Bogi Lateiner

Bogi Lateiner

Founder


180º Automotive/Bogi's Garage

Phoenix, AZ USA


People told me I couldn’t be a mechanic because I’m a girl. Don’t let anyone tell you your dreams aren’t good enough or they’re not the right dreams to have. If something is your passion, do it.

Videos

By Roadtrip Nation

Bogi Lateiner

Milestones

My road in life took a while to figure out.
Was originally on a path to go to law school—had a senior advisor once ask her, “Why do you want to go to law school?”, and she didn’t have an answer.
She knew at that moment that academia was never going to be enough for her and she needed to do something different.
Has always had an obsession with Volkswagen Beetles; started reading VW magazines to learn more about them, but she was bothered by the objectified representation of women in auto magazines.
Says she got frustrated by being treated like “a dumb little girl” every time she would bring in her car to be fixed—took it as a personal challenge to learn mechanics so she could fix it herself.
Early on, she was more interested in proving a point—that women could do it too—eventually, that grew into a genuine love for the auto industry and she now is a passionate advocate for the field.
She constantly encounters negativity; says people either don’t believe a woman should be in the industry or they think she is too smart to just be a mechanic.
Her main goal was to create an environment that was “180º different from what people expected from the automotive experience.”
She now runs her own auto shop, is an industry recognized coach, is master certified, and hosts her own national television show, All Girls Garage.
Keep following my journey

Career

Founder

I am a professional mechanic, owner of 180º Automotive shop and host of the tv show, “All Girls Garage”.

Career Roadmap

Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Engineering
Entrepreneurship
Upholding a Cause and Belief

Day to Day

My days are spent conducting the various tasks associated with running your own auto shop. The idea behind my shop was to create an experience for customers that was 180º different from what they expect from an auto shop, so my days are spent constantly trying to ensure we live up to that standard. Other days, we could be filming episodes of "All Girls Garage" which adds to the hectic days.

Advice for Getting Started

Here's the first step for high school students

Dream wildly and then go for it! Read all of the magazines, articles, research, etc. that you can in order to introduce yourself to the industry and get familiar with its different aspects. Challenge yourself to learn a new skill as a mechanic or to complete a particular task.

Hurdles

The Noise I Shed

From Society in General:

"You're smart and a girl, why would you want to be an auto mechanic?"

Challenges I Overcame

School Stress