Raised in central Auckland, 19-year-old Billie Smaill didn’t grow up trackside, her family isn’t car-obsessed, and she hadn’t always dreamed of being a mechanic either. But by virtue of her knack for hands-on work coupled with a desire to understand what makes things go, taking up a technician apprenticeship at Honda is proving to be just the ticket.
“My mum's a lawyer. My dad's a scientist. They're both super academically talented,” says Billie candidly. “I'm more on the practical side.”
While a love of cars may not have come from her parents, Billie’s interest in mechanics certainly seems innate – something she says they’re “super supportive” of.
Billie’s journey towards the automotive industry began when she watched a group of mates race their go-karts at a track in the Auckland suburb of Avondale. After seeing the guys sprint round the track, she headed to the pits. It was there, as she observed them fixing their small single-seater racers, that her curiosity was sparked. “I had no idea what they were talking about or what was going on, but I was really interested in it.”
Fueled by a keenness to bid farewell to her school books and get into a hands-on career, it was one of Billie’s teachers from Epsom Girls Grammar School who helped her secure a work experience placement at Honda. Following a two-week stint in the Honda Store Newmarket workshop, she was offered an apprenticeship. From the get-go, the environment at Honda felt like the perfect fit. “I was stoked,” Billie shares fondly. “Everyone here is really nice.”
Billie admits that while she had a little automotive knowledge from driving her own Honda Accord, “I didn't know anything about engines or how a car worked.” It’s a love of learning that ignites her passion each day. “There's always an opportunity to do something new. I love the practical side, I find it really exciting. I get to pull things apart and rebuild them – and it's quite satisfying when you get it working!”
Photography by Emily Chalk
A mechanical apprenticeship typically takes three years to complete, but Billie’s driven to do it sooner. She plans to get the qualification six months’ ahead of time. Although Billie’s on track to be a qualified mechanic by early 2025, she isn’t ruling out a return to her childhood passion of mixed martial arts (MMA) as a future option.
“I started MMA when I was four, because I wanted to be starting things very early,” she explains proudly. “Dad used to play me videos of Bruce Lee playing ping pong with nunchucks. And I thought it was amazing, so I started.” Not only that, Billie took up piano as a preschooler and was swimming competitively from an early age as well. It wasn’t her parents pushing the extra-curriculars, however, “MMA was all me.” Speaking to her desire to finish the apprenticeship before deciding what’s next, “I'd like to get qualified before I go so hundy on MMA again,” she says.
Coincidentally, Billie’s curiosity of ‘breaking’ things apart to figure out how they work doesn’t solely apply to car engines but to almost everything she turns her hand to. MMA is no exception. “With MMA, you don't have to be the biggest fighter to kick the hardest, it's all about breaking the movements down.”
“It's about developing my small movements to make one big movement. The training all comes together in a match,” she explains. It’s apparent that Billie’s mindset cannot be taught in the ring or found under the hood of a Honda; at the heart of it, Billie’s approach is what makes her who she is.
Being an apprentice technician in a male-dominated industry sees Billie as somewhat of a rarity but she maintains that the team in the Newmarket workshop haven’t treated her any differently because she’s a woman, nor given her extra help because of the fact. It’s how she prefers it, anyway.
Sure, a female mechanic might be atypical but, as Billie maintains, why should it be? Emphasising that the only time she’s aware of her gender in this role is when she talks to people outside of the Honda community — within, she’s simply part of the crew.
People say, and I think it's true, that if you find a job that you enjoy, it feels like you don't work a day in your life.
