Kraft puts her mark on family business while continuing to uphold her father's values

Theresa Catterson Kraft (photo courtesy of Indianapolis Star)

By Emily Hambidge
Journalism senior

Theresa Catterson Kraft recalls she and her sister riding to work with their father as young girls. Tom Catterson was the owner of Eastgate Chrysler in Indianapolis, and he wanted to show his daughters the ropes.

The girls spent many days helping their father in his office. Sometimes they would make copies or file papers, and other days they would watch him work. As they grew older, they would help clean the vehicles and keep the dealership lot neat.

He told them it was the family business and he hoped that they would one day get involved. Kraft rolled her eyes at the idea, wishing, at the time, to go into any business but the car business.

Fast forward 30 years. After trying her hand with many non-profit organizations, Kraft is now the co-owner of Eastgate Chrysler in Indianapolis and the owner of Westgate Chrysler in Plainfield.

Kraft, a 1987 graduate of the Department of Communication, went from wanting nothing to do with the car business to making it an instrumental part of her everyday life. After her father died in 1998, he left the business to Kraft and her sister.

In 2001, Kraft acquired Westgate Chrysler. Since then she has been featured in the Indianapolis Business Journal's "Forty under 40" top business leaders and received recognition for her work from The Indianapolis Star.

Kraft, who said she does not know how to respond to attention from the media, thinks she is simply doing her best to uphold the values her father taught her. She said she now knows that all those days spent with her father at work were not only his way of showing her his business, but also how he showed his daughter the importance of maintaining a good work ethic and a solid relationship with those that he employed.

As she drives around Indianapolis every day, Kraft said it is easy to feel overwhelmed by where she is now, but she tries not to let it rule her life. She spends her time running between the two dealerships, does a large amount of work in her car and raises her 6-year-old daughter, Kathryn, with her husband Dan.

"It's a demanding job," she said. "But it's fun and I love the challenges of hiring the right people, working with corporate executives and making deals."

Kraft also uses her position to help others and give back to her community as much as possible.

Both car dealerships make generous contributions to local charities such as St. Mary's Child Center in the name of their customers. Kraft said she does this because charitable endeavors are important to her, and it is something her father would be proud of.

"Dad used to send poinsettias to his customers around the holidays, but I wanted to do something that had a more lasting impact," she said.

Kraft said she got the idea from projects she had done previously when she was working in the field of public relations. Her work in PR was of great assistance to her when she got involved in the car dealerships. She said, among other things, it allows her to communicate well with her employees.

She said communication is an essential part of her job and something she learned at Purdue.

"If you can't communicate, you can't get anywhere," she said.

Kraft said that being able to understand people is what allows her businesses to function. It allows people in every position to work with one another.

"I work with fun and creative people, and I want them to feel like part of a team," she said. "We share ideas with one another. Watching their success is neat because it helps me measure my own success."

Kraft said that were it not for her Purdue education, she would not be where she is now. She said Purdue taught her to think and opened her mind to new experiences.

Additionally, she said that Purdue's reputation has helped her in business. She said it adds credibility to her name and impresses people that she works with.

Her advice to young graduates is to "work as hard as you possibly can, listen and absorb everything you can, and have fun."

She also added that it is important to find a job that you want to get up each day and go to. "Do what you love and love what you do," she said.

Kraft said she hopes to continue in the tradition of her father. She would like to open another store, and her long-term goal is to set up a private foundation in her family's name that would give money to organizations in the community through grants.