Diana Kennedy dropped out of high school at age 18. She admits she was never the best student, often cutting class and struggling to stay engaged.
When Kennedy later took a vocational automotive class, she discovered she enjoyed being around cars and ultimately found a sales position at a dealership.
"Automotive became the outlet for me that got me focused on something," Kennedy said. "Otherwise, I really don't know what direction my life would have headed in. But I feel like automotive came to me at the right time in my life."
Kennedy was naive to the high ratio of men to women in the automotive industry until she joined Price Simms Family Dealerships in 2021 as general manager of Volvo Cars Marin, she said. She quickly realized she was the only woman in the room during meetings. Knowing what the industry had done for her, Kennedy set out to change this.
When she started at the store in San Rafael, Calif., women were 16 percent of the staff. No…