Living Our Company's Purpose with Regional HR Director Colleen Reed

Colleen Reed, Regional Human Resources Director of the Mountain Region, began her career as an early childhood education specialist. With a passion for making a difference and a love of learning, she worked at a drop-in daycare service in Dallas, Texas. As a small business employee, Colleen wore many hats; she handled marketing, payroll, benefits, and more. Due to her job’s flexibility, she was able to be involved in her sons’ lives as a football mom.

After many years in childcare and helping to open four franchise locations, Colleen decided to change her career path to support her family's changing needs. To this day, Colleen attributes many of her life lessons and skill sets throughout her career to working in childcare.

Driving a New Career

After transitioning from a childcare career, Colleen started working in her family’s boutique marketing business. After a few years and due to a change in her personal life, Colleen began searching for the next step in her career journey. She was connected to Steve Hall, founder and then CEO of driversselect, a pre-owned vehicle dealership in Dallas, Texas, who introduced her to the automotive industry, where she started as an accounts payable manager. Colleen remembers being warned that she might fall in love with the automotive industry and never leave. That proved to be true for Colleen because within the first few years of working with driversselect she became inspired by the thrill of the automotive industry.

While working at driversselect, Colleen had many different responsibilities, including employee onboarding, accounts payable, month-end schedule closings, payroll, human resources, benefits administration, and culture. However, she always found herself in the human resources space. Colleen not only enjoyed making driversselect a great place for her teammates to work but also for prospective applicants. She fondly recalls her teammates nicknaming her the “Culture Queen.” This title came in handy when Sonic Automotive acquired driversselect in 2017.

Finding Her Purpose

When Sonic Automotive sought to acquire driversselect, Colleen was invited to sit on the due diligence panel, where she was introduced to Sonic Automotive and EchoPark Automotive executives. Colleen was in awe of how the leadership team was dedicated to learning about the current culture and ways they could help with a smooth transition. When she was invited to stay on as an EchoPark Automotive teammate, Colleen decided she wanted to focus just on human resources. “I believed in our leadership.” Colleen said, “I believed they really wanted to do what’s best for our people.” She was excited to continue working with leaders who were just as enthusiastic about their teammates as she was.

Once she became a part of the EchoPark human resources team under then EchoPark Human Resources Director Angela Broadway, she was tasked with helping further develop EchoPark’s culture. Colleen dove into this task by introducing and educating EchoPark leadership on concepts such as core values, the culture pyramid, the value of monthly kickoff meetings, and other key culture items, all while assisting with opening new EchoPark stores in Houston, Texas, and California.

Living Our Values: Be a Team Player

Colleen and Angela worked hand in hand to ensure that EchoPark has strong and resilient teammates. Not only was Angela a great manager, but Colleen also shared that Angela was an inspiring mentor. “I felt that working with Angela Broadway would give me the opportunity to have the most impact on the organization and to be in a seat that allowed me to impact our culture and decisions,” said Colleen.

When it came time to hire a human resources manager for the Colorado market, Colleen had trouble finding candidates that would be a fit for EchoPark. After several rounds of interviews, Colleen approached Angela with the idea of her moving to Colorado to fill the role. This was a huge decision for Colleen because she was a Texan through and through. A move to Colorado would be a big change for her, but she knew that finding a fit for the Dallas market would be easier for her team. After careful consideration, Colleen moved to Colorado and began training the new Texas human resources manager.

Navigating Professional Growth

After Angela Broadway stepped into the role of Vice President of Human Resources for Sonic Automotive, Colleen began a new partnership with Donnie Parris, EchoPark Human Resources and Training Director, who was instrumental in the team's growth. Donnie also invited Colleen to sit in on important conversations and allowed her to actively participate in the team’s decision-making process. As a result of Donnie’s leadership, Colleen was prepared for the next step in her career – transitioning from a human resources manager position with EchoPark Automotive to a human resources director position supporting the Sonic Automotive franchise dealerships.

In 2023, Colleen was presented with an internal promotion to serve as a human resources director at Sonic Automotive. Her new responsibilities included overseeing 23 franchise automotive stores in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Idaho and managing two human resources managers. Colleen was confident in her transition because her managers afforded her the opportunity to prepare for a more senior position.

The Culture Queen

In her day-to-day responsibilities, Colleen and her team work as stewards for our culture, fostering a positive teammate experience, minimizing risk, and protecting our organization and teammates. Colleen is passionate about following our company’s playbooks and enforcing the guidelines to ensure that our culture continues to thrive. “It really boils down to making sure that we are doing and being who we say we are to our people and stakeholders,” explains Colleen.

Colleen exercises the importance of our purpose, values, and principles on her team each day. She describes herself as a caring leader who values her teammates. Colleen actively invites her team to be curious and challenges them to ask questions. Throughout her career, she has learned how important it is to practice open communication and ask for ideas from her teammates.

Evolving and Growing

As a human resources professional, Colleen has experienced and managed many transitional periods for our organization. She learned to pivot through the pandemic, remote work, and acquisitions. Although change tends to happen quickly, adapting to our people’s needs is necessary. Colleen shares that she enjoys working at Sonic Automotive because of how receptive and approachable our leadership team is. From Colleen’s experience, she has found that our executive team seeks out innovative ways to dismantle obstacles that may hinder important business processes.

As Colleen continues to grow in our organization, she has found that it is important to “prove to yourself and others that you are ready to make an impact.” Colleen has continued to advocate for our teammates and organization at every level. Her passion to make a difference at Sonic Automotive inspires teammates across our organization.

To learn more about career opportunities at Sonic Automotive, visit jobs.sonicautomotive.com.