Ep. 052 Amira Aly: on her inspiring journey from Egypt’s Alexandria to Atlanta and Arizona in the US, continuously learning in premium retail, banking and automotive and finally finding her purpose was closer than she’d first imagined.

Amira is an Executive leader in Automotive and Financial Services with a focus on the luxury and ultra luxury segment, serving OEMs such as Lucid Motors, Aston Martin and Jaguar Land Rover. She’s an expert in business operations and planning, financial products, branding, marketing and remarketing. She’s known for launching automotive startups and new partnerships and building impactful sales, credit and operation teams. Amira is a collaborator, a disrupter and an empathic leader. 

In our conversation we talk about Amira’s childhood in Egypt and her having to take on responsibility at an early age, her sudden move to the US and having to finding her feet in a new country and the unfolding story of her career, starting in premium retail before moving into banking and then into automotive finance.  

I loved listening to Amira’s story and I am delighted to be able to introduce you to her in this way. I look forward to hearing which elements resonate with you. 

You can contact Amira via LinkedIn 

 
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This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae.  

Aquilae is a boutique consultancy in the auto finance and mobility industry. We offer our Expertise as a Service to help you design and deliver projects that develop your business and the people within it. Contact cvm@aquilae.co.uk if you’d like to know more. 

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For details of our forthcoming guests follow us on Instagram @careerviewmirror 

Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk 

Twitter: @andyfollows 

Episode recorded on  28 January 2022

Transcript

Amira Aly: 0:00

That is just how I felt my entire life I have to do I have to earn everything I get. If I give it 200% I will get it and I would have earned it.

Andy Follows: 0:13

Welcome to Career-view Mirror, the automotive podcast that goes behind the scenes with key players in the industry looking back over their careers so far, sharing insights to help you with your own journey. I'm your host Andy Follows.

Andy: 0:44

Amira Aly listeners. Amira is an Executive Leader in Automotive and Financial Services with a focus on the luxury and ultra luxury segment serving OEMs such as Lucid Motors, Aston Martin and Jaguar Land Rover. She's an expert in business operations and planning, financial products, branding, marketing and remarketing. She's known for launching automotive startups and new partnerships and building impactful sales, credit and operation teams. Amira is a collaborator, a disrupter and an empathic leader. In our conversation we talk about Amira's childhood in Egypt, and her having to take on responsibility at an early age, her sudden moved to the US and having to find her feet in a new country, and the unfolding story of her career, starting in premium retail before moving into banking, and then into automotive finance. I loved listening to Amira's story, and I'm delighted to be able to introduce you to her in this way, I look forward to hearing which elements resonate with you.

Aquilae Academy: 1:45

This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by the Aquilae Academy. At the Academy, we turn individual development into a team sport. We bring together small groups of leaders from non competing organisations to form their very own academy team. We build strong connection between team members and create a great environment for sharing and learning. We introduce the team to content that can help them tackle their current challenges. And we hold them accountable to take the actions that they decide at their priorities. We say we hold our team members feet to the fire of their best intentions. We do this internationally with teams across the world. If you'd like to learn more about the Academy to go to www.aquilae.co.uk.

Andy Follows: 2:31

Hello, Amira and welcome and where are you coming to us from today?

Amira Aly: 2:37

Good morning Andy. I'm coming to you from the Bay Area in California. Alameda, California is where I live right now and where my job is and headquarters for Lucid Motors.

Andy: 2:48

Beautiful. Well, thank you very much for joining me today. And where did your journey start? Where were you born? Where did you grow up?

Amira Aly: 2:58

I was born in Alexandria, Egypt. And lots of people don't know that. Or they don't anticipate or expect that.

Andy: 3:06

I did not anticipate that. There's a big smile on my face. That's exciting. You're definitely our first can I call you Egyptian? Is that the correct term? You're the first Egyptian. oh, no. Hang on. You might not be

Amira Aly: 3:20

You had someone else from Egypt the other day, I heard his interview.

Andy: 3:25

Yeah, Osman Abdelmoneim. Anyway, very exciting to have you on. So tell us about growing up in Egypt. What was your family situation?

Amira Aly: 3:35

You know, I grew up with a single mom, three girls were all four women in one household as the oldest of my sisters. So lots of pressure there being the oldest, the responsible person, the one that I was the caretaker of the family and my sisters grew up like that. And my mom. My mom had lost her father growing up. So she was really grounded to drill this in my head that I am responsible for this family. I think she always feared something would happen for her. So I became this head of household at a very young age.

Andy: 4:12

Right. Yeah, I can imagine you did, being the eldest sister. So your mom was working, presumably.

Amira Aly: 4:20

Yeah, she ended up working. That was not I think what she anticipated for herself. But being a single mom, she ended up working and she really didn't have a lot of education. So when she started working, she started cleaning homes. And I would go with her as a little girl. But that really influenced me because what I saw is a hard working woman that was determined to do well for her girls and for her family. And that she really instilled that in me. So I grew up watching that and it taught me a lot about life. Your circumstances, they don't have to be like that. And she's always said you can do well, and you do better than me. Right? That was really what she put in me. And she did that for a couple of years before she moved into real estate. And it's interesting, because that gave me additional exposure that helped me when I moved to the US because she was a real estate agent for American companies, French companies, Italian companies that would come in and set base in Alexandria, and she would help their employees find rental property. So what would happen is I was in school, her English and French was not that well. So she would take me with her, so I can translate. So very early on, I started interacting from people from all over the world, and translating for her and just witnessing different people different culture, how they act, how they talk, all of that, and it just really diversified how I evaluate, look, people anticipate or expect to people as you know, you meet people from country to country and continent to continent.

Andy: 6:15

Wow. And can you remember what sort of age you would have been? Then when you were doing that?

Amira Aly: 6:20

I think I must have been eight or nine.

Andy: 6:22

Oh, my goodness. I'm glad I asked that question. Because I did not anticipate you saying that young. But yeah, incredible. And so you had this visibility of your mom, you were forced, really like thrown into a situation where you had maturity thrust on you by being the eldest sibling, and in a single parent family, and you witnessed your mom working really hard. And you saw her doing the cleaning. And then with the real estate, you were thrown into having conversations with with grownups. If you like from all over the world, and really reporting you know, getting involved in those conversations, translating them. Wow, that is quite a an immersion very quickly into an international environment.

Amira Aly: 7:08

It was, but it was it was it played so much of how I ended up when I moved to the US later on, right? Because when I came in, and I was speaking British English at the time, right? And my English was really good being that I just moved here, right? But it was because I practised Right. And, and English was such an international language that even if someone didn't speak, it was Italian or French, and I could not pick up we can always speak English and, you know, can pick up a conversation and what they need from my mom, and she spoke to a degree, but I think I added more to that.

Andy: 7:44

Yes, yeah. So there was all this get, you're growing up so fast. And you were getting involved in things very early, what was happening at school? What can you remember about time at school around these these years,

Amira Aly: 7:58

I was very academically grounded. Because my mom had drilled this, you have to do well. And you can do better than me. And it was all through education, right. So if you finish your school, if you go to college, if you stay focused on that you can do better. So me and my sister, and that's really where she made all her investment. And all her money went towards our schooling, our tutoring, all of that. So it was, it's very serious. It was enough. But I think it was culturally also the Middle East is like that you played sport, but it was not the focus, the focus was the academics, right? So I excelled throughout my elementary, middle and high school. What's interesting is in high school, and I don't know how it is in Europe, you get to decide if you're going to be a science and math major, or art and literature. And very early on, I knew I would be a science and math major. I wasn't clear. What is it that I wanted to do? Right? At a very, very young age back in the 80s. I would say I want to be a flight attendant, because that was the thing, right? Like, are you going to be a flight attendant? So I started with that. And then I wanted to be a tour guide because in Egypt and you know, you know is the pyramids and all the artefacts and all the history there. That was also a big industry. So I was like, Okay, I'm going to be a tour guide, because of the language also had influenced me speaking English really early on, and then changed and I think at some point I said, No, I'm going to be a lawyer. Somebody said I'm going to be a doctor. I finished school and ended up going to business school, so finished high school and go into business school.

