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Welcome to Leadership Journeys. I'm psychologist Leona Deakin and we are delving into the minds

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of successful women to find out how they've achieved the things that they've achieved.

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In our last episode we had a real giggle with Lauren York, CEO of UK Locations. She told us

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about her dream to work in TV but how she had to remain really open-minded and believe that there

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was always another way in order to realise that dream. Coming up in this episode...

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It's really about confidence. I mean there's a huge sort of notion of manifestation and how you

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manifest your dreams and that kind of supports the idea that that confidence and belief in yourself

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will see you through to where you want to go because if you give up you're not going to

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take those steps that you would have taken if you believed in yourself.

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Might there be a real advantage to entering traditionally male dominated environments as

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a female? Could it in fact give you a bit of an edge?

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Today I'm talking to Rehana Asabash. She is the Managing Director and Founder of Trade,

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a supply company of cars and vans to dealers around the UK and also fleet vehicles to private

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sector organisations. What's really very cool about Rehana is that she is the only female

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in the whole of the country who is doing this on her own. So I was really interested in talking

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to her today to find out how she does the things she does and what it's like to work in a traditionally

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male orientated sector and also, sorry you're going to have to excuse the pun here, what drives her.

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Thanks, thanks, thanks. Welcome Rehana. Thank you for having me. Oh it's lovely to meet you

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and thanks for having us in your beautiful home today. Oh you're very welcome. Tell us a little

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bit about your journey to where you are now. So I've just said a little bit about where you are now

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but if you take us back, you know when you were in your late teens, early 20s, what did you want to

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do career wise? What did you expect to be doing? So it was a little bit unclear actually when I was

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I just got into university. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I had a huge passion and enthusiasm

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for business, selling. I was involved with lots of entrepreneurial projects and competitions at

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university and even before that I was always interested in finding ways to make money,

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really whatever that may be. I really enjoyed pressure, excitement, something fast paced.

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That was always something that I craved. However it wasn't specifically the motor trade. So I kind

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of followed my sort of like of sales and I was quite good at it. It was my forte, it was selling

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and I kind of understood human behaviour and how to pitch something and that kind of led me

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into the motor trade by accident actually. Fascinating. I mean before we get into that

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going into the motor trade by accident, just tell us a little bit more about the enjoyment of

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selling. So can you remember at what point you noticed that? Was it at university or was it

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earlier in your life that you noticed actually this is something I like or I'm good at?

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There's a little bit of humbleness isn't it? You don't necessarily think you're fantastic at

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something. However there's certain experiences that make me think, oh actually I seem to be

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better than other people or I'm making money out of doing this. When was the first time though I

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suppose that you thought, oh I really like this? So were you one of those children that was out

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selling sweets to the other kids in the playground? Were you doing that kind of thing or was it

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something that came later when you were at university and you thought, oh I like business

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and I like the kind of sales side of it? So as a child, I'll give you a few examples,

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my sister hated spiders so I would charge her to come into the room and get rid of the spider.

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She would pay me to tidy her room, she'd pay me to straighten her hair. I was always looking for

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ways to make money however that would be. Then when I left university I ended up working in

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Debenhams and they had the store credit card and you were incentivised to sign people up to the

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credit card and I was second in the region for offering this credit card and I realised I quite

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enjoyed being on a league table, getting some recognition and earning from that. I then moved

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into cosmetics, I was a cosmetic manager in Harvey Nichols and that kind of combined the

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high end retail experience with actually selling because what you don't realise is when you walk

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into a beauty station and a department store you're actually being sold to and there's so many sales

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mechanisms going on that you're completely unaware of. You think you're buying a lipstick and a

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mascara and we're looking at average customer spend, number of products per customer, how many

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are we selling of this new lodge. It's a lot more salesy in detail so there was sales experience

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gained there and also how to manage a team as well. From there someone actually said

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you'd be really good at selling cars. It was a bit of a light bulb moment so I didn't have a driving

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licence at that point so I walked up and down Gelded Road in Leeds with my CV because I thought

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if I applied online my name might put people off. So I walked in with my CV looking for jobs,

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I got a couple of job offers and it was on the basis that I passed my test. So I passed my test

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within seven weeks, went back, started and earned the most money I'd ever earned and that continued

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and that's where it all started. I have so many questions about that story. So first off, who was

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this person that said there you are working in beauty in Harvey Nichols who said you should go

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and sell cars. I mean who was that person and why did you listen to them? Why did you go oh yeah?

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There's a big part of me that is quite adventurous and I'll say yes. I'm a yes person so if someone

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says shall we do this I'll automatically say yes. I'm full of adventure, there's no

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kind of nervousness around change. I see it as exciting, it kind of sparks my attention and it

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challenges me, engages me which is really important. It was a girl who worked on the counter so she was

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part-time on our counter and she'd worked in the service centre and she said the pay is really,

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really good, retail typically isn't well paid so I thought well I've got nothing to lose and

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within a year I've doubled my salary working the same hours so it was the right choice I think.

