Car Guy Coffee Oct 22, 2025

Solutionaries Rising: Norma Williamson's Journey in the Automotive Industry

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Let's brew!

Do us a favor, everybody, and get live.

We're gonna encourage Fred to go ahead

and turn it onto his phone, turn it onto your phone

so you can hear what we're talking about

and get ready to welcome to the show the one,

the only, Norma Wilkinson.

Welcome to the party.

Hello, I'm glad to be here.

Thank you so much for the opportunity.

We are really excited that you're here

and pumped up to get this conversation cooking.

Let's see, we got a few people that are in the party too.

Fred, give a little welcome to Norma.

Hello, what's going on, Norma?

It's good to hear you.

I finally can hear everything.

It's a pleasure to have you on the show.

Had great conversation right before.

Somehow, out of nowhere, just everything disappeared on me.

So I'm glad that I'm back up.

I don't know if it was me.

Lou, I don't know if it was you maybe.

Your mic might have been out

because I'm hearing I can't hear anything that's going on.

But go back to what we have to say.

We do have a great solution here.

Somebody that is bringing some flavor to the house today

and I can't wait to learn more about you,

a rising star from intern to doing big things, right?

Trying to see if you even like this industry

to loving this industry.

I can't wait to learn more about how you love this industry

and why you love this industry.

But it all starts with saying yes.

I gotta ask that question.

We asked a lot of people this question on a five liner,

but I wanna ask this to you.

What made you choose the automotive industry?

Funny you ask.

So I grew up in it.

My dad is a independent dealer back home in Laredo, Texas

with a partner who owns a Ford and Chevy GMC store.

And after graduating from high school,

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do as a career,

but I knew I wanted to help others and serve others.

And so my dad found out about Northwood

at a Mannheim auction and was like,

hey, Miha, if you wanna learn a little bit from me,

maybe go to school and check out if automotive is for you.

And then every summer,

you can come back and work with me

and I'll teach you the business from the ground up.

And then that way you can see if this is truly for you.

And just growing up in the business,

I saw how it was able to provide for my family.

I'm one of seven kids total from the same parents.

And so come from a big family

and the business has been so good to my family

and the people surrounded by the people

that were there at the dealership.

I always say there's no other people

like car business people.

And so that's how I got into the business

and I learned to love it

is the fact of the matter of just growing up in it

and figuring out that this was for me.

And ultimately I've learned that it has similar characteristics

as some sports that I've played all throughout my childhood.

That's true.

And something that Fred and I've been speaking about

for a little while now

about how this actually is so much inside of our field,

a game that we're really great at

and we get paid quite a bit to do

and have the time of our lives as we do it

much like a professional athlete.

And for so long inside of this business

there's been different challenges

to how we view ourselves as professionals.

But dang it, we pro

and I'm proud to be pro inside of the car game.

I'm thankful to be pro inside of the car game

and I'm thankful for the people

that we've been able to be connected to

and build relationships inside of the car game.

There's so much value that is to be said

inside of all of us being able to

be our full selves inside of this industry.

And I'm so thankful that this is a place

where we're able to find that

and then find the people that actually

want to cheer us on,

actually want what's good for us

and actually are wanting to see us get ahead.

And we're just so thankful that

we've been consistently trying to build a platform

for people to be able to

so into the rest of the community

some of the good seeds

and some of the good vibes really

that they have to enhance everybody else's

pursuit to be their best.

And Norma, we get the chance

to see so many different people

just in their strides,

trying to go to that next level,

trying to reach to the next level

and to getting you over to Automotive Mastermind.

What was it that ultimately made you

really want to make the leap over there?

That's another great question.

Once graduating from Northwood,

I joined Group One Automotive

and the manager training program.

So I worked in service parts,

body shop, sales, finance,

a little bit of everything starting as a porter.

Ultimately, my goal was to run a store one day.

And due to the fact of the matter is

I wanted to make an impact

around the community, around the people.

You make it a great place to work at

for anyone and everybody.

But I'm not in control, God's in control.

And so I learned that real quick,

real young ultimately became a pre-owned manager

at a Ford store prior to joining Mastermind.

And I learned that, like I said, I'm not in control.

I made the leap of faith

due to the fact that I started a family.

And so I am a mother now.

And so I have two little boys

that I have an opportunity to raise.

So ultimately Mastermind was a great fit

for me at this time in my journey.

