Katelyn Willmon's Journey in Automotive Operations

Katelyn Willmon became a mom at seventeen. She turned eighteen the next month. After staying home for six months, reality set in, she needed a job.

An assistant role opened at a buying center. She figured she could help with calls, handle tasks, and learn as she went. She took a chance on herself and got hired. Six months later, she was no longer assisting, she was purchasing cars.

When her manager was recruited to Victory KS, part of Premier Automotive Group, he brought with him the team he trusted. That included Katelyn.

What started as a “I need to pay rent” job became a life-shaping career. Today, the young mom who needed stability is an Inventory Manager at just twenty-two, an ambassador for Premier Women in Leadership, and someone actively preparing for her next goal: Service Manager.

This is what leadership looks like before the title arrives.

When Leadership Chooses People Over Roles

The commission-based structure of buying cars initially terrified Katelyn. As a single mom, predictability mattered more than potential upside. The uncertainty felt overwhelming.

So she did what many would do, she put in her two weeks’ notice.

Her manager’s response surprised her.

“No, you’re not allowed to leave.”

Instead of accepting her resignation, he created an alternative: an hourly administrative role. They would figure out the specifics together.

“We didn’t really know what exactly I was going to do,” Katelyn recalls. “It was more like, ‘You need money. We don’t want you to leave. We’ll figure it out.’”

Over time, responsibilities naturally found their way to her, not as filler work, but as real opportunities aligned with her growing capability. When that manager eventually left the company, Katelyn worried about what her future might look like. Those concerns were immediately shut down by the new General Manager.

“Katelyn, what are you talking about? You’re fine. Just stay here.”

Today, that same GM is actively encouraging her toward service leadership as Premier Automotive Group prepares to open a new dealership.

The pattern at Premier is consistent: strong leaders don’t force people into rigid roles. They build roles around people.

That trust didn’t just keep Katelyn employed, it placed her at the operational center of the dealership; and that’s where her leadership began to take shape.

The Role No One Talks About

Katelyn's current position, Inventory Manager, sits in that invisible space between acquisition and the sales floor. It's the work that makes everything else possible, yet rarely gets discussed when people think about automotive careers.

Her day-to-day involves coordinating vendors, overseeing reconditioning, managing vehicle flow from the moment a car arrives until it's photographed and posted on the website. She works with outside shops for service, handles detailing schedules, makes wholesaling decisions, and supervises the porters who keep everything moving.

"It's all the little things that people don't really realize happen at a dealership," she explains. "The second the car comes in, it goes to me. I check it over, decide which shop it goes to depending on year, mileage, all of that. Then make sure it gets there, gets back, gets detailed, gets pictured, everything up to putting it on the lot for the salespeople."

This position demands precision. One missed service, one delayed detail, one overlooked photo session, and a car that could have sold sits invisible on the lot while book values change potentially reducing profitability.

"If I'm not keeping things organized and timely, then it doesn't get done," Katelyn notes. "Or it takes seven to ten days to get on the website when it could have already been sold by then."

This is the dealership ecosystem that keeps the visible parts functioning. And increasingly, it's where women are finding career paths that don't require being on the sales floor.

Skills She Never Expected to Master

Before this role, Katelyn wasn't "a spreadsheet girly." Organization existed, but not at the level the job demanded.

Now everything is color-coded, tracked across multiple sheets, moved from one tab to the next as each step completes. The precision required by the work rewired how she approaches everything.

"I wasn't an organized person before, not to the point that I am now," she admits. "Everything has to be super precise."

Those skills didn't stay at the dealership. They followed her home, where a five-year-old's schedule of dance and gymnastics requires its own kind of operational management.

"Having those skills of organization and time management has really helped me organize her and her life," Katelyn says. "She's always doing something. It's helped maintain our life, make it a little less hectic."

The quiet leadership found in consistency and details: it's real, even when no one's watching.

Faith, Mentorship, and Being Seen

Katelyn's mentor, Don Henton, didn't just develop her professionally. He helped her reconnect with her faith.

"He really pushed me to get back into it," she shares, emotion rising in her voice. "I had been a follower of Christ before, but a lot of stuff happened when I was a kid and I was like, I don't know what I'm doing. He really mentored me in that aspect too, really pushing me to get reconnected."

He bought her first Bible. Now she leads a Bible study.

Victory KS operates as a faith-based dealership; the T in Victory is intentionally designed as a cross. Premier Auto Group runs food pantries and giving programs. The environment allows Katelyn to operate in her faith while growing professionally, without those two dimensions being artificially separated.

"Everything is to put God first before we do everything," she explains. "We're selling cars and we're working, but before that, we're following Christ."

For Katelyn, belief, values, and purpose aren't add-ons to her career. They're the foundation that makes the career meaningful.

