By Ashley Reyes
The SEMA Businesswomen's Network (SBN) has named Kira Daczko, admissions director at Universal Technical Institute, as the network's newest #SheIsSEMA spotlight member.
Get to know Daczko 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?
Kira Daczko: Five years. Knowledge is power and I love being a part of empowering our youth as they start their path to adulthood.
SN: What is the most challenging part of your business or job?
KD: Explaining the importance of working hard at learning now and how that greatly impacts our youth's futures. They are young and don't have the life experience to understand those decisions. While they are in school, they have so much knowledge at the tips of their fingers; it takes effort and hard work to learn it, practice it and retain it.
SN: How many years have you been in the industry and what was your first industry job?
KD: Since 2008. I started as a Motorcycle Technician at Hook Cycle.
SN: What three qualities got you to where you are today?
KD: I'm hungry to learn and experience all this world has to offer. I'm humble, knowing I don't have it all figured out, yet I'm confident I can figure it out. And I'm giving, meaning I want to share what I know or have learned to help others be more capable in their path through life.
SN: Being a woman in the industry, what have been your biggest challenges and accomplishments?
KD: Being on the road traveling up and down the West Coast alone with $250k worth of equipment I had to maintain and use for work daily was pretty challenging, but I wouldn't change that time or those experiences for anything.
My biggest accomplishment was having a young high school girl come shake my hand and thank me for conducting the technical workshop she was in and tell me she learned a lot, and was inspired to pay it forward. I knew right then that all the work, long hours and tiring days were worth it if I positively impacted at least one other person's life.
SN: Who are your role models or mentors in the industry?
KD: Bernie and Denise Thompson were my mentors. They didn't give up on me they pushed me to be my best and they were educators at heart. I owe them a lot and I'm so thankful they were a part of my life when I was impressionable and finding my path.
SN: What is the best career advice you have received?
KD: Being "the best" is not a capped status, you have to show up motivated to be the best every day because the industry, the players and innovations are always changing.
SN: Have you always wanted to work in the automotive industry? What keeps you here?
KD: No. I wanted to work in only PowerSports, specifically motorcycles, when I started, but we are a transportation-reliant society, and all sectors of transportation are in need of smart capable technicians.
SN: Who was the most influential person on your career goals?
KD: Susie Wolf is an inspiration. She has worked her way through the ranks from driver to educator and is paving the way for the next generation of successful young lady drivers.
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.