Building a Professional Brand at any Stage

Your professional brand is forming right now, in the email you send, the way you show up at a trade show, and how you act when you’re nervous. Jacki Lutz sit down with Northwood University sophomore Caden Olvey and Dana leader and Northwood alum Ryan Devine to talk about what “professional branding” actually looks like inside the automotive aftermarket and heavy duty industry, especially when you’re early in your career and suddenly leading real conversations with real companies.

We dig into how Northwood’s student-run auto show creates a fast track for career development: captains, chairs, sponsors, and thousands of real-world touchpoints that build confidence through repetition. From thank-you notes to booth logistics, you’ll hear how small habits become big signals and why first impressions still matter when you never know who you’ll run into at the airport or on the show floor.

Then we get practical about reputation and LinkedIn strategy. We talk about consistency as the multiplier that makes your brand believable, how emotional intelligence separates high performers, and why your title is not your identity. We also share best practices for LinkedIn posts, trade show recaps, and staying authentic in an era where AI can easily flatten your voice. If you want a stronger personal brand in the automotive industry, start here, then subscribe, share the episode with a colleague, and leave a rating and review.

To learn more about the Auto Care Association visit autocare.org.

To learn more about our show and suggest future topics and guests, visit autocare.org/podcast

Transcript

Welcome To Carpool Conversations

Jacki Lutz 0:07

Welcome to AutoCare on Air, a candid podcast for Curious Industry. I'm Jackie Lutz, Content Director at the Auto Care Association, and this is Carpool Conversations, where we collaborate on today's most relevant power skills. We are all headed in the same direction, so let's get there together. Hi everybody, I'm Jackie Lutz. Welcome to another Carpool Conversations. I have with me Kaden Olvey. Welcome, Kayden.

Ryan Devine 0:40

Thank you. Hi.

Jacki Lutz 0:41

Hi, and Ryan Devine. Hi, Ryan.

Ryan Devine 0:44

Hey, Jackie. Hi, Caden.

Jacki Lutz 0:45

Yeah. Um, both uh Northwood affiliated. So Caden is a student at Northwood University and attended HDAW this year. And so I wanted to get a student on just to kind of get a new perspective on the heavy duty market and you know, see what's going on in that world. So I asked Caden to be on the show and um, you know, what subject he'd want to cover. And we were started to build this show, and I looked at who was gonna be attending this show, and I saw Ryan Devine on the list. I was like, how perfect. He is a Northwood uh university alumni himself and um also a bigger name in the industry. Yeah, go Timberwolves. I'm from Saginaw Valley. You know, I can't I can't say that.

Ryan Devine 1:33

Fair enough. I understand.

Meet Caden And Ryan

Jacki Lutz 1:34

I'll allow it on the on the podcast. Um, so yeah, why don't you each of you just kind of introduce yourself? Caden, do you want to go first?

Caden Olvey 1:42

Yeah, sure. So I'm Caden, I'm a sophomore at Northwood. Um I'm studying aftermarket automotive management. Um, some of my previous experience prior to coming to Northwood was I was a technical uh I was an automotive technician for about two and a half years um total, two years before Northwood, and then I came back in the summer and worked another little uh summer entirely before I came back for my sophomore year. Um so I've got some hands-on experience and uh prior to that as well, while I was working as a mechanic, I was at the Career Tech Center studying business careers. So I kind of got a little foundation of business and the automotive hands-on, and then that kind of carried me into Northwood. And um, so yeah, now I'm a sophomore at Northwood and I'm the aftermarket chair for the uh Northwood University International Auto Show. And uh yeah, I was excited to be here, I guess.

Jacki Lutz 2:29

Talk to me a little bit more about this auto show. So how big of a deal is that?

Northwood’s Student-Run Auto Show

Caden Olvey 2:34

Um, it's pretty huge for Northwood. Um, so being the aftermarket chair um at our auto show, we throw every single year, it's a completely student-run show. Um we have an executive board of about 20-ish members uh that cover everything from finance to OE side of the show, uh logistics to aftermarket. And so my specialty is the aftermarket side of the show. It is split between OE and aftermarket. So we've got pretty much every single OE manufacturer slash dealer that's available in the United States, as well as some fun little like hiker cars and specialty cars that we have every single year of the show. And then on the aftermarket side, we try and incorporate as many aftermarket brands as we can and encapsulate pretty much everything in that industry from heavy duty to motorsport to normal aftermarket with your big players, you know, like Bosch and Dorman and things like that. So essentially for about three days in fall, every single year, um, Northwood hands the keys over to the e board and says, throw your own event and get as many people as you can. And so we usually, I think last year we had about 60,000 people over the span of uh three days. And we had about $150 million in assets total in the show. Um, people come from all over. Students are all hands-on. I mean, pretty much every single kid gets involved in some way, shape, or form. You know, if you're a hospitality major, you're working in the hospitality booth and doing things like that. So everyone gets hands-on at Northwood and and just really just throws a show that everyone is a part of and has some kind of passion regarding. And uh it's a really cool and unique kind of show.

