When Lesa Sperou took a job at Kelley Blue Book to earn some income for school, she never expected it to turn into a long-term career. But that’s exactly what happened.
“It was just temporary; at least, that was the plan,” said Lesa, who joined the company, which is now part of Cox Automotive, 43 years ago.
Over the last four decades, Lesa, who’s now a senior business intelligence analyst based in Irvine, CA, has seen many changes within the organization.
Her first role was as a proofreader for KBB, back when the book was a printed edition. She then helped digitize the book by gathering data from manufacturers and auto dealers and entering it into a database that contained valuations of different types of vehicles.
When Cox Automotive acquired KBB in 2010, Lesa became a part of a much larger organization. Her role shifted, too; she was responsible for unifying the valuations of vehicles and ensuring that valuation data was consistent across the organization. The goal, she said, was to increase clarity, efficiency and credibility across all of Cox Automotive.
“It’s just evolved over time,” she said. But, “it was always a good fit. I was really fortunate.”
One aspect that’s kept her with KBB and Cox for decades is their commitment to community, Lesa said. She appreciates that Cox offers matching charitable donations from employees and gives them time off to volunteer.
“There's a direct tangible impact that you can see,” she said. “That’s something that’s close to my heart.”
Lesa enjoys the people she works with, as well, adding that she’s formed long-lasting relationships. With Cox, she’s also had opportunities to learn, grow, try new things and “not just stick to doing the same thing,” Lesa said.
“I've done different things and been able to experience a wide range of different aspects of the business,” she added.
While Lesa calls herself a “creature of habit,” she attributes her success with Cox to being adaptable and embracing change — and she enjoys that no two days are ever the same.
“There’s been so much change over the years,” Lesa said. “We went from a book to the internet. We went from KBB, a small company, to Cox, a large company. But we have kept those core values that we’re family first.”
