Ryan Peterson is a Master ASE certified technician who started working on cars in high school in Michigan. He also gained some automotive experience during his 5-year active duty in the Army (he currently serves in the National Guard). He then honed those skills at a repair shop for the next few years where he learned everything from alignments to driveability diagnostics, and is now one of our top techs. He has been with Catherine's Piedmont since the day the doors opened!  He has a wife, Kristi, and three young daughters, Kaitlyn, Sophie, and Emily.  UPDATE:  Ryan is currently on leave from Catherine’s as his National Guard Reserve Unit has been mobilized for active duty in Iraq.  We’re all keeping him in our thoughts and prayers, and hoping for his safe and speedy return.

Ansley Hegman started as a service advisor at Catherine’s Piedmont, and now works part-time between the two shops as customer service manager and manager of anything and everything that needs to be taken care of!  She grew up in Atlanta and entered the car business right out of high school, working as the loaner car coordinator with her uncle at a local dealership.  She advanced to service advisor at another dealership and then brought her excellent customer service skills to us in September 2002.  She and her husband, David, have two preschool-age sons, Tyler and Carson.  We were thrilled that Ansley chose to come back to us part-time after her extended maternity leave.

Jerry Wheeler, a service advisor at the Piedmont shop, has always lived in the South, and has always been around cars. He first learned about cars while working with his father, a trained mechanic, in 1978. The next 23 years were divided up among Ford, Mazda, and Nissan dealerships, where he attained the highest certifications at each, as well as becoming Master ASE certified.  He started as a tech with Catherine’s Piedmont in November 2002 and three years later moved up to the front office as service advisor.  His customer service skills are outstanding – so much so that he wowed one of our customers, Barbara, and now they are engaged to be married!

Geornette Jackson is another service advisor at Catherine’s Piedmont (since February 2007) who got into the car business by accident.  A family friend asked Geornette to help out at an auto repair franchise with some office work for about a week while she was still in high school, and she ended up staying for 5 years as their customer service manager!  She discovered that she loved working with people and she loved the challenge of learning about cars.  She stayed with this franchise for 13 more years, taking their management training course and working at a few of their various stores as service advisor and manager.  She also attended Georgia State University during this time and graduated with a degree in Business Management.  Geornette grew up in Decatur and lives in Atlanta now with her two daughters, Kennedy and Kailyn. 

Frank Kowalewicz is a self-taught ASE certified technician with over 25 years experience who has been working at a Master level for the last 15 years of his career. Before joining the automotive profession, he spent 8 years in the Navy as a dental tech. Lucky for us, Frank got tired of the cold weather in Ohio and moved to the Atlanta area where he lives with his wife Pam and daughter Sara. He had worked with Ryan at another shop several years earlier, and Ryan recommended Frank so highly, that we were quite happy to have him join us at the Piedmont shop in October 2003.

Demetrius Travis (“D”) began working on cars as a hobby with his Dad while growing up in Michigan. He has pursued that passion as a vocation ever since high school, and has continued to learn all he can about cars while working at various repair shops. He moved to Atlanta and loves it here, but misses his children still living in Michigan.  D was ecstatic when his recent marriage proposal was accepted, and he and his fiancée, Denesha, are looking forward to their future together.  He started at Catherine's Piedmont in January 2004 and keeps us laughing every day with his great sense of humor. 

Robert Arthur was born and raised in Ghana, Africa and started working on cars and motorbikes at a young age.  He enjoyed working on cars so much that he went on to achieve a certification from an automotive technical college in 1979.  Over the course of the next 14 years, he worked at Mitsubishi dealerships and had the privilege to participate in advanced technical training in Japan.  In 1993, he decided to venture out on his own and start an auto repair shop, which is still open and successful today, being managed by his oldest son.  Robert’s frustration with the lack of newer technology on the cars in Ghana prompted him to make six annual trips to the UK for classes in more sophisticated diagnostic systems, and he became Master ASE and L1 (advanced engine performance) certified in 2005.  He moved to Atlanta in 2006 with his other three sons and one daughter, and came on board the Catherine’s Piedmont team in July 2007.

Jason Chappell (“JC”) is another ASE certified technician who has been working on cars for about 15 years.  When the first car he bought at age 16 started making a tapping noise, he took it to a nearby gas station and asked the mechanic on duty for advice because he wanted to try to fix it himself.  The mechanic there saw some potential in JC and not only helped him fix his car, but also trained him as an apprentice for the next couple of years.  JC continued to work at various repair shops and dealers over the years, taking as many training classes as he could, and finally found his way to our Piedmont shop in February 2008.  An Atlanta native, he lives here now with his wife, Rachele, and his teenage son, Austin.

Jeremiah Craig grew up around cars and motorbikes as his dad had a repair shop in the Roswell area, and he always loved working on anything mechanical.  He worked in high voltage line construction for a few years in California and Virginia before he realized how much he missed being around cars.  He was employed at various oil change shops and tire stores as a general service tech, but feels he has finally found the right opportunity for himself at Catherine’s Piedmont.  He started with us in February 2008 as a porter and technician apprentice, and has impressed us so far with his hard work and initiative.  Jeremiah and his wife Heather think they may have another future mechanic in the family – their daughter, Hailey, who is 3.  They say she loves to go through her daddy’s tools and try to take things apart!

Monica Noble, the office manager of Catherine’s Auto Repair, was born and raised in Augusta but moved to Atlanta in 2001 to attend Georgia State University.  She graduated with a degree in biology in 2005 and hopes to further her studies eventually in grad school with a focus on sports medicine.  Monica’s true passion is dance – she has danced professionally and taught classes for several years in both hip-hop and jazz.  Although we would be proud to see her make it big one day either as a doctor or a dancer, we’re grateful for now to have her as part of the Catherine’s team.  She came to us in May 2006 from a temp agency, and she did such a good job at keeping both the Northside and Piedmont shops organized, that we hired her permanently as our office manager.