Collision repair is the only industry I know, and although I love what I do, I fully realize it’s not pretty for women here. It’s full of double standards, pitfalls and traps. It really sucks to be a woman in this industry a lot of the time.

And it all starts with the messaging we receive about being a woman, especially if we’re going to work in a male-dominated space. We are told to be nice, to get along and earn our place – if we keep our heads down and just do a great job, people will eventually see how wonderful we are.  

That’s total bullshit! It’s never going to happen that way. I’m sorry, but we are always going to be women, no matter how much we develop a thick skin, toughen up or just deal with it. That’s what women have been doing for too many years, and has it worked? Hell no! Women don’t need to have a thick skin or accommodate men just because there are more of them in this industry.  

But it can be helpful to create a persona that pushes a lot of the nonsense away from you. I learned that lesson early in my career, though I do it very differently than most women.