Working Mom Excels in Male-Dominated Industry

Diki Sue Terry is not your average working mom. In fact, she is the first female Parts Manager out of the 18 dealerships in the Park Place family.
Park Place has a great way of treating their employees,” explained Terry. “They invest in us with training courses in everything from Linked-In to better communications… all through the Park Place University website. They also train us to treat our clients with the utmost respect.  Arlington has no idea how respectful we are to our clients.”

Diki Sue Terry

Terry grew up in Arlington and graduated from James W. Martin High School in 1993. She and her husband Patrick, have lived in Springtown for the past nine years with their daughter Marianne and son Michael.

Terry started at Park Place as a receptionist in 2006 and was quickly tapped for a Parts Advisory position. She was promoted to Assistant Parts Manager soon after that, and was recently named Parts Manager at Park Place Motorcars Arlington.

Terry has her work cut out for her as Mercedes-Benz gets ready to introduces 10 new vehicles in 2016. “As the technology advances in our vehicles so do the components within them,” said Terry. “In Parts today, you must train continually to keep pace. I’m privileged to work for a company and a manufacturer who support us with Mercedes-Benz Learning & Performance Courses. We have quarterly training requirements that must be met in order to reach the next level of certification.” Terry had seven re-certifications just in the last quarter.

When asked what advice she would share with women considering a career in the automotive industry, Terry emphatically replied, “Go for it! Mercedes Benz USA (MBUSA) has a female manager in the area that encourages me. She said there are other female parts managers in Florida. She thinks women make the best Parts Managers because we’re so detail-oriented.”  Empowering women to succeed in the automotive industry is just one of many intriguing stories you’ll find among the “Experts in  Excellence” at Park Place Motorcars Arlington.

Come by and meet Diki Sue Terry and the rest of our team at Park Place Motorcars Arlington, located at 4201 Beltway Place off Interstate 20.