Born in rural Alabama during the Great Depression, Andres picked cotton and worked on the family farm which instilled in her the drive to never stop working.
Billie and her husband, Jerry, opened Schoolcraft Auto Body in 1960. While raising their seven children, she worked for Schoolcraft Community Schools but eventually joined the family business. Even after her husband retired and her son, Sam Andres, took over the business, Billie has still been a fixture at work.