============================================================
TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
============================================================
[00:00] SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Canada's podcast.
[00:05] SPEAKER_01: Hello, this is Robert Smile, coming to today with Canada's podcast where we talk to the entrepreneurs
[00:10] SPEAKER_01: who are making it happen here in British Columbia.
[00:13] SPEAKER_01: Our guest today is Vivian Liu.
[00:16] SPEAKER_01: Vivian stumbled into the auto industry via a marketing competition back in 2015.
[00:23] SPEAKER_01: From there, she suddenly found herself in rural BC managing and consulting dealerships
[00:29] SPEAKER_01: and sales and marketing as a district manager.
[00:32] SPEAKER_01: Seven years later, she has managed over 80 dealerships from BC to all the way to Saskatchewan
[00:38] SPEAKER_01: on behalf of General Motors.
[00:41] SPEAKER_01: Today, Vivian has found herself deeper into the auto industry more than she has ever expected
[00:47] SPEAKER_01: as an executive at an auto take start-up as well as found her own NAE or making auto easy company.
[00:57] SPEAKER_01: Well, Vivian, welcome to Canada's podcast.
[00:59] SPEAKER_01: Thanks for taking the time today to be here for all our listeners.
[01:03] SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me.
[01:05] SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's get into this.
[01:07] SPEAKER_01: So, want you to tell us a little bit more about yourself and give us a details on your current
[01:11] SPEAKER_01: business. Are you from Vancouver, Born and raised or BC?
[01:14] SPEAKER_00: I was born in China. I moved to Canada when I was five.
[01:18] SPEAKER_00: So, I grew up in Ontario and I moved to BC first when I started a General Motors back in 2015.
[01:26] SPEAKER_00: So, that was in Colony. I stayed there for about a year.
[01:30] SPEAKER_00: I moved to Saskatchewan for a year and a half and then I was lucky to move back to BC.
[01:34] SPEAKER_00: So, I've been with in automotive since then and I've loved it in BC and I've decided to
[01:40] SPEAKER_00: stay here for obvious reasons and to start my own company called May, which stands for making auto easy.
[01:47] SPEAKER_01: Okay. Now, you started this company. You've been in the business for quite some time and you obviously
[01:54] SPEAKER_01: love automobiles. Is your true passion just driving or is it just the industry? What is it?
[02:00] SPEAKER_01: What drives you to sort of speak into this industry and why do you like it so much?
[02:05] SPEAKER_00: I think the auto industry is really fascinating. I think sometimes we know that cars generally
[02:10] SPEAKER_00: we use to get us from A to B, but sometimes we forget that car is incredible technology and it
[02:17] SPEAKER_00: has changed so much in the last couple of years and truly so with electric vehicles.
[02:20] SPEAKER_00: So, things are really going to change in the next couple of years, the next 10 to 20 years
[02:24] SPEAKER_00: and I find that really interesting and driving personally is incredibly fun. I've been
[02:29] SPEAKER_00: lucky to drive a lot of really cool cars working for gentleman motor so that only helps to fuel the
[02:33] SPEAKER_01: passion. Yeah. Okay. Now, did you need financing to start your company and how are you currently
[02:39] SPEAKER_00: making money in the business now? Yeah, we're a really new startup. So, right now we're still
[02:45] SPEAKER_00: pre-revenue. So, we're not charging for any of our services but we've actually just launched our
[02:49] SPEAKER_00: paid services in the last week or so. But right now, what we're doing is we're helping customers
[02:55] SPEAKER_00: buy cars, deciding which car to buy faster and we'll go into more costier services where we help
[03:02] SPEAKER_00: them understand all their options and guide them from beginning their purchase to the end.
[03:07] SPEAKER_01: Okay. So, you basically are kind of covering the pain points for women specifically because
[03:13] SPEAKER_01: as we know, women tend to go a man traditionally to a car dealership because men typically
[03:21] SPEAKER_01: may know a little bit more about cars. So, this next question I want you to talk to the general
[03:26] SPEAKER_01: consumer. I want you to give me a key piece of knowledge or information about your industry
[03:31] SPEAKER_00: that our listeners can learn from. Yeah. It's interesting that you say that. So, back in the day,
[03:38] SPEAKER_00: we know that men generally had their preferences for cars. They generally decided that, you know,
[03:43] SPEAKER_00: I was either a 4GM or a Dodge guy. Those are the trucks that I was going to buy in that you were
[03:47] SPEAKER_00: loyal to it. We found is that most people nowadays men included don't actually know as much about cars.
