Female Mechanics, What We Have In Common.
As a child I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up; a Law Enforcement Officer and a Mechanic. How did I know that? When I was very young I loved to play with tools, not your traditional toys. I also was one to follow the rules and keep order.
In the first grade a police officer came to our class to talk about his job and how to stay safe in our area. I knew right then and there, I wanted to be a police officer. I stayed true and focused to both professions all my life. It wasn’t until recently, after being offered my own radio show, that I discovered (while interviewing many of the women in the Automotive Industry), that many of them had similar interests, wanting to be a mechanic and having a passion for law. Why is that?
To be truthful, I really have no idea. One woman who was one of my first guests on Teresa’s Garage radio show went to school to be a lawyer, but found herself switching majors and attended University Technical School instead.
As my list of guests grew, I began to see similarities. This had me really puzzled. Another guest also wanted to be a Police Officer, but changed her major.
How does one go from wanting to help protect the world, to help fix it mechanically? Then the other similarity we share is all of us are between 5’1” to 5’4”, mostly with dark hair, and somewhat of a slim build.
Now this has me intrigued as to why. When I asked the other women why they chose Mechanics over Law, most stated that they found out it not only suited them well, but they were also very good at it. On my recent show, I met a lady who was a police dispatcher who became a business owner, and opened up a mobile mechanical repair company with her husband, who was also in Law Enforcement. What are the odds?
Teresa connected with Bogi Lateiner
I recently had the opportunity to meet Bogi Letiener, business owner of 180 Degrees Automotive, and a member of the All Girls Garage TV show, hosted by the Velocity Channel. She too went to College with a major in Pre-Law, and later turned to Master Mechanic, business owner and educator.
Each lady had a unique reason for changing professions and heading into the Automotive Repair world. As for me, I had both passions from the get go and stayed true no matter what the challenge I encountered. And I must say, there were many.
I was leading the pack along with other females at the time since we were blazing the trail for women to be accepted as mechanics. It is much easier today for young women to enroll into these technical schools, because when I was starting out, they were not in existence, nor were women welcomed with open arms. A lot has changed over the years, and I believe, in a positive direction.
When asked by other women and men, why I wanted to be a mechanic, my answer is, why not? So, reach for your dreams and stay true to yourself. You may never get another chance.
