Bianca Timbers is one of a rare group of female mechanics in a heavily male dominated industry.
According to the Motor Trades Association of Australia there are 984 female mechanics, 600 of them are qualified, 384 are apprentices, but together that number represents just less than one per cent of the entire industry.
Starting her own mechanical workshop True Revolution Automotive with her husband Jarred, the business is a true revolution with Bianca on the tools and Jarred on the books.
But there are quite a few new customers who don't realise that.
“Especially if I'm already in the office,” Timbers said to SBS.
“Or if I answer the phone and they say 'can I speak to a mechanic?' Or 'can I speak to a tech?' or again face-to-face 'oh, so is there a mechanic around that I can talk to?' and once you say, 'yeah, I am and this is my business' (laughter) it makes them step back a little and go 'oh, sorry!'"
While working as a mechanic is something that Bianca had always dreamed of doing, it has been far from an easy road, being laughed at when she called workshops asking for an apprenticeship when she was living in Sydney.
Although she found a mechanic who didn’t see her gender as an issue, her course at TAFE was another matter – she was the only girl in her class and the boys didn’t let her forget she wasn’t welcome in their world.
“They would sort of shun you away more than anything, choose not to talk to you and if they did it wasn't very nice,” she explained.
Timbers works on a ute. Source: SBS
Achieving Her Goal
Fast forward several years and back home in WA Bianca has achieved her goal of running her own business, with the company growing through word-of-mouth and social media without any other advertising.
And she made sure she and husband Jarred did a Small Business Management Course over nine months to put together a solid business plan.
Meanwhile her role as a female mechanic has proved a bonus in other ways, with Bianca stating that being a woman means she is more empathetic and honest - something that customers appreciate.
Bianca hopes to step back from the tools a little in the coming years as the business improves and hopes to see the number of women in the industry continue to improve.
"I think that at the end of the day if it's something that you enjoy, nothing else should interfere with that," she continued.
"If it's something that you want to do, you just learn to tune them out, zone them out, just concentrate on what you want and go and get it."
Want to find out the secret to small business success? Tune into #BizSecretsSBS at Sundays 5pm on SBS, stream on SBS Demand, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
