From the age of ten, Amany Hosny, a thirty four-year-old Egyptian woman, knew she had a passion that was different than many girls her age: a passion for cars.She was born and raised in Kuwait. At the age of thirteen, she moved to Egypt. During her childhood, she regularly accompanied her mom and dad in their visits to mechanic shops. Unlike most girls, she enjoyed watching car-related programs and playing Meccano (car toys that have to be manually constructed).
Growing up, her dad wished for her to study pharmacy and become a pharmacist, but she wanted a different path for herself. As a middleground, they decided she would study applied arts. But her passion had a different say in the matter. Three weeks after joining, she surprised her dad with a call declaring that she has decided to study engineering at ElAsher University. Both her mom and her siblings were surprised, but they were very supportive of her decision.
Her mother supported her financially in her first year of university. From her second year onwards, she began working to pay her tuition. Her first job as a mechanic was at El Herafyeen. “It was strange for them to see a girl working in this place.But I succeeded because I had the education and the knowledge, just as much as they had the experience and the skills,” she says.Her tasks at El Herafyeen included collecting spare parts, slight maintenance work, changing oil and filters and heavy repairs.
““At first, my friends saw me as an alien. They wondered how a girl could work with motors and spare parts, and live with broken nails and dirty fingers. But they later started motivating me to continue.”
There were several times when she was purposely given wrong information from older technicians. “Step by step, I tried to prove to them that I’m here to work and not to play around. Proving myself in a community like that was not easy, but they slowly understood that I was there to learn from them and to also add value, and not to take their place at work,” she explains.
“At first, my friends saw me as an alien. They wondered how a girl could work with motors and spare parts, and live with broken nails and dirty fingers. But they later started motivating me to continue,” she adds. Amany dreamed of becoming a trainer to teach people the art of car repair and work ethics, to create a generation of educated technicians. She believed that car repair is a science that should be taught. She took several courses, diplomas, and even watched YouTube tutorials to develop her skills.
Amany was the first female in the MENA region to study Bosch’s Complete Automotive Module and become a certified trainer. She was also the youngest trainer in the world, and the first female trainer in the Middle East.
““I will continue to work hard until I reach the top, or even any other female reaches the top”
During her university days, she worked as a part-time technical trainer, and worked in the Business Development and Sales department at Bosch. Post graduation, Amany worked as a technical trainer at General Motors (GM). Nearly 200 students graduated from her classes at GM, from 2008 to 2010. In 2010, she decided to move to the “battlefield”, as she liked to call it. She joined Cairo National Automotive (CAN) – Mercedes-Benz, and worked as a trouble-shooter, diagnosing the malfunction in every car, and deciding which team is qualified to repair it. She later joined the Egyptian Automotive & Trading Co. (EATC), Volkswagen and Audi’s head office in Egypt. She also joined the Mercedes-Benz headquarters as a training manager. This time, nearly 120 students graduated from her classes. She was also the first female in Egypt to work as an acting service center
manager at Skoda.
In 2015, she trained refugees at the Carl Benz School, one of the most prominent technical schools in Germany, and was chosen to deliver a speech to female refugees on how to fulfill their dreams. “The summary of my speech was that hard workers will always reach their goal, regardless of their race, gender, religion or circumstances,” she adds.
Amany currently works as a customer service manager, technical support and warranty atXpress Egypt Nissan Authorized Dealer. Her work includes answering customer queries about cars, car malfunctions and damages and warranty issues. “Here, I’ve accomplished my ultimate goal: my passion for cars and communicating with people,” she says.
Amany hopes to establish a mechanic workshop that is different than the ones available in Egypt. She also aspires to establish a “non-beneficial academy, with no tuition” to teach students who could not complete their education. The academy would teach these students a vocational craft, and also reduce unemployment. She also wishes to see females as managing directors in car companies in Egypt. “I will continue to work hard until I reach the top, or even any other female reaches the top,” she adds.
