The room hums energetically long before the keynote speaker takes the stage. Laughter echoes as old friends reunite, and conversations spill into the hallways as shop owners, technicians, educators, insurers and OEM representatives embrace the peers they’ve known for years. It seems like everyone knows everyone else – everyone except you.

     Maybe you’re new to the industry, or perhaps you just haven’t had the opportunity to attend an event. You might recognize a few faces from LinkedIn, or perhaps you’ve never seen any of these people at all. As you pause just inside the entrance and scan the room, you wonder: “Where do I fit in?” 

     Depending on your personality, you just might walk right into the welcome reception, introduce yourself to the group gathered around the coffee and even voice your opinions during the breakout session – or you could be the type to quietly slink back out the door, return to your hotel room and spend the rest of the day chastising yourself for succumbing to your fears. 

     If you find yourself in this situation, we encourage you to WALK IN. You are not alone, no matter how lonely you may feel at that moment! But that’s easier said than done in many cases because that hesitation grows into insurmountable trepidation; you’re just not confident enough to walk into that room all alone.

     For many women in collision repair, confidence doesn’t begin when they step onto a stage or accept an industry award. It began much earlier and grew over time; it was cultivated in the quiet decisions no one else sees: introducing herself to a stranger, asking a question in a room full of experienced professionals, volunteering for a committee, applying for a promotion or speaking up with an idea – even when she was the only woman at the table. Those moments can feel surprisingly significant when you’re part of a small minority in the industry.

Confidence doesn’t develop in isolation. It grows through experience, opportunity and supportive environments where people are encouraged to contribute, trusted with new challenges and valued for their potential. Likewise, it can diminish when ideas are dismissed, mistakes are punished or people constantly feel they must prove they belong. Confidence isn’t simply a personality trait – it’s often the product of the environments we create.

     That distinction matters…especially in collision repair. For women entering an industry where they may be one of only a handful of female technicians, estimators, shop owners or managers, confidence isn’t shaped solely by their own abilities. It’s influenced by every interaction they have. Every first impression. Every conversation. Every opportunity to contribute – or every moment they choose not to because they aren’t sure they’ll be heard.

     Imagine spending your first day at a new shop where everyone else already knows one another. Their conversations are easy. The jokes make sense because they’ve been told for years. You hesitate before asking a question because you don’t want to appear inexperienced. You wait a little longer before offering an idea because you’re still figuring out the room. Now, imagine that same hesitation happening over weeks, months or even years. Eventually, silence can start to feel like safety – not because you don’t have great ideas but because speaking up carries risk.

     Researchers call this psychological safety, the belief that you can ask questions, admit mistakes, offer ideas or challenge the status quo without fear of embarrassment or retaliation. Teams with high psychological safety consistently report stronger collaboration, greater innovation and better overall performance. They don’t succeed because everyone is naturally confident. They succeed because people feel safe enough to contribute.

     That matters in every workplace, but it matters even more in industries where representation is limited! For decades, women in collision repair have often found themselves navigating spaces where they are the only woman in the room, the first woman hired into a particular role or one of very few female leaders at an industry event. 

     As we all unfortunately know, being a woman yields a whole slew of assumptions – people assume we like or dislike certain things, that we’re capable or incapable of specific tasks or that they generally know something about us because of our gender. That’s even worse for women in male-dominated industries, and to complicate matters, being stereotyped has a negative impact on one’s self-worth and their confidence in their ability to perform a task. When it happens repeatedly, that exacerbates matters drastically, even leading to poor performance and lost interest in the area of achievement.

     To understand how to move forward, we must dismantle the narrative that women simply lack a trait men naturally possess. Recent academic literature flips this narrative on its head. Harvard Business School researcher Dr. Katherine Coffman has studied the psychological drivers behind career-related self-evaluations. Dr. Coffman’s work was inspired directly by that infamous job-application statistic: Men apply when they meet roughly 60 percent of qualifications; women apply only if they meet 100 percent.

     Dr. Coffman’s discovery was groundbreaking: The issue isn’t a lack of ambition – it is that women and men process environmental ambiguity differently, especially in domains traditionally coded as male. When job listings or promotional criteria use vague language, stereotypes quietly fill in the blanks. Women, expecting higher levels of scrutiny, disqualify themselves before anyone else gets the chance.

