Kevin Greaves' Journey from Gas Station to UTI Education Manager

Sometimes, a simple “starter” job in your youth can end up shaping your career path in a way you never dreamed of previously.

For Kevin Greaves, it was a job pumping gas that helped him realize something: He loved cars.

"I worked in a gas station as soon as my mom would sign papers for me to get a job,” Kevin recalls. “But the gas station had a repair shop on the side, and that's really where I got interested in it. I thought, ‘Oh, this is cool. I like cars. I can work on cars. I can make a living out of this.’"

From there, he became an education manager at UTI and now helps shape the Automotive Technology training.¹

Paying It Forward: The Drive to Inspire

Kevin didn’t just stop at training and learning to fix cars. He wanted to give back, to be like the mentor he once had. He’s now set to inspire those unsure of their next step and show them there's pathways outside traditional education.

"As I would train new technicians, I decided I really wanted pay forward what was given to me,” he explains. “Being a young kid not knowing my path and having somebody tell me, ‘You could do this.’ You don't have to go your normal school route."

The UTI Experience: More Than Just Wrenches and Bolts

At UTI, it's not just about training on cars. It's about becoming prepared to pursue a career. Kevin and his team are dedicated to helping their students head toward just that.

"My job, my instructors’ jobs, we live and breathe whatever it takes to give a student an opportunity at success,” he says.

As an education manager, Kevin wants to ensure the instructors are there to support in many ways, even to help build basic life skills.

"All the way down to ‘I'm struggling with this,’ study skills, setting time aside every day, building a calendar out to ‘How do I be an adult?’” he explains. “In a lot of ways, it's what we try to teach."

Real-World-Mirrored Training

Another passion of Kevin’s: making the students’ training industry-mirrored by using aids that reflect what is out there in the real world. From hybrids to European cars, he wants students to get to try it all.

"Our training aids are relevant to what technicians see in the field today, in that we offer things like hybrid training,” he says. “We really encourage students to kind of work around and try out different things and see how different systems work."

Creating a Student-Centered Culture

Kevin and his crew strive to create an environment that’s a melting pot of great ideas and experiences instructors have seen, collaborating with employers and industry leaders to develop curriculum.

"What makes our campus great is the student-centered culture that we develop here,” Kevin shares proudly. “All of their experiences collectively really make us what we are."

They say when you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. Kevin just might be a testament to that. His passion in what he does clearly shows through.

 “We love it here,” Kevin tells us. “We love passing our knowledge on. That's what we all live for."

Ready to Join Us?

If you're ready to develop skills and join a community with people like you, UTI is the place to be. To learn more about our Automotive Technology training, head to our Programs page.