Jacki Lutz 3:57

That's incredible. I guess I I knew it was a biggish deal, but I didn't realize the numbers. Um, I've tried to make it there the past like three years, and I and I've haven't had the opportunity. I think uh two years ago, I got to go to there was like some kind of reception on the last day or something that I got to attend, which was amazing. But yeah, that's so tell me real quick before we introduce Ryan, um, what's the selection process for becoming chair of this?

Caden Olvey 4:24

Um, so basically to get onto the e-board, it kind of starts by becoming a captain. The way that we have it structured is we have our e-board members and they are kind of the main points of contact for getting uh companies to the show and signing those contracts. Then we have captains and teams. So essentially, each student that you know wants to be involved in any kind of way, they'll do a little interview with our e-board, and uh the e-board will then kind of place them in the best kind of fit that they feel is uh correct for their placement. So, say if they like motorsports or they like heavy duty, you know, they're gonna go and work in motorsports and be a captain for a motorsports booth. So essentially, every company that we have sign up gets a captain, um, and then that captain be builds a team and they become that main point of contact for the show. So that instead of me talking with Ryan for Dana, um, the entirety of the show, we're setting up meetings and stuff like that and talking about you know getting Dana into the show. And then once they you know sign a contract, then I send them up with a captain, and that captain builds a team. They work on all the logistics for the booth, uh, figure out you know what they want to display, what their booth want they what they want their booth to look like. Um and yeah, that's that's kind of it. But basically, it's just a slow selection process. You do captain for a year or two years and kind of build your reputation of as being a good captain, and then you know, if you want to be on the eboard, you interview for an e board position, and then from there on, it's the last eboard's um responsibility to build the next eboard.

Jacki Lutz 5:43

And you kind of feel the connection to a personal brand that you're talking about.

Ryan Devine 5:47

That's a funny thing. Caden actually was chasing me down for some support this week as well. So we already got to have a conference call earlier this week. Yeah.

Caden Olvey 5:54

Oh, good.

Ryan Devine 5:54

Dana, we've sponsored this many years, so I just, you know, as a plug for the industry, I think it's a great way to get your brand out there, a great way to interact with future, you know, aftermarket talent. Um, really good event.

How The Chair Selection Works

Caden Olvey 6:05

So Northwood really is the hub for everything in terms of upcoming automotive rock stars, whether that be dealer side or aftermarket side. Um, I think Ryan can attest to this. It's a fantastic and you know, kind of proving ground for companies to come and see the show, see the campus, see all the kids getting hands-on. And um, there's some serious talent. You know, almost every kid wants an internship. They're looking for an internship next summer. So there's a lot of opportunity there to pick up some serious talent upcoming in the industry before anyone else can get to it.

Jacki Lutz 6:33

Good. Noted for everybody listening. Um Ryan, why don't you tell us a little bit about you?

Ryan Devine 6:38

Yeah, absolutely. So, so I, like many people in the aftermarket, started, you know, working in a parts department when I was very young. You know, kind of got involved with the industry, delivering parts to shops and getting yelled at by a lot of the shop owners. Learned a lot, by the way, through that process, you know. And you know I found Northwood, I thought it'd be a really cool fit for me because I was interested in the aftermarket. I like cars like like many of us around. Um the one thing I found was their aftermarket program. I thought it was interesting. And I was like, you know, should I go into the you know the automotive side or aftermarket side? And I kind of thought to myself, you know, when the economy goes bad, people still need to fix their cars. So that turned out to be a great decision, by the way. So uh I'm I'm happy how it turned out. Went to Northwood, had a great time there. Um, went through the aftermarket program uh under the professor of Jim John. He was a great uh you know, industry veteran type. Uh got my MBA at Northwood as well. And uh the great thing is when you when you come out of that university, you get a lot of opportunity, interview with a lot of companies. I landed with Dorman Products out of college, learned a ton there, a lot of great uh mentors throughout that process as well. Um ended up at Dana as as I am now for the past 15 years. Uh been great. You know, everything you learn, you know, you know, from the beginning at Northwood, you can apply your whole career. So it's been an interesting ride.

