Overcoming Gender Bias in Auto Repair with Lynn Kittie

I think it's okay to be sexy and smart, but at the same time, she's not just a mechanic, she's a content creator, you know? So, I mean, I think that everybody. I just wish people would be able to separate those two ideas in their heads, you know, like, view these people as content creators, view women in the shop as technicians.

So how was this right out of high school when you started to work for your uncle?

It was about two years after high school. Yeah. So 19, 2020? I think about 20. Yep.

So was he mostly focused on, like, farms going to or not?

No, no, I was working with horses. That was my passion. He was a complete city boy and just working on trucks, and he said, you know, it's close ish. So why don't you just come give it a try? Yeah. It was a complete different world for me, that's for sure. Going from the country into the city.

Get back to, like, a job that was kind of related, where you got to see more?

No, no, I just decided to keep my horses at home.

So then you never really did get back to a kind of a farm kind of job then? You just kind of. Because I didn't get to know you until you started working at Hino here in Kingston. But what's. What's the story leading up to Hino?

Basically, I worked for Penske. After my first job, I worked at a couple locations for them, and then it was time to buy my house. So my fiance and I were house shopping, and we were looking for a property that was within two different Penske locations. And that's how we moved out here to Kingston. I did end up leaving Penske. I had a couple of issues there. Hopefully you guys can blurb out the company name just so I don't get sued. But, yeah, I did have a lot of issues with that company, and I was with them for, I want to say, five years.

And it was.

They were holding you back or issues they weren't, like, uncertain.

Oh, boy. A couple issues, I would say. I was definitely held back for sure. I wasn't registered properly on time as a technician, so that meant that I missed a year of schooling, which held me back. I was held back financially. I had a wage gap of about $4 between other technicians that were hired after me with less experience in me. So that took about a year of fighting with the company to get the correct wage, and I was paid retroactively for that. Oh, boy.

Yeah, just lots of issues like that.

Do you think that was. So let me ask you a couple questions. Were you the only girl working at these shops at the time, or lady, I should say yes.

Yep.

And a factor.

I don't want to say it. 100% played a factor. It's hard for me to say what they were thinking. I do find it kind of peculiar that it was only happening to me. You know, I do think that's odd, but who knows? It could have just been a thing where maybe they liked those other technicians more, you know, that example is not an example that I would say. It was a clear gender wage gap that I experienced. Actually, I did experience a clear gender wage gap that was with a shift premium. So when I went to the third location that I worked at, which is closer to here, there was actually another female technician there.

We both worked an afternoon shift, so you're supposed to receive an afternoon shift premium. Any of the guys on our shift were receiving $2.50, and me and the other female were only receiving $1.50, and we were on the exact same shift. So that one, to me, was a little more abundantly clear. And just the fact that the other issues that, you know, existed with that manager, he did end up getting investigated and let go.

So we don't have the best reputation. Right. So outside of the gender issues and everything like that, they're not known to be one of the top employers in my local area, from what I've heard now, you know. You know, my background is kind of in the truck shop. Thing is, you know, I didn't work at Hino. I worked with Tristan, you know, our good friend, your coworker at another shop before he went to work for Hino. And that's kind of how you and I connected, right? Is through. Is through that friendship, and it's so you could kind of understand where I come from when I talk about all the things that I tell my story a lot, and I.

And I talk about the things in this industry that I'm trying to improve or shine light on or, you know, pull the shadows back away from, if you want to use that analogy, right, to show that it's. There's a lot of people that are still doing people wrong, and it's not always that we. We get infatuated with this, like, you know, the customer thing, like the customers are being. You know, this industry loves to talk about how the customers are being wronged, and that is happening way entirely too much. But my thing is, like, I want to talk about how the technicians sometimes are within the same businesses when the same management ideals are being treated unfairly. So that's kind of where I wanted to reach out to you because with your, with your Facebook group and you're obvious, you know, female, it's a completely different perspective, right. That I can't, I can't understand and I can't appreciate because it's like if I've ever been held back, it's been held back because they just didn't think I could do the job. Right.

From a standpoint of timing or experience, you have another completely layer to that that I have never had to deal with. And I can't even imagine how frustrating that must have been. Right?

Yeah, it was definitely frustrating. Right? I mean, I know for me, like, I've been put in a lot of bad situations. For example, the one boss who ended up getting fired, he brought in a unit that was parked outside. It wasn't supposed to go back into service, and he purposely made me do a lot of really hard, heavy jobs on it to try to make me quit. And I know that for a fact because I was told that by another technician. So, you know, it's just stuff like that. Another thing that we deal with. Like, I bet when you're in a shop and a customer comes in, you don't have that thought in your head.

Like, oh, no, here we go. It's time for the same conversation. So that does distract me from my work because every time a new customer comes in, oh, look, it's a girl. Oh, I'm going to go talk to her. And then, of course, we're in a position, too, where, you know, same with you. You're representing the company, so you have to be respectful no matter what the customer is saying to you. So a lot of the times, you know, it's, oh, are you an apprentice? You know, like, oh, why would you do this? Isn't it too heavy for you? You know, you just kind of get sick hearing the same things again and again. So, like, yeah, so just every time a new customer's in the shop, like, you have that little thought in your head, you know, like, ding.

Like, oh, are they coming over here, you guys? You know, you have to be more aware, which is definitely a different experience. Pictures. Oh, sorry.

I could go on forever because a lot of people, I don't think, realize when you work in the trucking industry, a lot of the time it's, it could be just you and the customer. Not so much the automotive, you know, I do I talk to customers? Yes. Have I talked to millions? Sure. But not in the level of way you get sent out on a service call, it's just you and the truck driver. Right. Or the owner of the truck or whoever is driving the truck. Even if they come into the shop, a lot of the time they drive the truck in, you start to talk to them immediately about, what is a truck here for? What are they experiencing? Yada, yada, yada. I forget that I don't have to do as much of that as I used to.

Right. And then you bring another wrinkle into it. Because, let's be real, a lot of truck drivers have a very stereotypical ideal about who's going to be working on the truck. And it sometimes it's not even. I want to say this, it's probably not even intended. Sometimes it's just you're a rarity. You know what I mean?

Yeah, absolutely. And that's a good point to bring up. I am not saying I do not think that a lot of this conversation comes from a place of malice, but it is definitely an added layer of something that we have to, you know, address and deal with. You know, it's just again and again and again.

So you talked about, like, somebody's actually taking your picture, working on the vehicle.

Oh, yeah. Pictures, pictures, yeah. So I had a gentleman. He was always really friendly, but a little bit too friendly, you know, asking the same questions. Oh, you're a girl. How long have you been doing this? Oh, wow. You know, just like I've never seen a girl doing it. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Kind of following me around, which is something we get a lot, too. Just, you know, circling, circling. It's like they don't get as bored with us as they do with you guys. You know, they want to just tell you their problem and then have you fix it, whereas they want to keep talking. Right. And of course, we're going to be friendly because we have to represent the company. But, yeah. So that gentleman, first time, friendly, nice, got him all fixed up, sent him on his way.

Then he came back to our shop about, I want to say, two weeks later for a re torque on his truck. Now, you have to remember, I worked for a fleet where I had access to all of the units history. So I can see if you had your tires changed. So unfortunately, he just wanted me to do a re torque on his truck, which, you know, I was like, okay, you need a retork, I'll do your retork. But then he started taking pictures of me doing the retork and actually got to the point where he came up and was taking pictures of my face, like, right in my face. So, you know, uncomfy. Not a good time. Sure.

