Automotive General Manager: A Career for English Majors

When Lerea Graham (BA 2005) graduated, she had no idea she would one day be General Manager of a large automotive store in California, Hello Mazda of Valencia. For years, she was a professional actor, playing roles in Guthrie productions directed by Penumbra founder Lou Bellamy—and doing acting and print jobs for most every Twin Cities Fortune 500 company. But after completing some national tours, Graham looked at her three young kids and husband and wondered what else she could do with her skill set.  

“I literally went on Craigslist and looked around, and automotive sales piqued my interest,” recalls Graham. “Now this was before any push on women in automotive, a field mostly accustomed to seeing men. And I just thought, ‘I'm going to take a stab at it.’” She entered in sales at the Twin Cities’ Morrie’s Automotive Group in 2015, and within months, she was outselling veteran salespeople. Eight years later, with two years as GM, she’s been selected to be the subject of a 2023 National Automobile Dealership Association (NADA) video, a speaker on a 2023 NADA Live Stage panel, and a 2022 Mazda President's Club Recipient. Graham graciously answered our questions over Zoom.  

What led to your current position? 

Almost immediately, I was the number one salesperson in the entire Morrie’s group. In two years I was promoted to Senior Finance Manager. You think finance, that has nothing to do with an English major. But automotive finance, you're talking about non-tangible items that you're trying to get someone to understand the value of. It’s telling that creative story. It's reading someone. It’s critical thinking. So I thrived in the finance department. Two years later I was promoted to corporate trainer. It was amazing, because you're meeting all these new people, and, you know, I had to learn the role. I loved being able to transfer knowledge to new salespeople.  

Then I was tasked to create some training for the service advisors and technicians. I reached out to an old buddy in the field, and she's like, “Well, I'm in California. You should try to move out here.” At this juncture, Morrie’s Automotive group ownership decided that there was probably a warmer, easier place to do business. So four years ago they started Hello Auto Group in sunny California, with just one store. I moved across the country [kids and husband in tow] to be the Process Improvement Director. No one told me that there was a path to be a GM. One day the president of the company called me in. Long story short, he said, “I want you to be the general manager of the Mazda store.” There are maybe 10 women in automotive I could find that are GMs, and so to become one was truly an opportunity I’d never thought of. And when you take into account being a woman of color, you know the scope is even smaller.  

Hello Auto Group has now moved into six stores, and we're growing a new store that will be up and running probably in the next year.  

How do the skills you learned in the study of literature support what you do? Is this a good career fit for English majors? 

Well, it's a lot about communication. It's lot about understanding people. There's so much to do with critical thinking, especially the group that I'm currently at. It's one thing to get into a store where it's on autopilot, where they've already made sure that the processes are in line, versus coming and starting from scratch. When I came here it was a year old. There were so many things that my previous positions prepared me for. But when you're a GM, you're not just in charge of sales, you're responsible for sales, finance, service, accounting, marketing and used cars, to name a few. You have to make sure that staff are efficient. Automotive in particular is so dynamic—there's so many facets to it. 

Without my degrees, I don't think that I would have the same level of creativity. Knowing how to get information. You have to do your research. You have to make sure that you're clear on what the game plan is, and then communicate that. Knowing what needs to be done, how to find out how to do it properly, and then disseminate that knowledge with others. It's all part of that skill set that I learned at the U, for sure. 

What do you enjoy most about your work? 

The variety of this role, the creativity. The diversity of knowledge that I'm learning. I've been in automotive for eight years, but I never did anything on this level. It was all little pieces. I would be an incessant student if I could—if I could get paid to be in school right now, that that would be me. I wish I had a few more hours in the day, but that's what I'm doing in this position: I'm learning. Then I'm taking that knowledge, and I'm making it affect change on a larger scale with multiple people. And that part of it's really, really rewarding 

Advice for current majors?  

I decided to go into English literature because I wanted to have a neutral degree. I was going to do communication. I was thinking of journalism. When I researched English, I thought, “That just opens so many possibilities. I could go into law, and I could go into this or that,” and it just gave me more options, post-graduation. I would recommend not being so specific right away, because as we grow and we develop as young adults, so many of us evolve, right?  

Being able to communicate verbally, I think, is a next level. Whether it's speech classes, improv classes. My minor is in theater. You learn a lot about how to communicate in theater. My language when I was in school was American Sign Language. So between English lit, American Sign Language, and theater, it gave me the agency and presence to thrive in pretty much anything that I've done.  

What do you most appreciate about your time at the University of Minnesota? 

Having professors take heed to who they have in front of them, no matter what we're talking about. The syllabus might say we’re reading Mark Twain, but maybe that professor will also say, “Hey, have you ever looked at August Wilson, have you ever looked at James Baldwin? You might find some interest in them and then be able to better understand these other authors.”  

For the Guthrie, I did Amen Corner, that's James Baldwin. And then I did Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. That's August Wilson. Before I was ever in these plays, before I even auditioned for anything, I was already really into reading literature and reading plays. I still have every single book that I read at the U, you know, and my husband kind of looks at me as a hoarder!

What book are you recommending these days? 

A lot of it is going to be related to my field and my position. The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business by Patrick Lencioni. Another book that I love right now is Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect. I'm also reading The 360 Leader, just developing my leadership skills. Upon joining this dealership, there were limited opportunities for used car sales, and the finance department faced challenges. Throughout the year, we've consistently held top positions in both categories. It appears my efforts have had a positive impact, but I still have a lot to learn. And like I said, I am a lifelong learner.