     “Our beliefs about ourselves are important in shaping all kinds of important decisions,” Coffman explained in her research. “When people underestimate their abilities, they’re less likely to take those actions.”

     When employers remove ambiguity and state exact qualifications, the gender gap in applications shrinks dramatically. In other words: When the rules are clear and the environment feels objective, women step up.

     Pop culture has often joked that confidence should come easily. To quote the iconic Elle Woods: “What, like it’s hard?” Yes! It is absolutely hard. Collision repair is a grueling, fast-paced, highly technical industry. Modern vehicles are complex computers wrapped in advanced high-strength steels, aluminum and composites. A single bad weld, an improper ADAS calibration or a missed structural tear-down detail doesn’t just result in an upset customer – it can cost someone their life.

     Jaime Shewbridge, an I-CAR Welding & Hands-on Skills Development Instructor, knows this reality firsthand: “Welding was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to learn, and then I had to develop the confidence to walk into a shop as a female and convey that knowledge. At first, they questioned my right to be there, but when they saw that I knew more about their welders than they did – and that I could actually weld – they stopped caring where I came from, what I used to do or that I was a woman. They were just happy to have somebody who cares about helping them get it right. I’ve spent my life trying to fit in, and I’ve learned there’s immense power in just being me.”

     So, why do so many women feel the need to know 100% of the material before entering the shop floor or speaking in a meeting? Because the tax on a woman’s mistakes in a male-dominated trade has historically been far higher than a man’s! When a male technician makes an error, it’s often viewed as an individual mistake. When a woman makes one, it’s more likely to be seen as evidence that women don’t belong in the role at all.

     Psychologists have a name for this phenomenon: stereotype threat. It describes the added mental burden people experience when they fear confirming a negative stereotype about their social group. That extra pressure doesn’t just affect confidence – it consumes mental energy that would otherwise be devoted to learning, problem-solving and performing the task itself.

     The effects aren’t theoretical; they are felt every single day in body shops, estimating bays and classrooms. Studies of women in skilled trades show many (nearly 60%) regularly have their technical expertise questioned because of their gender. Even more – 65%! – report being assigned lower-level administrative tasks instead of technical work, while over 80% have watched customers direct technical questions to less experienced male colleagues standing beside them. Experiences like these reinforce the message (subtle or otherwise) that they have to work harder simply to be viewed as equally capable.

     When a woman is repeatedly treated as less capable, an insidious transformation occurs: she internalizes the doubt. She stops raising her hand. She stops pitching process improvements. What groundbreaking shop efficiency ideas, precision repair techniques or business innovations have been lost simply because a woman was shut down early in her career?

    Stereotyping doesn’t just affect what you think about people; it correlates with how you treat them. Left unchecked, stereotyping becomes a gateway to outright discrimination. Changing this culture requires everyone to participate. Leaders and coworkers who challenge dismissive comments, recognize expertise regardless of gender and create space for every voice help build workplaces where people are judged by their ability rather than outdated assumptions. Women also play an important role by supporting one another, offering honest encouragement and refusing to reinforce stereotypes that divide rather than strengthen the community.

     Tragically, some women may not be as open to building a community as they should be. “It seems like there’s an insecurity that comes with being in a male-dominated field where some feel that attacking another woman somehow validates their own position,” Jaime laments. “We shouldn’t walk into a room of our peers wondering who is going to talk behind our backs; we should walk in feeling like we’re home.”     

     She encourages women to be more open-minded and accepting of one another: “You can’t build your own career by making another woman look bad; you just make yourself look small. In this industry, we shouldn’t be looking for reasons to exclude each other. When I see a woman entering this field, I give her my number and tell her, ‘Whatever you need, call me.’ It’s not about fighting for one seat; it’s about making sure there’s room for everyone by building a bigger table.”

     While all of those experiences don’t automatically erode confidence, they can amplify self-awareness. Every question feels more visible, every mistake feels more memorable, and even every success can feel like it carries the weight of proving that someone else belongs there too. It’s an invisible pressure that many women understand instinctively, even if they’ve never put words to it.

