I don’t know how to be anything but myself. I knew I needed to create my own mold; a path that would allow me to be me. This is what I do, this is what I love doing, this is what I’m passionate about. How could I find a way to make that my fun life, but also my work life? Within everything I’m doing, I’m enjoying the entire process, and it doesn’t feel like work.
Nothing stops Detroit. There’s something so raw, historical and authentic about Detroit. There’s no other Midwest city that compares to it. Growing up in Daytona, I grew to understand that Florida is a transplant state. Don’t get me wrong, Daytona’s really cool, but there’s not as rich of a history as Detroit. When I moved here, the legacy of the city came through. The storied history, the architecture; all of it amazed me. I had a gravitational pull to the city since I first moved, and it’s been 20 years since.
Growing up, the dream I had was that I loved everything automotive – cars, motorcycles, racing, mechanics. I chased that dream and made it happen.
There’s this automotive culture here that’s unmatched. I know people from other cities will say, ‘You know, our car culture is the coolest’ but they haven’t spent time in Detroit, because the car culture is all here. Everybody is a car person. Even the people who aren’t necessarily car collectors, racers, or big car people probably work in or around automotive, or know someone who does. The car culture is just connected through and through everywhere here, in the entire state, and especially Detroit.
My dad was a shop owner and mechanic, so I grew up around all of it. I didn’t really grow up around the domestic car scene; it was more import cars, but your everyday car. I was sitting in his lobby, flipping through magazines constantly, just drooling over cars. One day I saw the Anniversary Edition Lamborghini Countach, and I was like, ‘Dad, I’ve got to have this car!’ It was a palpable feeling, and the first car I fell in love with.
Growing up, the dream I had was that I loved everything automotive: cars, motorcycles, racing, mechanics. I chased that dream and made it happen. My message to women who want to get into not only automotive or racing, but anything else, is if you put your heart and mind to it, you can create it. Don’t let anything stop you. My perseverance through the tough and good times has kept me going. If you can dream it, you can make it happen.
Auto shows are so important because they bring in a whole different batch of car people; it’s not just one niche of the industry who attend. Detroit in particular draws people to auto shows, because we’re all motor city enthusiasts through and through.