Rebecca Schindler will never forget the first time she walked into the Girls Auto Clinic Repair Center in Upper Darby in West Philadelphia. She immediately noticed the mechanics working at the shop were female. It was an empowering feeling to know she wasn’t alone in her love of all things cars.
“When I met the two girls in the shop, I felt like a twin who had been separated at birth,” she laughed. “I was like, ‘Oh my God. There’s more like me.’ I just always thought it was like an odd thing. You know people always assumed that I’m gay or a tomboy.”
Schindler is neither. Her love and gift of automotive technology began when she was a teenager and she took a job at a gas station. She learned to pump gas, plug tires and change oil. Her job felt comfortable and enjoyable.
It’s a really attractive way to bring women into this engineering mechanical field.
Despite her parents’ hesitation, she became the first female to attain her associate’s degree in automotive technology from her local Lincoln Technical Institute.
Before beginning her career at Girls Auto Clinic in October 2017, Schindler had completed a one-year stint at Toyota, followed by a six-year job at BMW, where she became the first female master technician in North America. She returned to Toyota for a managerial-level position in 2008 after taking a break to raise a family.
Once she hit the career ceiling at Toyota she begun entertaining the idea of taking another job.
The core values of Girls Auto Clinic, particularly its focus on women empowerment, attracted Schindler, but she lived two hours away from the shop. The Clinic’s founder Patrice Banks, a material engineer who herself persevered and broke barriers as a woman in her industry, called Schindler within minutes of receiving her resume.
As luck would have it, Schindler’s life changed two weeks later when she broke up with her boyfriend and moved to New Jersey to be closer to her family. Her commute to the shop would now only be an hour long. She called Banks back who then offered her a position.
“I feel like I’ve waited nearly a quarter of a century to find a job like this,” said Schindler, who joined the cause in October 2017.
Girls Auto Clinic is not just a job for her and the other “sheCANincs” who work at the shop, it’s a networking and support system for women previously ridiculed by men in their industry and who had to prove they legitimately had the know-how to do their work right.
The Clinic, which has an Indiegogo campaign, doesn’t shy away from providing services or employing men as well, seeks to educate and empower women through cars. It offers automotive buying and repair resources, in addition to services and products.
It’s a unique business model that is working in Philadelphia and has attracted national press attention. Now, Banks is looking to expand the Clinic by opening shops in other parts of the country. Among the potential contenders is Austin.
Jenny Busing, who previously worked at Austin-based fitness company DrumFIT, serves as interim COO at Girls Auto Clinic.
Banks added Busing to her team to help with the Clinic’s national expansion and figure out how to grow and scale the business to become a national brand.
The Philadelphia auto shop has sheCANics on staff and a nail salon in the lounge. The sheCANic movement has taken off thanks to the accompanying Facebook page which boasts more than 8,000 members.
“Women can ask questions about their cars and female mechanics chime in and give them advise. It’s sort of an empowerment group and a safe place for women all over the nation and world to be able to ask questions that they have about their cars,” Busing says.
Not only does Banks envision opening more repair centers, she also wants to expand its reach as far as educational resources for women to learn about their cars.
“Patrice started this entire thing by doing Girls Auto Clinic Car Care workshops,” Busing explains.
The workshops have a lecture component, as well as a hands-on segment where women bring their own cars, pop the hoods and learn how things work. Banks wants to teach more people about the future of the automobile industry, including fuel-efficient and autonomous-driving vehicles.
While no commitments have been made to bring a physical Girls Auto Clinic location to Austin, Busing said the city’s focus on social entrepreneurship is particularly attractive. Austin welcomes socially conscious, business-minded and innovative entrepreneurs, she said.
Workshops and building awareness to have an already-existent customer base would especially entice the Clinic to open its doors in Austin.
“I think diversity is really important to the Austin business community, and to the extent not only are we offering superior experience to the automotive industry’s No. 1 customer, which is women, we’re also providing a new work experience for mechanics that are women," she said. "Instead of being the only female mechanic they’re now working at a shop where they’re managed by a female shop forewoman, they’re working with other women mechanics. It’s a really attractive way to bring women into this engineering mechanical field.”
Busing says women contribute more than $200 billion to the automotive industry. However, many women report they often feel taken advantage of or under-informed. By helping inform women, the Clinic helps increase women’s confidence as customers, and encourages them to make the best decisions for themselves and their vehicles.
Though the Clinic has only been open since January 2017, sheCANics such as Schindler are already witnessing the impact the business model has on both employees and customers. (And they've gotten some major media attention, too.)
Schindler specialized in European cars but working on American cars, such as Ford, no longer intimidate her because she knows she has the support of her fellow sheCANics. In her former jobs, Schindler hesitated to ask her colleagues for help because they were all male, and she didn’t want to give them a reason to think she was incompetent.
Now, she feels like she can be herself, ask questions and learn new things.
“I’m a single mom and working with other women I know when I have a sick kid, I can just tell them, ‘Hey girl, I’m bringing one in to work. I can show up with my little munchkin, put her on the couch, give her an iPad, and we all check in on her (or him) so I don’t have to worry about that. They get it,’” Schindler explains. “It’s just an ease to know it’s OK to still be a mom and a woman as well as handle the workload here. There’s support.”
Schindler says she’ll hear drivers-by daily at a nearby stoplight shout out comments like, ‘I love you girls. Thank you!’
“It’s everywhere. SheCANics are breaking barriers,” she smiled. "Schindler’s mother, who lives too far away to visit the shop, was at another repair center recently because her tire was low on air. Even though she was at another business, Schindler’s mother decided to call her to be as informed as possible and make the best decision as a customer, driver and woman.
On the same day Schindler spoke to Austin Inno, a girl, at her father’s suggestion via phone, asked Schindler to walk her through the process of how to replace a car battery, introduce her to the tool used to check the battery, and essentially teach her the basics of car battery charging and the electrical system.
It’s something she may not have felt comfortable asking at a repair center filled with male mechanics.
