Women in Auto: Tabitha D. Wilkens
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Tabitha D. Wilkens has spent the past 32 years working full time in the automotive industry, 30 of them in the Ancira dealerships in San Antonio.
She says she got a taste of what the auto industry was like while working part time at a dealership as part of a cooperative education program during her senior year in high school. She returned to start a full-time career in the industry a couple of years later, and never looked back, she says.
Q.: What is your current role in the auto industry?
A.: I am the Chief Financial Officer for Ancira Enterprises Inc., the parent company of all of the Ancira dealerships.
Q.: Why did you choose the auto industry?
A.: Honestly, a cashier position at an auto dealership was the most interesting choice on a list of jobs for my cooperative education program my senior year in high school.
Q.: How did you get your first job in the industry?
A.: After I graduated from high school, I left the auto industry for a couple of years to focus on college. Then life began to happen, and I needed to work full time. I had really enjoyed my experience at the previous dealership I worked for and decided I would look for a job in that industry again.
I literally opened the Yellow Pages, went to the auto dealer section, and called the first dealership on the list: Ancira Chrysler Plymouth Jeep Eagle. Luckily for me, they had just promoted their evening/weekend receptionist and were looking to fill that newly opened position.
Q.: What’s your overall view of working in the auto industry? Is it what you imagined it to be?
A.: I never imagined that the day I made that call from the Yellow Pages, that I was starting the path to a rewarding and lifelong career. The auto industry can be very challenging and is not for a person intimidated by constant change. I absolutely love working in the auto dealership industry, and could not imagine doing anything else.
Q.: Is your current job your first in the industry, or have you had other roles?
A.: I have had many roles that led me to my current job. I technically started as a cashier in the industry, but I started as a receptionist back in 1993 when I started my career with Ancira. I worked as a receptionist for a couple of years and then made my way to the Accounting Office when they needed an Office Runner. This was the beginning of my journey of learning every desk in the accounting office and eventually becoming an Accounting Business Manager. I was then given the opportunity to work with our CFO, Betty Ferguson at our corporate office. This was the beginning of Betty, our Vice President, Joey Blackmon, and our owner, Ernesto Ancira, Jr. seeing my potential and grooming me in all aspects of the dealership world by allowing me to step outside Accounting Management. Not only did they send me to the NADA Dealer Academy, they gave me an opportunity to be a Parts & Service Director and a Parts Manager to give me hands on training and experience in leadership roles of other departments within the dealerships.
Q.: Have you experienced any particular challenges as a woman working in a generally male-dominated industry?
A.: I would say that the biggest challenge I had as a woman in this industry was being a single mother at the beginning of my career. I was blessed to have wonderful, supportive parents who helped me navigate my busy schedule, late nights and occasional weekends. Although this was a struggle, it made me stronger and pushed me to reach for higher goals for myself and my daughters.
I was also very fortunate to be surrounded by other successful women in the industry who inspired and mentored me, such as my first accounting manager, Karen Gwin, and our previous CFO, Betty Ferguson, who groomed me for this position to take her place when she retired in 2019.
Q.: What advice do you have for other women who might be contemplating careers in the auto industry?
A.: The auto industry has been male dominated because women outside of the industry simply do not realize the opportunities available to them.
The accounting business managers of our 11 dealerships are all women. Our corporate business manager, payroll manager, benefits coordinator, and [human resources] managers are all women. The assistants to our owner and executive vice president are women. Two of our parts managers at our dealerships are women. Two of our four vice presidents, April Ancira and Valerie Tackett. are women. We have women in our sales departments and service departments.
Opportunities in our industry for a woman are endless if she is a trustworthy, hard-working, team player with great work ethic and the drive to be successful. My advice is to just do it!
Q.: Would you recommend a position like yours to other women?
A.: I would most certainly recommend my position or ANY position in this industry that excites and challenges you. In my experience of numerous roles in this industry, I cannot think of any position that a woman could not do if she put her mind to it.
Q.: Do you have any other comments you wish to add to your story?
A.: I am a huge fan of the auto industry, but I am an even bigger fan of the Ancira organization and all the awesome people (to include my husband, Robert) that I have had the pleasure of working with over the last 30 years. They saw potential in me and gave me the opportunities that have led me to where I am in my career today. Ernesto Ancira; his daughter, April; her husband and VPO, Jason Thompson; Joey Blackmon; and Valerie Tackett are all great leaders who always do what is best for the employees, the customers and the company. I am honored to be a part of that team!