Duke

Boys, offering towing, auto sales and service, is a wellknown Duluth establishment. With a name like Duke Boys, along with a specialty in the automotive industry, one might assume it’s a strictly male-dominated business. You might be surprised to learn, however, that three of its top performers are highly successful women.

Today, we’ll introduce you to three employees who are hardworking, knowledgeable, and very well-suited for their jobs. Wendy Omundson, Kacy Sipper and Rita Anderson are defying stereotypes as the women of Duke Boys.

Wendy Omundson

Wendy Omundson is an auto sales representative who has been employed at Duke Boys for over two years. Her role includes getting the vehicles cleaned and prepped for sale, pricing and advertising the cars, and selling cars. Interestingly, she is the only car salesperson on staff at Duke Boys.

Omundson has been surrounded by automobiles her entire life. Her dad owned Auto Broker and Midwest Auto Exchange in Cloquet.

“I’ve always enjoyed cars,” she said. “I have a passion for automobiles, and I want to drive everything I can.”

When it comes to her job, Omundson explained her strengths.

“My forte is problem-solving and advocating for customers. But I also know cars and what their value should be.”

Prior to her job at Duke Boys, she spent six years as an assistant service manager at Miller Hill Chrysler. For her personal vehicle, Omundson possesses the knowledge to change her own oil and work on her own brakes.

Through her non-traditional sales techniques, Omundson averages about 18 vehicle sales a month.

“I don’t consider myself a salesperson,” she said. “I like to talk to people, and if they find a car that’s a good fit, I help them buy it.”

Kacy Sipper

Wendy for cars is evident in her job as an auto sales representative at Duke Boys. “I don’t consider myself a salesperson,” she said. “I like to talk to people, and if they find a car that’s a good fit, I help them buy it.”

Kacy Sipper has been on staff at Duke Boys for 10 years. As the company’s general manager, her daily duties include dispatching tow trucks, accounts receivable, accounts payable, human resources, and managing tow truck operations.

Sipper has also had a long history with vehicles. Her family owns

Chesney Auto Salvage, and as a child, she would join her dad when he’d be dispatched for tows. Sipper was also employed with the family business for a time.

Sipper’s job requires a lot of technical knowledge, including whether to send a flat bed, small wrecker, medium duty wrecker, or enclosed trailer out for a tow. It also requires a good working knowledge of vehicle weights, and whether or not a particular vehicle is front wheel drive or all wheel drive.

Sipper finds it interesting when a customer calls and asks to speak to “one of the guys.”

“There is a stereotype that I wouldn’t know about cars, what could be wrong with them or what kind of truck to send,” she said. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

When she’s not at work, Sipper proudly changes her own oil and tires. Her three-year-old son, Gray, is following in her footsteps; he also enjoys cars and loves when his dad brings him to visit mom at work.

Rita Anderson

Rita Anderson is Duke Boys’ service advisor, and has been on staff for about a year and a half. Anderson manages the auto service side of Duke Boys, and orders parts, writes up estimates, deals with warranty issues, and calls customers to explain what the mechanic found to be wrong with their vehicle.

Anderson has an associate’s degree in accounting, and prior to her current role, she was an assistant branch manager of a local credit union. But her true passion is in the automotive industry.

When she isn’t working, Anderson is a race car driver. She races at Superior’s Gondik Law Speedway, and in Ashland and Proctor, in the super stock class. Her dad, Ron Anderson, was also a race car driver in the 1960s and 1970s. He, along with her boyfriend James Vendela, also a racer, help Anderson keep her race cars in tip-top shape.

Anderson credits her enjoyment of vehicles, along with the ability to establish trust with her customers, for her success at Duke Boys.

“I spend a lot of time in the shop with the mechanics, asking questions,” she said. “Racing gives me a base layer of knowledge, but I also go out of my way to ask a lot of questions.”

Advice

Omundson, Sipper and Anderson all acknowledge that they are in a profession which is usually dominated by men. As such, they have some advice to impart to women looking to blaze their own trail.

“Have a thick skin,” Anderson said. “You’ll hear co-workers or customers who think you won’t know what you’re talking about, but you can’t take it to heart. Do the best job you are capable of, in order to earn that trust and respect.”

“You have to be confident in what you do,” Sipper said. “For me, I’m not a computer-savvy person, but I can remember things about vehicles. And, that’s why I’m here – I enjoy the automotive industry.”

Most of all, it’s important to find what you love to do in life and give it a shot.

“Don’t be afraid to try it if you have a passion for it,” Omundson said.

And, as for Darin Lind, the owner of Duke Boys, well, he’s just glad to have hard workers on staff, no matter their gender. Omundson shared, “He doesn’t expect any less of us because we are women.” D

Andrea Busche is a Duluth freelance writer.