Kat Monteiro

The View From My Offi ce

With Kat Monteiro

Happy Fall Y’All!

I have been enjoying pictures on Facebook from friends who are out enjoying the changing of the season and snapping pictures of all the beau ful colors the trees are producing. It is just so incredible to me! Going back to the East Coast to witness this beauty is on our bucket list. Hoping to make it happen next year. Southern California really doesn’t show us much as the seasons change. The days get shorter, the weather chills off a bit but that is about it. As I write this the Santa Anna winds are blowing and it is 90 degrees outside! Now if you travel up into our local mountains there is some color, or if you go north up into the Sierra Mountains or Yosemite you will see some beau ful color up there, but s ll nothing compared to the pictures I see of the Eastern United States. I am sure all this beauty is bi ersweet for many of you. The hot, humid summer is over, the air is clean and crisp - but wait...winter is right around the corner! Ugg!

We have been busy lately. We took a trip to Benton, Louisiana to visit Rick’s family that lives there. It was such a nice visit and I love spending me at their house which is right on a lake. Rick and John played golf for 6 days and completely wore each other out! But they had a lot of fun and made some great memories.

We also a ended two weddings and a funeral - isn’t that a movie?

The fi rst wedding was for our nephew Jake Monteiro. He married a beau ful girl by the name of Sydney. They held their wedding in Flagstaff , Arizona and it was just beau ful. We spent some good family me together which was so wonderful because we have not seen much of each other over the last few years. Our girls also fl ew in so that made this momma very happy!

The second wedding was here in San Diego for a long me friend, Rich. Rich and Rick used to work together way back in the day at the original Kearny Mesa Dodge, back in the 80s. Rick and Rich were roommates when I came into Rick’s life 35 years ago! We were all roommates ll Rick and I bought our condo and moved out. We have stayed in touch and have remained friends all these years. Rich married Pam, the perfect girl for him. I know they will keep each other entertained for many years to come. Rich has waited so many years to fi nd the perfect woman to marry and he defi nitely found her in Pam. We are so happy for them both.

Then there was the funeral - which really wasn’t a funeral but a Celebra on of Life for the beau ful woman known as Judith Powell - Jack Powell’s wife of 46 years and mother to Jasen and Jasmine. Her health had been declining over these last years and the heavens decided it was me to end her suff ering. It was the most beau ful celebra on with friends and family, a gentleman who played the piano and sang so beau fully he brought tears to my eyes, a DVD of family pictures and Judith’s life playing on the TV, a table of things Judith enjoyed laying out to look at - like jewelry that she had made and photo albums - I think I enjoyed looking through her and Jack’s wedding album the most - the weather was perfect for the late a ernoon and at the end we were graced with a beau ful sunset over the ocean and hot air balloons fl oa ng in the sky. It was a beau ful send off to a woman who cherished her family, and was always so kind and welcoming to me every me I was in her company.

For this issue I was inspired by our last issue of the Mopar Masters Guild Magazine regarding women in the industry. Continued on Page 19

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I want to introduce you all to Kat Freeman. She is an awesome woman who works at our dealership, Jack Powell CDJR. She probably thought I was a li le much when we fi rst met. I got excited when I read her name on her uniform and let her know I was a Kat too! I told her at least I would never forget her name. I do miss her and our conversa ons.

Kat quickly became a force to be reckoned with at Jack Powell. She is a hard worker and really knows her cra . She is really good at diagnos cs. It worked well for the other mechanics because the car would go to her fi rst, she would diagnose the problem, then send it to another mechanic for the repair. So much me was saved. She has been with Dodge for 6 years. In those 6 years she went from star ng out as a lube tech and worked her way up to the job as our shop Foreman - Forewoman! She is so driven to be be er and do be er.

Kat a ended school for Auto and Diesel Mechanics at Universal Technical Ins tute in Rancho Cucamonga, California. She said that there were 3 other women a ending school with her.

When I asked her why she decided to become a mechanic she told me a story about always being with her dad when he was working on cars. She would hand him the tools he asked for. She took up riding dirt bikes and Go Karts and whatever else she could drive or ride. Tinkering on the motors with her dad. Unfortunately her dad passed away and she lost interest in everything and stopped doing all the things she loved to do with her dad. Her uncle became her legal guardian and he gave her her fi rst car. Only thing was it did not run so he told her she needed to fi x it. Since she wanted to drive it, she started working on it and was determined to make it run again. As she was working on this car she discovered how much she liked the challenge of trying to fi gure everything out. She did struggle and did need some help, but she was enjoying the process. A er she fi gured the car out and got it running her uncle told her how good she was with hands-on projects. He told her that her dad would have been so proud of her. A er hearing that she told me something clicked in her head, that this is something she really enjoys, and it’s like a memory of her dad. It is like they are working on stuff together again. (isn’t that a great story!!) Continued on Page 20

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So off to school she went and her dedica on and love for her job and her cra has put her in the posi on she is in now. Her favorite part of her job is diagnosing the cars that we have nowadays. Trying to fi nd an issue, tracing it for days, that challenge, and that relief you feel when you get it fi gured out! She says that she does best with the Hybrid vehicles and electrical concerns. She feels that this industry is really opening up more opportuni es as hybrids and electric vehicles become a bigger part of our everyday life.

As successful as she has been, she will tell you that this industry is a tough one to be in as a woman because it has been a man’s industry for so long. One of her fears she had to overcome was asking for help. Feeling she would be judged harder for doing so. She had to learn that it was ok to ask for help, and with that she grew and became more confi dent. I wonder how she feels now, when the men are asking her for help? I hope she feels proud, because she has worked hard to become one of the top women in the industry.

Hope you all have a Happy Halloween and a Happy Thanksgiving

Kat