Only 9% of automotive repair and maintenance employees are women. Bogi Lateiner is here to change that.
Bogi owns Girl Gang Garage and hosts “All Girls Garage” on Motor Trend Network. In September, she hosted an all-female build at West-MEC’s Northeast Campus.
“It’s a cool, powerful thing to bring all these women together and show what women are capable of when we put our minds behind something,” said Bogi. “We are showing what women can do in the industry and it’s not to exclude men but it’s to include women.”
Women from all experience levels were welcome to join the build, and even some West-MEC students had the opportunity to participate during their class hours. This is the third build Bogi and Girl Gang Garage have done, and this time they refurbished a 1961 Volvo PV544.
But, the team is not just restoring the vehicle, but they are completely overhauling it. They are body swapping it with a 2019 Volvo S60 Hybrid, which means they are taking all of the technology of a modern vehicle, and cramming it into the much smaller shell of the 1961 vehicle. Bogi and her team are calling the car the Iron Maven and are unveiling the completed build at the SEMA show in Las Vegas in early November.
“It’s such an absurd, crazy build that it will turn heads no matter where we take it,” said Bogi. “And that’s the point. Every time someone asks about it we get to have a conversation about women in trades and the trade deficit in general. We could fix the trade deficit if we just spoke to the other 50% of the population - women.”
Bogi and Girl Gang Garage reached out to West-MEC to finish the build and use the state-of-the-art facilities West-MEC has to offer. In return, the female Automotive Technology students got the opportunity to help during their class hours.
Having the opportunity to participate in an all-female build is a unique and fulfilling experience for girls of all ages because it shows they belong in the trade industry. Oftentimes, women never get a chance to work with another woman in the automotive industry, let alone work with an all-female team.
Not to mention, having the hands-on experience of participating in an auto build is a fantastic learning opportunity for the West-MEC students, who worked hard when they got a chance to help.
“They were so enthusiastic and awesome. Every one of those girls got on board and were so excited,” said Bogi. “The girls in the afternoon class stayed long until after class was over. They were just learning it and loving it.”
Bogi also couldn’t believe the facilities that West-MEC had to offer.
“It was just a really great event. I had visited West-MEC last year and I knew this was a perfect space for this because it’s a phenomenal space,” said Bogi. “All of us pros were so jealous, and this is a school. What I would’ve done to have a place like West-MEC back then.”
