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.

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.