Destiny Potter, the 2016 recipient of the Lon Baudoux Legacy Scholarship from the Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF), is using her experience to help inspire students to join the collision repair industry.
Potter is a recent graduate from the Lincoln College of Technology in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the current customer service manager at a ABRA Auto Body & Glass center after only two years out of high school.
“I was still attending college full-time,” said Potter, “I started out as a part-time detailer, cleaning cars for about nine months until I was given the opportunity to become an estimator.”
“My original plan was to become a painter, but I have plenty of time for that. I became the youngest estimator in the Indiana Market at the age of 19 while still attending college full-time,” she added.
Now, Potter is speaking to today’s students about finding and taking advantage of the opportunities out there for students, employees and businesses in collision repair.
Potter knows all about finding from her education and her career opportunities. Between the initial scholarship and the surprise tuition reimbursement, she received more than $10,000 in tuition reimbursement from the Lon Baudoux Legacy fund. In October 2017, she graduated with an associate’s degree in service management and an I-CAR certification from Lincoln College of Technology.
“CREF has helped me in so many ways,” said Potter. “Brandon Eckenrode, the Foundation’s Director of Development, met me at the Chicagoland Speedway Student Day event in 2015… the Collision Repair Education Foundation took me in like I was family to the entire industry. They’ve supported me and gave me opportunities I never knew were there.”
Potter is now speaking at the events she had attended as a student like the World of Wheels/AutoRama Student Day, where she spoke this year.
“I focused on telling students that they should take every opportunity to experience and learn about the industry. That’s how I got where I am today,” Potter said.
Potter will also be speaking at the Women’s Industry Network (WIN) Educational Conference in Indianapolis this May. WIN is dedicated to encouraging, developing, and cultivating opportunities to attract women to collision repair.
