the DRIVE TO SUCCEED

Words and Photography by MEAGAN PITTELKO

As a child, Jennifer Larson followed her father around the family farm, helping fix things here and there and admiring her father’s handiness.

“I followed my dad wherever he went,” Larson says. “I wanted to be able to do things with my dad and to have something in common with him.”

It was an easy realization, then, that Larson wanted to be a mechanic, but the road she followed to where she is now was not devoid of a few bumps. She began by following this passion to school, receiving her associate’s degree in automotive technology. She then worked as a technician and, later, as a service advisor before deciding that she wanted more.

It wasn’t easy, though, to be a woman in a typically male-dominated field, Larson says.

“Starting off, it was really difficult,” she says. “I got a lot of customers who didn’t want to talk to me because I was a girl. It took quite a while to establish that rapport. It’s more receptive now though, and I hope people respect me after they realize that I can help them.”

Her advice to young women going into male-dominated fields? Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it. She adds, “If I really want to do something, I set my mind to it. Even if you fall down twelve times, get back up and go for it.”

Lead by her drive to succeed,

Larson began to expand her horizons after more than a decade as a service advisor.

“There just really wasn’t an opportunity for growth,” she says. “I was a service advisor for thirteen years and you kind of get stuck there.”

So Larson decided to pursue another avenue, earning a degree in business management. After graduating and working for two years as parts manager at a dealership in the area, Larson earned the promotion that keeps her occupied today: service manager at Corwin Toyota.

“I currently oversee the entire service department—the service advisors, technicians— and make sure that they’re being productive and taking care of our customers,” Larson says. “Plus, I play peacekeeper and try to make sure that everyone’s a big, happy family. They call me ‘Mom.’” people and succeeding in making them happy is why I do this,” she says. “Plus, the department truly is my family.”

Although Larson says that playing “Mom” to her service department family is something she loves, she admits that, like any job, it can get pretty stressful to keep everyone happy at times. And Larson, who was in the Army National Guard for eight years, is no stranger to stress. The diverse spectrum of people she met as a member of the guard, she says, allows her to connect with a variety of customers.

In the end, Larson believes that if you set a goal and strive for it, you’ll be surprised to find out what you’re capable of doing. And, despite the challenges she had to go through to get to where she is now, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

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