A North Dakota woman recently launched her new business, offering workshops for women in car and home repair.
The idea for Misfix was conceived last April when Amanda McKinnon was at the Women’s Startup Weekend in Fargo. An entrepreneur with her own marketing company, she was there to lend some marketing expertise to event attendees.
“It literally came to me,” McKinnon said. She had been deep in conversation about how her father had taught her plumbing and other handy repair skills. She understood that not many women had had that experience, so she decided to create a business that helps women become self-sufficient in these areas.
McKinnon plans to offer workshops throughout her community on home and auto maintenance and repair. She also wants to empower women to ask the right questions if they choose to hire someone else to get the job done on a contract or freelance basis, rather than fixing it themselves.
“I really want to instill, especially in women, that you can troubleshoot and take care of yourself,” she said. She believes that women in the community will benefit from such information and skills that are more commonly learned by men, such as how and when to inspect a roof (once or twice a year) or how to repair a hole in the wall.
She has been searching for people in all different trades such as plumbing, carpentry, and electrical to help with the workshops, which she plans to start in the fall of this year. In addition to the workshops, McKinnon intends to post instructional videos on her website and create an app that would provide users with clear step-by-step instructions for certain tasks, like changing a tire.
West Fargo Liberty Middle School’s event, “Dream It. Be It.” was the perfect venue for McKinnon to preview her workshop. Held at Minnesota State University Moorhead, the event invited sixth-grade girls to listen to McKinnon talk about running her own business.
“It was a great opportunity for me to empower girls,” she said.
The next Women’s Startup Weekend will be held from April 22 to 24 and will take place at Dakota Medical Foundation in Fargo.
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