Meet IMI Skills Competition Refinishing Bronze Medallist 2024, Teagan Whiteman from Fix Auto:
Competition experience so far:
"The competition itself has been really good. I’ve really enjoyed it and the qualifier wasn’t as tough as I first thought. Honestly, I feel like the online test was the most challenging part. The practical process was very straightforward on the day moving from one station to another. Testing your skills in a competitive environment with time limits also helps you back at work, especially when it comes to earning bonuses!"
Career journey so far:
“I started here straight out of school, I’ve always wanted to do something fixing or doing things up, I thought about doing interior design. At school I studied graphics and one of my projects was to design the graphics on a race car, I guess that’s where the idea came from. I’m the first one in my family to join the automotive sector, I’d never considered a career until I found out a bit about it and it sounded good, so I gave it a try, and glad I did."
Future aspirations:
"Longer term, I’ve always liked the idea of working abroad one day, other than that maybe one day I’d like to open my own body shop. Short term, I’m going to complete my apprenticeship and keep getting better as a painter and hopefully learn new skills like airbrushing and custom work."
Employer and manager comments:
"We’re extremely proud of Teagan. Having been here from her day one, it’s been great to see her grow from someone just starting out to now someone solving problems that sometimes others can't fix. That being said, she’s not afraid of asking for help. We like to highlight Teagan as an example, especially for our other apprentices. It’s so easy to keep her motivated, as she has a real passion for the job and achieving excellent results."