     Adding to that pressure is imposter syndrome – the persistent feeling of being a fraud despite evidence of competence. Research suggests that while most people experience it at some point, it tends to affect high-achieving women more frequently and more intensely, particularly in environments where stereotypes cause them to question whether they truly belong.

     Even accomplished leaders experience it. Jill Tuggle, Executive Director of the Auto Body Association of Texas, admits she still struggles with imposter syndrome but says recognizing it is the first step toward overcoming it. “It’s important to understand what imposter syndrome is because it impacts many of us at different stages in our lives. I still experience it, but knowing what it is helps us recognize when it’s showing up, so we can keep it from making our decisions. 

     “Don’t let imposter syndrome convince you that you don’t belong,” Jill adds. “Learn to recognize it when it shows up and understand that it’s something many successful people experience. Also, find the balance between humility and confidence. Stay humble enough to keep learning, but confident enough to recognize that you bring value.”

     Building confidence isn’t about telling women to “believe in themselves.” It’s about creating repeated evidence that they belong.

     Collision Hub’s Kristen Felder highlights how resilience forms: “Completing a task gives you confidence whether you’re a woman or a man; it teaches you that you’re able to figure it out. If you lose your job, that’s fine – you’ll figure it out. If a relationship fails, you’ll figure it out. That’s resilience. Resilience isn’t born in the fire of catastrophic loss. It comes from figuring out the daily things, developing confidence in yourself and learning to trust that you’ll always make it.”

     That sentiment is echoed by women across every sector of the collision repair industry. “Confidence comes from competence,” agrees Dawn Engel of JD’s Macomb Auto Collision. “Confidence doesn’t always have to be loud. Sometimes, the strongest response is simply being prepared, knowledgeable and consistent enough that people eventually recognize your expertise for themselves. Knowledge changes conversations quickly.”

     “There are definitely moments where I feel like what I say or suggest isn’t taken as seriously at first – until I prove that I’m right,” Jaelyn Walker, a Florida body technician, weighs in. “Honestly, I think that’s one of the most frustrating parts, because once I do prove it, it shifts the dynamic pretty quickly. It’s taught me to be extremely confident in my work and to let the results speak for themselves.”

     “There have been times when I’ve met someone new and could tell they were wondering, ‘What does this girl know?’ But that doesn’t bother me,” Micki Woods of Micki Woods Marketing asserts. “I’m confident in who I am, and I know what I bring to the table. I’m confident in my knowledge and experience, and if that’s still not enough to earn someone’s trust, we’re probably not the right fit to work together anyway.”

     Yet, if confidence is built through evidence of belonging, how do we create environments that accelerate that feeling? The answer begins with two distinct, powerful relationships: mentorship and sponsorship. While the industry frequently talks about mentorship, many professionals fail to recognize the critical difference between the two:     

     A mentor talks WITH you; they offer a sounding board, share past mistakes, give personal advice and help you navigate internal challenges.

     A sponsor talks ABOUT you. They advocate for you when you are not in the room. They bring your name up to shop owners, recommend you for executive board seats, push for your promotion and leverage their own social capital to open doors for you.

     One helps you grow; the other ensures the industry notices you’ve grown.

     According to Cigna’s “Women in Leadership Study,” 70% of women attribute their career success to having a dedicated mentor or support network, and 81% agree that career longevity requires both receiving and giving support. Yet, industry surveys show that 63% of women in automotive trades have never had a formal mentor – primarily because they were too hesitant to ask.

     Collisionista Petra Schroeder reframes how we should view these relationships. “I’ve been on both sides of that equation many times in my life – as a mentor and as a mentee – and I’ve never really seen them as separate roles. In a way, every meaningful conversation has both elements in it. If you’re open to listening and genuinely considering another person’s perspective, you’re being mentored in some form, and at the same time, you’re likely offering something in return. I’ve also often wished more people were willing to offer honest critique, because I believe mentoring absolutely includes constructive criticism. It’s not about being harsh; it’s about identifying areas for improvement.”

     Mentors and sponsors have a transformative impact on women’s careers. “When I entered the program at Daytona State, my instructor, Ronald Lenz, saw early on that I was genuinely passionate about collision repair,” Jaelyn says. “He pushed me to challenge myself in a more advanced way than I expected at that stage. That encouragement helped me build confidence and take my skills seriously from the beginning.”

