Case Study: Hannah Galloway

Around 6 years ago, I made the switch from retail into the automotive sector, it was completely out of the blue for me, being approached by someone I used to work with, I was being moved around by my previous employer and with a baby on the way I needed a better work life balance. I remember thinking will I be able to do this, what do I actually know about cars?

I sat in my interview, and I still remember that I was asked “what’s in a service kit?” As far as I knew there was oil and a filter, the look of shock on the interviewer’s face was priceless. I followed it up with “I didn’t know anything about paint, kitchens, bathrooms a few years ago but now I do, you can teach me the products, but what I’m great with is people.”

I got the job and started as a Counter Supervisor, quickly moved into different roles within the Sales Team and then finally operations via dispatch and then Operations Manager.

I made the move into the Account Manager role just after Covid, it was the first time I’d moved into a field-based role and I absolutely loved it, the interactions face-to-face with customers in the businesses gave me a real buzz. I then moved into the Concept Account Manager role a year later and haven’t looked back since. Now, I couldn’t imagine working in any other field, something about this sector is special, the community all striving for the same goals, the feeling is infectious!

The best part of my role is meeting new people, I love meeting new people and talking to them about their business. Understanding how it is successful, what challenges they face and how we can support it going forward.

The biggest transferable skill I brought with me was customer service, I like to think I’ve always had a talent to be very welcoming/open with people, I’m a good communicator too, which helps a lot!

There are so many misconceptions you hear about of the industry, before I came in I used to believe a lot! I had no understanding on what was actually involved in ‘fixing cars’ from the suppliers, manufacturers, garage owners/technicians etc., for me I think we need to speak about our industry more to get the trials and tribulations we go through each day out there!

If you are considering a career in automotive, 100% you wont regret it. There are loads of different roles and avenues you can go down. There will be people there to support you and help you on the way, the more skills/experience we can bring to the table as an industry, the better!

I’ve met so many great people in the industry over the last few years, and it feels great to be part of the community. I love what I do for a job, if I think back to when I worked in retail, I never even knew job like this existed, I wouldn’t have thought I would in this role but here I am!