Dealerware Career Growth & Development

What originally attracted you to Dealerware, and what has kept you here as you’ve grown in your career?

I have always been a car enthusiast ever since I was a little girl, but I had no perspective of the automotive industry and the massive machine that it is. In college, I was navigating the concept of a lifelong career and what that may look like. I was introduced to someone with a long history in automotive, and she became my mentor, guiding me into the light of the automotive industry. She helped me realize automotive was definitely what I wanted to do. She worked at Dealerware, and I bugged her about it all the time. When an office manager internship came up, she called me and said, “Hey, we just posted this job. You should apply.” And that’s exactly what I did.

Dealerware has always felt like a family. I’ve been very supportive in whatever journey I’ve ever wanted to take. It never felt like the ceiling was too low. As an intern, I made it clear I was here to learn and soak up as much knowledge as I could, and my manager created opportunities for me to shadow individual teams. That feeling of openness never went away. It still feels like that today. If I’m confused, I can go sit in on an engineering meeting, and everyone’s supportive and willing to help me understand.

How have you grown or developed professionally during your time at Dealerware?

I started as an intern doing office management. At first, it was this super daunting idea, but it became so much more than a typical office management role. It was really fun, but I quickly wanted more; I wanted to get my hands dirty. 

Eventually, I became part of our customer support team. I wasn’t excited about it at first, but it ended up being the role that really transformed me into who I am professionally. It’s the epitome of all the knowledge I currently have, and I think it’s probably one of the hardest jobs at Dealerware. I really appreciate everything I learned. It made me into a sharp tool that can be put into any scenario quickly.

About nine months in, I knew I could solve any problem, and I was ready to be more customer-facing to talk to dealers more. My manager was super supportive of my growth and made it abundantly clear that was what she was there for. After months of those conversations, I finally had the opportunity to apply to the customer success manager team, which was my goal from the beginning. I got it, and it was really fulfilling as an individual to finally reach the role I always envisioned myself in. And that’s what I’m currently doing.

Can you share a moment, project or experience that made you realize how much you’ve grown in your role?

During my time in the support role, there were moments in phone calls where customers would say, “Oh, it’s you, Halle — thank goodness I got you.” That was so fulfilling. It highlighted the relationship aspect, which I always knew I was good at. They remembered my name, even if I didn’t remember who they were. Those calls fueled me. Hearing someone say, “This was so incredibly helpful,” after I walked them through something simple. It could completely change their entire day. 

But getting the call about being promoted to customer success manager was the moment. The CSM manager at the time called from a number I didn’t have saved, and I declined it four times. She finally texted me, “This is Jaime. You have to answer my phone call.” I immediately called her, and she said, “You got the job.” That was the most flying-high moment. I was like, this is literally the goal. This was the role where I’d really said, “I don’t know how I’m gonna get there, but that’s it.” It took me about a week to stop crying regularly. It was surreal. That had been my entire goal since I started as an intern.