Her Story
About Bridgette
Bridgette Dempsey serves as a service writer at a Chevrolet dealership in Williamsburg, Virginia, where she prepares client information, researches vehicle histories, and manages customer communications about repairs and warranty work. With nearly 20 years in the automotive field, she began her journey through high school co-op classes, New Horizons Regional Educational Center, and training at Universal Technical Institute's NASCAR tech program, influenced by her father, a master technician. She balances this with 20 years in the restaurant industry, including front and back of house roles, bartending, and serving, and continues to pick up shifts at Longhorn while providing occasional input to industry friends. Dempsey earned her bachelor's in Business Administration with a major in hospitality management, followed by an MBA and a master's in human resources management, completed in August of the prior year. She also holds a business analyst certification and Six Sigma Greenbelt certification and is working toward her CAPM. Her success stems from high personal standards as the first daughter and grandchild, a drive to inspire her three children as a single mother, and a desire to make her father proud. She values honesty with customers, family time, and personal health, and advises young women entering male-dominated fields like automotive not to be intimidated. Outside work, she competes in disc golf as vice president of the Colonial Disc Golf Club and a member of COVA Disc Golf Club.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Bridgette
01What do you attribute your success to?
I always had high standards set for me as the first daughter and grandchild. Having children motivated me to go back to school for my bachelor's in business in January 2020 to inspire and motivate them to be their role model. I have an undying loyalty to make my father proud, who is a master technician, and everything I do is with that goal in mind. Being a single mom with three kids drives me to show them what is possible.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
About 10 years ago while working behind the bar at a steakhouse in Williamsburg, a colleague with 27 years experience from places like the Williamsburg Inn said: you are not a server, you are a waiter. You are not here to serve people, you were here to wait on them. You are not their servant. This changed my entire view of customer service to a reciprocal relationship where I take care of them and they take care of me, rather than just overachieving to please them immediately.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Don't let them intimidate you. In both restaurant and automotive industries there is a double standard for women, especially in the male-dominated automotive world. Do what you feel is right, and if you love it, do it. Don't let anybody scare you away from it. My dad told me not to get into it, and people questioned why a girl was changing tires at 2am, but I did it because I can, and if I had let those words get in my way, I'd have never gotten anywhere.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Working at a Chevrolet dealership with GM brands is challenging because they are so broad, dealing with Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, Buick. There is a lot of information to be trained on for warranty work and customers. Technicians focus only on Chevrolet here despite being GM trained. Biggest challenge is patience, not getting frustrated waiting on parts from General Motors on international backorder or following SOPs, while still appeasing customers and apologizing for delays or faulty parts on new cars.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I believe in doing what's right and being honest with customers rather than lying to make a sale, which I see as shady. I value my family and my time with them, which is why I stepped back from the restaurant industry to avoid missing birthdays and holidays. I also value my own personal health and sanity after past stress manifested physically, because if you can't take care of yourself, nothing else works.
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