[03:53] SPEAKER_00: And in the automotive industry, we have a lot of stats that float around. We know that 90% of women
[03:58] SPEAKER_00: stated in a survey that they wouldn't go to a dealership without a man. And we also know that 85%
[04:03] SPEAKER_00: of car purchases are influenced by women. And the crazy part is women actually purchase the majority
[04:08] SPEAKER_00: of all cars, but yet two thirds of them don't know where to start when it comes to actually buying one.
[04:12] SPEAKER_00: When it comes to the overall public, people generally, when they're shopping for cars, it takes
[04:17] SPEAKER_00: from about three to four months and they only consider two to three cars and they only go to one to
[04:22] SPEAKER_00: two dealerships. They really don't want to do a ton of shopping. But the crazy part is there's
[04:26] SPEAKER_00: actually over 1,500 car combinations. And these are just the most modern companies. So 1,500
[04:33] SPEAKER_00: car combinations out there. And yet you have to narrow them down within a short amount of time.
[04:37] SPEAKER_00: And most people don't want to spend that time shopping for cars. So there's a lot to see out there.
[04:42] SPEAKER_00: And there's a lot of things changing in the world, whether from EVs to features. And that's actually
[04:46] SPEAKER_00: why we created May was to help people understand what their options were in a really fast amount of time
[04:51] SPEAKER_00: and give them the information that they need to make a decision for themselves without having to spend
[04:56] SPEAKER_00: those three months trying to figure out which ones to buy.
[05:00] SPEAKER_01: It sounds like buying a house. You go to your homework and you want to find the right car
[05:05] SPEAKER_01: color and make and model. And it seems to be not just going into a dealership and buy one
[05:10] SPEAKER_01: like a piece of paper or something. So okay, you've started, you stated earlier, this is a startup,
[05:18] SPEAKER_01: you're located in BC. But what is the long-term vision? Well, your company looks like in the future,
[05:22] SPEAKER_01: many, where do you want to go? Do you see the company expanding into the areas? And where,
[05:27] SPEAKER_00: the on Vancouver BC or even Canada? Yeah, the plan is to open up our service across Canada
[05:32] SPEAKER_00: and into the US. We really want to build some sort of standard for car shopping online. There's a lot
[05:37] SPEAKER_00: more resources and more companies that are out there that are offering an online digital solution
[05:42] SPEAKER_00: for car buying. But a lot of those companies, they still focus on the very end of the journey,
[05:47] SPEAKER_00: which is really where do I buy it? How do I get the best deal? Whereas we found that we want to
[05:52] SPEAKER_00: help people with that beginning part of their journey discovering what other options are the fun part
[05:56] SPEAKER_00: really. So what we would like to do is develop it into something where it'll be good for consumers.
[06:02] SPEAKER_00: But at the same point, we can also work with other automotive partners such as like the big companies
[06:06] SPEAKER_00: like AutoTrader and Carvana and even manufacturers like our dream would be able, would we to be able
[06:11] SPEAKER_00: to sell cars through manufacturers? At least that would be the vision.
[06:17] SPEAKER_01: Okay, so direct to consumer online. I guess Tesla does that now, doesn't it?
[06:23] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they do. It's very specific. There is, I mean, there's a lot of regulations around what
[06:29] SPEAKER_00: it's all managed by dealerships and that's how the relationships work between manufacturers and dealerships.
[06:35] SPEAKER_00: And that's kind of one of the things that is a big challenge to this vision. But we know that
[06:39] SPEAKER_00: some of that is changing as well. Ford's shown that as an example too.
[06:44] SPEAKER_01: Okay. Now you're doing business in Vancouver Canada, British Columbia. Let's talk a little bit about
[06:50] SPEAKER_01: that. What are the biggest benefits for you when being an entrepreneur in Vancouver? I want you to
[06:54] SPEAKER_01: give us some of the good points about starting a company here. But I also want you to give us some
[06:58] SPEAKER_01: of the tough things or challenges you've had for listeners so they can keep an eye out for them.
