Women Auto Know revs up empowerment

FLUSHING, New York -- Great Bear Auto Repair has called Flushing, Queens home for more than 90 years. It all started back in 1933, when Audra Fordin's great grandfather opened the garage.

Today, Fordin carries the torch and upholds Great Bears reputation for exceptional service to its customers and its community at large.

Growing up coming to work with her dad, Fordin soon realized she had the automotive gene. "You know where you're little and your mind is like a sponge? You naturally absorb whatever's going on in your environment. And it just kind of made sense for me," explains Fordin.

She dug in, went to technical school and was eventually running the show herself. The first women to lead the family business. In a shop and industry dominated by men, Fordin noticed her communication style making a difference with female customers.

She says: "I have a way of communicating about the car. Relating it to things people understood. So instead of saying things like, zerk fittings or ball joints and bearings - who knows what that is? But when you correlate it to things you understand, the light bulbs start to go off and people get it."

Fordin was inspired to create a place where women could learn the automotive ropes at their own speed. That was the beginning of Women Auto Know, an organization committed to making better drivers, passengers and consumers.

Fordin and her team put on workshops that give girls and women valuable technical knowhow and hands-on experience. Audra sums it up saying, "You don't know what you don't know and if nobody told you, well then you need a resource where you can get that information."