Store manager relishes tire industry role with VIP

ROCKPORT, Maine — Maggie Knudsen acknowledges that her career choice certainly is "different."

She could have followed a similar path as her father and her sister, who both are in construction, or her brother, a welder.

Instead, after tinkering around with cars at home, she chose a career in the tire and automotive service industry, working her way up from a technician to a store manager in the nearly six years she has worked at Auburn, Maine-based VIP Tires & Service.

"It's the best choice I ever made," Ms. Knudsen said with a smile, speaking to Tire Business during a break in VIP's 2021 annual managers conference, held Aug. 30-Sept.2 at the Somoset Resort in Rockport.

"It's just nuts and bolts," she said. "Take it apart one way, and it goes back together hopefully the same way."

Ms. Knudsen continues to do that — at least occasionally — while she is not overseeing the VIP store in Saco, Maine, a community of around 18,500 located on Maine's Atlantic coast.

The store ranks second among VIP's 65 retail outlets, generating more than $2 million in business annually.

VIP's fiscal year just began on Sept. 1, and the Saco store, with five bays and an alignment rack, is budgeted for $2.3 million in sales.

"We plan to do that and then some," she said. 'My goal is $2.5 million."

Ms. Knudsen is accustomed to reaching her goals. In 2015, she applied at VIP to become a service writer, but her boss back then decided she was a better fit as a tech, and a career was born.

She said she worked her way up the tech ladder, "learning from the best at the store."

But once she became a mom — Charlotte Virginia was born May 29, 2020 — she decided tech work wasn't for her. Store manager Jon Gough "took her under his wing," making her a service writer, then assistant, then a manager in training.

She said Mr. Gough knew she wanted to grow into an expanded role.

"The first time he became the boss and we sat down for monthly coaches meeting, I told him, 'One day, this is what I want to do,'" she said. "He took that seriously and pretty much grew me into who I am now with VIP. Obviously he wants me to keep going."

Mr. Gough was promoted to a market manager of three stores.

"I think it was a month and a half later, and he gave me Saco," she said.

She is one of four female store managers at VIP; the others are Lisa Mullen (Lewiston, Maine); Kerry Meagher (Merrimack, N.H.); and Robin Brayson (Bangor, Maine).

The challenges of a first-year manager, she said, were minimal.

"The biggest challenge I had is I was a tech, and I was one of them, so they still look at me sometimes," she said. "But then they realize, 'Hey, she got here, this is what she's doing,' and I will lead them in the right direction. Nothing has changed when Jon left and I took over. It stayed the same because he trained me that well."

In a few rare instances, she said, some male customers can be difficult. Some ask for someone else if their vehicle has an issue.

"I tell them, 'Let me help you first,'" Ms. Knudsen said, "and 90% of them will let you."

And if they still aren't satisfied, she turns them over to her male boss.

"It's extremely rare," Ms. Knudsen said.

She had the same experience as a tech: Some complained they didn't want a female tech working on their car.

"So Jon convinced them and said she can do it better than any one of the other guys can," Ms. Knudsen said. "They gave me the chance, and they kept coming back."

Ms. Knudsen said her pay is equal to her male counterparts.

Customers appreciate her analytical ability.

"They praise us because we can focus sometimes a little bit more on a problem and figure it out faster," she said.

Ms. Knudsen has some simple advice for any female considering a career in the automotive service and tire industry: Just do it.

"There's nothing to be afraid about," she said. "Females can do anything they want to do."

Lynn Campbell, VIP's marketing manager, called it a "breakthrough job" for those not inclined for a corporate job.

"It's a great career choice for people who enjoy working with hands and working with people," Ms. Campbell said. "Women just need to understand that it's not an exclusive male field any longer."

Ms. Knudsen said she works as many as seven days a week as she works toward her goal of becoming VIP's first female market manager. She said she enjoys spending time with her daughter and fiancée, a mechanic at a VIP's location in Westbrook, Maine.

Her daughter is already showing early signs of following her mother's career path.

"She loves to hang out in the garage when I take her down for a visit," she said. "A tire pops, and she laughs. She's one with all the guys already.

"She's a future manager at VIP."