Welcome to Leadership Journeys. I'm psychologist Leona Deakin and we are delving into the minds
of successful women to find out how they've achieved the things that they've achieved.
In our last episode we had a real giggle with Lauren York, CEO of UK Locations. She told us
about her dream to work in TV but how she had to remain really open-minded and believe that there
was always another way in order to realise that dream. Coming up in this episode...
It's really about confidence. I mean there's a huge sort of notion of manifestation and how you
manifest your dreams and that kind of supports the idea that that confidence and belief in yourself
will see you through to where you want to go because if you give up you're not going to
take those steps that you would have taken if you believed in yourself.
Might there be a real advantage to entering traditionally male dominated environments as
a female? Could it in fact give you a bit of an edge?
Today I'm talking to Rehana Asabash. She is the Managing Director and Founder of Trade,
a supply company of cars and vans to dealers around the UK and also fleet vehicles to private
sector organisations. What's really very cool about Rehana is that she is the only female
in the whole of the country who is doing this on her own. So I was really interested in talking
to her today to find out how she does the things she does and what it's like to work in a traditionally
male orientated sector and also, sorry you're going to have to excuse the pun here, what drives her.
Thanks, thanks, thanks. Welcome Rehana. Thank you for having me. Oh it's lovely to meet you
and thanks for having us in your beautiful home today. Oh you're very welcome. Tell us a little
bit about your journey to where you are now. So I've just said a little bit about where you are now
but if you take us back, you know when you were in your late teens, early 20s, what did you want to
do career wise? What did you expect to be doing? So it was a little bit unclear actually when I was
I just got into university. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I had a huge passion and enthusiasm
for business, selling. I was involved with lots of entrepreneurial projects and competitions at
university and even before that I was always interested in finding ways to make money,
really whatever that may be. I really enjoyed pressure, excitement, something fast paced.
That was always something that I craved. However it wasn't specifically the motor trade. So I kind
of followed my sort of like of sales and I was quite good at it. It was my forte, it was selling
and I kind of understood human behaviour and how to pitch something and that kind of led me
into the motor trade by accident actually. Fascinating. I mean before we get into that
going into the motor trade by accident, just tell us a little bit more about the enjoyment of
selling. So can you remember at what point you noticed that? Was it at university or was it
earlier in your life that you noticed actually this is something I like or I'm good at?
There's a little bit of humbleness isn't it? You don't necessarily think you're fantastic at
something. However there's certain experiences that make me think, oh actually I seem to be
better than other people or I'm making money out of doing this. When was the first time though I
suppose that you thought, oh I really like this? So were you one of those children that was out
selling sweets to the other kids in the playground? Were you doing that kind of thing or was it
something that came later when you were at university and you thought, oh I like business
and I like the kind of sales side of it? So as a child, I'll give you a few examples,
my sister hated spiders so I would charge her to come into the room and get rid of the spider.
She would pay me to tidy her room, she'd pay me to straighten her hair. I was always looking for
ways to make money however that would be. Then when I left university I ended up working in
Debenhams and they had the store credit card and you were incentivised to sign people up to the
credit card and I was second in the region for offering this credit card and I realised I quite
enjoyed being on a league table, getting some recognition and earning from that. I then moved
into cosmetics, I was a cosmetic manager in Harvey Nichols and that kind of combined the
high end retail experience with actually selling because what you don't realise is when you walk
into a beauty station and a department store you're actually being sold to and there's so many sales
mechanisms going on that you're completely unaware of. You think you're buying a lipstick and a
mascara and we're looking at average customer spend, number of products per customer, how many
are we selling of this new lodge. It's a lot more salesy in detail so there was sales experience
gained there and also how to manage a team as well. From there someone actually said
you'd be really good at selling cars. It was a bit of a light bulb moment so I didn't have a driving
licence at that point so I walked up and down Gelded Road in Leeds with my CV because I thought
if I applied online my name might put people off. So I walked in with my CV looking for jobs,
I got a couple of job offers and it was on the basis that I passed my test. So I passed my test
within seven weeks, went back, started and earned the most money I'd ever earned and that continued
and that's where it all started. I have so many questions about that story. So first off, who was
this person that said there you are working in beauty in Harvey Nichols who said you should go
and sell cars. I mean who was that person and why did you listen to them? Why did you go oh yeah?
