Influential Woman · Auto

Lori Baker

Senior Planner Client Experience ·, INFINITI

Nashville, TN

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree BBA from Middle Tennessee State University Degree Double minor in Business Administration and Psychology Member DECA

Her Story

About Lori

I've been in the auto industry for about 8 years, and the journey has been really crazy. When I started 8 years ago, we were in a totally different situation as far as the economy and everything. I actually started within a totally different role than I'm in now and made a huge career move to get out of what I knew for such a long time into sales and marketing. It was a huge jump for me, but it's been very rewarding. Every day is different when you're supporting retailers and different projects and working cross-functionally. It could be program management, digging into the weeds for data, or getting things ready to be presented to our VP, Executive VP, or our dealer board. My approach is to connect with others, establish connections and rapport, network to help others, and find the answers that are needed. I always step up and take on challenges and just figure it out, but most importantly, I put people first, value people, and leverage my relationships and connections to solve problems.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Lori

01What do you attribute your success to?

I think it's my parents. They set a great example of how to work hard. My mom had a career, my dad also had a successful career, and they modeled that in front of me at a young age with both parents working. They taught me to always keep learning, always listen to different people, and that you can learn something from everyone. But definitely my parents - they're the foundation of my success.

02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

One of the best things I've learned is that everyone talks about balance, and there's no true balance. Things can get out of balance, and you just kind of have to be able to figure out how you can manage things. Can you edit things away so that you can have more capacity for other things? There's no true magic or formula with balance in life and balancing your career. Things are always going to continue to happen, and you have to learn to adapt.

03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

Work hard. You don't always have to be the smartest person in the room, but if you can connect with people and work hard, that will set you apart from a lot of things. Building relationships and putting in the effort matters more than just being the smartest.

04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

Challenges definitely include moving into an AI world and figuring out how to harness that and use it when we're dealing with data. Data is always challenging - data flows, coming up with the correct data to create a story, and things always seem to break with the data. Getting the data right is a challenge for me. You have to depend on others and their sources. It's not what you can do when you're not in control, and you have to rely on other departments and things to get the data.

05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

The values in my personal life are to definitely keep God as my North Star. I keep that in the forefront and always do the right thing and be good to your people. Faith, integrity, and treating people well are what guide me in everything I do.

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