Age: 39
Chief Financial Officer, Gustman Dealership Group
In August 2022, Abby Liebergen became only the third CFO of Gustman Dealership Group in the company’s 90-plus years in business. “They like to say they ‘Hire to Retire,’ which allows employees to truly build lifelong careers,” Liebergen says.
Prior to joining Gustman, Liebergen was a senior tax manager-Certified Public Accountant (CPA) — specializing in dealership tax and consulting — at Baker Tilly and then with Wipfli.
Liebergen, a UW Oshkosh graduate, grew up in Reedsville with entrepreneur parents who built their restoration and auto body business “over the last 40-plus years from the ground up,” she says. “For as long as I can remember they have exemplified what it means to work hard for what you want, learn from your mistakes and make sure to help others along the way.”
Best advice received: Leave things better than they were when you got there. Be intentional with your time and talents in order to make a positive difference. I try to remember this whether I am making financial decisions for a multi-franchise dealership group, volunteering at my children’s school or creating lesson plans for our youth religion classes.
Biggest fail: Early in my career, I was part of a team where an error was found on a significant project. It could have had a huge financial impact on the client. What I remember more than the error was the approach taken to remedy the situation. The Partner on the account made sure to involve all of us in the communications with the client to make sure we learned how to appropriately resolve a critical situation with professionalism and respect.
People are surprised to learn: I lived in Peru for a month during college, studying at the Universidad del Pacifico. I was able to return my senior year with a group presentation on the coffee bean industry and improvement recommendations.
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