Because it's like. And that's never happened to me, you know, I mean, if I've had a customer that's kind of been too. Too friendly with the personal space of why they're in my space, it's probably because it's a trust thing, right? They don't trust. They think I'm going to rip them off. They think I'm going to break something. They think I'm going to, you know, spray some oil on something that's not leaking so I can sell them a repair. In the trucking industry, that's not so much that they necessarily think that they're normally there because they legitimately have something broker that legitimately needs something done, but they still get right up all in your business. Right? And I'm lucky because I'm a big dude and I'm very forthcoming.

It's like, okay, this is going to take a lot longer if you're following me around, asking me 100 questions to get it done, and I'm not going to teach you. So you need to go sit in the truck while I work on it, or go sit, find some coffee, get picked up, go somewhere, just get out of my immediate area, because it's. It starts to really put me in a. In a. Not a good spot. Like, I don't appreciate it. It goes to a lot of different core values, which is, like, I don't come behind when I go to the bank. I don't come behind the desk and.

Sit down, watch the teller.

I don't do that. Right. It's disrespectful. So I'd never been good in this industry with people coming up and doing it to any technician, female or male. That being said, none of them have ever taken my picture ever. I'd lose my ever flipping mind. Right.

Yeah. I mean, we have to. Here's the other thing, too. Right? So as a female in this trade, you're trying to help promote women in the industry. So the way that I respond has to be extremely cautious and appropriate. I cannot be catty or rude or aggressive in any manner, because if I do, it's immediately, she's a bitch. You know, women are bitches. They shouldn't be here.

They shouldn't be in the shop. So it can be, you know, a lot of responsibility for us. And it's. That's. That's why I created the group, honestly, so that we have a place to safely talk about these things. And vent about these things without feeling like, you know, we're gonna get, like, verbally attacked by someone for having these opinions and. Yeah.

For the people are only listening and haven't seen the video. Lynn's a rather attractive, you know, young lady, blonde hair. You know me, I'm ugly. So, you know, people that are. People that are coming up to follow me around, they're. Cause they're. They're genuinely, like, suspicious. I've never had to be the eye of, you know, the object of somebody's perversion, which, you know, I'm thankful for.

That you know, of.

That I know of, yeah, that I know of. So when. When he's taken photos of you, how did you handle that?

I kind of just froze up. Honestly, I froze, and I took a second to react, you know, I was like. And then I said, you know what? Can you please not do that? It's making me uncomfortable. At that point, he started backpedaling. Oh, it's cool you're here. I just want to show my friends. I'm just showing my buddies I talked about you, and they think it's cool. They've never seen a female mechanic, so I just want to share the image.

And you know what? Maybe there is some truth to that. It's not up to me to determine that he had bad intentions, but it is still inappropriate, and it makes us uncomfortable. And if you want to Google what a female mechanic looks like, go on Google. You can see an image. Share that image.

You know, it affects the efficiency of the job being done at the end.

Oh, absolutely. Right. That's a problem.

You talked as well. Our other friend Taylor, who works with you or did used to work with you, you went on a service call with Taylor.

Yeah.

And how did that go?

So it was a service call for a truck that wouldn't start. And, you know, I show up, Taylor shows up immediately, we're both standing there, and the driver just straight down to Taylor, speaking to Taylor, not speaking to me, speaking to Taylor, speaking to. And I've gone through this so many times that it's just like, go ahead, Taylor. Have fun.

You know, you're the senior mechanic, not Taylor.

Yeah. Taylor was apprenticing under us. So.

So it's you that's been dispatched to actually go fix the truck and Taylor to be there as this, like a. A student role, an assistant role. Right. An apprentice role. And yet you immediately pull in, get out of the truck, and it's. It's just assumed that Taylor. And you're following Taylor around, you know, yes. Yeah.

Yeah.

That'd be frustrating.

It is. But you just. You get used to it, right? You grow a thick skin. I don't think it's personal. I don't think, you know, they meant. Mean to do that. It's just that these stereotypes exist, and that's why we need to break them, because you just assume, you know, like, oh, it's a guy. He's obviously the mechanic.

Yeah.

You know, I really hope that we can fix all those stereotypes.

Yeah. You get some joy, though, when you actually kind of show that you are competent and you can diagnose the truck, get the truck going, you know, like this. I mean, because I know, for me, that's part of the addiction of why I keep doing this is just because of the being able to solve the problem, learn something. But do you have an extra. Does it add an extra wrinkle to you when you're able to say, hey, bud, look at that. Right? Like, middle finger up to you. I actually. I'm the one here with the brain solving this, you know?

Yeah. I mean, it. Not in every situation, but it feels that way when I know that someone has had resistance to me working on their unit. And, you know, I know that I've maintained professionalism. I've been kind the entire time. I've communicated effectively the entire time, and I resolved your problem, and I hope that I changed your opinion on what a female mechanic is. That's the part for me that feels good. It's not the whole, like, screw you, I can do it.

It's, you know, what if I help change your opinion today and you're going to move forward in life thinking that women can do these things, like, that's the success for me.

Yeah. Yeah. Do you find, like, I talked to some of the women I've worked with in the past in the trade. Cause I've worked with a couple of female technicians now. It's not been in the heavy mode of the heavy truck side of things. So, I mean, it's not to say that, but, like, some of the stuff is heavy. Are. You found some pretty good ways to kind of work around that.

Right. Like, you're not the type where, you know, Tristan and Taylor are always like, oh, she's forever having to get me to lift this on or that on. Right, like. Cause you're the same size as Tristan. Right? Like, Tristan's a little guy, you know? Uh, Taylor's not a big guy either. So do you just. You. You figured out some ways to still get it done, right?

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So, you know, we have, like, first of all, in our trade, the truck and coach side. You shouldn't be lifting heavy things. You are going to hurt your back. I don't care if you're a man. You're a strong man. You're a young, buff dude.

Use your brain, not your back. There are special lifting tools. So, for example, for lifting drums, I have a drum dolly. It's quick, flips down, picks up the drum, goes right on. Awesome. Quick, easy. You know, I have a tire tool, so I don't have to sit there and awkwardly bend my back and bend my arm and try to use my toe to balance the tire. You know, I just take my tool and bloop.

Slide it right on. Yeah. So. And then when there are heavy things, if I need a hand lifting them, I'm going to get a hand lifting them, you know? But these are things that you shouldn't be lifting by yourself anyways. And I don't understand why guys keep hurting themselves and complain. My back hurts, and it's like, why are you lifting that by yourself? You know? That's like, 150 pounds. What are you thinking?

Oh, and listen, I never worked at a place that had a drum dolly yet. You know what I mean? Not all my years, because I bounced back and forth. I never had a drum dolly. So, I mean, I've done hundreds of them like that, where you're all stooped over, jammed up underneath a fender, the most awkward, risky lifting position you could possibly, and slide one off. Right. And I learned a lot from working with Tristan because, like, he weighs half of what I weigh, literally. So it's like, you know, the way he could get the job done without that size that I have. I was like, I learned a lot from him.

Like, he is. He's. He's such a funny guy because he's so. He's so much smarter than, you know, we even, I think, clue into. Right. And then, you know, he'll. He doesn't message me much anymore, but he'll message me once in a while on something. I'm like, I forget that he's, like.

