Conyers TikTok star trades health care career for auto repair and helps train new mechanics

Desiree White says she never thought she would become a mechanic. But when she left her health care career in 2019, she had been exploring the trade for a few months, buying, selling and gradually learning to repair cars on the side with her children.

"We started doing big, big jobs just to test ourselves and learn and really found that it was just so much drive and completing something and starting it back up. And it's not explainable," White said. "The feeling that you get as a person being able to accomplish something like that, especially without formal training."

In 2021, White bet on herself, earned her certification and launched her mobile mechanic business, Crown's Corner Mechanics. She repaired cars across metro Atlanta before a customer encouraged her to open a shop and lent her the money to move into the building.

White has since gained more than 160,000 followers on TikTok while documenting her journey.

"At first, you know, you think that you're going to get so much backlash because you're a female doing a man's job, and that's not the norm even still in this day and age. And to see that everybody was like, ra ra ra, let's go. Let's see what else you can do. I mean, it's been pretty amazing," White said.

Her son, Dakota Curry, said his mother's venture has boosted his confidence.

"With how different the world is now compared to 20 years ago when our parents were working and getting their jobs and going to college, there's a lot more opportunities for trades. I mean, mechanics, they're not going to go anywhere. We're going to have cars all the time," Curry said.

To help develop the next generation of skilled workers, White launched the Pro-Tech Pathway Foundation, a nonprofit offering hands-on workforce training for people interested in the automotive industry.

Jeremiah Durden was working at Chipotle when White took him under her wing.

"And then I made the jump and probably like one of my best decisions of my life. I love my job," Durden said.

As a mechanic, Durden said, he is constantly learning something new.

Though it took White five years to get into the building, she said this is only the beginning.

"We have to own it. We have to expand and we have to bring in more businesses," White said.

She envisions bringing together businesses to offer customers a one-stop shop and create more opportunities for people pursuing careers in the trades.