Kellye Wicker is one of those people who never sought out the automotive aftermarket; rather, the automotive aftermarket found her (literally) after she spent much of her career building her diverse skillset while finding success in unapologetically being herself– and being true to herself– in the process.

“Never feel like you have to change who you are for a title or a role,” Wicker told us reflecting on her decades-long career in sales and marketing. “As women, be visible… We should be proud of ourselves, our teams and what we’re working on. We should tell people about it and not feel bad about communicating and marketing [our accomplishments].”

After graduating with her MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business, Wicker served as a senior manager and consultant for Accenture, helping one $1.6-billion company increase its bottom line by $7 million annually. She then turned to entrepreneurship and opened up a hot sauce business with her sister called Lillie’s of Charleston, growing it exponentially. From there, she held executive marketing roles at an IT company and a medical company before Valvoline Global Operations found and recruited her on LinkedIn to lead its marketing team in North America.

In this episode of Women at the Wheel, get to know Kellye as she reflects on the various roles she has held and how she has built up her skillset to get where she is today.

EPISODE OVERVIEW

• Why Kellye went back to school to receive her MBA and what she enjoyed about consulting at Accenture (1:10)
• How becoming COO of her family’s business helped add to her skillset (3:21)
• How Kellye set up Elekta’s first supplier diversity program (7:08)
• What attracted Kellye to the automotive aftermarket and Valvoline and how she has dealt with recent changes at the company (10:20)
• Kellye’s advice to other women navigating executive roles (14:33)
• What Kellye feels a female perspective bring to the corporate world (18:25)
• Ways Kellye feels automotive aftermarket companies can be more intentional about recruiting a diverse workforce (20:02)

Watch more episodes of Women at the Wheel here.