Works in a completely different realm than I do. You know what I mean? So, like, that. That motorhome, right? Like, he's just. He's talking to me over the phone. It's like, it's doing this, this and this, and I'm like, oh, yeah. Like, I pretty much had that just about diagnosed over the phone. Just kind of come down, and it's like, okay, let's come down and show him, uh, you know a better way to go about that? Let's teach a kind of a lesson while I was down there, because the shop I was at, there was nothing going on. I was dead.

Right. So do you find that your, your business is giving you enough training?

I do. Where I'm working now, training at my location is basically, if you have spare time and the shop is tidied already, go ahead and do it. You know, they encourage you to do all the training. So I've completed my Cummins training through them for the b six seven and the l nine s. The CM 202-45-0235 I'd have to check, but I've completed my Cummins training. I'm in autocar master tech. What else have I done? Quite a few things. And, you know, it's just.

Yeah, through them, they offer a lot of training. Anything that you can do, if you find the time to do it, do it.

Yeah.

Which is awesome.

It's good advice. Right. Because that's, you know, ultimately, you want to be able to move into where you don't have to do a lot of the heavy lifting in any male or female in this industry. Right. We want to develop our brains before we want to develop our backs, you know, because it's, it's. That's the trick to playing long ball and longevity in this industry, it's able to develop that, you know, problem solving, troubleshooting, you know, side of it so that you can save yourself. That's. That's key.

How many, how many people are working at Hino with you now?

I've got to count. I think there's six of us in total. Six texts. Yeah, six or seven.

Know off the top of your head, how many. How many other female techs are working in our local area?

I'm going to say 1.5 because I just saw a new one. She's an apprentice. I was so excited. I think I creeped her out. I was like, join my group. Just like a psycho. But, yeah. So she's in it for sure.

There was one across the road from us, but I heard that she left and went back to, like, a commercial type job, so not a lot.

Yeah. What's the advice that you give any young person or young female when they come in?

Listen, be patient. Be patient with the people that are teaching you, because they're going to have these presumptions about what your skill set is, and you're going to have to slowly show them that it's beyond what they think your limitations are. So be patient with them because what they've been, you know, taught in life is different from reality for the most part. And also to have patience with yourself. That's the most important thing. I used to really beat myself up. You know, you need to know this. Why don't you know this? You're not getting this fast enough.

No, it's okay. Like, you don't have to be held to a higher standard to prove yourself because you're a female. It's okay for you to be just as stupid as buddy down the road who's, you know, he's a first year apprentice and he blew an engine up. But that's okay for you to be that dumb when you're starting, you know, like, just don't, don't hold yourself to such high standards, I think is the most important thing.

Yeah.

And ask lots of questions.

Yeah, that's key. Right. You and I kind of talked about that. Like, you thought early on you were overcompensating.

Absolutely.

And I think a lot of young people in this industry try to do that. If they really, and I look at it like this, it's, it's, I see the overcompensation thing is, like, at least a good attitude because, like, they're putting pressure to take it serious. You know, I'd rather have somebody that's, like, overcompensating than not interested because non interested means that, like, at some point we're just wasting our time here. But, you know, you, you had to ramp it up consistently because you felt like, I'm being judged twice for being young and for being female. Do you, did you ever run into a situation? Because I've heard employees or employers say this, I'm never going to have a female in the shop because of her distraction.

I personally haven't heard that with my own ears, but I have definitely seen examples of that happening with, with the text. You know, I'm the first shop I worked at whenever any female would come. See, here's the thing. I'm probably not helping the case here, but, I mean, it is true that the guys do get distracted by women and it happens, but maybe once they see enough of us, they'll get over it. But, you know, any, any lady who walked out onto the shop floor, even if it was the, the auto body guy's wife, the whole shop would stop and stare, you know, like, oh, wow, look. So, I mean, it does happen, but eventually the guys are going to get over it. The girl is going to become one of the guys. You won't even look at her differently after a certain point, you know, it grows old.

Right. People get bored. So to the, to the shop owners that are thinking that way, just try it, see how it goes. If it's horrible, work on it, you know, but at least try it.

Yeah, I think, I think there's probably some really talented people that we've pushed out of the industry, you know, young ladies because of that. It's such a, sometimes an obstacle, I think, to get in there. Right. A young lady I worked with years ago, now, she kind of played it up in the sense that, and we're talking 20 years ago, she kind of played it up in the sense that, you know, like, she was a bit flirtatious and everything else, and that that was fine. She was, she was single and that was her. Her. Right. But I mean, how many, I wonder, have we really good tech talent, have we run out because we didn't even give them a chance? Or we saw it as the least little bit like they're just horseplay with, you know, their co workers, and all of a sudden, that person is the, is the problem.

Right. Which we know in all shop dynamics, there's always somebody that's always horsing around, goofing around, is kind of, you know, the class clown. And yet we've always excused them if they've been talented or can turn, you know, turn some hours, produce some work. I feel like the women, we've always just immediately was like, send them down the road, you know, it's only going to get worse from here. And I think you're right in the sense that it's like, yeah, they're going to get used to the fact and, you know, Lynn's just going to be one of the guys, and that's the way it's going to be.

Well, that's the thing, right? If the guys are allowed to be, like, weird and goofy, then the girls should be able to do the same thing. You know? I don't, I don't think it's fair that just because we're girls, we have to be held to a higher standard. You know, if it's a shop, it's still a shop, you know, and that the ladies working in the shop have to understand that, too. It's a different environment. It's not a corporate environment. You know, you really have to have a sense of what you're getting into. But, you know, if, if they can dish it, they can also take it.

Mm hmm. Yeah. And that, and that's important, too, because, I mean, it's you know, people sometimes make that all millennials versus boomers and all that kind of stuff. I don't think that's the case of what's going on in the shop anymore. I think it's just a standardized or a non standardized thing of. It's like, some people don't know how to cut up. They don't know how to, you know, just like you said, sometimes you're gonna get it, and sometimes you're gonna be able to give it out, and it's just. It's a circle.

It's supposed to go like that. Yeah, but, you know, you and I kind of talked last when we couldn't get the audio working about some of the, like, the traditional female representation in this industry. Right. And how I kind of talked about how I. It's not that I shy away from it, but, you know, we talk about, like, the snap on counters from the 1980s, right. There was a girl in a bikini holding an air ratchet. You knew that she'd never worked on a car in her life. There's a lot of content creators, female mechanics out there that are pretty skilled, but they're like, you heard me say it.

Sometimes there's still a little bit of cheesecake involved in what it is they're selling. How do you think that. That. Because you made an issue point, you're like, well, they shouldn't have to abandon feminism or their feminine side to get their point across. And can you kind of delve into that for me? Because it's something that I've thought about.

Mm hmm. I mean, I think that, as a woman, you should be able to express your feminism. You should be able to wear makeup and have your hair done nicely. I mean, safely, obviously. But I think that you should be able to still be a woman at work and not feel like you have to dress yourself down and not be who you are. When it comes to the women using the trades to make money, it's a tough position for me because, you know, on one hand, I'm like, good for you. You're hustling. Go get that money.

But at the same time, I do feel like it can be damaging to, you know, some women because you're. This is how the majority of owners and other technicians are seeing women act like this in these outfits in the professional work setting, and they have a certain viewpoint on that, and they're reading certain comments that are over sexualizing this woman. Then it kind of can create a situation where, like, oh, well, this is. It's okay online. So I can act this way in real life to these women. And that's where I see an issue with it. It's tough for me though, because I'm like, you know what? Go. Go get your money.

Go hustle. But at the same time, I do see the issues that stem from it.

Yeah. It's almost the, the double standards flipped, right? Because if I, I get in at a belly shirt and start to film an episode, you're getting a whole lot of people that would turn it off. Right?

