacity where it even reaches
others, maybe even outside ofour organization. So I think
(21:20):
that's such a a cool piece. Butso going into this topic, I
really just wanna kind of recapwhat we talked about and the
important pieces that reallycame out of the conversation
and, just talk a little bitabout those. So when we
brainstormed initially aboutwhat do we wanna talk about, you
immediately were like, hey.
Like, I'd love to talk about mycore pillars of success. What is
(21:42):
it about, my values, the thingsthat drive me that keep me
moving in the direction of whereI wanna go and being successful?
And then one of our questionswas, how do you use those core
pillars when you get off trackin order to kinda get back on
track? And so I wanna just havethat kind of conversation. So I
guess first, let's just, youknow, ask you and open you, up
(22:03):
to what are your core pillars,what has made you be successful
in your career, not only justhere at Ziegler, but in years
past?
Karianne Thomas (22:12):
When we did talk about it, you know, I was
eager because it takes you alifetime to figure these things
out. Right? I didn't wake up,you know, and when I started in
the army in 18 and say, hey.Here's the 4 things that really
I know are gonna make me successand I believe in. Right?
You grow into those. Right.Yeah. And when you look back and
have to lean on some thingsduring tough times, that's when
(22:34):
you figure it out. So when Iwhen I thought my core pillars,
you know, was confidence,consistency, always willing to
do more, and then genuinelycurious.
Right?
Mhmm.
And I I'm telling you, I was in some such
situations, you know, as a 19year old private that I had zero
confidence. Right? And watchingother people who did, I knew I
(22:56):
needed that. Yeah. Right?
And so figuring out in those,and and I said this on the call.
Right? As I got into roles wheremy span of control increased
until, you know, at the end, Iwas the chief, man, had to be
confident. You had to be on 247,and you had to, you know, fake
it until you make it and whatyou need to be confident, no one
(23:18):
should ever know you're not.
Ariah Daniels (23:19):
Yeah.
Karianne Thomas (23:19):
Right? But when you have those peer support
groups and groups like this,that you know going into
something tough, that you canhave those calls like, oh, I
gotta do this today, and it'sreally gonna suck. Or I gotta
you know, whatever it may be,and I've had the extremes.
Right?
Ariah Daniels (23:33):
Yeah.
Karianne Thomas (23:35):
But having that confidence because people give
you that confidence back. Right?You feel that same feeling back.
Ariah Daniels (23:42):
Yeah.
Karianne Thomas (23:43):
And, you know, I and I learned one thing really
early as I became an officer inthe army, and I had a a trainer
who once said, right, wrong,indifferent, just make a
decision.
Yeah.
And I live by that, and that comes in the
confidence. Right? Well, yeah.
That you're never gonna make all the right
decisions Exactly.
Ever. Well, I think confidence is obviously
something that's built as you dothings that are uncomfortable.
You don't
Ariah Daniels (24:04):
you don't have that confidence. And when you
come through on the other sideand realize that you've done it
is when that confidence getsboosted. And I think that's such
an important piece to rememberthat in your journey
Karianne Thomas (24:13):
Because many
of them.
Yeah. You fall back on that and say, hey. If I
made it through that
Yep.
Whatever the situation is, right, it's like,
well, I can make it throughthis. Right. Or at least it's
not it's never as bad as I thinkit's going to be. So, yeah,
you're you definitely hit thenail on the head. Yeah.
And then, you know, when we lookat another one was consistency.
Right? And what I always did notlike about leaders or people
(24:38):
that I had to work for was wishywashy. Right? It's like, oh,
what side of the fence are theygonna flop on today?
Yeah.
And I'm just a very decisive person, and I
always tried to be consistent.Mhmm. And everyone always knew
what I was gonna do. They knewthey weren't gonna like it a lot
of times, but I was veryconsistent. Consistent.
(24:59):
Yeah. Because of thatconsistency, when I had to make
the tough call or do reallytough things, I knew in my mind
that, hey. In my heart, I don'twanna do this and I have to, but
everyone knows I'm going to, andI have to be consistent.
Yeah.
Because consistency in a leader helps
the organization. Right? Youcan't go back and forth, and our
(25:20):
hearts lead us different placesin our heads, and so you have to
have that pillar to lean on.