     Estimator and college student Madison Warren shares a similar sentiment about her high school collision instructor. “I honestly wouldn’t be where I am today without Mr. Johnson. When I started as a freshman, I was incredibly shy. He pushed me outside my comfort zone through classroom presentations and demonstrations, believing in me before I fully believed in myself.”

     And that support doesn’t stop being meaningful as one progresses in their career, as Jill points out. “When I first started working with ABAT, Janet Chaney literally and figuratively walked beside me through the transition. She took me to CIC (Collision Industry Conference), introduced me to people, and brought me into rooms and conversations that would have taken me years to access on my own. There were moments when she would literally tell people, ‘We like her,’ and that trust helped me become part of those circles much faster. She didn’t just introduce me – she helped me build confidence and find my place.”

     Jill adds a crucial piece of advice for anyone looking to scale their career: “Build yourself a panel of experts – people you trust who have different strengths and experiences you can lean on. But the other side of that is being willing to serve on someone else’s panel, too.”

     And that’s where we see the value of building a bigger table because beyond those one-on-one relationships, there’s something even more powerful that can help women in collision repair overcome their isolation and build their confidence: community. Mentorship and sponsorship can change one person’s career, but community changes an industry by creating the sense of belonging that comes from finding people who understand your journey. For women in collision repair, that community can transform isolation into connection – and connection into confidence.

     Laura Lozano, a collision repair instructor at Contra Costa College, recalls how participating in all-female industry builds altered her career trajectory. “I got the opportunity to participate in two SEMA builds through Girl Gang Garage with Bogi Lateiner, and that experience was incredibly cathartic. Seeing a space filled with women working together in the mechanical and restoration industry felt powerful. It opened up conversations I hadn’t even realized were missing in my career – things like how you navigate pregnancy in the shop environment, maternity leave and chemical exposure while painting. There’s something unspoken about that woman-to-woman understanding.”

     3M’s Mikayla Hoth found her community through the Women’s Industry Network (WIN). “Networking is one of the most important things you can do when you first enter this industry. It can be difficult for women to pursue a career in this ‘man’s world’ because there are still some men who don’t want us here, but knowing I have a safe space with supportive women who would move all the stars in the sky to help me succeed has made a huge difference.”

     Shelly Jones (Collision Engineering Career Alliance) encourages women not to wait for an invitation. “Don’t overthink it or wait until you feel like you have everything figured out. Talk to people, ask questions, and get connected.”

     Petra echoes this practical advice: “Reach out to someone you already know in the industry and start asking questions. Identify people who can guide you, and don’t be afraid to actively choose a mentor. The key is taking that first step.”

     When women join forces, competition turns into collaboration. As Micki notes, “I love seeing how many incredible women are part of this industry now. They aren’t competing with one another – they’re encouraging each other.”

    That’s the gift of community.  It reminds us that confidence isn’t the absence of fear. It’s the willingness to keep moving despite it. Across collision repair, women are building those communities in ways that didn’t exist a generation ago. Professional organizations have created spaces where women can exchange ideas, ask difficult questions and build relationships that extend far beyond a single conference. Regional associations are welcoming more women into leadership roles. Shops are investing in mentorship programs. Experienced professionals are taking apprentices under their wing. Online communities have made it possible to find encouragement, advice and friendship from people hundreds – or even thousands – of miles away.

     These connections don’t simply make the industry feel smaller. They make it feel more welcoming. And that’s an important distinction. Networking is often viewed as transactional – a stack of business cards, LinkedIn connections and conference handshakes. Community is different. Community remembers your name. It checks in after your presentation, celebrates your promotion and answers your text when you’re facing a difficult decision. Most importantly, it reminds you that you don’t have to navigate your career alone. 

     Perhaps the greatest misconception about confidence is our belief that it is something deeply personal, something we build entirely on our own; in reality, confidence is remarkably communal. It grows through encouragement. It expands through opportunity. It flourishes when people are seen, supported and challenged by those around them. 

     Each woman who contributed to this story described confidence differently, but nearly all traced it back to the same source: someone who welcomed them, encouraged them or reminded them they weren’t alone. Because every meaningful professional relationship begins the same way. One conversation. One introduction. One act of generosity. That’s how careers are built. Not through isolated moments of brilliance, but through people willing to invest in one another and remain true to themselves. 

