The Car Chick: A Journey of Women’s Empowerment

The Car Chick (00:01)
Hey everyone and welcome to the 100th episode of The Straight Shift! I cannot believe that we are at episode 100 of this podcast. And I want to thank everyone who has hung in there with me from the beginning, especially when I had to take my little sabbatical during COVID. And those of you who have joined me since I have come back and rebooted this podcast, I appreciate you all so very much.

So I was trying to figure out what does one do to celebrate the 100th episode of their podcast? Cause I found it’s actually fairly unusual for a podcast to get that far. And I get why it’s a lot of work. Oh my gosh. But it’s so fun to do.

So I asked my team and they took a survey of some of the listeners, folks that have been listening for since the beginning, including my husband and some people that are new listeners. What do you want to know for the hundredth episode? And surprisingly, most of the questions that came back were people wanting to know more about how did I become The Car Chick? How did this whole thing come about?

So that is what we’re going to talk about today. We’re going to take a look at a few of these questions and talk a little bit about kind of, guess, The Car Chick origin story for lack of a better term and my background and how I got to this point and why I do what I do. And at the end, I do have an important announcement. So stay tuned.

The first question that we got from a lot of listeners, as well as something I hear from my clients and people I just talk to every day is, how did you get into cars? Was your father a mechanic? And believe me, that cracks me up. Cause like, no. While my father did play a crucial role in getting me into cars, he was definitely not mechanically inclined in any way, shape or form. He had a hammer and a screwdriver,

and was not particularly proficient with either one, but he was an excellent business person and he loved to drive. So when I was little, it’s actually got into cars with Herbie the Love Bug movies from Disney. This will give you an idea of how old I actually am, but I fell in love with the Volkswagen Bug because you know, they’re just so cute and especially, you know, when you’re two, three years old, they’re cute.

And our neighbors had one. So it kind of gave me that personal connection to what was in the movie and what was next door. And I just loved them. They were just so easily recognizable for a two-year-old when you’re driving around. And my father had always loved driving. He grew up in East Tennessee and was used to driving those back mountain roads. And he was also an IT consultant. He actually was one of the pioneers of the IT consulting industry.

and he got to do so many cool things. But one of those things was doing a course, it was kind of gifted to him before the IRS frowned upon these things, but he was able to go through the driving school that at the time was out in Monterey, California, that trained not only race car drivers, the Formula One teams, the best road course drivers in the world, but they also trained the FBI, the Secret Service,

and all of those government officials who have to have exceptional driving skills, especially the ones that are protecting the president and our other officials. So dad got to go through that course and hone the skills that he just learned naturally driving the back roads of East Tennessee. So he was always into driving.

When my dad turned 40. He had what I call his first midlife crisis. I was about seven years old at the time and he bought the first generation Mazda RX-7. So number one, it was this cool little sports car and it had a manual transmission. Before that, we just had one car and it was a station wagon. It was like the family truckster, just don’t get me started. But I was really curious about what is this? What is this whole shifting thing going on? And so he started teaching me about

how cars work and how the engine and the transmission work together and how to drive stick when I was seven. So I would be able to sit in the passenger side and do the shifting with my left hand while he operated the gas and the clutch and the brake and did the actual driving. We got really good at this tandem driving, but that’s how I started getting interested in it. And he would always have a running commentary when we were driving together and talking about, well,

let’s just face it, bitching about everyone, all the other idiots on the road and what they were doing and explaining to me why these things were wrong, why they weren’t safe, what’s the right way to drive. So I started learning the concepts of good driving and advanced driving skills. And of course I grew up in the North, I grew up in Cleveland and Milwaukee and so we were always in the snow. So dad taught me how to drive in snow early on. I remember when I was 15 and…

I was getting ready to get my license and he sent me to a private driving school instead of relying on the high school gym teacher to teach it in my high school. So, but he would take me out and in order to learn how to drive stick, he took me to this parking lot that had a split level and he put me on that ramp and he yanked the e-brake and said, okay, I want you to give it a little bit of gas and then start to let the clutch out. And when you think the clutch has

caught, release the handbrake. And if you roll forward or backwards at all, you fail. So that’s how he taught me where does the clutch catch. And let me tell you, when you do that for about two hours, you learn where the clutch catches. And from then on, I could drive stick. And then he just started teaching me the more advanced skills. As I was getting my license, we were going into the winter. He’s like, Hey, you know, we live in Wisconsin, it snows, your car is going to slide around all the time.