[07:04] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely. And I'm speaking personally from my experience as a new founder in the
[07:10] SPEAKER_00: last couple of years. So what I found in Vancouver and it seems like there is a lot of, there's a
[07:17] SPEAKER_00: bigger tech community in Vancouver than there is in a lot of other areas in the country outside of Toronto.
[07:23] SPEAKER_00: So there are some really great communities, a lot of support that's been built, a lot of great
[07:28] SPEAKER_00: organizations that are built to help founders. And it's either new new founders and a lot of
[07:33] SPEAKER_00: organizations for female founders. So some of the ones I'm really passionate about are like the
[07:38] SPEAKER_00: forum that helps women founders and new ventures BC. These are great organizations that really
[07:43] SPEAKER_00: help me get to where I am today. And if we didn't have the the foundation and all the people that
[07:48] SPEAKER_00: are so interested in helping entrepreneurs, I probably wouldn't be where I am right now.
[07:53] SPEAKER_00: And some of the bad, I would say partially don't have a lot to compare to. I couldn't say,
[07:59] SPEAKER_00: you know, what are the resources compared to Silicon Valley? But I imagine there's definitely a gap
[08:03] SPEAKER_00: there. But I find that it also comes down to you as an individual, how much you how much effort
[08:08] SPEAKER_00: you're willing to put into doing things like networking because those type of efforts really make
[08:13] SPEAKER_00: a difference in your experience. But it also, I mean, COVID's been really tough as well. It affects
[08:18] SPEAKER_00: the ability for us to go network. So for a lot of us getting back into networking is really
[08:23] SPEAKER_00: interesting, especially for a new time founder. A lot of people are very, very educated, very
[08:29] SPEAKER_00: experienced. So it can be a little bit intimidating. But I think that just comes with time.
[08:34] SPEAKER_01: Okay. Now I want you to imagine learning what you've learned since you've been an entrepreneur.
[08:40] SPEAKER_01: If you were to start all over again and you just moved here to Vancouver BC, this time you don't
[08:45] SPEAKER_01: know anyone knowing what you know now. What would you do and how would you go about starting all
[08:50] SPEAKER_01: over again as an entrepreneur? I mean, what would you do differently? You've been through some
[08:54] SPEAKER_01: mistakes, you've been along the way, you've kind of gone through this process. And as someone says,
[08:58] SPEAKER_01: okay, if you were to start all over again, what would you do differently knowing what you know now?
[09:03] SPEAKER_00: Yeah. I mean, I would make a really intentional, I would do an intentional exercise where you
[09:11] SPEAKER_00: understand where your gaps in knowledge are and where you need some additional help.
[09:16] SPEAKER_00: And then going out there and finding those people that can really help you understand what you
[09:19] SPEAKER_00: need to know and understanding how to build a community faster knowing who the key players are
[09:26] SPEAKER_00: and really start having conversations faster and asking those people for additional connections.
[09:31] SPEAKER_00: That's a huge thing that I've learned that you need to learn how to network properly being a
[09:36] SPEAKER_00: founder and being completely unapologic about it because you know, you may send out a hundred
[09:41] SPEAKER_00: different contacts, but only 10 people may respond to you. But that's okay because those 10 people
[09:46] SPEAKER_00: can get you to where you need to be and what you were truly looking for. So I would say that kind
[09:52] SPEAKER_00: of also goes back into a little bit of, you know, being a new founder, there's a lot you don't know.
[09:57] SPEAKER_00: We're probably going to feel a lot of, you know, perfectionism, which I found that a lot of people
[10:00] SPEAKER_00: are a perfectionist. So are you maybe feeling with things like imposter syndrome? It's about getting
[10:05] SPEAKER_00: past all that and going out there and talking to people and asking questions, whether it's to learn
[10:09] SPEAKER_00: from other founders or to learn from your customers. I think it's about having that ability to go out
[10:15] SPEAKER_00: there and, you know, step out of your comfort zone. Do you have a morning routine that helps you
[10:21] SPEAKER_01: motivate to start your day? Do you have a certain regiment of things that you do in the morning
[10:26] SPEAKER_00: that kind of gets you going on the right track? A coffee is a big, big player in this for sure.
