Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Jo Bloom.
Hi Ashley Jo, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I think my path into automotive started before I even realized it was going to become a career. My dad was a mechanical engineer and was always tinkering with something. I grew up asking questions while he worked on cars, rebuilt carburetors and figured things out in the garage. That curiosity stuck with me.
By the time I was 16, I had already decided that someday I wanted to own an automotive repair shop. At the time, I was driving an old Volkswagen Dasher and keeping it on the road by reading repair manuals and teaching myself basic repairs. I didn’t have a formal automotive background or someone standing next to me showing me every step. A lot of it was simply figuring things out because I had to.
Before I was 20, I replaced the engine in a Toyota Supra in a poorly lit barn in Virginia with basic tools and nobody nearby to help me. I certainly wasn’t fast, but I got it done. Looking back, that probably summarizes a lot of my career — I’ve never been particularly intimidated by not knowing something yet. If I’m not sure, I’ll research, and I’ll learn it and not just do it, but I’ll do it right.
My professional career eventually took me into field service engineering with Hitachi High Technologies America and Lam Research. That gave me years of experience working with complex equipment, troubleshooting, electronics and technical problem solving before I transitioned fully into automotive.
Jeremy and I met through my family, and automotive was something we naturally connected over. He had already spent years in the industry and was especially drawn to diagnostics. We also shared a lot of the same frustrations with the way the industry sometimes operated — rushed diagnostics, technicians who weren’t compensated appropriately, unnecessary repairs and customers who had lost trust in repair shops. When we started talking seriously about owning our own business, we knew we wanted to build something different.
In 2019, we opened PNW Automotive on the north Oregon Coast. Jeremy brought more than 20 years of technical experience as an ASE Certified Master Technician, and I brought my technical and engineering background along with my own experience as a diagnostician. Over time, my role has shifted more heavily toward management and operations, although I still love the technical side of the industry; particularly the diagnostic.
A huge part of what we have built is based around transparency. I want customers to understand what is happening with their vehicle, why a repair is necessary and where the value is in the work we are recommending. Some of the most meaningful feedback I get is when someone tells me that nobody has ever explained their vehicle to them that way before, or that they appreciate being spoken to directly rather than being talked down to.
We’ve also been intentional about creating a better career path for the people working in this industry. That means investing in training, paying people well, developing young technicians and creating opportunities for people who might not traditionally have seen automotive as a career available to them. I’m especially passionate about getting more young women exposed to the technical side of automotive early enough to realize that this is absolutely a field where they can succeed.
Today, PNW Automotive has grown into a European-focused independent repair shop specializing in vehicles including BMW, MINI, Audi, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar and Subaru, though Subaru is not a Euro 😉 Our advanced diagnostics is a major part of what we do. We’ve built a strong team, become deeply involved in our local community and continue looking for ways to grow both the business and the people in it.
My career has taken a pretty unusual route — from a kid working on an old Mercury Outboard and Pinto Station Wagon, to reading repair manuals to keep an old Dasher alive, to the Navy, SemiConductors Equipment to working as a technician and diagnostician on complex European vehicles, and eventually running the business I had imagined owning when I was 16.
And I still feel like we’re building it.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Shoot no! Being a woman in this business has it’s challenges, especially as a diagnostician, I am often the only woman in the room at training events. We’ve also owned a business as the social media recommendations and rants have really taken off, learning to overcome those hurdles both professionally and honestly has been a learning experience. We’ve also had several coaching experiences along the way, a couple of times we almost lost the business taking bad advice. It’s been a rollercoaster!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
At PNW Automotive, I would say the thing we specialize in most is the customer experience.
Obviously we repair cars, and we do a lot of European work and advanced diagnostics, but what really matters to me is how people feel when they work with us…. We go out of our way to listen to our customers, explain things clearly, and make sure they actually understand what is going on with their vehicle instead of just handing them a list of repairs.
We also take feedback really seriously! If a customer tells us something we could have done better, I want to know about it. We are constantly looking at our processes, communication, and overall experience and asking ourselves what we can improve. That can be hard to hear, and we’ll never be perfect, but we can alwyas improve, and people always need reminding. We’re all human right?
We do the same thing internally with our team. I want people to feel comfortable speaking up, sharing ideas, and pointing out things that are not working. I think a lot of our growth has come from being willing to look at ourselves honestly and make changes when we need to.
One of the things I am probably the most passionate about is growing the next generation of technicians. There is a huge need for skilled people in this industry, but we also have to be willing to actually train them. We cannot expect experienced technicians to just appear.
I put a lot of effort into creating clear paths for newer technicians, giving them training opportunities, helping them work toward certifications, and making sure they understand what they need to do to move forward in their careers. I really enjoy watching someone come in with limited experience and start developing into a confident, capable technician.
I think what sets us apart is that we are always trying to get better. Better for our customers, better for our employees, and better for the industry as a whole.
What I am most proud of is that we are building a shop where customers feel heard and our employees can actually see a future for themselves.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I think the quality that has contributed most to my success is persistence.
I’m not someone who needs to know exactly how to do something before I start. If I don’t know, I’ll learn it. If something isn’t working, I’ll keep digging until I understand why. That has applied to everything from automotive repair and diagnostics to running a business, managing people, understanding finances, and building systems.
I also think being willing to listen, and reflect internally, and try and take a third party point of view has been a huge part of it. I don’t assume I have everything figured out – I know I don’t! I pay attention to feedback, I ask questions, and I’m willing to change my mind when I get better information. I also challenge the perception, I challenge the norm, and I like to pave my own way. Finding a successful way to pave my own way comes with a lot of self reflection and listening to others.
I’ve had plenty of situations where the easier option would have been to give up, accept that something was “good enough,” or say that something just wasn’t my area. I’ve never been very good at doing that. I tend to keep pushing until I find a better answer.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pnwautomotive.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pnwautomotive
