New AIA Canada CEO Emily Chung: Bringing it all together

New AIA Canada CEO Emily Chung is looking to use her experience in the aftermarket--an extensive background in the industry that includes 16 years as a shop owner--to bring together the different perspectives of stakeholders and industry members in a way that moves the industry forward. AIA Canada will be exploring industry issues at its Canadian Auto Care Industry Conference (CAIC) March 11 and 12. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This podcast is presented by Cassible Ed Uro, the number one brand recommended by technicians in Europe. Did you know that almost 50% of European vehicles in Canada come factory filled with edge urine? Offer better loan. Offer your customer casual edge uro. Questions? Contact your local auto parts distributor, the Wakefield Territory Sales Manager, and Customer Service at 1-800-268-5339. Welcome everyone to the podcast. I'm your host, Andrew Ross. It gives me great pleasure to have as my guest today the new uh CEO and president of the Automotive Industries Association of Canada, AIA Canada, Emily Chung. Welcome to the podcast, Emily.

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Thanks for having me here. It's good to speak with you.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Yeah, yeah, no, it's great. It's great to finally, finally connect. Uh, you know, fairly early in the new year. Uh right. And a few weeks, a few weeks uh kind of on the job, as it were. But um, I know we have some questions that that we're you know we're gonna get to, but maybe it's best if we just introduce you to folks who haven't had the opportunity to know kind of a little bit about your background and where you come from. Because you're you know, fully 100% from the industry, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Yeah, there's uh so a little bit about my background. My father actually has a national warehouse distribution uh business in the aftermarket. I remember, you know, he started with 10 break rotor numbers and built it to the business that it is today. Now, of course, this is back in the day when I'm sure people will remember, you know, 10 break rotor numbers, you covered a lot of the market back then, right? And so, and of course, now there's this whole right parts proliferation. We talk about that a lot. Um, but I remember him starting that business and I remember, and of course, like a good daughter that I was, I worked in the business for a little bit too, right? And um, I remember just some of the challenges and some of the wins that he had um going through that business. And uh then I went off to do my own thing and uh I worked in corporate for a little bit, then I came back into his company. Um, while I was on Met Leave with his company, I decided to go to trade school and just learn a little bit more about my car. I thought, you know, if I stayed in the industry, then it might help me a little bit to know about the car itself. Um, and then I also became Christian around that time and I really felt like God was calling me to open up a repair shop. So I decided, okay, by faith, you know, I'm gonna, Dad, I'm not coming back to work with you anymore. And I'm gonna open up my repair shop, I'm gonna learn how to fix cars. And you can only imagine uh I, you know, what he thought when I said that to him. Um, and I remember he said, okay. And I remember walking out of his office and then, you know, just started the business. So I bootstrapped the business and I eventually went back to trade school, got my license, uh, then built the business, hired more apprentices, and on and on. So I actually had the business. I'm an independent repair shop for 16 years in Markham before I sold it. And that was uh I finally sold it in uh 2025. So that was last year, one year ago. And then this opportunity came up. And so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

Yeah, and you know, and just uh for those again, folks, uh you know, Emily, Emily and I have had an opportunity to kind of connect a few times over the years on different things. Uh, and I can say, you know, without reservation, that she's uh definitely a solid business leader uh and very active uh in promoting the industry and the trades uh uh within within this industry. So uh so you know already a really solid base. Um and although I can't necessarily prove it because I I haven't been around forever, but I believe that Emily might be the first CEO and president of the organization uh to come from uh the service provider uh sector uh as a full-on shop owner, um, uh former shop owner. You know, we've certainly had all kinds, uh and and uh you know JF Champagne, who is uh still kind of in the wings uh helping uh with the transitions, um he's uh definitely an excellent uh association professional, uh, but didn't actually come from the aftermarket. But uh so we're really looking forward to this. So with all of this as a background, um, because you come in informed about what's going on in the industry, even though you've been in this role now for just about a month, uh, what what do you see as the most kind of important initiatives uh for for the industry uh at large?

