Breaking Barriers: Meet the only female mechanic at Lou Fusz

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Nearly 11% of workers in the automotive repair industry are women, and in St. Louis, many in the trade industry want to see that number grow. That includes one mechanic at Lou Fusz.

Inside Lou Fusz Mazda, there’s a voice you might not expect working in the service department, fixing, tuning and getting dirty.

Meet Aspen O’ Bannon.

“I just love it,” she said.

She is the only female mechanic within the Lou Fusz company.

“I’ve always wanted to be a mechanic since I was in kindergarten,” she said.

But Aspen’s path to getting into school wasn’t easy.

“I fought. I fought really hard. I took the test three different times,” she said.

That third time, she ed. That landed her a seat at State Technical College of Missouri.

“I was scared at first. Once I started doing it, I didn’t care. It was something I fell in love with,” she said.

Through hands-on work, Aspen grew quickly.

“I was hands deep in cars. I was learning. I was making it happen,” she said.

She got an internship right after graduation, but there was another surprise on the way.

“I started pregnant and I didn’t realize I was pregnant until the day I graduated school,” she said.

Now, with her son Waylen by her side, learning a thing or two about cars, Aspen is also setting an example.

“I want him to learn that females are just as equal,” she said emotionally.

Aspen said this is a field more women belong in.

“Being a female within the industry is definitely rewarding, and it is good to see that women can do what men can do,” she said.

For Randy Harman, talent acquisition director at Lou Fusz, the one who gave Aspen a chance, it’s clear:

“The notion that women can’t do this job is old thinking, and I hate that,” he said.

So for Aspen, it’s not just about fixing cars, it’s about chasing a childhood dream.

“If this is where your ion lies, follow your ion,” said Harman.

And it’s that ion that pushed her through challenges and into a space she hopes more women will enter.

“Do it. You can’t be scared. You can’t look back, always look forward,” she said.

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