Chloe Limburg is a senior student at Cherry Creek Innovation Campus in Centennial, Colorado. Chloe is credited for her involvement with SkillsUSA, serving as the Vice President for the state of Colorado. In her spare time, Chloe has a passion for helping people in her community.
What inspired you to take automotive classes?
My dad was a mechanic. He started working on cars when he was my age and he’s always fixed our family cars. Since I was little, I have always gone out to help my dad and I became fascinated with how things work especially seeing the technical side of things. Then, one day, as I was working on my own car, I realized this is what I want to do.
Can you tell us about the repair shop you run at home? What made you think of starting that
business up?
My dad and I were doing repairs for our family and friends at first. We both decided that someday I would have my own shop and make it big. So, we just started off with an LLC and now we do car repairs for widows and single moms, or people who just don’t have the money. We often hear about people who are unable to pay the normal costs of typical shops. Depending on how big the job is, we won’t even charge labor and we only charge for parts. We do all of this to help out and just because it’s what we’re passionate about.
What has your experience been like as the State SkillsUSA Vice President for Colorado?
I got elected at the end of April. Right now we just do a meeting on Zoom every two weeks with the team and we go over what our plans are for the year, what the next upcoming events are and what we need to do to advertise and get the word out. I went to Atlanta for two weeks for a training conference and that was pretty cool. It was long, but it was fun.
What’s one takeaway you have learned while pursuing a career in the automotive industry?
I have learned it’s not for everyone, and you have to be very invested. You can’t just show up to class and not want to work for it. I learned you have to put the work in and be willing to learn new things. It’s not always easy. Sometimes you even want to throw a wrench across the room. But, once you see the benefit of fixing someone’s car and making it run when it hasn’t run for years, or painting it, it’s rewarding to see how happy the customer is. That’s one of the reasons I love it so much.
What are your plans for the future?
I’m thinking I might try a community college and go in for collision repair and painting because eventually, I want my shop to be more of a restoration shop because that’s what I love doing the most. We have restored three cars, and I am so in love with that. It’s so fun to take something old and make it new again.
Chloe’s Instructor, Brian Manley says, She’s head and shoulders above the other students I have in class. No offense to them, they’re not as well composed, not as mature, not as well spoken, and don’t really seem to have the sense of direction that Chloe does. She’s really got herself put together. I think it’s a product of her close family. She spends a lot of time with her parents and her brothers. So I think they foster this real sense of community. And they don’t watch TV, I don’t think they have a TV in their house. They’re one of those families that do things together. So she’s got a lot of experience even though she’s only 16.
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