There's a big part of me that is quite adventurous and I'll say yes. I'm a yes person so if someone
says shall we do this I'll automatically say yes. I'm full of adventure, there's no
kind of nervousness around change. I see it as exciting, it kind of sparks my attention and it
challenges me, engages me which is really important. It was a girl who worked on the counter so she was
part-time on our counter and she'd worked in the service centre and she said the pay is really,
really good, retail typically isn't well paid so I thought well I've got nothing to lose and
within a year I've doubled my salary working the same hours so it was the right choice I think.
Yeah absolutely and quite fortuitous to cross paths with that person for her to actually
vocalise something she observed because I think sometimes people see things in us and they won't
necessarily come over and say do you know what you'd be really good at. So credit to that person for
actually giving you that push. So you're saying there's something coming over about motivation
that you're obviously quite competitive and enjoyed being on these league tables. I love the spider
story about your sisters, I've got two sisters I really wish I'd thought of that. I kind of wish
I could turn back time which is amazing. But also personality wise like you were saying really open
to experience and you know we have some five big personality differences so whether you're introverted,
extroverted, whether you're emotional or stable, conscientious and kind of free-spirited and all
those kinds of things and then traditional versus open to experience is one of those.
So you're describing yourself on the that end of that spectrum like actually enjoying change not
just not intimidated by change adventurous and seeking change which is working to your advantage.
However there's something else going on in there, there's a skill isn't there. So what is it about
that sales process do you think you're doing differently to other people that were trying
to sell around you? Like why were you moving up that league table? What do you do that's different
to other people do you think? So if we use the experience at Debenhams which was you know trying
to get people signed up to the credit card what I typically noticed and this was all subconscious
you know I wasn't aware I was doing it I wasn't trained to do it you know I was trained in
the actual process of signing up but not how to sell it. What I noticed was that people didn't like
they felt uncomfortable offering that service. Some people really enjoy selling and sales and
I think some people find it quite uncomfortable so that's one kind of differentiation between
you know people who are good and maybe people who don't enjoy it. I think the other was that I slowed
the process down so what was typically happening was people you know had the goods at the at the
checkout or the counter and they wanted to get through that line you know do you have a Debenhams
credit card as quickly as possible. They wanted to sort of bypass it and what I did was I slowed it
down and I was really my tone of voice was really calm and I emphasized the benefits so I slowed it
all down and it was it was all about the pitch the timing a little bit of eye contact and also
just making the customer feel relaxed that they weren't being sold up. I think if you kind of if
the delivery of that question is quite you know uncomfortable you will immediately get an
uncomfortable response in my opinion. Oh my goodness absolutely so it's that like emotions
are contagious aren't they so if I'm feeling anxious you're feeling anxious you don't know
why you're feeling anxious but I'm kind of infecting you with my own nervous energy.
Yeah so that's lovely and there must also have been I imagine a degree of empathy going on there
where it sounds like and correct me if I'm wrong like you were making it about the customer not
about you or Debenhams so instead of like do you want one of our credit cards please have it because
you know this is great for my commission it becomes about yeah hey did you know this benefit
this benefit and presumably those benefits are for them the recipient. Yeah absolutely it was
about this is what I can I'm going to help you save money did you know you can actually get 10%
off all of that today it's just a different delivery and you're right it is about it's about
communicating what the benefit is to the customer and getting them to buy into that getting them to
take a pause and think about what you're what you're offering which we often just you know we want
to get out of there as quickly as possible and move on so but that I think that sort of it transpires
to all sales sort of environments I think it's quite a transferable piece of knowledge I think.
