How a 5-Minute Elevator Conversation Led to a Career at Mercedes-Benz | Amy Wang

Amy Wang spent over 20 years building a career she never planned.

She started premed at Michigan State University simply because she liked school — until she realized she couldn’t handle blood. Needing to graduate on time without extra loans, she switched to industrial-organizational psychology, not fully knowing what it was, just that it fit.

That uncertainty became a pattern. Not in a reckless way. In a way where the right things kept showing up when she stopped forcing them.

Eventually a friend told her Mercedes-Benz was hiring. She didn't have an HR title at the time. But she had the background, the instinct for building teams, and years of standing up shared services in IT and healthcare. She got the role. Then her boss left. And Amy became Head of HR for Mercedes-Benz North America, overseeing shared services across five countries.

We talked about:
→ How Amy went from premed to Head of HR at Mercedes-Benz through a series of unplanned turns
→ Why her best career moves were the ones that found her, not the ones she chased
→ What business owners get wrong about employee culture and why people need to feel like they're on the team

Sitting with Amy reminded me that the most interesting careers rarely follow a straight line. Sometimes the best thing you can do is stop gripping the wheel so hard and let the next thing come to you.

Amy, thank you for being so open about a career that didn't follow the script. The way you talked about helping people find their strengths and grow into what they're capable of, that energy came through the whole conversation. I'm excited to see what finds you next.

Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:03 Blood Draws, Plasma, and Why Amy Left Premed
4:08 Switching to Industrial Organizational Psychology
5:32 The Full Career Journey: From Insurance to Oldsmobile
7:01 Getting Stuck in an Elevator That Changed Everything
8:07 The Wrong Email That Led to Project Management
10:48 Building a Hospital as Employee Number Nine
12:30 How Mercedes-Benz Found Her
16:17 From Shared Services to Head of HR
18:25 Lessons for Entrepreneurs Building Their First Team
24:00 How to Find Someone's Superpower
28:21 Knowing When to Stop and Cut Your Losses
35:36 The One Thing Business Owners Need to Get Right About Culture
39:33 What's Next for Amy and Where to Find Her

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