From Family Legacy to Industry Leadership: Ashlee Arnold Charts the Future of the Automotive Aftermarket

The automotive aftermarket is in Ashlee Arnold’s blood. As a child, she grew up helping at her family-owned automotive aftermarket supply company—Arnold Oil Co. located in Austin, Texas—and knew nothing different until college.

“The running joke around here is that I was born and two days later they put me in a basket and stuck me under my mother's desk,” Arnold said. “I’ve basically been here ever since. As soon as my brother and I were old enough to walk and read numbers, we were doing inventories. It was a lot of fun. We would have races to see who could pull the parts the fastest and get back to the front counter.”

After getting a bit older, Arnold would work at the company every summer until college. Arnold’s father would place her in different departments. This was so that she could learn how the company operated as a whole.

“We actually got a visual of what every individual department went through,” Arnold said. “The aches and pains, and their daily process of what it takes to get the job done. Because—my dad and my family—we're big believers that it takes everybody from the top all the way down to make sure that the job gets done.”  

In 2000, Arnold attended the University of Texas at Austin. Three years later, she graduated and took a “brief sabbatical.”

“After college, I went to work for a bank just to prove to myself that I could do something different,” Arnold said. “When my grandfather got sick, I moved back to the company, and I've been here ever since. This is my life's blood. The people I work with are my friends, they're my family. They're everything, and this industry is phenomenal.”

Since moving back to Arnold Oil Co., Arnold has grown even more appreciative of the company and the automotive aftermarket.

A Family Business

The choice to continue to pursue Arnold Oil Co. as her career choice wasn’t just due to it being a family business. It was also due to the culture and people in the industry, and the importance of the work that Arnold Oil Co. does.

“The people in this industry are beyond amazing and necessary,” Arnold said. “It's something I’m passionate about. During COVID-19, we were considered essential. People sometimes overlook how important the motorist is, whether it’s driving your car to work or an 18-wheeler that is delivering groceries or taking medical supplies to a hospital, we do a lot.”

It is this passion for the automotive aftermarket that has helped Arnold Oil Co. flourish throughout the years. By recognizing the importance of those in the industry and within her company, Arnold helps her company thrive.

“The importance of the aftermarket community is something we remind our people of every day,” Arnold said. If it's not for that guy in the warehouse pulling the parts, they don't get on the truck, and they don't get to the customer. In the end, it takes everybody on a team to be successful. We're super big believers that there's no job that's more important than another.”

Growing up, Arnold’s dad recognized this and built relationships throughout the automotive industry. Later, that became a conduit for Arnold to develop AWDA and Automotive Parts Service Group relationships.

Community and Growth

From 2023 to 2025, Arnold was able to spread her philosophy on community to others by being the AWDA chair. As the AWDA chair, Arnold helped by assisting people in learning how to leverage technology and community in the aftermarket.

“I love the board,” Arnold said. “AWDA does a lot of great things. They’re trying to stay on top of the different changes and the different tools that are available to us in the aftermarket to make us better businesspeople.”

As AWDA chair, Arnold encouraged the community within the aftermarket. She strove to show others that the aftermarket is a team that should work together to improve the industry.

“It’s always been important to me that we lean on one another as a community,” Arnold said. “To make sure we're not overlooking something—whether that be a new line that’s coming up, something that's working for one of my colleagues that we haven't looked at before, or maybe it’s something that we're having an issue with. The relationships built in the industry are completely invaluable, and that's what I tell people all the time.”

As the world continues to chug forward, Arnold hopes to see the industry keep up with trends and advancements.

Moving With the Times

That commitment to inclusion and progress is only growing more critical as the industry faces an era of accelerated change. 

“In 2030, I would like to see the industry continue to grow,” Arnold said. “Life is moving at an exponential pace, and being able to adapt to those changes is imperative to sustain what we call the traditional aftermarket.”

By thinking outside of the box, Arnold believes that the aftermarket will be able to continue to stay on top of the industry’s needs.

“Reinventing ourselves is going to be really important going forward,” Arnold said. “Not being locked into, 'this is what we did in 1980,' is incredibly important. Leveraging technology and the tools that are at our fingertips. Understanding them and being open to change is going to be the biggest thing. We have all the tools in front of us to be successful. By embracing that and figuring out how to best leverage it the aftermarket will continue to advance.”