There are a lot of positives that come from being a legacy company—an established consumer base, loyal workforce, and name recognition, to name a few. But 150-year-old automotive services company Valvoline had to revamp its business to stay competitive, which came with growing pains.
At Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit on Tuesday, Valvoline CEO Lori Flees discussed how she uprooted the leadership and structure of the business while holding onto tenured workers. More than 40 years ago, Valvoline started selling services to accompany its product offerings and help consumers maintain their vehicles. The offering was majorly successful, and became a part of the DNA of the legacy brand. But 18 months ago, the company decided to sell the product business to focus on retail services. This fundamentally changed Valvoline’s operations.
