Gwen Truter, manager of the Point-S Tyre Shop and Car Service Centre in Kuils River, was announced on Friday (7 August) as the Motor Industry Staff Association (Misa) Woman of the Year finalist for the Western Cape for the second year running.
The national winner, who will be announced in November, will receive an educational trip and attend the annual National Automobile Dealers Association (Nada) Show in the USA.
According to Misa, the award recognises women who have taken unusual risks and surmounted significant obstacles to serve their communities and the retail motor industry.
Truter’s journey in the motor industry spans 27 years. She started in 1999, helping to open a tyre dealership from scratch. After being told it was “not in a woman’s pants” to be a branch manager, she persisted and rose to branch manager and later area manager, overseeing six branches.
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Make a difference
In 2018, she and her husband, Patrick, bought the Point-S dealership where they had been working at since its founding. Today they are still going.
Truter, who recently made the dealership available as a drop-off point for a sanitary pad drive to assist girls in need, feels strongly that women should not allow others to tell them what they can or can’t do.
Giving back to the community is close to her heart. Whether it is serving cake to the elderly in Sarepta, offering a discount for dog food donations, giving Santa shoeboxes to a girls’ home or providing skills training to learners from Alta du Toit School, Truter enjoys making a difference wherever she can.
On accepting the Western Cape award, she said: “I’ve learned it’s not about gender in the motor industry anymore, but what is inside. You must have a kind heart. When you enter a room and when you exit, make that room brighter.”