And so I'm very grateful

because I also get to work alongside a lot of great people

and on the tech side,

along with obviously a lot of people in the retail side

from so many different dealerships.

So I'm still rockin' and rollin', serving others.

The same thing, same, different, but same ultimately.

Same, but different, but same.

Right, yeah, I love that.

Great way to say that.

But it is, no matter what,

you fall in love with everything you do both ways.

And I love that you're retail first,

that you were coming up wanting to run your own store

and you were going your path and you said,

it's on God's time.

And there is a great time for that.

And it's gonna be really a blessing when it does happen

or whichever path you end up taking.

I was like, you know what, actually?

And what you're doing is you're taking the faith

and you're believing in that faith

and taking that faith.

You think you became a mother to two young boys.

That's amazing.

That's a blessing to them two boys, but to you.

As parents, Lou and I can tell you,

and I know for sure,

being the parent was the blessing.

It totally was.

Changed me as a person.

As much as I was able to influence my child,

what he did for me, I could never pay back.

And that's a beautiful thing to be able to do.

And you're gonna,

that changes you in so many different ways.

I love your journey.

I love hearing your story that you were used car manager

trying to make that happen.

That's strong.

I can't wait to get deeper in a conversation

about that a little bit,

but we make decisions along the way.

You go from intern to strategic partner now, right?

And it's crazy how that all works out.

That's a powerful rise

when it comes into what we're doing.

And you're just, you're still young.

You still got so much coming ahead of you.

Well, what key moments or decisions

that you made during your journey

that have helped you get to where you are

and become the leader that you are now?

Okay, so decisions wise to become a leader.

I would say,

I would say following my faith

is one of the biggest things

that really every single day

that really has helped me along the way.

So being surrounded by people

that believe in the same faith

and can obviously cheer you on,

as you said, is very important, right?

When you find good people in your life,

you wanna stick to them

and hold on to them super tight

because they're gonna be the ones

to help you just as you help them, right?

But ultimately, I would say

just serving others every single day

and making sure that you understand

that we're on this earth for a reason

and we're not here to make it harder for people.

And so if there's a way where we can help

and in any way I can help anyone

in anything and everything,

I'm gonna do my very best to just try to help it

live easier than harder, if that makes sense.

It does, but I just gotta say,

I heard what you said there at the end

is I didn't come here to make things harder on people.

I wanna make it easier on people.

If that was everybody's mission,

how great would this world be?

At the basis of all we do,

we could just be servant

and make everyone's life better around us.

That is, that's ultimate love.

I appreciate that.

I appreciate you sharing that.

And yes, we got a LinkedIn user that says amen and amen.

That is right.

Amen to that.

Speaking of amen, speaking of yes

and speaking of let it be,

let's go ahead and take that walk down over here

because at the end of the day,

we are nothing unless we are connected

to the master's mind

and being who it is that we are.

It's very important that we do lean into

what it is that we believe and live it out,

not just have it as a sprinkle

or as a condiment onto the main event in the meal,

but as the subject of the meal.

Understanding that's where the meal came from per se.

There has been a shift inside of automotive.

We've seen it.

I don't know if there was a particular paradigm shift

moment that we can put our finger on

to say, hey, it was right here.

All of a sudden the third grade awakening

happened inside of automotive.

But I believe that for some reason in my heart of hearts

that in the sales world

that is where the third grade awakening is emerging from.

The greatest speakers and the greatest sales professionals

of them all are beginning to learn

how to compel people with the gospel, with truth

and with love that brings encouragement

to people to be fully who it is that they are.

Now we are completely convinced

that you being fully who you are is true glory to God

because that's how he made you, right?

He inscribed certain things into your DNA to come about

and we're starting to see that come

about in many different people

finding and discovering themselves in it.

But what have you seen on your side

of this industry beginning to embrace faith

and speaking about faith

because it used to be one thing that was very taboo

and now you see more people that are brave

about speaking it even in the face of sometimes being,

being, I don't know, vulnerable to cancel culture.

Yeah, what I've seen and I deal with

about 20 dealerships around DFW, right?

What I've seen is I think a lot of people

are everyday going, the industry in itself

is so fast paced, right?

And so you're constantly on the go-go.

What I've seen is that the next generation

doesn't necessarily want that.

And I've been learning and just observing and teaching

with what Mastermind has to provide services

to the dealership, right?