Jacki Lutz 7:49

It's interesting though. Uh Ryan's a little bit of a look into the future for Kaden. Um it's it's kind of a fun dynamic on this on this podcast. So uh Caden, when I approached you and I asked you which topic you wanted to talk about, I gave you a little bit of a list of things we've been wanting to touch on and see what you were comfortable with or what you were most interested in. And this was your idea to do some kind of professional branding, personal branding kind of conversation. So tell me a little bit why you think that this is so important.

Caden Olvey 8:18

Um it's it's incredibly important to me. Um, I'm kind of in a unique position with the uh uh aftermarket chair kind of stuff because typically uh you grow from a vice chair into a head chair position. We had two seniors last year in vice and head chair for the aftermarket. And so obviously they can't come back and do it again. You can't move that vice chair into the head chair if they're already graduating. Um, so that left a huge gap. And so for me to get chosen for the aftermarket chair position, it was a little bit scary at first. I'm like, you know, what am I doing here? I'm just a sophomore. I haven't really had a lot of experience really going to shows and making a name for myself and the industry yet. I mean, I was a captain for two years in a row. And I have always been kind of wanted to be on the e-board, but didn't really expect to get thrown in the deep end like this, if that makes sense. Um, so being the aftermarket chair now and going to shows and things like that, um, professional branding is such a huge, huge uh big player in professionally talking with companies, feeling comfortable with yourself, um, and really just pretending to be professional even if you're not. Um, because at the end of the day, you know, I am a sophomore and I'm just a kid. Um, but now I have the ability and the confidence to have you know high-level conversations with businesses and people that I want to come to the show. And that's really all just professional branding. Because once I leave that show, then I'm just hanging out with my friends and I'm just me again, you know? So uh professional branding is just a huge part in everything that I do in a day-to-day um with business meetings, like I've like one that I had with Ryan earlier this week, um, things like that. And it just, you know, it's a fun topic to talk about.

Ryan’s Aftermarket Career Path

Jacki Lutz 9:45

Yeah, and I think something people don't really realize is that whether or not you are intentional about it, everybody walks around with a personal brand. You know, whether or not it's serving you or whether or not it's on your side is kind of a different conversation and why it's so important to be intentional. And what I think is so cool is that you're thinking about this so early on. There's a and there's a lot of people that I talk to that are just starting this process, you know, and they they're 15 years into the industry. Um, so it's gonna be really interesting to see how it serves you, you know, being more intentional about this so early on in your career. Do you think that um you had a strong brand somehow when they chose you to be chair? Did that kind of speak for you a little bit? Was there any, you know, thing that happened in your freshman year or anything that um you were conscious about?

Caden Olvey 10:38

Maybe a little bit. I'm not sure about conscious about it. Like I wasn't outwardly thinking about you know how I realistically want to represent myself in a business setting, but I had a good foundation of experience between like my technical experience prior to coming to college and all as well as the business experience. I mean, I I used to take uh obviously a CTC class, and it was two years straight of ELA credits, so I didn't have to take an English language arts class while I was in high school. That got covered, but everything from that ELA class was strictly business focused. So, you know, I was writing thank you letters to companies in high school, and I was learning how to do, you know, professional uh structuring on emails and stuff like that in an APA business format. Um, and that definitely gave me a really great foundation to seem more professional, whether or not I even realized that I was doing it. Um, and then doing captain for two years, and uh, I worked with Lickle Molly last year, and they really saw a lot of potential in me this this past show. And I think they really helped, you know, put in a good word for me about this kid, you know, he's a hard worker and stuff like that to get me in the position that I'm in. Um, but now being the chair, it's a lot more outward-facing. Um, I'm like actually, you know, actively trying to be as professional as I can and uh really contact companies so I can get them locked down for the show.

Jacki Lutz 11:48

And I don't know if Northwood realizes what they're doing, like, you know, as far as words are concerned, but it sounds like they're giving you a lot of opportunities to build a personal brand, even though they might not be talking about that that way, but they're giving you a lot of opportunities. And, you know, one thing I always talk about in my keynotes is every single interaction with you is a brand experience, right? So you can have the favorite store that you always go to and have one terrible customer service experience and then never go back. So, you know, the whole kind of experience with you as a professional is part of your personal brand.

