I worked retail at REI for about 8 years. I ran the camping and climbing department. For the most part it was a very enjoyable job since my customers were interested in the same things I personally did. And I got about every piece of camping,climbing,skiing, snowboarding and biking gear that you could possibly want at cost. Even though the pay was fair, it is like having 25% more income because of the discount on things that you would buy anyways.
These days, I guess you could say my job is retail. I work for a Porsche part business called Carquip. Most of our customers are speed and repair shops, but maybe 25% is straight retail customers. It is very different because it is phone and internet based. But still very enjoyable for many of the above reasons. I have already acquired a '74 914 for myself, and an '87 924S for my girl. If either of us got in financial troouble, we could easily sell our cars for profit.
As for the women in auto industry thing, I see that attitude in my work. I work with a woman that knows her shit since her dad owns the business and she grew up around these cars.
But on a regular basis, guys come in or call and cop an attitude. If they walk in the door, and I'm on the phone, and they ignore Marie to wait for me, my approach is always the same. After they ask their question, I play dumb, and turn to Marie, and say, "You know this stuff better than I do, what do you think?"