But ultimately challenging people to slow down

and ignore the noise because with what I'm doing

in the dealership level

with everything being fast paced

the slowing down is what's helping people wake up

and challenging them to just take it one day at a time

whether it be the habits that they're doing

within the dealership and then that way ultimately

whatever goals they have at play for the month

it's due to the daily habits

that they're doing every single day.

Oh, wow.

Okay, okay, daily habits are important.

Daily habits are key, especially having a conversation

which you first love, right?

Being able to make sure

that you make that connection early in the day

that set that forward for you for the rest.

It does definitely change the way you think of people

when you start to think of what the creator thinks

of that person first

even when they're not necessarily showing you

their best face.

I will tell you this, everybody that I meet, right?

Not everybody is the nicest person on this planet

and it's okay.

But yeah, but I will tell you this

and everybody that I meet

I'm gonna find something that I love about them

and that's how I try to lead whenever I'm in store

because I don't know what that person's going through

on a daily basis.

I don't wanna throw them off the edge, right?

That's not my intention.

That's not why I'm here.

Again, making it easier, not harder for people.

Love that.

And that's a powerful way of living

and we have to remind ourselves of that sometimes.

Sometimes you wanna go for somebody like, get out my way

but my heart always knows what's right and what's wrong, right?

And the right thing sometimes is something

we have to sit back and breathe for a moment, right?

Take our time and that's part of growth in our lives.

One thing that we know and I've heard about you

is that you're all about continuous growth

and you're always about driving,

trying to find the next thing

that takes you to the next level

from being working in a dealership

from bottom to top, right?

Trying to get your work your way up there

continuing growth.

Then coming and taking this opportunity

and raising a family at the same time

continual growth and raising a family

is always continual growth.

That's the blessing of children, right?

But at the same time,

these things work inside dealerships, real time.

So for you, real time inside of a dealership,

what does that mantra of continuous growth,

how does that bring advantage to a dealer per se?

And really, how can you get other people inside

and around you to take that same type of mindset?

Yeah, great question.

So when I go into the dealership

and being a dealer relations manager

with Automotive Mastermind,

one of the primary things is just focusing on the why.

Why did they partner with us?

Reminding them since the beginning,

why did they partner with us?

And shout out to my director

for giving us that insight

and just making sure we lead with the why

because we gotta make sure

that we keep that top of mind

and everything that we do.

And so just talking through that

and then understanding their goals for the quarter

and then breaking them down month

to make sure it aligns

with what they're trying to achieve.

And so when I'm going in there

and consulting with the dealership,

it's not about me,

it's not about Mastermind,

it's about them.

Ultimately, just getting down

to the nitty-gritty of it of strategy,

implementing strategy

and then not recreating a process.

It's more of figuring out

where we fit in their process

because we don't need to reinvent the wheel.

There's no need.

It's just trying to figure out

what they're already doing

and making small, right?

I think a continuous improvement mentality,

making small adjustments

that maybe will make a bigger impact

for the overall partnership.

And so looking into that and dialing in

whatever needs they need,

we're there that way we can help them ultimately win, right?

Yeah.

Which is the goal, right?

Is to help them win, right?

It's not winning the account,

it's not winning the new relationship,

it's getting the win for them.

And that's what it does,

whether it's a customer

that's purchasing a vehicle

or serving the dealer

that's making all of that occur for the market.

A Solutionary operates with these core values.

For those of you that don't know,

a Solutionary does have five core values.

The first one is love.

The second one is faith.

The next one is honor.

Then you have to be adaptable and consistent.

Those five core values inherently

is what it takes to be a Solutionary

or what we say at the core is a Solutionary.

But no matter who it is that becomes one

has to adapt to the surrounding

and to the mission of their company.

Whether it is somebody that serves the industry

or somebody that serves the customer,

it's very important that decisions are made

from that particular point.

And the ability to remain adaptable

is one that is definitely something

that is shown to the seasoned car guys

and car gals of this business

because we have taken so many different shifts.

Jennifer is jumping in, excited to see you back, Jen.

And she says the one and only normal Williamson,

representing automotive mastermind, yes, she is.

And she is a Solutionary

and we're talking about Solutionaries rising

but being able to have core values and core belief,

how does that help to actually help you navigate

where it is that you're trying to go

even when things seem a little bit shaky

and seem a little bit weird?

