OWN YOUR BRAND SHOW with Victoria Odekomaya

She Tried to Eliminate Who She Was. Then She Built a Million Dollar Business | Epi 76

• Victoria Odekomaya | LiMStudios Network • Episode 76

Share episode

Send us a text

What if success didn’t require you to change who you are—but to fully own it?

In this episode, Andrea Dodson, co-owner of Redwood Automotive, shares how embracing her personality helped her build a multi-million-dollar business rooted in trust, relationships, and community. You’ll hear how leaning into what once felt like a liability became her greatest advantage in a male-dominated industry.

This conversation is for anyone navigating entrepreneurship, leadership, or motherhood while trying to stay grounded and confident. You’ll learn how to build real confidence, integrate work and life without guilt, handle challenges when they come in waves, and create a business that attracts loyal, long-term clients—without pressure or burnout.

If you’ve ever felt “too much,” struggled with balance, or wanted a more natural, sustainable way to succeed, this episode will resonate deeply.

Connect with Andrea & Redwood Automotive:
📧 Email: andrea@redwoodautomotiveofanderson.com
🌐 Website & social media: www.redwoodautomotiveofanderson.com


📺 WATCH ON YOUTUBE

ABOUT

Victoria Odekomaya is a Nigerian American entrepreneur, speaker, and content marketing strategist on a mission to help business owners grow their business, brand, and legacy through the power of storytelling and strategic content marketing.

She’s the founder of LiMStudios, a full-service creative agency and state-of-the-art content studio in Indianapolis where strategy and storytelling come together through high-quality content production and marketing implementation. She’s also the creator of Boss Ladies Magazine and host of The Own Your Brand Show, a video podcast to help business owners grow their business, brand, and legacy through strategic content marketing and authentic conversations about the entrepreneurial journey.

To learn more, follow her journey through LiMStudios, Boss Ladies Magazine, and The Own Your Brand Show and join the movement to amplify voices, build legacy, and make impact.

Work with Victoria: https://f.mtr.cool/qmicsevjhv

📩 For Guest, sponsorship or inquiries:
mtr.bio/limstudios | hello@thelimstudios.com | Text 260-777-7211

Andrea Dodson:

This isn't working. You know, you might just not be able to eliminate this about yourself. It's not working. Right. And so I finally decided, well, screw it. Like, I'm just gonna be who I am. And if that means I can't connect with anybody in this world, fine. But what I'm doing isn't working. Right.

Victoria Odekomaya:

The moment you started becoming like authentic to yourself, you found the perfect industry that aligns with your personality.

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah, and it felt so natural, like it felt so organic. Like finding success in the industry came kind of naturally, not easy, not easy, but naturally because it was a good fit. But a lot of people think if you're type A, you can't be creative. If you're nurturing, you can't be assertive. If you're this, then you're not this. And really, nobody is 100%, at least when it comes to personality traits, you're not 100% one way or the other. You might be 98% this and 2% this, but there's a mix, right? I I think one of the things that that you've encouraged me to do, and this is way outside of my comfort zone, is to be more present online because you said something to me that is so impactful. I I truly, literally think about this every single day since I heard you say it. And that is you cannot be your industry's go-to expert and the best kept secret. Yeah, as entrepreneurs, all the time we're looking for ways to integrate everything else that we have going on and our business. And I feel like for years in my entrepreneurial journey, I was chasing like balance. And once I kind of gave that up, gave up the idea of balance and transitioned that into the idea of integration, right?

Victoria Odekomaya:

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Own Your Brand Show. I'm your girl Victoria Odeko Maya, and today I'm super excited because I am talking to someone special, someone that inspires me, been in business for over eight years, and she's doing what I am aspiring to do, which I think it's what you're gonna also aspiring to do too. Today we're gonna be talking about all the things, the journey, the ups and downs, and how she's keeping herself motivated and inspired, inspired to keep the business going. Without much ado, let's welcome Andrea Dotsin of Redwood Automotive. How are you doing?

Andrea Dodson:

I'm good. I'm so excited to be here. Um you mentioned in the you know preamble that I'm inspiring, which is crazy to me, but you inspire me so much. So I hopefully at some point we can I can ask you some questions too, because there's so many things about you that I think are so um important for um female entrepreneurs, but but really anybody to hear that that can really make a big change in in their path or their journey.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Thank you. You're so kind. And I I love I remember the first time we had a conversation, it was on the phone. It felt like a very long conversation, but I enjoyed every moment of it. I don't know if you remember this, and you were like telling me a lot of things. I kept thinking, who is this woman? Like I just want to meet you. And then we had a um a Zoom call, and I would say that the image that I had in my head was very different of who you are, but I loved you even more because I felt like, damn, she's amazing.

Andrea Dodson:

I feel like there are so many things why we were just such an instant connection, so many things about us. And then as I've learned more about you, like you're the oldest of five siblings, I so am I. It kind of makes sense the more I get to know about you, why we're wired so similar, the the paths and the journeys that we're on that are so similar. And so, yeah, I'm I'm just so excited to be here.

Victoria Odekomaya:

So now the audience are gonna be like, wait, you guys love each other, you're like so similar. Like, give us the details. Yeah. So tell us a little bit about you from the, you know, take us, take us all the way back.

Andrea Dodson:

Sure. So um currently I own an automotive dealership called Redwood Automotive. It's in Anderson, Indiana, and I'm on this path in this journey to own more dealerships and to expand the current dealership that I have. We have a service center and some other things, but um I'm really proud of where I am in my business, but I'm also not where I want to be.

Victoria Odekomaya:

So can I just I'm sorry to cut you off because when you said the word, you know, words, I'm proud of where I am in the I feel like that is so important because not a lot of people can say that. You know, because it's not because we're we're not proud of you, but just to say those words out loud can be a very difficult one.

Andrea Dodson:

It's hard. And I think it took me several years to have the courage to admit that to myself and publicly because I didn't want to feel like if I admitted that I am proud of where I am now, even though now's not my end goal, that I would get stuck here. Like I it would stop me somehow from momentum. But the truth is I've overcome a lot to be here, and I am proud. Um, my husband and I own the business together. I'm proud of him too. I'm proud of what we've created as a team. And um, no, it's not where I want it to be. I want to go so much further. Um, and sometimes I almost feel embarrassed that I'm not further along than I am. Um but yeah.

Victoria Odekomaya:

I think that's a lot of things. That's a uh a feeling that most of us resonate with too. I guess it seems like everybody's doing better than us, especially online. You know, yeah. Oh my gosh, yeah.

Andrea Dodson:

Don't go online. Yeah, yeah. Um, there's a lot of comparison out there, and that makes it very difficult to feel like, am I even going to get there? I actually recently um met with just this really incredible guy who owns the most insane dealerships. I mean, any high line brand that you can think of that's, you know, uh he he owns, and he he just has had this really successful career. He's in his 80s and I admire him so much. And I had the opportunity to meet with him, he actually called me.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Wow.

Andrea Dodson:

And um I said, look, I see all these other dealerships that are so far ahead of where I feel like I am. And I feel like I should be moving faster. And he said no.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Wow.