Why Personal Branding Matters Early

Caden Olvey 12:21

I do definitely like genuinely believe that Northwood probably is one of the greatest colleges to set up someone for the business professionalism and things of that nature. Like we have uh leadership classes that are like foundations of every freshman experience at Northwood. The first one is just kind of like an icebreaker, and then the second semester, which a lot of students are doing right now, and I'm getting all these LinkedIn invites and stuff. It's called professional branding and planning. And they teach you, you know, how to build a resume, they teach you how to build a LinkedIn account, what looks proper on a LinkedIn account, and um things like that. I don't really know if other schools are seriously, you know, using that as a structure for core classes, like Northwood does. Um, and so that is really, really beneficial for all the students. You know, every kid learns how to do a LinkedIn, every kid learns how to do a resume, they learn how to do a cover letter, um, and things like that. So that's cute.

Jacki Lutz 13:06

So, Ryan, hearing that, did you have that when you were in college?

Ryan Devine 13:09

Unfortunately, I didn't have it. It wasn't so structured, right? But we did have a lot of executives that taught our classes, so they give you a lot of best practices. Um I remember being very young and they put a lot of effort into making sure your resume was was nice and tidy. How do you interact with people in the industry? You know, they they always said, make sure you got a suit jacket on and look the part when you're out of the shows and on the airplanes. Uh and they said, Hey, make sure you shake a lot of hands. Go and talk to people. Don't be nervous to, you know, I know we think we're just a student, right? We're a little nervous, but don't be scared to go and shake a hand of a CEO and and uh tell them your story and ask them to learn something from them. So uh so Northwood's been very good from that perspective. 100%. It's been it's been so good that I would even say, I'm trying to get my son to go there. He has applied, so Caden, you might see him next year. You never know. Yeah, looking forward to it.

Caden Olvey 13:54

Yeah, no, I think that a lot of that runs hand in hand too with all the opportunities that Northwood presents you. They give you the foundation to be professional online and in person, and then they give you all the opportunities to actually go to shows like SEMA and NADA, and obviously we met at HJW and things like that. And that really going to the shows itself and talking with companies that you are interested in, whether or not you have a goal. Like for me, you know, obviously I'm talking with companies, trying to get them to come to the show. But all the other students that come, it doesn't mean that they're not talking with companies. They're all just enjoying the show, chatting with people, and that all just really helps you build that experience, that confidence to be speaking with companies, and it gives you just so much experience that you wouldn't otherwise get 100%.

Jacki Lutz 14:36

I feel like they they set you up to be years ahead of others in the industry when you enter, because um, I know Ryan, we mentioned this in at HJW, but you can tell who a Northwood student is. I think once you, or at least once you find out, you're like, oh yeah, that makes sense. You know, it's always the more polished walking around, the more, you know, just have a good, well-rounded view of the industry, which can take, you know, 10 years to get a really good view of this industry once you're in it. Like you think you know it, and then you just constantly learn different things, like context behind why things are the way that they are, all these kinds of things. So, like it takes years, it takes a decade to really get to where Northwood students are sometimes coming out of college with such a good viewpoint of this industry already. It's huge, and you can always tell. Um, and you guys all are just like I've had um you and two other Northwood students uh on the podcast, and um, just so impressive.

Professionalism Signals That Build Trust

Ryan Devine 15:30

And I do I think it even goes beyond just, you know, obviously when you're going through your undergrad, I think when you're when you're thinking about your brand long term, learning becomes an important part of that, right? Northwood always taught you to be a lifelong learner, and it doesn't just stop when you graduate, right? I I wouldn't uh you know got my MBA, but one thing that I've done that's really helped my personal brand is be involved with a lot of the you know the training that's outside when you get in the professional ranks. You know, Jackie, you and I, we we met at Leadership 2.0, you know, five, seven years ago. I'm not sure where it is now, but you know, just think of all the the people we met, um, the contacts we created through that environment. We learned from each other. And and a lot of those people are, you know, we we still keep in touch today, which is really cool. And they offer a ton of you know classes like that for heavy duty. Um I think there's a new one they have for uh you know executive levels. So that's the one thing I say is you as you build your brand, um, you know, I think that's a great way. Continue to learn about the industry at all times, you know, get involved with a lot of these, you know, training mechanisms that are out there. And you're gonna you're gonna meet a lot of people that will help you just take your brand even further.