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Yeah absolutely and quite fortuitous to cross paths with that person for her to actually

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vocalise something she observed because I think sometimes people see things in us and they won't

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necessarily come over and say do you know what you'd be really good at. So credit to that person for

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actually giving you that push. So you're saying there's something coming over about motivation

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that you're obviously quite competitive and enjoyed being on these league tables. I love the spider

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story about your sisters, I've got two sisters I really wish I'd thought of that. I kind of wish

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I could turn back time which is amazing. But also personality wise like you were saying really open

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to experience and you know we have some five big personality differences so whether you're introverted,

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extroverted, whether you're emotional or stable, conscientious and kind of free-spirited and all

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those kinds of things and then traditional versus open to experience is one of those.

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So you're describing yourself on the that end of that spectrum like actually enjoying change not

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just not intimidated by change adventurous and seeking change which is working to your advantage.

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However there's something else going on in there, there's a skill isn't there. So what is it about

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that sales process do you think you're doing differently to other people that were trying

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to sell around you? Like why were you moving up that league table? What do you do that's different

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to other people do you think? So if we use the experience at Debenhams which was you know trying

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to get people signed up to the credit card what I typically noticed and this was all subconscious

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you know I wasn't aware I was doing it I wasn't trained to do it you know I was trained in

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the actual process of signing up but not how to sell it. What I noticed was that people didn't like

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they felt uncomfortable offering that service. Some people really enjoy selling and sales and

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I think some people find it quite uncomfortable so that's one kind of differentiation between

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you know people who are good and maybe people who don't enjoy it. I think the other was that I slowed

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the process down so what was typically happening was people you know had the goods at the at the

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checkout or the counter and they wanted to get through that line you know do you have a Debenhams

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credit card as quickly as possible. They wanted to sort of bypass it and what I did was I slowed it

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down and I was really my tone of voice was really calm and I emphasized the benefits so I slowed it

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all down and it was it was all about the pitch the timing a little bit of eye contact and also

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just making the customer feel relaxed that they weren't being sold up. I think if you kind of if

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the delivery of that question is quite you know uncomfortable you will immediately get an

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uncomfortable response in my opinion. Oh my goodness absolutely so it's that like emotions

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are contagious aren't they so if I'm feeling anxious you're feeling anxious you don't know

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why you're feeling anxious but I'm kind of infecting you with my own nervous energy.

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Yeah so that's lovely and there must also have been I imagine a degree of empathy going on there

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where it sounds like and correct me if I'm wrong like you were making it about the customer not

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about you or Debenhams so instead of like do you want one of our credit cards please have it because

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you know this is great for my commission it becomes about yeah hey did you know this benefit

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this benefit and presumably those benefits are for them the recipient. Yeah absolutely it was

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about this is what I can I'm going to help you save money did you know you can actually get 10%

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off all of that today it's just a different delivery and you're right it is about it's about

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communicating what the benefit is to the customer and getting them to buy into that getting them to

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take a pause and think about what you're what you're offering which we often just you know we want

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to get out of there as quickly as possible and move on so but that I think that sort of it transpires

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to all sales sort of environments I think it's quite a transferable piece of knowledge I think.

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Yeah it is and it requires quite a lot of emotional intelligence I imagine because emotional

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intelligence is in part understanding the emotions of others but also controlling your own emotions

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so like you were saying you were you were staying calm in order to make the experience calm and keep

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the person calm and so there's a there's a lot of emotional control going on there. Yeah I probably

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didn't realize it. But these are the things that like they are I suppose assets that we have in our

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personalities like things that we're probably influenced by either kind of our genetic background

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or our childhood experience and environments and it gives us these little assets that we have like

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these little techniques that we can lean into like being open to experience and being emotionally

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intelligent and things that you've picked up and then like you say without realizing it you're

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applying them to your experience and going oh my gosh actually this is really working. I didn't

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realize at the time but yeah. Yeah that's great isn't it and I think what's also really interesting

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about that anecdote you said so you've got this this lady and she says oh you should go and sell

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cars and so you're like I can't drive which would probably put some people off but you you get your

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CV and you go and march up Gelded Road which I'm presuming is where all of the car dealerships

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must have been is that correct in the Leeds area yes and so you're just kind of walking into that

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environment and saying what? I think I would have probably highlighted the fact that I had you know

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previous selling experience. I think it's just showing a willingness and enthusiasm you know

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typically actually in the sales industry you don't have to have experience in cars to do to be a

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successful salesperson you just have to have a willing attitude you know an aptitude to learn

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and you've got to have that enthusiasm and want people to warm to you. You don't necessarily need

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to you know know the mechanics of a car because I still I still don't know anything about the

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mechanics of a car. But you were selling yourself by just walking in there then by walking in and

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being personable and friendly and interested and enthusiastic and so that was the thing that you

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were doing. Yeah I think most people are kind of willing to take on somebody who shows enthusiasm.

