Pat Ayers, one of our ATRA Board members, recently approached me, telling me he had seen the women’s articles in GEARS Magazine. He told me about a very impressive young lady he had hired in his facility. She’d been with his company for almost a year and came to him after serving in the military.
Tamera Kitchens is originally from Georgia and served in the Navy for 8 years. As a child, Tamera’s father owned a knife shop. In 2012, they went to a blade show, where she met a man who introduced her to making mini knives, a hobby she hopes to do on the side again someday.
Her first year in the Navy was spent working on a ship as a maintenance mechanic in the engineering spaces. Her performance was so remarkable that she was promoted to the oil lab, in charge of testing and transferring fuel throughout the ship. She was one of the very few females in this division. She described her time in the military overall as pleasant. She was treated well and well respected.
Tamera was stationed in California for about a month, then was placed on a 10 1/2 month deployment. Not long after her deployment, she was stationed in Washington, where she remained for 2 years before being stationed in Jacksonville, Florida. She visited many countries during her time in the military, but her favorite location she saw was Australia. Once her time in the military was over, she planned to return to Washington. Life intervened, as it sometimes does. She faced losing someone very dear to her, which changed everything, so she decided to remain in Jacksonville.
Most people believe when you leave the military, you have lots of training and education to move forward in life, succeed, and find a great career. This was not Tamera’s experience. With little support in her transition from military to civilian, she felt the Navy didn’t see her as their responsibility anymore. There was no job placement assistance and little guidance on what she would do next.
Tamera lined up a job at Wal-Mart’s distribution center, but that didn’t work out. A friend told her about American Transmission. They knew someone who recently got hired there. She had no previous experience with automotive repair, but she needed a job and enjoyed working with her hands. So why not give transmission building a try?
Tamera applied at American Transmission and initially got no response. When she did not hear back, she decided to follow up. Tamera felt it would be best to go in person to the office to inquire about the position she had applied for. That’s when Pat Ayers, at American Transmission, came out to greet Tamera. Tamera and Pat chatted and reviewed her application. 
At this point, Pat agreed to interview her for the job as a transmission builder in the shop.
Tamera showed up for her interview cautiously optimistic. She’d been without work since leaving the military in April, and it was now July. Pat ended up hiring Tamera on the spot. When she got back into her car, she was overwhelmed with emotion, and her eyes welled up with tears. She was so happy and incredibly grateful. Things finally started looking up. At once, she started googling “Transmission Building” She was ready to start the next chapter of her life.
Tamera has learned to build almost all Dodge transmissions and even Hondas. She stated that she really enjoys Hondas because of all the small parts. “There are a lot of pieces to pay attention to, and I enjoy the challenge.”
She feels like part of a family at American Transmission. When asked, Tamera said that she would definitely recommend the automotive industry to other women coming out of the military looking for work. Tamera has found a place where she’s respected and appreciated for all her talents and has an opportunity to use them.
Unfortunately, Tamera’s struggle to find work with her mechanical experience is not unusual. I’ve spoken with several ladies who have had similar experiences and have been told to find different types of work or go back to school for a degree in something else.
During my time with AWiA, we have visited with the Department of Veteran Affairs and have been trying to work with them on recruiting ladies for the automotive industry. Each state has a separate office to coordinate with instead of one centralized system that disburses resources. Hence, coordination for a nationwide group like ours is complex, but it’s in the works. If you’re interested in helping place talented young ladies like Tamera, contact your state office and let them know you want to recruit ladies with mechanical training.
If you’re a woman who would like to participate in AWiA or have an amazing woman builder or technician at your shop, we’d love to share her story. Please feel free to contact me at Tiffany@AmazingWiA.com.