Yeah it is and it requires quite a lot of emotional intelligence I imagine because emotional
intelligence is in part understanding the emotions of others but also controlling your own emotions
so like you were saying you were you were staying calm in order to make the experience calm and keep
the person calm and so there's a there's a lot of emotional control going on there. Yeah I probably
didn't realize it. But these are the things that like they are I suppose assets that we have in our
personalities like things that we're probably influenced by either kind of our genetic background
or our childhood experience and environments and it gives us these little assets that we have like
these little techniques that we can lean into like being open to experience and being emotionally
intelligent and things that you've picked up and then like you say without realizing it you're
applying them to your experience and going oh my gosh actually this is really working. I didn't
realize at the time but yeah. Yeah that's great isn't it and I think what's also really interesting
about that anecdote you said so you've got this this lady and she says oh you should go and sell
cars and so you're like I can't drive which would probably put some people off but you you get your
CV and you go and march up Gelded Road which I'm presuming is where all of the car dealerships
must have been is that correct in the Leeds area yes and so you're just kind of walking into that
environment and saying what? I think I would have probably highlighted the fact that I had you know
previous selling experience. I think it's just showing a willingness and enthusiasm you know
typically actually in the sales industry you don't have to have experience in cars to do to be a
successful salesperson you just have to have a willing attitude you know an aptitude to learn
and you've got to have that enthusiasm and want people to warm to you. You don't necessarily need
to you know know the mechanics of a car because I still I still don't know anything about the
mechanics of a car. But you were selling yourself by just walking in there then by walking in and
being personable and friendly and interested and enthusiastic and so that was the thing that you
were doing. Yeah I think most people are kind of willing to take on somebody who shows enthusiasm.
I think you know by speaking to people who do a lot of employing they will typically look for
you know skills and behaviors as opposed to experience. So people in hospitality or other
sale environments will do exceptionally well in the motor trade. Right yes. So did it take many
visits before somebody gave you a chance you know how far up Geldow Road did you have to walk before
somebody said okay? It was pretty quick actually it was you sort of walked in and it was like okay
you need to learn how to drive first but then come back in for a second interview and then it was
quite straightforward. The truth be known there's a lot of you know job opportunities in the motor
trade. They are actively seeking more women. Women are fantastic in sales roles you know. I'm a huge
advocate of bringing women into the motor trade because there are endless you know options,
opportunities you know it's got greater earning potential and that can be life-changing you know.
For me at that age you know I doubled my income within a year which how many industries would you
get that opportunity you know with no extra qualification or experience. So yeah it wasn't
difficult to get a job and I would definitely advocate more people especially women into the
industry. There's a huge array of roles for everybody. And you said women will do well so
what is it about women that gives them a little bit of an edge maybe? What have you observed has
helped you being a woman in that environment? Is it just the fact that you're different
to the majority of salespeople? I think women are I think they're special. I think women are very
special. I think they've got attributes and skills that men don't necessarily have you know they have
skills and attributes in other areas. I think women are much better communicators. I think they
understand communication a lot better and they're more effective with it. I think they're more
personable with customers. I think they can anticipate their needs more easily and that
just adds to the whole you know experience of buying a vehicle. I think they're special beings.
Like I say I'm a huge advocate for more women coming into the trade. So do you think that they
are listening more? Yeah I don't know whether it's a difference in the emotional intelligence. I don't
know whether they pick up on cues a little bit differently or they recognize different body
language. I don't know whether it appeals to the sort of nurturing and caring side of women that
we naturally possess. But I think all of that if you add that into a sales process in a typically
male-dominated industry I think you're going to be hugely successful and customers really respond
well to that kind of service. Yeah so it's just so cool isn't it because it isn't an environment
that you would stereotypically expect to find lots of women and yet your experience is oh women can
do really well here. Like you can really well not only earn yourself a great living but really compete
well against the the male counterparts in that moment. Absolutely yeah. So what was your experience
then of working in the motor trade versus working in in kind of beauty retail? So how was that similar
or different? So I won't sugarcoat it. No please don't. The motor trade is in some ways is a very
dated industry. There's no easier way to put it. It's a tough industry, it's competitive, it's harsh.
I think within my first week in car sales I thought I'm not tough enough to work in here.
I've never been shouted at by a male before. I've never felt intimidated or like
kind of in a way threatened by a male in a work environment before and I thought I cannot,
I'm not tough enough to withstand this. Again it depends on the culture of the dealership.
Things are changing massively from where I started to how dealerships are now. The culture's so much
better but when I got into the trade it was a very harsh environment. It's very competitive.