Jacki Lutz 16:31

Yeah, and um, you know, something we're kind of mentioning, but not uh targeting is there's a lot of different elements to a personal brand. And um one of those is of course the experience, which we've we kind of talked about um having a good brand experience. Like every single interaction with you is a brand experience. And to keep that in mind, no matter what Zoom call you're on, no matter what um, you know, committee you're involved in, always be contributing to that committee, right? You don't want to have a reputation of being, you know, kind of just there for the ride, you know, being a wallflower. Um but there's also you know other elements to personal branding like um identity, right? So you mentioned always wear a jacket when even if you're on a plane. I find that interesting because you know, I'm a millennial and I, you know, people wear pajamas practically on the on the plane. And I I never do because especially being uh Detroit being my airport, I always see people in the industry at the airport, and I am not going to be in athleisure wear, you know, walking around an airport. And I didn't realize that that's something that Northwood kind of steers you towards. I think that's fantastic.

Ryan Devine 17:42

It's definitely an old school mentality, but I think it you know it still permeates. You know, look professional when you're traveling. You never know who you're gonna bump into. Yeah, you've probably all been there, right? The one time we we wore our joggers on a plane because it's a late flight, and all of a sudden you bump into somebody, you're like, oh, okay, how's it going? But yeah, you've got to be peace of mind. 100%.

Jacki Lutz 18:00

But yeah, I mean, it's a good example because you should it does matter, like how you dress, how you how you take care of yourself. Um, all of those things kind of speak to your personal brand. So it's hard to, you know, out of one side of your mouth want to be taken seriously as a professional, and then on the other side of your mouth, you know, what they're seeing is not what you're saying, and not having that alignment in your personal brand can really like it, it tampers with the trust that you're trying to put forth with your personal brand. So it's just like another way.

Caden Olvey 18:28

I don't, again, I don't know if Northwood real realizes that that's what they're doing, but yeah, and I don't think they necessarily like shove us into wearing, you know, business professional or business casual at the airport. Um, but when we go to on trips with our faculty, you'll see the faculty at the airport and they have always got a blazer on. You you know, you just kind of see that and you want to be like them and you want to be professional, I guess, even if you're at an airport. Um, and so a lot of the kids, you know, even if they're not wearing a full blazer getting onto the flight, it's more so, you know, at least there's a quarter zip on and some khakis. Like you're looking business casual in a setting where you don't even have to. And I think that carries along to uh like shows and trade shows and things like that. Like they tell us, you know, business casual attire, but majority of the students wear something more so business professional, even if they don't, you know, have a tie on, they've got a blazer. Um and I know in my own personal experience, I used to a couple years ago when I went to shows, you know, I'd wear business casual. And now being in the position that I'm in, I know I can wear business casual, but I don't want to be perceived that way. So I always wear, you know, full suit and tie, pretty much every show that I go to. And I think a lot of elements in that is also just like I think it's fun to dress up fancy and pretend like I'm a real businessman. Um, but yeah, I think that really carries, and Northwood does kind of subconsciously ingrain that into you. Mm-hmm.

Reputation Is Value Over Time

Ryan Devine 19:41

I think I think we all have kind of a you know a personal brand and a professional brand, right? And it's good to try to keep those, you know, mixed. I think I, you know, at work I'm very serious. Um I like to get things done. And I think, you know, when people see me outside of work, they see that I'm pretty relaxed and like to have a good time and laugh. And uh, but I think the one thing I've learned, you know, kind of joining the workforce for a period of time is that you know, once you get in, you you've got to realize that, you know, your title is not really what your brand is, right? I think a lot of people think about that and that's how they identify. But I think your brand is really your reputation over a very long period of time. It's all the interactions that you've had with somebody that that culminate, you know, they they see your behaviors, they see how they how you act, you know, and ultimately what your brand becomes is how much how much value do you create for other people? And I think uh, you know, when you enter the workforce, that becomes really, really important.