Finding Her Voice Through Women in Leadership

When Tracy Fields started building Premier Women in Leadership, Katelyn saw the emails and felt a pull. She'd told Don she wanted a career, not just a job, but she didn't know what direction to take. He encouraged her to reach out to Tracy.

"I have a really hard time making female friends a lot of the time," Katelyn admits. "I'm in a male-dominated field. But I was like, I need some women, connections with somebody who's actually gonna understand what I'm talking about."

When Tracy mentioned needing ambassadors for regional groups, Katelyn volunteered. At twenty-two, she's now helping coordinate the Midwest platform, building community among women who share a common goal of growing in their careers.

The experience clarified something unexpected: service leadership was a real option.

"I'm leaning towards service, and I didn't really see that as something for a woman," she reflects. "But they're like, 'Katelyn, you're already doing it with what you're doing, just with used cars on a different section. Service Manager is good. You can do that.'"

Why Service Manager

Katelyn wants customer interaction, but not the constant pressure of sales. Service management offers that balance: meaningful connection with customers, operational problem-solving, and a path that most people don't associate with women in automotive.

That last part matters to her.

"I want to do something that most women aren't doing," she says. "I want to show that a woman can do it, and that it isn't just because it's a 'hire a woman' thing. I want it to be that I'm actually capable of doing it."

But the deepest motivation is watching her from home.

"My five-year-old. I don't want her to think that women can only have desk jobs. If she wants to do something in a male-dominated field someday, that's OK. I don't want her to think she can't just because it's male-dominated."

Everything Katelyn does now carries the awareness that her daughter is watching. Every choice models what's possible. Something every parent knows painstakingly well.

Leading While Still Learning

At twenty-two, surrounded by colleagues significantly older, Katelyn constantly fights the urge to compare herself unfavorably.

"I feel behind," she admits. "So I take on extra things to try to get to where they're at. And then I have to remind myself I'm only twenty-two. There's still so much more I can do, but I have the time. I don't need to rush it."

Having a child young accelerated her sense of responsibility but also distorted her timeline. She feels older than she is, measures herself against people with decades more experience, and has to consciously recalibrate.

The skill she's intentionally developing? Emotional regulation.

"Being calm and not overreacting, not reacting as soon as something happens," she explains. "Really just being still in the moment, thinking about it, and then reacting. My grandma used to say, 'Katelyn, think before you speak.' As a leader, you can't just scream at your people. That's not going to get you anywhere."

Leadership is action, not title. And sometimes the most important action is the pause before responding.

Nashville Changed Everything

Katelyn's first Women In Automotive conference in Nashville opened doors she didn't know existed.

"Getting there and being in that environment with women at every point, very new like me, all the way up to been there for a long time, it's crazy to see all the different perspectives," she recalls.

She took notes obsessively, even using an AI note-taker so she could stay present while capturing everything. She still goes back and reads those notes when she needs a reset.

The conference revealed career paths she'd never considered, marketing, roles beyond sales and service, women who'd built careers in spaces she hadn't known were available.

"There were so many service managers there who were women," she says. "It's not just sales and service. There's so much stuff I didn't consider."

Validation that she belongs. Exposure that expanded her vision. She's already told her boss she wants to attend the next one.

Words for Women Wondering If They Belong

Katelyn's advice comes filtered through her own journey, practical and faith-grounded in equal measure.

Find a mentor. Not necessarily a formal program, but someone you can call when you have no idea what you're doing. For her, that was Don. It doesn't have to be your boss, but having someone who knows your goals and can walk you through the hard parts makes everything more navigable.

Advocate for yourself without apologizing. The line between assertive and "bossy" is one women have to walk carefully, unfairly so. But staying silent doesn't serve your career or the women coming behind you.

And for Katelyn personally: put faith first.

"Everything I do, I do for God and for His glory," she says. "I put Him first and then everything else will come. Work is work. But as long as you have God and family and you focus on that, your goals will come because He will help and He will provide."

Growth takes time. Refinement isn't fun, but it's necessary. And you'll never move forward if you're stagnant, focused only on career while neglecting everything else that makes life meaningful.

Leading From Exactly Where You Are

Katelyn Willmon doesn't have the title yet. She's not a Service Manager, not today. But she's leading anyway: coordinating operations that keep a dealership running, mentoring women across the Midwest, raising a daughter who's learning that female ambition has no ceiling.

Leadership exists before the job title arrives. Behind-the-scenes excellence matters. And women seeing themselves reflected across every corner of the industry, that changes what the next generation believes is possible.

A five-year-old is watching. And her mom is showing her exactly what women can do.

Ready to find your people; the ones who understand the industry and want to see you succeed? Join the Women In Automotive community and discover what's possible when women support women.

Editorial note: This interview was conducted while Katelyn Willmon was serving as Inventory Manager. She has since stepped into a new role as an Administrative Assistant with Performance Contracting, Inc. We wish her all the best and have no doubt she will continue to do great things.