Typically the kind of sales persons that are in the motor trade tend to be and again this is a
little bit stereotypical but middle-aged men who've done the job for years, they know the job
in and out and when you get a young female come sort of bouncing through the door with this enthusiasm
you are going to upset people and you do clash heads and you've got to be sort of more
comfortable with conflict. When I started my basic salary was 16,000 so it was all about
selling and that and relying on selling to earn a living again increases the pressure and can
increase the level of conflict. Since I joined it's a much better place but comparing that to
beauty is completely different. It's a lot softer. Yes and so that first week there you are thinking
I've never been shouted at, I've never been treated like this, I'm quite upset, I'm a bit
intimidated by it. Why did you carry on and how did you carry on? I think I have a great belief
I will never leave something until I've made a success of it and that appeals to kind of
something inside that says I don't want to be a failure or I don't want to leave something before
I've given it an opportunity otherwise I'll be letting myself down so I like to prove to myself
that I can do something and in a sense maybe that comes back to how you value yourself or
if you think you're worthy maybe that's where it stems from a little bit but I wasn't going to leave
that job until I'd had some success or I'd given it a good go, there'd be no way. I'm just imagining
that whole kind of showroom environment where customers are coming through the door, there's a
bit of a dash for getting to them. How did that work with the gentleman that you were working with?
Was it a bit argy-bargy there? Did they feel, did you get any negative reactions when you got to the
customer first? Yeah I mean there's always conflict around customers whenever you're
commission based, everyone wants to see it closest to the door. So yeah there is conflict, you have
to be comfortable with conflict and you have to be able to stand your ground. What do you mean by
that? How do you stand your ground because a lot of people would just retreat from conflict. Yeah
I think standing your ground means being able to justify to yourself why you are working in that
building and why that seat belongs to you and why that's your desk so you have to believe that you
have a right as much as anyone else to work there. I guess that comes back to kind of feeling worthy
within yourself. And also the belief that you should be able to do that job and you're competent
and being comfortable around disagreement. One thing I've noticed working in different
environments is that most people are uncomfortable with conflict or difference of opinion
and my mindset has shifted into it being it should be quite comfortable and it should be almost
expected that two people from completely different worlds, two completely different home environments,
experiences, backgrounds should be it should really probably disagree on most things but it
should be able to be done in a sort of in a way that you can move forward without resulting in
without resulting in fallouts or not speaking it can be done in an adult way and that's something
you should kind of embrace rather than say oh I don't want to get involved. Yeah and that's so
powerful isn't it in relation to the whole diversity and inclusion agenda because I think like you say
that well what I observe is that a lot of people have this normality assumption which is essentially
like oh hi I'm Leona I'm normal and so I expect all the other normal people to think like me and
believe the same things as me and react like me and act like me and of course like you say everyone's
had a different journey to wherever they are today and a different set of beliefs and family
values and experiences and the different personalities and so the expectation of conflict is
is more legitimate and I think then so long as the conflict is about the work and not the person
yeah so so long as it's about how we tackle this problem or how we make this decision and to have
a bit of argy-bargy and that's really healthy isn't it and you and I to debate what the best tactic is
but as soon as we get into well you're just being really impatient or well you're just being really
but as soon as the you word comes in then it's like right time out everybody have a cup of tea
but yeah like you say why don't we just expect that and maybe as the working environment becomes
more diverse that will become a bit more normal yeah definitely it's becoming uncomfortable with
the uncomfortable I think and it's changing the sort of expectation that you know you're not always
going to get on with everybody you work with but that's that's okay and you know you could
have a disagreement and you can you know be fine the next minute that's absolutely fine
I think that might be a sort of cultural influence as well that we kind of like to keep the peace
the British culture kind of I think is sort of supports that notion I'm obviously half Iranian
and you know in in that culture conflict and debate is kind of you know part and parcel of the
culture okay so you know you're able to sort of debate you know debate in the house debate at
work debate with friends over politics whatever it is it's part of the culture it's really embedded
and I think that can be brought into the workplace and it can lead to healthier relationships because
people respect boundaries and it means everyone's got a space to work and excel you know within
a team so you had some real well family values and sounds like some role modeling of how you handle
disagreements and conflicts right from childhood you know that that was encouraged because it's
part as you say of your dad's culture because your dad's Iranian yeah and so that was kind of
expected presumably of you kids that you would you know debate and discuss and the point has it
