Southeast Texas woman fixing appliances, and also doing much more

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Carolyn Tidwell, owner of Fix It Gals Repair, checks to see if she can power up a new inverter board in the back of a refrigerator at a home in Winnie on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023.

Melinda Jeffers and Carolyn Tidwell of Fix It Gals Repair move a refrigerator to begin working on it at a home in Winnie on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023.

Carolyn Tidwell, owner of Fix It Gals Repair, opens the back of a refrigerator with a power drill to replace an inverter board at a home in Winnie on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023.

Carolyn Tidwell, owner of Fix It Gals Repair, hooks up a new inverter board in the back of a refrigerator at a home in Winnie on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023.

Carolyn Tidwell, owner of Fix It Gals Repair, checks to see if she can power up a new inverter board in the back of a refrigerator at a home in Winnie on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023.

Carolyn Tidwell can diagnose why a refrigerator or washing machine may be broken. Most importantly, she ensures it's done correctly.

The Houston native, who lived in Winnie for 27 years before settling in Beaumont, embraces helping Southeast Texans who need appliance repairs by way of her business, called Fix It Gals Repair, which she started in April 2021.

The Enterprise sat down with Tidwell to discuss her women-led business and how it's changing perceptions about that field.

Q: You started Fix It Gals Repair nearly two years ago, fixing appliances such as refrigerators. What drew you to that line of work?

A: A little back story about me: Growing up, I tore apart everything, tried to figure out how it worked. I tore apart my mother's phone so many times, it drove her nuts. But I put it back together.

My parents didn't have a lot of money, so things had to be fixed around the house. I watched my dad do it, and then I started doing it. My dad taught about vehicles and mechanical stuff...

I was (previously) working in the mental health field. My husband (Donnie) was alive then, and I was wanting to work with people, and they stuck me in an office.

(Then) my friend's washing machine broke down, so I thought, "I can fix that." I went over and fixed her washing machine, and a little light bulb went off in my head. It was like, "Wow, I can do this." So, I put my name out there on Facebook, went to my first job (and) was terrified because I was going to someone's house by myself, and I was just learning how to do this stuff...

I just learned how to do it. I read the service manual and did what it said to do. So, I continued to do it.

Then I found (my mentor) Andy Tucker, who's at the Appliance Parts House in Beaumont. He sells me his parts, but he also assists me when I get stuck, because you can't know everything about everything.

I'm truthful about my ability. If it's over my head and I can't do it, I let people know.

I lost my husband in 2019 to a car wreck, and that's what motivated me to go ahead and step out on my own, do something different.

Q: Having experience working in mental health, what did that do to help you with the work you do now?

A: It's helped me (learn to) talk with people...

You go to people's houses, and you don't know where they're at until you talk with them.

We always deal with the appliance, deal with it as an important part of their life. Washer and dryer goes down, you got three kids -- that's a crisis. Washer and dryer goes down, you have an elderly parent or grandparent living with you -- that's a crisis.

They have to have these appliances. We've gotten to a place in society that we've depended upon these appliances for daily living. When someone calls about a refrigerator or freezer, I try to get on them as soon as possible because they're losing money (via) food. If we can get over there and fix the problem, get them set up with what they need to make (sure) the appliance is functioning properly, then they're not going to lose money.

Food nowadays, prices are outrageous. You can't afford to lose food.

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Q: Which appliances take time to fix, and which appliances can be fixed quickly?

A: There are so many electronics involved in refrigerators that it just takes a while to chase down the problem sometimes.

Washers and dryers, we can knock them out in our sleep. We do good with those, really good with those.

Dishwashers are really hard because it's the tight space that you have to work in. You're having to work up underneath it. You can't pull it out and turn it upside down without getting water all over the house. Everything's on the bottom, so those are tight.

We work on gas appliances, but we can't do the gas plumbing.

Q: What does it mean to you to be an all-women business, given the work you do?

A: As an all-women business, I feel like we're empowered to do these things, and we're empowering those around us.

I'm empowering my nieces to show them that we're not stuck in one rut in life, that we're capable of extending ourselves beyond what society says can do and cannot do.

Q: Do you think businesses like Fix It Gals Repair is helping break down those barriers of that field supposedly being a "man's job?"

A: Absolutely.

Elderly women are highly impressed. Even elderly men that you usually think that are stubborn, they're impressed that we're doing this work.

I have a lot of repeat customers that are elderly.

We stay busy daily. We allow ourselves three to four jobs a day. That's a lot, really, because we do a lot of traveling.

We travel all over (Southeast Texas) where people don't go... Anahuac has problems getting appliances repaired out there.

As far as women doing this job, what are we doing for women? We're showing women that we are more than a stereotype. We can branch out and do whatever we want to do, whatever our heart's desire is. If we follow that desire and follow that dream, we can do anything.

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Q: You previously mentioned customers you've engaged with are more comfortable having a woman fix their appliances. Why do you think that is?

A: They feel safer that women are coming in their house instead of a total stranger man, especially in today's day and age.

Women feel more comfortable with a lady coming in their house, and they just feel safer. That's what customers have said to us, over and over and over.

Our customers feel so safe that they even leave their keys, or they'll open their house and go to work. I think that they believe we will be more gentle with not only their appliance but their stuff in their house, their belongings in their house.

We're very careful to make sure we don't damage the stuff around us, and we take extra caution because of that... If we do damage something, we tell them, "Listen, I think I scratched this... we (made) this scratch here, we (made) this dent here." Sometimes, things do happen; you drop a tool. It just happens.

Q: What's the most satisfying part of the job?

A: When you take an appliance that's not working, and a person's in a crisis... and you get it working, that is satisfying.

The second thing that's satisfying is being able to talk to people and be real. We take the time to stop and listen to the little old lady that's having her crisis situation (with) her appliance or even having a crisis situation with her family. I think listening to people is the main thing.

There's such a variety of appliances out there, you can't know everything about everything.

We utilize our mentor (Andy), and we sometimes utilize YouTube to figure out how to take a thing apart because they're all so different.

Everything's a puzzle. How to take it apart is a puzzle. How to diagnose it is a puzzle.

It's satisfying when you get it done. You walk away, the person's happy, and you've succeeded at something.

We make sure it's done right.

There was this elderly lady (a previous occasion), and her dryer went out. It was a (safety) thermostat that went out. When we delved further into situation, my assistant and I found that the vent was clogged all the way to the outside, which was an extreme fire hazard. It took us literally three hours to clear that out with our cleaning stuff. We didn't charge her for that three hours, because she couldn't afford it.

(The woman's daughter) handed me a check for $100 (the next day) and said, "Thank you for not taking advantage of my mother, and thank you for keeping her safe."

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