Andy: 9:46

And before we leave school and join you at business school, you were obviously incredibly busy at home helping your mother and and then working studying very hard so that you could create this life for yourself and do better than she had done, What about fun? Was there much fun going on socially? Is that a side of school? You remember?

Amira Aly: 10:06

I think the fun because we were three girls, it was always was my sisters. Right? We and my mom had created the fun for us at the home environment. So she's very also protective, right? So we're not allowed to travel with friends or go overnight or any of that. And she always said, Your sisters are your family. Right? So a lot of the fun and a lot of the memories was my two sisters. And we grew up very, very close. And we still close very much so even though we have our disagreements, we're very close, because we just grew up like, it was like, Oh, well think about four women together in a household. Right? So I think the fun times were very tight. My sisters and my mother and the moment she created, she would have movie nights for us every week, she would take us to trips and all of that, but it was always with them.

Andy: 11:03

It sounds like don't take this the wrong way. But when you have adversity like that, or when you it's like a team building exercise. Yes. I just think of, you know, travelling around the world with my own family. When you land in a new country, and the only people you know are the you know, the four family members, and the only person you've got as your brother or your sister. And you have to figure out this new country. It is like a big team building exercise. And it sounds to me like the four of you, you know, living together and fending for yourselves would have been great for building those strong family connections. So you came to the end of school and decided to do a business qualification. How did you choose where where did you go and how did you choose where to go?

Amira Aly: 11:46

I went to I attended at the time Beirut Arab University, which is a Lebanese university that was based out of Alexandria, and it was a private school at a time. I went there for a year and a half before I ended up having to move to the US and having to move it was the most interesting thing because also during that time, I have kind of for a couple of years, went to the Gulf countries lived in Bahrain for a little bit and Dubai, and then ended up coming to Egypt. And I was going to business school and I was working for an Italian company at a time. And interesting story is my little sister wanted to be a doctor. We were in touch with my father who lived here in the US. So my father brought her, right. Within six, seven months, she was a teenager, I was the oldest sister, my father says someone needs to come and help me with her. Right. She's having a hard time adapting. So guess who has to go? The oldest sister.

Andy: 12:49

Oh, wow. Yes. So did you have to disrupt your education to do that?

Amira Aly: 12:54

Yeah, I ended up leaving school coming here. Not really clear what that means. Does this mean creating a life here? Does this mean just helping my sister transition and go back? I didn't know what it really meant. And what was interesting, it was right before I turned 21. And my dad was American citizen. So I had gotten my green card. That was the only way I can come in. So I'm going to school, I'm working in Italian company, I get a call from the embassy. My dad had called the Senator and said My daughter is turning 21 In two days, if I cannot get her green card, she can move to the US as a child, she would have to change the status to an adult, which would take longer. So I get a call from the embassy and they say, can you come in? Right? And I was like, okay, so call my job and I'm like, I can't come in today I'm going to the embassy. But that means I may not come to work tomorrow if they end up approving my green card because I'd have to move before I'm 21 my mom takes me to the embassy. I packed my tapes. That's all I care about literally cassette tapes and go to the embassy they finished my paperwork around 3:30pm We're in a travel agency trying to book me a ticket. I had to land in the US prior to turning 21 with the timezone differences. So instead of my my father at the time lived in Atlanta, instead of going to Atlanta, I had to land in New York. And I made that landing before I turned 21 I've travelled with summer clothes. October in New York was cold having having to transfer from JFK to LaGuardia. I'm very young at that time right, I just go with the flow. I've learned so much to adapt to the circumstances and I'm just like, Okay, I'm landing in JFK. I'm supposed to find the bus that would take me to LaGuardia. Right and remember landing in JFK and they process my immigration and they are looking at me and there is literally a time clock, like clicking, they have to process it before I turned 21. And everything gets done. And I transfer airport to LaGuardia to take a flight to Atlanta. And that's how I ended up in the US.

Andy: 15:12

So how closer shave was it? How many days before you were 21?

Amira Aly: 15:15

It was it was only a couple of hours. That's why I had to land in JFK. I mean, talk about like, I do believe in fate and destiny. Talk about that. And, and really, at that time, I wasn't clear what that meant. Right? What would that mean, moving here to help my sister transition? You know? So?

Andy: 15:33

How did you feel about that? Personally, your plans being changed to go and help your sister?

Amira Aly: 15:41

You know what, Andy, I, here's the thing, I never spend time sometimes when you have to make a decision like that thinking through my feeling, I'm more focused on what I need to get done. So I don't even think like, like back then I spend time like thinking through what would that mean, for me or for anything like that? It was be like, that's what I have to do for my sisters. And that's what I have to do for my family. And that's what I'm going to do and that was it

Andy: 16:07

Right so family first and get on a plane and do it. Yeah. That is really interesting that you got in just in time, may I ask how come your father was in a position to phone a senator and accelerate things? What gave him that power?

Amira Aly: 16:26

I wouldn't say that he gave much power. He was just trying to find like a kind of leverage what resources available to ensure I come here because my sister who really at that time, I mean, he wasn't around. So my sister coming here as a teenager, it was really hard for him. He was getting to know her as he was raising and her help transition. And he has been out of the picture for so long that he was just focused on like, okay, how can he get help and make sure she's positioned well, and very quickly, after I moved, I ended up like within a month moving out, me and my sister and starting a life all on our own. So, very quickly.

Andy: 17:05

Oh wow. And this is not her story. But Did your sister become a doctor? Or did she pursue a medical career

Amira Aly: 17:11

She ended up getting her master's degree in chemistry, and was going to be a pharmacist.

Andy: 17:17

Right? Yeah. Okay, just because some listeners will be thinking, Well, what happened? Why didn't you ask? Okay, back to you. Amira, you found yourself then 21 years old now living in the US, presumably in Atlanta initially, and you spent a month or so with your father and your sister, and then you moved out and set up on your own at 21? Where did you stay in Atlanta? What did you do?

Amira Aly: 17:42

I did I stayed in Atlanta, I got an apartment. And it was right across from a gas station, my sister was high school at the time. And I worked in that gas station, third shift. And I would work from 10 at night to six in the morning. So I can take her to school in the morning. And that's also I believe, I don't really remember, I think that was the only shift they had opened. And I didn't have a car at that time. So I move with my sister get an apartment, she goes to school, I'm working. And I'm trying to figure out how am I going to do this, and I would walk every night to the gas station. And when you're young, I reflect back on that. And I didn't realise back then that this was one of the most dangerous jobs in America, right? Like, you know, being in a third shift in a gas station. And I know nothing about anything. And I did it and I I did it for a year and a half after that day in and day out. And I went and got another full time jobs because I was really determined that I'm going to make the best out of it. And I I kind of knew that this is not a long term plan for me, this is just in the immediate to solve and create a life for both of us. And that kind of took me into a completely different path.

Andy: 18:55

Amazing. And a lot of my guests have started out in very operational roles in the automotive industry. But you're the first one that started out at a gas station.

