Audrey Knight is the general manager at Clark Nissan and Clark Hyundai in Kalispell, an MTADA member and MTADA’s NextGen director. The association recently spoke with Audrey about her life, career and plans as a director.
Audrey Knight grew up in Renton, Washington. “I feel like I was very blessed to grow up with a family who supported me and gave me a really solid start to life,” she said. “There has been less for me to overcome because I had a supportive family growing up.” She is close to both her parents and her older sister. “My dad started taking me to horse shows when I was a little child. We spent a lot of time on the road together, and our experiences gave me confidence and independence. My mom has been a solid rock throughout my whole life, and I am also close to my sister. She’s about a year and a half older than I am. When life is hard, or even when it just seems that way, my family and friends give me the support I need. I am grateful that I don’t have to walk through life alone.”
Horses have always been a big part of Audrey’s life. She worked at the barn when she was a child, cleaning stables and exercising or working with the horses.
Audrey did Running Start while she was attending high school at John F. Kennedy Catholic High School. The program allows high school students in Washington State to take college courses at community and technical colleges for high school and college credit. She moved to Helena, Montana, in 2008 to study at Carroll College, and she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a minor in Spanish. The college motto is “Non scholae, sed vitae” (Not for school, but for life).
Audrey loves the beautiful outdoors in Montana. She is often outdoors to ride horses or hike, and she enjoys the scenery, too. “I stayed here after graduation because I loved living in Montana so much,” said Audrey. “I’m very active, and Montana fits my lifestyle.”
Working at a dealership was not part of Audrey’s original plan. She needed a job after doing some internships with the forest service and an engineering company, saw a job ad on Craig’s list and applied. She was hired as a dealership finance manager at Penco Power Products and worked there for a year and a half.
Audrey was referred to the Green Auto Group when they purchased a Hyundai franchise in 2014, and they hired her to work in finance at Hyundai and Nissan for six years. Steve Justice, the regional manager for the Green Auto Group, promoted Audrey as the general manager about two years ago. The Clark Auto Group acquired the Green Auto Group’s Hyundai stores about a year ago. Audrey is now the general manager at Clark Nissan and Clark Hyundai in Kalispell.
Audrey is grateful to her mentors. “I’ve learned from so many people,” she said, “but the ones who stand out are the initial people who gave me opportunities despite my lack of experience.” For that reason, she is especially grateful to Rob and Larry Green, the owners of the Green Auto Group, and the late Ricky Franks, the former general manager. “I’m thankful to them for being open-minded and giving me the opportunity,” she said.
Audrey’s current mentor is Steve Justice. “He is the one who saw the potential in me in finance and offered me the general manager role. He taught me the value of doing right by the customer and our employees. He also taught me how important our people are.” She also values the current dealership owner, Cam Clark: “I couldn’t ask for a better person to learn from,” she said.
Audrey became an MTADA member because she appreciated the association’s support, and she wanted to support the association’s work for the dealership and the local community.
Membership has benefited Audrey personally and professionally because of the association’s amazing collective knowledge. She can ask questions about regulations or the correct procedure for situations that arise at work. “Personally, it’s great knowing there is a network of people I can talk to about ideas and the problems I am up against,” she said.
Audrey has now reached a point in her career where she is in a position to mentor others. When asked about the three most valuable lessons she has learned during her life so far, she gave the following list:
- Trust your gut. Be self-confident.
- Be honest with yourself and others.
- Stand firm in your convictions and always be open to learning. Ask the questions.
Audrey saw two important problems when she was asked about the problems currently facing the auto industry in Montana. One had to do with trust, and the other was about staffing problems. “As a whole, the auto industry has a tough time shedding past stigmas and earning our customers’ trust again,” she said. “In this market, it is important to establish trust and really take care of customers. But it takes good people at our dealership to give people the experience we want to give them, and it’s hard to find and train the right people.”
Audrey suggests that “the biggest part in earning our customers’ trust is having the right people and culture to solve those problems. You have to invest in your people and dictate a firm culture about how you want to treat employees and customers.”
She continued, “It’s important to invest in training our people on how we want them to interact with our customers and the end goal of the experience we want customers to have when they come into the dealership. It’s a long-term investment, but we will reap the rewards for years if we can invest in the right people and maintain the right culture and standards.”
When the MTADA board recently approved Audrey as next year’s NextGen Director, she made plans for what she wants to accomplish during the year. Audrey has decided to invest in the future of Montana’s auto dealers by encouraging them through support and education. She also wants to reach out to people outside the dealership industry and encourage them to have a career in the car business. “Too many people don’t know about the employment opportunities, or they don’t think it’s an option for them,” she said. Audrey plans to have networking events to tell people about the many jobs that dealerships can offer. These events will be educational and a good place to recruit employees.
“Dealerships have a lot of opportunities,” she said. “People know you can work at a dealership if you are on the sales side or are a skilled mechanic, but there’s also the whole support staff. You can also be a customer relations manager or a receptionist, work at the parts counter, provide office support, and be a delivery or shuttle driver. Many people don’t think about all the different jobs at the dealership.”
Audrey is glad she is an association member, and she is also grateful for the opportunity to be the NextGen Director. “I look forward to being part of the team and having an opportunity to learn,” she said.
