This Female-Led Auto Shop Offers Nail And Hair Care Too While You Wait For Car
The Girls Auto Clinic is a revolutionary business idea that combines auto repair services with self-care, empowering a new generation of self-sufficient women.
Patrice Banks is the founder and CEO of the perhaps one-of-a-kind all-female automotive repair shop in Upper Banks on the outskirts of Philadelphia. The Girls Auto Clinic founder is an engineer and mechanic who left her six-figure job at DuPont to open the auto clinic. She aimed to create a safe space for women to obtain car care services and learn more about car repair, the automobile industry being a predominantly male one. The addition of the 'Clutch Beauty Bar' as an addendum to the GAC has made the space even more inclusive.
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The inspiration
Banks had reportedly never felt comfortable visiting auto shops, for the fear of harassment and almost always being overcharged. She was inspired by many other women she knew who felt the same way, and after accumulating enough experience by volunteering at mechanic shops in Philly and enrolling in a night class, she founded the GAC in 2013.
She told the Int. Business Times, ''I was tired of feeling helpless and having to go talk to a guy. I was afraid I was going to be taken advantage of.''
The GAC evolved into an establishment with some pretty interesting business strategies with the addition of the Clutch Beauty Clinic. The customers could get mani-pedis and get hair and nailcare services while waiting for their car to be repaired, in addition to free Wi-fi snacks, beverages, and a wide variety of books to read.
''The first thing I did when my car broke down was call a man. I didn't feel empowered, that's when I decided that we needed to change these norms and change the story,'' she said in a post on the organization's Instagram page. ''Cars are for women, and we need to learn how to take care of them and feel good about the choices we make.''
The Girls Auto Clinic
Their all-female repair team not only offers car repair services but also explains the reasons behind the faults in the automobile and the process by which they service, breeding a new generation of ''sheCANics'', a term Banks also uses to describe herself.
They also offer car care memberships, education classes, and hands-on monthly workshops for women so that they can become self-sufficient and not have to depend on anyone.
Patrice is thus one of the first women to change the face of the industry itself, breeding a new generation of independent women who can change a tyre and practice oil changes without depending on anyone. She proves that workforce equality can be brought about with perfect hair too, completely breaking down the double standards associated with the auto repair industry.
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