A Leadership Journey in Automotive

Michelle Pippin’s entry into the automotive world began with a broken timing belt, a stranded car, and a milestone birthday road trip for her daughter.

As a military wife living in Fairbanks, Alaska, she had promised her daughter a six and a half hour drive to the mall in Anchorage for her sixteenth birthday. They made the trip, celebrated well, and headed back toward home. Somewhere in the middle of Alaska’s long stretch of wilderness, every light on the dashboard lit up and the car lost power.

There was no cell service. No nearby town. Only the kindness of a passerby who offered to call ahead for a tow. What followed was an eight and a half hour ride back to Fairbanks at tow truck speed and a nineteen-hundred dollar bill.

Three weeks later, still without answers about her car, Michelle walked back into the shop with a simple observation. “You do not have anyone calling your customers and keeping them updated. It creates a lot of anxiety. Are you looking for help by chance?”

The owner was not looking, not really, but he humored her. A few text messages later, she had the job. Her title was “office lady.”

Learning the Business From Every Angle

Office lady meant everything. Michelle answered phones, ordered parts, managed service, handled billing, and covered every task in between. She describes those early days as “drinking from a fire hose.” It demanded perseverance and a willingness to learn on the fly.

“I learned that my work ethic was going to pay off for me in dividends,” she recalls. “And I leaned on that heavily.”

As she learned more about each part of the business, she earned the trust of the shop owner and the technicians. She discovered a strength she had never named before. She could build trust quickly. That ability became her defining leadership skill.

The shop grew under her leadership. First tripling, then doubling again. Soon she was operating three locations and training new teams in Arizona while the owner stepped away. She ran the entire enterprise before finally hitting a wall.

Michelle stepped out of automotive and worked briefly for the school district in Fairbanks, but the clarity came quickly. She missed the pace, the people, and the realness of the work. When her husband retired from the Army, she posted on social media, “You know who I am. You know what I can do. Automotive shop owners, let’s talk.”

That call led her to South Bend, Indiana, where she now serves as Chief Culture Officer and Corporate Trainer for TMT Automotive.

Turning Curiosity Into Research

With her daughters older and more independent, Michelle returned to school. First a bachelor’s in business management, then a master’s in leadership and organizational change. Each step unlocked the next until she found herself pursuing a doctorate at Baylor University.

When asked what she wanted to research, the answer was immediate. “Women,” she said. “I want to know more about what makes women stay in this industry.”

She studies women’s career paths through the lens of “linked lives,” which explores how our relationships, life stages, and available opportunities influence our choices. Her work focuses not on the struggles but on what is already working. She wants to understand what contributes to women thriving so that success can be reproduced.

“I know I am not an oddball,” she says. “Countless women can excel in this industry just like I did.”

A Gap Too Large To Ignore

Two and a half years into her research, Michelle has assembled an entire box of scholarly articles on women, leadership, and organizations. Yet only three focus specifically on women in automotive.

“People are simply not talking about it,” she explains.

The silence matters. Women make the majority of automotive purchasing decisions, yet they remain underrepresented in leadership roles and nearly absent from academic study. Michelle’s research aims to change that, not by documenting barriers, but by identifying what keeps women here.

What Her Research Is Revealing

Cultural bias remains a reality. Even now, in her current role, Michelle occasionally encounters the same reaction she faced ten years ago. “If I walk up to a customer who has not been greeted, they sometimes look around me, searching for a man instead.”

“It is 2025,” she says. “It still happens.”

Her research confirms the pattern. Women often feel the pressure to overwork to prove legitimacy. She compares it to grade school math. “It is like when your teacher said, ‘show your work.’ You already know the answer, but you still have to go through extra steps. Women still have to do that in this industry.”

At the same time, her findings highlight qualities that help women stay: creativity, strong problem solving, and exceptional resilience.

Applying Research in Real Time

Michelle keeps a post-it note on her desk that says, “How does my work advocate for others in my field?”

It guides everything she does.

At TMT, she runs a service advisor communication training program that teaches relationship building, trust, and connection, not just metrics. She is also building Empowering LEADHERS, an outside-the-workplace mentoring community for women across automotive.

“I want it to be easily accessible for all women in the industry,” she says. “And not segmented.”

The Power of Being Talked About When You Are Not in the Room

When asked about mentors, Michelle immediately thinks of the men who advocated for her early in her career.

“The shop owner who hired me talked about me everywhere he went,” she says. “Thousands of shop owners across the country knew my name. They knew who I was and what I could do. That is what opened the door to the role I have now.”

She hopes male colleagues today will do the same for the women they work with. “Speak their names when they are not around. Compliment something they did. Be a sounding board. Listening is a superpower.”

Why Visibility Requires Courage

In her doctoral journey, Michelle once expressed fear about sharing too much of her story. Her professor responded, “If you do not tell this story, Michelle, who will”

It changed everything.

Too many women stay silent about the tension between parenting and perception. Too many avoid naming the small biases that add up. Too many downplay what it takes to succeed in an industry that was not originally built with them in mind.

Michelle is determined to be one voice that speaks, even though she identifies as introverted. “Even talking to you is very difficult,” she admits. “But I am determined to get out of my shell.”

The Intersections That Shape Opportunity

Michelle’s research highlights how socio-economic realities shape women’s career paths. Access to affordable childcare often determines whether a woman can enter or re-enter the workforce. Long employment gaps bring lasting wage penalties.

“We need to pay women one hundred percent of what men earn,” she says. “We need childcare support. We need flex time. And we need to ask ourselves whether limitations exist because the work truly cannot be done remotely or simply because of lack of trust.”

Automotive lags behind many industries in this area. Her work is building a foundation for what change could look like.

Learning Beyond Automotive

Michelle believes automotive must learn from other industries.

“We do not look outside our own world enough,” she says. “Cross-industry learning accelerates growth.”

A recent women’s leadership conference introduced her to perspectives and practices automotive has not yet embraced. “We are part of corporate America. What works elsewhere can work here too.”

When asked what she wants readers to do after hearing her story, Michelle does not hesitate.

“Be a mentor or be a mentee. Everyone has something to teach, and you do not need to be at the finish line to help someone take the step you just took.”

Leading by Modeling

Michelle still experiences microaggressions and bias, the same ones she encountered a decade ago. Her response is to model a different way of leading.

“When women reach out to me, I place them where they deserve to be,” she explains. “I want them to believe in their capability because no one was doing that for me ten years ago.”

Her philosophy is simple. Be the person you once needed. Speak belief into women before they see it themselves. Lead by example.

Join the Women In Automotive Community

If Michelle’s story resonated with you, we invite you to take your next step with the Women In Automotive community. Whether you are seeking mentorship, exploring leadership, or simply looking for a place where your experience is understood and valued, you belong here. Join us as we build an industry where every woman’s contribution is seen, supported, and celebrated.