#SheDrivesCochran: Candice Bowman

June marks many exciting things: the transition to a sunnier season, the real world for graduating students, and the time to start hitting the road for vacation. In the #SheDrivesCochran spotlight to Candice Bowman, who found a virtuous way to celebrate this month while helping her customers find new vehicles.

June is known to many around the world as Pride Month. It is a time to celebrate members of the LGBTQIA+ communities and the fight for their rights. Candice says that she loves June, as well as the fact that there is a month dedicated to this social group. 

This year, the Mazda Sales Consultant decided to donate $25 from every car sale to a local LGBT+ organization. “I was so excited to finally give this a go,” she said. Candice decided that the proceeds would go to the PGH Equality Project. “They’re a local nonprofit that offers resources and support to LGBTQIA+ individuals, families, and supporters while also promoting visibility, understanding, and equality within the LGBTQIA+ community and communities at large.”

Candice says that she has received positive responses to her effort on social media. “I’ve had a significant number of [social media] views,” she said, “and people are messaging me, asking about the brand, and thanking me for the support. I think people are happy to see that there is still some good in the world right now.”

The commitment to improvement is something that Candice is used to seeing at work. “I love the brand that I work for, and Cochran is always trying to make it a better place to work for its employees.” She began her time at #1 Cochran as a lot attendant. Within six months, her manager asked if she wanted to get into sales. “I hadn’t sold anything in my life before then,” she said. “But I loved cars and getting to talk about them 24-7 sounded like a great idea.”  Almost six years later, she still says that her time here has been great.

This position also gave her the opportunity to change something that she noticed at every dealership that she’d visited in the past: very few women working in them. Thankfully, this is not the case at her Monroeville store. “We have three managers that are women within service and sales,” she said. “I think it gives a new dynamic to the showroom and service drive and makes people that previously dreaded coming into a dealership feel more at ease.”

While she says that being a woman in the automotive industry can sometimes be an obstacle, she says that she tries not to take anything to heart and goes with the flow. “I’ve had many people approach me and ask to speak to a salesman. To which I hold my hand out—pre-COVID, of course— and greet them with a smile.”

Her advice to women and femmes who are considering the automotive world is simple: give it a shot! “I’ve had many women, and people in the community tell me that it was nice to work with someone they can relate to. We need more women in the automotive field.”

We commend Candice on her always-amazing work, as well as her effort to bring a little more love and inclusion into the world.