Auto Remarketing Canada  is recognizing the 2022 Women & Automotive: Profiles honorees in the current issue of the magazine and at Canada's Used Car Week this month at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto.

In the weeks leading up to the June 27-29 event, ARC will be posting Q&As with each of the Women & Automotive honorees on this website.

Next up is Meg Lamothe, director of data management at CARFAX Canada.

Auto Remarketing Canada: What do you enjoy most about working in automotive, and what would you change?

Meg Lamothe: I love the innovation in the automotive industry. From the journey to autonomous driving to commitments to electrification, I love being part of an industry that is not afraid to invest in the future. I’m looking forward to seeing these changes reflected in data. As vehicles become more intelligent, we should see less accidents on the roads. Selfishly, I’d like to change accessibility to data. There’s so much opportunity to provide insights to improve workfl ow and identify opportunities.

ARC: What piece of career advice would you have for someone new to the industry?

Lamothe: You don’t have to be a “car gal.” When I started working in this industry, I used to tell everyone “I’m not a car person,” as if it precluded me from adding value. I’ve come to learn that that makes me representative of a large part of the consumer market. I’ve also discovered that the automotive industry has something for everyone. When I stumbled into the world of data, the auto industry became so exciting for me. Learning about emerging technologies in automotive and trends in data has turned me into a “car gal.”

ARC: What is your proudest moment/ accomplishment, career-wise?

Lamothe: My greatest accomplishment is handsdown helping build out the data management team. We did not have a team five years ago and when we started, we worked primarily out of Excel. We’ve expanded significantly and gone from just keeping the lights on to being an integral part of the business. It’s been a long road, and we’ve had to pivot many times. We still have a long way to go, but I’m genuinely proud of our team and excited for what we have planned in the future.

ARC: What has been the top key to your success in retail automotive?

Lamothe: Without a doubt, my key to success is to be curious and ask questions. This has been tremendously helpful in my career for two reasons. First, I’ll never have all the answers so devoting time to listen is important.

Secondly, whenever I have a question, I never hesitate to ask it. Changes are pretty good someone else is wondering the exact same thing. I can’t tell you how many times someone has come up to me after an event or meeting to thank me for asking a question. In fact, at one point in my career, there would be a call out to me when they asked if anyone had any more questions at our townhalls because I always had a question.