Andrea Dodson:

And that to me stopped me in my tracks because I thought, okay, if this individual is telling me, no, you don't need to move faster, he said the way you're doing it is correct. Slow and steady is what's sustainable. Um, it made me feel so much more confident about the things that I think I'm doing well. Um, but it made me feel like this is okay to be here now. Like I don't have to, it doesn't have to be 10 times the size it is today. Right. I will get there slow and steady. Um so that was just so reassuring. But but people like that aren't always accessible.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Yes.

Andrea Dodson:

You know, and so I feel really fortunate to have that person um to, you know, share that with me.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Which is why I love meeting with you too, and you bringing you, and I'm so thankful that you made the time to come here because we, I mean, we haven't shared it, but your business is a million dollar plus, right? And a lot of people that are making that kind of money are not very accessible. And so sometimes it makes it look like for people that are not there yet, it's like, is that even possible for me? Right.

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah, I have felt like that so much. And not even since I've owned a business, but even just as an employee for companies prior to owning my business. Like, can can I ask questions? You know, can I will someone share? And in my industry, um, folks can be kind of secretive about things. Um, so it it definitely felt like it was difficult to access information early on and still now, um, because look, everybody plays their cards close to the vest, and um it's it's difficult. But I I really want to share about some of the things on my journey that I think universally apply to any industry, to any person, even if you don't own a business. Um, because and I know you and I have chatted about this before, but um there are times, especially as an entrepreneur, that it feels so isolating. So lonely. Yes.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Oh my god.

Andrea Dodson:

Yes, yeah. And and it's hard to complain about that and to talk about that because I don't ever want to myself, but also others view me as ungrateful. I'm so grateful for where I am. But yes, it's lonely.

Victoria Odekomaya:

It's lonely at times. I feel like that conversation is happening a lot more lately, you know, where we're we're beginning to like say it out loud and say, look, I'm feeling this kind of way. But I don't think it's enough.

Andrea Dodson:

I agree. And I think the internet helps with that because people that wouldn't be accessible to us just walking around in our daily lives, we now have access to um through through things that you provide too, you know, social media, content creation, things like that. You make it to where um this podcast to where people like you and I can access this information without having to, by happenstance, meet somebody.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Right.

Andrea Dodson:

Um, so I thank you for what you're doing. Thank you for coming on. Yeah. Um, but my journey really started um with a lot of self-doubt and a lot of um self-reflection and and just things. And so great, I have this multi-million dollar business now that my husband and I started from scratch, but um look, it didn't, it wasn't an easy road and it it didn't start and just take off.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Right.

Andrea Dodson:

So I I think to understand me and to understand why my business works, um, I've got to go backwards pretty far.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Yeah.

Andrea Dodson:

Um growing up, I was always told that I was too loud, too assertive, too bossy, too, just too much in general. Um and not in a good way. You know, not like, oh, you're just too fun. Right. It was it was kind of a negative thing. Never by my parents or my immediate family, but um friends' parents, coaches, other children, um, or peers and extended family, and just there were a lot of people sending me this message that I was just too much. And um the one thing that was really confusing to me actually was a lot of people told me growing up as a girl that I was too masculine. And I remember being so confused by that often because I was told that a lot, and I was really confused by it because look, as a girl, I played Barbies, I rode horses, I did figure skating, I like to do hair and makeup, I competed in a pageant. Like I'm girly. Yeah, you know, yeah. And so I'm not like this tomboy that's not that there would be anything wrong with that, but I don't have interests that I don't know. I just it was really confusing to me, especially as a kid. Um so when I got to my kind of like um preteen, teenage years, I think we all kind of become really self-critical at that stage development. And I was no exception, but um I put two and two together and I figured out what all these different people were meaning. Teachers, all these people would tell me you're too masculine, and I just thought I was I just I I was really confused. But I put two and two together, and what they were telling me wasn't that I look like a boy or something, but they were telling me that my traits, being assertive, not backing down from a confrontation, um having an alpha more dominant personality, um, these things were masculine traits. And it had never occurred to me, my parents didn't raise us to believe that there's any limitations on gender, race, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic. I mean, they just kind of raised us to think the sky's the limit. And so it had never occurred to me that these were supposed to be male traits. And when I kind of put the, and it wasn't like one day it all happened at one time, but as I started to kind of put the pieces together, I thought, okay, this turns people off. People don't like this. Nobody ever said it to me as a compliment. They were saying you're too masculine, kind of like trying to steer me in a different direction. And so I, as you know, I'm I'm young, so I thought once I kind of discovered what they meant, I need to eliminate this about myself. Not just dim this or reduce this or amplify some of the other qualities that I have, but truly I need to get rid of this. Wow. People don't like this. This is not gonna get me where I want to go in life. Like, I need to get rid of this part of me. Wow. And I really went through this struggle where until I was in my early 20s, where I tried very unsuccessfully and failed a lot to eliminate this part of me. And so I was really hard on myself, and I would go, you know, a couple days, and then I would just like my authentic self would shine through. I am an assertive person, I am outgoing, I am loud, I am these things. Um I'm fiery. Like that's part of who I am. And um so I would go a couple days trying to be more submissive, trying to be, and then it would just come out of me, you know, because it's who I am. I can't, I can't, and I would really beat myself up, like, you've gotta stop being this way. And I really spent years um trying to be different. Um and it it really I kind of landed in this industry in the automotive industry by happenstance. I didn't have some grand plan to end up doing this, uh, as many I think people find themselves. But um I kind of started to in my early 20s, like 20 years old, I just decided, and again, it wasn't some moment of clarity. This was a evolving kind of conversation in my head. Um, this isn't working. You know, you might just not be able to eliminate this about yourself, it's not working. Right. And so I finally decided, well, screw it. Like, I'm just gonna be who I am. And if that means I can't connect with anybody in this world, fine, but what I'm doing isn't working. Right. So I've got to approach this differently. And so I just, and again, it didn't happen overnight. I wasn't like, tomorrow I'm gonna wake up and just I had to, you know, it's a lot of people.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Well, you've tried that. You've tried to be like, okay, I'm gonna eliminate this, but then it comes out anyway. So why not, you know, just be you and yeah.

Andrea Dodson:

Um and now I'm 38, so I'm looking back and there's much more clarity in hindsight. But um, you know, this was a year's evolution kind of thing. But I I kind of decided, okay, even if nobody likes it, even if it's the biggest turnoff to everybody I meet, I have to be who I am because it's just not gonna work. Right. I'm not successfully eliminating this part of me. Um, and that's when everything in my life started to change. Again, kind of slowly, but um, I had tried several careers and I just felt lost. I felt like I didn't really fit. I'm competitive, and you know, a lot of I was a flight attendant. That's not a field where being competitive is necessarily an advantage. Um, you know, I tried a lot of things and I just felt like a square peg and a round hole a lot. And um, I met my husband and he suggested, well, why don't you join the the car industry? Why don't you sell cars? And I thought, you nuts, like, no, that doesn't fit me at all, and I don't know. Um and so I worked with this group and um they're kind of like headhunters. Okay. What they do is they um meet you, interview you, do a personality assessment, you know, like a Myers Briggs or Ocean or one of those. And then they put you through a two-week training course and they place you at an automotive dealership. And that's a huge benefit because a lot of dealerships don't have a formal training program. So it gives you like a base knowledge. And then I think I don't know exactly how it works, but I think they get paid if I successfully am placed somewhere. And so what they try to do is try to pair people like um your personality might be great for a high line dealership, or maybe for a volume dealership, or maybe for a family-owned store or a corporate store. They try to place people where they think they will be best fit. I see. So amazing service. Um, they do this personality assessment, and they come back and they say to me, and they're start talking about the results of this assessment. They're like, you're really assertive, you're a bulldog. I remember them using that word, and um, you know, these things. And so in my the back of my head, I'm kind of thinking, well, this career's not gonna work. Like, nobody likes these things.

