After working in the service department at Balmoral Park Acura in Thunder Bay, Ont., for only four days, Crystal Campbell-Frost already feels like it could be her forever home.
“I’m trying to find that place where I can stay 20, 30 years. I’m hoping this is it,” Campbell-Frost said.
“They’re going above and beyond to make me feel comfortable here. I can’t say enough good things about them.”
Campbell-Frost has worked in the industry for about 12 years, taking on various positions in Thunder Bay. She likes the emphasis Acura puts on training for its automotive technicians — something she values highly herself.
“With the changes in the industry right now, if you don’t keep up, it’s easy to fall behind,” she said.
Technology is always changing, and especially so now with the shift to electric vehicles (EVs).
Arriving at Acura wasn’t the easiest of roads, though. Campbell-Frost said she felt behind from the start, though she quickly caught on.
“A lot of people who go into the trade usually grow up with it,” Campbell-Frost said. “They had a dad who brought them into the garage at a young age, or a grampa. I didn’t have any of that, so I was catching up and learning new content.”
Being a woman in a traditionally male field didn’t make the road any easier. Although she personally worked with some great people, Campbell-Frost said that she has heard of some places that didn’t quite know how to adapt to a woman in the service centre.
“I think things have been changing since I’ve been in the trade,” Campbell-Frost said. “Some shops are excited for me when I walk in.”
Even so, she’s come across some uncomfortable situations and some old-school thinking. Campbell-Frost said that was true of customers, too, telling the service manager that they didn’t want a woman working on their cars.
Knowing what she knows now, would she still choose a career in automotive?
“I would do it again, for sure,” she said. “It gets a lot easier once you have your ticket (Red Seal certification). Once you get your licence, you are taken more seriously.
“It’s a hard field to get into, regardless if you’re a woman.”
Campbell-Frost encourages other women to consider a career in automotive, too.
“We need more women in the trade,” she said. “We think differently…. Having a woman who has a different perspective, it could bring in new ideas. It’s nice to have a balance.”
Campbell-Frost’s love of cars grew from a different part of the automotive industry: car shows.
“I had been going to car shows from as early as I can remember, begging my parents to take me to see those cool, classic cars,” she said.
However, automotive never occurred to her as a career because all she saw were “big, burly men” working on the cars.
After high school, there was an expectation for her to go into science at university, she said. Campbell-Frost said she tried, but it didn’t work out.
“I took psychology, but I quit the first year. I didn’t find myself interested it. My dad’s wife — the kindest lady in the world — suggested I take automotive.”
Campbell-Frost enrolled in Confederation College’s one-year Motive Power Techniques – Automotive program. As it turned out, that was the easy part.
Apprenticeships are difficult to secure, and many shops didn’t offer the experience Campbell-Frost was looking for.
Seniority within each workplace also dictates when you can start apprenticing. She worked for one of her profs for a year while waiting for an apprenticeship opportunity. Even when you get into your first year of apprenticeship, you still need to apply for each of the other two years, and there are no guarantees.
“It takes persistence. If you’re lucky, you can get your ticket in three years. But there are only 22 spots for everyone, so it’s important to get (your application) in as quickly as possible each year.”
Magazines and organizations have given Campbell-Frost recognition for her achievements in automotive.
“I’ve had people say that their granddaughter wants to go into it, but she’s nervous. Or, if I go to the college, female students will say, ‘Oh cool — she’s licensed.’
“I wish I would have seen at least one (woman). I never saw a single female when I was going into the field. Not one,” she said.
Now that Campbell-Frost has become the role model she never had, more women are bound to follow.
