Growing up, on my birthdays my parents would take me to car dealerships. Visiting the likes of Ferrari, BMW, Mercedes, and Bentley to name a few. I enjoyed the designs, luxury features, and legacy of these brands. I thought “I want to work with these one day”, always known as the car guy growing up. I watched Top Gear, read Auto Express, and visited car motor shows across the UK to gain knowledge. I became obsessed with anything with four wheels.
My core focus since an early age has been moving towards a career involving cars. No matter what it was. Starting with the ambition of becoming a car designer. Fascinated by the whole design process, I doodled my own car designs in class. With wind tunnels, aerodynamics, the practicality, and features that buyers look for. I wanted to be the next presenter on Top Gear. Jeremy, James, and Richard were my idols throughout my childhood. Switching from ambitions to be a presenter to being a car journalist. Reviewing cars, getting to drive them, and testing out their features. As technology and innovative ideas progressed, I became fascinated with this too.
During college, I decided to focus on the core subjects that make up the creation of Cars. Choosing Physics, Maths, and Computing and combining them with my other passion, Geography. It was a huge uphill struggle for someone who was never a grade A student. After applying to university to study Automotive Engineering – I knew this is where I wanted to head. Getting to grips with how car designing works and how they test prototypes. Then putting them into production was fascinating. Having spent 3 years studying a wide range of topics I felt better placed to work in the industry. With the core elements of Physics, CAD (Computer Aided Design), Electronics, and Testing. Studying at the University of Hertfordshire, north of London. I left with a first-class degree with honours – my biggest achievement at the time.
Fast forward a few months. After graduating in 2016, I landed my first major job in the Automotive industry. A Sales and Marketing internship. It was for a large Automotive Electronics and Connector company in my local town. This was a huge promising step in the right direction. It was a huge learning experience as well. To understand the business side of buying and selling goods. Whilst predicting industry trends and the direction of the Automotive industry.
Choosing not to accept the company’s offer of an extension to my internship. I took the plunge and did a gap year in Australia. Completely on my own, I felt it was the necessary step to grow as a person. Whilst enhancing my passion for travel and experiencing working in another country. After spending 10 months in Australia, and a month in New Zealand, I came home. Immediately joining the same company I left a year ago.
But this time working in the lab and testing automotive products. I learned how strict automotive standards are and how much time it takes to develop a product that goes into modern-day vehicles to ensure they are safe.
Doing this for six months, I soon switched to a new role I could get stuck into. A diverse role, supporting a major British car brand for who we were a supplier. Commuting 100 miles every day to their headquarters. I helped embed our electronic products into their next vehicle architecture. Whilst releasing components, reviewing drawings and CAD designs, and gathering technical documents. It involved a mix of travel, customer support, and technical analysis. Applying my industry knowledge and degree subjects in an exciting way.
Then the pandemic hit. Working from home was great for a while, it allowed me to take more time to focus on what I wanted to do in life. being a huge advocate for saving money and side hustles, I started studying the FIRE movement.
For those who are unsure, it stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. The idea is to have a pot of money invested into the market, or some form of passive income to live from. This has been possible by a select few across the world and involves living below your means.
I’m a huge fan of alternative lifestyles like this. By not having a 40+ year career in one company that we grow up with being the norm. I knew from my parents that another option is out there (my mum had been working for herself since she was 28).
I then watched this podcast episode from Graham Stephan. Now Graham is my favourite YouTuber who offers the best finance ideas and ways to save money. He interviewed Alex Fasulo after the fascination that she was able to earn $378,000 a year writing blogs. She was on a platform called Fiverr, I had no idea what it was about at the time. I listened to what she had to say and signed up in early 2021 to offer blog and article writing gigs in the Car industry.
After always wanting to be a journalist, I started getting orders and recognition for my work. A few months went by and I opened up a few more gigs, gaining more clients. As a result, I had repeat business, many 5-star reviews, and levelled up as a seller on the platform. It was a real eye-opener, making me realise I could actually do this full-time.
Fast forward to May 2022. After 150+ reviews and 300+ orders, I switched to freelance writing full-time. With the ability to work with automotive clients, whilst choosing when to work. It was the dream come true to write about the automotive industry.
If you are looking for someone who knows all there is about cars and has incredible rates, please contact me. I write blogs, articles, web pages, social media posts, and product descriptions. Helping you out with any content you need to get a customer base.
For examples of my work, have a look at my portfolio here or drop me an email. Thanks for reading my story!