Mellissa Rodriguez

I attribute my success to my dad. My dad was a single father who raised me and my brothers. If it wasn't for my dad, I wouldn't have been able to do half the things I did with school and with my career, because he was there with my kids. I don't think I would have been able to find anyone else at the time, let alone afford the daycare at a young age as a single mom. My dad quit jobs to be able to help me pursue what I wanted to do. It was tough, and I ended up having to move back in with him to pay his bills, because he did quit a job to basically be a parent to my kid while I pursued my career.

The best career advice I ever received came from a man named Jack, who was like the grandpa at the dealership. He was very old and has since passed, but he was in the car business and he always pushed me. He told me that if you have something in your mind that you want to do, don't go through to the next day without initiating something to jog that thought. When I was a single mom with a kid and was being asked to work more hours, which took a toll on me because it took me away from my daughter, he told me: everything you do, just keep your kids in mind. And when you go, every day when you come in, you let people know, my name's Melissa, I'm here to get the job done. And if you need anything, I'm your person. I'm your go-to. I've just always had that in my head.

Don't give up. Don't ever give up, especially a woman in the car business, because I truly believe that is the toughest business for a woman to be in. It is so male-dominant and male-driven. I recently did a study and survey with all the dealerships in Kansas City, and it's 87% male in all of the management - general managers and sales managers are all male. For a woman to actually be in a dealership, no matter where you start, it takes a lot of willpower, a lot of determination, and a lot of getting back up, because they will knock you down and put you down. Because you're a woman, they say you can't sell better than men, you can't have better ideas than men. Any idea or thing that you do to try to make the position or the business better isn't recognized, or it's turned down or denied. You kind of have to put your own thoughts, your own opinions, and your own will to make it a successful thing for yourself into effect on your own. You can't expect the support from the men, or the dealership, or the managers, or anyone. You kind of just have to drill your way through as a woman in the industry. And when you do, you're gonna fail a lot, because there won't be managers to support you, or guide you, or help you, or teach you. You have to do a lot of learning on your own. It took me 2 years to get from a sales position to a finance position when the whole 2 years I was supposed to be in 6 months of training. My main drive for it was the people. I hated seeing people get screwed over. I was not the salesperson to make huge profits off customers. I was a person saving people from being ripped off and making sure they got the best deal, and that was why I was successful - because I was honest.