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I think you know by speaking to people who do a lot of employing they will typically look for

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you know skills and behaviors as opposed to experience. So people in hospitality or other

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sale environments will do exceptionally well in the motor trade. Right yes. So did it take many

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visits before somebody gave you a chance you know how far up Geldow Road did you have to walk before

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somebody said okay? It was pretty quick actually it was you sort of walked in and it was like okay

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you need to learn how to drive first but then come back in for a second interview and then it was

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quite straightforward. The truth be known there's a lot of you know job opportunities in the motor

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trade. They are actively seeking more women. Women are fantastic in sales roles you know. I'm a huge

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advocate of bringing women into the motor trade because there are endless you know options,

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opportunities you know it's got greater earning potential and that can be life-changing you know.

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For me at that age you know I doubled my income within a year which how many industries would you

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get that opportunity you know with no extra qualification or experience. So yeah it wasn't

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difficult to get a job and I would definitely advocate more people especially women into the

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industry. There's a huge array of roles for everybody. And you said women will do well so

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what is it about women that gives them a little bit of an edge maybe? What have you observed has

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helped you being a woman in that environment? Is it just the fact that you're different

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to the majority of salespeople? I think women are I think they're special. I think women are very

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special. I think they've got attributes and skills that men don't necessarily have you know they have

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skills and attributes in other areas. I think women are much better communicators. I think they

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understand communication a lot better and they're more effective with it. I think they're more

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personable with customers. I think they can anticipate their needs more easily and that

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just adds to the whole you know experience of buying a vehicle. I think they're special beings.

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Like I say I'm a huge advocate for more women coming into the trade. So do you think that they

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are listening more? Yeah I don't know whether it's a difference in the emotional intelligence. I don't

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know whether they pick up on cues a little bit differently or they recognize different body

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language. I don't know whether it appeals to the sort of nurturing and caring side of women that

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we naturally possess. But I think all of that if you add that into a sales process in a typically

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male-dominated industry I think you're going to be hugely successful and customers really respond

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well to that kind of service. Yeah so it's just so cool isn't it because it isn't an environment

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that you would stereotypically expect to find lots of women and yet your experience is oh women can

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do really well here. Like you can really well not only earn yourself a great living but really compete

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well against the the male counterparts in that moment. Absolutely yeah. So what was your experience

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then of working in the motor trade versus working in in kind of beauty retail? So how was that similar

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or different? So I won't sugarcoat it. No please don't. The motor trade is in some ways is a very

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dated industry. There's no easier way to put it. It's a tough industry, it's competitive, it's harsh.

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I think within my first week in car sales I thought I'm not tough enough to work in here.

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I've never been shouted at by a male before. I've never felt intimidated or like

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kind of in a way threatened by a male in a work environment before and I thought I cannot,

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I'm not tough enough to withstand this. Again it depends on the culture of the dealership.

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Things are changing massively from where I started to how dealerships are now. The culture's so much

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better but when I got into the trade it was a very harsh environment. It's very competitive.

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Typically the kind of sales persons that are in the motor trade tend to be and again this is a

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little bit stereotypical but middle-aged men who've done the job for years, they know the job

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in and out and when you get a young female come sort of bouncing through the door with this enthusiasm

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you are going to upset people and you do clash heads and you've got to be sort of more

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comfortable with conflict. When I started my basic salary was 16,000 so it was all about

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selling and that and relying on selling to earn a living again increases the pressure and can

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increase the level of conflict. Since I joined it's a much better place but comparing that to

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beauty is completely different. It's a lot softer. Yes and so that first week there you are thinking

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I've never been shouted at, I've never been treated like this, I'm quite upset, I'm a bit

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intimidated by it. Why did you carry on and how did you carry on? I think I have a great belief

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I will never leave something until I've made a success of it and that appeals to kind of

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something inside that says I don't want to be a failure or I don't want to leave something before

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I've given it an opportunity otherwise I'll be letting myself down so I like to prove to myself

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that I can do something and in a sense maybe that comes back to how you value yourself or

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if you think you're worthy maybe that's where it stems from a little bit but I wasn't going to leave

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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

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that whole kind of showroom environment where customers are coming through the door, there's a

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bit of a dash for getting to them. How did that work with the gentleman that you were working with?

