Every entrepreneur, every business owner has a story. A story as to why a business was started. My story was for one reason only. I was raising two young children on my own and I needed a way to support them, a way to make certain they had a home with love and security.

As a young child I was a victim of being bullied, I always had to prove myself. As I grew up I dealt with sadness and depression, creating a difficult childhood for me. As time went on my marriage gave me two wonderful children. And without going into detail I have to say the 1960’s and the 1970’s were a time when women had no credibility, no voice and certainly no shelters to escape to in time of need, no where to go. I will always remember that Helen Reddy's "I AM WOMAN" gave me courage to get me through my divorce and courage to survive.

Every stage of my life has made me stronger and made me a survivor. My thoughts were "don't tell me I can't do something" because I can. Being a survivor has guided me to being strong and strong is what is required along with many other life experiences to be a business owner. After my divorce I had to find a way to provide for my children. I was employed by a local city government and worked my way up to having a chance in the beginnings of the computer department. This was in the early 1970's when computers were starting to take place in the business world. I taught myself programming, COBALT was my favorite language. I became in charge of the city's computer department, responsible for anything the computer produced, taxes, water bills, payroll and more. This job was a challenge for a woman in the seventies as women weren't known to have scientific and logical minds. I had to learn as much as I could and always had to prove myself. It was just another struggle. I worked long hours to become successful. My job became boring to me and I had a need to move on to new challenges. I was employed by several computer companies but I still had a void in my life, I still needed more challenges. After all, I had always loved cars, being able to tell the year of the car by the headlights and tail lights. I knew the slight changes made each year by the manufacturer. My father always had new cars and I would clean them and take care of them.

The interior restoration of a friend's car was quite a challenge to me. The only sewing I had ever done was in Home Ec in junior high school, successfully making a dress. So again a task to teach myself was upon me. I was always mechanically inclined and I would take the seats out the cars, took them apart in order to remove the upholstery. I would sit at the sewing machine and try over and over again to sew covers for the seats. I had to teach myself by trial and error spending many late nights sitting at the sewing machine making mistakes. I would work late in the night sometimes crying because of frustration. But this time proved to be successful for me as I taught myself many many things. I would go to work at 2 a.m. to do the sewing so I would be available to greet customers during the hours of operation. I did this for many years. I was on my own to make my business work, to make a name for myself and to be a successful business woman. I won't lie to you, the last forty some years has at times been a challenge. I have always had to prove myself that I am not just someone who answers the phone or welcomes a visiting customer. I am knowledgeable, I have lived through many decades of auto interior repairs and am quite knowledgeable of different materials used on different interiors. I am also quite familiar with many vintage European cars knowing each car's idiosyncrasies, appreciating the beauty of the chrome used. I would always try to understand why these cars were made the way they were. The old cars are my true love. I worked with leather decades before anyone in Dallas knew what leather was. I have been told I am a trail blazer for women proving that you can be successful by working hard and never never giving up.

So forty some years later, after many in the business laughed at me saying I would never survive in a man's world of cars, I am here to tell you I have many years ahead to share my knowledge of automobiles and my love of helping others. I had no one to believe in me—I had to believe in myself.       And I did.