SPEAKER_01 4:22

I think the message of the things that we struggle with is is you know, nothing's changed overnight, of course, right? But what I will say is I definitely bring a different perspective because I've I've walked the walks and we talk about labor shortage. Yes, I have tried to hire technicians. I have you know been through the whole cycle of job postings and interviews and seeing that restriction of you know people coming into the sector, right? So I've experienced it and lived it. And I think that is in part the difference that I can bring into the association. I have a different experience, right? So of course, the labor shortage is definitely still there, right? And uh and perhaps we can go about it at a different way. Um and so that's still one initiative that you know I would like to see the association move on. Uh, right to repair is still ongoing. Now, the the team here has done a great job. We've seen advances in some of the different provinces. Um, but yeah, like I can speak to my own challenges and experiences with right to repair as a technician, as a shop owner. And I think, you know, that I'm what I'm really loving is that I can bring some of this to the staff that's already here doing the work and I can kind of give that experience to them as well. And so that's been really, really good to just see how we can work together. Um, so right to repair was one, and also um, I think going forward, you know, I want to be able to advance on industry issues, right? Which means that we get to collaborate more with our members and stakeholders in the ecosystem. You know, I'm not necessarily solving an issue for one particular brand. I'm solving issues that is going to affect everybody, right? And so having that bigger purpose look to the association for me is really exciting.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

Sure, sure. Have you had an opportunity as yet to have any meetings with some of the you know senior stakeholders that are part of the association? Because of course the members really will drive uh just for those who you know don't uh live and die by you know the structure of governance at the association, you know. Emily is uh a CEO and president, is a full-time staffer there, uh distinguished from the chair position, which is uh one-year term drawn from the industry uh you know, every every year. Uh currently, uh course uh uh Tony Kaczynski uh from Mr. Transmission. Um so they you know obviously the membership and the executive will drive whatever the initiatives are. Um have you had an opportunity to have uh some meetings and and uh what how do you feel about how those meetings are going? What's the dynamic looking like?

SPEAKER_01 6:52

It's it's good. So, yes, my first, of course, my first uh priority coming in as a staff, right, for this month. I've really been um focused on making sure everybody's good with the transition, things are moving slowly. So internally, I want to make sure that we're taken care of there. And I have been having a lot of conversations with different stakeholders, different members as well, and just asking the question of okay, what is it that what is it that brings value to AIA? What is it that they see as industry issues again, not specific to their own businesses, but really, really to get people to look further out as to what is affecting us as a whole. Um, so I have been having those conversations as well, and it's been very good. I think a lot of times I feel like we're just talking shop, anyways, because like this is I'm from the industry. So, you know, we we kind of just talk, and and that was a blessing, I'll tell you, in the interview, and it's quite extensive of an interview. Uh, but it really did feel like with the executive committee that was that I was in the interview with, it really did feel like we were talking about the industry stuff, right? So that was a blessing uh for me for sure. But yes, I definitely have been speaking with a lot of people and getting their feedback of not just AIA, it's also what they are seeing uh coming up for them as well.

SPEAKER_00 8:05

Right, right, right. So, you know, I mean, there there are you you mentioned uh, you know, a couple of issues on uh, you know, right to repair and the labor shortage, you're probably uh to varying degrees top of mind for a lot of folks in the industry, particularly at the shop level, the labor issue is, I mean, it's not new, but boy oh boy, it can really grind to business, you know. Um get that sorted. Um, what are the challenges for the association and things? With a lot of this, you know, you mentioned again labor. You know, that's a very much in the bay kind of situation, but uh you know how how uh what are the challenges for the association in being able to address, yes, it's a large issue, but it it really manifests in the bay and and and the bays across the you know the country. Um and it's still just you know an association, right? I mean, you're not uh you don't have enough people to go and you know hire somebody into a bay, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:58

Yeah, the I'll tell you what, the experience I've had so far is that everybody sort of understands these issues in their own way. Uh and what I'm looking to do this year is to get us in alignment of what do these actu issues actually mean? So, for example, I know you brought up labor, but I'll give you the example of uh right to repair and then circle back in on the labor. Right to repair is experienced so differently by people in collision and by technicians on the in the shop base, by repair shop owners that have to buy all the scan tools, and then by parts manufacturers too. So, even just right to repair, there's such a variation of how it's understood by the industry. And for me, it's really about bringing us into alignment of okay, what is the actual core piece of this, the right to repair issue, right? And then the other piece is the labor shortage, you know, I really see that as like a right to repair exacerbates the labor shortage, right? Because if I don't have access to information, I can't then train, therefore, I can't build the pipeline, therefore, so in part I'm I'm kind of looking at this almost a bird's eye view of okay, what are the things that are tying them all together? And is there a way that we can change that we can change the conversation or if we can maybe tie the pieces in better so that people understand exactly what it is that we're trying to do and give them an opportunity to see, oh, actually, if I move on this, this is gonna help this, and and sort of, you know, does that make sense?

