I'm a female mechanic – haters tell me to 'get back in the kitchen' but little girls call me an inspiration | The Sun

AN auto repair shop isn't ordinarily regarded as a place for women —but female mechanic Daimee Rosales is anything but ordinary.

The 23-year-old has gone viral on TikTok as she inspires young girls to pursue careers in traditionally masculine fields.

Daimee (@daimeecharisma_rosales), who works at her family's auto shop just outside of Toronto, Canada, spoke to The U.S. Sun about smashing gender norms.

Despite growing up around cars and mechanics, Daimee didn't realize her dream of working with her hands right away.

After thinking about working with kids and doing a brief stint working the front desk at a medical esthetics clinic, Daimee decided to try her hand at the family trade.

"I need to be moving around, I can't just be sitting in one spot, I need to be more hands-on," she said.

Daimee's dad, a Mexico City native with decades of experience under his tool belt, encouraged her to try her hand at a simple tire job — and she hasn't looked back since.

That was 15 months ago, and the TikTok star has continued to gain more and more attention for her work.

"When she started last year, in April, she was on TikTok and she only had 1,200 followers," Daimee's mother Tamara, who also works at the family business, explained.

"[Now] she's at 359,000 followers."

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Daimee's previously private Instagram also saw a significant spike from 580 followers to 97,000.

However, the trailblazing mechanic's newfound fame wasn't without its setbacks.

From sexist comments to a stalking scare, Daimee's feminist presence online has attracted a lot of negativity.

Despite this, Tamara insisted that most of her daughter's online interactions have been positive.

"It’s 95 percent positive, and then you've got the five percent of negative people just being miserable, wanting to hate on others because they're doing well," she said.

Like everything in life, Daimee said her career choice has had its pros and cons.

"You have to have a really thick skin in order to be in something like this, you have to be strong," she said.

"I can find it hard [at times], but I've gotten so much stronger since I've gotten started working with my dad."

And the better she got at her work, the angrier some trolls seemed to get.

"Some [people] don't like it, and I'll get comments where they say: 'Oh, you shouldn't be in this trade, you should be working in the kitchen,' or 'You're not a real mechanic,'" she revealed.

Daimee estimated that 95 percent of her negative comments come from men.

But the mechanic remains undeterred by her haters, regardless of their gender.

"If I'm really happy doing something, I don't give up.

"This is what I love doing so you can say whatever you want, I want to continue doing me and that's it," she said.

The influencer instead chooses to focus on those who support her journey.

"I have a lot of followers that would be commenting or even messaging me privately just saying: 'It really shows on your face how much you really love this trade.'

"It just automatically shows in all my videos on myself, what you get is what you see," she said.

And that authenticity and passion for her work is what has attracted so many young girls to Daimee's social media.

She's even received phone calls from across the United States in support of her videos.

"I got this one phone call from this person, he has two daughters and he's from Texas," she recalled.

"He calls my dad and just said: 'Your daughter is an inspiration to my two daughters and they watch her all the time,' and he said how they both are inspired by [me]."

Daimee managed to find a niche with her videos that allows her to incorporate her musical interests into her mechanic content.

This unique crossover has opened up her content to a younger female demographic who are learning that they, too, can pursue careers in male-dominated fields.

And despite hateful comments criticizing her look, the five-foot-two mechanic noted how she never wears anything she wouldn't wear to the gym.

Working out, another of Daimee's passions, has helped her to develop the physical strength to match her mental determination when working as a female mechanic.

When asked what advice she would give to other young women hoping to make it in a traditionally male industry, Daimee referenced this perseverance.

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"Never never give up," she said.

"The minute you tell me: 'You can't do that,' I'm going [to do it], I'm going to finish it, and I'm not going to give up until I achieve it," Daimee said.

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