((PKG)) WOMEN AUTOMOTIVE MECHANICS

((TRT: 06:40))
((Topic Banner: Women Automotive Mechanics))
((Reporter: Faiza Elmasry))

((Camera/Editor: June Soh))

((Map: Chantilly, Virginia; Gainesville, Virginia))
((Main characters: 2 female; 0 male))
((Sub characters: 0 female; 0 male))

((NATS))

((Dana Greenstreet
Automotive Mechanic))
My name is Dana Greenstreet. I am an automotive mechanic. I've been doing this for about 10 years now. I have two kids. I'm engaged.

((NATS))

((Dana Greenstreet
Automotive Mechanic))
I’m checking to see if I see any coolant leaks at the moment. My pressure is going down, but I don't see any leaks. I guess when I start, when I get tickets like this that are leak checks, I get curious because you can't see them all the time immediately. And it’s, can always be different as to what failed this time. So, it's a bit of a different puzzle every time that you're trying to solve.

((NATS))
((Dana Greenstreet
Automotive Mechanic))

I started with Virginia Tire in 2014. So, I've got on and off, but this has been my home base.
((NATS: Julie Holmes with employees))
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
I think it matters to have a good work environment. It's something…yeah, yeah. Do you feel any difference?

((Employee))
Oh, yeah.

((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
Virginia Tire & Auto was founded in 1976 by my parents, but here we are in 2023 and I like to call us a 46-year-old startup. I have so many memories of growing up in this business with my parents running it. We have…are operating about 17 stores throughout Virginia, auto repair. So, we fix everything under the hood, do tires and really handle all aspects of car care.
((NATS: Julie Holmes with Dana Greenstreet and other employees))
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
So, I want to introduce you all to Dana. She is one of our star technicians at Gainesville. She's the real deal. And what's really cool is that she also teaches as one of the lab teachers at NOVA [Northern Virginia Community College] in auto tech program in the evenings. And…
((Employee))
That’s cool.
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
It's cool. I love your story.
((Dana Greenstreet
Automotive Mechanic))
Which part?
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
The part where someone in your family told you, you couldn't do this.
((Dana Greenstreet
Automotive Mechanic))
Everybody told me I couldn't. Everybody told me that women didn't belong in a job, that I couldn't do it, that girls can’t be mechanics. I said, “Okay, let's see. I want to do it.” And here I am. ((NATS))
((Dana Greenstreet
Automotive Mechanic))
I was first interested in cars when I was a little girl. I would start to help my dad out and changed the oils in the cars and things like that. Then when I was about 25 [years old], I moved back to Northern Virginia so that I could go to college, so that I could become an automotive mechanic, so that I could learn to work on cars, so that I could learn to rebuild an engine if I wanted to or a transmission if I wanted to.
((Dana Greenstreet
Automotive Mechanic))
When I came here, I think initially, probably people were kind of apprehensive. Is she going to last? Is she going to be able to do her job? Is there going to be a whole bunch of problems? And we all just kind of meshed together really well. They're used to me now. They don't have anything, really. They won't say anything to me that they won't say to one of the other guys.
((NATS: Dana Greenstreet))
Okay.
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
Our industry of auto repair is dominated by about 95 percent of the workforce is male.
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
And I've come into this, I have the benefit of being an attorney in my former life and being really exposed to a lot of different careers and companies. And I really noticed this is an anomaly. And it's something that I've seen as an opportunity to change. And it's really, I think it's been over the years, is being influenced by being a mom. I have four daughters, five children, and four of them daughters. And I've really seen that there's so many opportunities and there's so much that could lie ahead to them, if only the door is open to them. And I've noticed just through, not consciously but unconsciously, doors have been closed to women in this industry.
((NATS))
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
It's a tough industry. It's been a dirty industry. The equipment has been challenging to use. In the past, there was a lot of physicality with the machinery. It was not conducive for someone unless they were a certain size or had a certain level of strength. But so much of that has changed. So, it’s really comes down to a mind game. And I know women are just as capable as men.
((NATS))
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
It's a STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics] job and career. There's a ton of mathematics involved, doing calculations and conversions, and you really need to have an engineering mindset in order to be able to visualize and figure out all the parts and how to fit it all together.
((NATS))
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
Women have all the skill set to be experts in the auto repair industry. There's really two sides of the business. There's the front of house, interacting with customers and management, and there is also the back of house, which is actually repairing the vehicles.
((NATS))
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
I really do believe if you want to see change, you have to help make that change. And so, we have created a scholarship for women in auto care to train, help, encourage, give another avenue for women who might want to come into our industry.
((NATS: Julie Holmes))
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
So, we have a $2,500 per semester scholarship and where we would love to see more applicants to it. So, if you know of any girls in high school who might be interested in pursuing some sort of auto tech program, send them our way, and we’d love to talk to them.
((NATS: Julie Holmes))

((Courtesy: Julie Holmes))
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
At whatever you're doing, work hard on it, getting these skills because they open up so many avenues for you.
((End Courtesy))
((Julie Holmes
Co-CEO, Virginia Tire & Auto))
I really almost see it like a tidal wave starting to happen in terms of getting the opportunities to speak with girls who might be interested in a career in the auto repair industry. You can talk to them and motivate them and encourage them to, maybe, step out of their comfort zone and try an industry like ours and really tell them the opportunities. Because there aren't as many women in it, there's real opportunities. You can really make a mark here. I feel like there's been a great reception and excitement.
((NATS))
((Dana Greenstreet
Automotive Mechanic))
Always learning. There's not a day that goes by that I don't see something new that I haven't seen. We're going from internal combustion engines to a lot of electric vehicles now and that is a huge major, major change in the way everything works. There is always that opportunity, and there is always that chance for you to prove yourself, and there is always a reason to go try if you're interested. Just go try.
((NATS))