SPEAKER_00 10:33

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, and I think um as you mentioned, these things, you know, they do affect each other. Uh, you know, uh uh if there are barriers to uh accessing information, uh repair information quickly and effectively, uh, you know, it's gonna affect affect the efficiency in the base, which will affect your needs for staffing and et cetera, et cetera. Right. I mean, if it takes somebody three hours to do something where if the right information were at hand easily, you know, uh uh two hours or an hour and a half, um you know, obviously that that's gonna have an impact, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:06

So uh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:08

But buy all that stuff together and get everybody singing from the same song sheet is is not an easy task.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

No, it is not. Well, I definitely didn't take this job because I thought it was easy.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

So that that is good, but but it sounds like it sounds like you know, you're be able to bring your background into perspective already, though. I mean, we're like a month in now, and saying, oh what, yeah, knowing that in the bay, this is how this manifests.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

Yeah, and I will share this piece with you too, is that what something that I really think about is okay, you know, when we talk about member engagement or advocacy or you know, all of this stuff, sometimes I feel like people are disconnected maybe by the overall right to repair message because they're just not seeing their relevance to it, in that they can't, they feel like, well, it's not going to make a difference anyway. But one thing that I have been really just presenting to different trade groups, like shop owner groups, is okay, here we have an issue where we we aren't getting feedback from the shops of how many times they turn away a customer because of right to repair issues, or even just the simple fact that like at the shop level, right, I'm not tracking, I was not tracking how much time I lost just to find information. Right. And what is really crazy to me is as a business owner, as a shop owner, I'm thinking, well, if I'm not measuring something, how can I possibly move on that? Right. And so it's having those honest and real conversations with shop owners, technicians that, hey, as an association, if I could find a way, and this is really an open question, if I can find a way where the shop uh could actually track how many times they turned away a car because of right to repair, would they be willing to help us if it meant one or two clicks on their work order? And I think because I have the experience of the shop software systems, the different digital, because my shop we were doing uh digital inspections, right? So we were all in that. And there's more than enough tools now for me to be able to say, okay, what if we did this? Could it happen? Would the shops be willing to help us gather this data and info? And I think if we can give them a practical way to say, hey, you can help us with this, you know, that's another way of engaging them as well. So I'm looking forward to exploring more what that might be like.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

Yeah, that sounds like uh uh, you know, a lot of uh uh more a significant focus on being able to do some more research into what's going on. Is is that something that uh is important to you and and that you're gonna try and drive home in your uh role there?

SPEAKER_01 13:38

Right now I'm trying to figure out, you know, for the longest time AIA has been seen as like a thought leader, right? I know certainly before when I was teaching at so I taught as Georgian College as well in the aftermarket uh business school, or not aftermarket, the automotive business school. And we would use the AA reports from back then, right? So I remember, you know, the research side of things. To me, the research is still important. Um, and I'm wondering, and this is just I'm only a month in, right? So if we talk again in in in five months, you know, don't hold me to this. Um, but I am curious. I am wondering, what does being a thought leader look like now in 2026? You know, and so do we do the same amount of research? Should we do a different type of research? Do I I I fully am aware that it's gonna be part of what we do? Um, but the question is, okay, well, what does it look like going forward? Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah. I mean, is it the right are we getting the right data to move the industry forward? Or is it uh we we used to talk about it as the nice to know versus the need to know, right? And there's certainly a lot of data and some really great reports. I find uh uh personally that like the consumer behavior series has been always has really interesting insights. Um I'm not sure everybody comes to the same conclusion on what those insights are, which is an entire other issue. Yes. But uh uh, you know, I I do find that that certainly anything that's gonna help us understand what's going on in the industry, particularly because of the makeup of of the AI of AI Canada being uh you know manufacturing and distribution heavy, shall we say, uh you know, having more insights of what's happening at the at the ground level, at the level of the bays, um is really gonna help inform you know the right policy positions uh for everybody sitting around the executive table, right?

SPEAKER_01 15:32

Yeah, and I will uh I'm gonna be very honest with you to say that you know there is this sort of feeling, I guess, of oh, well, you know, if we don't have the technicians to fix the cars and you know it's not sustainable. If we don't have the parts available, then we can't, you know, then the technicians can't fix the cars. We are we are an industry that is very tied together. So not one particular segment of this sector is more important than the other, in my mind, you know, and I mean that's just like at the shop level where you have a technician that says, oh, well, if I don't fix the car, then you know they can't make money. But the service advisor says, well, if I can't sell the job, then the technician's not getting work, right? So you kind of have this like not infighting, but this tension, right? And for me, you know, I see some of that in our industry, and I think it's time to just say, no, like everybody is contributing into this entire um sector, right? And so when it comes to information, to your point, you know, how do we how do we give data that is relevant, that is meaningful? Because we can collect data on any number of things, right? And so, but how do we utilize it to make it more meaningful for the different levels of the sector?

