“Create more space,” Chrissy Taylor from Automotive News

Meet Chrissy Taylor, Senior Vice President of Editorial at Automotive News Group and the Global Polymer Group, where she leads editorial and business strategy, focused on accelerating the pace and quality of newsroom evolution and growing an engaged paid audience. Before joining Crain Communications, Chrissy was the Managing Editor of the Chicago Tribune, where she was responsible for audience growth and led the newsroom through the COVID pandemic, 2020 election, and other daily coverage.

Previous to that role, Chrissy worked for more than a decade at the Hartford Courant, holding several positions in the organization from web producer to Vice President of Digital Publishing, and she was part of the team named a Pulitzer Prize finalist for their coverage of the Sandy Hook school shooting. 

Chrissy sat down with Jocelyn Hudak, Senior Director, Content and Digital Marketing, at the Automotive News Leading Women conference in Detroit, where she spoke about creating space for women in more rooms, staying authentic, and knowing your strengths. Check out her full interview and some highlights from the conversation below.

Create space in the room. 

Highlight: “The best leadership advice I can give to someone is to make sure that you're creating more space in the room. Don't just limit it to the current seats at the table. Think about how you can support and raise up the next generation of women behind you?” - Chrissy Taylor

Make space at the table. 

Highlight: “At our last conference in November, one of the panels talked about the seat at the table, and somebody made a comment about, you got to bring your own folding chair. And I understand exactly what they meant by that, but as a leader, I don't want it to be folding chairs. They need to be permanent positions. It shouldn't be about bringing in a temporary seat. It's about creating more space at the table in the first place and being inclusive in who you bring into that room. That's the type of leader I want to be or strive to be every day. And certainly what I talk about to women who I'm working with on a daily basis.” - Chrissy Taylor

Make room for women.

Highlight: “I do think that in the last three years we have seen some momentum behind women stepping into leadership roles in executive positions within the automotive industry. Recent study by CADIA (Center for Automotive Diversity, Inclusion and Advancement) cites that 22% of executive positions are held by women, which is great. In the past, it's been 15, even lower than that beforehand. So we are seeing that momentum, but we still have a lot of room to grow, which is why conferences like this are important so that we're creating space and opportunity and networking for women within the industry.” - Chrissy Taylor

Let mentorships be organic.

Highlight: “I get as much out of being a mentor as I have as being a mentee, and I think people sometimes lose sight of that important dynamic and those relationships that as a mentor, you can get as much out of that relationship. I think it has to be very organic. Sometimes we try to over engineer mentorship opportunities. You need to create a framework for it, but don't try and force the format. Let that kind of evolve organically out of the needs of the relationship.” - Chrissy Taylor

Be an authentic person. 

Highlight: “Being an authentic person and showing people how you feel and how you're reacting to these moments in very vulnerable ways creates trust and creates that culture where I feel like I can belong. I feel like I can be my true self. I don't have to assimilate into something else. And that's the kind of culture that I think creates opportunity and great work. And that's the type of culture I always want to be leading.” - Chrissy Taylor

We’re taking Chrissy’s advice and paving a path for the future generations of women to have a seat at the table. Looking for more inspiration advice like this? Check out our Pass The Mic page.