has it surprised people that you have stood your ground do you notice people respecting you more
as a result of you standing your ground or being a bit taken aback yeah I think as somebody who's
self-employed or you know as as it being employed in the motor trade everyone tests everyone's
boundaries I from my experience everyone's tested how and and generally people try to get away with
as much as they can that's a like a natural I think a natural behavior how far can I push this
person you know for my own benefit which there's nothing wrong with that you know I feel like that's
a sort of a natural kind of behavior and so it's important to have boundaries and hopefully that
will instill some kind of respect amongst other people that this person you know they understand
their own value they understand how how they should be treated and if I want to engage with
this person this is how I should engage with them yeah and that should cultivate some kind of respect
and like you say that's all coming from this inner belief this self-respect and the self-esteem that
you keep falling back on it's like the foundation to well being treated differently or being treated
badly or facing conflict is that wait a minute I'm worth this I'm as good as you I could be as good
as you why can't I be here why can't I yeah and that's coming from that inner confidence isn't it
was that something that was built by your family background do you think did they instill that in
you your family um I think that's that's a tricky one I've always been a confident child um and it
wasn't necessarily that I thought I looked the best you know or I had the best things because I
didn't I didn't have I wasn't the child that had you know the latest fashionable items I wasn't
you know in the it crowd or anything like that but I was always quite confident in myself I don't know
whether that came from having a kind of stable family background you know my my parents had a
long-term stable marriage quite defined roles you know I always knew that was going to be fair I
don't know if that kind of confidence comes from comes from that um but I feel like I've always had
it um I would probably attribute it to the home environment being quite stable yeah I think there's
something about security isn't there there has been research that's shown that like children who
feel loved and secure are braver that makes sense yeah and so it kind of gives us that courage to
go out because we know we've got that support behind us yeah so we go out into the world and
so yeah so you said something when you were talking about that initial anecdote of going down
Gelded Road about you didn't want to just tell them your name because you thought that that might
get the wrong reaction so what was it about your name was that because of your um background and
Iranian heritage or is that because you were a woman and you didn't want them to see it was a
girl's name what was going on there a bit both yeah um I probably thought that my name being Asian
would somehow maybe stop me being offered the opportunity I'm quite realistic racism exists in
all cultures in all countries you know amongst all different groups we all have preconceived ideas
about everybody it's just something that exists normality thing again you know it exists and you
know unfortunately that is the way it is whether it's fair unfair now I thought my I would be able
to put my best foot forward in front of someone and I could convey to them who I was and and how
enthusiastic I was and that I could potentially be good at selling cars and I thought I couldn't do
that on a CV that showed my long name I was a little bit sensitive to that I'd grown up in a
white school I was the only Asian child although I'm not fully Asian I was the only Asian child
there we had slightly different cultural beliefs and attitudes to my peers so I was always an odd
one out maybe I thought that I would be treated differently I wasn't that's good I got the job
offer so yeah and then clearly you made a success of that and you enjoyed that you can see you can
hear that in terms of so how did you then get from there to here because now you're running your own
business now you're the entrepreneur in this world so how did that happen it happened by accident it
wasn't completely planned I knew I always wanted to work for myself I didn't know what that would
look like or what I would be doing what I found is typically once I've kind of had a go with a job
got the experience become good at it I need some kind of progression it needs to evolve I need to
move on and if it doesn't happen quickly enough I usually that's when I've changed jobs or gone to
work for somebody else because I think anyone who's got any ambition needs to be fed developed
otherwise they sort of disengage from from my own experience so I was working for Volvo at the time
and I felt like that that environment wasn't going to allow me to reach my potential it wasn't going
to fulfill me I kind of fell fell into working for myself so I began work at a rental company
who were arranging rentals for people with poor credit it wasn't what I was sold I wasn't paid
for eight weeks however if I hadn't have experienced that that period I would never have maybe launched
into what I'm doing now so you know there was nothing there in that business absolutely nothing
I've been sold this dream so I was thinking well I'm gonna have to make some money like I'm gonna
have to generate some business so I started going through Google construction companies
so I was ringing you know you're looking for a new van etc and from there I'd identified people
who were looking for new fleet vehicles and then I kind of took the call right they want a van right
where am I going to source this from how am I going to procure this wrong Citroen wrong Ford
and that's how it started it was just a completely um it was completely unplanned but then I realized
okay so I can do this and I've just made money from a few phone calls why am I working for somebody else