So we might as well learn how to do the slides and the donuts and all that stuff intentionally. That way when it does happen on the street, it won’t be a surprise to you. You’ll know how to handle it. So he would pick me up from skating practice on Sunday nights and we would go into the parking lot next to the ice rink, which was at the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds in Milwaukee. Big open parking lot covered in snow.

and we would do all the donuts. We were basically doing the same figure eights that I was doing on the ice. We were doing in the parking lot with the car. So I learned a lot of good car control. It was so much fun. And at that time he had an 85 Supra, which was a special anniversary edition. And that eventually became my car, my senior year. So it had a 60/40 weight distribution. So all the weight was in the front. Very little weight was over the drive wheels in the back.

but it had a lot of low end torque. So the back end just fishtailed like crazy on any slippery conditions, which was really fun. So that’s where I learned that car control and just had a passion for driving. And we’d always watch the races on TV and we had slot car racing, you know, in our basement. So it was just something that I grew up with absolutely loving. And dad passed away in 2009 unexpectedly. And while he…

saw me start my company. He never got to see me really grow it and become The Car Chick and start doing all the things that I have been doing. But the life lessons that I learned from him, not just behind the wheel, but he taught me to set my goals super high, like crazy high. And if I got anywhere near them, I would be doing great. It wasn’t a disappointment if I didn’t reach them because they were ridiculous to begin with.

but he always believed in shooting for the stars and you’ll still end up in space. And the other thing that he told me that was the single best advice I’ve ever gotten that has really formulated, I think my entire personality is don’t let anyone ever tell you you can’t do something just because you’re a girl. You just have to do it better than them. So needless to say, I got my competitive nature from my father, but that has kind of been the driving

force in my life and what kind of gave me the background both driving wise and mentality wise to do what I do now.

So the second question is how did you become The Car Chick? Did you work at car dealerships? Again, no, actually I did not. I did some consulting work with them in my career, but I don’t actually have a car dealership background.

I followed in my father’s footsteps after graduating from Stanford with a degree in economics, which I talk about using on this podcast, something I never thought I would do. But I went into management consulting in the IT world. As I said, he was one of the pioneers in that field and I just grew up with it. I’ve literally had a computer since the mid to late 70s. So I grew up a geek and followed my father’s footsteps and I just kept

having to travel a lot and I was working crazy hours and just was not as happy anymore. And I realized, you I’m working 80, 100 hours a week in another male dominated field where I’m not being appreciated. And I’m working for people that, you know, I don’t always respect because of the way they treat their employees. And I just had to get out. I just I wanted to do something different in my life. I reached that breaking point and I found this cute little pink and green brochure

in the ladies bathroom at the insurance company that I was consulting at. And it said something about women and car shopping and had all these cute little cartoons on it. I was like, what is this? I must know. So I called the woman whose name and picture were on the back of the brochure and we had lunch and I tell you, it was like we had known each other our whole lives. We instantly became friends. She did come from a dealership background. She had been selling cars since she was 15 years old.

Her father had been in the car business working for Papa Joe Hendrick. So it was her whole life. It’s all she’d ever known. And she actually didn’t like cars. She could care less about them. They were just widgets to her. And I brought in the car knowledge and this passion for the cars themselves. And she’s like, hey, you know, I could use some help. And she had come up with the initial business model. And so I quit my IT job and started working with her.

And over the years, she taught me so much about how the dealerships work, the ins and outs of the automotive industry. And I taught her quite a bit about cars themselves, but the business relationship ultimately didn’t work out. We had to go our separate ways just because of life differences, but I will always be very grateful to her for everything she taught me and just the opportunity to get into this unique place in the automotive industry.

