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TANIA PRATNICKI YOUNG
Plant Manager, Dundee Engine Plant | FCA US | Dundee, Mich. | Age: 60 | Education: B.A., history, University of Detroit; master's, management supervision arts - business, Central Michigan University
-- What attracted you to the auto industry? My father. He was a trainer for a time at the old Chrysler Institute, but he always loved Chrysler. I graduated from the University of Detroit, and I wanted to be a history professor, but in the 1970s, there were no jobs. I was working the night shift at Burger King, and one day my dad showed up and said, "Come on, you're going to buy a suit, and you're going to go get a job as a foreman tomorrow." I said, "Dad, what the hell is a foreman?" He said, "It doesn't matter. It pays a lot of money."
-- First automotive job: I worked as a foreman on the trim line at Dodge Truck (Warren Truck Assembly). They couldn't hire women fast enough. The average woman they hired lasted about a week and went out of there screaming. My dad's only advice was,...