Melissa Aguirre
Brand manager | Yokohama Tire Corp. | Irvine, Calif. | Age: 36
What was your first job in the industry?
Events and sponsorship specialist.
What attracted you to the industry?
I am a huge Chelsea Football Club fan and Yokohama had just signed their five-year shirt sponsorship contract so I thought it would be an amazing opportunity. At the time I had some experience with IndyCar so I was familiar with the automotive industry and thought this job could be an interesting switch from what I was doing at the time.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced in your career?
The biggest challenge I've faced was my promotion to a newly created role at Yokohama, brand manager, just over two years ago. My career leading up to this new position was heavily events-focused, so it's been a wonderful but challenging experience learning to navigate and grow this role at Yokohama.
Who has had the biggest influence on your career?
Honestly, there are far too many great people to choose from, but I am proud to work beside some amazing men and women at Yokohama. One way that Yokohama's culture has influenced me is I've learned how truly valuable excellent customer service is and how much of a difference it makes to our customers.
What is your biggest accomplishment in the industry?
I was really proud to receive the Service Excellence Award at Yokohama's 2024 National Sales Meeting. This award means so much to me because winners of this award are selected by our peers, and it means that other employees appreciate the hard work I do for them and our company.
Tell us about your current job and responsibilities. How do you spend your workday?
My current role features a little bit of everything, and I work pretty frequently with other departments outside of marketing. I manage a lot of different projects and programs from our brand strategy and identity, trademarks and licensing to managing our community outreach strategy and communicating our environmental, social and governance (ESG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.
Every day can be different depending on the current tasks at hand. I have a list on OneNote of all my current action items that I review every morning. I use that to organize all my notes and to-do lists. Some days are meeting-heavy while others can be spent working on current projects. For example, right now a few of the projects I am working on are the Elite Trades Championship Series, an upcoming merchandise launch and revising our community outreach programs.
What's been the biggest surprise of your current job?
The biggest surprise of my job was how different this job would be compared to my events experience. Events are chaotic and challenging but for the most part they have strict timelines and end dates. One of the challenges I have found with this new role is I had to change my approach to my work to adapt to ever-changing deadlines and timelines. While in events I loved running the event and being able to mark things off my to do list and move on to the next task. This role has been very different, and I had to learn that some projects can be more fluid and it's OK to sometimes push a deadline for another round of revisions or wait for feedback.
Tell us about your family.
I have a wonderful husband, Michael, who I love very much. We met playing soccer together years ago and he's my best friend. My parents come from England but have been here for almost 40 years but I have a very large extended family who all lives over there. My parents had four kids here in the U.S. and our immediate family is all very close. The rest of my family lives in Northern California, just a short flight or drive away so my husband and I try to go for the holidays and as often as we can.
If you could wake up tomorrow with one new skill, what would you choose?
Cooking. I enjoy cooking and do enough to get by, but I wish I could be excellent!
In a single word, how would your friends describe you?
Determined.
If you could switch careers tomorrow, what would you want to do, and why?
If I could switch careers I would love to work in the marketing department at Chelsea Football Club. I love the atmosphere of the football games in England and would love to work in that environment on a day-to-day basis. While working at Yokohama I got a taste of it when I worked closely with Chelsea F.C. for various dealer programs and youth soccer events that we put on and it was such a great experience for me.
What's the biggest issue facing the tire industry?
I think the biggest issue facing the tire industry is a shortage of tradesmen and tradeswomen. Right now there are not enough applicants to fill the gap that will be left when this current round of employees retires. The auto technician shortage is something that will directly affect the tire industry specifically, but we all need to support and elevate the trades to encourage people entering those fields to keep our country running.
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A veterinarian.
How do you unwind after a stressful day?
I like to work out every day. If possible, during the summer it's great to get a few holes of golf in after a stressful workday.
What goal did you set for yourself this year? Are you on track to reach it?
My goal was to increase my retirement contributions, and I already reached that goal halfway through the year. I've set a new goal for myself and hope to achieve that by the year’s end.
What do you expect to be doing 20 years from now?
For my career, my goal is to continue to elevate myself and grow my professional experience which will help me lead and inspire the next generation of marketing professionals. Personally, I hope to stay active and healthy with my husband and continue my quest to get my golf handicap under 10.