How much easier is it for you to navigate

through crazy waters

knowing that you at least have your North Star?

Yes, every single day, just living by faith.

That's gonna be helping me every single day.

I would say with having God in my life,

there's some sort of peace, right?

In you, there should be some sort of peace, right?

But ultimately at the end of the day,

things that are meant to be are meant to be.

If they don't go my way, that's not my way.

So just taking and walking it day by day

and whatever comes my way, I'll tackle it the day of

and if it goes great, if not, it is what it is.

It's part of the journey, right?

And ultimately, hopefully I'm not the same person

I am today in the next 10 years,

because ultimately whatever these things

that are coming through in my life or anybody's life,

it's just to help us grow.

So true, I don't know about you, Fred,

but if I run into a mug of coffee that I leave aside

or I forget about going through the day, I like,

and it didn't get the attention that it was supposed to get,

I don't wanna throw it out.

Why?

I don't like wasting coffee.

I don't like wasting anything

that I knew actually took a whole lot of work to get

and dang it, where the car got a coffee crew,

we don't waste coffee around these parts.

No.

So that means we'll close you?

Yes.

We'll close you.

So I put me and Lou against maybe two team crew ever

and we'll see what's up.

Bring them, bring them.

No doubt.

But at the end of the day, I don't wanna waste it.

And then none of the things that we seem

to not get the attention or get the love

at the right time, or maybe it gets cold,

some of our dreams, some of our desires,

some of the things that we want,

maybe they even get a little bit lukewarm.

Sometimes it just takes the opportunity for us to take it,

put it back inside of the fire for a little bit,

put it back inside of something to heat it back up

and then replenish it, revive it, bring it back,

because it shouldn't be wasted.

Even the bad stuff doesn't get wasted.

All things work together for our good.

And when I look,

that God does not waste the things

that happen inside of our life.

If anything, those are a lot of the times,

the things that are really shaping our life

and creating us.

There's a lot of lessons that are learned through scars.

And those scars are also evidence of where we've healed.

And because of that,

we get the chance to help other people triumph,

help other people grow to that next level.

I know that you love to see success for other people.

With that, you probably have a great mentor, mentee

type of relationship going on.

But where is it that you normally go outside

we understand your faith, we're with you there

and definitely know you go to the source

and he's lining it all up for you

to get whatever resources you need.

But where do you usually,

where do you go in other directions

to be able to find people to pour into your life

to continue giving you something to give to others?

Yeah, so I would give a lot of that credit

to my parents, my husband,

my mother-in-law and father-in-law,

my children, right?

So it's love, right?

They pour love.

So ultimately, I don't know other ways to live

other than showing love to others.

So again, pouring love to others every single day

to help along the way,

because I don't know their journey, right?

All the time, some may share,

some may not at the end of the day.

I would say I would have to recognize

love shown from my parents,

love shown from my husband,

my children and my mother-in-law and father-in-law.

That's all I want, I can't.

It's a lot of honor there.

I love that, and I love that.

And I would say my siblings too,

because I have to say my siblings too.

You got to, right?

My mother-in-law.

Yeah, that's it.

Yeah.

Tough love.

They showed me tough love.

They will and they'll keep showing you tough love

and that's beautiful, right?

We need that in our life.

We need all those accountability,

love people in our grass

that just absolutely love us.

Family will do that for us.

Love is big.

And along the way, right?

You have your work family.

So I will give a shout out to Mastermind

because of the culture.

It's similar love to how I was raised.

And so I feel like I have been able

to be my authentic self there,

due to the fact that they have love within the culture.

And I hope that my dealer partners

and everybody I meet feels the same way

in regard to whenever they deal

with any type of mastermind, personnel, partner,

that they feel the same thing when we're dealing with them,

while we're there in store.

I promise you, your clients feel exactly that way.

There's no doubt that you make sure of it

by the actions that you take.

And I'm sure that you've seen this industry.

You've been seeing it grow.

You've been through it, right?

You've been on two sides of the fence, right?

In a lot of ways.

And so you have a really cool perspective

on what you see the future look like.

You've been in major auto group.

You've been with the automotive mastermind now.

What excites you the most about

where the industry is heading right now?

And how can solutionaries like us and you

and us rising ones out there stay ahead of the curve?

Yes, so the industry is changing so fast.

It has been changing so much.

