Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey, they're Brainstuff listeners. Today,
Speaker 1: instead of a normal episode, we have for you another
Speaker 1: preview of the podcast On the Job. We've joined up
Speaker 1: with their team to bring you a few samples of
Speaker 1: what they do, which is engage with professionals from all
Speaker 1: kinds of businesses about what they do, from elephant training
Speaker 1: to blacksmithing. Through these stories, the team tries to help
Speaker 1: explain and explore different aspects of what working means in
Speaker 1: our world today. They are sponsoring us to run these samples,
Speaker 1: but I think it's a good fit because it's a
Speaker 1: look into how different jobs work. In today's episode, they're
Speaker 1: speaking with a woman who took the leap to open
Speaker 1: her own automotive service shop. Will feature some previews of
Speaker 1: future episodes in the future, though. If you want to
Speaker 1: hear more or explore their previous six seasons, you can
Speaker 1: find On the Job from Express Employment Services wherever you
Speaker 1: get your podcasts.
Speaker 2: I am Demenie Pollt and I am the owner of
Speaker 2: Gurlington Garage in South Burlington.
Speaker 3: Vermont, Beautiful.
Speaker 4: I appreciate you building a fort there for our recording.
Speaker 3: You're welcome. It was kind of fun. I haven't built
Speaker 3: a sheet fort since I was a kid.
Speaker 4: Welcome back to on the Job today. We're speaking with
Speaker 4: Demanie Pollett, who, as you heard, is the owner of
Speaker 4: a female run auto repair shop in Vermont. But Girlington
Speaker 4: Garage is more than just a cute name. Demenie's mission.
Speaker 4: It's a creative place where women feel comfortable having their
Speaker 4: cars repaired.
Speaker 2: They walked in and they didn't feel out of place
Speaker 2: or like they didn't belong. They immediately felt like, yeah,
Speaker 2: I can sit down here, and this feels like I
Speaker 2: don't want to say this feels like home, because you know,
Speaker 2: it doesn't feel like home to go to a repair shop,
Speaker 2: but something equivalent to home.
Speaker 3: This feels like a comfortable coffee shop. Maybe I don't know.
Speaker 4: As she tells it, Demni was far from a natural
Speaker 4: born mechanic. In fact, it took a lot of trial
Speaker 4: and error, sometimes at her own expense. Pre Girlington, Demni
Speaker 4: was working in the social services field, tending to the
Speaker 4: elderly and people with developmental disabilities. But it seemed that
Speaker 4: no matter how much she worked, she just couldn't get ahead.
Speaker 4: So she came up with two potential career paths.
Speaker 2: So the only two things that I thought would be
Speaker 2: at all interesting were psychology. I thought that would be
Speaker 2: very interesting fixing cars, figuring out these machines, fixing their
Speaker 2: mysterious mysteries every day. So I did a little bit
Speaker 2: of research and I realized it was going to take
Speaker 2: six years to become a psychologist in two years.
Speaker 3: To become a technician. And so that was my decision.
Speaker 3: Right there.
Speaker 2: I thought, God, I wish I knew of a woman mechanic.
Speaker 2: I would drive long distances to bring my car to
Speaker 2: a woman who was a mechanic. And then I thought,
Speaker 2: I bet a lot of other women feel this way.
Speaker 2: I'm going to open up an old girl garage and
Speaker 2: I'm going to make a million dollars.
Speaker 3: And then from that point on, that was my plan.
Speaker 2: That was what I was working towards, was figuring out
Speaker 2: how to open my own business.
Speaker 4: But the more Deminie learns about the industry, the more
Speaker 4: she realizes opening up a business is a lot of work,
Speaker 4: much more than she can do alone. Luckily, she knew
Speaker 4: just who to call.
Speaker 2: My mom was looking for something new to do with
Speaker 2: her life, and so I said, Hey, come up to Burlington.
Speaker 2: I'm trying to sort this business. Why don't you come
Speaker 2: help me? And so she did.
Speaker 4: Eight years into the business, Demni came down with a
Speaker 4: thyroid condition. She struggled to even work the two and
Speaker 4: a half days a week, and that's when her mother's
Speaker 4: unconditional love took over.
Speaker 2: My mom, being a really, really good mom, said you
Speaker 2: need to take some time off.
Speaker 4: So your mom held the fort while you were gone.
Speaker 2: She did, Yeah, my mom. She ran the business all
Speaker 2: by herself.
Speaker 4: With her health greatly improved. Demanie is back in the
Speaker 4: shop these days, but she admits she's in that challenging
Speaker 4: phase of ownership where it's no longer as exciting as
Speaker 4: it once was for her.
Speaker 2: I care about the business, I really do. And I
Speaker 2: love my employees. I love the people that I work with,
Speaker 2: and I do want Gurlington to run forever. So I'm
Speaker 2: mostly just there for support for the manager, Susan McGrath.
Speaker 2: She's fantastic and running the business like nobody's business.
Speaker 4: Demanie still goes in two days a week, but her
Speaker 4: goal is for Girlington to grow independent of her. So
Speaker 4: what are you thinks next for Deminie?
Speaker 2: I have no idea. I'm still in a transition, getting
Speaker 2: it to a stable point. Once that is sort of settled,
Speaker 2: I'll have to think about it. I haven't thought about it.
Speaker 2: I don't know what's next.
Speaker 3: We'll see.
Speaker 4: From the job. I'm Avery Thompson.
Speaker 3: A strong work ethic, takes pride in a job well done.
Speaker 3: This is the kind of person you need. Express Employment
Speaker 3: professionals can help because in good times or bad, we
Speaker 3: understand how critical it is to manage your.
Speaker 4: Business for today with the right workforce.
Speaker 3: We offer hiring solutions to fit changing demands.
Speaker 4: Express knows Jobs.
Speaker 3: Get to know Express. Go to expresspros dot com to
Speaker 3: find a location near you.