Like, I would watch it. I think that's hilarious, but.

Hilarious, yes. Like Chris Farley and Patrick Swayze in that old famous skit. Hilarious. Nobody should take it serious, right? Whereas when we, when we see, when I see some of the content creators and it's like, okay, obviously you really don't dress like that when you're fixing that truck, right? Like it's just you'd be, you'd be gravel from like in places you're not supposed to have. But it makes for a lot of clicks online, right. It gets you some traffic. That's kind of the thing with me is that it's like I'm trying to take this industry to a place where we're all respected at a such a higher level, right. And it's, I wish sometimes those people could just get by on their smarts and they're putting out there and not have to be like, okay, well, I'm going to endorse this product, but I got to have, you know, you know, I got to have my belly hanging out, right? Or I got to have like low rise jeans on or something like that.

Like it's, I wish we all, you know, and this is coming from some places. Us men have never had to worry about that. You know, there's never been, we've never been plastered on a calendar, you know, to sell a product. Right?

Yeah.

And God, the industry got to a place where now that's not the norm, you know, you never see it anymore. I can remember seeing it. I grew up in it. My dad had those calendars all over, you know, I'm glad that we've moved away from that. But I, it's hard for me even to judge when I see a female that's a content creator and it may be in the industry if I, that's immediately the first image I see of them like you and I talked about this is I immediately in my brain, I put them in a different category, you know what I mean? Of less legit. I'm working on trying not to do that?

Yeah, see, that's the hard part for me, is, like, because some of the most, like, there's one lady I know, and she's such a great technician, and she's so intelligent, but she does have, you know, pictures like that. And I don't think that it's hard for me because I think she should be allowed to be sexy and, you know, be smart, too. I think it's okay to be sexy and smart, but at the same time, she's not just a mechanic, she's a content creator.

Yeah.

You know, so, I mean, I think that everybody, I just wish people would be able to separate those two ideas in their heads. You know, like, view these people as content creators, view women in the shop as technicians. Yeah, different. You know, we're not gonna say these things and, like, ogle these women in the shop the same way that we're gonna google someone who has said, hey, I'm doing this. Pay me. This is exactly, I want you to look at this. You know, that's my problem is. Yeah, yeah.

Because it's, it's tricky.

It's a hundred percent tricky.

I'll never have to face it, ever. You know what I mean? It's, it's, I'm fortunate that way. And I don't know how. I don't know how we get past that because it's like some of the ladies that I've seen are super talented. Super talented. There's no question about that. They are. There's none.

You can tell there's, some of them are fantastic fabricators. They understand exactly what's going on. They can do diag, they can do troubleshooting, they can do an engine overhaul, rebuild a tranny. But I always feel like when we bring the feminism femininity into, back into the, to the mix, I think immediately half the audience just turns out, yeah. You know, and it's just there for the eye candy. And you know what? I'm not so sure that that's just, I want to say that might be just human nature and not have much at all to do with our industry versus another industry. I just think it's the way we're programmed, you know? It sucks. It's too bad, because the, the people that are in your group, like, do they have worse stories than yours or similar stories to that?

To being content creators or just existing as a female in the trade?

Existing as a female in the trade.

Oh, do I have a few for you? Yeah, I've got a couple stories that I'd like to share. I'm going to keep things anonymous.

Yeah. Important for sure.

Yeah. But I just. The reason I'm sharing situations like this and I want to share things like this is because I want all of your male audience members to see that. I know that just because you're not doing it yourself as a technician, you're not acting this way towards women, it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist and that these problems don't exist. And even if you're not contributing to the problem, it's still all of our jobs to help work towards fixing the problem. Right? So, yeah, so here's a really good example from one of our members. This one's pretty tough to hear. So someone is thinking about filing a sexual harassment complaint at their workplace.

She's been in the trades for seven years and her manager pulled her into his office and told her that she was overheard screwing her co worker in one of the first few weeks of her employment there. So the district manager got involved and. Yeah, she basically says her life is now an absolute hell and she might lose her mind if she can't figure out how to handle this. So that's a good example there of just simply existing and someone creating a problem involving you.

So from that little takeaway, can we assume that this is completely made up? Like, she wasn't involved in such a.

Yeah, so the reason I would assume that is because why would you go out and air your dirty laundry in public if this wasn't something that, you know, if you did something wrong, you're not going to go to the Internet and be like, hey, look what I did, you know, help me. So I. And unfortunately, this seems to be a common thing too. Like not this specific example, but people making accusations. A lot of the times women will have accusations from wife's of other technicians, which is crazy. Just getting messages from Facebook, hey, you know, you're getting too close to my husband, you're making me uncomfortable. What are you doing with him? So unfortunately, it just happens. Yeah, like here's another great example.

This past week I was informed by my service manager that the real reason they hired me here was because, quote, you were hot and we were tired of having fat, ugly girls work here, end quote. Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah. So just imagine simply trying to exist. And then this is just like, meh, right? It's crazy.

We went and got, we went down to planet fitness and we hired the most buff dude that we could find to change oil because we're tired of having a bunch of bearded fat guys working on cars.

Right. Can you imagine?

Like, I'd be like, oh, my God, how offensive. But, I mean, it's. It would never happen in a million years, right? We would never even think about that. We wouldn't care.

Yeah.

But to think it's like, we're going to hire an attractive one this time because we're tired.

Yeah. Yeah. Which is, like, so stereotypical, too, you know? Like, what? It shouldn't. It shouldn't matter how anyone looks, you know, or dresses. It shouldn't. It shouldn't. Nothing. None of that matters.

Their religion doesn't matter. Their race doesn't matter. You know, their. Their politics don't matter unless they're spewing them at work or any of that. You know, keep your stuff to yourself. What matters is that you have the intelligence and skill and willingness to do the job and do the job right. And, you know, that you're one of those people that just works hard. That's what matters.

I've never, in any other cases that I've ever worked with a female tech. The last thing that they ever came to work for was looking for a date or looking to meet somebody. Like, you know, I mean, they've never seemed like that was priority number one. Priority number one always seemed to be just like, get a paycheck, get the work done, the same as all of the rest of us.

Yeah.

The idea that's, like, they come in there and it's like, oh, they're. They're trying to. You know, I never understood that. I never witnessed it myself. And I've been doing this quite a while now, so maybe other men will chime in and go, oh, no, man, I had one, and that was literally like, they were there. I'm not saying that, you know, there aren't people out there that. That get into it. Traditionally, other gender dominated to be a novelty.

I'm not trying to say that because we know that that's human nature. It can happen.

Yep.

But I've never worked with one. Like, they just wanted to do the job and, you know, go home the same as collect a paycheck, try to be. Try to learn what we did, try to get the, you know, all the advantages that come with the job. That's all. I never saw them as, like, I'm gonna be here because I'll have the pick out of 20 guys in a dealership. I never would, you know, and it's.

Funny that you say that, because, like, throughout all of my youth, like, not my. Not my youth, but, you know, middle school and high school and after that, I wore makeup every single day of my life. I have never felt uncomfortable wearing makeup until I worked in a shop and was looked at like, oh, you're trying so hard. You know, like, just, it became more comfortable for me to not wear makeup and to be, like, less stared at, you know, by drivers and everything. Right. And the comments like, oh, why are you wearing makeup? Who are you trying to impress? And it's funny because for me, not wearing makeup is more uncomfortable. So I have to be more uncomfortable at work to feel somewhat comfortable.

That's a great point.

