When I get together with my working mom friends, we don’t always talk shop — especially if we work in different fields. So I was really intrigued at a recent press event when five moms, who all work on cars for Chevy, gave me a glimpse into exactly what they do for a living.
There was Suzy Cody, an aerodynamics engineer, who works with clay models of cars in a wind tunnel, figuring out how to make them more aerodynamic (read: fuel efficient). She’s a single mom of two boys, has blue hair and even skates roller derby — so fun!
Julie Kleinert, the child safety technical lead — and mom and grandma — makes sure the cars are safe for kids, and she even volunteers at car seat safety checks to help parents be sure their children’s car seats are installed correctly (what’s scary, she says, is three-fourths of them aren’t!).
Kara Gordon, lead acoustic noise engineer has a job that I never even knew existed. She works on blocking and absorbing noise inside the car (so you can actually hear what your kid is saying from the back seat and so you don’t have to crank your radio just to make out the lyrics). She’s the yogi of the bunch (and no, I didn’t make the early morning yoga session she invited me to, but it sounded awesome).
Tracy Mack-Askew, the vehicle line manager, basically runs the show, making sure the new car line is developed and launched on time. On top of all the travel for her job — over 40,000 miles in less than a year — she’s getting a master’s degree from Harvard and she makes it a rule to always pick up her two kids from school on Fridays, no matter what’s going on at work.
All these moms designed the new Chevy Malibu (which I also got to drive to the event— a pretty sweet ride!). And I’m so glad I got to know them. Go working moms!
Do you “talk shop” with your working mom friends? Do you ever wish you had one of their jobs instead of yours?
