Growing up in Long Beach, CA, I knew pretty early on that I had a passion for cars. From my childhood Hot Wheels tracks to the very first classic car I bought, it’s been cars from the very start.

If I could drive it, I wanted it.

As I grew up, my interest in cars bled into other areas of my life, as the Lego sets that I spent hours taking apart and rebuilding, slowly became the cars that I would spend days piecing back together. When I was 14, I took my first job sweeping floors and answering calls at Nate Jones Tires, which kept pushing me further and further into the world of automobiles. I watched the mechanics and began to learn the ins and outs of car repair until I finally started to venture into my first repair and restoration jobs on my own cars.

As soon as I was able to drive, I bought my very first car; a broken down, barely running 1968 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. At the time, it was the only car I could afford, but after a year of work restoring it, I moved on to a Volkswagen MK4 GTI. I regretted it almost immediately, making me realize that my true passion was for classic cars. I sold the Volkswagen to buy a Mustang, and I haven’t looked back since. I continued to learn more and more, and soon, jumped headfirst into the cycle of buying a car, fixing it up, and selling it to buy the next (nicer) one.

It was all coming together when an unexpected crash into a deer seemed to derail my plans. My car at the time, a 1985 BMW 535i, was totaled and I didn’t know what to do next. I had never taken on a project as big as a full restoration before, but I soon realized the only way out was through. So I started to put it back together, and with the help of my friends, I began to document the process for social media. Before I knew it, thousands of people became invested in my journey, and my life changed forever.

Now, two years later, I get to do the work I love in a community of amazing car lovers and friends alike. It’s been a long journey, and there’s still plenty more to come, so make sure to follow along!