Ariah Daniels (25:25):
That is so powerful. And one I think is
just goes back to what you'resaying is, like, you've
developed that over time. Andthat became really powerful
everyone on the call too, Ithink, to understand that, like,
hey, some people may they maynot even know what their pillars
are. They may not know exactlywho they are, and they might be
evolving and morphing right now.And to know and and appreciate
that those can be developed overtime, I think, was an important
(25:48):
piece we really took away fromthat question, where people just
realize, like, okay, like, whatmaybe my core pillars are today
probably weren't what they were5 years ago and 5 years ahead.
You know, they're they'reconstantly evolving and helping
you grow as a person. So I thinkthat was a really cool piece to
to uncover that on this call.
Karianne Thomas (26:07):
Especially when I saw so many young women,
right, on the call and new tothe industry, a lot of them new
in their positions. Yes. It'ssort of nice to know as you're
trying to, you know, herd thekittens in your own world Yeah.
Know that it you do come out theother side. There is light at
the other side.
Yeah. And, you know, and Ialways say it doesn't matter
(26:27):
your position. Right? We allhave our own span of control.
Whether you're span of control,it's the titles on your desk,
whether it's, you know, thecars, the vehicles, whatever it
is, your span of control will bethe very best you can be at your
Hispanic control because thatprepares you for a greater
Hispanic control.
Ariah Daniels (26:43):
Oh, that was that was such a strong piece too. I
really loved that. The otherthing that came up for me, I
think, to, to hit along thatlines is, you know, being in
your span of control and beingthe best you can be at that
particular thing, but also goingback to and a couple people said
it in their answers to thisquestion, about just being
(27:04):
radically authentic tothemselves and being radically
authentic and good at what theycan they know that they're
capable of, but also being loyalto that person first, being
loyal to yourself first beforeyou try to jump into helping
serve anyone else. Right? And Ithink that that was such a cool
piece because that I look atthat and I think people are
really finding their why andtheir passion and who they are,
(27:28):
before they jump into some ofthose things.
And sometimes and we encouragethis so much within team Ziegler
is, like, if you don't feel likeyou're in the right fit of a
position somewhere, we wannareally help you expand on your
talents and your strengths thatmake you good at what you do.
And so maybe we might put you inanother role that you thrive and
shine in. So I think therethere's kind of a dynamic there
(27:50):
with that is that you, you know,you're in control of whatever
your span is, but you have theopportunity to grow or pivot
into a different direction,which is something we heavily
promote here. So I appreciateappreciated that.
Karianne Thomas (28:03):
Yeah. And I think that feeds into one of the
other pillars was genuinelycurious. And what I mean by that
is always have the willingnessto learn and ask questions and
even things that are out of yourscope. So, the willingness to
learn and ask questions and
even things that are out of your scope. So
because you wanna have that thatknowledge base. Right? And when
you say, hey. If I'm not a goodfit here Yep.
But if you're curious aboutlearning
everything there is in there, and you're
not a good fit here Yep. But ifyou're curious about learning
everything there is in thisindustry Yep. You're gonna be
(28:25):
prepared when the time comes.Like, I always tell people when
you talk to people coming up,it's like, hey. Don't figure out
what you wanna do.
And when it happens, go getprepared. You're like a job
interview. Right? You should bepreparing all the time. So when
it is and we all know how thisgoes.
Right? Today, there's not anopening. Tomorrow, there is. And
you need to be prepared for it.You can't prepare tomorrow.
Ariah Daniels (28:46):
100%. And, you know, so you and I share that
same pillar. So in certainpersonality profiles and things
that I've taken or strengthsfinder, they also call it
learner. So one of my topstrengths is learner. I'm
constantly curious about newthings and wanting to just soak
soak any and every information Ican get.
That just makes me a little bitmore valuable like you're saying
(29:08):
in different different spans ofcontrol. So I think that's an
interesting piece that both ofus share in common. And and it
goes to show, I guess, from mybackground too. I'll be here. Be
17 years with Zilara Auto Groupin November.
And, you know, I look back atmyself 15 years ago and think,
gosh, I would have neverexpected to grow in the capacity
that I have or have been giventhe opportunity to learn new
(29:30):
things, and I have just I'veloved every minute of it. So
that's such an important piece,and I think one that anyone can
adapt. Right? You've just gottabe willing to want to learn. So
I
Karianne Thomas (29:40):
love that. And not thank you. Not never gonna
have the mentality, I don'twanna do it because it's not my
job Right. Or the only thing I'mresponsible for is what's in
front of me. Nope.
