We are excited to announce that our very own Sean Garrett has been named a 2018 CFO of the Year honoree by the Kansas City Business Journal!
Sean has been with VinSolutions since 2015, when he started as the Director of Finance. Today, Sean is Senior Director of Financial Planning and Analysis for VinSolutions, Xtime and Dealertrack Registration and Title. He is among 16 Kansas City area honorees being recognized for outstanding performance in their roles as corporate financial stewards for public, private and nonprofit companies.
We caught up with Sean to find out what this honor means to him and how working for VinSolutions has contributed to his professional success.
Q: What do you like about working at VinSolutions?
A:I love many things about working here. But the thing that stood out from the start is our work environment is a great combination of VinSolutions’ startup-like, fast-paced culture and the big company resources that come with being part of Cox Automotive.
Our work environment is a great combination of VinSolutions’ startup-like, fast-paced culture and the big company resources that come with being part of Cox Automotive.
That combination allows us to quickly respond to changes, both internally and within the industry. It’s incredibly rewarding to be able to identify issues in real-time, propose changes and take action in a very short time frame.
Q: How have VinSolutions and Cox Automotive supported your professional growth?
A: Being part of the Cox Automotive family allows many different opportunities for career growth. If you demonstrate that you can deliver on your commitments, all kinds of new options open up.
For me personally,that has meant the opportunity to take on new challenges by supporting multiple business units. And that path to career growth has proven to be available to others as well who have demonstrated the ability to meet and exceed their objectives. Good work gets rewarded at Cox!
Q: What does receiving this honor mean to you?
A: More than anything, this honor is recognition for all VinSolutions team members who have contributed to the exceptional performance over the past few years. Very few companies grow so quickly while boosting profitability so significantly. That can only happen when the entire team is functioning at a high level.
Additionally, this honor is a tribute to the great team I have supporting me. I’m very lucky to have outstanding Finance Directors working for me (first Georgia Brown and now Kelly Colwell at VinSolutions, Anya Schlesener at Xtime and John Lavretta at Dealertrack Registration and Title) and each of them has a great team supporting them. As my role has expanded, I depend on each of them heavily to drive performance in their businesses.
Sometimes I get the credit, but we all know they are the real CFOs of the Year!
Congratulations to Sean (and his team!) on this well-deserved accomplishment. He and his fellow CFO of the Year Award honorees will be celebrated at a luncheon in Kansas City on June 14.