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Was it a bit argy-bargy there? Did they feel, did you get any negative reactions when you got to the

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customer first? Yeah I mean there's always conflict around customers whenever you're

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commission based, everyone wants to see it closest to the door. So yeah there is conflict, you have

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to be comfortable with conflict and you have to be able to stand your ground. What do you mean by

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that? How do you stand your ground because a lot of people would just retreat from conflict. Yeah

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I think standing your ground means being able to justify to yourself why you are working in that

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building and why that seat belongs to you and why that's your desk so you have to believe that you

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have a right as much as anyone else to work there. I guess that comes back to kind of feeling worthy

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within yourself. And also the belief that you should be able to do that job and you're competent

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and being comfortable around disagreement. One thing I've noticed working in different

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environments is that most people are uncomfortable with conflict or difference of opinion

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and my mindset has shifted into it being it should be quite comfortable and it should be almost

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expected that two people from completely different worlds, two completely different home environments,

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experiences, backgrounds should be it should really probably disagree on most things but it

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should be able to be done in a sort of in a way that you can move forward without resulting in

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without resulting in fallouts or not speaking it can be done in an adult way and that's something

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you should kind of embrace rather than say oh I don't want to get involved. Yeah and that's so

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powerful isn't it in relation to the whole diversity and inclusion agenda because I think like you say

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that well what I observe is that a lot of people have this normality assumption which is essentially

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like oh hi I'm Leona I'm normal and so I expect all the other normal people to think like me and

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believe the same things as me and react like me and act like me and of course like you say everyone's

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had a different journey to wherever they are today and a different set of beliefs and family

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values and experiences and the different personalities and so the expectation of conflict is

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is more legitimate and I think then so long as the conflict is about the work and not the person

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yeah so so long as it's about how we tackle this problem or how we make this decision and to have

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a bit of argy-bargy and that's really healthy isn't it and you and I to debate what the best tactic is

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but as soon as we get into well you're just being really impatient or well you're just being really

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but as soon as the you word comes in then it's like right time out everybody have a cup of tea

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but yeah like you say why don't we just expect that and maybe as the working environment becomes

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more diverse that will become a bit more normal yeah definitely it's becoming uncomfortable with

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the uncomfortable I think and it's changing the sort of expectation that you know you're not always

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going to get on with everybody you work with but that's that's okay and you know you could

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have a disagreement and you can you know be fine the next minute that's absolutely fine

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I think that might be a sort of cultural influence as well that we kind of like to keep the peace

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the British culture kind of I think is sort of supports that notion I'm obviously half Iranian

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and you know in in that culture conflict and debate is kind of you know part and parcel of the

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culture okay so you know you're able to sort of debate you know debate in the house debate at

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work debate with friends over politics whatever it is it's part of the culture it's really embedded

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and I think that can be brought into the workplace and it can lead to healthier relationships because

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people respect boundaries and it means everyone's got a space to work and excel you know within

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a team so you had some real well family values and sounds like some role modeling of how you handle

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disagreements and conflicts right from childhood you know that that was encouraged because it's

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part as you say of your dad's culture because your dad's Iranian yeah and so that was kind of

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expected presumably of you kids that you would you know debate and discuss and the point has it

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has it surprised people that you have stood your ground do you notice people respecting you more

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as a result of you standing your ground or being a bit taken aback yeah I think as somebody who's

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self-employed or you know as as it being employed in the motor trade everyone tests everyone's

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boundaries I from my experience everyone's tested how and and generally people try to get away with

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as much as they can that's a like a natural I think a natural behavior how far can I push this

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person you know for my own benefit which there's nothing wrong with that you know I feel like that's

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a sort of a natural kind of behavior and so it's important to have boundaries and hopefully that

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will instill some kind of respect amongst other people that this person you know they understand

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their own value they understand how how they should be treated and if I want to engage with

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this person this is how I should engage with them yeah and that should cultivate some kind of respect

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and like you say that's all coming from this inner belief this self-respect and the self-esteem that

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you keep falling back on it's like the foundation to well being treated differently or being treated

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badly or facing conflict is that wait a minute I'm worth this I'm as good as you I could be as good

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as you why can't I be here why can't I yeah and that's coming from that inner confidence isn't it

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was that something that was built by your family background do you think did they instill that in

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you your family um I think that's that's a tricky one I've always been a confident child um and it

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wasn't necessarily that I thought I looked the best you know or I had the best things because I

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didn't I didn't have I wasn't the child that had you know the latest fashionable items I wasn't

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you know in the it crowd or anything like that but I was always quite confident in myself I don't know

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whether that came from having a kind of stable family background you know my my parents had a

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long-term stable marriage quite defined roles you know I always knew that was going to be fair I

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don't know if that kind of confidence comes from comes from that um but I feel like I've always had

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it um I would probably attribute it to the home environment being quite stable yeah I think there's

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something about security isn't there there has been research that's shown that like children who

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feel loved and secure are braver that makes sense yeah and so it kind of gives us that courage to

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go out because we know we've got that support behind us yeah so we go out into the world and

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so yeah so you said something when you were talking about that initial anecdote of going down

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Gelded Road about you didn't want to just tell them your name because you thought that that might

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get the wrong reaction so what was it about your name was that because of your um background and

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Iranian heritage or is that because you were a woman and you didn't want them to see it was a

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girl's name what was going on there a bit both yeah um I probably thought that my name being Asian

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would somehow maybe stop me being offered the opportunity I'm quite realistic racism exists in

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all cultures in all countries you know amongst all different groups we all have preconceived ideas

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about everybody it's just something that exists normality thing again you know it exists and you

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know unfortunately that is the way it is whether it's fair unfair now I thought my I would be able

