Erica Bruno's Automotive Leadership Journey

Erica Bruno grew up thinking every dealership operated like her family's.

She'd seen the rhythms of the business since childhood, the way sales and service moved, how customers became generations of loyal families, the processes her grandfather and parents had refined over five decades. She assumed this was simply how automotive worked everywhere.

Then she stepped outside.

"All of a sudden you start to realize, no, this is not how everyone operates," Erica recalls. "Being able to get exposure to that even from a dealership level was eye opening. Wait, you don't do it this way? What's happening here?"

That curiosity carried her from dealership operations to Toyota, to Nissan, to tech companies like Experian, to marketing agencies working with clients far beyond automotive. Each stop added another layer of understanding in automotive leadership. Each perspective revealed something the previous one had hidden.

Now, as Senior Director of Key Accounts at Recall Masters and a leader within WOCAN, Erica brings a rare vantage point to an industry often trapped in silos. When someone insists that sales and service don't connect, or that parts has nothing to do with sales, she just smiles.

"Follow me down my yellow brick road," she tells them. "I will show you."

The Pattern Most People Miss

Ask Erica what patterns she's learned to recognize after nearly two decades in automotive, and her answer might surprise you.

It's not about technology. It's not about processes. It's not about the latest digital platform or marketing strategy.

"Ninety percent of the time, it's people-related," she says. "It's not even tech-related. How do you help your people adjust to the changes that are now required to do business in this industry today?"

She's watched dealerships pour resources into new systems while neglecting the humans who have to use them. She's seen leaders assume that everyone adapts to change the same way, that Billy needs the same support as Julie, and wonder why transformation stalls.

"Change is hard," Erica acknowledges. "God knows I've had many changes in my life that I'm like, I wish I did not have to go through that."

But her ability to make complex industry dynamics digestible for others has become one of her greatest strengths. She credits her brain for that.

"With my little autistic brain that I love," she says with this smile and laugh that made me chuckle, "being able to see those patterns and make them relatable to other humans, it's really been a strength I'm passionate about."

Talent Can Be Taught. Heart Cannot.

Erica's grandfather ran dealerships for decades. He gave her advice she still carries.

"Erica, I can teach any process. I can teach anything," he'd tell her. "But if you don't have the heart, I got nothing. I got nothing at all."

It's the difference between a team that shows up and a team that wins. Between employees who clock in and employees who fight for something. Erica saw this lesson reinforced unexpectedly during the Super Bowl, watching the Seahawks, a team with "all the heart in the world", defeat an opponent with arguably more raw talent.

"You've got to find the people with the fire in the heart," she says. "That burning desire to want to be better, to want to grow."

Her family practiced what they preached. During her mother's funeral, person after person came through the line with the same message: your parents made me who I am today. They gave me the shot. They trained me. They made me a better person.

"I think that's the most beautiful part of working in dealerships," Erica reflects. "Those stories deserve to be told."

What Women Bring to Leadership

Erica remembers a young man who worked at her family's dealership, a single dad, which was rare. Her mother challenged him directly: What are you going to do for your son? How are you going to show him you can be a strong father and provider? How are you going to groom him to follow in those footsteps?

The conversation changed his trajectory.

"He said, 'I've never had a woman leader do that for me,'" Erica recalls. "He said, 'I got my life together.' And that's the type of stuff that might feel soft, but in reality it's incredibly strong. That's what we need more of in our industry."

This is what women often bring to leadership, the willingness to see the whole person, to ask the harder questions, to invest in someone's life beyond their job performance. It's not soft. It's transformative.

The Fuel for Her Fire

Early in her career, Erica heard things no professional should have to hear.

She was too fiery. Her hair was too big. She was too loud. One leader told her directly: "If this industry doesn't tame you, I will."

"I cannot begin to describe the level of anger I held onto for quite a few years because of things of that nature," Erica admits.

But somewhere along the way, the anger transformed.

"This has only been the fuel for my fire to be even better and even brighter and even louder," she says. "I don't believe I have to make the path behind me harder for others. I believe I can make it a lot easier. I can warn them about the booby traps. I can tell them, hey, you don't want to get close to that cliff, you get close to that cliff and you're going to be like Jack and Jill going down."

For women who've faced similar dismissals, Erica's trajectory offers proof: the qualities others try to diminish are often the ones that make you irreplaceable.

Learning in Layers

Erica struggled academically when she was younger. She thought something was wrong with her. Then a sixth-grade teacher started teaching math with M&Ms, and suddenly the colors and quantities clicked into place.

"All of a sudden I'm like, oh, this makes much more sense."

It wasn't until later, through musical theater, through mentors who understood how her mind worked, that Erica fully grasped her learning style. She processes information in layers: understand the structure first, then the story, then connect the meaning.

"Being able to understand that I learn in layers really helps me," she explains. "It's not just throwing numbers at me. I have to figure out the story of why or what is happening."

That self-knowledge transformed her confidence. Not overnight, confidence, she believes, is built through daily patterns and habits, through trying to be just 1% better than you were yesterday.

"I might not be the most beautiful woman that walks into a room. I might not be the smartest person. But I know I'm probably going to be the most willing to learn. The most eager to learn about you. What can I learn from you? How can I help you?"

