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Driven To Success
PAT R I C E B A N K S
The #sheCANic Creating Her Own Lane In The Auto Industry
MADE BY ASHLEY WHITE
PHOTO CREDIT:
Girls Auto Clinic
Did you know that women are the #1
customers in the automotive industry and spend
more than $200 billion per year on buying
and servicing their vehicles? What’s even more
alarming is 77% of women feel misunderstood
by automakers and taken advantage of by
mechanics. Insert Patrice Banks and here’s how
she’s disrupting the auto industry…
Patrice Banks didn’t grow up loving cars. In
fact, no one in her home even owned a car.
“I was raised by a single mom and we didn’t
have a car. She would walk to work, we would
walk to school,” explains the Phoenixville,
Pennsylvania native. Banks notes that growing
up in her household was rough and she didn’t
have many role models, but that didn’t stop her
from seeing that there was something greater in
store for her.
Banks had desires of leaving her often abusive
surroundings and worked hard to make that
happen. “I purchased a car when I was 16.
My grandfather taught me how to drive and
I worked three jobs in high school to pay for
the insurance,” says Banks. “It really was a
lot of self-determination, perseverance and
knowing that if I work hard now, it’s going
to pay off later.” Ironically her car took her to
places (literally and figuratively) that she once
dreamed about. “I was more empowered with
my car to put myself out there. I drove to Texas
and worked as an intern one summer. I ended
up going to Lehigh University for engineering
and I paid my way through school. The car was
a tool that helped me escape. It gave me the
freedom I needed to save myself.”
After graduating, Banks landed a well-paying
job as an engineer at DuPont. “I was very
empowered. I had this car and the whole world
ahead of me.” After 10 years at DuPont, she was
ready for something new and she knew she
wanted to give back. She initially had the idea
to start a book club alternative where a group
of women would meet monthly to learn skills
women typically pay men for—from unclogging
a drain to investing money.
Banks started to explore the possibility of
switching careers and anytime Banks had
the opportunity to network with women, she
always asked: “What do you wish you knew
about that you usually have to pay men to take
care of?” Majority of the responses revolved
around cars. Most women, including Banks,
wanted to learn more about their cars as they
didn’t feel good when they left the car shop
or they didn’t know what to do in case of an
emergency.
It dawned on Banks that she could take
her love for math and science and her
understanding of complex manufacturing
equipment and meet a need that would help so
many women including herself.
After finding that there were only five
searchable female mechanics in the US, Banks
enrolled at Delaware Technical Community
College as a student in automotive technology.
After working a full day at DuPont, she would
take night classes where she was the only
woman in her classes. That alone served as
motivation.
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