MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2021 women made up only 9.7% of the total number of employees in the automotive industry, and that is after substantial increases in the last two decades.

One high schooler, Riley Schlick, is bucking the trend, though, and building a path for her future while taking girl power to a whole new level.

For many 17-year-olds, starting a business might be something they would think about doing later on. However, for the high school senior in Manatee County, she is doing it all, from rebuilding carburetors or doing schoolwork. 

Putting the pieces back together is literally what Schlick does almost every day.

“They are kind of just parts,” she said, pointing to a carburetor. “That’s the hat. This is the body.”

In this case, it’s taking apart and rebuilding carburetors.

“And we have the pink gloves to match the whole girly facade, which we love,” said Schlick, who started tinkering with cars when she was just 3 years old, helping her dad in the garage.

She says the order of the way they work on a carburetor is to first “break it down, soda blast it, ultrasonic tank it and rebuild it.”

Schlick has come a long way since then. She started her own business called “Riley's Rebuilds” when she was 13, and now, about 4 years later, she says business is cranking.

“It’s a lot of people sending us their carburetors and us sending them back when they are all done,” she said.

Schlick said her business works on 20 to 25 carburetors a week, and she’s got some help. Her team is made up of all girls — many were new to the industry before working at Riley’s Rebuilds.

She hired her friends Elain Zdancewick, Katie Burgess, Dagney Van Aken and Amelia Sabo.

Not only is Schlick a young entrepreneur running a female-owned business, but she’s also working in a male-dominated industry. But she thinks that’s what makes her business stand out.

“It brings attention. It almost is like, ‘Wow, we are slamming a foot into the door,’ and it shouldn’t be like that now in our century, but it is," Schlick said.

However, the business is only part of  her life — Schlick also attends school and plays soccer, and after graduation, she will be going to Connecticut College and competing on the soccer team as a goalie.

“Being able to know that I’m doing something for myself at a young age — I don’t like having time kind of slip away from myself,” she said.

She said she puts in the time because she’s striving for a goal, and is doing it with her family by her side.

“It’s always been a huge family thing," Schlick said. "Family always comes first for us, and it’s always been about family in the garage, too.”

Schlick and her team at Riley’s Rebuilds have been invited to go to the SEMA automotive trade show. The girls are raising money for transportation and splitting their profits to help with a local ranch in Manatee County that was left with damages from Hurricane Ian.