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to put my best foot forward in front of someone and I could convey to them who I was and and how

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enthusiastic I was and that I could potentially be good at selling cars and I thought I couldn't do

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that on a CV that showed my long name I was a little bit sensitive to that I'd grown up in a

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white school I was the only Asian child although I'm not fully Asian I was the only Asian child

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there we had slightly different cultural beliefs and attitudes to my peers so I was always an odd

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one out maybe I thought that I would be treated differently I wasn't that's good I got the job

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offer so yeah and then clearly you made a success of that and you enjoyed that you can see you can

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hear that in terms of so how did you then get from there to here because now you're running your own

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business now you're the entrepreneur in this world so how did that happen it happened by accident it

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wasn't completely planned I knew I always wanted to work for myself I didn't know what that would

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look like or what I would be doing what I found is typically once I've kind of had a go with a job

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got the experience become good at it I need some kind of progression it needs to evolve I need to

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move on and if it doesn't happen quickly enough I usually that's when I've changed jobs or gone to

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work for somebody else because I think anyone who's got any ambition needs to be fed developed

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otherwise they sort of disengage from from my own experience so I was working for Volvo at the time

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and I felt like that that environment wasn't going to allow me to reach my potential it wasn't going

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to fulfill me I kind of fell fell into working for myself so I began work at a rental company

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who were arranging rentals for people with poor credit it wasn't what I was sold I wasn't paid

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for eight weeks however if I hadn't have experienced that that period I would never have maybe launched

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into what I'm doing now so you know there was nothing there in that business absolutely nothing

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I've been sold this dream so I was thinking well I'm gonna have to make some money like I'm gonna

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have to generate some business so I started going through Google construction companies

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so I was ringing you know you're looking for a new van etc and from there I'd identified people

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who were looking for new fleet vehicles and then I kind of took the call right they want a van right

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where am I going to source this from how am I going to procure this wrong Citroen wrong Ford

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and that's how it started it was just a completely um it was completely unplanned but then I realized

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okay so I can do this and I've just made money from a few phone calls why am I working for somebody else

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I need to be doing this myself and that's where trade was born yeah brilliant and just that

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kind of initiative taken of just like right what am I going to do how am I going to find something

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and I love that whole thing about do you need a van yeah brilliant oh god where am I going to get

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them a van from I just love the bravery of that and the boldness of that but again going back to

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that self-confidence and that belief of well now I've got someone who needs a van I just need to

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find one that's that's just the next logical step in it isn't it and so how long has trade been

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running now so trade was established on the 1st of July 2021 right it was a really poignant moment

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which you know it might sound trivial but you know registering on on company's house it's

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a little moment especially when you've you've thought about working for yourself for it a

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significant period so that was that was memorable so to date the business is three and a half years

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old nearly so yeah doing really well it's great what are you most proud of in relation to trade

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I probably didn't realize the volume of vehicles that I would be supplying and the turnover of the

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business you know the value of vehicles I didn't realize how big it would become I also didn't

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realize the the dealer groups that I work with you know huge huge dealer groups I never thought I

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would be working with them I didn't in fact I didn't think at all I just did but I never imagined

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I would be working with those groups and you know they would be asking me for stock or I would be

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supplying them yeah it's quite an interest that I didn't think I just did and a few of the women

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that I've been speaking to have been saying something along those lines you're going to

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just just go with it don't sit and ponder all the reasons why you should or shouldn't because

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potentially you might talk yourself out of it absolutely yeah would you have been intimidated

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if you'd have known that you were going to be dealing with that volume of vehicles and that

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level of value and those big brands might that have made you nervous yeah probably it would have

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probably given me imposter syndrome you know I jumped from although I'd had previous managing

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management experience and I knew the dealer scenario and the setting back to front

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naturally you always get imposter syndrome you know dealing with directors heads of business

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you know people who I wouldn't have typically spoken to in my previous role there's a little

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bit of imposter syndrome and how do you handle that I think I might know the answer but how do you

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handle that I think it's understanding that everyone's an individual and those individuals

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in this role whether it's directors or managing directors or whoever it is are still individuals

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and they don't necessarily judge everyone from the position that they're in and I think once you

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understand that you know if you can connect with a human or you can build a relationship everything

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else is kind of irrelevant and also again it comes back to the self-belief that you believe you you're

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worthy as anyone else of sitting there and and having those opportunities to be able to

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have those opportunities come your way yeah that's what I thought you were going to say the

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self-belief bit but that other bit that's really important as well isn't it so that building that

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rapport building that relationship and actually just seeing that this is just another human being

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yeah they're just doing a job and yes their title might sound really fancy and yes their experience

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might be a little bit intimidating but at the end of the day they're just another human being

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and then it reminds me of what you were saying about the debonim's credit card of calm it all down

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you know build rapport just have a chat see where it goes and that's that's a lovely tactic a lovely

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approach that you have I think which I am definitely going to try and adopt that I think