One of the things, huh?

So much, it's crazy.

It's gonna continue to change, right?

Change is the only thing in life that's constant.

And one of the things that I'm looking forward to

is seeing leadership continuously rise.

One of the things that I've seen

from before COVID to COVID to where we at today,

leadership is improving every single day.

And I think us as solutionaries,

one of the things is we need to highlight

what's going on with that

and continuously relay it back to the marketplace,

to people, and then making sure every single day

that we are continuously helping with that change.

And so what I have been seeing is all of this

on social media, on the day to day live,

the next generation coming in,

they wanna help be that change

of maybe they didn't have any leaders

that showed some sort of love to them,

not necessarily repeating the cycle, but changing it.

And so that way, ultimate lead

for the next generation of lead,

that's what I'm looking forward to

is seeing them actually take the time

to get to know people, understand the why,

and leave from the front lines

because that's what I've been seeing lately.

So I'm looking forward to seeing that more and more.

And then the technology side, right?

It's incredible to see all the technology

that's coming out, again, making it easier for people,

not making it harder on this earth, right?

And so the technology, implementing it

into the dealership and seeing what works, what doesn't,

what can we improve on

by do seeing all the challenges that are coming up,

the integrations between companies,

because ultimately the integrations and partnerships

that we see these companies joining together

because dealers are empowering these companies.

Typically you hear a lot of companies

are empowering dealerships.

I see it the other way around.

I would challenge that statement and say,

dealers are empowering companies.

They want better products.

They want better people to deal with.

They want to be the best.

And I don't blame them.

And so I am excited for that,

for the technology side

and seeing it improve every single day

for the sake of the industry as a whole.

That's awesome.

Great, great stuff.

Getting to the tech and getting to the integrations,

what is on the horizon

as we are on the second half of the year of 2025?

A lot of things have been exciting

as we've gone through the year,

but goodness folks, we are past the halfway point

and there's a lot that's brewing.

And before you know it,

we're going to be back at the NADA convention

where everybody's hustling and bustling,

Super Bowl background, all that stuff is happening.

But what is right now some of the most exciting stuff

that's on the horizon

considering technical upgrades or integrations,

but what's popping with Automotive Mastermind

that people need to know about?

I will tell you this.

And I'm pretty sure Erin mentioned it on the podcast,

but at the end of the day,

we're trying to improve sales efficiency

for every single salesperson on 18.

And so again, aligning with not making it harder

for people making it easier.

And so there are some things coming down the line

that I'm not sure, Jennifer is not on the call,

that I'm not sure I can, I cannot say.

At the end of the day,

just know that there are so many great things.

And I would challenge dealers,

I'm challenging dealers, to listen, to learn.

Listen, to learn.

And I say this respectfully

as someone just speaking on behalf of the industry

and just seeing the next generation,

listen to learn because there's a lot of things

in this world that we don't know what we don't know,

but listening and then finding what kind of questions

you may have to follow up

with whatever products people are sharing with them

because there's a lot of products out there,

so much noise, we talked about that.

But slowing down and you listen to learn

is one of the challenges that I love.

I think a lot of people in this industry

and what I see going on at times

because we're so constantly moving so fast,

people are not slowing down to listen to learn

and they may miss out on active listening

to see how what great changes could come about

if you partner with certain people.

And technology, that's what I leave you with.

That's a great tip.

That's a great tip for any dealer out there,

for any business entrepreneur.

When you're doing things, really think about it,

take your time and make it special for you.

But it's not about speed anymore.

It's about really taking your time

and it's actually to me luxury.

Like that's a luxury way of living,

luxurious way of living I should say.

And we want to continue to do that.

And I like that.

You're preaching some really good stuff

to people out there.

I love how you implore these dealers

to challenge them to take it to the next level

by just listening, actively listening and learning

and seek first to understand, then to be understood.

And that's some good Stephen Covey stuff.

Lou and I love preaching at everywhere we go.

Any salesperson who's dealt with Lou and I know that.

We talk about that because we have to remind ourselves

every single day that too, right?

It's important that we do that.

And it's powerful and it really is.

And if you learn to be that way, be a servant leader.

You learn to really take risks in life

but also make calculated risks.

Do it the right way, but really do the math behind it.

Figure out where you want to be.

I got to ask one last question about automotive mastermind.

Of course.

I got to ask because we love them.