Victoria Odekomaya:

But does it also confirm a lot of the things that people have already said to you anyway?

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah, kind of bringing up those insecurities. So they're telling me, they're rattling off like all these things. I'm like kind of in my head, like, all right, well, I guess I'll have to try something else. And then they say, This is perfect. And I thought, What do you mean? Wow, nobody's ever said that to me before. Um and so that that really changed so much. When I started showing up as my authentic self, I attracted people and things like the career, the industry that I fell into that fit for me. Yeah. Um, and so I, you know, I started so powerful. But it's hard. It's it's easy to now see like, oh, connect these dots. But in the moment, it's so foggy, you know, you don't really understand. You're kind of just navigating through the fog, trying to figure something.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Right. But I'm just I just want to pause there for a little bit because there might be somebody watching now that might be like, you know, having the same thoughts in their head, not wanting to, like, wanting to fit in, but you know what I mean? But like the moment you started becoming like authentic to yourself, you found the perfect industry that aligns with your personality.

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah, and it felt so natural, like it felt so organic. Like um finding success in the industry came kind of naturally, not easy, not easy, but naturally because it was a good fit. Right. Where I wasn't, you know, some of the other careers I had pursued, I enjoyed, I liked. There were there were elements that were great, but I didn't feel like I was really excelling anywhere. Right. Um, so yeah, you're exactly right. When I found the thing that is fit to my authentic self, it kind of things started clicking.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Because you weren't spending time trying to hide who you are. Because that can be that can be very time consuming. Yes. Like thinking about okay, what am I gonna do to what am I not gonna do?

Andrea Dodson:

Well, and I think about this and laugh all the time. How awkward must I have been walking around, I mean, like what a weirdo walking around, like I must have looked like like every move I make, I'm trying to overthink through like what would a submissive person do here? That is like that's exhausting.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Yeah. Wow. Okay, keep going. Sorry.

Andrea Dodson:

No, you're fine. Um so yeah, so um, I got promoted really quickly. I I had a lot of success in sales. Again, I'm competitive, I have a backbone. And they said, look, there aren't a lot of women in this industry. And so the few women in this industry, um, they've got to be pretty, they've got to be able to stand their ground. And I thought, well, I I can do that. Right, me, this is me. Say no more. Um, so it was a really good fit. I love the people I work with. I got hired on at um the number one dealership in the state of Indiana. Wow. And um by volume, so they did a lot of sales, and it was just a natural fit. I was promoted within eight months to management, and um, I just felt like, okay, this is a good idea.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Okay, can I ask me a question?

Andrea Dodson:

Yes.

Victoria Odekomaya:

So you're now in a male-dominated industry. You have those, you know, the tendencies, you have the skills and things. How did the men feel? Do you see what I'm saying here? Like, you, you know, you're you have those masculine tendencies, you know, like so. Now you're now in their world, and then you're a woman, because in their head you're still a woman, right? You know, how did that like if you can reflect back?

Andrea Dodson:

It catches a lot of people off guard. Like I remember after a couple weeks at that first dealership, my general manager happened to walk by as I was having a conversation with the customer, and I was I was being pretty firm about never disrespectful or anything like that, but holding my ground, being pretty firm about something that we weren't able to change. He walked by and later he called me into his office. And again, I thought, okay, like this is unwanted. And he said, I think you did great. I walked past and I overheard and I stopped to hear the rest of the conversation. He said, I think you did great. You did a great job of marrying, being nurturing and compassionate, which as women, a lot of times, we naturally are. Yeah. And um holding your ground. And he said, I, you know, I think of you kind of after that conversation as a warrior. And that totally, again, I'd never been praised for these things. So it really felt so good. Yeah. Like it felt like so many years coming. Wow. Um yeah, it felt so good to have people appreciate the qualities of me that I tried to kill. You know?

Victoria Odekomaya:

Wow.

Andrea Dodson:

Um, so yeah, so I I I really am grateful that I kind of landed somewhere that fit.

Victoria Odekomaya:

You know what I'm thinking? As you were talking, I was just thinking about how it was just, I mean, I don't know, divine in the sense that you're using everything that you have, both the masculine traits and also the nurturing and the caring, you know, like you just found the perfect place to be able to combine all of that.

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah, and I think too, I I think about this often. Like, um, as entrepreneurs, we have no choice but to throw our entire arsenal at everything. That's true. Right. You know, and and you you gotta put everything into it. Yes. Um, or it'll sink. Right. Um, but uh I think about this often. A lot of people, and I think it's just easier for us as humans to compartmentalize things and categorize people. But a lot of people think if you're type A, you can't be creative. If you're nurturing, you can't be assertive. If you're this, then you're not this. And really, nobody is 100%, at least when it comes to personality traits, you're not 100% one way or the other. You might be 98% this and 2% this, but there's a mix, right? Um, and so I, you know, and I feel that a lot of times in my business, not just with with personality. Um I am nurturing, I am compassionate, I am deeply empathetic, but I also will hold my ground. Um, and those two things don't have to be in conflict, right? They can coexist. Um and it I I just don't think we make that assumption a lot of the time. That's right. Um, but I I feel that way in my business a lot. So I'm a mom, I'm a very invested mom. Like I'm emotionally invested in my kids' lives, I'm present. That's really important to me. I also own and run and operate a multimillion dollar business. And when I tell people I own this business and I'm a very involved mom, they make the assumption, some of them flat out tell me, but they make the assumption that, well, you're either not that invested of a mom and you're invested in your business, or your name's just on the business, you don't actually somehow by happenstance your name ended up there and um you're just just a mom. Like just a mom is a negative thing. But um, you know, and it's not, it's both. Right. Um and yeah, as entrepreneurs, all the time we're looking for ways to integrate, you know, everything else that we have going on and our business. And I feel like for years in my entrepreneurial journey, not just my um career journey, but um I was chasing like balance.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Right.

Andrea Dodson:

Because we hear it's in business books, it's in influencers talk about it, you know, work life.

Victoria Odekomaya:

I was getting ready to ask that question too.

Andrea Dodson:

It doesn't exist if you're an entrepreneur, so throw that idea out the window, and I can tell you because I learned the hard way. Um, I was really holding myself to this um standard that that can't really exist of at least in my industry, you know, we have retail hours, I work six days a week. Um, and then there are a lot of things behind the scenes that need to be done. So um I wasn't going to have this idealistic, perfect, I'm gonna have home cooked miners meals on the table every night life. And once I kind of gave that up, um it got easier. Not not gave up what I expected, the standards I expected for my family, but gave up the idea of balance and transition that into the idea of integration. Right. It was so much easier.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Okay, so we have to give an example that I remember you told me about when you had a baby. Yeah. Tell us about that.

