Leading with Purpose: The Jane Vaden Thacher Story

Jane Vaden Thacher didn't expect to follow in her father's footsteps. Her primary goal after high school was to escape Savannah and the family name plastered across vehicles throughout the city. But thirty years after returning to the business her father started in 1968, Jane has transformed Vaden Automotive Group into a powerhouse representing Chevrolet, Cadillac, Nissan, Infiniti, Hyundai, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram across 13 dealerships with 762 employees.The journey wasn't easy. Jane began in a trailer beside the body shop, worked her way through F&I, and eventually convinced General Motors to award her a second Chevrolet point in Savannah—which she opened at age 34 while pregnant with twins and still managing other dealerships. "I just outworked them," she explains about overcoming initial resistance as a female leader in automotive retail.What sets Vaden Automotive apart is a philosophy Jane calls "The Vaden Way"—a culture built on employee development, transparency, and community commitment. This approach has created remarkable loyalty, with many senior team members boasting over 20-year tenures. While approximately 35% of Vaden's workforce is female (many in leadership positions), Jane dismisses gender as a determining factor: "To me it absolutely makes no difference. It's always about what you can do."Looking ahead, Jane remains pragmatic about industry challenges from EV adoption to digital retailing evolution. She's focused on growing Vaden from a half-billion to a billion-dollar enterprise while preparing her son Jack to eventually take on leadership responsibilities. But following family tradition—her grandfather died selling cars on the showroom floor—Jane has no plans to retire: "That's not what we do in my family." Experience the wisdom of this automotive pioneer who continues to prove that trust, transparency, and outworking the competition never go out of style.Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Executive Profile with Jim Fitzpatrick. For more interviews with the leaders shaping retail automotive, visit CBTNews.com and subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast platform. If you enjoyed the episode, please rate, review, and share it with someone in the industry.