I need to be doing this myself and that's where trade was born yeah brilliant and just that
kind of initiative taken of just like right what am I going to do how am I going to find something
and I love that whole thing about do you need a van yeah brilliant oh god where am I going to get
them a van from I just love the bravery of that and the boldness of that but again going back to
that self-confidence and that belief of well now I've got someone who needs a van I just need to
find one that's that's just the next logical step in it isn't it and so how long has trade been
running now so trade was established on the 1st of July 2021 right it was a really poignant moment
which you know it might sound trivial but you know registering on on company's house it's
a little moment especially when you've you've thought about working for yourself for it a
significant period so that was that was memorable so to date the business is three and a half years
old nearly so yeah doing really well it's great what are you most proud of in relation to trade
I probably didn't realize the volume of vehicles that I would be supplying and the turnover of the
business you know the value of vehicles I didn't realize how big it would become I also didn't
realize the the dealer groups that I work with you know huge huge dealer groups I never thought I
would be working with them I didn't in fact I didn't think at all I just did but I never imagined
I would be working with those groups and you know they would be asking me for stock or I would be
supplying them yeah it's quite an interest that I didn't think I just did and a few of the women
that I've been speaking to have been saying something along those lines you're going to
just just go with it don't sit and ponder all the reasons why you should or shouldn't because
potentially you might talk yourself out of it absolutely yeah would you have been intimidated
if you'd have known that you were going to be dealing with that volume of vehicles and that
level of value and those big brands might that have made you nervous yeah probably it would have
probably given me imposter syndrome you know I jumped from although I'd had previous managing
management experience and I knew the dealer scenario and the setting back to front
naturally you always get imposter syndrome you know dealing with directors heads of business
you know people who I wouldn't have typically spoken to in my previous role there's a little
bit of imposter syndrome and how do you handle that I think I might know the answer but how do you
handle that I think it's understanding that everyone's an individual and those individuals
in this role whether it's directors or managing directors or whoever it is are still individuals
and they don't necessarily judge everyone from the position that they're in and I think once you
understand that you know if you can connect with a human or you can build a relationship everything
else is kind of irrelevant and also again it comes back to the self-belief that you believe you you're
worthy as anyone else of sitting there and and having those opportunities to be able to
have those opportunities come your way yeah that's what I thought you were going to say the
self-belief bit but that other bit that's really important as well isn't it so that building that
rapport building that relationship and actually just seeing that this is just another human being
yeah they're just doing a job and yes their title might sound really fancy and yes their experience
might be a little bit intimidating but at the end of the day they're just another human being
and then it reminds me of what you were saying about the debonim's credit card of calm it all down
you know build rapport just have a chat see where it goes and that's that's a lovely tactic a lovely
approach that you have I think which I am definitely going to try and adopt that I think
is some of the kind of things I try to do and maybe some of the negotiation things I try to do
I think it's a really lovely style that you've adopted what have been the biggest obstacles
to getting you where you are now would you say like throughout your career what are the kind
of one or two things that have been a bit of a setback because it sounds like actually you've
rolled with the changes really quite readily yeah but have there been moments where you thought
oh this is too hard or I can't do it yeah definitely cash flow okay was a huge obstacle
especially when I first set up I had I didn't have a penny when I when I set up and I'm looking at
selling a 50 000 pound vehicle how do you do that with no money you just do it is the is the answer
it was about being becoming strategic looking at sources of funding now rather than at the time I
was I didn't have any sort of stocking facility understanding who to work with strategizing cash
flow there are there are ways to do business with a limited cash flow but you really have to be quite
strategic with how you manage that and and who you work with as well so you were thinking about
what can I do differently in the future yeah so how do I manage my risks whereas certain kind of
people would have that mindset of oh gosh I failed this has gone really wrong this is not the career
for me I can't do it I'm not good enough and you didn't go there you went to that more growth
mindset thing yeah right this wasn't very nice what can I learn what did I learn what do I do
tomorrow that stops today from reoccurring yeah so is that you know that mindset of improvement
isn't it and learning it is and I think the again it's about expectation the expectation is that
in the motor trade vehicles typically go wrong often you know there's always an issue whether
it that be that's something that's not as described things that happen a warning light comes on you
know an engine management light might come on from from that dealer to that dealer which is you know