Andrea Dodson:

So um I have three amazing sons. Um, but when I found out that I was expecting, I um kind of went into panic mode because I thought, how am I going to balance having a child? I had just started this business. It was a fledgling business. My son is uh, well, I say just started, it was a few years in, but it still felt very much like this in its infancy. Um But um my my son is three and a half now. So when I found out four years ago that I was expecting, I hit the panic button and I just thought, how am I, I don't know how I'm gonna do all this. So we converted one of the offices in my dealership to a nursery. And for the first year, he came to work with me every day. He was just strapped to me. And babies the first year are I wouldn't say easy, but it was easier to try.

Victoria Odekomaya:

They do what, you know, they sleep in that's what they do. So they want to be fed and go back to sleep. Right.

Andrea Dodson:

So that was kind of easy. So I would do my job and I just had um my son attached to me, and he had a nursery with all the things he needed there. Um, but then once he got to be about a year old, um, he needed more develop, you know, for his development, more enrichment. And um he was mobile, which was a big change. So we hired a nanny to come to our dealership so that we could spend that time with him, um, not be away from him. And throughout my day, I have plenty of moments where I have five minutes here, ten minutes here, twenty minutes. Um, so it was amazing. We he's there with us. Right. Somebody's uh, you know, educating him and and working on some of the things that he needs. Um, but also I'm not missing those moments.

Victoria Odekomaya:

And I think that is so incredible because we were talking about work-life balance and we want to like want it to work. But I love the way you implement life into your work. It because I don't think that a lot of us think that we can do that or that it's even allowed. I don't know what it is that we think that, oh, I just can't do like you know what I mean? Like it's like there's a you have to get permission. Right.

Andrea Dodson:

So like some somebody needs to sign a permission slip for me to be able to do this.

Victoria Odekomaya:

And but you were, oh gosh, you're so way ahead of a lot of us.

Andrea Dodson:

I don't know that because I think it a lot of it's through just making the mistakes. But you know, back to the dinners, and here's here's the thing. Like, I felt like I'm gonna be such a bad wife and such a bad mom if I don't have dinner with my family every night. That's important to me. I want to do that. So, what we would do, um, my two older sons, who my husband and I adopted as teenagers through foster care, um, you know, like while they were in school, I would pick them up from wrestling practice or swim practice, you know, whatever.

Victoria Odekomaya:

How do you even do all of that too?

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah. So again, it's like you find, and and a lot of moms and parents will will identify with this, but you become so much more efficient when you become a parent. Like you find opportunities to get things done because you have to. Yes, right. Yes. Um, but you know, I I pick up my kids from practice and I would say, okay, tonight we're not going home. You're gonna do your homework at the dealership, which it feels like a second home to us, you know.

Victoria Odekomaya:

I feel like my kids feel the same way with the studio too. Like, are we going today? Yes, we are.

Andrea Dodson:

Right. And and so they would do their homework there, and then we would order a pizza there. So I'm still doing the thing that's important to me, which is spending quality time with my family. But I'm also, you know, I can't have a customer flying in from out of state and say, Well, it's six o'clock. Yeah, I'm I'm out of here. Like, I can, you know, I can't do that. That wouldn't work for my business, and therefore wouldn't work for my family either. Yes. Um, so it's it was about like finding ways to integrate the two things.

Victoria Odekomaya:

So can I say something real quick here? And I don't know if you've realized this yet, that your kids are also learning something by being in the dealership and being around you and being around business too.

Andrea Dodson:

I'm kind of just recognizing that, which sounds crazy because you know, my my older sons have been a part of my life for the almost the entire time we've had our business. And then my baby's been almost four years, you know, since we had our business. But yes, it's it's just now occurring to me. So I'm not able to give them some of the things that if I were a stay-at-home parent or maybe a nine to five parent, I would be able to provide. But the flip side of that is the privilege that they received. And when I say privilege, it's a trigger for people. But I think a lot of people assume like big Christmas vacations. And maybe it means that. But what I mean when I say that word is how many times in my life was I just begging somebody to pull back the curtain and say, here's what goes on behind the scenes. Oh my god, here's how it actually works, here's how all of these things come together. And my kids get a front row seat to that.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Do you know that for a lot of us that go to business school or school for business, this is what we're trying to go get, right? The excess. Yeah, the access. Yeah. And you're they're getting that free education right now. And same for your kids.

Andrea Dodson:

I mean, they get to come here with you and your husband. They get to see, hey, here's the flip side to what I am going to experience as a consumer. Um, yeah, what an amazing opportunity for them.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Yeah. Wow. Okay, sorry, good going. Dinas. How do you guys do dinas now? Yeah.

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah, yeah. And so we we a lot of times we'll have dinner at the dealership. Or it'll be a situation where we say, hey, we're we're wrapping up something here. Um, let's meet at the Mexican restaurant. Is that a home cooked meal? No, but are we achieving the purpose? Which is we're connecting as a family and we're, you know, um, we're we're we're doing the things. Wow.

Victoria Odekomaya:

So it is so incredible. Like I'm looking at you and just listen, I I be I feel like I'm barely asking you questions, but I'm just like taking everything, just soaking everything in here. So I have to ask you, like, what would you say is one of because a lot of our listeners are, you know, budding entrepreneurs or being in business for some time, right? And they want to know, like, when you have obstacles, how do you handle it? Because sometimes it can be hard. It can be that one thing that just like, I don't want to, like, you're already struggling. You're already, you know, and then one big thing comes along and you're like, I want to give up.

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah.

Victoria Odekomaya:

But we have to keep going. What do you say to that?

Andrea Dodson:

Well, I feel like for me and my experience on my entrepreneurial journey, it just comes in waves. I don't know how it always ends up happening this way, but like one bad thing happens, and then it's like six other bad things happen all at once. I don't, it's like they're trying to break me. I don't know. Um, but what I have leaned on the most is, and in the first year, this didn't really apply. But after the first year, I started to get more and more confident about hey, I don't know how to solve this problem yet. And I don't know what it's going to take. But I know that I have the tools and resources and that I've done hard things before, and I can do this.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Believing in yourself.

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah. And you get that with time and experience and a lot of battle wounds to where you you kind of build up this tolerance of things that, you know, I think back to things that used to really stress me out in my first year of business. And I felt like the sky was falling my entire first year in business. Like I felt like this is gonna be the thing that puts us out of business. This will, this will, and just every day it was like something else that I was hitting the panic button on. But um, yeah, you know, I those problems, if I were to encounter those problems today, I've solved those 10 times or more. So I just feel like that would be a walk in the park, you know. And so it doesn't get less stressful, or at least for me, it hasn't. It just gets easier to tolerate to where you have the confidence going into it. Again, I don't know exactly what I will do to solve this problem. Right. But I know I can figure it out.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Yeah.

Andrea Dodson:

Um and there was a time where I was, you know, I would say in years two, three, maybe even four, where I was telling myself those words, but maybe didn't believe it yet. But now I feel like, okay, I can say that and really believe it. And my husband and I, you know, we're in business together. And so we say that to each other. There'll be times where he's feeling the weight of it or I'm feeling the weight of it. And I'll just say, hey, look, we've we've been through some hard stuff before. And we're gonna look back eight years from now and say, Oh, this is a walk in the park. This is easy.

