Mary started out in engineering in 1990 when she secured a Ford sponsored degree in manufacturing systems engineering at 19. That led to becoming a graduate engineer at Ford motor company UK. Wanting a change and to pursue something new, she left engineering in 2002 to gain a law degree and pursue a legal career, but in 2012 she decided that Law was not for her  and returned to Ford where she is now responsible for the quality planning of new commercial vehicles as Senior Quality Engineer.