In the Driver's Seat: Women Making Their Mark as Quick Lube Leaders
Amanda Saraiva didn’t expect to one day be living in Lake Havasu, Arizona, when she was working in a customer service relations role in California.
Minnesota native Charlie Pobanz grew up in a family of business owners, but never saw herself getting into quick lube ownership.
The careers of the two women have taken each on unexpected paths, but both have reached the same destination: being successful female leaders in what once was a male-dominated industry.
As the quick lube sector is seeing efforts to recruit more young women into auto service roles, Saraiva, a Victory Lane Quick Oil Change franchisee in Arizona, and Pobanz, owner of Shell Rapid Lube in Minnesota, are two examples of women who are leading thriving shops of their own.
Their entry into the quick lube industry may not have been conventional or planned—but strong support systems showed them how their strengths and skills are invaluable in the auto service sector.
Rising From the Depths: Amanda Saraiva
Amanda Saraiva and her husband took over their Victory Lane Quick Oil Change in Lake Havasu, Arizona, just a couple of years ago, but she’s been involved in the industry for nearly two decades. When Saraiva was 20 years old, after marrying her husband, she took over customer service relations for his family’s auto shop in Yuba City, California.
Saraiva didn’t remain in one place, having left for a time to pursue other roles, such as bookkeeping and expanding her experience in the business world. She found herself returning to the family’s business—however, the shop would eventually be sold off to Premier Oil Change.
With that, Saraiva and her husband thought that would be the end of their time in the automotive field, but it didn’t turn out that way. Her husband took on some intensive work, and the two realized that they wanted to operate their own business, rather than work for someone else.
Initially, they were keeping their eyes open for any opportunities from franchises or independent owners looking to retire but weren’t seeing anything quite to their standards. That was until they got in touch with Victory Lane, and learned of a potential franchise opportunity in Lake Havasu.
While Saraiva never saw herself living in the western Arizona city that is now home to the reconstructed London Bridge, her in-laws—the owners of the former shop she and her husband worked at—wanted to retire there.
“I knew that his parents wanted to retire here, so that was obviously a driving force to get to Arizona. Personally, I never in a million years wanted to live in Havasu,” shares Saraiva. “So, it’s funny that I live here, and I absolutely love living here now.”
Indeed, the journey there would be rough, but the destination would be more than worth it. In a whirlwind of events, Saraiva and her husband sold their home and moved to Arizona with their kids in 2023 to take over an existing Victory Lane franchise location in Lake Havasu.
While the location did make it ideal, the shop was fraught with challenges when the Saraivas took it over.
“This was a struggling location, and it needed a lot of help. Obviously, we’ve got a lot of experience in the industry, so we took a leap of faith that was really intense in the beginning,” says Saraiva.
Within two weeks of moving to Lake Havasu, the pair were already working in the shop and taking it over. For the first week or two of operation, though, Saraiva—who has never suffered from allergies—had her eyes swollen shut from an allergic reaction. Then, a week later, on the Fourth of July weekend, they pulled up to the shop one day to find it completely flooded.
“We literally pull up and there’s water running out of my waiting room door. Somebody had left oil at the car wash, and my husband was focusing on that—and I’m like, ‘Dude, dude, dude, there’s water coming out of our waiting room,’” tells Saraiva.
They opened the door, releasing a 3-inch-deep pool of water out of the building, underneath a caved-in roof. The culprit for the flood, it turned out, was a pipe above a mezzanine in their office that had busted two days prior.
“So, we went through that first summer—Arizona summer, mind you—no A/C, no nothing,” says Saraiva.
On top of that, the shop’s equipment had been neglected prior to the Saraivas taking over, meaning they had lots of equipment failures on their hands during their first few months.
“And there were policy issues and employee issues—it was a wild freaking ride the first six months,” Saraiva says.
Still, there’s nothing about the experience she would change. Saraiva says there were times when she felt so beaten down and discouraged, she wondered if it was possible for her to persevere. But she did. And now, she knows that no matter what else life throws at her, she can handle it again, just like she did then.
“Human nature is an amazing thing, and when you’re faced with something where you don’t have a choice, you find a real resiliency that you’ve never known you have. It’s how you become a better, stronger person,” says Saraiva. “That whole event humbled me. And if it wasn’t for that six months, I don’t know if I would be the same person. I don’t know how or why I’ve changed, but I don’t feel like I’m afraid to conquer hard things now.”
Discovering Your Hidden Talents: Charlie Pobanz
Charlie Pobanz wasn’t initially headed down the path of auto shop ownership—but, coming from a family of business owners, she’s always had a natural knack for entrepreneurship.
Her journey began in 2008, when she was 21 years old, working at a nursing home and studying to become a nurse in Albert Lea, Minnesota. Her husband, working as a trucker at the time, started telling her he wanted to take over an auto shop from someone in their small town. At first, she thought he was kidding—until he wasn’t.
Pobanz and her husband met with the owner of the shop, and within just over a week, signed papers to take over the facility, a Shell Rapid Lube.
For the first few months, Pobanz attempted to juggle nursing school and working at their new shop at the same time, but soon realized she had to choose between the two. The answer was clear to her: She found more fulfillment in operating the shop.
“As the time went, I’ve just grown to love it,” explains Pobanz. “I love that every day is a different challenge. You always see different things. It’s constant learning with the newer vehicles, and I love seeing new people every day.”
Fortunately, the shop was already staffed with experienced technicians, from whom Pobanz was eager to learn as much as she could. Since taking over Shell Rapid Lube, she’s always been more than willing to get in the thick of it and help out with whatever needs to be done, and she has been deeply invested in the shop’s successes the whole way.
“The very first day we opened, we did a whopping eight cars, and we thought that was pretty awesome. Then we made it to 10 cars, and we thought we were on top of the world,” recalls Pobanz. “Now, we push 40 to 45 cars a day. And I think that’s a very big thing for me, just how far we’ve come.”
Pobanz has seen many of the challenges of business ownership through her family, but she still had much to learn about the automotive world specifically. This willingness to learn helped make the process of taking over go smoothly, allowing her to see aspects of her business in operation that she would otherwise not be privy to.
“I don’t think that a lot of times people understand how much time it takes to really do this, to own a business in general. It’s not just come and go as you want,” says Pobanz. “Like anything, you can’t be scared to get dirty and be hands-on. You just have to dive into it and have an open mind and want to learn. I think there has to be a big will to learn.”
As a shop owner, patience has also been an invaluable skill to possess. Like any skill, it’s one that requires effort and training, especially as a woman entering a male-dominated space. Pobanz has encountered people who dismiss her because of her gender, but ultimately, she realizes it’s no one’s loss but their own.
Like many women who enter the field, Pobanz has been helped by a strong support system of friends and family cheering her on, and she’s helped create a work environment that welcomes anyone looking to learn. As she operates the shop alongside her husband, her older sister has also joined her, working as a technician out in the shop.
In step with her parents and grandparents, Pobanz ultimately decided to start her own business, creating a path that no one else can dictate the direction of. She encourages other women pursuing shop ownership to also take faith in themselves, and keep pushing for whatever they feel they’re meant to do, too.
“Just don’t be scared,” Pobanz says. “Dive in, do what you feel is right, and it’ll all work itself out.”