Amira Aly: 19:09

Here's the thing I always say Andy it's because of that. I always think and I tell people this is like, once you know how to make life happen once for yourself. You know how to make it happen over and over and over. And that kind of created that. I'm fearless like in a way I'm fearful. But I'm also fearless because I have known how to make it all on my own multiple times

Andy: 19:36

and with a dependent almost in that case. Yeah. I can imagine that well, this is just imagination. I can imagine it being very tough, but I can also imagine it yes being hugely beneficial once you'd realised you could do it. You say once you've done it once. So tell us what happened. Then how did that progress

Amira Aly: 19:59

so one of my colleagues at the gas station, I think she really could spot this is not probably the best plan for me. And she realised I was all on my own with my sister. At that time, there is a mall that had just opened maybe 20 miles away, right, but I didn't have a car. And she goes, I'm gonna take you to that mall there is this new retail store. And I think you'd be a really good fit there. You can get a job there you can do well. And it was Nordstrom. And she took me, we put in an application, I got a phone call, I get an interview. And I think later on in life, the HR person that interviewed me, she's like, I recall our interview, and you spoke a lot about your mom. Right? So, and I ended up getting the job. And that opened a completely different door for me. And it started a different path for me, right through Nordstrom. And I would say it was the first step towards having more of a career or like something that I can find advancement opportunity that can create opportunity for learning for growth. And I stayed with them for six and a half years started from a sales associate moved into management roles, you know, opened multiple stores for them. But it was all retail, fashion focused all of that. And it was a lot of fun for a while. And I would have to say there was a great lesson that I've learned from Nordstrom, Nordstrom have always been famous for the customer service, they're going above and beyond their customers, right? They have stories, if you're familiar with them about you took returns back like people would just come and there was a tire story where someone there was a tire store at some point be prior to notes show the guy buys tires. Five years later, the tire store doesn't exist, he makes a tire return it to Nordstrom, they take it back, right. It was it was it was really interesting. But this customer service focused company really taught me what comes with a premium, right, they didn't have a lot of sales. And they took pride in that we're not a company that has sales every weekend, we have sales two times, or three times a year, right. And it was people paid a premium for the experience versus the commodity, right. And that really opened my eyes to that if you create or design an experience, could you get people buy in? Right in that case, because if you focus on the commodity or the item, it's very transactional, right. But if you focus on experience, it's more of a journey that the customer go through. And that's where I learned a lot of my selling skills, a lot of like, my probably personal skills was people reading people communicating with people all of that. But it also taught me something about loyalty and retention, which is something I'm really passionate about, especially being in automotive is when I worked for Nordstrom, they had what's called an NPS system. And back then it was like, early 2000s. And it wasn't necessarily a Salesforce or a CRM, per se. But it was a system where you introduce customer data and put their preference for that what they want. And you constantly work to go back and see what your customer preference is and match what you have to their preference and create campaigns, and create marketing campaigns and all of that, based on that. And being a management tool, I really liked that I really enjoyed the creativity and I'll create all of those experiences and events for my customer, right and really taught me a lot about that they also invested a lot in training and education. So lots of management, training, lots of coaching, lots of selling, you know, developing selling skills for my sales associate and all of that. So I have to say, I was very grateful for that. But one of the biggest thing is I learned from the Nordstrom family, they have an open door policy, where if you as an employee had an idea, or there was an issue, you were able to call one of the Nordstrom family and the prided themselves the brothers, that they will call you back. And they called you back within minutes to hours. And what that meant is they created also an environment and a culture for their employees. And that was like, no way after it left, I'm very grateful and I love Nordstom, But I felt I was brainwashed because my entire life was Nordstrom right, my entire life was for the business and for making sure I delivered to them when I deliver to the stores and my leaders and the family. Right. So it was it's a great opportunity and I'm very grateful for the learning that happened there.

Andy: 24:51

Yeah, it sounds like you had an incredible grounding. And then I thought, actually you've had multiple groundings already. You had your first grounding in your family situation of in all the responsibility that you had. And then the second grounding of coming to the US and, you know, having to look after your sister and having to sort really, on your own, set up a life for yourself. And now here's a third grounding, there might have been other groundings things that, you know, I've missed. But then here's another grounding where a really professional retailing, management using information marketing, incredible focus on customer service. And you were getting a grounding in that now for six or seven years. So yes, it's, it's, it's all coming together. But you left Nordstrom. So what caused you to leave Nordstrom Amira?

Amira Aly: 25:47

You know, you've got to recognise when it's time to do something else, or push yourself outside of your comfort zone. And there will come a point where I was working I had opened that was, I think, the third store for them. And it was it was the one before last that they opened in Atlanta. And I decided, You know what, I think it's time to leave, I have no plans. But I remember that I have not, like I said, once you make it for yourself once. I don't I don't have that fear, right? So I decide to walk to my store manager's office and say, I'm going to quit, and she looks at me and she's like, No, no, you're just overworked, take time off. And I was like, No, no, really I'm going to quit. And she goes, Are you giving me your two weeks notice? And I say, Yeah, I think I want to do something else. And I honestly Andy, I didn't know what that meant. I just knew it was time to leave. And I ended up turning my notice. And I spent a month and a half at that time, I wanted to go into banking. And the reason is, there was someone that had left got into banking, retail banking, right. And I thought, That sounds more professional. And there's more like advancement opportunity. And retail banking at the time, really liked people that came from department stores, because they had this selling mindset and the retail thinking, you have to sell products, checking account, saving account, credit cards, all of those things. So in that interview with a couple of banks, never got a job offer in the interviews. A mortgage company at that time called the Home Bank, they had a really great structure, three months of training on everything lending, right in mortgages, then about six months where you have to build in your pipeline, which already I've been networking. And I've already kind of like once I started interviewing with them, I'm always thinking, okay, how am I going to make this work? Right? So I'm already starting to network, learning about real estate, learning about how to connect with real estate agents, buyer sellers, all of that stuff, right? Go through their training programme, and it's such a crazy time was 2006. Right prior to the financial crisis that was coming up all of that. I remember joining the mortgage business and thinking in my head this is not sustainable. Why would someone who's making$1,800 a month, buy a $400,000? House? It's not making any sense. It was the interest only mortgages, right? But really still young enough? That I'm not, I can tell? There's it doesn't line up? Well, but I don't know what to make of that. Right? I'm just going with the flow trying to build my career and trying to figure out what that means. Sure enough, I do it for about eight months. And at some point it must have been when I applied for jobs, I applied for a job a Capital One could not even tell you what the job title was I applied for could not even tell you what, I don't even remember that I applied for it right. I had just graduated their programme and I'm originally doing mortgages and I was doing very well. I get a call from Capital One. And they had just acquired two companies on automotive finance Onyx and Hibernia bank at the time, and they were expanding city shop in Atlanta buying office and they call me for an interview. So I'm like, Okay, well, I'll go to the interview. I like what I'm doing. I'm doing well. I'm building the business. But I'll go to the interview. I go to the interview. 15 minutes later, they call me and offer me a job as a buyer, like credit underwriter. I know at that time credit is lending because I've went through the mortgage, three month training, but really didn't know what it means in automotive. Right. So get hired. I turned my notice to the mortgage company. It sounded more appealing to me. It sounded more of a career path that was very unique, but I didn't really know what it entailed. And I started the job with them. And they were going through tremendous growth at the time they ended up pairing me with one of their top sales reps at the time in the indirect lending and automotive, right? Come to find out later on, they paired me with her because they thought she's doing very well already if we put her with this newbie, right. But she's also and I would say I'm very grateful for her because she took me under her wings. Instead of viewing that as a challenge. What she picked up is, I have this person I just got paired with for my territory. She's hungry, she's driven, she's smart, but she doesn't know this. If I teach her, if I coach her, if I develop her, she could be one of my biggest assets, right and her and I can do really well. And you know, her and I she coached me throughout my career, her and I ended up working for three years. So so well together, she taught me everything ABC about automotive finance, the ABC of automotive, right, and I was serving at the time, I had the South East territory with her out of Atlanta and I was credit underwriter and I just, I loved it, I loved the business, I loved serving my dealers, I love to working for Capital One, because again, they were another company that was so focused on development in training, you got multiple opportunities, I think it was at the time, four times a year, I want to go training classes and intense training classes and all of that. And very, very quickly, fast forward, forward. 2008, and things really, you know, become very, very challenged in that space. But it was, and I stayed with them through that. But there were just through that transition after the crisis is where I have learned a lot at Capital One because I saw a company that took advantage of such a challenging time to revamp their operation, to think creatively and build something very resilient at the time they build what's called our diamond programme, right? And launched that instead of pulling out of the automotive finance business, like many other banks did, they just revamped how they can approach they stayed focused, very deliberate, on where they're going to get business, who they're going to do business with. And the key is, if we build it now, when everybody's out of that business, right? By the time everybody thinks normalise and come back in, we already have loyalty established with dealers with OEMs, that you can't break that and I have a great admiration to Capital One and what they do in the automotive space.

