The Auto Care Association recently announced the winners of its annual awards, recognizing excellence within the industry through education, innovation, and future leadership, including the Impact: Four for the Future Award winners. The awards were announced during the association’s Fall Leadership Days event in Denver, Colorado.

The Impact Award: Four for the Future honors four auto care industry professionals, under the age of 40, who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership or have made remarkable strides within the auto care industry.

2022 Impact Award Winners are: Grace Hovis, Elle Lawhead, Stacey Miller and Meagan Moody.

Grace Hovis, director, marketing and training, Hovis Auto & Truck Supply, Inc.

Grace Hovis is the third generation to come into her family’s business, Hovis Auto & Truck Supply, Inc., a 17-location warehouse distributor in Western Pennsylvania. Hovis directs all marketing and training initiatives and works closely with their sales team. Coming into the industry at a young age, she sees the importance of industry involvement and building the next generation of the aftermarket. Hovis currently serves as the vice chair of the Auto Care Association’s YANG community and sits on the association’s education committee.

Hovis has been heavily involved in grassroots initiatives for Right to Repair within her own company and is a supporter of ACPAC and UAF Coffee Club. Hovis was named one of Aftermarket News’s 2022 Women at the Wheel.

Elle Lawhead, senior category manager, merchandising, AutoZone

During her six years with AutoZone, Lawhead has been recognized as a professional development leader through mentoring, training and onboarding programs. As a core team member of “AZ WIN,” she focuses on empowering AutoZone employees through book clubs, mentoring programs, International Women’s Day celebrations and more. Lawhead has served as a team lead for the Girl Scouts “GIRL event,” where she shares her passion for the automotive aftermarket.

Lawhead has served as a member of the Auto Care Association’s Women in Auto Care community since 2019 and is currently the vice chair of its committee. Lawhead has also spent the last four years as a reader for the University of the Aftermarket Foundation (UAF) scholarship foundation. Scholarship, and especially providing opportunities for those interested in entering Automotive, remain Lawhead’s passion.

Stacey Miller, vice president, communications, Auto Care Association

With nearly 15 years of experience in corporate communications, Stacey Miller leads external communications efforts on behalf of the Auto Care Association, including PR, media relations, creative, website, print, email, social and multimedia.  An advocate for Right to Repair due to having a love for DIY automotive all her life, her passion centers around educating the industry and consumers about the issue and inspiring them to act.  

Miller and her team have tripled consumer awareness and reach of the association and industry through strategic communications efforts such as using data-based storytelling to earn media coverage in mainstream media outlets. Individually, Miller is active in as many organizations across the aftermarket as she can be. She currently serves as a liaison for the Auto Care Association’s Marketing and Communications committee and is a member of the Automotive Communications Council. She’s also been a speaker at Women in Auto Care’s Women’s Leadership Conference as well as the Young Auto Care Network Group’s Leadership Conference. Outside of the industry, she’s served as a speaker at conferences sharing best practices in PR and case studies to educate other communications professionals. Miller is also a donor to the Auto Care Political Action Committee (ACPAC), The University of the Aftermarket Foundation, AACF and the TechForce Foundation. In 2020, she was named an inaugural Woman at the Wheel by AftermarketNews and is a three-time nominee for Women in Auto Care’s Woman of Excellence award.  

Meagan Moody, head, customer strategy and marketing, North America, aftermarket, ZF Aftermarket

Joining ZF Aftermarket in 2011, Moody has always had a primary focus on the automotive aftermarket division while supporting other business units across commercial vehicle, on and off-highway, industrial and new mobility. In her role, Moody manages the daily digital market sales activities as well as driving the overall go-to market brand strategy for the ZF brands, including Lemförder, SACHS, TRW and WABCO.  In addition to her management roles at ZF Aftermarket, Moody is heavily involved across the industry in multiple association committees and boards. She currently sits on the Auto Care Association’s YANG council and Market Intelligence Committee and is a member of the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association’s (AASA) Marketing Executives Committee (MEC), AAPEX Events Committee and Modern Industry eXpertise (MiX). Moody also was named a 2021 AftermarketNews Women at the Wheel. honoree.

Moody was introduced to the industry while working at her grandfather’s parts store through high school. Continuing her grandfather’s work, just in a different manner, is something that keeps her tied to the industry wholeheartedly.

To learn more about the Auto Care Association’s annual scholarships, awards and other industry recognition opportunities currently open, visit autocare.org/awards.