Tweed mechanic becomes country’s first female Mazda master technician

JENIFER Woods has become the first woman in Australia to be certified as a Mazda master technician, the highest honour someone in her industry can attain.

Jenifer Woods has become Australia’s first female Mazda master technician, much to the delight of her South Coast Mazda workmates. Photo: Scott Fletcher

THERE are two ways we could describe how good a mechanic Jenifer Woods is.

One is tell you she recently became the first woman in Australia to be certified as a Mazda master technician, the highest honour someone in her industry can attain.

Alternatively, we could use the words of one of her male workmates.

Jenifer Woods has made a name for herself as a master technician at South Coast Mazda. Photo: Scott Fletcher

“There’s nothing she can’t do,” said Matt Thompson, workshop controller at the Tweed’s South Coast Mazda where Woods is the one and only master technician.

“If someone brings a car in with engine problems, she’s the first person we’ll go to. She’ll normally tell us what’s wrong and the boys will do the repairs she requests.

“If anyone is going to be able to fix your car, it’s her.”

Woods is humbled by her new-found status as a trailblazer for women in the automotive industry.

Having grown up surrounded by a car culture in her New Zealand homeland, she quit a graphic design career 11 years ago in favour of getting her hands dirty in what was traditionally a man’s world.

“I’ve never had a problem working in a male industry,” the 36-year-old said.

“You go into it knowing what it is and it’s never been an issue for me … I just got in and got the job done.”

South Coast Mazda owner Maurie Pickering: “I’m extremely proud of her as an employer.”

And her boss applauds her for it.

“I’m extremely proud of her as an employer,” South Coast Mazda owner Maurie Pickering said.

“Becoming a master technician isn’t an easy thing for anyone to achieve and for a female to do what she has in a male-dominated environment is a credit to her.

“We haven’t had a lot of master technicians in the business, let alone a female one.”

To achieve that accolade, Woods has spent the past three years completing the training and passing the exams that lead to the title of master technician.

Let’s just say that if there’s something she doesn’t know about specific models and technology when it comes to Mazdas, it’s probably not worth knowing.

“The training is about going more in-depth into the diagnostics, transmissions and the different systems in vehicles,” Woods explained.

Jenifer Woods: “I would just be happy if I could encourage more females to stick at things like this and get to a higher level.” Photo: Scott Fletcher

“They would (deliberately) put faults into the cars and we’d have to work out the problem … some things can be quite complicated but I just enjoy the challenge of getting the wiring diagrams out and working out what’s wrong.”

And while Woods is more comfortable working on cars than being photographed for media articles, she knows there is a bigger picture when it comes to sharing her tale.

“To be honest, I would just be happy if I could encourage more females to stick at things like this and get to a higher level,” she said.

“That would be my hope for this story.”