Andy: 32:50

Their paradigm then was that it will come back, and we're gonna, we're gonna be ready for it. And we're gonna build loyalty or maintain loyalty and develop loyalty in the meantime. That's a great lesson to see firsthand, isn't it to see, especially when you as you say, when so many companies were pulling out to be with the one that decided no, let's stay and let's make ourselves better ready for when it comes back.

Amira Aly: 33:15

Yeah. And it was a part of the test market when they launched that programme. So me and my partner at a time are a part of that. So we got to really provide a lot of input, we got to do the implementation and execution of the programme within our territory and within our dealer network. And it was great, and we had great success.

Andy: 33:34

Yeah, and I'm sure the dealers you were working with we're very pleased that Capital One has stayed with them supporting and providing liquidity and so on. So what was the transition after that Amira, what caused you to leave Capital One.

Amira Aly: 33:51

So what happened is I was a buyer at the time. And my partner would say that I am a salesperson trapped in a cubicle. I was not the traditional underwriter, I had too many selling skills when I got on the phone, to ensure a dealer have a way to go a path and underwriting the loan, right. And I would leverage those skills to influence or persuade them how they can sell or how they can get a customer to put more down payment or maybe change to a different car or consider a different structure or consider less profitability, right? So I was able to influence and persuade that I can get them to put these deals together. So there was at the time, it was 2010. And Capital One started expanding again, right? So they never pulled out of the market, but they were definitely doing business with select dealer groups, select OEMs. Like very deliberate and focused again, was their approach, and there was opening rep positions all over the country. And they were expanding in Florida. They were expanding in Virginia and the DC area and I was really had an interest in Florida and they were having that territory in Virginia. And I remember at the time I told my partner, do you think that we would consider putting me in a sales rep. And at the time, they would only hire within the region, or in the city that they were expanding in, because that sales rep would have existing relationships already, right? So you don't have someone new rebuilding those relationships. And as you know, this business is a relationship business. And it's a small business, right? So I remember my partner called in our head of sales and origination and said, Amira wants to be a rep. And he goes, You know, I don't know, we're like, we always hire within the city. We want people whose existing relationship, we'll put her through the process, but I'm not really sure. She persuaded him that to just give me a shot, right? They fly me in DC to interview for the job. And I remember back then I think he called her after the call and said, it was one of the best interviews he ever had. And I ended up getting an offer to move to DC with Capital One and become their sales rep there. And I did that thinking left them 2013 Yeah, I did three years with them

Andy: 36:14

Wow, there's a few things I'd like to revisit from that Amira. So you're a salesperson trapped in a in a cubicle. I love that. But you had been, of course, you had come through Nordstrom and had this incredible professional retail sales background. So you had all those skills that you were bringing, and I love the sound of how you were taking these near prime subprime customers. And your mindset was, how are we going to make this work for you? What shape is this going to have to take? How are we going to have to cut this so that we can get it over the line? And you can get the deal? You know, we can lend to you? And how did it compare? Because Nordstrom is a premium store, isn't it? And then now you're taking your skills from Nordstrom and bringing them into a subprime near prime lending environment. Was there any difference? How did you find the different consumer market if you like,

Amira Aly: 37:17

I took the same model in a way, I created an experience for a premium, right? So when you're pricing your prime, and subprime, there are fees involved. There's buy downs that have to happen. So can I create an experience through my service to my dealers? That comes to the premium?

Andy: 37:39

I love it. It's the same, it's the same when you put it like that. It's the same, it's a premium. There's a premium price. For different reasons there's a premium price, but you were creating an experience, I see

Amira Aly: 37:53

Yes. And that's what my dealer did, I went and I

Andy: 37:53

Yeah, so you were doing it very skillfully. You're not just would always at that time, we went to full credit spectrum lending, right and our pricing was a premium, even across all the credit segment that I would have my dealers and I would say, looking after your customers, but looking after the dealers as Okay, if I do these subprime deals, you're gonna have to balance my portfolio as a prime business that maybe I am priced well and making sure they gave you, that it was mutually higher, but you got to look at me as the second after your captive. And if I'm buying your paper that deep into your store, your dealership, you have to balance it out for me, and there beneficial if you're going to buy their subprime business, was a lot of negotiation, there was a lot of structuring those deals, but those packages where I would get 10, subprime deals and five prime deals. they're going to give you some business to balance your your risk. And then so 2013 Though your time with Capital One came to an end.

Amira Aly: 39:02

Yeah, it was that was one of the things where I also realised I have to do more. And I realised I can only be a rep here because everybody that was a rep have been with them for a very long time, right. It took a long time to get me further than that. At that time Ally have transitioned into what they called the Growth Model, right and it was stood back from being the captive and de develop an indirect business was you know, non franchised and their space right now, GMAC. They were they transition from GMAC to Ally and they called me to build up their territory in northern Virginia. So I decided I'm going to leave Capital One, it was a very lucrative offer. And I had the relationship already existing in the market. And I know that working for different companies, and I've always been very intentional and deliberate on the companies I go join, right so it was never to me about titles and I tell people that to this day, don't get stuck on the title build your resume, there is value to having big company names in your resume and what you learn through these companies and those through these big organisations. So Ally was big enough for me at the time that I was like, There's something else I'm gonna learn from them, right? They had that OEM experience, they had that captive, that Capital One, never had Capital One have never been a captive, right. They are indirect lending, they have had path through and partnership with OEMs as a secondary look provider, but they were not a captive, so in Ally, and I worked for them for a short period of time, it was only one year, it and I ended up joining them. And I was like, I'm gonna learn from them leasing, they offered the lease product for indirect lending. So I wanted to learn leasing from there. And I wanted to see it from the eyes of a different company than Capital One. And I did and I learned a lot in that one year, I learned a lot because also, because Ally was in such transition, I've learned the lesson of like, when companies are in the middle of a transition like that, again, if they're not focused, intentional, deliberate on what they want to accomplish, they may hire either the wrong people, or things don't get accomplished in a timely manner that would kind of provide continuity for their success, right. And that's what I learned because Ally was in such a transition, I have never had clear goals or a clear kind of definition of what am I supposed to do, I know what I'm supposed to do. And I did it for them. But if you had brought someone else in, there was nothing there that grounds you as a rep. So yeah.

