By Ashley Reyes
The automotive aftermarket is made up of a plethora of family-run businesses. What is not often told are the stories of the remarkably talented women who are at the helm of those businesses, leading and executing the day in and day out of a majority of operations.
SEMA members will hear from Joanna Agosta Shere, president and CEO of Steele Rubber Products, as she shares her experience leading a family business into the third generation of management during the next SEMA Businesswomen’s Network (SBN) live chat, April 6, at 12:00 p.m. (PDT).
Join her as she shares the following:
- Pros and cons of running a family business.
- How the daughter came to be as the next leader.
- What it was like being in a new leadership role at the beginning of Covid-19.
- What it’s like working with both your family and husband.
- The pressure to keep the business in the family when we get to the third generation.
Like many children of family businesses, Shere began working for Steele Rubber Products by helping her grandmother file and sort company documents. In her teenage years, Shere worked in the production plant, warehouse and customer service. She ultimately received her B.A. in journalism at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and worked in the airline industry and an engineering association for six years before returning to the family business in 2005.
Back at Steele Rubber Products, Shere has worked in marketing, as customer service manager, marketing manager and then in administration. She took the role as Steele Rubber Products’ president in 2020 after a planned succession from her father.
Live chat location: SBN Facebook page and SBN Instagram live (@sbn_sema)