That eagerness became her edge.

Finding Your People

Success in automotive, Erica has learned, is rarely achieved alone.

But finding the right people wasn't easy, especially early in her career. She struggled to find both men and women who would genuinely support her growth rather than compete with her or dismiss her.

"It can be really, really tough," she says.

Then came the hardest season of her life. Her mother, the seventh female Toyota dealer principal in the nation, the first female Hyundai dealer on the East Coast, was diagnosed with cancer. Six weeks later, she was gone.

During those weeks, and in the months that followed, Erica discovered something about the relationships she'd built across the industry.

"I had people from all over reaching out. How are you doing? What do you need? How can we support you? Do you need food?"

At NADA, people kept asking if she was okay. The honest answer was complicated.

"In so many ways I'm not okay," Erica admits. "I'm always going to miss my mom. But I could never discount the amount of support and the beautiful relationships I've had, especially through that period. That gratitude alone is a blessing."

Her advice to others: find your people.

"You can call it vibes, you can call it frequency, whatever you want. Find the people that make you feel the most like you and the most safe. You're going to grow exponentially. Maybe it's not always beautiful growth, but it's the growth you need to get where you want to be."

What Her Mother Finally Said

Erica and her mother had a complicated relationship for years. Her mother, a pioneering woman in a male-dominated industry, didn't want Erica to follow her into automotive. The industry was too hard on women. She'd seen too much.

But in those final six weeks, conversations happened that had been avoided for decades.

"She said, 'I was so afraid you were going to walk into the same footsteps I had to walk into. I didn't want you to have to deal with the stuff I was dealing with.'"

Suddenly, years of tension made sense. The resistance wasn't rejection, it was protection.

The greatest gift came in her mother's final blessing: permission to be brave.

"Be bold, be loud, be you," Erica wrote in 2024. It's now her mantra and the legacy her mother left behind.

The Bull in the China Shop

Recently, people have started calling Erica an automotive influencer. It wasn't something she set out to become.

"It's not about attention," she clarifies. "It's about shining a light on things that probably should get attention but historically never have."

One of her former Nissan VPs called her "the bull in the china shop", the one who clears the path so others can follow.

"So be it," Erica says. "Then I'm a bull. Let's go."

To her, influence means something specific: inspiring others, helping them grow, showing pathways that might otherwise remain invisible.

"If I can be someone who says, 'Hey, I've been through this, I promise you can get through this', that's the greatest influence I could ever have."

Saying Yes on Stage

At NADA, Erica wasn't even supposed to be at the party. Friends texted her to come, they knew she loved Keith Urban, and her mom had been a huge fan. She decided to go.

What happened next became one of those surreal life moments: Erica ended up on stage, singing "The Joker" with Keith Urban himself.

But the most meaningful part wasn't the celebrity. It was what she heard later, listening closely to videos people had taken.

The crowd cheering her on. Friends shouting encouragement. The support of people who'd become her tribe.

"That was the most beautiful part of the entire thing," Erica reflects. "That's what we all want in life. We want people cheering us on."

The lesson? Say yes. Do it afraid. Let your people support you.

"I wouldn't be here, doing whatever I'm doing today, if I did not do those two things."

What She'd Tell Her Younger Self

If Erica could go back and meet the version of herself navigating those brutal early career years, she knows exactly what she'd do.

"First, I'd just give her a hug," she says. "I think that's what she needed the most."

Then the words: It's going to be okay. You're going to be all right. Just keep going, keep learning. Stay curious. You've got this.

"I hope I'm doing that for other women now," Erica reflects. "Women who are like, 'I don't know if this is for me.'"

What keeps her up at night is watching talented women leave the industry, not because they weren't capable, but because someone told them they couldn't, or bullied them until automotive stopped feeling worth the fight.

"You can't be something you can't see," Erica says. "We need leaders who can say, 'I've been through this. I promise you can get through it too. You can stand up tall no matter what comes your way.'"

This is the work. Not just succeeding for yourself, but becoming visible enough that others can imagine their own success.

The Legacy She's Building

When Erica thinks about what she wants to leave behind, the answer is simple.

"I want people to see me and go: if she can do it, I can do it."

Not because her path was easy, it wasn't. Not because she had all the advantages, she didn't. But because she kept learning, kept growing, kept showing up even when voices told her she didn't belong.

Her mother blazed trails as one of the first female dealer principals in the country. Now Erica carries that legacy forward, not by walking the same path, but by clearing new ones.

And she has a challenge for every woman reading this:

What is the personal legacy you can give to others that helps grow not only women in automotive, but the industry as a whole?

"I think that's the most important thing we can do," Erica says. "Build something that, when we're not here anymore, people are still talking about. It's the most beautiful thing you can do."

Be bold. Be loud. Be you.

And if you're looking for someone to follow down the yellow brick road, Erica Bruno will show you the way.

As a special way of saying thank you to Erica and WOCAN for allowing us to share her story you can watch her full interview on YouTube here. AND don't miss her session coming up at the 2026 Women In Automotive conference!

Ready to find your people and grow alongside women who understand your journey? Join the Women In Automotive community—because none of us were meant to do this alone.