www.autohausaz.com

Diversity!: AutohausAZ has been in business for 30 years. Did it start out as a woman-owned company or evolve into one?

Carolyn Lefebvre: Autohaus Arizona, Inc. began in 1979 as Autohaus Phoenix, a local wholesale distributor of European auto parts in Phoenix. It was owned by its founder, an East German man, from 1979 until 1996 when it was purchased by me, as the 51% majority stockholder, and my husband and the name was changed to Autohaus Arizona. We launched the website in 1998 but continued to concurrently handle wholesale distribution in the Phoenix area up until 2006. It remained as a 51% woman-owned business until January of 2006, when I bought out my ex-husband's share during our divorce, making it 100% woman-owned; thus, it's been 100% woman-owned for more than three years. In 2006, we also discontinued local wholesale distribution and became 100% internet-based, as far as sales. By that time we had become one of the leading auto parts retailers on the Internet and were known as AutohausAZ. We now have active customers in 115+ countries worldwide.

DIW: How many employees do you have? What is the response by customers to a business of this kind run by a woman? Or does that make a difference?

CL:      AutohausAZ has 22 full-time employees.

Although our customers may not be directly aware of the fact that AutohausAZ is owned by a woman, they are pleasantly surprised by AutohausAZ’s distinctly different customer service, much of which stems from its female ownership and diverse workforce.  Women tend to avoid being overly technical and they're not usually knowledgeable about auto repair or parts shopping. As mothers, they're also nurturing and empathetic. And they're always trying to balance time constraints.

Hence, AutohausAZ's website design evolved into an interface that's extremely user-friendly and easy to navigate with intuitive search options and well-documented parts descriptions. Men and women of all auto repair skill levels can quickly find the correct parts for their cars.  This user-friendly approach is AutohausAZ's focus because single-parent and dual-income households are the rule, not the exception. Leisure time is scarce and shouldn't be spent struggling with difficult navigation to find car parts or wasting time returning wrong parts and waiting for replacements.

Moreover, our customer service focus and the friendly attitudes people experience when talking to anyone at AutohausAZ is probably heavily influenced by the caring attitude that permeates our company. Again, perhaps the female ownership has affected that as well. The nurturing and empathetic attitude within the company extends outwards and gives customers the feeling, and rightly so, that we truly care about them and want to assist them. That's what AutohausAZ does better than any other company in our industry.

DIW: You pride yourself on being a company that creates opportunities for your employees' personal and professional growth. How do you do this? And how has this continued engagement benefitted AutohausAZ?

CL: Again, the female ownership comes into play here since most of our staff is younger and they tend to think of me as ‘Mama Bear.’ The atmosphere at the company is very much like a family and everyone cares about the well being of the others.

In addition to winning several DiversityBusiness awards the past two years, we recently won the national When Work Works award from the Alfred P Sloan organization, which recognizes companies that use flexibility to make the workplace pleasant and to help employees balance work & home responsibilities.

In addition to flexibility as far as working locations and hours, AutohausAZ always tries to be as flexible and creative as possible in assisting employees in all areas of their lives, including financial assistance, personal growth and development, respect for family and school obligations, and any other area that affects an employee's well-being. Even during these difficult economic times, we have continued to provide excellent salaries with annual raises, profit-sharing 401K plan, company-paid benefits and generous paid vacations because we believe our people are our greatest assets.

The company has also been creative in developing special incentives that motivate employees, such as monthly gas cards to promote carpooling and attendance, paid Friday off awarded monthly to promote reduction of errors, regular company-catered luncheons to educate employees on corporate results, corporate sponsorship of sports teams to promote teamwork and friendship among employees outside of working hours, to name just a few.

In sum, everyone at AutohausAZ is thought of as part of "the family.” The workplace is casual but extremely productive. We have always believed that flexibility allows employees to accomplish greater things while still being able to balance their personal lives. A happy and financially secure employee is more productive and dedicated to the company's customers and to the company's overall success because they know customer satisfaction and corporate success equate into personal success and achievement.

Flexibility and genuine caring about people makes AutohausAZ a fun place to work while providing employees with financial stability. This has equated into a nearly non-existent turnover rate and a close-knit group of people who take great pride in the company's success and the parts they've played in accomplishing that success.

DIW:    The list of awards you've received shows that your company obviously "walks the talk." What, if any, challenges remain?

CL: We are very proud of the public recognition AutohausAZ has received in recent years and, in fact, there are several more awards won recently that are not yet posted on our website. Obviously, if a company is to remain successful, it is critical not to become complacent and to realize that we must continue to work hard to ensure continued success.