- Jade Price is a mechanic with Warrington Audi, Cheshire
- She's also a social media influencer who appeared at the British Motor Show
- Jade reveals how cruel taunts as a youngster discouraged her dreams
- But she's hoping her story convinces other females to follow in her footsteps
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This skilled car mechanic is flying the flag for women working in the automotive industry.
But Jade Price has revealed how a chauvinistic incident in the past set her career back a decade - and she’s determined not to see the same thing happen to other females in the future.
We caught up with Jade, 32, at the recent British Motor Show, where she was a guest speaker on the ‘Driven Women’ stage, alongside other inspirational motoring champions such as Fifth Gear’s Vicki Butler-Henderson.
Originally from Manchester, Jade is now a respected mechanic and MOT tester at Warrington Audi, Cheshire.
And in an exclusive chat, Jade talked us through what has got her to this point.
Jade’s passion for cars was first ignited by her late grandfather, Geoff, a Ford fan with a love of the Fiesta XR2. The flame was carried forwards by her dad, Scott, and then ultimately passed on to Jade.
As a youngster, Jade recalls picking up a spanner in her dad’s workshop while tinkering with a Peugeot 205 GTi. In fact, Scott has had eight of them - and 31 cars in general in his lifetime.
Jade says: “I loved everything about working on cars with my dad - and I can still remember the smell of that GTi. I sat in one recently and the nostalgia came flooding back to me. I was just seven years old when I was bitten by the car bug and things just accelerated from there.”
While it was a Peugeot hot hatch that lit the fire for Jade, it’s Hondas that she’s now obsessed with. She owns two Civics - a vivid blue EP2 Sport and a stunning, wedge-shaped, 34-year-old EC9, which she describes as her ‘baby’.
She reveals: “I admit they’re not supercars but, for me, you can be more creative with an older vehicle. They’re more accessible, you can achieve more, and you can make them more authentic.”
Car culture was ingrained in Jade’s life. She’d watch inspirational women like Vicki Butler-Henderson on the TV and think, ‘I want to do that’. And for as long as she can remember, Jade was determined to become a fully-qualified mechanic.
While none of her friends were into cars, Jade thought: “I knew I needed to grow some balls and not let anyone define my future. I knew I was going to leave school, go to college, and launch my career in cars.”
But Jade reveals how one incident - which came when she was just 17 years old and studying towards a Level 2 Diploma in Motor Vehicle Maintenance and Repair - put a major mental stumbling block on her road to success.
She’d been going door-to-door, asking garages in the North West of England whether they might offer her work experience.
What happened next lasted just a moment… but the repercussions were felt for years.
Jade explains: “I plucked up the courage and started visiting some garages unannounced. I enquired about an apprenticeship at one place and this one person just laughed. At first I thought, ‘Okay, this is just banter’, but more lads were brought out from the back of the garage who laughed to the point where I had to just walk out.
“I ultimately quit college and didn’t set foot back in a garage for ten years. In my head, I couldn’t see the point in continuing my studies if I was going to be treated like that. I lost all confidence in myself and got a job at Tesco instead.
“I often think about what happened. If that was his daughter, would he have acted like that? I was already vulnerable at the time and he didn’t see the aftermath. It was a minute of his life but it set me back years. It didn’t dent my passion for cars but I was less open about it than I once was.”
While working at the supermarket, Jade kept her eye in. Her dad bought her a Mk6 Ford Fiesta engine to tinker with. The enthusiasm was still there, just lying dormant.
She admits: “I missed being a mechanic so much. I’d be working in Tesco thinking, ‘I’m not sure what I’m doing here’. I bit the bullet and responded to a job at Warrington Audi as a Service Advisor. It wasn’t a hands-on role but I saw it as a stepping stone to greater things.
“And, brilliantly, when I asked my boss about moving up he simply said, ‘Let’s get the ball rolling, then’ and I began an apprenticeship in 2018.”
She’s now a fully-qualified mechanic and MOT tester. And she loves being able to talk to other females who bring their cars to the shop.
Up until last year, Jade was the only female mechanic at Warrington Audi and the first in the firm’s history. Already there’s now another female apprentice following in her footsteps.
(Jade's Honda Civic EP2, above)
Jade is proud of what she’s achieved and adds: “My next goal is to secure a role on TV as a presenter - sorry, Vicki! Being a mechanic can take you in so many different directions and I’m confident that I’ve got the knowledge to go far.”
And if she could have any Audi…?
She’s VERY specific here, and laughs: “That would be a 2019 S5 Black Edition in Navarra Blue. It’s a lovely colour.”
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