Page 17 - The Tyreman V48 2017-1
P. 17
in a man’s world. It is only tough if you do not equip yourself with the necessary knowledge and skills. Before setting up my tyre centre, I was with a tyre shop for 9 years, in charge of graduating from school. I learned from scratch, gained the knowhow and found myself deeply attracted to the industry.”
Supraway was established in 1981 and she said it was quite a smooth start. As she had been in the industry for quite some time, she could lever- age on some contacts and connections that she had built over the years. However, she admitted that there were a few cases where new custom- ers doubted the company’s ability to properly maintain their vehicles when they found out that the owner was a lady.
“The tyre retail and servicing industry is tradi- tionally male dominated but that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible for women to carve out a ca- reer in this sector and excel in it. Unfortunately, like the perception that men are better drivers that still exists today, the judgmental attitude to- wards one’s ability and knowledge in tyre retail- ing and servicing will continue to prevail. Hence, one needs to ignore this gender prejudice and soldier on.”
She added that women could conduct business with all the qualities unique to their gender. “I am proud to pave my way into a ‘man’s world’ and - ent skill when communicating with customers.”
to provide tyre retailing, balancing, alignment, servicing and repairs for sport cars, 4x4 vehi- cles, light trucks, tractors and earthmovers.
“We focus more on Continental tyres at Supra- way and work closely with our retreading part- ner to provide retreads for our customers. We have a branch in Penampang that carries the Silverstone signage. This branch does not han- dle heavy commercial vehicles but only covers tyre and rim retailing as well as servicing pas- senger cars, 4x4 vehicles and light trucks. Each centre is supported by 3 experienced and well- trained technicians.”
with her since the company was established. “We have obtained MLVK (Majlis Latihan Vo- and automotive service and repair industries, which is an assurance of our skills and compe- tence level.”
the tyreman 2017/1 [15]