Victoria Odekomaya:

So talk walking, talk, let's talk about walking with your spouse. I can bring its own set of challenges, and I think not bad things necessarily, but like separating work from life to like tell us like what is that looking like for you, or how have you navigated all that?

Andrea Dodson:

Well, and this is something again that we have in common. You you work with your husband, Sean, who's amazing. Um, my husband Jake is is amazing. I just say the best way to describe him is he's the man. You know, he no matter what the task is, he's going to accomplish it and just do such a great job, which is annoying sometimes because it's like, gosh, he always turns up roses. But um yeah, it's it's challenging. And again, it's one of those things like the work-life balance that in the beginning I was like, well, we'll have our marriage and then we'll have our business partnership, and these two things will be separate. For us, we have found no way to actually accomplish the separation.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Okay, that makes me feel good.

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah, yeah. If we go on a date night, we will be talking about business. Yeah, and sometimes we talk about personal things while we're at work. So um, they just cross cross paths in so many ways. And so I I gave up on that.

Victoria Odekomaya:

I just decided to know because I'm not gonna fight this. Yeah. Because you know, in my big in the beginning, I'm like, we're still gonna go on dates. In the moment we walk into the house, we're not talking about work. No. It it just happens. It just happens.

Andrea Dodson:

Well, and and that's normal too. You know, if I had a spouse that worked in a different industry, I would come home and I would want to say, like, oh, you'll never believe this happened today. And so I think so many times um, you know, we try to put these boxes around things. But but really, that's pretty natural and pretty normal if you think about it.

Victoria Odekomaya:

I like the way you said it's because if we were working in different industries, the truth is that we still talk about work at home.

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah, and that's normal.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Yeah.

Andrea Dodson:

But we just don't think, you know, we're we're trying to draw hard lines. Yeah. So when I eliminated the hard lines, it got easier for us because I felt like it was just again, same thing with the personality and authenticity piece. It's just um I'm putting up a uh pressure in my life that doesn't need to be there. That's so good. Um, but working with my spouse is great. Um, we make a really good team. Yeah. Um, we're a lot alike in some ways. Um, he's also very driven. We're big picture people, we're um kind of dominant personalities, which sometimes is comparable.

Victoria Odekomaya:

I was gonna say, who's gonna bend for each other?

Andrea Dodson:

But it's interesting because I think a lot of people assume, and and I know this because they say this out loud, but um that my husband built this company and I'm his secretary. Oh my goodness. Not that there's anything wrong with being a secretary, but that's not the case. Yeah. And that's so infuriating because I've spent years in this industry and and just the blood, sweat, and tears that are required to build a business, I don't want that to be discounted. Right. And for a long time I struggled on, okay, what's my witty comeback gonna be when people make this? Yeah, because I'm like, this is so annoying. You know, I so wanted to just quip back with something like, well, this, but I also was so um aware that, hey, if somebody is committed to this belief that I'm writing his coattails and that he built this and I'm just along for the ride. Um, nothing I say is really gonna change their mind if I'm being honest. Um, so I didn't want to say something that would be misinterpreted as me not honoring my husband because he is amazing. Right. There are some things he does in our business, like he he purchases our inventory, and we have a bunch of metrics that track how well things perform. We are so far uh like above and beyond industry standard on some of the metrics that track how quickly our inventory turns in some of those things. Um that I I feel as his wife, he's one of the best buyers I've encountered and I've consulted for a lot of dealer groups. But I also just can say assuredly, because of the metrics, he is very good at this. Jake, are you hearing this? You know, and it's like I don't want to diminish him in any way. And I feel like if I were to address the people that make this wrong assumption, this uninformed assumption that I'm writing his code deals, that what they would hear or how they would compartmentalize this is that it's diminishing him somehow. Which that's not the case. We can both be experts, we can both be good at what we do, we both manage different aspects of our business. Um you know, so I just decided I'm I'm not gonna address that when people make that assumption.

Victoria Odekomaya:

And I feel like just listening to you, and I've heard this story before, like, but it just seems like that is such wisdom, you know, in what you're saying.

Andrea Dodson:

You want to know what actually was a game changer. There's a Dolly Parton quote that she says, yeah, people used to call me a dumb blonde, but I know, like it never bothered me because I know I'm not dumb, and I also know that I'm truly not a blonde either. And I just thought to myself, that is perfect. Like that gives me so much confidence to just let them think what they're gonna think because it's uninformed, it's it's not accurate.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Like it's that is it's I the way I look at it is like that's your thoughts, that's your problem.

Andrea Dodson:

Your business. Well, your business.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Like I it's not about me, it's you, you know what you're thinking. But that's so wise, though. Okay, so let's talk about Redwood automotive. Um, you guys are doing incredible work in Anderson, Indiana, and you're helping um families, you know, we because I know you have a lot of repeat customers. And so what you're doing is way beyond just selling cars, you're really helping people, real people, solve a big need. So tell us a little bit about some of that. And then we'll go a little bit into some of the other initiatives that you're doing in the community too.

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah, um, well, I feel like, and um, I just feel like as a business owner, it is my duty and responsibility, any business owner, it's your duty and responsibility to support the community that serves you. Um, that was instilled in me uh growing up, and so I I just feel strongly about it. And so when we started Redwood, um the entire first year I didn't take a paycheck because I felt like, hey, we need to sponsor the youth youth athletics and just you know all the different things that you sponsor as as a business. Um and um that has made the difference, I think, in how our customers view us, how our community receives us, and and truly, I think the people who work for us, our staff, you can feel when someone genuinely cares. You can feel it as a consumer, you can feel it as an employee, you can feel it just as a person having a conversation. Um, and so doing these things is so critical and important. Um and that's a part of our company culture now. Yeah. And so uh it's kind of you know just become our identity.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Right.

Andrea Dodson:

Um and I had a hard time honestly talking about some of the sponsorships and things that we do.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Because I can't because I know there's a lot more that you're not talking about.

Andrea Dodson:

Well, yeah, and I don't want to sound like that's okay, go ahead. No, no, you you can go on. I I just don't, yeah, I don't want to sound like um, oh, look what we did.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Right. But but what I'm seeing is a business that is part so intrigue integrated into the community. And it's almost not a business anymore. It's it's the community. Yeah. You know what I mean? Because it's not like we're talking a little bit about work-life balance. I it's almost like what I see about your business, I cannot separate Redwood from Anderson.

Andrea Dodson:

Right.

Victoria Odekomaya:

You know, the community because you guys do so much.

Andrea Dodson:

Well, and it it kind of becomes it's become an extension of who we are as people. My husband and I, who we are as people, is and Kind of evolved into what the company culture is. And so you know, I've gone back and forth between should I publicly talk about the sponsorships and the community involvement that we do? Because part of it feels kind of icky.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Like I don't want to I get you, yeah.

Andrea Dodson:

Um but but being altruistic is part of who I am. I know that's a huge part of who who you are, and that's a big part of what you do in your business. Um and so sharing that, and you gave me courage to say this sharing that and and showing up as our authentic selves is what attracts the correct people to us. Employees, customers, friends, spouse, whoever it is. We're not going to attract the correct people to us if we're not showing them who we really are. Yes. You're altruistic, I'm altruistic. Right. We have we have to be our authentic selves so that other people can say, oh, that's totally my vibe. Absolutely.