[10:32] SPEAKER_00: I'm a big, I'm a list person. I like having my two-do list on pen and paper through pen and paper.
[10:40] SPEAKER_00: So I'm a little bit traditional that sense. I think a lot of people have apps on their phones
[10:45] SPEAKER_00: or, you know, Google Docs, things like that that help them. But starting, you know, I head into
[10:51] SPEAKER_00: my Mondays with a full list of information or a task that I need to complete that's going to help me
[10:56] SPEAKER_00: get to where I want to be. And then bringing those down on a daily basis in the morning is really
[11:00] SPEAKER_00: what helps me. He set the tone of, you know, what do I need to do? Can I accomplish those things?
[11:04] SPEAKER_01: And what are my barriers to doing so? Do you think entrepreneurs have to be weird or you need
[11:10] SPEAKER_01: to pause it away or why are you different? I wouldn't say that you necessarily need to be weird.
[11:19] SPEAKER_00: Why are different ways an interesting one? I think it comes down to where interests are.
[11:24] SPEAKER_00: Some people don't. I think there are people that are truly meant to be entrepreneurs. They kind of,
[11:28] SPEAKER_00: they've shown actions or behaviors, you know, growing up and what they've done through school and
[11:33] SPEAKER_00: their extracurriculars. But I think for some people, they also just stumble on ideas through the
[11:38] SPEAKER_00: experiences that they built, whether in their personal lives or in their work, you know, a lot of
[11:43] SPEAKER_00: really great ideas come from pain points that people experience and they fully just stumble upon it.
[11:48] SPEAKER_00: And I think it comes down to how much you're willing to, how interested you're in, you are in that
[11:53] SPEAKER_00: problem and how willing you are to try to resolve it. So I think it's something that you truly can
[11:58] SPEAKER_01: develop. Okay, you mentioned earlier that research is big key, but let's talk about your reading
[12:04] SPEAKER_01: habits. What books are you reading now in the wire, even audio books? And can you recommend any
[12:09] SPEAKER_00: books for listeners who are also entrepreneurs? Yeah. I'm more of an audiobook person and I come from
[12:16] SPEAKER_00: the marketing side. So I think one of the really great books that I wrote recently was called
[12:21] SPEAKER_00: Obviously Awesome. It's a book about product positioning and how to position your brand and your
[12:27] SPEAKER_00: product in a way that people are going to be really interested and want to buy it. And that's a book
[12:32] SPEAKER_00: by April Dunford. And another one that I found was really helpful when I was at the beginning of my
[12:36] SPEAKER_00: journey, not knowing whether my how to validate my idea or if I find that there's a lot of people
[12:41] SPEAKER_00: who want to be entrepreneurial but don't have, feel like they don't have the idea. There's a great
[12:46] SPEAKER_00: book called Side Hustle by Chris Gipo, I believe. And it's about coming up with different ideas
[12:53] SPEAKER_00: in a matter of a month that you can really action on. So I think those are really great for new founders.
[12:59] SPEAKER_00: But some other resources being in Vancouver specifically that really helped me as a founder
[13:03] SPEAKER_00: to understand the landscape in Vancouver and what the startup environment to look like and who
[13:08] SPEAKER_00: were the players. I think Bantek Journal.com was a really great one for me.
[13:13] SPEAKER_01: Okay, good. Any online or offline tools used on a daily basis?
[13:18] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, I think for most people like a Slack or Notion are really great. Notion is great
[13:24] SPEAKER_00: for project management for note-taking. That's been a good one for me.
[13:28] SPEAKER_00: Networking, like I mentioned earlier, LinkedIn is so great. I think really investing time to
[13:33] SPEAKER_00: use their search engine to find the people that you need to talk to has been really helpful.
[13:38] SPEAKER_00: I've met so many people and I would have never been able to talk to them otherwise.