We all wear that Ziggler righton our shirts. Right? We're
responsible for whatever we'reasked to do. And some things we
do really well, and some wedon't even know how to do yet.
Yeah.
So we can't have that mentality.It's not my job.
Ariah Daniels (30:00):
Such a good point. This so it takes me to
the third question and just,kinda moving towards the end of
the conversation that we had inour call. But one of the
questions we asked was when youfind yourself getting off
course, how do you recenteryourself? And I've gotta go
quote, so our BDC sales managerin, Subaru of Schererville,
Jalen Dunn, she said she willlook at herself in the mirror
(30:23):
and ask herself, are you doingyour best? And if that answer is
no, then she knows to re pivotand do what she needs to do to
put her head back down and andpush past it and do what she
needs to do.
Or if the answer was yes, thenit's like, okay, give yourself a
little bit of grace. Don't be sohard on yourself because I think
a lot of us, especially women inthis industry, we put a we place
(30:44):
a lot more pressure, onourselves because we think,
like, we've got something elseto prove. But, ultimately I
mean, so everyone does. Right?And I think that's such a,
important piece is to do someself reflection and say, hey.
Am I really doing my best, orcould I be doing more? Am I am I
limiting myself? So I think thatwas such a a cool quote.
Karianne Thomas (31:05):
I it's
such a mature answer, right, to be able to to
say, hey. I need to ask myself,am I doing my best? Right? I've
never said to myself, am I doingmy best? I'm all you know what I
mean?
But I always have regrets.Right? And so, you know, I I
always remember going home everynight going, oh, man. Walking
out of the building and and justin my head going through only my
(31:25):
regrets, never my successes.Right?
Because we're human. Right? Andwe we always wanna do better.
And I always manage my regretsas as that productive self
reflection because I had to tellmyself, like, listen. You kicked
ass today.
So what if these two things wentwrong? Like, how are you gonna
(31:46):
not have those 2 things go wrongtomorrow? Things that are within
your control. Mhmm. So use thoseregrets to build yourself back
up because otherwise, you know,you're kicking yourself all the
time because it's so easy tofall into that, man, I wish I
wasn't doing better.
Somebody else got the position Ididn't. It must be because of
this. And we can't let that takeover. And by being in this group
(32:08):
and and hearing other people saythat, you know, that gives you
an opportunity to come up
with a new skill set. And I read through
those answers before
we had the call, Araya, and there was a
couple things in there. It'slike, that's a dang good idea.
I'm gonna try that.
Ariah Daniels (32:21):
Oh, and that's that's what it's all about.
Right? It's being able tocollaborate and hear everyone's
message and take those differentideas to just help you grow and
become stronger. So I thinkthat's such an important piece.
So what's one that I feel like,you know, if you were to look
back at every single one of yourpillars, Carrie Anne, and when
you find yourself I sort of knowwhen I'm starting to wander, and
(32:47):
I gotta put
Karianne Thomas (32:47):
myself,
I sort of know when I'm starting to wander, and
I gotta put myself back in thezone. But I also have to say to
myself, why am I doing, youknow, what I do? And it's
consistent. I'm gonna come outand do it confidently even if I
don't know if it's the rightthing to do, because we're
allowed to make mistakes. Butalways know have an answer of
(33:10):
why you did what you did.
Right? And if at the end it wasthe wrong answer, you should be
able to explain to someone, youknow, why you did what you did.
But I think it's just comingback to these pillars, and, you
know, we did 4 pillars. I reallyhave a 5th, and that's valuing
people. Right?
I love people. I'm a peopleperson, and and people used to
ask me when I was the chief.It's like, you know, hey. Do you
like being the chief? And I go,well, I like people, and I like
(33:32):
problem solving.
So I got I got plenty of folks.So every and I look back at all
the positions I've had andopportunities I've had, and it
was always because I love peopleand problem solving, and the
problems always change. And, youknow, when I got the call here
at Ziegler, it was for theproblem solving. Right? And then
I got to meet a great group ofpeople, and I really I love it
here because of the people, andI love it here because it's
(33:53):
constant problem solving.
