Young Auto Enthusiast
I blame it on Hot Wheels cars and Motor Trend. My automotive passion began with an unhealthy addiction to diecast cars as a toddler. By the time I was 10 years old, I began memorizing the car magazines my dad brought home from the library, including Motor Trend, Road & Track, Car and Driver, and Autoweek. I also tried to catch the limited number of automotive shows airing during the 1980s and 1990s, such as MotorWeek and PowerBlock. I still have a massive collection of diecast cars and car magazines.
Auto Parts
My automotive career began in high school more than 2.5 decades ago in the parts department of a GM dealership. A few years later, I ended up in one of Dana Spicer’s distribution centers.
The knowledge I gained from automotive magazines and prior jobs helped me land a job at Time Automotive Distributors, a wholesale distributor for performance parts and accessories. Time sold hundreds of brands for hot rods and muscle cars as well as imports and sport compacts and even lift kits for pickups and SUVs. As a wholesale distributor, Time sold only to performance shops and parts stores. I was working on my associate degree in general studies at Salt Lake Community College when my boss took me to the SEMA show in Las Vegas, where I realized I still wanted to write for a car magazine.
I worked briefly for Salt Lake City in fleet management, but began to feel like a sellout ordering parts to fix police cars where before I had sold performance parts to street racers. Next, I sold new and used cars at a Ken Garff Honda Downtown.
College Education
After finishing at the community college, I studied at a Utah Valley University, which had evolved from a trade school. I filled in the lower division electives for my bachelor’s degree in Communication/Journalism with a one-year certificate in Automotive Technology.
I wrote for the school newspapers at both the community college and the university. Later, I wrote for a local car blog started by a fellow student.
Automotive Journalism
Between my junior and senior years in college, I tried to get an internship with Motor Trend in Los Angeles. Although the timing didn’t work out for an internship, I jump started my automotive journalism career at Motor Trend two weeks after graduation.
I worked as the content marketing editor in the marketing department of TeraFlex and Falcon Shocks in West Jordan, Utah. TeraFlex manufactures Jeep lift kits, suspension systems, and accessories, while Falcon Shocks manufactures off-road shocks for Jeeps, pickups, and SUVs.
Currently, I am an SEO copywriter for Dealer Inspire (part of the cars.com family) as well as a freelance automotive writer and editor. Some of my recent freelance work includes articles for Capital One Auto Navigator and Car and Driver.