We love everything that we've seen,

watching them grow and they're not stopping.

They're always, if you want to talk about

the kings of integration, you guys are it.

What has been one of the biggest success stories

that you could think of?

They may be one that may,

it doesn't have to be the biggest success story

but one that just warms your heart up.

One that you really know is love.

Like something that came about

because a dealer partnered up with you all

and it changed the way that their projection was going.

Yes, I can't, I would say I can't show names

but I will tell you this.

There's a dealership out there that is,

I love all my dealerships.

So before anybody calls me out on this,

I love everybody at my dealerships.

They know that but this particular dealer,

Q1 was challenging for them, right?

They weren't where they wanted to be.

Processes weren't necessarily there.

And so one of the things what we did was slow down,

dialed into the strategy of what is going out

to loyalty clients.

And again, it's the day to day that we get lost in, right?

So slowing down, getting down to the new degree of strategy.

So let's figure this out, strategy.

All right, where you guys want to be

at the end of the quarter.

All right, what do we need to do

every single day to get there?

Okay, great.

Ultimately, leadership stepped up so well.

The intentionality of the day to day habits

changed within the dealership

where after Q2 ended, they were hitting

the numbers they wanted to hit.

They were so happy.

The team, the culture had changed so much

due to the fact of the matter is intentional leadership.

It warmed my heart learning and seeing.

And as a partner, you might find this a little weird,

maybe not, there's people already doing this.

I'm really big on texting and just reaching out

to see how stores are doing because I truly do care

and checking in on individual salespeople,

teams, leadership.

I don't say management.

I say leadership when I'm in store

which throws people off salespeople.

I love it.

I love that you say that.

That's leadership.

I'm like, yes, leadership.

It's a solutionary way all day.

So leadership stepping up,

it warmed my heart seeing them step up

and being there for their team.

When their sales staff needed help

on taking turns they were there.

If the sales staff needed help on setting the appointment,

because we can't get the customer in, they call it.

And so mastermind helped them do that,

but lining up the strategy so that way

at the end of the quarter, we're not asking what happened.

They did something about it, but since the beginning, right?

Planning, setting goals, executing every single day

with the habits and with the processes

that they put at play, right?

We work together on collaborating on that.

And then it's not my idea, it's their idea.

And then ultimately, no for real.

I know.

I love that answer, that's exactly right.

People get in the way of that and it's like,

no really, we wanna place ourselves in a position

that makes people think of the answer.

Maybe we're putting the answer option in front of them,

which is good.

This is sometimes what we should do,

especially if we're helping to lead or consult.

But it does have to be their idea, right?

And at the end of the day,

that they're more adopting of the way going forward

if it is and if it feels that way as well.

But just because we put solutions out in front of them

doesn't mean that we're making decisions for them.

We just help them make the right decision.

And if it is their idea, great.

If we present the option for them and they select it, great.

But it should totally be their idea on any avenue of sales.

Yeah, and the data doesn't line, right?

And so ultimately, when you compare Q1

and Q2 results for this dealership,

man, the cost per sale, the profitability,

the amount of sales, mastermind attribution,

you call it influence sales.

But, because we don't sell cars,

we are a marketing and data company.

And so-

The dealership sells the cars, right?

Exactly.

So we're just creating traffic into the dealership, right?

That's it.

The cherry on top is the team using it.

That's the cherry on top.

So at the end of the day, comparing the results,

you can see the results there.

I love it.

But it's because leadership led with being intentional.

So intentional leadership is so important.

And that was truly, I was so happy to see that due to the fact,

that's how it should be.

And I'm hoping for the future

that this next generation does lead with intentionality

because it, and this is a store that's led

by a young rising star as well.

Let's go.

Let's, rising solutionaries everywhere doing big things.

They say the fish rots from the head down, folks.

And it takes the leader to keep that fish fresh,

to keep that body, keep moving

this way that we can be the best that we could possibly be.

I love you talked about incremental growth.

Really, 1% a day,

you're gonna do more than 1% most days.

But if you just did one,

it's that's something positive for that day, right?

Something more than you did the day before.

I love that you talked about leadership inside the store.

And when leaderships take the role and they take Pete

and they actually look at the analytics,

like literally you guys have predictive analytics for them.

Here, this is what it looks like.

This is what it's gonna be if you do this.

Yeah, exactly.

That's what you all do.