[13:43] SPEAKER_00: Offline tools, I mean, going back to my traditional exercises, I think one of the things that I do
[13:49] SPEAKER_00: that I love sharing is whiteboarding. And just getting a smaller whiteboard even, or if you have
[13:55] SPEAKER_00: windows, getting window markers, I love just putting all of my ideas out there. I think most people
[14:00] SPEAKER_00: are visual people. So seeing all of your ideas and how they connect with one another on a whiteboard
[14:05] SPEAKER_01: is been really great. Okay, let's talk a little bit about British Columbia and working there.
[14:11] SPEAKER_01: How do you balance work and how do you relax and I think about working at your entrepreneur?
[14:15] SPEAKER_01: You work all the time. Do you have other activities that kind of takes you away from that where you
[14:20] SPEAKER_01: can think about contemplate your business, just kind of get out there, do you ski, do you bike,
[14:24] SPEAKER_00: kayak, golf, hike, or something over a drive? Yeah, definitely. I mean, in BC we're so lucky. We
[14:32] SPEAKER_00: are a great one. Skying has been really great. I've discovered recently, you know, different areas,
[14:38] SPEAKER_00: different campgrounds that you can get to where you have absolutely no cell servers. So there's
[14:41] SPEAKER_00: absolutely no work that you could possibly do or connect with anyone. Those have been really
[14:45] SPEAKER_00: great too. Disconnected in a golden years is a campground has been a really good one for me.
[14:51] SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's talk a bit about potential jobs and things like that. What kind of a job would you
[14:57] SPEAKER_00: not like to do? What I not like to do. I mean, anything that relies on me not talking to people,
[15:06] SPEAKER_00: I think that's that would be the most painful. I love engaging with people learning from them.
[15:12] SPEAKER_01: Didn't work in a toilet booth, I take it. Yeah, that'd be a tough one. Okay. If you were doing what
[15:18] SPEAKER_01: you do now, what job would you ultimately like to do? I remember a profession if you weren't in
[15:23] SPEAKER_00: the auto business, would you too? Yeah, I mean, there's one that I've always wanted to do was to
[15:27] SPEAKER_00: become a food influencer. So that's going around to help a new
[15:31] SPEAKER_00: russian-onson Vancouver and discovering them for the first time and trying new things and recommending
[15:35] SPEAKER_00: them to people. I do that basically on my own within my friend group, but that's not that would be
[15:41] SPEAKER_01: really great. Okay, in business, what is your favorite word quote or sentence that you like to use?
[15:48] SPEAKER_01: Keep it you work with it often, we say, Vivian likes to use this word or sentence or something like that,
[15:53] SPEAKER_01: or motivational or inspirational, aspirational. Anything you use frequently? There's one that's
[16:01] SPEAKER_00: there's two actually, there's one that I've learned being a founder that really challenges me and
[16:07] SPEAKER_00: on by no means am I good at this, but it's done is better than perfect. It's about how much can you
[16:12] SPEAKER_00: execute intentionally? That's going to get something out the door. Otherwise, you're always going to
[16:18] SPEAKER_00: be going through a circle where something is not perfect, so it doesn't go out there. It's the only
[16:22] SPEAKER_00: way you truly learn is by putting things out there and seeing how it lands. I think that's one that's
[16:27] SPEAKER_00: a tough for a lot of founders and myself included. And one that I found recently from one of my mentors,
[16:34] SPEAKER_00: she was asking me to not focus on doing, but to focus on the mission. And what that means to me is,
[16:40] SPEAKER_00: you know, it's not about just being productive every day and getting through the tutelists, but
[16:44] SPEAKER_00: understanding what it is that you're trying to truly accomplish what your mission is. And then
[16:48] SPEAKER_00: looking at your tutelists and what you're doing and your productive hours, and if that's actually
[16:53] SPEAKER_00: driving you towards that mission. So I think that was a really big one for me the last couple of weeks.
[17:00] SPEAKER_01: Okay. What's your least favorite word sentence you do not like to hear?