Andy: 41:48

So an interesting experience where it was more chaotic. And in a phase of transition, I just actually want to go back, there's one thing I remember which I wanted to pick up on, which was you were interested in Florida, which is why you put your hand up for the rep job. But you ended up in Washington, DC,

Amira Aly: 42:05

I'll tell you, I interviewed in Florida, and I probably could have gotten the job there. And it was such a I was I was in my early 30s At the time, and I'm thinking if I go to Florida, it was South Florida, and I go to Miami, that's a party town, I'd never settle down. But if I go to DC, I'm more likely to meet people that are more grounded. intellectuals, professionals, right from Miami was always fun. South Florida was always fun. And I didn't get a job offer, I interviewed for it. But I also made a decision in my head that I need to push for the one in DC, because that's likely to put me in a different path. Do I want to be continuing with having fun? Or do I want to settle down to a degree and literally I joke about that, when I talk about this, I had to make a decision to become a party girl or do I go and settle down.

Andy: 42:59

I think that's a really interesting point. And that's why I wanted to go back was that, you know, maybe it was the attraction of Miami'll be fun, there was the carrot or part of the carrot to get out of your comfort zone and go for the job. But then there's some it often doesn't quite work out exactly as you first thought. But by then there's the momentum, you've raised your head, you've let the business know that you want to move on. And soon another opportunity comes up. So that's why I just thought that was interesting, because I just picked up the Hang on I thought you said Florida and then said DC. So that all makes sense. Great. So just one year with Ally and a little bit chaotic, big transition, probably not as much fun. I'm guessing for someone who's as grounded and deliberate and intentional about what you're doing yourself. You don't really want to be just, yes, you know what you're doing, but you want to be part of something that also knows what it's doing and is clear about the direction. So and also this idea, it seems like you've almost got a ticking clock Amira that as soon as you start somewhere. It's like a timer, someone sets the timer. And then as you get closer, you're going to get to a point it might vary how long it is set on the time. But there's gonna come a point where you start to think right, I have to move on. And if the circumstances aren't right, then that comes sooner rather than later. So what happened? How did you move from Ally?

Amira Aly: 44:30

So I ended up moving to California was Ally right at the time I was married, and my husband had to move to California and so ended up coming here with him. I keep my job was Ally but not as a rep as a buyer. But I've also went through a really challenging time during that. And what I ended up doing is I decide I'm going to quit the car business altogether. So I decide I want to find my purpose, right and that's why I was talking about last week, interview with David, this is really kind of struck something with me. I want to do something more meaningful. I want to give back. I'm not here to just originate loan and build the car business, I wanted to do more. And that more meant helping others influencing others in a really positive way, being kind to people giving back. And I decided to quit, I quit Ally and decided to go back to school because at that time, I also never finished school. So I have been in business school for a year and a half. When I was a Capital One, I did school part time while I was at Capital One, right when I was in Atlanta and DC. So I was taking business classes, business classes to try to finish my degree. But now I moved to California quit Ally and say, No, I'm going to go for social work. So I quit. I have to start all over, right. And I have to get all the prerequisites for social work because I wanted to be a psychotherapist. But it was two paths for that I can either go for psychology, which would require me before becoming a practising therapist, that I would have to get a PhD. So it was a very long path for me. And I didn't know if I can do that. Or I can go for social work and get a master's in social work. And it would happen in a much shorter timeframe, if I stay very focused. And I can practice therapy as a social worker, right? So quit, did that for a year. And during that time, I discovered two things. Giving back does not have to be through becoming a therapist, right, influencing others and helping other you don't have to have a title or education to do that you can do that day in and day out as you touch people's lives. And it also realised most of them don't make a lot of money after the investment in their education takes a while to actually recoup that. If you ever recoup it. It's more about the meaning of it and what it brings to you, right. So at that time, I needed to go buy a car. It's crazy how things are. So I go buy and it was my first EV. Mercedes B class had launched in 10 states in the US. And I needed to buy a new car. So I remember looking at a BMW, and then their EV at a time. And then remember, because I had drove a Mercedes, it's fine. I was like, Well, let me go to the Mercedes store and they didn't know that we had that the B class had launched. And I found the B Class fell in love with it. But I remember my my husband coming at a time and asking, How long have you been in the dealership, and I was like, I've been here for like four or five hours now trying to negotiate the deal. Because I went to the store and I was like, this is the car, he come and sign. Like the paperwork with me. I had negotiated everything. And he looked at me and he said, and at that time, it was really challenging for me, challenging time in general, my life and he said, This is the happiest. I've seen, you know, in a long time. You just felt like it was you were in your element, you are in your world. Right? And I was like, Yeah, I miss it. But I think what had happened is is I have the first couple of years spent in Capital One and Ally. The business was so intense that I didn't develop an appreciation for it. Right. So by the time I left to change path, I didn't develop that. But when I went to that dealership to buy my car, I think I viewed it differently. I viewed it from a people's perspective. It's the people that I was interested in. It's the people that I was invested in. It's the relationships that I built. At the same time all of this happened, he makes that statement to me that this is the happiest he's seen me in a long time. And soon enough, one of my dealers, I believe in the East Coast had referred me for a job with JP Morgan and I had a friend that worked at JP Morgan at the time, through their private label partnership with Jaguar Land Rover. So I get a call to apply for the job. I apply for the job, I get an interview right away. I've always approached my interviews the same way. I always said, I prepare for my interviews to a point, by the time I leave an interview, all you need to do is give me a business card. So I was known for making these binders. Right. And I would go and because I had been a rep for a long time I would do a market study. I would literally call in dealerships that have never met me ask them for weight sheets to educate me what other banks are offering who are their top banks and I was at that job was for Northern California. So I did so much like market intel and like a proposal of how I approach the market how to grow the market share. Who are the competitors for Jaguar Land Rover, hear all of that go into my interview at that time was the general manager for Jaguar Land Rover and the regional manager that I reported to, and make them this big binders. And I've always also used it as a tactic to keep my interviews focused on what I want to talk about. So take control out of the person interviewing me, control it by putting the material I want to present and the discussions and the conversations I want to have. And they put that in front of them. And they were so impressed because nobody prepared like that, for the interview, that I think it was a day or two later that they called me and offered me the job. And they would always laugh because I bought those really nice leather binders a bit like we had to track them because we're flying back. Both had like carry on that had no space but like, but we're looking at it like some great info here. And that's how I ended up getting really more of a captive like structure, which through JP Morgan, getting that job and working much closer than I have ever in the past with an OEM.

Andy: 51:08

What a wonderful way to approach interviews Amira. And it's such a significant differentiator, if you really put a lot of effort into getting yourself to the position, as you said, Where once the interview was over, they could just print your business card and you're ready to go. You knew what needed to be done and how you're going to go about doing it. And I love examples like that. Yeah. And did you stay in California? Where were you based?

Amira Aly: 51:38

It did. So I had the Northern California territory, really the the Pacific North East at the time I had Northern Cal, I want to say Washington State, Oregon, Nevada, Utah. Yeah, those are all the states I had.

Andy: 51:55

And you were working with the Jaguar Land Rover dealers in that area

Amira Aly: 51:59

Jaguar Land Rover, yeah. And I only did that for seven months before the regional manager, my boss at a time called me and asked me to interview for he had national oversight. So he was the National Manager for all the JLR financial services at the time. And he called me to interview and become his peer for and take on the western region. So we'll divide the country between me and him. Wow. And I go, because here's the thing I have no, at that time, I've never interviewed for a job that I didn't get. And I've always said I don't go for interviews, to get exposure. I go for interviews to get the job. Do you think that I have a good shot at that? He's like, he tries to convince me like, why you know, would be really good. It would be good practice for you for interviewing. But I'm like, You don't understand that is not my mindset. I'd go for interviews to get jobs. And that's how I interviewed that regional interview as well that regional position as well. And I got it. And it was interesting.

