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Thorsby business women a finalist for 2021 Alberta Women’s Entrepreneurship Award

Sabrina Wilde with Lone Wolf Mechanical is a finalist for the entrepreneurial award.
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Sabrina Wilde in front of a truck. Submitted.

A local Thorsby business woman is being recognized for her work and has become a finalist for the 2021 Alberta Women’s Entrepreneurship Award. Alberta Women’s Entrepreneurship Awards pay tribute to women who have built a business in Alberta with a significant impact on the economy and community.

Sabrina Wilde went to MacEwan University, earning her Business Degree before getting her Class One drivers license and driving trucks professionally for 15 years.

After meeting her partner, Jim Meyer, who is a heavy-duty mechanic, the two decided to open a Heavy Duty repairs shop in Thorsby, Alta. together.

Wilde says that her career journey is a perfect match up of her parents, her mother being an entrepreneur and her father a Class One driver. She says that she took on their skills and followed in their footsteps and that they are still her biggest supporters.

Wilde and Meyer, who plays a crucial role in Lone Wolf Mechanical, have been operating Lone Wolf Mechanical in Thorsby for the past three years and Wilde says what started as a bare-bones start up has taken off considerably.

“We basically just started with my boyfriend’s toolbox,” says Wilde.

She says they began the business renting their shop and, “now we own the building, we have nine employees; we’ve grown so much.”

The heavy-duty repair shop is now an AMA certified and recommended repair shop.

On top of operating the communications, social media, books and more for the shop, Wilde is also the only one with a Class One license and over a decade of driving trucks.

She jokes that given her experience behind the wheel she can tell immediately if something is wrong with a truck, she just doesn’t know how to fix it—and that’s where her team at Lone Wolf Mechanical comes in.

Lone Wolf Mechanical has also been nominated for multiple business awards this year including a nomination for customer service and a nomination for mentorship for the Alberta Business Awards of Distinction 2021.

Wilde is thrilled to be a finalist for the 2021 Alberta Women’s Entrepreneurship Award.

“Just to be nominated is an honour,” she says. “I couldn’t be happier. It tells me I’m doing my job right.”

However, she expressly states that she couldn’t have gotten here alone. Wilde says that her team at Lone Wolf Mechanical and the local community have been crucial to hers own and the business’ success.

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the community supporting us,” Wilde says. “I might be the one nominated but it takes a team.”

Wilde recently kicked up another venture lately with a local Thorsby woman, Ashley Gilbert, making videos about basic car maintenance catered towards women.

The videos, posted to Lone Wolf Mechanical’s Facebook page, teach everything from how to change and check your oil, change your tires and more. Wilde says that she was inspired to make the videos because she knows that a lot of women feel embarrassed not knowing the basics and want to learn for themselves, but that going to a mechanic can be daunting.

“A lot of women are responding well to it,” says Wilde. “Going to a mechanic shop as a woman is intimidating.”



shaela.dansereau@pipestoneflyer.ca

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Sabrina Wilde driving a large truck at Lone Wolf Mechanical. Submitted.
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Wilde and Meyers of Lone Wolf Mechanical. Submitted.
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