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is some of the kind of things I try to do and maybe some of the negotiation things I try to do

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I think it's a really lovely style that you've adopted what have been the biggest obstacles

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to getting you where you are now would you say like throughout your career what are the kind

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of one or two things that have been a bit of a setback because it sounds like actually you've

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rolled with the changes really quite readily yeah but have there been moments where you thought

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oh this is too hard or I can't do it yeah definitely cash flow okay was a huge obstacle

348
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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

349
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selling a 50 000 pound vehicle how do you do that with no money you just do it is the is the answer

350
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it was about being becoming strategic looking at sources of funding now rather than at the time I

351
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was I didn't have any sort of stocking facility understanding who to work with strategizing cash

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flow there are there are ways to do business with a limited cash flow but you really have to be quite

353
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strategic with how you manage that and and who you work with as well so you were thinking about

354
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what can I do differently in the future yeah so how do I manage my risks whereas certain kind of

355
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people would have that mindset of oh gosh I failed this has gone really wrong this is not the career

356
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for me I can't do it I'm not good enough and you didn't go there you went to that more growth

357
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mindset thing yeah right this wasn't very nice what can I learn what did I learn what do I do

358
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tomorrow that stops today from reoccurring yeah so is that you know that mindset of improvement

359
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isn't it and learning it is and I think the again it's about expectation the expectation is that

360
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in the motor trade vehicles typically go wrong often you know there's always an issue whether

361
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it that be that's something that's not as described things that happen a warning light comes on you

362
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know an engine management light might come on from from that dealer to that dealer which is you know

363
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serious or something needs a new steering column that's a few thousand pounds or or whatever it is

364
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there's constant issues so it's realigning expectations and you become more and more well

365
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rehearsed and it bothers bothers you less and less the more that you sort of used to dealing with

366
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these issues yeah the more we face a specific risk or a specific danger the less scary it becomes

367
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yeah and I think that's a good lesson isn't it that actually if you experience something going

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wrong or a hardship and you run away from situations that might create that again it can almost become

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a bit of a phobia whereas if you just keep facing it and facing it actually it starts to have

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a lower impact yeah I think I think so I think that that reduces that anxiety

371
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sort of anxious response and I think well I think it improves maybe emotional stability being able

372
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to deal with pressured situations or things going wrong and maintain a sort of level head

373
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yeah absolutely it just it sounds like your mindset is so kind of almost optimized for this

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environment that you're in you know because you have that I'm ambitious I'm competitive I like to

375
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see the money that I'm making so you've got all of that that goes with the sales environment

376
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and then you've got the emotional control and the empathy and the people skills of oh I like to build

377
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a bit poor build a relationship I slow it all down calm it all down and then on top of that you've

378
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got this kind of optimistic outlook of all right well I need to succeed at this before I can move

379
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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

380
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have a go yeah there's a real like strong combination of factors going on there that

381
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I could completely see why you've become successful at what you're doing it's like really obvious

382
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what would your younger self say if they could see you doing what you're doing now would would

383
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she be surprised teenage Rihanna or would she be like oh yeah probably not surprised

384
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um no I was always entrepreneurial as a child um happy-go-lucky like the adventures so probably

385
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not too dissimilar to maybe how I was when I was a lot younger probably didn't expect the

386
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motor trade but then I think anybody in the motor trade never expects to be in the motor trade

387
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it's not one of those careers where you think I'd love to sell cars you know for the majority I mean

388
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some people really do love selling cars um but yeah I don't think I don't think she'd be too

389
00:40:33,040 --> 00:40:38,080
surprised that you just ended up somewhere adventurous and random like oh I couldn't have

390
00:40:38,080 --> 00:40:44,800
predicted that but that makes sense yes I don't think so yeah and what advice would you give her

391
00:40:44,800 --> 00:40:51,440
if you could go back and just whisper in her ear what would you tell her that might make her journey

392
00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:58,800
maybe a little bit easier it would it probably be around the notion of the belief and the confidence

393
00:40:58,800 --> 00:41:06,160
and you really it's really about confidence I mean there's a huge sort of notion of manifestation

394
00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:13,440
and how you you manifest your dreams and that kind of that kind of supports the idea that

395
00:41:14,160 --> 00:41:18,560
that confidence and belief in yourself will will see you through to where you want to go

396
00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:23,440
because if you give up you're not going to take those steps that you would have taken if you

397
00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:30,320
believed in yourself so it would be to to really believe in yourself and believe that if you really

398
00:41:30,320 --> 00:41:35,520
want that and you if that's what you really desire that's your goal you can achieve it

399
00:41:36,480 --> 00:41:41,520
absolutely and because you can see that that has fueled you along the way that you've relied on

400
00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:45,360
that self-belief and bolstering that self-belief so if you could have just

401
00:41:45,360 --> 00:41:50,480
turned the volume up on it in the early days yeah definitely that would have been nice yeah

402
00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:55,520
yeah and the journey and it sounds like so much of what you've achieved is down to you absolutely