Ariah Daniels (33:54):
Yeah. Absolutely. And those that's really great
and great answers and ones tolean on. Some other ones that I
think, just specifically to givesome other ideas to everyone
listening, you know, we talked alot about, sitting to do some
reflection. We had someone say,you know, they sit and assess
and make adjustments and thenthey stay mindful.
And I think mindfulness is suchan important piece too is,
(34:16):
making sure that you're justdoing some continuous monitoring
of yourself and livingauthentically according to your
core pillars. That was a a greattakeaway. Someone also said,
hey. I go take a walk. Right?
And I think that's a that's onethat I lean into. I, love health
and health and fitness, and Ialways say that it's what helps
keep me sane. So I know that ifI feel myself getting off track
(34:38):
or if I if I'm feeling, anxiousor depressed or sad or angry,
like, I always lean in to gomove my body and there's so much
power in being able to just moveyour body to help support your
mind. So that was one that thatcame up. Another gal, I'll call
on Diane Johnson from ourHoffman Estates team or, one of
(35:00):
our controllers there.
She mentioned she's got a plaqueon her wall. She actually has a
couple of plaques on her wall.We talked a little bit about
some of, some of the things thatshe looks at in quotes that help
her get regrounded. And some ofthem, one of them said, just
breathe. So one of the plaqueson her wall just says, just
(35:20):
breathe.
And so that that gives her a cueto just say, okay. Let's just
pause for a second, take aminute to to slow down, self
reflect, and so I thought thatwas a really cool one. Someone
it was kinda funny. You and Ijoked around. Someone said they
go light a candle, and we'relike,
Karianne Thomas (35:35):
oh gosh. Let's not light a candle. I'm like,
don't light a
candle in one of our buildings. Give a candle
warmer. Yeah. Yeah. Thefirefighter in me came out.
Yeah. But that that's part of that mindful
piece, which is funny.
Ariah Daniels (35:45):
But meditation, like, doing what you can to
really slow your slow yourselfdown, give yourself some grace,
and recenter yourself, I thinkare really important ones. So
lots of really great things thatcame out, of that that specific
question and this conversation.So
Karianne Thomas (36:01):
It was just a great call. So much input.
Right? And you could just feellike everyone was on the same
sheet of music and was learning,but we were all at different
places. Right?
And, very, very productive. Thehour went back fine like that,
and I just can't wait to see howthis grows. Right? And really
(36:22):
you know? And and when we cometogether and then we talk about
how much we've talked offlineuntil the next call.
Right? That just your sign ofsuccess. So I'm really excited
to see where this goes. Iappreciate that you brought me
in here at the at the beginning,and, now I can sit back and just
light some candles. And, whydon't
you maybe go for a walk instead? Oh, too
(36:43):
funny.
Ariah Daniels (36:44):
Well, such powerful points and one that I
you know, it's coming up for meright now. I think about one of
our Ziegler University guestspeakers, Jimmy Urie, really
ended a conversation with us afew months ago talking about
sharing your story. And I thinkthat's such an important piece
to hear your story, to hearwhere you've come from, to know
that people don't feel alone.Like, you've you have faced just
as much as well, I have facedjust as much in maybe different
(37:07):
capacities, and you have faceddifferent capacities. But to
know at the end of the day, toget through those and lean in on
who you are and your values andthose pillars of success to
carry you through, I think, wassuch an important message for
everyone on the call.
So I couldn't have said itbetter. I'm really excited to
continue to keep growing thisseries and invite different
speakers to the conversation sothat we can be educated and
(37:30):
learn from and share differentideas on just becoming a better
human being personally andprofessionally here at Ziegler.
So thank you so much for yourtime today. And if I
accidentally volunteer you tovolunteer again for a certain
Karianne Thomas (37:43):
topic, you won't be surprised, will you?
Okay. No. No. No.
I'll I'll help
out any way I can. And I just wanna say too,
and I said this on the call, ifanybody ever, you know, wants to
talk, has more questions, or,you know, just need somebody to
bounce something up, I'm alwaysavailable. I mean, email or
phone number away and never everhave anything.
Ariah Daniels (38:04):
Well, thank you so much, Carrie Anne. Thanks for
all you do for the organization.Alright. Thanks, Araya.
Sam Darc (38:11):
Bye. A special thanks to Araya Daniels and Carrie Ann
Thomas for joining this week'sepisode until next week. How are
you driving vision
Karianne Thomas (38:22):
today?
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