Auto Collabs
Collaboration through connection.
Hosted by Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier, and Michael Cirillo, Auto Collabs is your connect point to the human side of the retail automotive industry: what motivates its leaders, how they navigate change, and what keeps them pushing forward. It’s beyond-the-business-card conversations with real people powering dealerships, technology platforms, and everything in between.
From the team behind the More Than Cars movement, this podcast is built on one big belief: thriving people create thriving businesses. With candid conversations, industry insight, and just enough unfiltered banter to keep things interesting, Auto Collabs delivers authentic stories that inspire real collaboration.
// Auto Collabs is produced by Automotive State of the Union (ASOTU). Learn more at https://www.asotu.com
Auto Collabs
From Sandwich Artist To CEO with Kaylee Felio
Kaylee Felio, better known in the industry as "The Parts Girl," brings her unique flavor of grit, smarts, and systems thinking to this Auto Collabs episode. Starting her career as a Subway manager and now pushing toward the CEO seat at PartsEdge, Kaylee's story is a testament to the unconventional paths that lead to real leadership in auto. She's not just making waves with her content and the PartsEdge Podcast—she’s redefining what it means to lead from the fixed ops side of the dealership.
In this conversation, Kaylee chats with Paul, Kyle, and Michael about how her sandwich-slinging days taught her the foundations of efficiency, how she built the educational resources the parts industry didn’t even know it needed, and what’s exciting her about tech and innovation in fixed ops. She also drops a bold vision for the future—and it starts with her becoming CEO. If you’ve ever underestimated the power of the parts department (or a meatball marinara on wheat), this episode will change your mind.
Takeaways
0:00 Intro with Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier and Michael Cirillo
1:33 Kaylee Felio joins the show and shares how she became “The Parts Girl”
4:27 How managing a Subway restaurant unexpectedly trained her for auto
10:13 Why parts departments need to adopt automation and evolve their processes
14:24 Calling out the status quo: Kaylee’s bold approach to sales and change
21:00 Kaylee’s next move: positioning herself to be CEO of PartsEdge
Learn more about
Connect with Kaylee Felio at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayleefelio/
Learn more about PartsEdge at https://www.partsedge.com/
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