403
00:41:55,520 --> 00:42:02,080
I'm interested to know are there a couple of people along the way that have had quite a critical

404
00:42:02,080 --> 00:42:06,720
role would you say in helping you get to where you've got to you know are there people that

405
00:42:06,720 --> 00:42:10,480
you think actually I probably wouldn't be here without that person or that person

406
00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:18,160
yeah definitely possibly not people I've worked with directly but definitely my family environment

407
00:42:18,160 --> 00:42:24,960
my dad is a huge has been you know hugely influential over everything I've done without

408
00:42:24,960 --> 00:42:32,880
actually realizing it and there's some really fantastic operators in the industry in independent

409
00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:42,000
setups and in the PLC world some really impressive individuals who and one of the reasons they inspire

410
00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:47,520
me is because they do business in the right way and they're really good at it I think that's quite

411
00:42:47,520 --> 00:42:54,160
powerful if you can achieve something in the right way maintain your integrity inspire people along

412
00:42:54,160 --> 00:43:01,200
the way and and have the right core values you know want want the best for life and you know

413
00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:07,440
want want the best for other people I think you can have a really positive impact but

414
00:43:07,440 --> 00:43:12,480
but being around people like that that really helps because obviously everybody has

415
00:43:13,040 --> 00:43:17,280
has days when you doubt yourself you doubt your ability thinking why am I doing this

416
00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:22,080
yeah so to have those people to look to or to lean on is really helpful isn't it we were talking

417
00:43:22,080 --> 00:43:28,080
before we started weren't we about actually good leaders or good role models tend to be the people

418
00:43:28,080 --> 00:43:34,960
that care care about other people and and and actually do things right and so we can take some

419
00:43:35,680 --> 00:43:39,200
life lessons from them because we watch them and think oh that's how you should treat people that's

420
00:43:39,200 --> 00:43:42,960
how you should do business that's how you build a relationship that's how you handle a difficult

421
00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:48,160
situation is that those things are really impressive but what about dad you said kind of unconsciously

422
00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:52,000
he'd influenced you but when you really think about it what was it about dad do you think that's

423
00:43:52,000 --> 00:43:58,240
helped you along the way is that about your values or yeah he's he's just a really impressive

424
00:43:58,720 --> 00:44:05,520
individual instilled in me a very strong work ethic instilled in me a confidence you know

425
00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:11,280
you know why why should you not be entitled to anything that anyone else isn't entitled to you

426
00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:19,120
know that that sense of worthiness that relentless support not necessarily that you know you speak

427
00:44:19,120 --> 00:44:25,680
every day or you know you unload all of all of the day-to-day kind of issues it can just be that you

428
00:44:25,680 --> 00:44:31,440
know they're there and if anything did go wrong they're there and that has a kind of a psychological

429
00:44:31,440 --> 00:44:38,800
impact i think having having that pillar there pillar of strength behind you and instilling a

430
00:44:38,800 --> 00:44:45,200
lot of you know moral values around the way you should do business how money's earned that money's

431
00:44:45,200 --> 00:44:51,600
that money's earned ethically you know it's not at the expense of somebody else building integrity

432
00:44:51,600 --> 00:44:58,240
and that is a huge part of what i do it's making money but doing it in an ethical way that maintains

433
00:44:58,240 --> 00:45:04,400
integrity and that's really important and is that part of what's making you successful do you think

434
00:45:04,400 --> 00:45:10,320
do you think the people you deal with see that in you in terms of that integrity and that ethical

435
00:45:10,320 --> 00:45:16,080
approach does that matter in those business relationships do you think yeah i think it gives

436
00:45:16,080 --> 00:45:22,640
them a confidence i'd like to think that everything that i supply you know is as described they know

437
00:45:22,640 --> 00:45:29,280
they can have an open conversation if things go wrong because they do but there's that trust and

438
00:45:29,280 --> 00:45:34,480
you know generally people like to do business with people they trust you don't want to make someone

439
00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:40,800
feel anxious and question what they're purchasing i like to make things as easy as possible so that

440
00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:46,960
people don't have to think and the the easier businesses to do the more business i think

441
00:45:47,600 --> 00:45:51,520
happens as a result of that so yeah giving people less things to worry about is

442
00:45:52,080 --> 00:45:58,000
hopefully making it easy to transact and do business absolutely and as someone who has really always

443
00:45:58,000 --> 00:46:02,960
shied away from doing any kind of sales and don't really feel that comfortable with conflict if i'm

444
00:46:02,960 --> 00:46:06,720
honest with you and i am learning some things today like i feel like i'm going to be listening

445
00:46:06,720 --> 00:46:11,680
back to this and taking down some some tactics and some notes it's really powerful stuff isn't it

446
00:46:11,680 --> 00:46:17,040
but also that like you say the power of the parents and the fact that your dad has instilled those

447
00:46:17,040 --> 00:46:24,320
values in you but then clearly that self-worth and that sense of security that you have from