Right? It's just odd. It's odd. It's super odd. And we're not trying to impress you. It just makes me feel better because I'm getting older and I have wrinkles and I want to hide my bags and, you know, it just makes me feel good. It has nothing to do with any of you guys.

It's, you know, but you're not, you're not putting it on to go out on a date. Yeah, no, treat it like that. That day at work is going to be a date. You're not trying to get somebody's attention. It's just how you comfortable. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's so, yeah, yeah. Just, there's so many things I can't relate to because I've never had to go through it, Lynn.

It's crazy about it. Um, what is the resounding the females that you interact with? Is there a lot of resilience, or is there a lot of, like, a really kind of, I wish I hadn't done this or I hadn't got. What's the general.

It's sad actually being, being in this group because you see a lot of really talented women getting to a point where they are so mentally exhausted that they are crying out for help and for, like, someone to, you know, help guide them through the things that they're going through and they're considering leaving the trade. And, you know, there's people I've been in. I've been in here for ten years. I've been in the trade for ten years, and I just can't do it anymore. You know, I cannot keep doing this. So, honestly, I'd say it's 50 50. You have the people that are like, just keep pushing through. You got this.

You know, every post is, I'm really happy with how things went today, or, you know, I'm struggling and I want to leave this industry. Yeah, it's really unfortunate. It's unfortunate the, the amount of, like, not just verbal harassment, but physical harassment that I read about in my group would like, horrify people, you know, if you. Yeah, it's not great, does it?

I mean, it must, two things. It must make you thankful that you, as much as what you've already talked about, what you've gone through, you know, there's people in way worse. Right. So it makes probably, I want to think it makes you somewhat thankful for your situation. What do you like, how, what's the other than to tell them to, you know, put your head down and keep grinding? What else? What else can we tell them? What else can we show them? Because, I mean, you and I can't just snap our fingers and say the problem is going to go away. Right?

Yeah. I mean, the most important thing is to keep your wits about you, but stand your ground. Make sure you make your boundaries absolutely clear. You know, what you're saying to me is inappropriate. This is why it's inappropriate. It's making me uncomfortable. What you did to me was inappropriate. Don't do it again.

You know, that's it. You know, and maintain neutrality. Do not be super aggressive because that just agitates people more. Right. So the first thing I always recommend is that you try speaking to the other person to see if that changes anything. If it doesn't, HR is there for a reason. Usually they're there to protect the company, but by having someone, you know who is harassing you, harassing a female technician in a mostly male dominated trade, they're going to want to deal with that because that's going to negatively affect their company. So HR will can help you in situations like that.

I have personally been in situations where it's, you know, not gone well, but that's their role. After that, I would say move on. If you aren't getting a resolution personally through HR, through your direct manager supervisor, get out of there. I spent way too long with a company that didn't appreciate what I was willing to offer. It took me, what, eight years to find a company where I'm truly happy at. I never thought that I'd wake up, enjoy going to work, you know, and not want to leave work. And it took that long. But I can tell you that a lot of people just can't hold on for that long, you know, and that's why you see women coming in and women going out, because they just can't deal with the crap for, you know, like for me, eight years.

Luckily, I'm tough. I grew up with brothers and, you know, I have a lot of sass. And I'll give it right back to you. But as women, we're taught from. Well, a lot of women are taught, you know, be quiet, know your place. You know, like, this is just like the society is, you know, women should be respectful, quiet, listen, don't cause arguments. Whereas, you know, you get a lot of really boisterous men who don't care what they say, and they just. I don't know.

So we're just taught to be different, and we. The way we internalize things, it's very different from men, too. Right. So, yeah, it's tough.

Do you find ever that they're trying to steer you into an admin job versus staying on as a tech, then?

Me personally? No, I haven't. I do know that a lot of people in the group will start off in, like, a service advisor position, but they want to be a mechanic, so they'll start in a position like that. And these mechanic positions, apprenticeship positions, will open up and they will apply for them. Yet instead of internally hiring within their own company, they're pulling someone from the outside instead of offering that position to, you know, the person who wants to have it that's already working for the company.

I had a former manager that was actually a technician. Now, she'd gone through as motorcycle tech. Right. Small engines, motorcycle power sports. Not. Not. Not completely uninformed at all, and had worked. Actually, she'd worked over at Volvo and Mac, right next door to you guys, as.

But she hadn't worked as a tech. She always ended up being pushed towards, you know, a admin role. Right. Now, when you're into power sports and stuff like that, you know, obviously, there's less jobs to pick from, right. So I don't think it's. I don't know. I never. I didn't get the chance to work with her as a tech to say she wasn't.

She certainly. She knew her stuff. She was not ignorant about how any of this stuff worked. So I don't know whether she was put there because of her gender or she was put there because, like, there wasn't just a whole lot of jobs for her. And so she wound up as a service advisor, wound up as a parts manager, and she wound up as a. As a manager of a shop, all not terrible jobs. So I can't say that she was pushed to that. But, I mean, we see, when you talk about young people leaving the industry, we have such a problem right now with young people leaving the industry, male or female, right.

That we have to get ahead of this. I want to say this sometimes shop culture problem that it has, which is not even always just about the gender, it's just about the way some shop culture can be and, and fix that because the young people that are coming in are, they're not prepared for in school. Uh, some of us, like, you know, you grew up with brothers, so you're kind of used to being able to like, fit in. You know, fit in is not the right word, but you, you kind of know how to, how the chemistry goes, how the interactions can go.

Yeah.

Um, we have a lot of people that don't grow up in that now, so they get into this environment like the one young person I have working with me. You can tell I, you know, that he's not used to six other guys, you know, cutting up all day long. He's not, it's not that he's uncomfortable, he's just, it's a different thing. Right. How do you think we fix that? Like, you know, do we go back to high school and kind of sit them down and say, okay, this is.

The real world, or more apprenticeship opportunities in high school? That's the only, you know, you're gonna have to experience it to really understand what it's like. You can't, you can't teach that in school. You know, you can't say, oh, you're gonna go out there and people are gonna make goofy jokes back and forth at each other. Like, you can't, you know, they just really need the opportunity to get out there and try it and give that opportunity to enough people because, you know, there might just be one position available and, you know, there should be like at least ten.

What's, what's been the hardest non gender issue that you've run into in this industry?

Hmm.

Right.

It kind of probably myself. I know that sounds really silly, but just my, I am a perfectionist and I like to know things and I like to solve things very fast. So I think being tough on myself was the hardest thing. Um, physically, I'd say tires were tough. Took me a long time to get used to that. Um, yeah, just really the pressure I put on myself. That's it. I, you know, um, and electrical schematics.

That one's tough, right. That takes quite a bit to learn. Even now, I'm like, I gotta look up what that symbol means, you know, still happens.

Let me, let me give you some tips on that. Forget about the symbols. Don't even think about like that. And then you're not the only person to say that they struggle with it, right. I can't. There's little things that I can teach people, and I've kind of talked to you about, you know, different learning resources and stuff that. That are out there for people that want to learn, and there's little tricks that you can do. Break it down to something simple.

I was just on a training course a few months ago, and the best course ever been on. He's like, where they screw up teaching you guys electrical and troubleshooting is the fact that they teach you serious parallel circuits. And he says you've got to remember, 99.9% of the time, what you're just dealing with is a series circuit. Just a simple wire in and a wire out. That's it. That's all you're trying to do, whether it's a starter or a fuel pump, don't you know? But this is where we all get messed up, is we all get messed up on the idea of a serious parallel and the math and all that kind of jazz. He says, when you start to understand what's truly going on in current flow potential load, start thinking of it like that. You just work at it one wire at a time, right? Where the schematics thing is like, yeah, they can be really, especially from the trucking side of it, because half the time, they're wrong.

