Theresa Noren Doran

I attribute my success to the support from people, especially my family. My mom and dad have always been big contributors to building my confidence. I remember my dad telling me, when I was feeling short compared to everyone else who was 6 foot tall and I'm only 5'4", he said 'it's okay, you got all the brains and the beauty.' That built my confidence in a different way. My mom would always tell me 'just do the right thing every single time, and no matter what the end result is, I'm proud of you.' I heard her say that so many times throughout my years, and even though it was hard to swallow sometimes when things didn't go the way I wanted, knowing she was proud of me made all the difference. Those words from my parents shaped who I am and gave me the foundation to keep pushing forward, even when I had to work harder than others or take steps backward to move forward in a different direction.

The best career advice I ever received came from Jim Vierling, one of my biggest mentors who I met when I was in my 30s, right when I took my regional manager spot for the first time. He told me, 'you realize you're better than what you are. You have so much potential. I can't believe no one's tapped into it before.' He told me to listen, to learn, and he groomed me for greatness. I eventually took his spot. His advice taught me that we have to remember sometimes we are better than what we think. We get into our own heads sometimes to the point that we don't feel like we're good enough, but we are. That advice stuck with me, and now I even pass it on to my daughters. My oldest daughter Tiffany gave me her own version of this advice - she told me to go look in the mirror and say 'you're a bad bitch' until I believe it. Between Jim's push telling me I'm better than I think, and my daughters' support reminding me I'm a bad bitch, those are the two pieces that continue to make me successful and help me encourage and mentor other females every day.

My advice is just don't be afraid to use your voice. Especially in automotive, it's a very male-dominated industry - it's always been a man's world, and I'll say that loud because I don't mind saying that out loud. I'm the first female to ever be in the role I'm currently in, in 70 years of TBC history, which is crazy. The biggest advice is don't be afraid to vocalize your opinion - it matters. Don't be afraid to take the seat at the table. It's okay to stand in the corner and let your team shine, but don't let it overshine that you are a part of what happens. A friend told me that sometimes when a woman's being assertive, people think of it as emotional, but when a guy says the same thing and does the same actions, he's being assertive. We just gotta make sure that we continue to set ourselves apart, and that when we mean business, we mean business, and we don't back down from that, regardless of an opinion. We gotta make sure our voice is vocalized. I've instilled that into my daughters - they found their voice earlier than I did, and I'm proud of that. So don't back down from the bullshit.

I'm new in my current role - I've been in this role since December, so I'm still learning. The biggest challenge for me right now is the influence piece. I went from working in a corporation at Bridgestone, where I had direct control and could hire and fire, to now working with TBC Corporation supporting Big O franchisees. I have multiple franchisees I work with, and I do business reviews with them, look at their P&Ls, and pick them apart like it was my business. I have those tough conversations, but the biggest challenge is they can listen to me, or they can tell me just to go kick rocks. The influence piece is the only thing I have to stand on. The good thing is, I have a lot of experience and I've been very successful in the past. My region of 52 stores continues to do better month over month, and we continue to be number one in every category. We're the only region that's been positive in every category since I started, so I think I'm starting to earn some integrity and they're realizing I know what I'm talking about. Going from a corporation to a franchisee is different - they're my customers now. I'm also learning the aspect of supply chain with tire warehousing and things like that I didn't have to worry as much about on the flip side. So just a lot of newness, but if I don't stay busy, I get bored, so it's been nice learning new things.

Integrity is the biggest value that I carry - your integrity is everything. You have to have passion in what you believe. I'm a big believer that I have to believe in myself before I believe in others. Those are probably the two biggest things for me - I believe with passion, I believe in self, I believe in others. Sometimes I'm told I believe a little too much, but integrity is a big piece of that. Hard work and integrity go hand in hand for me. I've always been driven by purpose rather than titles or recognition. I've never been the one that needed the spotlight shined on me, regardless of awards or what have you. I've always been one to give my team the recognition and not myself, because it's everybody that contributes to success.