One of the that kind of happened was one of the early clients was a single mom and she had been through the wringer. She had gone through a bankruptcy because she’d been taken advantage of by a con artist, kind of a romance scammer. And quite honestly, she was lucky to be alive. guy was a total creep.

And she was stuck in a lease on this little two door Honda. It was too small. She had a four year old son in a car seat. She was over the miles on her lease. She was just really in deep financial trouble and didn’t know what to do. And she found me and she was one of my first clients and I worked and I figured out, how do we solve this puzzle? And I was able to get her out of the lease without any negative equity. We were able to get her into a different car that

Turns out it was her dream car and I didn’t even know And when we did the deal at the dealership and signed all the paperwork, know, the whole thing took 30 minutes. And then she just looked at me, she’s like, you mean that’s it? I’m like, yeah, we’re done. And she just burst into tears because this had changed her life. You I just thought I had helped her get a car. But what actually happened was I helped her take her life back. And that was the most eye-opening moment for me. had…

no idea that what I was doing could have that much of an impact on this woman’s life. And it did, her life completely turned around from there. You she was happily married now and her kid is like an adult now. It’s been that many years, but she and I are still friends. But it was at that moment that I realized that it wasn’t about the cars. It was about empowering other women and helping to change lives.

because it is such a big financial deal and such an area of pain for so many people. So that was the big turning point and the big aha moment for me. And when I really started realizing why I was doing what I was doing. And then The Car Chick brand itself evolved pretty much by accident. I was doing a lot of networking because what I was doing was very unique. It was a business model that really had never been done before.

So it’s not like people knew to go looking for me in the yellow pages, wouldn’t even know what category to go under. So I had to go out there and pound the pavement since I didn’t have any money to do marketing. And I met a guy at a networking event and we became friends and he just started calling me car chick. It was just, he was an older guy and you know, I wasn’t offended by the term at all. I thought it was kind of fun and he just started calling me car chick and it just kind of caught on. I’m like, you know, this is cool. can, I can roll with

I started sending out some press releases because again, it was about getting the word out about this unique business model. And fortunately, the media really loved the concept of women helping women buy cars. So we got a lot of media coverage in the newspapers early on in the business. And I also got invited to do some radio and television interviews with the news stations and NPR. And I felt that I was actually pretty good at it because I was so passionate about what I was doing.

And I had already started doing speaking engagements, doing car buying workshops for women to educate. Cause that’s one way to empower women and men too. A lot of guys came to them and from the day one, half our clients had been men, but it was a way to also get out there into the community and build people’s knowledge of this concept of a personal car shopper. Kind of like a real estate agent, buyer’s agent, but for cars.

And it caught on. I started doing segments on the local news stations on a fairly regular basis. Anytime something came up in the industry or when it was time to for the holidays, we would talk about how to get your car ready for that road trip or talk about good deals for holiday car shopping. And that led to an opportunity to be on a TV talk show, The Daily Balance with Kim Jacobs, another woman who has become a friend of mine. And

I found out, I kind of like this TV stuff. This is really fun to do. I enjoyed it. And I also started a blog for that education piece. And this was before social media really took off. And we had this concept of social influencers and YouTube was just starting. So the term YouTuber didn’t exist. So we were all blogging and

Michelin Tire found my blog and pulled me into a group that they consider the top influencers of women in the automotive industry. And I got to do some really cool things with them testing tires and looking at new products and got to go to New Orleans. Let me tell you, the French Quarter on Michelin’s dime is amazing. I honestly had seven servings of bread pudding in 48 hours. It was awesome. And we got to play on the racetrack and do a lot of really cool tire testing. So

That led to some wonderful opportunities and I got to meet other really amazing women in the automotive industry. One of them was Bogi, who is one of the hosts of a TV show, All Girls Garage. She’s been on that show for well over a decade. Got to meet Jodi Devere, who started AskPatty.com. And I’m also friends with Scottie, who runs a Girls Guide to Cars, which is the largest women-focused automotive website and blog in the world.

and just was able to make these amazing connections and realize that, you know, I’m not alone in what I’m trying to do out here. And over the years, we’ve all worked together to help each other again on that women’s empowerment. Around that same time, I married a master mechanic and began deepening my knowledge of the technical ins and outs of how cars work. And that allowed me to further educate people.