I love predictive analytics.

Yeah, data doesn't lie at all.

They don't.

Yeah, and like I said, data doesn't lie.

Mastermind has incredible data.

We're owned by S&P Global.

We're part of their mobility sector.

And under, yeah, but just understanding

the fact of the matter is aligning with what they come

with the dealerships want to do,

helping them get to where they want to be.

And then ultimately having the data

to showcase what we are doing.

That's some incredible things.

And I'm so grateful to be a part of this

because like I said, great company,

you guys know that great culture, great people.

And I'm hoping that everybody understands

and listens to learn, to understand exactly

that mastermind is here as a marketing and data company.

Boom.

And they have you.

And when you keep saying people,

you are those people, right?

And without people like you out there doing things

like this, having that type of heart of servant,

having that type of heart of listening first type stuff,

doing all the right stuff, giving people what they need

and giving them opportunity to learn from that

and cheering them on.

I love that you message daily.

There are so many really good points, folks.

I hope you are watching this show and taking notes

on how to really be a good strategic partner

for your people.

If you're in the vendor sector

and you're looking to make sure that you're,

that you don't lose retention,

that you don't have high churn

when it comes to your clientele.

That's what it takes.

If you just let it sit there,

let it sit it and forget it type stuff,

they're gonna fall apart and not on purpose.

They're gonna forget that you're even there

and then they're not gonna think that you even care.

People don't care till they know you care.

So make sure you show them you care,

do little things like that,

catch it before it could become something.

You know, when you get ahead of the game

and you're in there, they'll speak to you freely.

They'll be like, Hey, look, it's working.

It's not doing what you said it was gonna do

or maybe they're just not doing

what they think they're doing.

And that's why you have to team up and get together

and give them real data.

And that's what you all do.

And I appreciate you for that.

And I appreciate that Automotive Mastermind

has such an amazing rising solutionary like you, Norma,

just crushing it out there,

bringing such grace in class as a mother,

as a wife, as a daughter, as a car gal,

crushing it in the industry.

So excited to have you on the show today.

It's been a great conversation.

Thank you.

No, I'm thankful to be here.

So again, thank you to Jennifer

for giving me the opportunity as well.

Thank you for saying yes.

And ultimately, thank you to everybody

that at the end of the day I've met,

everybody has made an impact in my life

and I'm a sponge.

So I can learn a little bit from everybody,

but from how I was raised,

going to Northwood, Group One, Mastermind,

just incredible people all throughout my life.

So I'm very grateful.

That's awesome.

We are grateful to you and folks,

we are at the end of this cup of Car Guy Coffee,

which has actually been a brew of car gal coffee.

And we're so thankful that Norma is taking the time

to spend with us today.

Cheers, cheers to you.

Cheers to you, Fred.

Fantastic.

Glad that we got through some of the technicals.

Folks, things happen,

but no matter what ends up happening,

we gotta make sure that as solutionaries,

we keep our eyes focused.

I love that you were talking about leadership today

and we do believe that you need to be fit to lead.

That's focused, intentional and transformational.

And with that, we do have F-bombs

that do help out with that particular type of growing.

And that is to forgive, to focus and to fly

so we can keep growing all the time.

Automotive Mastermind is an incredible company

that folks, you need to reach out to.

If you don't know what they do,

well, you have no excuse because you can book a demo

and it doesn't cost you anything,

but a little bit of time

to get into this Automotive Mastermind.

We are excited to be brewing

with each and every one of you.

Fred Lenarch, the sub-prime hero is here with us

and he has been brewing solutions.

And I'm so thankful that he made it back onto the show.

I was scared that we were gonna have to float this

without your voice,

but I'm so thankful that we got you on here.

The crazy part wasn't even my voice.

That was on your side.

It was your mic was out.

The beautiful part is everything worked out

and we had a solutionary in here

who didn't even flinch on it.

She was like, yeah, okay, we'll just keep it moving.

Folks, if you wanna get ahold of Norma,

here's her email address

and Williamson at AutomotiveMastermind.com.

She's willing to answer any questions

and get you in touch with whoever you need to be

in touch with.

That is what the masterminds about.

They're helping you mastermind the next level.

Thanks for your store, for your business

and for your people.

Great job today.

Appreciate you, Norma.

But yeah, we do drop F-bombs before

that don't offend the moms.

