Ex-Nurse Lands Plum F&I Position

For 15 years, Juanita Stanley helped saved lives as a trauma nurse at hospitals in Phoenix, Chandler and Mesa. Today, she’s still helping people only now she is doing so by making their dreams come true at Infiniti of Superstition Springs.The single mother of two is the newest finance and insurance manager at the high-line dealership, which began operations on Aug. 15. Her responsibilities include completing the vehicle transaction paperwork, arranging financing, and offering extended service contracts, Lojack and other products designed to help customers maintain the value of their new purchases.

While she has only been on the job for a few weeks, she is finding the career change to be a breath of fresh air.Nursing takes a huge toll, the Apache Junction resident says. You begin feeling detached, both emotionally and personally. It’s hard to regain your feelings when dealing with people who are sick, terminally ill or barely alive, every day for years. I would start the day with a cup of compassion, and by the end of the day I wouldn’t have a drop left.After she was injured by a combative patient, Juanita knew it was time to change careers. She began researching new opportunities, and considered going back to school to become a mortician or a veterinarian. Then she came across an ad in two employment-oriented publications, the Employment Guide and the Republic CareerBuilder Weekly. The ad was for a new school in Scottsdale that specializes in training finance and insurance managers for new car dealerships. She decided to check it out.

What appealed to me were the short period of training, only four weeks, and the high income potential, she says. According to the National Automobile Dealers Association, the industry’s largest trade organization, F&I managers in the region that includes Arizona earned on average $93,325 in 2002, the most recent survey year. That’s considerably more than the $60,000 annual income she had been earning as a nurse. Juanita applied for a student loan that included a generous allowance for living expenses while she attended school, and was able to defer her payments for a year. Then she hit the books.

The course was challenging, she says of the full-time program. You really have to be on the ball. There was a lot of homework, and there were times I just wanted to relax when I got home, but didn’t. If you’re serious, you do your homework. I learned all the automotive terms and definitions, and I’m glad I did.

Juanita left her home early every day to travel the 40-plus miles to school. The four weeks passed quickly, and by the final week she had already gone on an interview. Within a week of graduation, she had four job offers. Three were for sales positions she realized that as in nursing, or any other profession, she may have to work her way up to a management position. However, after interviewing with the finance director, general sales manager and general manager at Infiniti of Superstition Springs, the powers-that-be determined that Juanita had the attributes necessary to start in management. She was hired as a finance manager, and the dealership couldn’t be happier with her performance.

She’s doing wonderfully, says Infiniti of Superstition Springs General Manager Dan Berry. I was surprised how much she knew, and how fast she caught on. I was skeptical at first, but I’m very pleased with her work. She does real well with our customers.

I’m still learning, says Juanita, but the school prepared me well. The instruction was great, and entertaining. There were plenty of real-life stories, and I never got bored.

The school changed my life, my perspective, my outlook on life, she says. It has changed my attitude, and I love my job.

The Automotive Dealership is located at 6613 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85250. For more information, call (480) 998-7200, or visit www.autodealerinstitute.com.