Going Out on a High Note

If Margaret Palango drew up the recipe for her ideal career, it would read like this: equal parts love of cars, passion for digital marketing, and affinity for small businesses. Blended together, the perfect job came in the form of a career at Autoshop Solutions for the past 20 years. From client management to website production to marketing to CEO, Palango sat in every chair in every department until she felt the perfect team was assembled. And now, she says, it’s time to go.

“When do you know it's time? When the team is in place and the business is strong, you’d like to go out on a high note, right?,” she asks rhetorically. “Well, the team is in place and the business is strong. Now is the time.”

In February, Palango officially drew the curtain on her time at Autoshop Solutions when she retired as CEO of the company she helped to build with the founder and her friend, Danny Sanchez.  

In for the Long Haul

The duo met by chance working on a redistricting project for their kids’ local school system. Sanchez, a former shop owner and coach, began building websites under the moniker Auto Web Solutions. Palango’s former digital marketing experience paired perfectly with his expertise right about the time that she was about to consider heading back to work after a seven-year hiatus to stay home with her kids, Hannah and Thomas.

"It was very organic and that's actually how the past 20 years have been,” Palango notes. “It's been very organic all along and the way it’s unfolded has been fun.”

The two went from owner/employee working from home to an award-winning company that needed an office by 2010, Palango recalls. And when the business exploded and needed a team of 10 by 2011, that’s when Palango began playing musical chairs.

“It was hard work, but so much fun,” she admits. “I got to do like every job in the company through all of that.”

And all the while growing with Autoshop Solutions, Palango kept her sights on her personal goals, making sure to check each box that meant something to her. Among her highest regarded are mentoring team members and working with Sanchez to become CEO—a path she outlined long before she attained it.

“Working with (Sanchez) was a real gift because he knew that to keep people and to keep the business going, you had to continue to evolve the business (by) growing people. He got all that management stuff right, which was a gift for me because then I got to work within that ecosystem and really grow the career I wanted to grow,” she explains. “So, in 2018, I really started taking on more things and my role was executive vice president. But we really started restructuring things to set the stage for me to step into that CEO role, and I did that in 2021.”

The Rise to the Top

With the company now under private equity and the watchful eyes of more than 50 employees, Palango has no doubt the website design and marketing firm will maintain a strong culture—one that was built one department at a time.

With a commitment to staying ahead of the competition, investing in client education, conducting business transparently, and implementing SEO “the right way,” Palango is confident that the Apex, North Carolina-based company “will continue to innovate and build a very strong culture.”

“The strong culture that we have is very appealing to our customers and everybody at our company knows it,” she points out. “So, there's a lot of commitment there to keeping the culture strong.”

As she passes the baton to Tony Mercury, vice president of operations, to become the top leader at Autoshop Solutions, she’s charting a path forward that includes continuing to mentor women in leadership, renovating her Cary, North Carolina townhouse, and indulging her love of cars by settling behind the wheel of one of three Porsches in her collection, which is an ode to one of her original loves—the car industry.

For those who worry they may not see Palango around the industry anymore, don’t worry, she may be headed to an auto repair shop near you.

“The aftermarket is really important because I don't have new cars. I don't go to dealerships and buy new cars. I buy old cars and then I get them fixed from private mom and pops, you know, the Euro shops,” she says with a laugh. “So, I'm feeding right into the industry.”

As for her connection to Autoshop Solutions, Palango hopes her imprint will leave an indelible mark in all the right places.

“I want to be remembered as a strong leader, a fair leader, a caring leader, a servant leader,” she stresses. “Really someone who led with integrity and cared tremendously about the team and cared tremendously about the customer. And the industry. Did I say the industry? I love this industry.”