Andy: 53:10

Say a bit more about that. Why was it interesting?

Amira Aly: 53:14

I've been there seven or eight months, I was now managing a team that had been there for such a long time. And I was a peer. To be promoted from being a peer in such a short time into managing that team very tenured very established, was really challenging, in many ways. They divided the region, I think I had almost close to 30 states. So how for the volume to balance out, I ended up getting central and western US and he had pretty much north east, south east, right. And volume wise, it made sense. But it put a lot of pressure on me for travel. So my schedule is insane. And in addition to that I'm building a team, I found having to hire a lot. And at that time I was I have stepped out of management that there was notion to becoming an individual contributor for a long time. Working with, you know, partners, but not managing people. And there were just so many layers to that that made made it challenging for me right as as well as you know, building the team, bringing in the right talent and skill set, you know, managing what we have within my existing team and really creating the buy in, in what I'm trying to do as a manager, right or as a leader at the time. And I really had to very early on, decide, do I want to be a manager or do I want to be a leader? Right? And it was I was constantly between those two, like, I want to be a leader with people more want to buy in what I'm doing. But sometimes I had to be a manager because I needed to get the job done. I kind of leveraged that authority to just tell people, you're going to have to do it, whether we like it or not, that's what the firm or the organisation want us to accomplish, and we're gonna have to drive that. So I'd learned a lot, I would say the biggest thing is I learned more about management, managing people, people skills, influencing your team, creating, buying, creating advocacy around you. It was such an interesting time in my career in the senses, I didn't know what I signed off on at the time. But it was more through this challenging time that I also I tend to be very stubborn, because the more something that doesn't work, sometimes the more I'm determined to make it work. And I did. And I think, by the time I left in a transition state with JP Morgan, but went to add another brand, I think I had a good team in place. But man, what I had to go through to make sure I had the right people, it was hard.

Andy: 55:58

So that is a very special situation, when you're promoted to then lead your peers. And how did you manage to transition between, you know what would you put it down to? Did you lose some people along the way? You know, how did you make that step up?

Amira Aly: 56:17

Yeah, I did, I did lose people along the way, for sure. And some of it I really hated losing. And some of it was like the best thing for everybody. I think at the end of the day, people have to know that you genuinely cared. And I've always cared, because I really think more than anything that drives me day in and day out is doing right by people, right, growing, developing, giving back. So I learned how to do that, as a leader and I and that's how I currently am. Back then I was in discovery and learning mode to do that. So I think that people have to know you genuinely care. And I think sometimes it's not always about driving your agenda right away, taking a step back, and learning about your team and what drives them. And what they need from you, they have to rely on. And they are critical to you, you can no matter how good I am or how good I get, I can't do it on my own. And I day in and day out in my job now to show my team and tell my team that they are critical to me, they're extension of me. But my success is not important if if it doesn't contribute to their success, right? I tell my team, once I get a title, it's not about me anymore. It's about giving them visibility exposure and helping them advance their career, right, because now I have the credibility that comes with my title, right. And I just learned to make it more a lot more about my team and my people than anything else. And I think back then, being thrown in that position, I was more driven towards what do I need to accomplish as a regional manager, right and focused on that. And even though I had every intention to do right by my team they didn't really see it as much, all what they saw is the ambition and the drive and all of that. And they thought it was more self driven. And it really wasn't, but it came across that way. And I also learned at that time that perception is reality, whether you agree or not, it is your reality. So I've also decided from that time that no matter what a person says about myself, no matter if I agree or not, I don't let it define me. I make it my job to change their perception. I make it my mission to show them, especially if it's constructive, right? To show them more of what I'm capable of doing what my team is capable of doing. So I live by that now. Perception is reality, and it's on you to change that perception. It's not on the other person

Andy: 58:54

What a wonderful summary. And there was so much in that you must have learned so much during that period, becoming the regional manager and becoming transitioning from a manager to a leader and everything that that entails an awful, awful lot of valuable learning in there Amira. And then you transitioned again, still within JPMorgan, but to another brand, but just before we go there when you got the role when you said you got the role with JP Morgan to work with Jaguar Land Rover, that was the closest you'd been to an OEM. How was that? How did that change things for you?

Amira Aly: 59:37

I think I think this is where I spend also a lot of time for my dealers and I'm very grateful I love that business for a reason is because of everything I've learned from my OEM and dealers and they invested the time to educate me and didn't know at the time they were educating me I just always had a lot of questions and I was always I was always a sponge for anything people share whether it's relevant or not I knew that I can learn something. So at that time, when I would go from, you know, state to state, I had already had a very diversified background and international background living in different countries going in different countries. But what I realised is sometimes as an OEM, we approach things. It's a one size fits all right, and I went to state to state and I spent time with my dealers. And I would try to understand why can't I get the market share here? Why do I have a least penetration high here, and a little penetration here, really came down to how the customer transact and all of that, so got to learn a lot about that? How do you approach the market on a macro and a micro level? Right? How to, again, marketing. So marketing became like, a thing for me. And I tell people, like, I'm not a marketer, but I, from sitting with dealers learning more about the value of conquesting. And understanding your conquest strategy, where do you conquest from? Why all of that, but loyalty and retention for an OEM and how critical it is, and truly, sometimes as I'm working with OEM, it becomes an afterthought or something as we active versus proactively addressing that from the start. And there was just lots of learning that happened there, not just on the leadership side and management side, but the OEM, the leasing the product that, you know, as an OEM, you also, you're constantly reacting to the market, right? And I've realised that something we missed the opportunity to put forward thinking plans. And I always talk about that, about when you're an OEM, you can design products for the next three years, because in the next 3 5 7 10 years, the purchasing power is always shifting. And as you create product, you can't create it for today, by the time you actually start thinking of a product and put it through development in actually execute, you have already out of the market, because you don't know where the purchasing power gonna be. So you're always thinking towards the future you're, you're doing an executing for today, be the future is always near by. And that's as I as I'm doing this for Lucid now, that's what I think about is, if my products today are two three products in financial services, my future doesn't look like that. Because there is an a generation right now in the workforce, that's going to have the access to Well, that's going to need to transact differently. And I have to design for that. If if I want this to be successful. Lots of learning on multiple funds happened during JLR

Andy: 1:02:45

And then you moved within JPMorgan but to another OEM look after another OEM, was it?

