Only on ABC-7: Business owner proves auto shops aren’t just for men

Texas Gov. Anne Richards once said, “Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels.”

The saying emphasizes that women can do what is usually deemed “men’s work” just as well as their male counterparts.

El Pasoan Annette Hernandez is a good example of that.

Hernandez likes to get her hands dirty. She has been fixing vehicles for 18 years, ever since she took a job at a body shop as a part-time secretary.

“I just fell in love with the business,” Hernandez told ABC-7. “I fell in love with working on cars, and working with people, most of all.”

She doesn’t just work on cars.

Hernandez is the owner of Streamline Auto & Cycle Collision in East El Paso. The job title sometimes left her feeling like many of the cars on which she works.

“(Customers) would walk in and they would be like, ‘Can I speak to the manager?'” Hernandez said. But when offering to help, Hernandez told ABC-7 that, all too often, customers would respond that they wanted to speak to a man.

“They (would) give me a hard time and I would explain to them, ‘Let’s go outside and maybe you can tell me if I know what I’m doing.’ And the ones who challenged me have been customers since the day I met them,” Hernandez said.

The body shop owner also said she hit road blocks when dealing with employees, too.

“There were many men who quit on me because they just didn’t like a woman telling them what to do,” Hernandez said.

Nearly 10 years later, Hernandez hardly encounters either of those issues. Her shop manager, Mark Valdez, is the one who contacted ABC-7 to share his admiration for his boss.

After two years of working at the shop, Valdez told ABC-7 that he realized quickly the hurdles Hernandez had to overcome working in a male-dominated field.

“Customers have no idea that she knows what she’s talking about, and she knows everything about a car,” Valdez said. “I think it’s pretty difficult for her to be taken seriously, just because they’re expecting a man.”

Valdez said he has worked in auto shops his entire career, and has not had a female boss before. He admitted to ABC-7 that he wasn’t sure what to expect.

“I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for her because of what she does here,” Valdez said. “She’s actually out here lifting up cars herself, taking off tires, writing her own estimates, and calling for parts.”

According to the Better Business Bureau website, Streamline has been an accredited business since 2009. The standards to obtain accreditation include “a commitment to make a good faith effort to resolve any consumer complaints,” according to the website. It also states that BBB accredited businesses pay a fee for accreditation review and monitoring, and for support of BBB services to the public.

Hernandez credited her team with the shop’s success.

“Anybody can do this. It’s just not being scared, and challenging yourself and knowing you can do it,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez is now exposing her daughter to the ins and outs of the auto shop business, employing her eldest during her summer break.

“I want her to learn the business, and if she likes it, then perfect. If she doesn’t, I have two more to go through,” she said, laughing.

Hernandez is one of hundreds of women — and men — who are participating in a business symposium titled “Dancing Backwards in High Heels.”

The symposium is organized by the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and is being held Thursday at the Wyndham El Paso Airport Hotel.

Click here for more information about the symposium.