Podcast: Aaron Shaffer: Hard Work Matters, but So Does the Team Around You
The Standard Motor Products marketing leader and 2026 Aftermarket All-Star on the boss who pushed him, why relocating made him better, and why he’s bullish on the future.
Key Highlights
- A demanding managing director moved Aaron Shaffer from sales to customer service manager to marketing manager by his mid-20s. The pressure, Shaffer says, made him “much, much stronger.”
- Shaffer has relocated for work five times and calls moving far away “the best thing you can do for yourself” early in a career.
- Smaller turbocharged engines, gasoline direct injection, and cylinder deactivation mean more parts on today’s vehicles, and more parts that will eventually fail. That’s why Shaffer sees a “really, really strong” future for the aftermarket.
- Even if every new vehicle sold starting in 2023 were electric, Shaffer estimates two-thirds of cars on the road would still have gas engines in 2030, because the fleet turns over so slowly.
- Tom Brady’s career holds two leadership lessons, Shaffer says: Outwork everyone, and recognize that the team around you matters more than most people think.