And it led to the producer of a local radio show at the time was called the Carolinas Car Care Show. And he found me and wanted to interview me on the radio show. He had these two hosts that were, they had been in the service industry and they were just hilarious, Crank and Stick And it went so well, he’s like, hey, I want you to be a co-host. We need a woman on the show. You can hang with these two all day long and put them in their place.

Okay, this is cool. You know, I wasn’t getting paid to do it, but like, Hey, this is good exposure. It’s good practice for speaking. So I said, yes. And eight years of doing that, we rebranded to America’s Garage and syndicated it nationally and just had a ball with it. And that led me to another opportunity with a guy who was running a local TV show called Cruise Control, where he’d go and do a lot of interviews at the racetracks and

interviewing people that had really unusual cars. And so I started being the host for his TV show and we became friends and eventually shut down that show and started up a new TV show called Rust Rescue about showing people how to restore classic cars by themselves on a budget. So really started learning a lot about the TV production world and the radio production world and really got very nerdy about all the behind the scenes stuff.

And then got the opportunity because I was also instructing at the racetrack outside of Charlotte, Carolina Motorsports Park. And I got a call and said, they’re filming this new TV show. It’s a reality show called, Are You Faster Than a Redneck? And they need race car drivers, but they don’t have any women. Can you come try out for this TV show? And I was like, what are you talking about?

And they needed me to do this little video and fill out some casting form. And they immediately called me like, yeah, we want to invite you to come down and audition. on this date. so, you know, I went down there and like, okay, I’ll try this. Why not? And, you know, made the cut out of over a hundred drivers. I kind of knew I would because they just wanted a woman.

but certainly was able to hold my own on the track. And I was able to do that television show. And it only ran one season because it was on a speed channel and they promptly got bought out by Fox Sports. But it was so much fun. It was a huge risk. I really had to kind of put myself out there because this was the big time. This was a real channel. It was national. Jon Reep was the host. He was a great guy. We had so much fun.

it was great for my brand, but it was also just a really fun personal connection and being able to see just how that whole industry works. And I’ll you a hint, reality shows aren’t real, but they’re a lot of fun sometimes. But that opportunity led to being able to be a celebrity guest at a bunch of different venues.

And I was invited to be the celebrity driver at a charity drivers education event at the Virginia International Raceway track that was being run by the Mini Cooper World Champion race car driver, Phil Wicks, who ended up becoming one of my coaches and dear friends. And at that event, I met another old race car guy, Captain Dave, and he recruited me for a woman owned race team out of Tennessee, that he was the co-captain for

His protege Sam ran it and so I got the opportunity to do 24-hour endurance racing for a woman-owned race team for years And I love those people to death and it was just such a fun opportunity. I’m not sharing all this information to brag about myself because I really don’t like doing I don’t like talking about myself at all actually But it’s kind of demonstrate, you know the weird and winding road of kind of how I got here and how I got to do

some of the very unusual things that I have had the opportunity to do. And it was because I just said yes. You never know what opportunities might come up if you’re just open to them. And if something weird comes up, even though it’s terrifying, you know, was terrified the first thought of, gosh, being on TV, being on the news, doing a radio interview. I didn’t have any experience with any of this, but I said, you know what? I’m just gonna do it.

because I need to get the word out about my business. So I’m just gonna be like, heck, let’s just see what happens. And just one little thing led to another thing. And next thing you know, I’m just down this weird path. And that was the journey that created The Car Chick brand. I said it kind of happened accidentally because it was just a joking nickname, but that a nickname evolved into an actual brand and it took on a life of its own.

