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

by Guest ContributorDisruptHER Articles, Dynasty Feature, Magazine StaplesPosted 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.

DisruptHER Dynasty-Kristen Felder: The Take-No-Shit & Offer No Apologies DisruptHER

by Chasidy Rae SiskDynasty Feature, Magazine Staples, The Gritty Subscribers OnlyPosted on No Comments

One of our missions at Glossed & Gritty is to enhance the visibility of women in collision repair, so for our inaugural issue, it only made sense to feature the most visible and arguably the best-known woman in the industry: Kristen Felder, CEO of Collision Hub and Engage Target Media.
Kristen has been recognized for her lifetime of experience with multiple awards, including the 2011 Society Of Collision Repair Specialist Industry Service Award, 2011 Finalist Car Care Council’s Woman of the Year and 2010 Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) Impact Award – Top Four Executives Under Forty, plus she was honored by AkzoNobel as one of the industry’s Most Influential Women in 2007.
In addition to being the most recognizable woman in collision repair, Kristen is also the most controversial; she has built a reputation on pulling no punches when it comes to speaking her mind, and that’s a trait that many love – or hate – about her. But regardless of how one feels about how “rude” (her word!) Kristen may be, she certainly commands respect.
Let’s start off with a little background information on Kristen before we get to know her a lot better.
Lots of collision repairers claim they were born into the business, but it’s barely hyperbole when Kristen makes that statement – her mother literally went into labor in the paint booth!

Issue 1 – Spring 2026

by Chasidy Rae SiskAnchor Feature, Cover Story, DisruptHER Articles, Dynasty Feature, Editor's Blocks, Flash Time, Frame of Mind, Gear & Glam, Magazine Staples, Polished Feature, Primed Feature, Pro-Tips & Precision, Recalibration: Mind & Body, The Gritty Subscribers Only, Undiminished Value, Unfiltered FontPosted on No Comments

Glossed & Gritty is more than a magazine – but it IS a magazine too!

Curious what the Revolution is all about? Check out the cover story, “What Is a Collision DisruptHER?” and get to know the co-founders, Chas and Janna, through their Editors’ Messages.

Issue 1 also features three Collision DisruptHER profiles: Gabriella Held (Primed), Cassandra Thibeault (Polished) and Kristen Felder (DisruptHER Dynasty) as well as an interview with our first Anchor, Mike Anderson.

But that’s not all – you won’t want to miss the features on heavy-duty pants for the shop, how VOCs impact women differently or a special contribution on “Women, Wealth and the Power of Financial Literacy” by Rae James of Torque Financial…and more!