serious or something needs a new steering column that's a few thousand pounds or or whatever it is
there's constant issues so it's realigning expectations and you become more and more well
rehearsed and it bothers bothers you less and less the more that you sort of used to dealing with
these issues yeah the more we face a specific risk or a specific danger the less scary it becomes
yeah and I think that's a good lesson isn't it that actually if you experience something going
wrong or a hardship and you run away from situations that might create that again it can almost become
a bit of a phobia whereas if you just keep facing it and facing it actually it starts to have
a lower impact yeah I think I think so I think that that reduces that anxiety
sort of anxious response and I think well I think it improves maybe emotional stability being able
to deal with pressured situations or things going wrong and maintain a sort of level head
yeah absolutely it just it sounds like your mindset is so kind of almost optimized for this
environment that you're in you know because you have that I'm ambitious I'm competitive I like to
see the money that I'm making so you've got all of that that goes with the sales environment
and then you've got the emotional control and the empathy and the people skills of oh I like to build
a bit poor build a relationship I slow it all down calm it all down and then on top of that you've
got this kind of optimistic outlook of all right well I need to succeed at this before I can move
on from it I need to prove it to myself I need to learn from it I need to keep moving I need to just
have a go yeah there's a real like strong combination of factors going on there that
I could completely see why you've become successful at what you're doing it's like really obvious
what would your younger self say if they could see you doing what you're doing now would would
she be surprised teenage Rihanna or would she be like oh yeah probably not surprised
um no I was always entrepreneurial as a child um happy-go-lucky like the adventures so probably
not too dissimilar to maybe how I was when I was a lot younger probably didn't expect the
motor trade but then I think anybody in the motor trade never expects to be in the motor trade
it's not one of those careers where you think I'd love to sell cars you know for the majority I mean
some people really do love selling cars um but yeah I don't think I don't think she'd be too
surprised that you just ended up somewhere adventurous and random like oh I couldn't have
predicted that but that makes sense yes I don't think so yeah and what advice would you give her
if you could go back and just whisper in her ear what would you tell her that might make her journey
maybe a little bit easier it would it probably be around the notion of the belief and the confidence
and you really it's really about confidence I mean there's a huge sort of notion of manifestation
and how you you manifest your dreams and that kind of that kind of supports the idea that
that confidence and belief in yourself will will see you through to where you want to go
because if you give up you're not going to take those steps that you would have taken if you
believed in yourself so it would be to to really believe in yourself and believe that if you really
want that and you if that's what you really desire that's your goal you can achieve it
absolutely and because you can see that that has fueled you along the way that you've relied on
that self-belief and bolstering that self-belief so if you could have just
turned the volume up on it in the early days yeah definitely that would have been nice yeah
yeah and the journey and it sounds like so much of what you've achieved is down to you absolutely
I'm interested to know are there a couple of people along the way that have had quite a critical
role would you say in helping you get to where you've got to you know are there people that
you think actually I probably wouldn't be here without that person or that person
yeah definitely possibly not people I've worked with directly but definitely my family environment
my dad is a huge has been you know hugely influential over everything I've done without
actually realizing it and there's some really fantastic operators in the industry in independent
setups and in the PLC world some really impressive individuals who and one of the reasons they inspire
me is because they do business in the right way and they're really good at it I think that's quite
powerful if you can achieve something in the right way maintain your integrity inspire people along
the way and and have the right core values you know want want the best for life and you know
want want the best for other people I think you can have a really positive impact but
but being around people like that that really helps because obviously everybody has
has days when you doubt yourself you doubt your ability thinking why am I doing this
yeah so to have those people to look to or to lean on is really helpful isn't it we were talking
before we started weren't we about actually good leaders or good role models tend to be the people
that care care about other people and and and actually do things right and so we can take some
life lessons from them because we watch them and think oh that's how you should treat people that's
how you should do business that's how you build a relationship that's how you handle a difficult
situation is that those things are really impressive but what about dad you said kind of unconsciously
he'd influenced you but when you really think about it what was it about dad do you think that's
helped you along the way is that about your values or yeah he's he's just a really impressive
individual instilled in me a very strong work ethic instilled in me a confidence you know
you know why why should you not be entitled to anything that anyone else isn't entitled to you
know that that sense of worthiness that relentless support not necessarily that you know you speak