Jacki Lutz 20:28

Yeah, that is so well said. I might steal that. Um yeah, it's about creating that value, absolutely. And you know, that's you know, brand reputation is a whole nother element of this because it's the hardest one because when you when you talk about personal branding, it's a lot of what you're putting out. It's a lot of like, you know, you're being intentional about how you put yourself together, you're being intentional about, you know, meeting other people and and your first impressions and how you come across and um you know your your value that you're adding, like you said. But the brand reputation piece is all about how people are perceiving it. And it's actually the piece of it that you can't control, you know, like you can do everything right in your eyes, you know, and be putting everything out there, but you know, it really at the end of the day depends on how people decide to perceive it. And it's kind of like my favorite part of talking about this because that's this, I think that's the part. And again, people don't know the words to it, but people can be very nervous about putting themselves out there or being seen as kind of trying to develop a personal brand or trying to develop content that helps with their personal brand on like LinkedIn and things like that. People are very nervous to do that, and it's because of the piece that's not in your control. It's like, how are people perceiving it? You know, are you trying too hard? Are you kind of in everybody's faces? You're posting too much, you know, and you have the wrong, you know, you have the wrong intentions or whatever conclusions they just decide to draw. But that brand reputation piece, that's the that's the tricky part. I think that's like but. Knowing it, that's what that's what a lot of people are a little nervous of.

Ryan Devine 22:03

Yeah, when I when I think back, you know, I don't think I ever purposely tried to create a brand for myself, right? But I think what I did try to do is become self-aware. Right. And I and I knew by becoming self-aware and saying, All right, if I do this, it'll be put me in a good position for the next opportunity. Right. It'll get me in that next uh, you know, industry association meeting or involved with this, you know, you know, this this council. And uh you get into those environments and you learn from the other people and it and it continues to compound, right? So just becoming self-aware about what you should and shouldn't be doing to help your career, I think that goes hand in hand with just the the whole brand discussion we're having.

Getting Comfortable With Being Nervous

Caden Olvey 22:38

100%. In my own personal experience, you know, I look up to the upper classmen quite a bit. And I can say, just for example, at SEMA, when I had when I had just gotten the aftermarket chair position, um, we went around networking um to all the companies. And Eddie, the previous head chair, had made all these thank you cards to give hand deliver, like hand deliver them to each booth at SEMA for the repres representatives that were there that were, you know, main points of contact for us. And I know I think we did that with Dana too. I don't know if you were there, Ryan, but I believe we we stopped by the Dana booth at Apex. Um, and I'm seeing them network and I'm seeing how professional they are, and I'm like, I need to be like them. I need to be self-aware and and be well spoken and not be afraid to talk to people even if I don't know them. Um and so Eddie was a huge player for me in helping me get comfortable with companies and contacting companies and kind of throwing me in the deep end with him at Apex. And that has just kind of carried on so much into my own self-awareness and you know trying to become who I want to be.

Ryan Devine 23:37

I think one thing as well is not being timid or scared, right? These are intimidating situations when you don't know people, you know. I I think it's hard. I I remember back when I was on the mixed council in Mima, you know, they let me speak at the Vision Conference. And the Vision Conference, for those who don't know it, it's it's probably 300 of the um, you know, the most intelligent people in the aftermarket. So they let me get up there and and speak my opinion. And I'll tell you what, that was probably the most nervous I've been, right? But uh, but again, it was a great experience. It's one of those things that you learn from, you move on and you know, uh get better at it. So I really enjoyed that.

Caden Olvey 24:11

I don't I don't think it ever stops being scary. You just get more comfortable being scared. Um exactly, that's a good way to see it. Like through through so many of the shows that I've been going to this year, I can look back and say, like, SEMA was the start of it, right? And then I go to uh PRI after that, and then HGAW and then Nada. And throughout all of those show experiences, I just feel more and more comfortable. Um and it slowly just being in that environment gives you the confidence to be yourself and to not be scared when you're talking with companies because that repetition aspect really makes you feel so much more comfortable in what you're doing. Um and it it's just like a subconsciously you're building that kind of confidence that you don't even realize you are like building. But then once you're there and you're talking with companies, and I still get scared sometimes with like really high-level companies, like if it's a cool motorsports company that I've always you know kind of looked up to and I'm talking to them, I do get flushed and I get scared and I'm talking all fast and stuff like that. But just in general, you know, that being in those situations makes you so comfortable and so much um just more fluid in that state.

Ryan Devine 25:13

Getting out of your comfort zone can create bigger comfort zones, right? That's I think that's the key there.

