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Usually, most work environments in the automotive industry are thought to be predominately male. It’s understood that anything that is car related tends to lean more towards men than women. After my interview with a few ladies that hold executive positions in the automotive industry, I found that the stereotype of women working in this market was false. To find out the real scoop, I had the pleasure of getting some insight from two bright women who are making waves in the male dominated world of sport compact car tuning.
According to one of my female colleagues, who is a co-founder of a youth driven lifestyle marketing and consulting group. Sharon’s past studies show that there is a growing number of females who are attending automotive events. Believe it or not, these girls are actually there for their own interests, not just tagging along with their boyfriends. They really do know and/or have the desire to learn more about their cars and fixing them up. Although men do out number women in this industry, there has been a rise in females involved in the auto scene. For this business woman who has been in and around the auto industry for about 15 years, she has not really noticed being treated differently. “There may not seem to be many females in this male dominated industry, but there are females who have been around since the beginning of the import/sport compact scene. For example, Lisa Kubo who stood out among the men and held her own as a driver in the drag racing world. Faye Gude of Gude Performance told me that it’s human nature to assume that “pink is for girls and blue is for boys.”
My second interview was with the promotions manager for Scion, Jeri Yoshizu who holds an interesting title as she is the one in charge of lifestyle marketing for Scion which includes the areas of art, music, film and fashion. Starting her career with Toyota in ’95, Jeri has always worked in the automotive industry. Her work environment consists mostly of females. “In a male dominated industry, it is refreshing to be a part of a team that is professional and does not look at gender. I have a unique situation that works for me.” She continued by adding that her gender has never been used against her, nor has it been used as an advantage. “Strength of character is based on the person, not their gender.” Jeri really enlightened me with her years of experience working in the industry and her motivation to create positive relationships as a cornerstone of her well-being. You go girl!
After conducting my interviews with these strong-minded females, I came to the realization that times have indeed changed and that our society has come to terms with and has accepted us women in the workforce. My interview with both ladies broke all stereotypes of what we may assume about females not being able to receive the same level of respect as other males do in the male dominated auto industry.
In conclusion, although in my particular line of work I deal with mostly men, the execs I interviewed confirmed that you don’t have to look far in the auto industry to find women who hold important jobs. Generally, non-industry people only see what happens on the track and what the media chooses to cover. What they don’t see are the women behind the scenes. They too work for the companies whose advertisements you see in the magazines you read and the logos you see plastered all over those race cars you cheer on.
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