Wendy Lucko has been active in the automotive industry before she even finished her formal automotive training; she worked at the local auto parts store, which now is Hanson’s (HMC). She went from driver to customer sales and got to know all the local shops personally. This is how she scoped out and found her first job in a shop.

In school, she was pushed by her teachers and mentors to meet certain expectations, which prepared her to be a technician. Knowing that being female was not going to make it easy, they expected more from her, and it paid off.

After wrenching at several independent shops, there was an opening at Pasadena City College for a Shop Foreman; newly divorced and looking for structure, she took the job — that led her to think about teaching as a new way of making a living. This would allow her to work with her hands and use her curiosity to help diagnose car issues.

In 2009, she moved the whole automotive department to a new building across campus, all while pregnant! She taught part-time at night for Cypress College, which gave her her first opportunity to teach. That gave her that taste of making that difference and exciting students. In turn, some of the best Deans and faculty would mentor and help her develop lesson plans and set objectives. She commuted for two years until her daughter, Sophia, came along in 2013. She also taught at Rio Hondo in between that time and also got to know those instructors well.

By then, it was time for PCC to open a full-time position as it needed someone to help rebuild and grow its program. Wendy took the job and is currently the Automotive Technology Instructor — CTE Division.

Wendy has served on the board of California Auto Teachers (CAT) as Vice President, President, Conference Coordinator, and Past President — it’s a 10-year term. She also is the Vice President of Automotive Service Council of California (ASCCA) Foothill Chapter 5 and helps with planning events and training for their members. As a technician, she has been going to Chapter 5 meetings since her 20s. She is a member of Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) — Cal Club and enjoys weekends at Buttonwillow and working race events.

She enjoys going to El Mirage, CA, for the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA)-BNI meets as she’s a Miler’s member and enjoys land speed racing with all its grassroots building. She has worked at events such as Bonneville Speed Week and Formula E for the two years that it was here in Long Beach. Her heart is in this industry, and she works across all campuses and groups to try to make this industry stand out and be proud of the hard work it takes.