     “Don’t bend to others’ expectations; communicate, stand firm when needed, and stay true to yourself,” Petra urges. “Show up as a first-class version of yourself – confident, respectful and grounded in your own identity.”

     “Showcasing the women who are already doing this work proves it’s possible,” Jaime points out. “If people want to discount me because of my gender, well, it is what it is. Ultimately, my work and confidence speak much louder than I can if I try to engage every bias head-on.”

     Jill focuses on recognizing her own worth and carrying herself with confidence, but she offers an incredibly valuable reminder to the Collision DisruptHERs reading this: “Confidence doesn’t mean you never doubt yourself; it means you keep moving forward anyway.”

     And when you move forward, you find the inner strength to speak up. Speaking up leads to relationships. Relationships lead to opportunities. Those opportunities build more confidence. Individually, these moments seem ordinary…almost forgettable. But cumulatively, they’re transformative. They’re the quiet experiences that slowly replace self-doubt with self-belief. They’re the reason one woman volunteers to lead a meeting while another decides to submit a conference presentation. They’re why someone finally raises her hand during a training session or accepts an invitation to serve on a committee. Not because she suddenly became fearless. But because someone helped her believe she belonged. Perhaps that’s the real confidence gap we should be talking about. Not a gap in talent. Not a gap in ambition. A gap in belonging. And once that gap begins to close, confidence has an extraordinary way of following.

     And somewhere along the way, something remarkable happens. The person who once needed someone else’s encouragement becomes the one offering it. The mentee becomes the mentor. The new attendee becomes the welcoming face at registration. The woman who once wondered if she belonged becomes the one making sure someone else knows they do. That’s how communities grow. And that’s how industries change. 

     The collision repair industry has always been built on craftsmanship, problem-solving and resilience; however, its future may depend just as much on connection. Women entering and advancing in collision don’t just need opportunities — they need the confidence to pursue them, the support systems to sustain them and communities that remind them they belong. Every time an experienced technician encourages a student, each time a shop owner recommends a young leader for a committee or someone simply makes room for another voice at the table, the industry becomes a little stronger – and a little more welcoming for whoever walks through the door next. 

     Let’s return to our opening scene – to that lobby filled with loud conversations and unfamiliar faces. Imagine standing at those doors right now, but this time, something fundamental inside you has shifted. You look around, and instead of feeling intimidated by the sea of strangers, you realize that every single expert in that room was once the new person standing hesitantly at the door. You recognize a few faces from an online panel. You smile at a technician across the lobby. She smiles back.

     You take a deep breath, pull back your shoulders and WALK IN. 

     You spot a woman standing alone near the registration desk, clutching her binder, looking nervously around the room – just as you were moments ago. You walk over, extend your hand, and say, “Hi, I’m glad you’re here. Is this your first time at this event? Come join our table for coffee.”

     Without realizing it, you have instantly become the person you were once searching for: the person who makes someone else feel like they belong. You don’t become confident before you belong. You become confident because someone helped you believe you belonged – and then you paid it forward.

     The future of the collision repair industry will not be defined merely by new scan tools, OEM repair procedures or advanced paint technologies. It will be defined by its people. It will be defined by the shop owners who create psychologically safe workplaces, the instructors who see potential in shy students, the mentors who pick up the phone and the sponsors who speak our names in boardrooms we haven’t yet entered.

     Real progress isn’t just about breaking a glass ceiling as the “first.” It’s about ensuring you aren’t the last. It’s about turning the first into the second, the third, the tenth and the hundredth, until seeing a woman welding a quarter panel, writing a complex structural estimate, running an MSO or keynoting an industry conference isn’t a novelty – it’s simply business as usual.

     So, as you close this issue and head back to your shop, your office, your classroom or your next industry conference, take a moment to reflect on your own journey: Who was the first person who made you feel like you belonged in collision repair?

     Then, ask yourself the ultimate question: Who will you be that person for next?

Ready to deepen your network, sharpen your technical knowledge and connect with women shaping the future of the trade? Visit The Blueprint to explore upcoming regional meetups, educational webinars, mentorship match programs, and exclusive industry events!