They're not accurate.

Oh, boy.

Everything on the page that you don't need to see, right?

Yep.

That's not even when I would look at it. I'm like, this is so stupid. It's got taillight wiring in the same page as the engine harness. Like, just get that off the page. My brain starts to get over cluttered and overstimulated, and then I just.

Or when you have four diagrams open at once, you have your ground circuit diagram, your power circuit diagram, all of these open plug. Plus, you know, you have to find your connector views in a different, entirely different manual. So that part can be. Trying to piece together all of the different pieces is, like, quite overwhelming, but it's.

I tell everybody, go to the component that you're trying to qualify or condemn and just work on that component. You know what I mean? When it's somebody's like, it's. Well, it's a whole series situation, you know, a whole system. Okay? Start within a component, the easiest one to get out within that system, and then start to flesh it out. And then it becomes like. It will show you the path to take. I think a lot of young people struggle with that because whereas me, like, I struggled sometimes with the. If I took something apart, like, on Monday, and then it sat there apart.

Parts didn't come in till Friday. I was a mess. Trying to remember how to put that back together. Like, I am a mess. I have to take photos.

I take photos all the time. Yep.

Like, if you handed me a wire diagram, it was like, okay, cool. Because the beauty of that is, is, like, it never changes. I can come back to it on Friday, and it's the same as it was on Monday. And not only that, if everyone out in the parking lot is the same, you know what I mean? For that particular situation. So it never. That didn't stress me at all. It was like, how do I remember where this bolt goes? Like, that was the part that I struggled with.

Yeah. For me, the parts. Parts changing was easy. It's the jobs where you have to diagnose and come up with your own troubleshooting guides. Those are the hard jobs. You know, you have this weird issue. There's no codes. What am I going to do now? You know, it's.

That's the tough part. It's not the, oh, I have a code I can follow. Step 12345. It's the whole, like, okay, I got to figure out, do I know exactly how the system works? Do I have all the information that I need? And if you don't, then you're just going in blind. So that's the hardest part for me.

And you reached out to me about that anal. With that parasitic drain. Like, the battery was going dead. And, I mean, in that situation, I have no idea. Like, I have no service information or nothing, and I'm just giving you back. We'll just stick to the fundamentals. I wasn't a ton of help, but it's just like, think about your fundamentals.

And that's something that I find I do, and a lot of people do, actually. You jump to getting overly technical, and it must be something super insane and hard. And usually it's just something really basic. Just calm. Calm down, you know, take a step back. And all it was is I just put a battery terminal on the wrong side.

Yeah.

You know, but it's. It became a whole thing because I just overwhelmed and.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And whatever the truck might have been in there before you fixed, and then you create a problem.

Created a problem.

Yeah. So I learned very early on to always go back to the last place that hands were.

Yep.

That's what I. You know, and it's. It served me before I ever worked in a dealership, when I worked at the truck shop, way back in, like, before y two kids, you know, I learned that because somebody taught it to me. And then even when I would work in the dealership, we were always, like, looking at the history and going, okay, somebody just did an engine in this, and now it doesn't charge. I'm going there first, you know, can it be the alternator? Just decide crap out? Sure. But more than likely, it's a product of what we did. Yeah, that's tough. As soon as you can teach somebody that kind of.

A little bit of that critical thinking there. There's no. There's no stopping the potential of what can be there. You just have to approach it. And it's. That's the hardest thing for me still, is to stay calm. I. I live by that clock.

Right? We all do. It's like, oh, customers waiting. Yeah. Like, you know, it's even worse for you guys because the customers, like, asleep in the bunk and they told on the next day, right. Or he's like, standing there watching you, like, thank God. It's like most of time, the customer, the closest they are to me is the waiting room. And then if it's like something stupid, it's like, okay, send them home, you know? Yeah. I don't miss those days when he was, like, in the bunk asleep while you're working on the truck trying to figure out what was wrong.

I never liked that.

That was. Yeah, it's just uncomfortable. Right? Because you can't speak freely either. You know, I think all you shop owners there put your drivers in the waiting room because your technicians can't discuss things with each other. And it's okay to ask stupid questions and get verbal confirmation. Hey, I think this. You on board? Yes. You know, sometimes you need that, and it just helps the flow of things.

You can't have someone hovering over you. It just adds so much stress and anxiety to diagnosing something.

We have a customers, a lot of time come in and tell you already what they want done to fix the truck. As if they're the expert.

Yes. It does not always go well. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.

Yeah. It's a different dilemma, right. Because we forget sometimes we're comparing trucking to cars. That person sits in that seat like 8 hours, 12 hours a day. They know that thing at a level that most people that drive their minivan up and down the road never get to. That level of knowing what's normal. But at the same time, you know, just because it was that what it was last year, you know, a hundred thousand kilometers ago doesn't mean it's that again. You know, just because it's leaking coolant again.

Last year, you needed a water pump. You think you come in, I want another water pump. Guess what. A water pump. Now, it's a head gasket, or it's a. It's an oil cooler or something like that. You get that a lot, and then, you know, what's your. So, like, are you predominantly Hino, or are you working on a lot of.

Just about everything. Now, at the shop that comes in.

We work on everything. Everything? Yeah, medium duty trucks, heavy duty trucks, like, everything. Trailers, anything you can, except for cars. We don't work on small cars. We work on pickups, and we actually have worked on small cars. We just don't frequently work on small cars, but we literally work on everything.

Justin will get a gas burning pickup sometimes, and he'll still call me up, and I'm like, well, what's it doing? I'm like, normally, I can just be like. Because I get so much more exposure. It's not that I'm smarter than him. It's just exposure. Right?

Yeah, I don't.

So I would never say, hey, Tristan, like, you know, I need help with a hino down here. Like, because if it was one was to roll up, I would probably just say, now we don't have the software to. To really integrate that. Let's go down to there. But he'll, you know, he'll message me once in a while about, oh, I got a Ford that's doing this. And, like, most of the time when you talk to him, it's like. It's what? It's got how many kilometers on it? Yeah, no, it's gonna be bad. Just get rid of it.

But, you know.

Yeah, that doesn't happen. We want him to keep going forever and ever.

We had one of that. Few months ago, we had a Ford truck that was like, well, do you remember when you. When you and I first met, you had an old Ford, and you were telling me it had, like, timing codes or something in it, or was it chain rattle, phaser rattle or something?

I can't remember. Was that the one with the distributor? Distributor. And I was like, what the hell is going on here? I think that's what it was, wasn't it?

The Ford you had bought? And then you told me you hadn't.

Had it very long, and, oh, the five four Triton. Yes. Yes, I sold that.

The distributor one talked to me about that, and then I don't know if I ever talked to what ended up being that the distributor wasn't being turned or it needed a distributor.

I can't remember. I think we replaced the whole thing. I can't remember, honestly. That was. Yeah, probably four years ago. I think three years ago.

That that rv was fun. That was kind of cool. I like that RV because I didn't like that RV.

That RV made me physically sick.

Well, that was great, because I wish I could have been there when the guy picked it up.

Yeah.

