Driven to Empower: The Woman Behind Car Talk 4 Girls🚧👩🏽‍🔧

From Country Bumpkin to Towing Pro: My Journey Through Grease, Grit, and Gears ⚙🛠

 

Hey there, and welcome! If you’ve ever looked under your car’s hood and thought, “What in the world am I looking at?”—you’re in the right place.

 

Let me introduce myself: I grew up in the dusty pines of LaPine, Oregon—where being a country bumpkin wasn’t just a label, it was a lifestyle. Out there, we didn’t wait for help—we were the help. At just seven years old, I was elbows-deep in oil changes on the family tractor and the old work truck. By age nine, I was tuning up a '68 GMC long bed and learning the hard way that spark plug wires on a V-8? Yeah... they need to be changed one at a time. (Trust me, that's a mistake you only make once.)

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Fast forward a few years, and I’ve become more than just someone who knows their way around an engine—I’m a walking encyclopedia of auto repair knowledge, and now, I’m here to pass that wisdom on to you. Whether you can already name all the parts of a distributor and/or the major components of what makes your motor run; or you just nodded your head pretending you knew what I was talking about, this blog is for you. My mission? To demystify cars and give you the confidence to handle whatever roadside surprises come your way.

 

How a Toyota, a Head Gasket, and a Stubborn Manager Sparked My Automotive Journey.

 

 Let’s rewind to 1994! 💾

 

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​I’d graduated high school in ’92, done a bit of traveling, and tried my hand at life in Washington D.C. It didn’t

take long to realize that growing up in the country hadn’t exactly prepared me for big city living. Within a year, I was back home — jobless, nearly broke, and no longer bankrolled by my parents. I had some office       experience and had worked as a receptionist for a large company, but I dreaded the idea of spending my days  behind a desk, stuck in uncomfortable clothes and makeup.

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Then came Walmart. I landed a job in their Tire Lube Express (TLE) department — stocking shelves and working the checkout counter. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was a start. One day, an older couple brought in their well-worn ’80s Toyota sedan. They were gifting it to their granddaughter for graduation and wanted everything done — new tires, a fresh battery, oil change, you name it. We were short-staffed, so I jumped in, pulled the car into the bay, and started the oil change myself.

That’s when everything changed.

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As I pulled the drain plug, oil poured out — along with water droplets. My heart sank. This wasn’t just routine maintenance; this car had a blown head gasket. I flagged down my manager to report what I found. Instead of thanking me for catching the

issue, he snapped, “Why the hell were you in the pit? I don’t pay you to get dirty!”

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I didn’t miss a beat. “Maybe not, but I can do the work — and you clearly weren’t willing to get your hands dirty.” Then I walked out to find that couple and give them the honest news about their car.

That moment didn’t just mark the end of a shift — it marked the beginning of a path I didn’t even know I was on yet.

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Now let's fast-forward to 1997 ✨

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At the time, I was working at an answering service in Bend, Oregon, handling late-night calls and random emergencies—including those for a company called Consolidated Towing. One night, a call came in about an overturned semi, and I dialed the on-call manager, Lori. My shift was ending, but I couldn’t resist asking if there was anything I could do to help out at the scene. “Do you know how to be a flagger?” she asked.

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I didn’t even know that was a real job, let alone that it required certification. But when she asked if I’d come out and help direct traffic, I said “yes” without hesitation and made the 45-mile trek into the freezing high desert night. There, I met her—no, not Lori (though she’s important too)—I mean the truck. A massive, double-boomed Kenworth tow truck called The Happy Hooker, and yes, she was every bit the powerhouse her name suggested. That night changed everything. Just a few days later, the phone rang again. It was Lori—this time, not with a wreck to work, but with a job offer.

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That phone call kicked off two incredible years at Consolidated, where I learned how to dispatch, process impound liens, and—most importantly—how tow trucks really work. Eventually, I moved to Washington and kept working in the towing industry. I dispatched for AAA, absorbing everything I could on methods of towing, assisting members roadside, and forging a new pathway; becoming a woman tow truck operator in the great city of Seattle.

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I left AAA to take on a dispatching/liens processor role for a smaller outfit in south Seattle. One day, during a hectic shift, we got a police call with no driver available. I told the boss, “I’ll go.” She hesitated—after all, I hadn’t officially driven a truck for the company before. But I knew I could do it. And I did. Successfully. That first solo recovery lit a fire in me. I was going to be a driver. I started riding with experienced operators during my off-hours, picking up tips, tricks, and hands-on skills from the best. From wheel-lifts to flatbeds, I trained myself to handle it all. I'll make other posts and explain how a 5' 4" woman gets those dollies set and how to reverse the winch on a flatbed - work smarter, not harder, right?

 

And now? I’m here to pay it forward. Whether you’re a total newbie or you’ve got some wrench time under your belt, this blog is here to make car knowledge accessible, understandable, and maybe even fun. So stick around—we’ll cover everything from basic maintenance to behind-the-scenes of the towing world. You’ll laugh, you’ll learn, and you just might fall in love with engines the way I did.

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Buckle up—it's gonna be a great ride. 🚗💨