Amira Aly: 1:02:51

Yeah, so that happened, same thing. It didn't have necessarily the intentions. I know, I wanted to do more at JP Morgan. And it was just trying to navigate the firm to find out what it would take right to get those additional responsibilities. At the time, my boss had called me that my dad had just passed, and he called me and I was very close to my boss. And he called me and he said, we had this opportunity within Aston Martin, as a partner, you know, that we're signing them, you know, do the private label, I want you to apply as a general manager for the role. Right? So you would lead Aston Martin relationship. And because I'm always in the mindset, I don't apply for jobs, I, I get jobs, right, I said, I couldn't I can't do it. I can't. If I go for this right now, I would not be as prepared as I would like to be he said, just have a conversation with my boss and see what he says. And I just knew I wouldn't be on my A game like I usually am. So I call them and he said, I'll give you the chance to apply for it. We're about to make a decision. I wish I knew early on I said I couldn't because of you know, my personal circumstances and what just happened? He said, but I'll put you as a brand manager and as the brand manager you oversee all the function, right? So you're working with a pricing team, you're working with marketing or can see marketing, you're working with all the different functions that supports you as an OEM, right? And you get to actually build the strategy and work with the teams to execute right so it was perfect, it was like the person right under the General Manager. So it's like, okay, I'll and he said, I can put you as a brand manager, you wouldn't interview. I would just put you there and it was a lateral move right. And I didn't I also didn't have a team at that time, right if I got that role but to me, it was more about what am I going to learn, right? I have already developed a lot of experience working with OEM and dealers at JLR. Right, as well as my team. I learned a lot through that. But I wanted to get the depth in some of these areas. Right? Really get the depth in marketing, really get the depth in new marketing and the pricing and product development. And I took it, right, it wasn't necessarily I would have rather went to the general manager role, but didn't I didn't have what it takes to go through that interview. So I took that role, but I was so I think there is a time in my life that I was so intentional about every conversation, I have everything I needed to learn all the time investment that I just spent outside of my job to learn more and more about the business, and I'll go and my team laughs at me, when I say, I Google a lot of stuff. And I read a lot of white papers, right? And I go to Deloitte and McKinsey and all of those like consulting firm and read what they publish on automotive and what that future should look like. I spent a lot of time doing that in that role, because I really, and I was very, I've always been committed to serving my OEMs. And dealers and I was very committed to serving Aston Martin. And I just wanted to learn everything I can to help advance them and advance their objectives and goals in the US.

Andy: 1:06:07

Yeah, another really good case study, if you like, Amira of how to evaluate an opportunity, what am I going to learn? And if it's a lateral move, or investment moves, we call them sometimes. Then yeah, what am i What's in it for me? Very interesting. So you spent a spell doing that for the brand role for Aston Martin. And then what was the next move?

Amira Aly: 1:06:35

So for two years I did that with Aston Martin. And let me remind you, I've never finished college. So I have had all of those business classes, credits, had all of those social work in psychology credits. And I started with Aston Martin, and it was in the year COVID hits, right. But I'm no longer travelling. And I was like, now, I'm pretty good at getting myself so organised. When I do a job, I have the capacity to take on a lot. COVID hits, I'm not travelling anymore. I'm like, What could I possibly do? Now that I'm not travelling, and I'm working, and things are going well with us and I'm setting everything up. I'm going to go finish my degree. So I do that. And I think it's nine months, I ended up graduating. While I'm managing Aston Martin didn't tell anybody I was going to school. I was doing it full time. I think I finished almost a year and a half of college in about nine month. And I was so focused, this is going to do well in Aston Martin, because it's my step to the next thing. I have got to finish this because at this point in my career, this really holds me back. Right and having to juggle these two. And I don't think anybody knew at that time. Until now I don't think that people know I just finished college as recent as a year or a year and a half, or I don't know, maybe even longer

Andy: 1:08:07

Congratulations Amira and well done and I don't know if this is relevant or not. But the image that popped into my mind when you were describing that incredible focus and dedication and hard work, doing your Aston Martin job finishing your qualification at the same time was it took me straight back to your childhood and to your mum having to do everything and you know, raise the family and work. And it's that level of intensity and commitment. That's the image that popped into my head when you talked about how hard you were working then and taking advantage of not having to travel during the pandemic to finish your finish your degree eventually well done. So once you'd done it once you had got that, then and we know you're at Lucid now. So is this the time to talk about how you transitioned from Aston Martin to Lucid how you discovered Lucid or they discovered you and how you came to be there.

Amira Aly: 1:09:08

Yeah, so it so what was interesting is there's a couple of things before I moved to Lucid. I had already left the Bay Area moved to LA for two years. And then I decided when I was in LA, I'm going to go buy a house in Scottsdale. I'd been to Scottsdale multiple times and really liked it. And I was like, I'm just gonna like, I tend to do that like in my head. There's all of like, Oh, I just want to buy a home here and a home here. So I go move to Scottsdale at the time that I was buying the house. I remember my real estate agents like you should invest in Casa Grande. There is this car company that's building and it's owned by Saudis and it's building a factory in Casa Grande. And I was like, if you think back that wasn't too long ago, I want to say 2018 19 outside of Tesla because nobody had entered that business as a crowded as it is, or maybe it had not came to the US there was new entrants happening for sure. But it was happening very slowly, right? And not a lot of visibility on that. And I feel like COVID kind of accelerated that And I'm like, okay, but but I don't make much of it, right? They say, Okay, I look at it, as you know, look at it as an investment opportunity. And I ended up going to Scottsdale and living there for two years. And it was right around, I was about to graduate. Do you know how it came about because I wasn't intentionally at the time looking for a job, it just might have popped up, or someone reached out to me. And I was like, this is Lucid. This is the company the real estate agent was talking to me about. So again, it becomes very, very interesting. I had already at that time after JLR and Aston, had a very good idea if I'm going to run a captive one day, how I want to do it, right. And I had already had all of these different operating models in my head, how I would kind of launch it, what the future needs to look like, how do you build a team? How do you go about it? How do you consistently support the OEM, from the sales and manufacturing side to align with financial services, all of the things are constantly running in my head. And I apply for it, and I get a call from Lucid. And I don't think they knew necessarily back then what they really needed. So as I was getting the job, like, and I was having this discussion with them, and I'm just like, you really don't know what you need. You know, and I didn't necessarily say it like that, I don't really want to present it like that. But but but but there was just so much to do. And they haven't really, they haven't had someone to run financial services or think through financial services. But I knew that, and I had that experience. And at the time again, I was not interviewing for the job, I was getting the job. So I was already crafting plans, I was already putting the framework together how I'm going to decide on operating models, right? I was already thinking what it would take in North America, I was already thinking, How do I expand that globally? So by the time every discussion I had with them, I was just adding that right, adding other plans and presenting right and showing them what they need to make a car company and a new entrance successful. Right? And I did I got the job because that's what I that's what I'm intend to do. Right? And I don't see this. I don't say this out of, you know, being the oh I'm so good. But I think when you put your intention on something, when you become deliberate and you really spend the time I remember one of my neighbours at the time. She said to me, I would never prepare for a job interview as much as you do. And I said why wouldn't you. Right, like my The question was in my head, I'm like, I know that what I do to prepare to go through job interviews is very intense, right? But I've always questioned but why wouldn't she do that? Wouldn't you want to get the job? But I guess it also when you realise in life, and people have different philosophy and different approach to everything they do. And you've got to respect that. Right? So to me, it was like, that is just how I felt my entire life I have to do I have to earn everything I get. If I give it 200% I will get it and I would have earned it. And that's just how I approach things.

Andy: 1:13:44

And you've articulated Amira that your mindset, your paradigm, when you go for an interview is I'm going to get this job. And therefore the work is worthwhile, isn't it? It's worth doing it because you're already thinking and you know, I'll do the interview, and then I'll get the job. And then I'll do the things that I've said I'm going to do at the interview. And I guess if your paradigm is ah it's an interview, I probably won't get it. Well then already why invest time? You know why? Why bother? I'm not going to get in. So really interesting to hear. So you How long have you been at Lucid? Now?

Amira Aly: 1:14:24

A year, it's coming a year.

Andy: 1:14:26

Wow. And tell us a little bit I don't want any secrets. Nothing that isn't in the public domain it's not that kind of show. But it's I think it'd be really interesting for listeners who may not know that much about Lucid yet to hear a bit about it directly from yourself.

