Meet Shawn, our Diagnostic Technician.

You don’t have to be a car enthusiast to love working on cars. It’s just about passion.

Shawn is one of our key problem solvers in the workshop. His knowledge and ability are beyond his years built upon a passion that is unlike most in our industry. His continuous hard work and diligence is what makes Shawn unlike most Technicians, as he has never actually possessed a passion for the automotive but rather a passion to problem-solve and work with his hands. This passion is what lead him to the Automotive trade and today has translated into a 11-year long career, where he is still loves what new problems he gets to solve each and every day.

But who is Shawn? Well, he’s a happy go lucky, free spirited young Dad who loves adrenaline fuelled sports and adventure. His young boy, wife, fitness and, surprisingly… Disney are his absolute favourite things in this world (See his tattoos!). But how did such a guy with no interest in the Automotive find his way to EuroWerke in 2024? Well, we’re going to have to take things back to where the possibility all started. Back in 2014, Shawn was in his first year out of school and didn’t quite know where he wanted to go with ‘life’. He knew deep down he wanted to work with his hands, and not mundanely but rather in a way that would allow him to build, and problem solve. He knew he didn’t want every day to be the same.

He began to apply for apprenticeships and jobs within Construction and Mechanical industry, landing a Pre-Apprenticeship Mechanical Course with the MTA. It lasted 8 weeks and at the end there was potential to begin an apprenticeship at Thompson Ford. Coming to the end of his 8 weeks, Shawn saw an ad pop up for apprenticeships with Mercedes Benz Rushcutters Bay - he applied but didn’t think much of it. A couple weeks later his phone rang, and it was the Service Manager from Mercedes, inviting him down for an interview.

Not long after the day arrived for his first interview, Shawn was nervous to say the least but excited to the chance. Getting down to Rushcutters he met with the Service Manager, and they really hit it off, the interview turned into a tour of the facility and a meet and greet with the team. Before he knew it, this impromptu tour turned into a job offer. An offer he accepted on the spot!

For the first 6 months at Mercedes Benz Shawn was mentored by a Service Technician, purely and only doing Servicing. Within these first 6 months he learnt a lot more about what not to do, than what to do. His mentor was a slow worker, he would watch the oil drop from the pan until it was dripping in a 2 second interval… giving him enough time to scroll through his phone. Shawn thought this was normal until the workshop got a sudden addition of security cameras. The first 6 months weren’t exactly the most riveting for Shawn but, this is where his hard work and diligence came into play. For the next 1.5 years Shawn did purely Service, all on his own. But what came next in 2016 really defined his career.

An opportunity arouse to hop out of Servicing and into Diagnostics, this time being mentored by an Expat Diagnostic Technician who had a given gift of teaching. For the next year Shawn worked side-by-side his mentored and soaked up decades of diagnostic understanding and effective problem solving. He was hooked; this was the role he was made for in the trade. By the end of 2017 Shawn was fully qualified, 6 months ahead of time and ready to take on the next challenge. He was asked where he would like his career as a qualified Technician to begin and of course he said, Diagnostics.

Come 2018, Shawn was now fully qualified and working in a role that he loved. Diagnostics was where he was meant to be. But there was one other thing he needed to seal the deal with and that was with his childhood sweetheart – Belinda. Together since High School the couple tied the knot and began to build their lives. In 2019 Shawn found the second love of his life, it came with two wheels, an engine and a whole lot of adrenaline. What better way to save time commuting from The Hills to Rushcutters Bay that on a Yamaha superbike. Now traffic wasn’t too bad, and it also did something to his soul that he never knew he needed. The only problem was it didn’t always solve the problem. Sometimes traffic was so bad that it did not matter the type of transport and other times the weather… a thought of working closer to home and having a better Work / Life balance was seeded. But, for at least the next 4 years Shawn’s life didn’t change much bar a holiday and adventure… or two.

In 2023, Linda and Shawn welcomed their first child, Nate, into the world. Nate’s arrival was swift, catching everyone by surprise. Happening within moments of being sent home from the hospital to time contractions, they soon had to call an ambulance. Along with their midwife on the phone, Shawn expertly followed her instructions. In less than 10 minutes, Nate was born into Shawn’s hands right in their hallway, a healthy and happy baby boy. Linda felt safe and calm, knowing Shawn was ready to help diagnose, listen and handle the situation with their midwife’s guidance… This energised Shawn, just like Diagnostics originally did, just like marrying Belinda and just like his motorbike had most recently.

Another year of hard work passed like a flash, marking Shawn’s 10 year anniversary at Mercedes Benz. Proud but also tired of the commuting the desire for a better work / life balance hit a level that could not be ignored, and a choice was made to begin applying for appropriate roles that were closer to home. Deep down he already knew where he wanted to go, as he had seen job advertisements for our growing team here at EuroWerke over the last few years. It took a few months of re-loading EuroWerke until the day came where a role was advertised. As he promised himself, he applied almost instantly.

The start of 2024 saw Shawn join our EuroWerke, Castle Hill team. Every day since then he has brought in his intoxicating positive energy, can do attitude and what seems like an endless amount of knowledge. We’re pretty sure he’s been to gym every single morning since he started to. Which goes to show what you can do with a better work / life balance. The bottom line is his Energy, Diagnostic and Problem-Solving skills have translated perfectly across all the European makes and models we see here at EuroWerke. There hasn’t been a single day the same for him yet, and it just goes to show, you don’t have to be a car enthusiast to love working on cars.

Thank you, Shawn.

Shawn’s Gallery: