Body shop manager gets strength from past

Charity Ball-Farmer is a bundle of energy.

The 5-foot 2-inch redhead's matter-of-fact attitude is laced with humor, compassion and a work ethic of the highest standards. That's why her crew of about a dozen men listens when she talks.

Ball-Farmer heads the body shop at Lexus of Chattanooga.

"It's an unusual job for a girl, but I love it. I love my guys, and I love going to work. I consider myself lucky," said Ball-Farmer, married and the mother of three boys.

But getting where she is today didn't come easy. In fact, Ball-Farmer had much going against her, except for the love of her father, a man she rarely saw but communicated with through letters. Ball-Farmer's father lived most of his adult life in prison. And that's where he died.

His letters have been Ball-Farmer's source of strength throughout her life, she said.

"He made me who I am today," she said. "And I'm proud of who I've become."

Q: Why was your father in prison?

AHe was in prison for 25 years for murder. My mom was never around. ... I was raised in foster homes. But I maintained a relationship with my father. He wrote to me from prison every day. He told me that I could do anything in life that I wanted to do. He encouraged me to be like Joan of Arc. He wanted me to break the cycle, and I did.

Q Did you visit him in prison?

AHe was in a maximum-security prison, but I went to see him probably eight to 10 times. I loved him dearly. He died of cancer six months before he was scheduled to be released. I keep a box of his letters with me wherever I go. The letters made me who I am. In staff meetings at work, if people are complaining about one thing or the other, I've been known to pull out one of my father's letters and ask someone to read it aloud. It changes attitudes.

Q: Describe your childhood.

A: I was born in Atlanta and I have four siblings. I was the oldest so I took care of the younger ones. The state took us away from our mother because she ... would leave us for months at a time. I went from foster home to foster home, from Knoxville to Cleveland to Chattanooga. I ran away when I was 18 and had my second child by the time I turned 21. I had no education, no job. When I got divorced, I had no where to go, no place to live. I had to live on welfare for six months before taking advantage of an educational opportunity. I got my GED (General Educational Development) and started working.

Q: What is it like being a female overseeing a crew of men?

A: I think they were a little surprised at first to meet me. But I have created an environment where we're all in this together. Each one of us has a family to feed so we work together. We're like family. We've gone through marriages, divorces and death. We have a production meeting every morning, and the entire shop shows up. We have fun, too. A body shop would make good reality TV.

Q: Do you like your job?

A: I love what I do and wouldn't consider doing anything else. I am where I am because of my public relations skills, and I've learned everything about working in a body shop. But it's very important to make people feel comfortable when they come in. Typically, when a customer comes in, he or she has had a bad day. We want to make their car safe because we want them and their passengers to be safe. We want them to feel good when they leave.

Q: How to you manage to have such an upbeat and positive attitude?

A: You make it a goal every day. You get up, you [are] thankful for everything you have, and then you make the most of it. I have three kids, and at the end of the day, that's what counts. Growing up, I never went to the same school for a school year. It's so comforting every day at work to know I'm going to my home every night. I appreciate that, and I pay it forward. Some days you'll have a rocky road and it might get you down. You've just got to remember to get back up.

Q: What have your past experiences taught you about life?

A: That loving someone and being loved is the greatest gift. You don't know how to love if you're not shown love. I didn't feel love until I saw my first child. But, because of my past, I'm hard. I don't cry and I've got (thick) skin like you wouldn't believe. I'm not emotional. I'm a survivor.

Q: What's your life like today?

A: Happy. I'm in a good place. I have a home, a family, a job, good friends -- things I never dreamed I'd have.

E-mail Karen Nazor Hill at khill@timesfreepress.com

ABOUT HER

Family: Husband, Larry Farmer, service manager at Toyota of Cleveland. Sons: Ryan, 15; Trevor, 12; Winston, 2.

HOBBY she loves

"My husband and I love to cook. We're always grilling. We'll take a cookbook and say, 'Let's do it.' "

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF 10 YEARS FROM NOW?

"I want to own five body shops, and I want to be on the cover of Body Shop Business, a trade magazine."

WHAT WOULD PEOPLE BE SURPRISED TO KNOW ABOUT YOU?

"I love a good old-fashioned girly-girl shopping trip to buy clothes. I don't get to wear 'fashions' at work, so, once in a while I love dressing up. Once a month, my girlfriends and I go to Atlanta to shop. On Dec. 1, we're taking an all-girls shopping trip to New York City. I've never been there, and I'm excited."