Then I finally got deliberate about it, along with the help of my business coach and a phenomenal team of branding experts and my trademark attorney. And that brand just continues to evolve. It’s kind of become its own persona. It’s like The Car Chick is my alter ego superhero identity. You by day, I’m just LeeAnn. I’m a nerd sitting behind a desk at my computer in my yoga pants and t-shirt and my glasses. I haven’t washed my hair in three days.

But when I put on the pink clothes, I become The Car Chick. I just step into this persona that’s bigger than who I feel like I really am in real life. And it’s about that empowerment and building a much needed bridge between consumers and the rest of the automotive industry where there’s just, you unfortunately a lot of distrust. And so I guess now you know how I became The Car Chick.

The third and final question that I’m going to answer from the list is what is your favorite car? That’s not necessarily an easy thing to answer and People always say oh somebody gave you a blank check. What would you come home with? You know would fight between being totally practical and coming home just with a used pickup truck so that I could you know do all my DIY stuff and haul lumber from the hardware store, but I Am a Porsche girl at heart. I have loved Porsches my entire

life. They have always just been the perfect vehicle that’s just about the fun. mean, yes, they’re a luxury car. Yes, they are an image thing, but I never really cared about it from that standpoint. Porsches are extremely difficult to drive. The dynamics of them, especially the 911s with that engine in the back, over the drive wheels, it’s not an easy car to drive, but it’s so much fun.

When I turned 30 and had my first midlife crisis, I did buy a Porsche and her name was Penelope. She was the love of my life. Sorry husband. started racing with the Porsche club and just learned so much about the driving dynamics in that car and had so much fun. So I will always be a Porsche girl at heart. So I would have to say that my favorite car would be a 911 convertible, preferably as souped up as possible.

probably what I would come home with because the Porsche 911 has been my favorite car since I outgrew the Volkswagen Beetle, which didn’t take very long. I was probably four by the time that lost its luster. And I saw the Porsche and was like, ooh, what is that? Anyway, I hope you’ve learned a little bit more about me today. just basically, I’m just a big nerd that is passionate about educating people and empowering people when it comes to cars. That announcement that I told you about,

I know I promised you guys when I did this reboot that I would do episodes every week. Right now, I am going to need to back down just a little bit and I am going to release episodes twice a month. So they will come out on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. The reason that I need to do that is because this is so much more work than it used to be with having to do video and

know, now I do so much research. When I started the podcast, it was very much about getting the knowledge that was in my brain out and educating people about car shopping and all of these things that I did on a daily basis. And then that went into the online course, the No BS Guide to Buying a Car, which you can get on my website, TheCarChick.com But since the reboot, it has become much more about…

Educating you guys about what’s going on in the market because since the pandemic, know, everything has just been so crazy and it just continues to be crazy I’m becoming much more of a journalist and because I do adhere to journalistic principles and ethics I do a lot of research before I do each episode and that’s honestly what is taking most of the time the production stuff I can outsource to my team and that’s not really the issue, but I spend hours and hours

doing the digging, doing the research, verifying sources, making sure that the information that I share with you guys is real, it’s accurate. It’s not clickbait, it’s not hype. These are based on the facts as we best know them in the industry. So right now I want to be able to focus on giving you guys the highest quality instead of quantity. And I’m hoping that as I get into a little bit more of a rhythm, I brought on some new team members to help as well. I’m gonna get more guests involved.

Hopefully we’ll be able to get back to that weekly episodes, but for now, it’s gonna be that first and third Wednesday of the month. And I hope you guys understand and appreciate that I wanna go for quality over quantity. Because remember, I do have a day job actually helping people buy cars, and that’s been pretty busy too. But I love what I do, and I love educating you guys and providing that the content that I do. And I appreciate so much all of my listeners and my viewers on my YouTube channel. You guys are the best. And if you have questions,

please go to my website, TheCarChick.com, fill out the contact form, ask your questions. I will absolutely build that into my content calendar for the year and get you guys the information that you want to have. Thanks so much folks. Until next time, I’m out of here. Drive safely.