Victoria Odekomaya:

And that goes beyond your business, your real human, like who you are. You know, like sharing that with people, that's what really connects the people to say, you know what, I like her. I want to talk to her, I want to get to know. Oh, now she has a business. She's doing all of these things. I want to be a part of that. So that's incredible. And I, I mean, if you want to share about this, I absolutely want you to share about like I know you have like um Christmas things that you do in the community that you're helping to like tell us a little bit about that.

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah, one of our favorite um, and we have a lot of favors, but one of our favorite um community initiatives that we support is a a Christmas um giving to families, and it's just something where the whole staff gets involved. We shop for families, we wrap the gifts, we put them under our company tree, and then when it's time to deliver them to the family, we do that. And it's just brings us so much joy, all of us, everyone on the staff. Um, and it it just means something, and it feels like hey, our company is having success, but it feels like we're we're sharing the success. Um, and it that feels better. You know, it feels good to have a sense of community, like we're a part of something.

Victoria Odekomaya:

You told me a story, and I don't know if you remember this, about how the full circle about there was a family. I think they were like having um you were having kids, we were both pregnant about the same time.

Andrea Dodson:

One of the families we were matching, I feel like every family we've been matched with each year, and I tell the organization Operation Love, um, hey, give me the biggest family. Like, who has the most kids? Give me that family. But um, I feel like each family they've partnered us with each year, I feel such a connection too. So yeah, one year I was expecting my son, and the mom of the family was expecting um due dates right about the same. And so we just made this connection, like, man, we have so much in common. We're dealing with the same questions, you know, as as moms and stuff. So um, yeah, and and each family since then, same thing. Like we just find something to connect on that's just um again, it brings the whole community together, yeah, um, which is the rewarding part of it. There's no sense in having success if you're not going to get to share it with anyone. I mean, keeping it all to yourself, and you know, what am I gonna do?

Victoria Odekomaya:

Right. So, and I also think about the lives of the family members of your employees too. And I don't know if you've thought about this, but like the impact you're having, you know, by having your business and the the opportunities that gets or the the blessing that comes to them too, because they're part of the company. You know what I mean? And obviously they're bringing their own sorcery too, but like, you know, you're you're that that is an extension of you helping the community too.

Andrea Dodson:

Well, I can say everyone that works with us, I love. I mean, they're we just have the best team of people. And when I'm hiring, that's that's one of the most important things. I'm looking for people who are authentic to themselves, right? Because I know firsthand, if you're not authentically yourself, you're not going to enjoy it. Right. I'm looking for people who have shared values. I want them to be an expert at what they're doing and to have experience, but um also importantly, I want them to have shared values of what we embody as a company. And I feel so connected to the people that we work with. Um, I probably will get misty-eyed even just talking about it. And I I kind of feel like a mother hen to our employees because I feel like um a little bit of what you're saying, like I'm proud that they have a place that they can call home as an employer, but I feel a weight and responsibility to do right by them because I admire them, because they are amazing people who are just really dedicated to doing a great job. I feel almost indebted to them a little bit. Like I need to make sure that this is such a glowing success so that they have something they can be proud of too. Because they invest so much time. I mean, think about employees. They're gonna show up every day, they're gonna work next to me, they're going to invest so much of their time, effort, energy, expertise into doing a great job. And they really do, the the people that I work with. Um, so yes, I I feel like it is again a duty and responsibility that I make Redwood as successful as possible so that they can enjoy that success and reward also.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Yeah, especially for those of us that are competitive, that are very goal-driven, you know, like it's like it's not just the money, it's the fact that we're building something successful together and you can be proud of it and say, I have a hand in this.

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah. That is so I I agree. The money has nothing to do with it. I'm very achievement-oriented. And I think that's why, again, you and I connect so well. But um, a lot of entrepreneurs, I think I I hear this message as I'm as I meet more and more people who have just started a business or who have a successful business. Hey, I feel like I'm always chasing that next thing, that next goal, that next challenge. I'm gonna tackle this. And and as entrepreneurs, we're always fine-tuning. Yes. But um yeah, uh, that's I think a part of the nature of what we're doing.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Yeah. Okay, so for those people that are looking to buy a car, can you tell us a little bit about Redwood Automotive and some of the things that they can they can expect in terms of the actual vehicles?

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah, so um I was really fortunate when I uh got hired at that first dealership. I had an amazing mentor. His name is John Bolin, he's no longer with us. He was in his late 70s or early 80s when he was mentoring me. But um, he taught me so much about sales um that has really shaped a lot of how my company operates. So he said, don't be the type of person who's selling based on how you're incentivized or how it benefits you. Genuinely get to know the people that you're working with and just strike up a friendship more than anything and be an expert at what you do. So if I'm an expert at what I do and I'm friends with you, and we just have a normal conversation and I learn your needs, it's gonna feel comfortable for you. And then I'm actually providing a service to you. I'm not pushing you into doing something that's not in your best interest. I'm learning about you, and because I'm an expert at what I do and the ex an expert on the vehicles that we have and how to service them, I can marry that with a good fit for you. And that's just as friends, that's what we naturally do. You know, we recommend products and services to friends that, hey, I know you well enough to know this, but I can't get to that marrying the two if I don't take the time to get to genuinely know who I'm working with. And I would say that's why we have so much repeat and referral business, because um, Austin, who works in our sales department, does an amazing job of really um getting to know folks that that come to shop with us. And what that does is it lets their guard down and it allows us to make sure that just it's they're not just happy the first day that they buy the car. Everybody's happy the first day you brought the car because it's cool, it's new, it's it's Chinese. Um, but throughout their ownership. And I say this a lot to our customers. Um I want you to be happy your final day with the car. And that's so important because a lot of people don't find out that they really didn't get a good deal, or um, you know, some other things until they go to trade out of it or an accident happens or they need to upgrade or downgrade or, you know, whatever. Um so by genuinely getting to know our customers, they feel comfortable too. If a problem occurs, um, we we had a customer call actually this morning before this, who she purchased a vehicle from us three or four years ago, and she said, Hey, this happened. I just wanted to call you and ask who what do you what do you suggest?

Victoria Odekomaya:

Wow.

Andrea Dodson:

Um, and that happens every day because they feel like they can.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Right. Which is interesting because I don't remember the last time I called out the last dealer that we had. Right. You know, like you just buy the car and you move on. Yeah. So but people are still coming and asking questions multiple years after.

