![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.westerndriver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Ronita-Chandra-OK-Tire-Burnaby-Kingsway-BC.jpg\")
Ronita Chandra, OK Tire Burnaby Kingsway, BC<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n How can the industry promote more female inclusion in your workforce? What do you feel are the biggest roadblocks for women in the auto industry? Sandra Shaw, OK Tire Invermere, BC<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n I believe the biggest roadblock for women in the automotive industry is the stereotype.\u00a0 Often as a female, customers do not want to \u2018talk shop\u2019 with me.\u00a0 \u201cCan I talk to one of the guys\u201d is the most common question I get even if it is to just book an appointment.\u00a0<\/em>\u2013<\/strong> Sandra Shaw, OK Tire Invermere, BC<\/p>\n What advice would you give women looking to enter the field? Lisa Davis, OK Tire Watson, SK.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n What has been your approach to disrupting a very established industry? Dana Douthwright, OK Tire Quispamsis, NB<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n In your opinion, what steps are needed to ensure women are active in the automotive and technology industry? Traditionally, the automotive industry has been known to be male-dominated but as cultures progress into the future, there has been a tremendous growth in gender diversity. With International Women\u2019s Day being celebrated on March 8, 2019, some of OK Tire\u2019s many female experts across Canada were asked to share a few of their top tipsRead Full Story<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,153],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-news","category-ok-tires"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westerndriver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westerndriver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westerndriver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westerndriver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westerndriver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11815"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.westerndriver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11820,"href":"https:\/\/www.westerndriver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11815\/revisions\/11820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westerndriver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westerndriver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westerndriver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>Have more educational information available for females in the industry.\u00a0If you haven’t taken a program in the field, it can be hard to find things to read up on for someone new to the industry. I also find that when they have trade shows or job fairs there aren\u2019t many women present.\u00a0You just never know,\u00a0having\u00a0a female\u00a0at the booths may open up people\u2019s minds\u00a0because someone may walk by and say, “Wow!\u00a0I never thought of that as an option.\u201d<\/em> \u2013 <\/strong>Ronita Chandra, OK Tire Burnaby Kingsway, BC<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.westerndriver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Sandra-Shaw-OK-Tire-Invermere-BC.jpg\")
\n<\/strong>My advice to women in the trade or thinking of going into the trade is: Don’t Be Afraid of The Trade.<\/em> Everyone says that it is harder for women because it\u2019s a man\u2019s career and a man\u2019s job but in all honesty, it\u2019s ours as much as it is theirs.<\/em> \u2013 Chelsey Hattum, OK Tire Moosomin, SK<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.westerndriver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Lisa-Davis-OK-Tire-Watson-SK..jpg\")
\n<\/strong>I have been very fortunate that our staff are a young team of males\u00a0that have been brought up in the modern day.\u00a0I am proud to say that we have young, knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff and they are always willing to help or answer any questions I may have and vice versa.\u00a0 It\u2019s a give and take world that we live in.<\/em> \u2013 Lisa Davis, OK Tire Watson, SK.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.westerndriver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Dana-Douthwright-OK-Tire-Quispamsis-NB.jpg\")
\n<\/strong>It\u2019s important for women in this industry to not be intimidated and be confident in their abilities. It\u2019s also important for women to be able to speak to the male customer in such a way that he doesn’t feel intimated that the female service advisor knows more about his vehicle than he does. It sometimes makes the male customer uncomfortable that a female knows more about cars than he does because it isn’t as typical. Open and honest communication is key. <\/em>\u2013<\/strong> Dana Douthwright, OK Tire Quispamsis, NB<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"