[17:06] SPEAKER_00: I think perhaps it's more of a behavior. What I found is people who come with problems
[17:13] SPEAKER_00: when not necessarily solutions where, you know, we can identify problems. I think we can all do that,
[17:19] SPEAKER_00: but to come with some sort of solution or even the questions to ask to help us to determine how to
[17:24] SPEAKER_00: get to the solution would be, would be something that I always look for. Okay. I get to pick one or two
[17:32] SPEAKER_01: words to describe yourself. What would it be and why? I am a planner. I'm a very intentional planner.
[17:40] SPEAKER_00: I'm always thinking about, especially even in my personal or professional life, I'm always thinking
[17:45] SPEAKER_00: about the things that I need to know or do later on and how I can prepare for that now so that when
[17:50] SPEAKER_00: I get there, it will be less of a task or maybe perhaps we can overcome it faster more efficiently.
[17:58] SPEAKER_00: And I just say I'm really ambitious. I'm always looking to improve personal and professionally.
[18:05] SPEAKER_00: And I know that's something I'm proud to carry with me.
[18:08] SPEAKER_01: Anything keeping you up at night these days? I know sometimes we take our business problems with
[18:13] SPEAKER_01: us to bed. Does that bother you or do you just kind of through that out and deal with it in the morning?
[18:18] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think it's like every other day type of situation. It definitely, things that keep me
[18:25] SPEAKER_00: up at night are definitely how fast I can move in my startup. I know that there's a lot that I want to
[18:30] SPEAKER_00: do and a lot of that comes down on you as the founder and especially when you don't have a very large
[18:35] SPEAKER_00: team, that's definitely what keeps me up at night.
[18:39] SPEAKER_01: What should you give us to talk to you three things on your inspired lifeless? This could be
[18:43] SPEAKER_01: philanthropy, biographies, you want to travel more, start another company, anything like that?
[18:50] SPEAKER_00: Yeah. From May's perspective, so making it easy, what I would love to do is give away cars.
[18:57] SPEAKER_00: I'd love to be able to find really great causes or really great people that are using their
[19:02] SPEAKER_00: vehicles to do great things, whether it's for their professional personal lives and be able to
[19:07] SPEAKER_00: sponsor them and give cars away every single year. That would be a dream of mine. I would love to
[19:13] SPEAKER_00: relearn my my Mandarin. I speak it, but very conversationally, I think that's a life goal of mine
[19:19] SPEAKER_00: that's going to take me a lifetime probably. I think it's yeah, to travel more would be great,
[19:25] SPEAKER_01: especially after COVID. Do you have any advice that you may have received that you can pass on
[19:32] SPEAKER_01: to Canada? Someone said to you, other than entrepreneur, someone else that said something to you
[19:38] SPEAKER_00: that really resonated with you? Yeah, I mean, other than the, you know, the done is better than perfect,
[19:43] SPEAKER_00: and I don't focus on the doing. I think it's about like just get out there, you know, ask yourself if
[19:51] SPEAKER_00: it's really a risk. Things that may feel risky to you may not actually be a risk. So being able to
[19:57] SPEAKER_00: bucket and, you know, categorize how risky things truly are and, you know, what are the long-term
[20:02] SPEAKER_00: effects? And if there aren't any major long-term effects, just get out there and do it.
[20:08] SPEAKER_01: Take massive action. Yeah. Okay, we're going to wrap things up here. How can our listeners get
[20:14] SPEAKER_01: whole of you? Is there anything you'd like to add before you leave us today? Is there anything
[20:18] SPEAKER_01: that I've left out for the car industry, what your take your company in general? Yes, you can
[20:26] SPEAKER_00: reach me at Vivian at makingautoeasy.com or also on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, you name it.
[20:34] SPEAKER_00: We just rebranded our website. We've launched some new services. So if anybody's looking to buy a
[20:41] SPEAKER_00: car across Canada, and you're just looking for some guidance or you're truly looking to make a
[20:46] SPEAKER_00: decision really quick because you want to get onto a wait list because it takes six to eight months
[20:50] SPEAKER_00: now to get a car. Reach out to me. I'm happy to help and check us out makingautoeasy.com.
[20:56] SPEAKER_01: Man and women. Man and women, absolutely. Absolutely. Okay, Vivian, thanks for coming on the show.
[21:04] SPEAKER_01: I've learned a lot about you and sure our listeners have as well. Thank you. Thanks so much.
