‘It’s people first’: Shannon Sands keeps the focus on connection
In celebration of Women’s History Month, meet one of the women driving change across our portfolio brands: Shannon Sands, a Regional Manager at Auto Glass Now.
For nearly 25 years, Shannon Sands career at Auto Glass Now has been more than a job – it’s been a purpose driven journey.
“It became clear to me early on that success at Auto Glass Now required more than meeting numbers,” Shannon said. “It required building teams, fostering relationships, and creating a culture of professionalism and accountability.”
Her ability to connect with people led Shannon to Auto Glass Now, where she’s worked for nearly 25 years. She brings experience on the corporate side in accounting, on the customer-facing side in car rental, and ‘on-the-ground’ experience from working part-time in an auto body shop while in college.
More than two decades ago, Shannon was working as a district manager for a car rental company when a regional manager for Auto Glass Now came in to rent a car. As Shannon handled multiple interactions (including a military client picking up 30 vehicles), she stayed calm, cool, and focused on the customer. Her skill in the moment impressed Auto Glass Now’s regional manager, and he made her an offer.
A year later, Shannon joined Auto Glass Now as a district manager. In 2017, she stepped into the role of regional manager.
Today, her day-to-day work includes visiting stores in her region to identify challenges, problem solving with store managers, and coaching team members so everyone feels they’re moving in the same direction.
“You can’t think of it as ‘just filling roles,’” Shannon said. “It’s about finding and recruiting the right people.”
She thinks of building a team like assembling an All-Star sports team. Everyone brings their own unique skills, and it’s that special mix of expertise working together that leads to success.
This all leads back to one of her core beliefs: it must be people first.
“Connecting with and valuing employees is what truly makes a store, district, region, or company successful,” explained Shannon. “By putting people first, I’ve been able to create a culture where teams feel empowered to go above and beyond, knowing their contributions are seen and appreciated.”
This belief remains strong even as the industry and company changes, including Auto Glass Now becoming part of the Driven Brands family in 2021. Since then, Shannon has recognized a number of positive changes, both in herself and across the company.
“It took a while for all the different brands to come together and define the direction we're taking the company,” she said. “But now as I look ahead, I truly believe that we have the right people in place to achieve significant growth and change.”
This growth compelled Shannon to step forward and spearhead the creation of new AutoGlassNow training material. When she stepped into a regional position, she began traveling more to locations across the country and saw that every store was doing it differently, which made her realize the needed set standards and company expectations.
“We were getting too large not to have an across-the-board standard way of doing things. So, I went to the owner of the company and said this is something we need to fix,” she said. “He told me, ‘okay, that’s your new project.’”
Like she’s always done, Shannon analyzed the problem and dove into creating a manual that’s rolled out company-wide.
Now, as a seasoned regional manager with more than 25 years in the industry, Shannon credits her success with the ability to ask questions.
“My best advice is anytime you need help, don't be afraid to ask,” Shannon said. “You're never going to learn anything if you're not asking for help.”
For her, that’s also always gone back to the people – knowing who you work with, building relationships with them, and reaching out for help when you need it.