Owner of Menickeka Sims SSG Equipment AcademyA person working in space got his first glimpse in the equipment repair industry while dating. “He worked all the time, seven days a week,” Sims, “so I just went out to spend time with him. I saw how easy it was to repair those tools, and he was repairing them quickly.”
Image Credit: Courtesy of SSG Equipment Academy. Monikka Sims.
Sims believes in “working clever, not hard” and the person was the idea of hiring technicians to help the man she was dating with repair calls. She did, but when she did not slow down, she ended with her own equipment repair company.
However, in running that business, Sims lost a significant amount of parts buying a significant amount. Many people he hired, they did not really know to repair the equipment – and would change the part after the part in search of a fit.
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So Sims took the cases again in his hands. He enrolled in an online course to learn about the repair of the equipment and sometimes started handling himself from his job to take his children along.
“When you fix something, it promotes you, every time you do it.”
Nevertheless, Sims knew that there should be a better way to train and hire technicians for business development, so once again he agreed to do so: he set up the SSG Equipment Academy, which provides training courses on hands on basic things to make a career in the equipment repair industry in Atlanta in 2019.
“I noticed how the equipment was repaired was a gift that keeps on giving,” says Sims. “When you go out, when you fix something, it increases you, every time you do it. It’s not a serious job. It’s a good job.”
When Sims went on a job with his daughter, he found that many customers were home -living mothers who breathed a sigh of relief when they realized that they would not be alone with a male worker. Knowing that, and for the first time what a confident booster device could be repaired, Sims committed to bring more women to the industry.
Total Equipment Repair Industry Revenue 2023 reached the estimated $ 6.3 billion, yet women make home equipment less than 3% of repairrs, according to data Cumferumaffairs,
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Sims decided to partner with shelters to develop the SSG Equipment Academy and provide a viable career route for women there. Although there was a lot of interest, shelters did not have money to return it. Hence Sims was approved for grant through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
Sims says that funding helps women and men to complete the program of SSG Equipment Academy, with low-income, under-organizers, and “bends their lives,” Sims says.
SSG Equipment Academy classes usually nominate eight to 10 students. The most recent curriculum was three women. In the past, Sims often had to participate in events and celebrated women to come to the classroom; Now, Word-of-Mouth is helping them find themselves, she says.
“You must continuously prove yourself (as a woman) in this industry.”
Sims are eager to see even more women taking advantage of the SSG Equipment Academy, despite the challenges that may come with being a woman in space.
“You must continuously prove yourself (as a woman) in this industry, not only for customers,” Sims. “You have to prove yourself to every person working in the industry.”
Sims is also excited to see more people jumping into the equipment repair industry across the board, given that learning a business can help people make more money through earning four years of college degree.
“The repair of the equipment can actually help change people’s lives,” the founder says.
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“You want to learn your craft out from inside.”
For other women interested in starting their own career or business in the equipment repair industry, Sims has some direct but necessary advice: enroll in a program that you need to know about business.
“You want to learn your craft from the inside,” says Sims. “A lot of technicians in the area now learn on jobs, so they become part-chants because they do not learn how to diagnose and troubles the equipment properly. So my advice will definitely be to take a classroom. It is not my school-any school.”
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Sims note that there will be a lot of obstacles on the way, but she encourages anyone interested in learning the repair of the equipment to stay in the course – because “this is a very beneficial career and business.”
This article is part of our ongoing female Entrepreneur® series, exposing stories, challenges and victory to run business as a woman.
Owner of Menickeka Sims SSG Equipment AcademyA person working in space got his first glimpse in the equipment repair industry while dating. “He worked all the time, seven days a week,” Sims, “so I just went out to spend time with him. I saw how easy it was to repair those tools, and he was repairing them quickly.”
Image Credit: Courtesy of SSG Equipment Academy. Monikka Sims.
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