Owen Sanford
Owen Sanford has held numerous positions throughout her almost 10 years at Premier Parking, and it’s no surprise to anyone that knows her as to why she has moved up the ladder so quickly. Her versatile spirit and outgoing personality have allowed her to flourish in every role she has held at Premier Parking.
Owen’s journey at Premier started in 2012 when she was attending college at Middle Tennessee State University. In just three years, Owen went from a garage attendant to an account specialist to an account manager, all the way to Operations Manager. Her quick thinking, innovative decision making, and leadership style were just a few of the qualities that allowed her to move up the ladder as quickly as she did. In 2016, Owen was again promoted, but this time on a much larger scale. She earned the title of Nashville General Manger, becoming only the second person in the company’s history to hold this position.
As Nashville General Manager she oversaw approximately 160 parking assets throughout the city, along with a management team of over 20 employees. Owen’s unique insight into what her managers were facing on a daily basis, due to the fact she had been in their shoes only two years prior, set her up for continued success. After almost two years in the General Manager role, Owen had the opportunity to become Divisional Vice President of the region that included Nashville, Indianapolis, Louisville, Memphis, and St. Louis. Obtaining and maintaining client relationships was a large part of what she did, while still overseeing a team of managers who were geographically scattered throughout the south.
Although she was now in charge of a much larger territory, Owen rose to the occasion using her years of parking experience to handle every new challenge with grace. Her ability to roll with the punches and think outside the box made her the great employee and leader that Premier needed when the time came to change the landscape of parking forever.
When Premier partnered with L.A. parking technology company, Metropolis, in 2020, both teams knew that there needed to be an open and constant path of communication between the technology and the parking operations sides in order to be successful. Owen had shown time and time again throughout her time at Premier that she possessed the ability to be flexible, to be a great communicator and to understand the value of innovation, so it made sense for her to be named Premier’s first ever VP of Innovation and Technology. In this role she is responsible for the implementation, development, and analysis of client-facing, consumer-facing, and operations-focused technologies. She works to drive technological innovation throughout the organization, in order to facilitate growth for the company, as well as create strategic improvements and efficiencies for customers and clients alike.
As the first person to ever hold this role, Owen is constantly teaching and leading others to better understand how technology and innovation go hand in hand within the parking industry’s evolving landscape. With so much experience in such a short time, it comes at no shock that she received one of the parking industry’s highest honors, the National Parking Association’s 40 Under 40 award in 2017.
Owen earned her Certified Parking Professional credentials through the National Parking Association in December of 2015. She is a member of the National Parking Association, Women in Commercial Real Estate, and Women In Parking. Owen currently lives in Nashville with her husband and their three children. She is a dedicated mother, friend, and coworker and is constantly pushing those around her to greatness.
Name one thing that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on. The Rolling Stones are better than The Beatles.
Name your guilty pleasure. I LOVE PODCASTS.
Choice words of wisdom to live by? You have as many hours in the day as Beyoncé.