MACON, Ga. — Every week during Women's History Month, we're celebrating all things women!
This week, we're recognizing Macon-Bibb County's first and only female mechanic, Abi Brown.
"In a lot of mechanic shops, if they think you don't know what you're talking about, they will give you whatever work they think they can and it may not address the problem you brought it in for," said Brown.
That's what happened to her years ago when she took her car in to get checked.
"The final straw for me was when I had a Saturn. I ended up getting a pinhole poked into one of my cooling lines to my radiator. Instead of them actually replacing the hose that had the hole in it, they took JB Weld, plugged the hole, and charged me $250," said Brown.
Her dad had to remake a hose for the car and they put it back together.
"Working with him really showed me how simple it was. Once you understand the systems, it works a lot like anatomy. The same parts kind of translate across a little bit of everything. It was a lot less intimidating than I ever thought it was going to be. Putting my hands on it, everything just clicked," she said.
It was so simple she decided to make a living out of vehicle maintenance and she's been in the field for five years.
She's now employed as Macon-Bibb County's first and only woman mechanic, and she loves every minute of it.
"Obviously a little proud. I think it's a little surprising, weirdly enough I didn't come in thinking that it would be of any significance, but people definitely aren't used to seeing it. If I got a nickel for every time someone says, 'You do what now?' but I really enjoy it. I've been in a couple of shops; this is the first one that I've been in where the guys feel like family right off of the bat," she said.
She wants to continue setting an example for women who want to break barriers.
"You're going to get a lot of funny looks, but that's really with anything that people aren't used to seeing. Life is way too short to hold yourself to societal expectations or anything else. If it makes you happy dude, do it," said Brown.
She says she feels very accomplished, and she loves having the power to put her hands on cars and leave them better than how they came in.