Koplin Auto Body’s Adele Rivas Recognized as an Automotive Industry Leader

by Alana Quartuccio

Adele Rivas is on a mission to empower others in the automotive world. Her determination and hard work has carried her from body shop secretary to successful body shop owner, proving that having a strong vision can take a woman quite far in an industry otherwise noted as male-dominated.

Her story began with a simple quest to land a job in order to afford a place to live. That initial goal – and every single step she’s taken since – has been a journey of perseverance toward entrepreneurship and leadership that has not gone unnoticed. 

Last month, the owner of Koplin Auto Body (Elizabeth) was recognized with the “Outstanding Contribution and Leadership in the Automotive Industry Award” by the Hudson County Latin American Chamber of Commerce. 

As part of her recognition, the Chamber stated, “Beyond her success, Adele is deeply committed to empowering others, often investing in her employees’ education to help them build a better future. Her story is a testament to hard work, resilience and breaking barriers in the automotive industry.”

“I was looking for work, and someone told me about a business owner who needed someone who knew Quickbooks,” relays Rivas of her first interaction with the body shop world back in 2001. “I wasn’t sure what Quickbooks was. I never liked school; I wasn’t interested in going to college. I took the interview, went to Best Buy, bought a CD about the program and spent the entire weekend learning. When Monday morning came, I served coffee, learned how to create job numbers and took care of Quickbooks. That’s how I started my journey.” 

Rivas would take on much more than Quickbooks. She learned how to deal with the insurance companies and how to listen to customers’ issues, basically managing the entire operation and learning what it’s like to be an owner of a body shop. Rivas welcomed every opportunity to learn, often staying after clocking out to watch the technicians work on vehicles, apply Bondo and mask cars in the paint booth, despite being made to feel like “a female shouldn’t be in the shop.” She held tight and “sat there every night watching, learning and earning their respect.” The technicians wound up taking her under their wing, and soon, she was assisting by holding the side of a bumper, learning how to use mig welders and understanding the mechanics of a car. 

“I began to love the industry as I was managing and learning about it at the same time,” she reflects.

Rivas moved on from Koplin Auto Body when she realized the owner, who was “like a father to me,” had sons of his own working in the business. “I knew that he had to give his kids a chance.” 

She went to work for another shop owner “who recognized my potential” and saw the benefits she was able to bring to his operation. Rivas went on to successfully manage the multi-shop operation, managing KPIs, creating a parts department and overseeing everything. Rivas calls the experience “a blessing. I will always and forever be grateful to that owner for the adventure he allowed me to touch. He actually showed me the things I needed to know, and I would have never had that opportunity had I not left Koplin Auto Body.”

As it would turn out, Koplin Auto Body was not meant to be her past – it was in the cards to be her future. 

Upon his retirement, the owner of Koplin Auto Body reached out to tell Rivas he believed she was the right person to take over the business. “I told him I didn’t have the money. He told me not to worry and to pay as I go. And I did. As of January 14 of this year, I paid him the last of it, and I own everything in my four walls. I’ve been the owner since 2017, creating the masterpiece that I have here in Elizabeth.” 

Rivas sees the award as coming from her mission to see to it that others realize their own potential and that various opportunities exist in the auto body industry for everyone – no matter their gender, culture or what skills they possess.

“I’ve seen what this industry has to offer. My mission is to address other females to help them understand that there are multiple areas in this industry where they can become a professional. Not everyone has to go to school. My mission is to advocate for this. The reason they gave me this award is because I empower others who don’t envision themselves doing these things, but they actually can. I give keynote speeches throughout the year, and I use this industry as an example because it struggles with a lack of employees. This industry doesn’t advocate itself the way it should, and many don’t realize that we can set them up with a job that they can be proud of.”

Although most of the talk out there focuses on  finding technicians, Rivas insists “there are so many opportunities in the body shop.” In fact, her employees at Koplin Auto Body were trained from within as she prefers to “get them raw.” She attributes much of the success her shop enjoys to being the “only Latin Hispanic woman owner in the area,” and she hails from Elizabeth where her shop is based. The shop is I-CAR Gold and her technicians are I-CAR Platinum certified. They have a large array of OEM certifications. Her team also includes a CSR, two accountants, one painter and two preppers. 

“We all assist each other,” she says of their teamwork. “We are trained to look at this shop as a soccer field.

“I call myself the vision within,” Rivas emphasizes her goal to spread the word about what she was able to learn and achieve, so others can realize that the body shop world is “no longer a place where one will get their hands dirty and one’s husband won’t want them to work there, or they won’t be seen as a professional or a place where one will die without benefits because we just are so much more than that.”

She’s working with Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Academy in Elizabeth and other area schools, as well as the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce, as part of her mission. 

“People need a [work]place where they can feel comfortable and what better place than the auto body industry where one can be their own, with their own style. I always take that into account, and I put that in my platform.”

“I’ve been blessed to own [a body shop] and to be able to share my strength with others who may be sitting with the view I had when I was just looking for a place to live.”

Want more? Check out the May 2025 issue of New Jersey Automotive!