Women in the trades at Northern

Emma Faus has had a passion for repairing vehicles since she was a child.

When she was growing up and all throughout her teenage years in Witchita, Kansas, Faus would build or do maintenance on jeeps and motorcycles with her father and brother.

A self-described gearhead, Faus said that while her interest in auto mechanics delighted her father, it irked her mother.

"She didn't think I should be turning wrenches or anything like that, she wanted no part of that for me," said Faus.

Faus eventually applied to a technical college, but before she could accept or decline, her mother told Fa...