Female executive driving change in auto industry

HODGKINS, Ill. (WLS) -- We continue to celebrate Women's History Month by spotlighting a trailblazer in the auto industry.

Krystal Roberts has spent over 20-years breaking barriers and as an executive, she's used to being one of the few women in the room, but she's driving change.

"There's always a misconception that you can't be in higher level management in automotive," Roberts said. "I just don't take no for an answer. I go to these corporate conferences, and I'm one of two women, and the guys move around and they don't want you to get in and I say 'Excuse me, Hi I'm Krystal Roberts.'"

Roberts is the executive manager at Advantage Chevrolet in Hodgkins and a trailblazing woman in the auto industry..

"I am the dealer advisory president for Chevrolet's commercial division and I represent the entire nation of commercial dealers," Roberts said. "I'm the only female on the board,"

Val: How hard would you say it was for minorities to break into this business?

Roberts: Extremely difficult. And the reason being is dealerships are extremely expensive to purchase.

Val: And when you say expensive, we're talking 15 to $30 million.

Roberts: That's correct. General Motors actually had a program though that would invest with minorities.

An opportunity her father took advantage of in the 1980s. Now, the Roberts family owns six dealerships across the Chicagoland area.

Val: How did you get into the family business?

Roberts: Filling vending machines, then I cleaned cars, was a sales assistant, worked in parts, service, the office, administration, sales. So I basically walked, walked in every position in order to get to the position I'm at today. And I wouldn't have any other way.

Val: Why do you think your father made you do those things?

Roberts: He didn't want any of us to feel like something was handed to us, that we've earned those positions. We would appreciate and respect it even more.

Krystal's brother, Jason Roberts, the chairman of the Chicago Automobile Trade Association, always knew she was a tough fighter..

"I think it was Mayor Daley at the time, here, they had like, a boxing exhibition and I'm watching the news and I'm like, wait a minute, that's my sister boxing a man," Jason Roberts said. "And all you saw was the guy's head going back....don't mess with this one!
But Jason says its her woman's touch that's made a difference in the family business..

"She really kind of had us shift our thought process and she studied metrics," Jason Roberts said. "She found ways for us to improve, but really she kind of forced us to rethink things. And one of the things that she really kind of keened in on was work-life balance, showing people progression plans and we really kind of rethought how we how we went about our business, not just driving sales, but personal growth for our team."

Now, she's making space for more women to be in the room.

"Currently, today, I have 25% of our workforce in this location are females," Roberts said. "For a lot of women, they don't see people that look like them represented in the store. So it's hard for mentorship and leadership and to see people that look like you. So I continue to do that because I want to be an example for women to be encouraged to get involved in this industry."