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah, and you know, we we have so many families that have bought eight or nine cars between everybody and the family from us. Um but we had a gentleman a couple weeks ago. Um, he bought a car from us a couple years ago, and he needed a new car for his family, and they live um an hour away, they don't live close. He said, he walks in and we said, Oh, it's so great to see you. And uh he said, Yeah, I had my wife drop me off here. I didn't even look at your website. I don't even know what you have in stock, but I knew I wanted to buy a car from you, and so here I am. And so um that that moment felt really cool because things like that feel like, man, this person trusts us so much. They didn't even look to see what we have in inventory, but they know that we're gonna match them with the the perfect thing for them. So um, those are testaments to the way we're approaching uh sales. And you know, uh one of my biggest fears has been as we scale, how am I going to give everyone the personal touch? Oh, yeah. On a bigger level, you know, with more volume. Um, and so we're we're working on ways to continue to integrate that into our business. But amazing. Yeah.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Wow, you know, so I've learned two things from you today about sales when you get to know, like it's just I don't know why. Maybe I knew this, I don't know, but like how you put it where when you know someone genuinely well and you're an expert at something, it's easy to natural. Yeah, natural. Nothing is forced. That is amazing. And then also the fact that you know, when people come back to you, that trust that you that they have, but what I'm trying to say here is that you've been doing that for so long, and sometimes you don't even realize that that's what you're doing until you start hearing back from people like that, that comes back and say, you know what, I came here just, you know, because for me, when clients come from, you know, wherever they come from, like we have a lot of clients that travel cross-country to do business with you, which I'm so fortunate about, but like it makes me remember that I am doing something right and that you know my heart is in it. And um, you know what I mean? So that's just just really powerful.

Andrea Dodson:

Well, and it's easier for us on the sales side. So so I know you have a lot of clients that come from out of state and from far away, and and that does feel so good because think about how many people like you that they pass on their way to get to use your service. Yeah. And I think about that for my business too. We had, um, especially during COVID, but on a regular basis, we have folks flying in from all over the country. We've had international sales. Um, and I, in my mind, I kind of chalk that up to like, yeah, we just happen to have the right car color combination, trim level, whatever. Um, but then when we started doing service, so we opened our service department to the public, I had made the assumption like, well, everybody who's going to do service with us will be a local customer. They're not gonna be coming from all over. We have a customer who showed up today from Wisconsin. They moved to Wisconsin, they said we were gonna be in town, we wanted to have our car service with you. We had a customer a couple months ago come from Cleveland, which is five hours away. Wow. Um, so we're still having people travel across state lines to do service with us. And think about how many service centers they pass on the way to do service with me.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Yeah.

Andrea Dodson:

Um, so that is the biggest, the biggest compliment to my business. I mean, truly, that feels amazing.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Yes, yes. I can actually feel that way too. Wow, that's cool. Okay, so for those people that are looking to say, I want to get a car, um, and maybe I should check out Redwood Auto Made. How can they find you?

Andrea Dodson:

Um, so we're on all the some social media sites, we're on um, you know, we have our website, redwoodautomotive ofanderson.com. Um, and uh, you know, I think calling is a great way. I know because that's so outdated it almost seems. But um, hey I want you to feel comfortable before you walk in and when you walk in. Um and that's a great way to get to know somebody. And look, I'm not everybody's cup of tea. So if we're not a good fit, I don't want you to waste your time. I don't, you know, I I want you to to find something that's a good fit. Um but um but yeah, I I think one of the things that that you've encouraged me to do, and this is way outside of my comfort zone, is to be more present online because you said something to me that is so impactful. I I truly, literally think about this every single day since I heard you say it. And that is you cannot be your industry's go-to expert and the best kept secret. You can't be those things at the same time. And so I feel like, gosh, we have all this knowledge that we want to share and we'll give away for free. We're happy to pull back the curtain and show you how this works and uh walk you through the process. But if nobody knows we're willing to do that, how much of a service is that? Right. Um, so you're really encouraging me. Um I know you're supposed to be interviewing me, but I have questions for you. Okay, I find you so fascinating, and I feel like, hey, on so many ways we just think alike and are so connected. But tell me more, um, because I'll be using your services coming up for some of the social media content creation, some of the things that you do, and you really truly offer a wide variety of services and products, but um, tell me more about how you got into content creation and what you know what there's so many, I'm doing air quotes, like content creators out there. How do you hone in on what's going to work for me and my company and and for the varied companies that you work with?

Victoria Odekomaya:

Okay. So I have to say that this is the first time I'm being in a viewer.

Andrea Dodson:

Well, again, excited. It's that too masculine assertive side of me that's just taking over. Sorry.

Victoria Odekomaya:

No, no, I appreciate it. I appreciate it. So, I mean, and I don't get those questions a lot. So thank you. Thank you. How did I get started? Um, so I used to be uh drug research scientist. I did that for 18 years. Uh, but somewhere along the line, I went back to school for filmmaking just because I enjoyed watching watching commercials. I'm the one person where whenever, you know, how nowadays we want to skip the commercials, I'm like, let me see. Oh, how did they? Oh my goodness, how did you know? Because I'm always fascinated about how people think and what they feel like is gonna get people's attention. What the motivator is, yeah, you know, or how they even filmed it, the story and all the things. So I went back to film for filmmaking. This was like 15 or so years ago. Then fast forward, I had a baby, and obviously I thought my kid was the best thing ever. Like, oh my, oh my god, it's the cutest ever. So I picked up a camera and started photographing him. Every little thing was like so cute. So I moved from filmmaking to photography just because it was easier for one person to do. With filmmaking, you're thinking about not just the visual, but also the audio and a lot of other things.

Andrea Dodson:

So I needed a hand for some of the equipment and stuff that makes sense.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Yeah, so so I started that and and then I just loved photography because it was also easier. I was creating a lot of content for a lot of female entrepreneurs, which were those ones that I but hold on, I'm gonna stop you right there.

Andrea Dodson:

Okay, easy for you because that's your authentic self. You're a creative person, you're looking, you know, to capture people in their best elements. So, you know, we talked about this earlier. Like finding the thing that fits for you kind of feels natural once you end up there. So, okay, go on, go on.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Thank you for saying that. But yeah, like I just really enjoyed it. And it also got fascinated about how the story, you know, that's why I do a lot of the things. So typically on our shoots, we're doing hair and makeup. We serve wine and chocolate covered strawberry, but that first hour where they're getting their hair done, I get to like hear about their stories, how they started, some of the things that they are working on. And that would inspire me so much. And that kind of led into creating the Boss Ladies magazine because I was like, I'm hearing all of this. And usually me and the makeup artists were hearing all of this incredible story, and I'm like, in all of this amazing ladies, because at the time I was really fairly new in business. I didn't even like I actually really, when I started, I was like, could I do this as a business? And if I was gonna leave my job, I better be making money out of this. You know, like I was trying to, you know. So, but I just was so always inspired. And so we started the magazine and it just kind of blew up, you know. And a lot of the things that I'm beginning to see more of is like uh in the, you know, in the business world where we're all still trying to figure these things out, there's a lot of challenges, right? And when we're sharing our stories openly, we get to encourage someone else because you don't know what people are going through.

Andrea Dodson:

Well, and it being in business can be so isolating sometimes. So, what an amazing thing that you're doing by showcasing some of these stories of of female entrepreneurs and professionals, um, so that people like me don't feel so alone. You know, it's a lonely journey sometimes. And sometimes I think, oh, this problem, nobody, nobody legitimate has probably dealt with this problem. Um, and the truth is the more you get to know people and the more you have access to people, the more you learn, hey, this is actually kind of common.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Yeah.

Andrea Dodson:

Um, and it's easier to navigate when you feel like there's a community behind you.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Exactly, when you feel like you're not the only one going true.

