Unfiltered Font: Mother DisruptHER!

by Chasidy Rae SiskACCESS-Public Preview, Current Issue, Editor's Notes, Issue - Summer 2026, Unfiltered FontPosted on No Comments

Motherhood and career ambition are often treated like two vehicles trying to occupy the same frame rack, and Chasidy Rae Sisk is not here to pretend the industry has figured out how to make that collision pretty. In this deeply personal editor’s note, she reflects on finally stepping into the writing career she had always wanted, only to have life reroute the entire map with pregnancy, caregiving, financial strain, impossible expectations, and the quiet professional penalties mothers are expected to absorb without complaint. This piece does not romanticize burnout or wrap motherhood in soft-focus inspirational nonsense.
Instead, it names the frustration, the grief, the sacrifice, and the absurdity of a system that critiques women no matter which choice they make. It also makes one thing painfully clear: motherhood does not erase talent, ambition, intelligence, or leadership. It compounds capability. It forces reinvention. It sharpens resourcefulness. And for many women, it becomes another kind of career training, unpaid, underestimated, and wildly overqualified.

Frame of Mind: Class Dismissed; The Bay Is Yours!

by Jannifer Stimmel-WatkinsACCESS-Public Preview, Current Issue, Editor's Notes, Frame of Mind, Issue - Summer 2026Posted on No Comments

Stepping out of the classroom and into the collision industry can feel like being handed a repair order written in another language while everyone pretends you should already know where every tool lives. In this Frame of Mind editorial, Jannifer Stimmel-Watkins speaks directly to the newest generation of Collision DisruptHERs, especially the students and entry-level technicians preparing to leave training behind and claim their place in the bay.
Drawing from her experience as a former collision repair instructor, Jannifer breaks down what young women actually need to hear before they enter the shop: that mistakes are not identity flaws, confidence does not arrive fully cured, and one rough day does not mean they picked the wrong career. This piece covers everything from PPE and procedures to attitude, community, respect, and resilience. It is part send-off, part field guide, and part instructor voice still echoing from the lab: learn the process, protect your body, ask the questions, and stop apologizing for taking up space.

Unfiltered Font: And Then, There’s the “F-Word” That Still Haunts Me!

by Chasidy Rae SiskACCESS-Archive, ACCESS-Subscriber, Archive, Archived Issue Articles, Impact Report, Newsletter Issue - April 2026, Newsletters, The Riveter, Unfiltered FontPosted on No Comments

Sunday, March 29, 2026, 9:57am. I was up until 3am prepping Easter eggs for my 2-year-old to find next weekend – because apparently I like setting myself up for success on something a week in advance mere days before the debut of something huge; completely logical, right? – so I slept in only to wake up in a cold sweat with one word rattling around in my brain like a loose lug nut:

FAILURE.

In roughly 48 hours (give or take a panic spiral), Glossed & Gritty officially launches. I am excited. Ecstatic. Hopeful…and absolutely, completely, borderline-unwell levels of terrified (cue my therapist).
My hands are literally shaking as I type this. That might seem a bit dramatic, but it’s also – unfortunately – completely, totally 100% truthful and accurate.

Unfiltered Font: The F Word (And Why I’m Done Whispering It)

by Chasidy Rae SiskACCESS-Archive, ACCESS-Subscriber, Archive, Archived Issue Articles, Editor's Notes, Issue - Spring 2026, Unfiltered FontPosted on No Comments

Let’s just rip the Band-Aid off: I’m a feminist!

There — I said it. No euphemisms. No softening language like, “I just believe in equality” (although that’s true). No nervous laugh. No “but not like that kind of feminist.” Just…feminist.

          It’s funny how a word defined so optimistically — as the “belief in and advocacy for the political, economic and social equality of the sexes” — somehow became more controversial than misogyny itself. Apparently the idea of “equal rights” is more offensive than actual inequality. Make it make sense.  

          We live in 2026. We have vehicles that can calibrate themselves, scan their own ADAS systems and practically drive us to the grocery store. But say “feminist” in front of a group of men, and suddenly, everyone’s acting like you just keyed their F-150 Raptor!          Here’s the truth: feminism is the catalyst behind everything I do here at Glossed & Gritty. It’s the reason I care so deeply about women in collision repair. It’s the reason I get angry (and holy hell, do I get angry). It’s the reason I won’t shut up. And trust me, there have been plenty of moments when that would have been the easier option. (Click the Cover Image for Full Article)

Frame of Mind: Why I Am Done Being Complicit

by Jannifer Stimmel-WatkinsACCESS-Archive, ACCESS-Subscriber, Archive, Archived Issue Articles, Editor's Notes, Frame of Mind, Issue - Spring 2026Posted on No Comments

If you knew how much the concept of “frame of mind” affects me from the bottom of my soul, you would probably be surprised. I have been in the collision industry for almost nine years, counting my time as a student. Throughout that time, I have been interviewed numerous times, and there is always that staple question:  

          “How does it feel to be a woman in the industry?”

          For a long time, I never quite understood the question. I wanted everyone to know that I was just fine. I told interviewers the “struggle” was a myth. I often left those conversations feeling as if I had let them down by not sharing a hero’s saga about rising from the ashes like a phoenix.