French: Women’s History Month: Celebrating The Trailblazers Who Redefined the Road

March is Women’s History Month—a time to recognize the women who have shaped our country and driven progress across every industry. For decades, women in this field were treated as the exception rather than the rule. Our presence in the shop, at the counter, or in the training centers usually came with raised eyebrows. In some cases, it came with outright resistance and even “greased wheels.” The unspoken question lingered: do you really belong here?

But the truth is, women have always belonged here. In 1888, Bertha Benz invented the first set of brake pads while also taking the world’s first long-distance trip in a vehicle. This shaped the role women would play throughout the years. Yet for much of automotive history, those contributions weren’t widely acknowledged. Women worked in factories during wartime. (Rosie the Riveter!) They ran independent repair shops behind the scenes. They handled bookkeeping, parts sourcing, customer relations, and eventually stepped into technician, engineering, and executive roles. When the war was over, women were often shunned from going back to the work that they had been such an integral part of and were stuck with limited options or becoming homemakers.

Women Belong in Auto Care

Women’s History Month has helped shift that narrative. It has created space to recognize the technicians, advisors, and shop owners, amongst other automotive workers who have long been contributing to this field, sometimes without credit. It has fostered mentorship programs, strengthened professional networks, and supported scholarships that open doors for the next generation entering the field. And while women still represent a relatively small percentage of the workforce, the growth is undeniable. The energy is different now, and it’s no longer quiet determination behind the scenes. It’s visible, intentional, and collaborative.

I was reminded of that growth recently while attending the Women in Auto Care Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. Women in Auto Care Association (formerly The Women’s Board) gave its first scholarship in 2004 in the amount of $2,000. This year, they had a record-breaking number of women in attendance and have raised $127,000. In just 21 years, they’ve given over $2.5 million total so young ladies can feel supported while they navigate through school. They have even assembled tool kits and boxes for these scholarship winners. I also had the privilege of connecting with a few of those scholarship winners, and their stories blew me away.

I left the conference with something powerful—hope.

Hope that the next generation won’t have to question whether they belong.

Hope that mentorship and opportunity will continue to expand and make miracles happen.

Hope that one day, women in automotive won’t be viewed as uncommon.

Women’s History Month reminds us how far we’ve come. The young women entering this industry remind us how far we’re going.

Women Inspiring Men

For this article, I wanted to twist the narrative a little. We often hear women share their experiences—their challenges, victories, and lessons learned along the way. But I was curious about another perspective, so I asked the men we work alongside a loaded question: How has a woman in the automotive field positively influenced you, helped you, or enhanced your career to some degree? Their answers were thoughtful, vulnerable, and honest.

One technician told me about Daisy, a warranty administrator he met while working at a dealership early in his career. “What stood out immediately was that she didn’t just want to work in the auto industry, she wanted to shape it,” he said. “She pushed to grow, to move up, to prove she belonged in every room she stepped into. If someone doubted her, she used it as fuel. Watching that resilience changed how I approached my own career. I don’t think I’d have pushed beyond being a line tech if I hadn’t seen her relentlessly chase what she knew she deserved.”

The word “relentless” stuck with me. So many women in automotive have had to cultivate resilience simply to stay in the shop. But what struck me most about his story wasn’t that Daisy persevered. It was that her perseverance gave this technician permission to do the same.

Another technician (and former Snap–On distributor) shared a story from 1982. At a GM training center, this technician had an instructor that had been there for years but was never very helpful. “He would just spew some double-talk and then bypass the question.” But when this instructor finally retired, he was replaced with Sondra. Sondra was the first woman many of them had ever seen in that type of role at the training center. “A lot of us were skeptical at first,” he admitted. “But she was incredibly intelligent. If she didn’t know the answer to a question, she’d spend however long digging through service manuals and technical bulletins to find the answer for me. I was very impressed.”

Skills and consistency dismantle bias—not loudly, but effectively. That same technician also remembered Susan, a parts advisor brought in during a dealership overhaul in 1978 after major discrepancies were uncovered in the parts department. “At first, we assumed she was a ‘token hire,’” he said. “We were dead wrong. Back then, the parts catalog was microfiche which was a time-consuming, patience-testing system. Susan knew it, but she almost never needed it. A technician could list five to 10 parts, and she’d scoot off, on roller skates, no less, returning a few minutes later with every requested part in-hand. Very rarely was there a wrong part. And if there was, she already knew why and what the correct one should’ve been. She was the ultimate parts genius. And she made it look effortless.” Susan took the reins of that department and mastered her role.

Another service advisor told me that working alongside a female colleague reshaped the way he interacted with customers. “Working closely with her helped me let go of the prejudice that women don’t understand vehicles,” he said. “It made me approach female customers with more respect and recognize they may already know more about their cars than I initially assumed.” That shift matters. How we treat customers is often influenced by what we assume about them. Representation inside the shop can influence how customers are treated outside of it.

A parts manager at a BMW dealership shared that his entire service department is led by women—from the service manager to the advisors. “They run a tight ship,” he said. “Their time management is incredible. They’re empathetic and organized. Appointment flow is better here than most places I’ve worked. They’ve ultimately made our shop more efficient.” Efficiency. Organization. Leadership. These aren’t “female qualities.” They’re professional strengths. And when diverse teams bring different communication styles and problem-solving approaches to the table, the entire operation runs like a fresh tune-up. 
One technician credited a female coworker with permanently altering his performance in the shop. “She changed how I approached multipoint inspections and upsells,” he said. “I became more thorough and more efficient because of her. I still use what she taught me in every role I’ve had since.” That’s legacy—in the daily habits that ripple forward long after the moment has passed—just like where it all started with Bertha Benz. When I read through these submissions, there was a clear pattern. None of these guys talked about being “impressed because she was a woman.” They talked about being challenged. Inspired. Corrected. Mentored. Improved. They talked about growth. And that’s what inclusion does at its best—it raises the standard for everyone.

A Warm Welcome

As we celebrate Women’s History Month, we honor the pioneers like Bertha Benz and the Rosie the Riveters, but we also honor Daisy, Sondra, Susan, and the countless women out there whose names may never make headlines, yet their impact is felt in hearts, minds, and bays across the country. The drive ahead isn’t about proving that women belong in the automotive field—that question has already been answered. It’s about continuing to build an industry where talent is recognized without hesitation, opportunity is extended without bias, and the next generation can enter with certainly at WOT (wide-open throttle). That’s the real legacy of these trailblazers—they didn’t just redefine the road. They widened it.