For International Women’s Day 2024, we interviewed each of our women at CCM. To learn more about them, their past and how they find working in this automotive arena.
Meet Sharon, our confident Service Advisor with a natural gift for conversation! A finalist at the Top Service Advisor Awards, her friendly nature makes her a pleasure to work with. Stay tuned for Sharon’s interview and discover the woman behind the warm smiles!
Watch the video of all our lovely ladies below, or read Sharon’s transcript below.
Sharon, tell me a bit about yourself.
Hi I’m Sharon, I’m 38 years old and I’ve been with CCM now for two years as the service advisor over at Ewhurst.
And what did you dream of doing when you were a little girl?
Originally, I had dreams of being one of the amazing cabin crew. Unfortunately, back in the day before security kind of took over, I was taken by one of them onto an aircraft and had a massive great big panic attack and it kind of killed those dreams. Then I wanted to become a teacher but then doing some work experience I realized I don’t have the patience to deal with little people! So it was always going to be sort of customer service and that’s what I’ve ended up doing so I’m very lucky to do my dream job.
Do you find it difficult to get involved or integrate yourself in such a male-dominated field?
I’m very lucky that I have always worked in more male-dominated jobs whether it be in retail which, once you get up to a certain level, managers tend to be more male than female. I’ve worked at the airport which unless you’re kind of in the customer service jobs like check-in cabin crew, those sort of things, they’re all mostly male dominated when you go airside so fitting in here it’s actually quite pleasant because they are at least a lot more accepting of women and we’re very lucky with Tina who actively encourages us.
Do you feel supported in your career goals here?
Definitely. Tina is an amazing manager and if you’ve got an idea of what you want to kind of achieve then she will do whatever she can in her power to go and help push us along and encourage us.
Have you heard of International Women's Day before?
I have and usually, the male groans and complaints that go along with it! But, this is the first workplace where it is actively celebrated and made more of an effort with.
Do you have any women in your life who inspire you?
My sister-in-law and my mother-in-law are probably two great big influences at the moment. My mother-in-law Charlotte is an amazing woman. She has raised some amazing kids, and she has not had the best year but she’s proven that you can still have a smile on your face and not let it get to you which is a huge thing. My sister-in-law, again, is a high-profile manager for a company over in Ireland and she has decided that her new passion is ultra marathons. You put your mind to anything, you can go and achieve it! They are huge inspirations for me
Have you faced any barriers in your career due to being a woman?
I know that previously when I was at the airport I did. Again, it comes down to the fact that they’re not expecting to see a woman working on the ramp so a lot of the pilots and engineers would automatically direct their questions to my partners that I was working with, rather than realizing that they’re not gonna get anything done if they don’t talk to me! But here at least, it’s not so much of a problem because we do have a lot of strong women. Not just here at CCM, but also within the industry that makes a lot more things happen. So it’s not so bad here, but I know previously I have had the difficulties.
This year's International Women's Day theme is #InspireInclusion. What does this mean to you?
For me, inclusion is the inclusions about having empathy so we can all flourish together. It’s not just about whether you’re male, female or anything like that. Without that humanity is not going to survive. If we all have our differences, we just have to accept each other. We all have our strengths. We all have our differences. But that’s what makes us unique. What makes it great is especially in a team working environment because we all have different things to bring to the table.
What advice would you give to someone who wanted to start a career in automotive?
If that’s what you want to do go for it! It doesn’t matter whether it’s automotive or anything else, if that’s what you truly have a passion about you are going to be one of the biggest strengths that a company can have because without that passion and drive you won’t achieve anything. It doesn’t matter that you’re female or male, especially nowadays, if anything, I find that women are a lot more patient and a lot more thorough. They can go and give a little bit something different to to looking at and fixing a vehicle.