Mariah Vela, 35, has brought the month-end close at Arrowhead BMW in Glendale, Ariz., to within two business days over the last six months, and she has cross-trained half her team in at least two functions.
She started at the front desk at Showcase Honda, moved into payroll, and learned as many desks in the accounting office as she could. She joined Arrowhead BMW, then the first store in what is now Visionary Automotive Group, as an accounts payable and receivable clerk. She was also the first accounting clerk at Jaguar Land Rover Arrowhead, where for a time it was just her and the controller.
As Payroll Manager for the four-dealership Arrowhead campus and its more than 300 employees, she built the onboarding process and a New Hire Touchpoint. About a month after orientation, new hires meet leaders, go over their Predictive Index results and see how every role shapes the customer experience.
Now Office Manager, she runs payables, receivables, inventory accounting and titles. Project-management tools and AI-enabled workflows save about 20 staff hours a month, and her receivables outreach scripts have cut balances over 30 days by thousands of dollars.
“Every position taught me another part of the dealership, another way to serve people, and another opportunity to improve how we operate.”
