Like many young people, after graduating high school, Jamie Coffman enrolled in college. The computer technology industry was booming back in 2000, so she decided to enroll in classes to help her become a web support specialist. “Life happened” Jamie explained. It just wasn’t a good time for her to try and focus on school and she dropped out.
A little later she went back for psychology, that wasn’t quite the right fit. Then she thought maybe nutrition would be good. She liked health and fitness but there was a lot of chemistry and science in that degree path which she didn’t find so interesting, so she stepped back from continuing her education.
In 2017 Jamie’s brother was in a motorcycle accident and he passed away. Jamie and her brother were very close, and she was really struggling with his loss. She went to live with her aunt and uncle to relieve some of the stress of everyday life and focus on processing her grief. Her aunt was a retired counselor, and her uncle was one of three uncles she grew up with that were drag racers and had hot rods. As a child, she loved watching them work on the cars and was very inquisitive about what they were doing.
While at her family’s home, she helped her uncle in the garage, and she felt her fascination with cars returning. One day her brakes locked up on her own car. She had to call her uncle for help. She remembered feeling helpless and a little scared. This was the moment she started thinking about a job in automotive. She believed it was time to give school another try and find a career she could really love. She told her aunt and uncle she wanted to enroll in the automotive technology program at Metro Community College in South Omaha. They were both supportive of her decision, so in 2019 she did it!
Jamie was in awe of the program. The second year she was there, Metro opened the new Automotive Technology building. They had all kinds of brand-new equipment for the students to use. One of her last two courses was in transmissions. As part of her learning, her class had groups of students inspect, remove, disassemble, and reassemble 4L60 transmissions in class. They then got to put it on the dyno and watch how it worked. For Jamie, that moment was magical, it was the coolest thing to watch all that was happening inside the transmission on the computer screen.
Up until this point, Jamie had procrastinated buying tools and fulfilling the on-the-job internship part of the graduation requirements. She wasn’t sure what career in the auto industry was for her. Luke Heppner, from Certified Transmission, spoke to the class towards the end of the transmission course. She knew of Certified because her instructor worked for them, and they seemed to have a good reputation. The transmission instructor became Jamie’s mentor, and he encouraged her to go talk to Luke, so she did.
Luke told Jamie about an open dyno tech position. That was it! This was her dream job. She couldn’t wait to get started. She went through Certified’s training program and now at 42 years old, Jamie said she finally found what makes her happy. She commented that the team at Certified is super supportive of her. She is the only female out of 12 dyno techs on staff. She mentioned they do have one female builder, and a couple females in the solenoid testing department that she sees at times.
Certified has offered to let Jamie learn to build but she just loves the variations of the different units she gets to see on the dyno. Watching the internal pressures and listening to the shifts of each unit she checks out is more satisfying. There’s nowhere else she would want to be.
Jamie shared that being a female going through an automotive program was tough at times, especially during covid and the shutdowns. She added that she was really lucky to have had another female that went through the course with her. They were able to study and help each other along the way. Jamie said that was a big reason why she made it through.
If she had been the only female, it may have been more of a struggle. You worry if people will take you seriously because you’re a girl, but when you’re not the only one, you have someone to share this feeling with and support you, even lift you up when you need it.
Many people in Jamie’s shoes may have gotten frustrated and quit school, settled for the daily grind after three attempts at college. She thinks it’s fate that brought her back in this direction. 
She loved cars when she was younger but just did not see it as an option for her. I admire her drive and her ability to never give up. Congratulation Jamie! We are glad to have you in the industry and to share your story to encourage other women to follow their dreams of automotive repair too.
If you are a woman that would like to participate in AWiA or you have an amazing woman builder, or technician at your shop that has a special story, please feel free to contact me at Tiffany@AmazingWiA.com.
