Help Mechanic Shop Femme Survive After Whooping Cough

We're all one paycheck from disaster, and I haven't had a paycheck in three months. I need help keeping me and my business afloat until things turn around, or I'll have to throw in the towel and close Mechanic Shop Femme.

I started 2024 on a hell of a high. My book, Mechanic Shop Femme's Guide to Car Ownership, was being published by a Big Five publisher—little old me on the damn cover. I set off on a 16-city book tour visiting women, queer & PoC-owned mechanic shops all over the country.

In the middle of my book tour, my main sponsor ended my contract. This came as a huge blow and was completely unexpected. We had just been on a call a few weeks earlier, where they committed to renewing the agreement through December of 2025, gushing about the work I'd done for them.

Now, this was a big setback, but it shouldn't have been a disaster. I cried, negotiated, and settled the rest of the current contract with them. I returned to work at the beginning of June, ready to buckle down and figure it out.

Then I got WHOOPING COUGH.

I spent over 3 months recovering from whooping cough, lost my voice for over a month, coughed so hard I would faint, and nearly blew my eardrum. I had a runway, enough to last me a few months at least, and pay all my bills and all the people who help make Mechanic Shop Femme what it is. But whooping cough destroyed that.

October, November, and December were spent hustling as hard as I could but coming up short over and over again. It takes months to find enough work to keep the doors open and actually get paid for it, and I'd spent those months sick. And in the middle of it all, the universe threw another curveball with the election of DT.

Bills are stacking up quickly, and I'm already significantly behind. I've had to cut my team's hours and for the first time couldn't give a Christmas bonus, which broke me. I'm crying just writing this.

Between everything going on in the world & my role as a queer agitator in the auto industry, my position is precarious. I work in a very conservative industry, relying on companies that often oppose my rights & those of everyone I love. I try to balance my values while making a living, which has never been easy.

I busted my ass for 7.5 years to build this business and community, and one illness at just the right moment leaves me at risk of losing it all. I've spent the last 3 months blaming myself, but I don't think I can stomach doing that anymore. It's left me in a panic that I thought I had finally put behind me. I'm writing another book proposal, emailing universities, cold pitching automotive educational collaborations that help everyone better understand their cars, and crying a lot.

It's such a crushing feeling, your whole life falling apart. Growing up the way I did, going into foster care, and then figuring out a way to survive without a safety net, it took over a decade of surviving to reach a place of security. That security is gone with just one illness.

It's time to ask for help. Being a small business owner is scary as shit, and both my wife and I own small businesses, both with goals to serve the community. We have no safety net any longer. My wife has done her best to keep our personal bills paid, but there's only so much she can do, and we're reaching the end of that as well.

If you find it in your heart to donate, it would make a world of difference. Sure, I can find another job (which will probably take months), but who will do the work I've been doing? If I could climb out of this hole (financially and emotionally), I'm confident I can fix this and rebuild. The most important part of what I do is all of you!

Here's how you can help:

1. Donate through GoFundMe or Venmo (@mechanicshopfemme)

2. Share and spread the word. Let your communities know why my work matters and why they should help.

3. Sign up for a class! I have a slew of automotive classes scheduled for 2025. They'll teach you a lot and directly support me!

4. Buy a copy of my book. Not only does that support my work in the long term, but I make affiliate revenue when you buy via this link.

5. Book me to teach a workshop or give a keynote at your university, business, non-profit, or library. Click here for workshops or email me for keynote information.

6. Love art and candles? Buy something from my wife! She's the only thing keeping us afloat right now.

Thank you for investing in me, my work, and the community. I will try to keep my hopes up and keep working to make cars easier for everyone to understand and the industry a friendlier one.