every day or you know you unload all of all of the day-to-day kind of issues it can just be that you
know they're there and if anything did go wrong they're there and that has a kind of a psychological
impact i think having having that pillar there pillar of strength behind you and instilling a
lot of you know moral values around the way you should do business how money's earned that money's
that money's earned ethically you know it's not at the expense of somebody else building integrity
and that is a huge part of what i do it's making money but doing it in an ethical way that maintains
integrity and that's really important and is that part of what's making you successful do you think
do you think the people you deal with see that in you in terms of that integrity and that ethical
approach does that matter in those business relationships do you think yeah i think it gives
them a confidence i'd like to think that everything that i supply you know is as described they know
they can have an open conversation if things go wrong because they do but there's that trust and
you know generally people like to do business with people they trust you don't want to make someone
feel anxious and question what they're purchasing i like to make things as easy as possible so that
people don't have to think and the the easier businesses to do the more business i think
happens as a result of that so yeah giving people less things to worry about is
hopefully making it easy to transact and do business absolutely and as someone who has really always
shied away from doing any kind of sales and don't really feel that comfortable with conflict if i'm
honest with you and i am learning some things today like i feel like i'm going to be listening
back to this and taking down some some tactics and some notes it's really powerful stuff isn't it
but also that like you say the power of the parents and the fact that your dad has instilled those
values in you but then clearly that self-worth and that sense of security that you have from
dad and mom as well probably yeah yeah yeah that's the superpower stuff isn't it and i think any
parent out there listening you know if you're wondering how to have the best impact on your
kids make them believe in themselves i mean not in a light way where they go you don't want to be
one of those kids on the x-factor saying yeah i just i want to be famous i don't have any
discernible skills or talents yeah yeah and i don't want to have to work for it but i just want to be
famous you don't want that it's not just ego building isn't it's genuine self-belief worth
why can't you have the things you want why can't you be whatever you're willing to work hard to be
it's that stuff isn't it yeah and that's kind of magic magic dust the magic stuff it is the magic
stuff yeah so as a final thing i know you'd said earlier about you know encouraging women into the
motor trade and all those kinds of things are there any messages you'd want to give out to women out
there who might be interested in this world what tips would you give them tips um i would say
get in touch if you're looking for work within the trade i can um there's so many roles um the motor
trade is diverse you know you've got roles in marketing accounting management sales there's a
huge scope there for everybody huge earning potential which is a massive bonus but also
people like dealing with women in in the sales setting so you know the opportunity is there when
it's when it's male dominated you can really make an impact so i would say to to give it a go would
be my advice you know why not what's the worst that could happen if you hate that job after six
months you can go back to to what you used to do or something similar you know i always say well
what's the worst that could happen it doesn't work out or you don't like it that's fine you know you
can you can go back and and change change the role it's or change you know the site or
it's or it's it's never nothing is set in stone so why not give it a go and embrace that sense of
adventure absolutely you need t-shirts printed don't you with why not just have a go what's
the worst that can happen that's it it's been absolutely fascinating fascinating because
not just because you're working in a traditionally man's world which is the kind of i suppose the
the explicit reason i wanted to speak to you it's like that was the overt reason um but just the way
you've approached your career the way you think about yourself and the world the way you conduct
yourself and build relationships and build trust and all those wonderful things that you do i think
is just quite stunning really and thank you it's uh it's just lovely to hear and it's lovely to
hear a young woman going out in the world and making that world their own and doing it with style
i always say if you believe in yourself and you know i remember just before i left to set up my
own business someone said i wanted to you know progress i was desperate and they said you know
we don't think you're ready to be a business manager which is you know in the grand scheme
of things it's it's kind of low down in the pecking order i just thought i can definitely
do that and more so you know if you if you understand yourself and understand what you're
capable of then just go for it you don't need to listen to anyone else i've always had my own way
of doing things and you know even if i said well we do things like this and say no i want to do it
like that and and just stick to your guns stick to your guns brilliant great advice thank you thank
you so much for talking to us we had it's been an absolute pleasure thank you
in the next episode i had a real identity crisis i'd lost my identity and i can remember sitting
on this church hall floor and all of a sudden you are just a mum the most sought after role i'd ever
wanted but and and i felt such a failure we all have these moments so i trained as a coach and
i set up the business