Show mmonlillonnolOMIPOUnnommil Some female auto-repa- ir 3 specialists are opening their own garages and succeeding in what has been a fiekl male-dominat- ed ANY OF US HAVE HAD AN experience like Bill Green's I took it to two other garages and they gave up" he told me one morning at the Woraen's Auto Clinic in Newport News Va "Then I brought it here and they figured out the problem: There was a hose that hadn't been connected properly at the factory Now it runs perfectly" Green had the look of rare satisfaction that you find on the face of a car owner who has found a good mechanic Most of the people I met at the Women's Auto Clinic looked the same way This garage is a rarity in the United States According to the US Department of Labor only 5000 out of 854000 auto mechanics are women Only a handful of garages like this one are owned and operated by women That declared Janet Brown—who founded the Women's Auto Clinic two years ago—is about to change "There are going to be a thousand women's garages across the country soon" said Brown 57 a former welder police officer and upholsterer Although that prediction is a long way from coming true the garage business may indeed be changing "I've been successful since day one" said Margie Seals 40 who founded My Favorite Mechsnic a garage in Atlanta a year and a half ago The dozen or so mechanics with whom I spoke both men and women pointed out that today's high-tec- h d engines can be as taxing on the brain as on the biceps "Cars are moving away from brawn" said Seals "Nowadays you hook an engine up to a computer you replace an electronic part that weighs less than a pound I don't understand why there aren't more women in this field" For most women just getting into this business has been a greater challenge than the work itself Janet Brown and her husband had run an upholstery shop together but when he chose early retirement she decided to try a new field "When I started out I was considered a joke" she told me 'People would call up and ask 'Are you working in bikinis?'" Lisa Vosburgh 33 a mechanic who learned her trade at a community college sent out 50 résumés that went shops before she found a ignored by 'Women's Clinic "They'd look at Auto the at place how small I am" she recalled "and say 'We don't have a use for someone like you'" "Working for a woman means I don't have to prove I'm not stupid" said Kathy Fairhurst 44 another mechanic at the Women's Auto Clinic Margie Seals the daughter of a diesel mechanic grew up around engines but getting into her chosen field was no easier for her Seals spent two years computer-controlle- male-own- ed W IC 'Working for a woman means I don't have to prove I'm not stupid says Kathy e Fairhurst (I) 44 She and Kim Hamblin klbki 00wMor th- -v 26 both garage 0 ttk1' 7:44:1?1 -'- I -- '''-- P' ( 't 44k: 7 - 1 V" mechanics are shown installing a new distributor and adjusting a carburetor at the Women's Auto Clinic in Newport News Va II ' 0 1 1 - '4 ference in communication skills studying English at the University of Colorado before she moved to the "Margie makes working a lot ier" said Matthew Durdin 21 Chicago School of Automatic who works at My Favorite Transmissions—where she graduchanic Brown said 60 percent of ated first in a class of 1000 She was Brown her customers were male the only woman in the entire school Women's Auto "I took a job with a tuneup outfit Nothing tests communication skills more however than when she said "The owner said he was would a garage makes a mistake Late hiring me because he could never r4 'Are one Friday afternoon a customer get a man with my credentials for what he was about to pay me" brought Seals his lsuzu Trooper to get a new clutch and have a few Seals later joined the Army and working m other repairs done After the work ran a motor pool then designed and INIMINIMIIII0010111011111110111 was finished he drove off but remanaged a program for equipment for the State of Georgia She appeared minutes later complaining of a strange noise ran it for six years before starting her own mobile re-Although another mechanic had done the repair Seals herself came out to consult She determined that into Favorite which business My expanded pair Mechanic Seals estimated that about 70 percent of the muffler had not been bolted tightly enough to the tailpipe Although the garage had closed for the her customers were women Women customers seem to be enthusiastic about weekend Seals offered to make the repair The custhese new garages "With some male mechanics if tomer chose to come back later "Just come in any time—we'll take care of it" you say 'My car's making this strange noise' and try to describe it they act like you're stupid" Deborah Seals said The customer drove away with a smile and a wave satisfied that he had that rarest of mechanics Bingham a Women's Auto Clinic client told me Do women communicate better? Brown and Seals —one who would instantly believe a customer who think so Even male mechanics appreciate the dif-- said he had heard a funny noise in his cat "I was considered a joke" recalls Janet founder of the clinic "People mu ana ask you bikinis?" preventive-maintenan- B Y ce M I CHAEL PAGE 10 RYAN JULY 240994 - PARADE MAGAZINE |