Barbara Hauck
Automobile Mechanic
La Costa Limousine
‘Keeping cars on the road’
“I just love wrenching!”
When Barbara was 16, she was “dating a guy in the military who was always talking pistons.” Pretty soon she was in Auto Tech 1 in high school. She fell in love with the smell, and the more she learned, the more she liked fixing cars. Several more auto tech and auto engine performance classes followed.
She realized how much she enjoyed working with her hands. “I’ve always taken apart everything I could get my hands on...dial phones, old calculators. It used to make my Dad mad.” While still a teenager she “built a 4.3 litre V-6 Chevy engine that won second place at the Del Mar fair that year!” Beyond the classes she had taken, she learned from cars themselves. If a family member needed a brake job, there she was, to pull the car apart, and figure it out, however long it took.
After graduating high school in 1999, Barbara had been working at a grocery store, as a bakery, deli, and stock clerk. She was out driving with her sister one day and saw the job opening at the local lube center and decided to go for it. This was her break into the automotive repair business. Later, she tried to get into dealership service departments. She filled out applications for many a position for which she knew she was qualified, but thinks employers had a hard time believing she could really do the job. Week after week she would check back and the job would finally have been filled...by a man.
“It was frustrating. But my current boss knows women can do anything.” Her boss actually recruited her while she shopped at Pep Boys one day. He could tell she could talk the talk with genuine interest, and he gave her a better chance to walk the walk.
At La Costa Limousine, Barbara keeps the fleet in perfect condition for those many special occasions. She does all basic maintenance—brakes, transmission flushes, tires, oil changes, tune-ups, spark plugs. The cars vary in age and condition. Some are new, and some have 170,000 miles on them.
Barbara is so much happier fixing cars than stocking shelves. “I looove getting dirty. I have a great sense of providing real value to people. It’s good karma. And I love being able to fix my own car. I did my own 90,000-mile service. Cost me just $115 in parts!”
Have there been any serious drawbacks? Barbara had to admit, there’s a bit of danger. Scrapes, cuts and bruises are part of the job. “I’m covered in scars.”
Sexual harassment by other mechanics? “Oh, wow. It blows you away. Sometimes I just feel numb and don’t know how to respond” (which is probably the best reaction). “It’s really hard to deal with at times, but I think that some guys are just too gung ho and excited at seeing a girl on the job.” For a little while she attempted to eliminate any attraction factor, so no one would be distracted from doing the job. “I made a conscious effort to looking less feminine so I could just be one of the guys. It was a defense. That didn’t really work. My family said they’d kill me if I cut my hair. It just takes time.”
Customers can be surprised at having a female mechanic. “I remember one guy saying ‘What would you know, you’re just a little girl’.” Another time, while changing an oil filter at the lube center, “an older gent saw me under the car and asked my boss, ‘Is that a girl working on my car?’ My boss was right there with ‘Yeah, and she probably knows a lot more about cars than you.’” Women, however, are thrilled to have a female mechanic. I’ve spoken to several who feel that they would be more inclined to trust a woman not to gouge them on auto repairs. Barbara sees plenty of opportunity to make extra money in the future, repairing cars on the side.
Barbara is first to admit a woman needs a thick skin to do the job. “It’s not for the faint of heart.” Patience is important, too. Women auto technicians are a rarity, and they have to prove themselves to get ahead. “I’m pretty talkative, maybe too much, and I get along well with others. I think that’s important for a girl who wants to do this.”
The best job is not always the easiest job. For Barbara, it’s been worth the trouble. “It can be tough, but I know this is right for me. I have a passion for it. The more I get into it, the more I like it.”
Automobile Mechanic
La Costa Limousine
‘Keeping cars on the road’
“I just love wrenching!”
When Barbara was 16, she was “dating a guy in the military who was always talking pistons.” Pretty soon she was in Auto Tech 1 in high school. She fell in love with the smell, and the more she learned, the more she liked fixing cars. Several more auto tech and auto engine performance classes followed.
She realized how much she enjoyed working with her hands. “I’ve always taken apart everything I could get my hands on...dial phones, old calculators. It used to make my Dad mad.” While still a teenager she “built a 4.3 litre V-6 Chevy engine that won second place at the Del Mar fair that year!” Beyond the classes she had taken, she learned from cars themselves. If a family member needed a brake job, there she was, to pull the car apart, and figure it out, however long it took.
After graduating high school in 1999, Barbara had been working at a grocery store, as a bakery, deli, and stock clerk. She was out driving with her sister one day and saw the job opening at the local lube center and decided to go for it. This was her break into the automotive repair business. Later, she tried to get into dealership service departments. She filled out applications for many a position for which she knew she was qualified, but thinks employers had a hard time believing she could really do the job. Week after week she would check back and the job would finally have been filled...by a man.
“It was frustrating. But my current boss knows women can do anything.” Her boss actually recruited her while she shopped at Pep Boys one day. He could tell she could talk the talk with genuine interest, and he gave her a better chance to walk the walk.
At La Costa Limousine, Barbara keeps the fleet in perfect condition for those many special occasions. She does all basic maintenance—brakes, transmission flushes, tires, oil changes, tune-ups, spark plugs. The cars vary in age and condition. Some are new, and some have 170,000 miles on them.
Barbara is so much happier fixing cars than stocking shelves. “I looove getting dirty. I have a great sense of providing real value to people. It’s good karma. And I love being able to fix my own car. I did my own 90,000-mile service. Cost me just $115 in parts!”
Have there been any serious drawbacks? Barbara had to admit, there’s a bit of danger. Scrapes, cuts and bruises are part of the job. “I’m covered in scars.”
Sexual harassment by other mechanics? “Oh, wow. It blows you away. Sometimes I just feel numb and don’t know how to respond” (which is probably the best reaction). “It’s really hard to deal with at times, but I think that some guys are just too gung ho and excited at seeing a girl on the job.” For a little while she attempted to eliminate any attraction factor, so no one would be distracted from doing the job. “I made a conscious effort to looking less feminine so I could just be one of the guys. It was a defense. That didn’t really work. My family said they’d kill me if I cut my hair. It just takes time.”
Customers can be surprised at having a female mechanic. “I remember one guy saying ‘What would you know, you’re just a little girl’.” Another time, while changing an oil filter at the lube center, “an older gent saw me under the car and asked my boss, ‘Is that a girl working on my car?’ My boss was right there with ‘Yeah, and she probably knows a lot more about cars than you.’” Women, however, are thrilled to have a female mechanic. I’ve spoken to several who feel that they would be more inclined to trust a woman not to gouge them on auto repairs. Barbara sees plenty of opportunity to make extra money in the future, repairing cars on the side.
Barbara is first to admit a woman needs a thick skin to do the job. “It’s not for the faint of heart.” Patience is important, too. Women auto technicians are a rarity, and they have to prove themselves to get ahead. “I’m pretty talkative, maybe too much, and I get along well with others. I think that’s important for a girl who wants to do this.”
The best job is not always the easiest job. For Barbara, it’s been worth the trouble. “It can be tough, but I know this is right for me. I have a passion for it. The more I get into it, the more I like it.”
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