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah, so what an amazing thing. So Boss Ladies magazine, um, but then also, you know, making it accessible to everybody through the content creation. That's that's an amazing segue because you're reaching so many more people.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Well, so then what I found was that photography was great in, you know, taking the photos and doing all of those things. But what we really needed to be doing was helping people to get to know us even beyond that one photo. You know, like it was a really great way to like, you know, I I take good photos. Yes, yes, you do. Yes. Um, but like, you know, a lot of the women also, you know, they didn't know what to do with the photos, you know. So then I was like, so I started like giving them like social media calendars, things that they would, you know, to give them ideas. But then I was realizing that that was not enough because they were still doing their business and then trying to understand how to use the content.

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah, how where does this even fit in?

Victoria Odekomaya:

You know, so then, well, now video is the big thing, right? And I had the video background. So in my mind, I'm like, I'm trying to figure out a way to help you manage this part of your business while you focus on what you do best. So telling your story, because again, like you said earlier, you know, in that conversation, you cannot be an expert and be the best skeptic. Like it just you can't hide. We can hide, you know, it doesn't serve the people that we're meant to solve their problems. And if you're focused on building your business, which is your you know, passion and the things that you're doing, how can I make letting people know what you do easier for you? And so that's where the whole, like, I mean, I'm just very passionate about that. Like, so bringing back video, bringing out, bringing back photography. We also have a studio space, which I used to shoot in my garage for a very long time. But the vision was to be able to make this more accessible, make it easier for people to create content.

Andrea Dodson:

It's a one stop shop. Yes, yes.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Yeah, so then also podcast is another big one too. So we do video podcasts because we can take the video, put it on social media, on YouTube, and then the for you know, audio on the platform. But ways to Help make that content easy, effortless, so that way people still know that you exist and you can continue to do what you do best.

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah, and I think too, you know, having worked with you in the past, you make it feel so easy, like laid back. Like I can imagine a lot of people would feel very intimidated, very overwhelmed by like, oh geez, she's gonna tell my story for me. What if she gets it wrong? What if um, but I can say from from working with you in the past, hey, I most of the times I show up and I just have a conversation, like we're friends having coffee, and then you turn it in some somehow you put magic on it and it ends up like this beautiful, amazing thing. So thank you. Um for anyone who's listening, if you're considering working with Victoria, it's not scary, it's not overwhelming. You make everybody feel so comfortable. And I think again, going back to because you genuinely care about the person first, yeah, and then you're an expert. So it just naturally kind of kind of fits together.

Victoria Odekomaya:

The way you said it is so perfect in my head too, because again, like, and I'm very goal-oriented. So usually I'm asking, what are your goals? What do you want to achieve? And in my head, I just take all of that. I'm like, let's do it. You know, like I'm I'm gonna help her get there. Yeah, yeah. That's that foils me so much, you know. So yeah.

Andrea Dodson:

That's exciting. Well, and and and again, you can genuinely feel when somebody's rooting for you, when somebody's your cheerleader, and I feel that hanging out with you, working with you. So thank you so much. Okay.

Victoria Odekomaya:

All right. So before we end, I want to ask you one question. I know we've done this a little bit before when I was asking you about some of those meets that people often think about that stops them from wanting to work with a dealer, or like in one of the ones that you shared that I really liked was about how um, you know, we think that they just want to sell something to us, or like car services or like the get warranties are always, you know, you know, like a way to like get you over. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. So is there one thing for those that I haven't seen those those contents? First of all, go check it out. You know, I'll make sure this is linked, you know, so that you can see all that. But if there's anything that for someone that is looking out there thinking, I want to get a car, but I'm a little worried, whether with you or maybe not, which you should, obviously. Um, but what is one thing that you want to encourage them or tell them or educate them on getting the best deal for a car?

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah, um, we live in a world where information is at our fingertips through the internet. So one of the things that you can do is, you know, through my website, and a lot of dealers offer these services. You can check the um history of the vehicle, you can match the pricing towards similar trim level vehicles, similar miles and age. Um, you can do a lot of the legwork and research ahead of time. Um, when it comes to actually completing the transaction, look, if the vibe is off, like there's millions of cars out there. You don't need to buy this one, right? If you feel like this isn't a good connection, because really, um, and especially I feel this way on the service side, you should find, actually, I feel this way on any industry, not just auto buying or servicing. You should find an expert that you know, like, and trust. And you should do business with them. Yeah. And so when it comes to automotive service, we have people that, you know, they come to us, maybe for the first time for breaks or an oil change, something, routine maintenance. Um, but because they have a good experience and they know that they can trust us through that experience, then if their engine light pops up, we're gonna be that first phone call. Yeah. Um and they feel confident working with us and we're excited to work with them. But I would say that that universally applies. Your plumber, your whoever you work with. Right. Find somebody. Don't wait until you have a catastrophe. Find somebody that you can connect with and work with and truly they want to get to know you and solve your problems. So good, yeah. So that then when you do have that catastrophe or when you are ready to purchase a car or you know, whatever it is, you can go back to that person, back to my mentor, John Bolin. There were people coming to him who, I mean, they just adored him and they would they would come back to him. There were people who bought cars exclusively only from him for you know decades because they loved working with him. They loved that experience, and they knew that when they came back to work with him, he was going to find something that worked. He was going to genuinely care, he was gonna remember them. Um, and I think so often nowadays we live in a transactional world. You know, an Amazon click button world where, hey, it's just more convenient to just do this right here. Right. But if we aren't building those relationships, we're not getting the the full 360 experience where we've got somebody who genuinely has our back.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Yeah. Oh my goodness. Okay. Is there anything you want to add before we wrap up? Because there's something in my head that I want to definitely say, but I want to give you the the opportunity to just say, you know, to our audience.

Andrea Dodson:

Yeah, I'm just grateful to be here. And and I think um I sometimes ask myself, like, why did these good things happen? Obviously, I've worked hard. Obviously, you know, I've been through the trials and trials, all those things. But um I just am so grateful to be here. I'm just so grateful to have the connections that I've made through business, and I'm so grateful to have the platform to do good, and I'm so grateful to for our customers, for our staff, um, and grateful to be here working with you. And I think um that that really kind of sets the the tenor for my life and and my path. So uh gratitude is is really important. Yeah.

Victoria Odekomaya:

Well, thank you so much for coming. I really appreciate you. So here's one thing I wanted to say before we wrap this up. We were talking a lot about you know being authentic, talking about getting to know people genuinely and then serving them with your expertise. Who knew that this could apply in buying cars? Like, I'm just thinking about the conversation that we've, you know, because I don't think that we ever think about having a relationship. It seems like a transactional thing. Exactly. But I hope that this conversation helps you get to know Andrea in a different way and that it challenges you to think about the next car you're gonna buy or any other service really, and think about building a relationship and maybe even giving her a phone call, which I'm gonna put all their information in the description. You know how you already know how those go. And ask the question and try to build a relationship. I know that they they're able to service people from all over the world. So it's not, you don't have to be in Indiana. And I know I have audience from other parts of the world too. But I really want to challenge you about that and just picking up a call and asking for Andrea. Like I know you'll pick up the call or like have some, you know, because having a relationship with someone, asking questions, someone that is able to tell you those things that you need to know that you're not even thinking about. I think we really need that in our corner when it comes to the cars that we drive. And so think about that. And that's what I'm gonna leave us with today. Until next time, um, be authentic.

Contributor

Victoria Odekomaya

Host