Consistency As The Brand Multiplier

Jacki Lutz 26:01

Yeah, and there's a something to be said too about consistency. Um, because the more interactions like that that you have, um, the less weight, the less weight on each one, right? So, like if you're only showing up once in a while and you make, you know, a couple impressions a year, they're very important. Whereas if people are seeing you more and more and more, um, there's just a little less weight placed on each of each one of those brand impressions that you're making. And Ryan, I think that that's something that you've done in your career. And I know you've never really been super probably intentional about a personal brand. Most people aren't, um, but you're consistent. I think you're kind of known as just kind of being consistently strong in like uh all the areas that you're in, on the committees that you sit on, anything you're involved in, you don't just sit and kind of watch it go by. You're just a consistent brand, you know, like that's that's huge. Um, and that's that's a hard thing to build. And I think a lot of people don't realize that. I actually just had somebody reach out to me on LinkedIn who talks just about personal branding, and they asked me to record an answer to a question, and it was like uh prioritize for personal brand is it consistency, authenticity, quality, or there was a fourth. I don't even remember what it was. Um, and immediately in my head, I was like, I would say authentic authenticity. You gotta be yourself, you gotta learn who you are, all this kind of stuff. But then I ended up changing my mind and saying, I think it's consistency because a lot of that other stuff, as far as like authenticity, even that builds with reps, right? You have to just continuously do it and be like, okay, what felt like me, what didn't feel like me, why didn't that feel like me? I shouldn't do that again. Like some of some of that authenticity, you don't know all of it. You can't make a list, you know, where like some of it just comes over time. And in order to really build that, you have to just be consistent and do it. A lot of it's just showing up at the end of the day consistently and keep showing up again. And after you fail, show up again and not let it get you down.

LinkedIn Strategy And Avoiding AI Voice

Ryan Devine 28:01

So when we talk about personal brand, I think you bring up an interesting point. LinkedIn, right? So that was something that wasn't around the first part of my career, but now it's exploded. Um I I I get on LinkedIn, I I maintain relationships on LinkedIn, but I know there's a lot of best practices out there, you know. So, Jackie or Caden, what are some of those things that you guys do to kind of uh you know be successful in LinkedIn?

Caden Olvey 28:23

I mean, for me, um, really what I do is I just kind of post my progress, you know, every month or so. I don't want to be, you know, too active on there posting things that don't make sense or aren't necessary. Um, but every time I go to a trade show, I usually try and do a little trade show recap, talk about the things that I did. Um seeming thankful for the opportunities too and showing uh that kind of humility is super, super huge. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable rather than like egotistical about all the events and cool things that Norfolk lets you do. Um super important. I also notice a lot of AI usage on LinkedIn, and I think it's important to not use AI and instead just try and like build your post as best you can by yourself because then you really seem like yourself and you are being yourself. I I notice other students, you know, doing recaps and things with that you know other students are doing, and I can clearly tell that some of it's AI. And it's just that's not a good look. A lot of the you know, business professionals and leaders, they're not gonna realize it, but other people do. And I think in time with the use of AI, um, it's gonna become a lot more obvious when people are using AI. And so to just be yourself and post every once in a while and throw in some cool pictures, some of your favorite pictures from trade shows and and you know events that you're doing and things like that, um, really just shows yourself on LinkedIn. You're not trying to be someone that you're not, you're just trying to showcase yourself in the best way. And I think that's what's important.