Apologize, this won't offend you though,

because it's your mama too, right?

And these are the F-bombs that help you keep growing

and that's to forgive, focus and fly.

And there's a dance moves that come with it, Norma.

If you watched any of our shows,

you know what they are.

We're gonna wipe off the weight of unforgiveness.

We're gonna get focused.

We're gonna fly together on a count of three

and we're gonna forgive, focus, fly.

All right, Lou, count it off, bro.

One, two, three.

Forgive.

Focus.

Fly.

And keep growing.

Keep growing.

Thank you, Norma, for taking some time

to hang with us today.

And for each and every one of you

that have been paying attention to the podcast

and have been encouraged,

make sure that you blow her up

whether you've been watching this on YouTube.

You, YouTube-ians, have been watching us today

and we appreciate you being out there.

But if you've been watching this on Facebook, Instagram,

if you've been watching this on LinkedIn

or anywhere inside of the podcast world,

you've been listening.

Thank you so much.

On X, yep, we out there.

So folks, make sure that you do listen a little bit more

to what it is that these solutionaries are saying

because there's a lot of solutionaries rising.

They drop some incredible stuff

inside of these short segments

that we get the chance to just get a little bit

in our cup of their wisdom and experiences

and we get to share it with you.

You can go to CarGuyCoffee.com to get some more of it

and find out about what some of our sponsors

are brewing out there for the solutions needed

inside of the automotive world.

Tim, we appreciate you

because yes, Norma did do an excellent job.

I think that's somebody that she knows well.

Love you.

That's awesome, man.

Let's go.

We need to go in, Tim.

Got some brownie points.

Amazing job, Norma, I love it.

Fantastic job, Norma.

These are some,

there's so much love being thrown at you.

I got to say.

A lot of love.

D-Mag.

Got to say, what's up?

You know, they say dropping diamonds out here.

She dropped tons of gems.

Like, I hope everybody was listening.

If you didn't, you could always watch this on the replay.

Take notes, folks.

Throw your A.I. on it, let it download it

and then you say, give me the best part of it.

It's going to give you a list of tons of stuff

that Norma just dropped for all of us

to be able to take, pour in our cups and sip on it.

I love this brew today.

This was a special brew.

We didn't percolate problems.

We brewed solutions all because we had somebody

that we love having on the show today.

Because we don't,

we're looking for something really amazing.

We're on a quest to brew with the best.

And we are so blessed

that we got to do that with you today.

Thank you, Norma.

Thank you again, everybody out there.

Drop those coffee cup emojis, reach out to Norma.

If you want a little pick me up

because I know she knows how to do that

and give you that encouragement that you need.

And we have received that today.

Thank you for pouring inside of our cup.

For all those listeners out there,

I am Lou Ramirez, the Car Guy.

And now for our subprime hero.

Moving Brewing Solutions and the Car Guy Coffee Podcast.

For the first time, no one.

The only Norma

Later, everybody.

We out.

About this episode

Norma Williamson shares her inspiring journey from intern to a key player in the automotive industry. Growing up in a family deeply rooted in car sales, she discusses how her upbringing shaped her passion for helping others and her career choices. The conversation highlights the importance of faith, intentional leadership, and continuous growth within the industry. Norma emphasizes the need for dealerships to adapt and embrace technology while maintaining a focus on community and relationships. Her insights on servant leadership and the evolving landscape of automotive sales provide a fresh perspective on what it means to thrive in this fast-paced environment.

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Original notes

Solutionaries Rising: Norma Williamson's Journey in the Automotive Industry

Welcome to the Car Guy Coffee Podcast. Kickstart your day the right way and join us as we tap into the brightest minds and most passionate voices across the automotive world to bring you the education, motivation, and inspiration you need to thrive. From the showroom floor to the service lane, prepare to Upshift and Uplift your perspective.

In this episode, hosts Lennartz and Lou Ramirez sit down with Norma Williamson, a rising star in the automotive industry and a Dealer Relations Manager at Automotive Mastermind. Norma discusses her journey from growing up in an automotive family to joining the industry, her path through various roles, and her current position at Automotive Mastermind. She emphasizes the importance of faith, intentional leadership, continuous growth, and the role of technology and predictive analytics in modern dealerships. Join us as we discuss personal and professional growth, the evolving dynamics of the automotive industry, and the importance of love, faith, and intentionality in leadership.

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