SPEAKER_00 16:44

Right, right. Yeah, it makes makes a lot of sense. And and uh as you say, it is, I mean, it's an ecosystem, right? Yeah, uh everything is tied together and and uh you know, if if any part of it isn't uh you know firing on all cylinders to steal another old-fashioned uh term, um you know, the whole thing isn't gonna work work great. I mean, I I uh you know, one of the things that that uh you know I think really is super important to the overall success of the industry is kind of the robust nature of it. There's not like one supplier to one plant, to one. I mean, it is a myriad of suppliers, a lot of independent buying for business. And so if one has some issues in the supply chain, like you know, we don't have 500 shops shutting down, waiting for a there is somebody else that can help. And and uh that just seems to really set it up for what is clearly in all sec many sectors of the economy, uh, you know, been a turbulent time, right?

SPEAKER_01 17:49

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And I also think too about okay, well, you know, does AIA have, and again, this is you know, whoever's listening to this and watching this, if they have feedback, I would love to hear it. But, you know, so think about okay, well, is the association also going to be consumer facing? Is it we are for sure government-facing, but we we advocate heavily, heavily to the government. I'm in Ottawa this week, you know, doing just that. And uh, but you know, what is what is our members' expectation of what we do at the consumer level too? Do they have an expectation? You know, is that so as an association too? I'm also looking, I'm taking the first quarter, right, to really just assess and and see what where is it that the association says, where is it that our members want us to go? Where does it make most sense to go? It's like evaluating a business almost, right?

SPEAKER_00 18:37

Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. So as we as we as we look, and we will, you know, we're just again, you're just starting now or one month in or thereabouts. Um, so I feel it's not really a fair question, but uh, you know, it it it if if you were to have a measure of success after the first quarter, after the first year, um what what would that be for for you and for the association?

SPEAKER_01 19:04

For me, I would love to at the end of the year be able to to really get a sense of you know, the member engagement, the member that, hey, the okay, back to that question of what is what is the big industry issues that we are solving and how are we practically moving on those fronts, right? I would love to be able to point back and say, yeah, this is this is what we did, this is what happened, you know, this is how we advanced it. This is how I was able to change the way how we framed something. You know, when I think about, for example, labor shortage, uh, one of my big, big thoughts right now is, you know, we we need to engage students at a younger level. You know, we engage students right now at the college level when they're in the trade school, and I think we will continue to do that. I do see a gap at the younger level though, because by the time they hit the colleges, in my mind, they've already decided what they want to do. I want to, how do we as an association, a nonprofit association, move for the industry to bring our sector as a possibility to those who are haven't decided? You know, and this would be like in Ontario grade nine, they already have their first careers class. So by grade nine, they're already deciding and thinking what they want to do. Well, are we there? Are we are we talking to them? Are we, you know, even an option for them? So that's one big piece in my mind thinking, hmm, is this a possibility that I could look into, you know? Right.

unknown 20:40

Right.

SPEAKER_01 20:41

So that's one thing. What I've been mulling over.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

Yeah, that's a big thing though. And and I think I think you'll find a lot of uh people who will nod their heads when they hear you say that, because as you say, and not just for technicians, right? I mean, for for all sectors within the the industry, I mean, you can be a lot of things and still uh kind of pursue it sort of automotive adjacent, right? If if you have a desire to be part of an automotive aftermarket company, you certainly don't have to be a technician. I mean, there are many virtually every career path you could choose could be executable within the industry, right?

SPEAKER_01 21:16

Exactly. Yeah. So that would be, I think, a fun thing to explore. Uh, we are gonna talk a little bit more about this at the annual conference in March. Um, and so yeah, we'll see how that lands with the audience. And uh, but it is something that I'm curious about. Again, we are gonna move ahead with you know different things that we're doing at the college level. And then part of me wonders, hmm, is there more? Is there more that we can do?

unknown 21:38

Right.

SPEAKER_00 21:38

Is there more? That's a good place to end it. Is there more? Is there more? Uh good stuff. Uh so uh for for for the folks who are part of the association, uh, you know, uh come and see more of Emily uh and hear more from Emily uh at the uh uh national conference uh March uh 11th to 13th.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 21:58

And um we'll put a link down in in the show notes uh to uh anybody's interested uh to to register and whatnot. Um Emily, thank you so much for uh joining me on the podcast. It's great. I'm really looking forward to seeing uh seeing what happens with the new dynamic uh in the big chair, as it were.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

Yes. Me too.

SPEAKER_00 22:20

Yeah, good too. Thank you. Awesome. Great stuff. Uh thank you for joining me for everyone else. Thank you for joining us. Uh take care of each other, take care of yourselves, and uh good Lord willing it'll all work out, right? So exactly.