Seeing the look on his face, like, I'm sure it had never run that good for him in the whole time that he. He'd driven it. And for the backstory on this, guys, is this was an rv with a Chevy big block in it that had literally the parts cannon been fired at it. And the owner of the RV was from Quebec, kind of a bit of a do it yourself or nothing. So it had all kinds of parts changed on it and ended up being that it had blown out an intake, gaskets, and a fuel pump that was only putting out, like, 15 pounds of pressure when it should have been putting out, like, 45. And the thing that was tripping everybody up is it would still start and run, but it just run terrible. And our first test that we did over the phone was just like, you know, see if there's vacuum in the. In the.

In the intake. And sure enough, yeah, there was a blown out gasket. And then when it was like, so we got that done, and then when we fired up, it still ran terrible. And it's like, okay, well, let's, like, check fuel pressure. And everybody's like, you didn't check fuel pressure from the beginning. No, I was doing it over the phone, and so when we went down there, it had, like, 15 psi, and then it's just a quick volt drop tech to the fuel pump and go, okay, it needs a pump. So that thing had limped across the country, essentially, alyn, with, like, blown out intake and a crap fuel pump. And the guy was just like.

He put injectors in it. He'd done all the tune up parts. It had, like, a throttle body. It had everything but the fuel pump, because nobody likes to do a fuel pump in rv. They're terrible. And all the good stuff that was easy to get to had already been changed with parts that we didn't even know the original, like, what they were. Like, where he got them from, because, you know, aftermarket parts now, Lynn, are great, aren't they, you guys?

Oh, yeah. Lovely auto, man.

Yeah. Do you have customers that bring you parts a lot?

Not frequently. We do have a couple that do. Sometimes they can get them cheaper sometimes, right?

Yeah. How do you feel about if you go down that, you know, you put it on, it doesn't work? What's the.

Well, that's the frustrating part. Right. You know, I mean, it is what it is. If we put it on and it doesn't work, well, unfortunately, you're gonna have to pay us to put on the right part. Nothing we can do about that. You know, we always try to help out, though. And if the customer needs to save money and, you know, that's what they need to do, then that's what we let them do, you know.

Now, before we start recording, you told me you've got a dream job. Yeah, let's hear about that. And then why? To me it makes no sense, but I want to hear it.

So my dream job is an enforcement position with the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario. It's an MTO officer. It's always been a dream job for me. So I really enjoy doing inspections and safety inspections. It's like playing I spy, but with real life defects. So for me, it's something that I would do really well in, you know, and like, I'm very knowledgeable in what passes and fails and where. What's actually going to be dangerous. And I like people and I find I get along with people and I just.

Yeah, I think I would really enjoy that job.

I see. I have no inkling to want to go because I would just like, I couldn't even imagine some of the. The insults that would get hurled at me when I start to and the arguments would ensue when it's like, I'm.

So used to that, though.

Yeah, right.

Meh.

Yeah. I'm not. Because it's like as soon as somebody starts to even argue, oh, well, it doesn't, you know, you can pass that with that crack in the windshield, some other person can pass it if they want to, this guy pass it and then it becomes whole thing of, why are you not going to pass that? Because I don't need to.

I've never been like that ever. And I told my boss, who was fabulous, who I work with now, that I will never pass something if it doesn't pass. Here is the book. The book is the book. You know, I don't make the law. I'm sorry if that's inconvenient for you, but I'm not going to risk my license to sign something that's unsafe. There's a reason it's in that book. Right.

So. And anytime a customer has had an issue with it, we just show them. Like, here it is. Here's the manufacturer specs, you know, and this is what this can. Cause. This is why it's in here. And we'll work with you on getting the repairs done, you know, any way that we have to. But, yeah, so I've always been like that.

I'll never sign anything that's unsafe.

What steps have you taken towards getting this dream job happening?

Filling out applications. That's pretty well, it. Just filling out applications. I'm licensed. Licensed technician. Pretty well. That's it. That's all I've done.

I'm sure I could go to college to take an additional course, but I like your job.

Have you met instructors?

I have, yeah. Yeah. They're pretty good guys. Locally?

Yeah, yeah, we've had a. We've had them always. At my former place of employment, they were in like, once a year, and they looked over our whole bus fleet. Right. Because obviously, when it's a bus fleet, it's an even higher level of what they want to look at. Right. Versus just somebody with a truck and trailer going down the road. They're.

They're of advanced age, the ones that we had. Right. So. And then they always seem to be. I can't remember his name. He had a. It seems like, I want to say he was, like, mentoring. Always a younger one with him.

And it was going over and they liked our shop because, like, we're equipped with, you know, four corner lifts so we could lift buses and they could walk right underneath and, you know, they didn't have to be rolling around. I think that's mostly why they would use that as a training opportunity is because it was easy. You. I think if you're going to find that as a career, you might have to move away from here because I don't know if any are locally stable.

There is the. I don't. I don't think anyone's hiring now. Like, any positions are hiring now, but there is a position again in Aqua.

Oh, okay.

Right. Like, I wouldn't move for it. You know, this was my dream job before I found a workplace that I'm actually happy in. Right. So, you know, I'm not actively searching to be in that role, not like I used to be.

Yeah.

So.

Well, that's hats off, you know, locally then, that they've made you feel that that's pretty cool, you know, because the few times that I've been down there and kind of interact with them. They seem like a great bunch. Yeah. You know, very easy to get along with, very laid back, very understanding about what it is that, you know, is actually involved in being a tech. You know, we've all, I've worked for people that had zero clue about, and that's frustrating. That can be really frustrating because you're trying. If they just don't understand, they've never done the job, they're not going to get it, you know, about how things can happen and, you know, like, I can remember watching, I was over there the one time Chris Tristan had a broken bowl. They're just so, you know.

Yeah, they kind of expected that would happen. And, you know, we told the cut, we forewarned the customer and, you know, he knows he's paying for it and blah, blah. Such a foreign concept. And a lot of these shops still that I work in, it's like there was nothing you could do to prevent it from breaking. Like, oh, my God, what am I going to do now? Well, what we're not going to do is we're not going to panic.

Yes.

And then we're going to make a call and, you know, get that customer prepared for the fact that this, this is going to cost.

That's where good management comes in. Right? Like these people, these people in management and service, if the unit is old and we're in Canada, we're in the rust belt, you know, if the unit is old, you need to give forewarning, hey, this is a possibility and it's a good possibility and we will do our best, but this is a possibility. So you should have backup arrangement, like plans, make another. Make other arrangements. You know, just beware, this can happen. And also, managers should really accept that this is going to happen. You can't go to the technician and say, oh, well, why'd you break that? That's not going to go well. The technician didn't intentionally break it.

They don't want to spend their time drilling something out. It's not a good time for anyone. Right. But, yeah, that concept of, oh, why'd you do that? It's so old school and backwards, and I'm so happy I don't have to deal with that anymore.

When, when you're talking and networking with, on your group, do you find a lot of the people are, they don't understand what it's like to do, you know, a technician's role up here, especially field service in Canada in the wintertime, like, do they just kind of. I know, because I've talked to other people that, like, in the groups and whatnot. For all my years of network, and they can't even believe some of the stuff that we. We run into. And you've been called out in the middle of a blizzard to do what? And it's like, yeah, it happens every day. You know, Tristan's got even more stories than all of us. Like, Tristan's, you know, he's the service call guy. He is this.

Not by choice, I don't think, but.

Just because he's good at it, fantastic at it. But do you find. You just can't. They don't understand. Right.

You know what? We don't really talk about that. I'm going to be honest with you. We don't really talk. Nope, not really. We talk about the jobs, but, yeah, mostly we just help each other diagnose things.

Okay.

