Undiminished Value: Is Your Shop Truly Female Friendly?

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Calling your shop “female friendly” is easy. Actually building an experience where women feel respected, reassured, and cared for? That takes more than a pink logo and a lonely succulent on the counter. Micki Woods breaks down what female-friendly service really looks like from the first phone call to vehicle delivery, showing shops how empathy, clarity, clean spaces, and thoughtful customer care can turn a stressful repair into a trust-building experience customers remember and recommend.

In Her Words: Lowered Voice, Stronger Boundaries

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Petra Schroeder’s voice may be calm, but her boundaries are anything but weak. In this thoughtful In HER Words column, Petra reflects on respect, cultural differences, harassment, communication, and the quiet authority that comes from consistency. She shares how being believed shaped her, why “no” should never require negotiation, and how speaking up does not always have to mean raising your voice. Polished does not mean passive, and Petra proves that strength can arrive softly and still change the room.

Pro Tips & Precision

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Color match problems and discrimination both have a way of exposing what shops overlook. In this issue of Pro Tips & Precision, women from across the collision industry share the details that can make or break a refinish job, from spray-out cards and spectro prep to lighting, reducer, and viewing angles. Then they get real about handling obvious discrimination, proving that technical skill, confidence, boundaries, and results all belong in the same toolbox.

In Her Words: Your Voice Matters, So Use It! By: Kristen Felder

by Guest ContributorACCESS-Archive, ACCESS-Subscriber, Archive, Archived Issue Articles, Featured DisruptHER Stories-Magazine, In Her Words, Issue - Spring 2026Posted on No Comments

(Warning: Explicit language – May be offensive to some readers)

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.

Undiminished Value: Women, Wealth and the Power of Financial Literacy By: Rachel James

by Guest ContributorACCESS-Archive, ACCESS-Subscriber, Archive, Archived Issue Articles, Issue - Spring 2026, Undiminished ValuePosted on No Comments

For decades, women were quietly excluded from meaningful financial decision-making — not because we lacked the ability, but because the system wasn’t built with us in mind. Bank accounts required a husband’s signature. Financial conversations happened behind closed doors. Money was something women were expected to manage day-to-day, but not strategically.
That era is over.
Today, women control a growing share of wealth, influencing the majority of household financial decisions, and they are stepping into leadership roles across business and finance. Yet, despite this progress, many women still feel under-educated, under-confident or under-supported when it comes to money. Financial literacy isn’t just about numbers — it’s about power, autonomy and advocacy.