Amira Aly: 1:14:44

So for people that don't know about Lucid I think everybody may know so much by now especially in the automotive space. So we launched our first EV back in October, after many years of hard work and development and manufacturing to deliver the first car was the highest range over 500 miles, our Dream Edition, right? Our operating model is direct to consumer sustainability, green energy, and how do you take that globally and expand it and just I'm very proud and I'm very proud of the people of Lucid and the team that Lucid because even though I've been only there a year, and you know, I'm proud to be a part of it, I think it means a lot more for everybody that started this from the very, very beginning, right. Peter Rawlinson, our CEO and his team and all the hard work they put together to bring a car to the world, that benchmark that everybody should aspire to benchmark that we have the technology and we have what it takes to provide something and it sits in a space that right now in the EV space, there's not a lot of people that enter the ultra luxury space with an EV. And the Dream Edition sits with ultra luxury space.

Andy: 1:16:02

Yeah, it's a stunning car. And as you say, very exciting to be involved in the at the beginning of a new car company. And in the first year, the first car was awarded Car Of The Year wasn't it

Amira Aly: 1:16:17

Yeah, Motor Trade Car of the Year. And it was the first time an OEM gets it within their first year of launching a product, which also groundbreaking right? So I think when you think of it, and it makes me so proud to be a part of it, when you're a part of commercialising that vehicle. There's even an additional level of sense of commitment on my part, to ensure that me and my team are doing everything possible to ensure that's successful to ensure that continuity of success and benchmarking the industry that Peter established for all of us, was the vehicle. How do you carry that on? Through the commercialization of that?

Andy: 1:16:59

Yeah. That's really wonderful to hear. Thank you Amira. So is there anything? We're at the present day now, aren't we we've arrived at where you are today. You join me at 6am Your time to have this conversation. So I'm incredibly grateful for that. I know you're flying off to Saudi and the UAE after this call, is there anything? I should have asked you that I haven't asked you about your journey?

Amira Aly: 1:17:29

I think you asked me I think you asked me a really good question. I really good discovery question that I ended up sharing a lot. What I want to leave you with is I'll go back to when I decided to leave automotive to do something that I thought that's the only way I can give back contribute back. I think I have when I when I came back again, and especially where I am today, I feel like I have what it takes to influence to give back to help people develop people, advanced people and have also developed an eye for talent. Right? So I think it's and I think as we sit in automotive and think about this space, we're really, especially in the business function, they say we're lacking, building a pipeline of candidates that can take off and become part of our succession plan. So I kind of made it a personal mission for me to kind of spot talent, bring them in? And can I just teach them a couple of things that can help them get on the right path? And can they be a part of that pipeline I'm created and creating in that business in the automotive business? Because I really do. I don't think that any of us that well, at least in my case. It's not like I woke up and said, Oh, I want to work in automotive. The auto business is really what I want to do. And I don't think a lot of people entering into automotive thinking that right? But it becomes it's such a fun business. And I tell people, I'm not a car enthusiast. I'm not in love with cars, but I'm not I'm in love with the car business with the automotive business. And there is a difference there. It gives me actually objective because I'm committed to commercialising the vehicle and I love what we do. But I'm also very objective about it because I can sit there and I'm not a car enthusiast and I can see the pros and cons of everything very differently than someone that's really really they love the car and the performance of the car. They are two different things really.

Andy: 1:19:38

Yes, yeah, very good point. And I'm glad you brought that up again. I thought it was wonderful that you discovered that there's more than one way to give back. You don't have to become a social worker to do that. And actually, a leadership role a management role is an incredible opportunity to to live your purpose and give back to people in your team. And to have an impact on not just the people in your team, but the people who they go home to, at the end of the day, and whether they go home and kick the cat and shout at the kids, or whether they go home, actually energised and fulfilled by their day. And they're, they're able to perform as a really great partner, or parent, or friend or family member all the other roles in their life, they can function at because they've had a fulfilling day at work.

Amira Aly: 1:20:29

I share that in my interview that I tell people, and I'm very transparent in my interview, and I make it my goal to tell people two things one, during the time, I will interview you, I hope I leave you with two things that would help you in the future, regardless if you get the job or not. And I try to do that and provide and I ask people if they're comfortable if I provide feedback right away if I ask the question, and they're not like giving me the answer. So I would have liked to hear this. And I hope that this would help you in the future, right. So I use the interviewing, sometimes to help others. But the other thing is, is I'm very transparent to what it comes. I'm very intense in the way I have very high expectation, high standards. And if someone joins me, I promise it's going to be worth every minute of your time that you invest in your job. And I make sure that this happens for people. But I also see it as a big responsibility as a leader and bringing people in, because you're responsible for their livelihood, like you said, for their happiness. For their family. I think one of the most things that really meant a lot to me, as I was leaving JPMorgan is when someone said to me, my family knows you. And we pray for you every night. And that is probably the most rewarding thing I found in my career is if Can I leave positive impact on the people I touch every single day. And that's a responsibility I take very, very seriously. And my team knows that.

Andy: 1:21:57

That's a wonderful point to bring this to a close Amira. Thank you so much. It's a remarkable story. Thank you for sharing it with us. You're, you've got a long way to go still in your career. So this is a check in. And I'm sure there's going to be lots more exciting stories from from this point forward. And I'm very grateful for you for joining me today. Thank you.

Amira Aly: 1:22:22

Thank you Andy so much and thank you for this opportunity. It's been wonderful just talking to you and just our interaction in general since we met each other. Thank you for that.

Andy: 1:22:33

You're welcome. You've been listening to Career-view Mirror with me, Andy follows, I hope you found some helpful points to reflect on in Amira's story that can help you with your own career journey or that of those who lead parent or mentor, you are unique and during my conversation with Amira, you will have picked up on topics that resonate with you. As I said in my introduction, I love this conversation with Amira and so many elements stood out for me. Those challenging early years as the eldest sibling in a one parent family, acting as a translator for her mother from as early as nine years old, which gave her exposure to people and conversations that she would not otherwise have had, how her education was disrupted when she moved from Alexandria to Atlanta to support her younger sister setting up in a flat with her sister and working at a gas station. Her assertion that once you figured out how to take care of yourself once you know you can do it again, the gas station colleague who mentioned that there were jobs at the mall, and the opportunity to join Nordstrom, that led to getting another solid grounding, this time in retail customer service, marketing with data and professional management. Learning how the right customer experience can justify a premium price. Constantly being aware of the need to move on when the learning or opportunities slowed down, taking her skills and experience in premium retailing into banking. Realising that she wanted a sense of purpose in her life and interpreting that as meaning a move into social work or psychotherapy, then getting to grips with the reality of that, and understanding that there are more ways to give back in other professional roles for which she already had plenty of relevant experience. The challenge of taking on a role in which you manage people who were your peers, gaining experience of how OEMs operate with JP Morgan and JLR and Aston Martin, seeing the pandemic as an opportunity to finally finish her formal education and managing to study full time whilst doing that job. And her paradigm that she doesn't go to interviews for practice, but goes with the sole purpose of getting the job and prepares accordingly. You can contact Amira via LinkedIn and there's a link in the show notes to this Episode, we publish these episodes to celebrate my guests careers, listen to their stories and learn from their experiences. I'm genuinely interested in what resonated with you. If you have any comments or feedback for us if you have any questions or if Amira's insights have helped you, please let us know by leaving a review your feedback helps us grow. You can leave a review on Apple podcasts or pod chaser, or you can find the episode on our Instagram at Career-view Mirror and comment there. Thank you to all of you for sharing your feedback. Thanks also to Hannah, our producer. This episode of Career-view Mirror is brought to you by Aquilae. Aquilae is a boutique consultancy in the auto finance and mobility industry. We offer our expertise as a service to help you design and deliver projects that develop your business and the people within it. Contact me if you'd like to know more. To be among the first to know about upcoming guests. Follow us on Instagram at Career-view Mirror. And remember folks, if you know people who would benefit from hearing these stories, please show them how to find us. Thanks for listening