In our group, it's not really complaining. Something sucks. It's. If something sucks, it's just to provide, like, help. Oh, we'll help you figure out how to fix this. But, yeah, no one's really. Surprisingly. I have seen it in a lot of other groups, so.

Surprise of the amount of rust that we have.

Is there. Is there a lot? So would you say that your group is more automotive based jobs versus heavy truck, or is it.

I'd say we're mostly automotive, actually. Automotive, then. I'd say we're truck and coach, then small engines, heavy duty, and we actually have some bicycle mechanics.

Okay.

But, yeah, mostly automotive, I think. Just because there's so many more positions. Right.

Strong canadian contingent or not so much?

Not really, actually. I think I can view a lot of people from England, a lot of people from the States. There's some Canadians.

Yeah.

But, yeah. From all over the world, though. Like, absolutely everywhere. I wonder if there's a way I can view the map.

And so it's. It's a group only for women?

Yes.

Yeah, yeah.

Any kind. Any kind of woman, though. We're a friendly, inclusive group.

Well, that's. Yeah, I mean, we won't go any further into that subject. Um, do you, um. What's the name of the group again for people that are. Might be people that listen to my. To this. If they want to go join, how do they find.

So on Facebook? We're female mechanics society. Society. I can't speak English now, and that's just for the ladies. But if you do want to, you know, keep an eye out for what we're doing in the industry, you can also follow us on Instagram. Same thing. Female mechanics society.

Awesome.

Yeah. Where we share our members and talk about their skills and how they got into the industry.

Yeah, that's a fascinating thing for me. And, you know, I kind of reached it to you because I know you. Right. We've been friends for a little while, so, I mean, but it's a situation of. I want to hear from a lot more females in the industry. Right. I want to showcase them in a positive way, to say, hey, they're not the unicorn. They're not such a rarity.

I mean, they're. They're the minority of percentages. But, you know, I want to celebrate the fact that it is, you know, it's not a. It's a much more inclusive occupation than it used to be.

Absolutely. Yeah.

When they're struggling with, with diagnostics and stuff, you know, people, it's the running joke in here. Reach out to Paul Danner, scanner Danner online. Paul's been, you know, he was a college teacher, phenomenal technician. So Paul has brought through a ton of female technicians. I'm sure lots of people in the group already aware of Paul and scanner Danner. If they're not, go find them. Like I said, you know, I told you about him years ago, there's so much, so much of us, so many of us in the industry owe everything that we've learned to Paul, teaching us how to learn. So if you're struggling, you know, what I'm trying to say is the females, it's a very reach out in other groups.

Yes, absolutely. That's really important. You do not have to rely on your immediate people in front of you. YouTube, what you're saying. Scanner dinner on YouTube. If you look up the original manufacturers, a lot of them have training videos. You know, there's so many resources. If your company is not allowing you to train or giving you that opportunity, you can do it yourself.

You know, you don't need that and.

Reach out because, I mean, yes, there's always going to be some dicks in every crowd. Unfortunately. I want to say that it's probably just the industry the way it is and it's getting better, but I've honestly, from the time that I've now been over ten years of doing this, I'm seeing it a lot more inclusive and it's a lot more accepting. So don't feel like you can't come into a group that's just not for female technicians and. And ask some questions. You're not going to immediately get, you know, hit with the sexist, you know, remarks. You're going to get some genuinely good help. And, you know, at the end of the day, most of us, all we want to do is make the industry better.

It's not trying to divide or keep you out. We don't want it to be the old boys club anymore. We just want to see all technicians, male or female, get treated better, paid better, you know, not have to put up with the crap that you had to put up with because, I mean, you know, it's, there's lots of, I'm sure, text, you know, male techs that have had to put up with crap that they shouldn't have had to put up with. You know, it's just we don't necessarily even talk about it, you know, in the, in the same regard. And it, it doesn't happen to the level. I'm not trying to say, oh, you know, it can't be so hard for you guys because I'll say it again, I can't even fathom somebody trying to take my picture while I'm trying to fix a car. I can't even imagine.

There's so many examples of it that I could go on forever, you know, I could just keep pulling, like the guy who put his chair right in front of my truck. You know, I just, I. At some point, you just kind of, they're just all in a pile. I don't think about them and I just move on.

Well, I mean, I've loved this and this is something that, you know, we will do again because it's, you know, I think there's a lot to offer, you know, I think you have a lot to offer. And please, you know, if you've got friends in your shoes that want to share more insight and perspective, please reach out to me, you know, message me right away, get a hold of me, because we, like I said, we want to celebrate all technicians, you know, and if we want to. If we can make it where the workplace starts to become a little bit easier for everybody to navigate through having conversations like this, we'll have these conversations till my last day because that's ultimately what it's about, you know, I don't want people to come in and get trampled under, you know, the last thing we want to see is, like you say, you know, a young lady's been doing it seven, eight years and she's just gonna give up and leave. We don't. We need to stop that from happening. You know, there's. I'm trying to do everything I can on the management side of things to make it better so that they're not driven out because it's just the way we treat all mechanics. But if I can, you know, with your help and more input, make it so that it's more welcoming to everybody, then, then that's gonna be, you know, a huge goal of ours is to try and do that because there's just no reason for it to continue.

There's such a shortage right now of technicians that we would take male or female alien, you know.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we need, we need all the help we can get. Yeah.

Do the job. We don't care. We really don't. You know, I think it's been too long that everybody thought, you know, women in the trade are going to be a distraction or women in the trade are going to be like, not really a whole technician because they're not going to be able to lift something or they're not. I work with lots of men that struggle to lift stuff, you know, so do I.

Well, yeah, yeah, and older men too, right? Think of the older generation of male mechanics. Well, not you. I'm talking older. Add 20 years to your back, you know, you're gonna need help lifting too, right?

If I lift my tires on for me, I'll do it all day long. You know, my shoulders don't, they don't care. They lift it, you know, it doesn't. I did my time. It's, it's, you know, I. I was young and stupid, like, you know, you talked about, why are you lifting? Because I can.

Exactly, right, yeah, yeah.

Now I, now I wish I hadn't. So anyway, on that note, thank you for coming on here.

You're welcome. Thank you for having me.

Oh, I was looking forward to this. So, I mean, and you will be back at some point. Always keep me in the loop of what things are developing and what's happening. You know, people in your group, if you want to reach out to me, a, to be a guest or b, if I can help you in some way, set you up with somebody that looking for jobs. Promotive is a company that we've come on board with that's going, that is a recruitment company for technicians filling spots with companies. If you need help with that. Anybody listening to this, get a hold of me. We'll do our best to try and get top notch people with top notch employers where you're not going to face the nonsense that you faced.

If there's any employers that are listening to this that feel as though, you know, it's a safe, comfortable place to take on a female apprentice, it'd be nice if you guys could reach out. You know, we do post about certain workplaces in our group, so if there's anyone that's hiring and, you know, is a safe place, I would love to know so I can share that information.

Hey, if you could do me a favor real quick and, like, comment on and share this episode, I'd really appreciate it. And please, most importantly, set the podcast to automatically download every Tuesday morning. As always, I'd like to thank our amazing guests for their perspectives and expertise, and I hope that you'll please join us again next week on this journey of change. Thank you to my partners in the ASA group and to the change in the industry podcast. Remember what I always say, in this industry, you get what you pay for work. Here's hoping everyone finds their missing ten millimeter. And we'll see you all again next time.

Overcoming Gender Bias in Auto Repair with Lynn Kittie

Master Tech

Chevrolet Volt

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