By Ashley Reyes
The SEMA Businesswomen's Network (SBN) has named Bailey Soto, curriculum specialist at Legacy EV, as the network's newest #SheIsSEMA spotlight member.
Get to know Soto in her interview with SEMA News below.
SEMA News: How many years have you been with your current company and what do you enjoy most about working there?
Bailey Soto: I have worked at Legacy EV for a little over a year now. I think the most rewarding thing about working here is upskilling mechanics, so they can thrive in an industry with both internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and electric vehicles (EVs) on the road.
SN: What is the most challenging part of your business or job?
BS: The most challenging part of developing EV technician training is the lack of standardization. No one has done this yet, and if they have, they aren't sharing it with anyone! So, we have to rely on our own expertise and other EV pioneers to demonstrate safe best practices for all of us.
SN: How many years have you been in the industry and what was your first industry job?
BS: I have been working in the industry for only this past year, so this is my first industry job. However, being born and raised in Motor City, I have spent my life in a garage; every member of my family works for the big three. As the youngest of six children, my older brother’s version of babysitting me was putting me to work with them under a hood.
SN: What three qualities got you to where you are today?
BS: Determination, resilience and high personal expectations. When I was twelve, I went to the “bring your kid to work day” at my parent’s assembly plant in Flatrock, Michigan. Of course, seeing the build process of the new Mustangs was really cool, but knowing and living the long hours and hard work my parents and older siblings experienced as assembly line workers and service techs, I became determined to get a college education. Also, becoming an adult during the peak of the ‘08 financial crisis and seeing many of my friends’ families lose their jobs and default on mortgages, I wanted to ensure I was choosing a career path that would protect me from these hardships.
Setting these high expectations for myself and having the resilience to move away from home to become the first in my family with a degree in higher ed motivated me to pursue a career path that helps other young people from blue-collar families.
SN: Being a woman in the industry, what have been your biggest challenges and accomplishments?
BS: In just a single year, the education team at Legacy EV has created the first certified EV technician program, the first college-accredited EV technician course, the first EV Technician Education Council of EV Industry Leaders, the first EV technician education standards, the first High-Voltage Safety Certification Training, and have led numerous, successful EV technician trainings.
As for challenges, of course, being a woman in a male-dominated industry can be frustrating and getting the attention of the industry on the need for high-voltage safety and EV education is anything but glamorous. I remember one conference in particular where I realized this--I was leading an EV safety seminar in our booth and I realized my audience was unengaged and walking away. To my surprise, I looked over to where they were gathering and it was an audio system booth, who was promoting subwoofers and sound systems with women proactively dancing. EV Safety just can’t compete with that, and I had to laugh at myself. Frustrating, yes, but we at Legacy EV are doing groundbreaking work in workforce development training, and I won’t let a little provocative promotion get in the way of delivering high-quality EV education to whoever will listen.
SN: Who are your role models or mentors in the industry?
BS: I have to give credit to my Legacy EV team members here. Joining the team, I was one of the oldest employees and I am barely in my 30s! But I am glad I didn’t judge them by their ages, because learning and collaborating with the young innovation of our team has been inspiring. They all have such diverse backgrounds and I love to work with them and absorb their knowledge. Particularly, the EV industry is really new, and seeing the complex trials and tribulations of our application engineers designing EV powertrain kits, or mapping out safe battery boxes, motivates me to push the boundaries of our industry and workforce training.
SN: What is the best career advice you have received?
BS: When I made the jump to leave public education and join Legacy EV, my friend Vanessa, an awesome woman pioneering in the Web3 world, told me to accept failing at work every day. Innovators, pioneers, thought-leaders, developers, we fail every day.
This advice has been instrumental as we build workforce training for EV technicians, because teaching new technology is hard, and exciting adult learners about learning is even harder. So, building a community through hands-on, skills-based training that defies traditional education and prepares and upskills auto technicians is a challenge worth accepting to me.
SN: Have you always wanted to work in the automotive industry? What keeps you here?
BS: No, but when I left my position as a high school teacher to join the Legacy EV team, and when I think about how hard it was to leave my students behind, I am reminded of the difference we are making here at Legacy EV. Not only are we upcycling classic vehicles and cutting emissions in the process, but we are providing workforce development and education that will fuel a healthy middle class.
I come from humble means, and supporting blue-collar and minority families, like my own, was the reason I became a high school teacher in the first place. Now, at Legacy EV I get to help those young parents who are mechanics upskill and stay relevant in the industry; I get to train educators, so they can get their students excited about the auto industry, and I get to bring people together to enjoy some really cool rides. That is what I love about the EV industry.
SN: Who was the most influential person on your career goals?
BS: My success is the result of a village, and my five older siblings have been my ultimate cheerleaders. One of my sisters dropped out of school in the 10th grade. Both, watching her thrive as she grew her own business and seeing her struggle without a quality education motivated me to pursue college and ultimately be a high-quality educator for at-risk youth and now, blue-collar adults.
Fill out a #SheIsSEMA spotlight form to submit a self-nomination or nominate a colleague and highlight how you or she is contributing to the specialty-equipment industry. Selected candidates are automatically eligible to be considered for SBN's #SheIsSEMA Woman of the Year award, featured on SBN's social media, SEMA News and recognized on the sema.org/she-is-sema website.