448
00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:29,920
dad and mom as well probably yeah yeah yeah that's the superpower stuff isn't it and i think any

449
00:46:29,920 --> 00:46:34,880
parent out there listening you know if you're wondering how to have the best impact on your

450
00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:39,520
kids make them believe in themselves i mean not in a light way where they go you don't want to be

451
00:46:39,520 --> 00:46:43,600
one of those kids on the x-factor saying yeah i just i want to be famous i don't have any

452
00:46:43,600 --> 00:46:48,320
discernible skills or talents yeah yeah and i don't want to have to work for it but i just want to be

453
00:46:48,320 --> 00:46:53,760
famous you don't want that it's not just ego building isn't it's genuine self-belief worth

454
00:46:53,760 --> 00:46:59,440
why can't you have the things you want why can't you be whatever you're willing to work hard to be

455
00:46:59,440 --> 00:47:04,960
it's that stuff isn't it yeah and that's kind of magic magic dust the magic stuff it is the magic

456
00:47:04,960 --> 00:47:09,680
stuff yeah so as a final thing i know you'd said earlier about you know encouraging women into the

457
00:47:09,680 --> 00:47:14,880
motor trade and all those kinds of things are there any messages you'd want to give out to women out

458
00:47:14,880 --> 00:47:22,320
there who might be interested in this world what tips would you give them tips um i would say

459
00:47:22,320 --> 00:47:29,360
get in touch if you're looking for work within the trade i can um there's so many roles um the motor

460
00:47:29,360 --> 00:47:36,560
trade is diverse you know you've got roles in marketing accounting management sales there's a

461
00:47:36,560 --> 00:47:44,720
huge scope there for everybody huge earning potential which is a massive bonus but also

462
00:47:44,720 --> 00:47:50,800
people like dealing with women in in the sales setting so you know the opportunity is there when

463
00:47:50,800 --> 00:47:57,360
it's when it's male dominated you can really make an impact so i would say to to give it a go would

464
00:47:57,360 --> 00:48:02,640
be my advice you know why not what's the worst that could happen if you hate that job after six

465
00:48:02,640 --> 00:48:07,680
months you can go back to to what you used to do or something similar you know i always say well

466
00:48:07,680 --> 00:48:13,200
what's the worst that could happen it doesn't work out or you don't like it that's fine you know you

467
00:48:13,200 --> 00:48:18,960
can you can go back and and change change the role it's or change you know the site or

468
00:48:18,960 --> 00:48:26,000
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

469
00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:31,520
adventure absolutely you need t-shirts printed don't you with why not just have a go what's

470
00:48:31,520 --> 00:48:38,320
the worst that can happen that's it it's been absolutely fascinating fascinating because

471
00:48:39,120 --> 00:48:44,320
not just because you're working in a traditionally man's world which is the kind of i suppose the

472
00:48:44,320 --> 00:48:50,800
the explicit reason i wanted to speak to you it's like that was the overt reason um but just the way

473
00:48:50,800 --> 00:48:56,960
you've approached your career the way you think about yourself and the world the way you conduct

474
00:48:56,960 --> 00:49:04,400
yourself and build relationships and build trust and all those wonderful things that you do i think

475
00:49:04,400 --> 00:49:10,800
is just quite stunning really and thank you it's uh it's just lovely to hear and it's lovely to

476
00:49:10,800 --> 00:49:17,840
hear a young woman going out in the world and making that world their own and doing it with style

477
00:49:18,960 --> 00:49:25,200
i always say if you believe in yourself and you know i remember just before i left to set up my

478
00:49:25,200 --> 00:49:30,720
own business someone said i wanted to you know progress i was desperate and they said you know

479
00:49:30,720 --> 00:49:34,480
we don't think you're ready to be a business manager which is you know in the grand scheme

480
00:49:34,480 --> 00:49:41,520
of things it's it's kind of low down in the pecking order i just thought i can definitely

481
00:49:41,520 --> 00:49:46,160
do that and more so you know if you if you understand yourself and understand what you're

482
00:49:46,160 --> 00:49:51,840
capable of then just go for it you don't need to listen to anyone else i've always had my own way

483
00:49:51,840 --> 00:49:57,760
of doing things and you know even if i said well we do things like this and say no i want to do it

484
00:49:57,760 --> 00:50:04,240
like that and and just stick to your guns stick to your guns brilliant great advice thank you thank

485
00:50:04,240 --> 00:50:07,600
you so much for talking to us we had it's been an absolute pleasure thank you

486
00:50:10,480 --> 00:50:16,960
in the next episode i had a real identity crisis i'd lost my identity and i can remember sitting

487
00:50:16,960 --> 00:50:25,680
on this church hall floor and all of a sudden you are just a mum the most sought after role i'd ever

488
00:50:25,680 --> 00:50:33,520
wanted but and and i felt such a failure we all have these moments so i trained as a coach and

489
00:50:33,520 --> 00:50:57,200
i set up the business