Jacki Lutz 29:39

That's a really good observation on your part about AI, because in so many ways, it's given a voice to people who aren't good with words. Yeah, you know, like people who are not communications majors or not salespeople who don't have the, you know, the communication strength. Um, now AI has given us a way to like understand their thoughts and make it easier for them to get word out about what they're thinking without have, you know, feeling like they're missing this one skill that doesn't come natural to them. So, in so many ways, AI has given a voice to people who don't have one. But I couldn't agree with you more. I think you can tell when someone's using it. And even me, like I started using it a little bit more and then I kind of pulled back. So I'm like, I don't know, I feel like I'm losing my voice a little bit. Like I don't, I don't really talk like that, but it makes it so much quicker. But um, that's that's really good advice. And and as for me on LinkedIn, I think I could spend a whole episode on LinkedIn. But um, one thing that helped me in the beginning was I just chose three to four things to talk about because I didn't want to tie my whole brand to my company at the time. And now I'm really glad I didn't um because you know, I would have been starting from scratch, you know, after I left that company. But I always just say to like pick three or four things that you want to be known for, or you want to be, you know, I it's like for me, I want autocare to be a part of my brand, not all of it. Um, but my journey with autocare, what we're working on. I want to use my platform to promote auto care. I want to add value to auto care as much as I can. Um, but I also talk about being a working mom and something more personal and how the ups and downs and twists and turns, you know, that that brings and try to bring some humanity to anyone that follows me. I also talk about personal branding a lot. I know that that's a place that I can add value so people can expect to hear about personal branding from me. And I talk about just being an advocate for the industry, so all the other ways that I'm involved. So that way when people see me on LinkedIn, they know I'm probably talking about one of four things. I'm not gonna start talking about brake pads anytime soon. You know, like um, yeah, and I think it's amazing because then, you know, if there's ever a day where I'm not working for autocare anymore, I'm not starting from scratch. I'm, you know, I have these the three other things, and then, you know, one of them rotated a little bit. Um, so that's this one thing of advice that I would give about LinkedIn. And the other one is um to everyone always says, is it quality over quantity or quantity over quality? And I think you have to choose one. I've seen people be very successful with one or two posts a month that are very well thought through or just their thoughts, and you don't hear from them very often. So when you do, you're kind of like, what do they say? Um, Randy Buller comes to mind for that. Like he he does posts once in a while, but you read them and they do well because you're just curious what he has to say. You don't hear from them very much. Um, and I wouldn't even say that that's high quality, but it's more like deeper thoughts, where you know, I've seen other people be more successful with three posts a week and um just following their journey. There they are again, cool. Now they're there, you know, and like this is you know a cool milestone they just did. And you just kind of know a lot about their life and you're kind of following their journey and kind of in they're instilling trust because they come up, you know, consistently and authentically, and you kind of know what to expect from them, and it seems very consistent. So like you build trust that way with a network. So um, I always tell people if you don't feel like you have enough to post every week, I don't think that that should stop you from putting your thoughts out there. And a lot of it is way more simple than people think. It's about, it's like what Caden said it's following your journey. People want to know what Northwood students are up to, what they're learning, what they're thinking, what they're doing, what events they're attending, what they thought about the event, you know, like what did they learn at the event? Should I send my entry-level employees to that event? You know, like people just want to get to know each other. It still is a social platform, it feels heavier, um, but it is. It's like, you know, that's your page, that's your journey. So, you know, just share what you're up to. I think that that's it's can be way more simple than people make it.

Caden Olvey 33:51

Totally.

Final Takeaways And Closing

Jacki Lutz 33:52

That was an uh a monologue like a part one of part 50 that I could talk about LinkedIn. Um, but as we wrap up here, we covered a lot and thank you guys so much. Um, if if everyone walked away with just one key point that you want to make sure they get, what do each of you hope that that is?

Caden Olvey 34:14

For me, I think the biggest thing is just be comfortable being uncomfortable and allow yourself to be uncomfortable so that you can grow so that you can be comfortable next time instead of being uncomfortable in that situation. You know, we kind of talked a little bit about throwing yourself in the deep end and throwing yourself in difficult uh situations allows you to feel like you're not in a difficult situation next time you come around to that similar situation. Um allowing yourself to be scared and not being afraid to be scared, um, as well as just being yourself is uh pretty huge here.

Ryan Devine 34:47

Yeah, I I think I would add, you know, we talk about self-awareness, but I think what really separates people once they get in the career world is emotional intelligence. I I met a lot of really smart people in my day, but the people that are most successful have the highest level of emotional intelligence. You know, how how do they act under stress? How do they deal with conflict? Um, you know, how how do they how do they give back empathy, feedback, take feedback, right? And I think once you enter the work world, um I think that's really important, right? Is just being self-aware, um, you know, having some really high level of emotional intelligence. And I think that will help build your brand in every situation.

Jacki Lutz 35:23

That's great advice. So softer skills, and they're the harder ones to teach. But you can, I do believe that you can learn any of those if you put your mind to a lot of it's just like you said, you mentioned self-awareness. That was going to be my takeaway is a lot of personal branding starts with self-awareness and knowing how you're coming across to people, listening to people's feedback about you, whether it's good or bad, and take, you know, not necessarily taking, take it with a grain of salt. You know, it's coming from a perspective. Um, but I think self-awareness is a huge thing that's really at the heart of it all. Um, and I'm glad that Northwood seems to instill that in their students, obviously, from talking to both of you. And um, I have a lot of faith in the the incoming uh workforce that we have, hopefully from Northwood. Um, but thank you guys so much for taking the time with me today. Appreciate you guys coming on the show.

Ryan Devine 36:16

Of course. Absolutely. Anytime, Jackie.

Jacki Lutz 36:18

All right, thank you. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Autocare on Air. Make sure to subscribe to our podcast so that you never miss an episode. And don't forget to leave us a rating and review. It helps others discover our show. Auto Care on Air is proud to be a production of the Autocare Association dedicated to advancing the autocare industry and supporting professionals like you. To learn more about the association and its initiatives, visit autocare.org.