Josh Penfold
E-commerce Manager | Carlstar Group LLC | Age: 38
What was your first job in the industry?
This is my first Tire industry position, I came from Telecom/ Site Services.
What attracted you to the industry?
I was attracted by the opportunity for growth to modernize decades old practices. My job is to make it easier for distributors and dealers to get information on our products and to transact with us.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your career?
The biggest challenge is keeping up with the pace of innovation while still supporting traditional business operations.
Who has had the biggest influence on your career?
My biggest influence for ecommerce has to be Jeff Bezos from Amazon. Watching what he does with his mountain of a company makes me always think to stay on my toes, or risk getting my lunch eaten by my competitors. You have to treat every year like year one in the business and never settle for OK.
What is your biggest accomplishment in the industry?
I won a Graphic Design USA award for our new Ecommerce Dealer Portal. We created an easy to use interface and mobile ordering experience for our customers to quickly order items with little to no training needed.
Tell us about your current job and responsibilities. How do you spend your work day?
I spend my day managing and building the ordering portals for Carlstar, so that our dealer and distribution customers have a quick and easy destination to order our wide selection of tires and wheels. I also work to manage content delivery to our valued partners so they can list our products easily on their websites and ecommerce sites.
What do you expect to be doing 20 years from now?
Spending as much time as possible volunteering and helping build a better future for my children.
What’s the one thing you wish someone would have told you before you entered the industry?
Before working in the industry I had never noticed tire brands on specialty vehicles like tractors or lawn mowers. Now in the industry is amazing the number of sizes and options that are available.
Tell us about your family.
I have a wife and 7 great children.
What’s your favorite weekend activity?
I volunteer weekly with the local Cub Scout Pack and teach them the skills I learned from being an Eagle Scout.
What keeps you up at night?
Ensuring that our customers and consumers realize the value that Carlstar has to offer in our breadth and depth of products. My job is to ensure they have the right information to make informed decisions.
