Lifestyle Automotive Journalist Alissa Tyler: “Why the opportunity for grit is a favor, not a burden”
You can’t paint a masterpiece without using dark colors. Morgan Freeman said something like that in Bruce Almighty. Always resonated with me. He also said, “triumph is born out of struggle, faith is the alchemist.” I’ve replaced religion with spirituality as an adult, and I believe we are all spiritual beings having a human experience. Which, coincidentally enough, is something Jim Carrey once said later on, after Bruce Almighty. The opportunity for grit is a favor, not a burden. It feels like a burden deep in the throws. But, we have everything to gain by picking ourselves up and continuing to walk the path that’s right for us. Why? Because the entire world is made better by people following their dreams and using their gifts. Benjamin Franklin, Nicola Tesla, Beethoven, Eminem, Lyn St. James, all these people have done a part to expand our group consciousness in their own way, because they were empowered enough to show the F up.
For lifestyle automotive journalist, Alissa Tyler, cars are the ultimate vehicle for self-expression! A fun-loving, Italian and New Jersey native, even at eight years old, Alissa made a pact with her dad to take ownership of his Porsche 944, when she was old enough to drive. Even though he broke that promise, it was a self-empowering moment. This decision launched Alissa toward yearning to experience supercars with her behind the wheel. As a kid, instead of posters of Brad Pitt on her walls, Alissa had Lamborghini posters and 1:18 scale luxury model cars on her shelves. Test driving prototype Mercedes’s and writing behind the wheel auto reviews for Denver magazines, turned into hosting lifestyle experiences of cars on television. She took her background hosting lifestyle shows and producing television shows for E! Network, Travel Channel, WE, truTV, Outside Television and NBC, and created “Cars From A Woman’s Perspective” which airs regionally on Comcast. Her tagline, “taking women from off the hood, to behind the wheel”, was created after googling ‘women and cars”, only to find scantily-clad chicks in bikinis on the hood. Her goal is to be a force for good in uplifting this one-sided, outdated stigma for women and cars. Alissa knows how to share the excitement of car culture with audiences. She learned how to pull a mean reverse-180 by taking Bobby Ore’s stunt driving class in Atlanta. You only need to see Alissa in action once before her contagious enthusiasm rubs off, whether she’s driving a new car 120mph on the track, or getting air on dirt courses, sharing her high-vibe excitement of car culture with others is her forte.
Thank you so much for joining us Alissa! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I remember thinking as a kid that life should be as exciting as possible at all times! The adults had it all wrong! For me, the excitement of being alive was practically unbearable. If something even remotely sounded, or looked fun, I wanted to experience it. I grew up in suburban New Jersey, under a Catholic, Italian household that felt controlling at best. One day, my father arrives home in a black Porsche 944, without any heads-up or warning. I had never seen anything like this car in my entire young life! And, it immediately became my favorite thing on the planet. Until this day, I had no idea this level of excellence for vehicles even existed. The Porsche was a physical expression of my non-physical desires come to life; utilizing exotic toys of the world (I mean, this was made in Europe!) to better our personal experience and raise our vibrations… for FUN! As foreign as the Porsche was to me, I felt at home with the core of its being. The stick shift was an adult version of Nintendo, in the video game of life. The pop-up headlights were a design element, where art and function merge for the beauty of it. It was louder, faster, and most importantly, more fun than any car I’d ever seen. The car looked cool, but, it was the inner workings that really impressed me, teaching me that not everything is about looks; that what’s on the inside matters.
Like a secret superpower that only few possess, this passion for cars and for enjoying life stayed with me through my adult life. Because of that, I pursued jobs in radio and television, as working jobs in any other field felt like pure torture. My radio career lead to hosting mountain-town lifestyle segments for Outside Television, which lead me to producing reality shows for networks like E! and Travel Channel, which lead to producing my own adventure-car show, called Cars From A Woman’s Perspective. I’m also co-hosting a video podcast with race car driver, James Bondurant, called So Clutch Podcast. We met via LinkedIn and agreed on so many topics that were important to us both. He’s not only a bad-ass, he’s legit inside and out. I respect his attitude in life. He values people, and understands that we must value ourselves in order to be any good to the world. He’s as level-headed as he is outrageous. James represents the best of what makes motorsports thrilling. He’s not afraid to stand up for his values. My husband and I, both, absolutely adore him. And I’m excited for what we bring to motorsports as a team!
Can you share your story of Grit and Success? First, can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?
I have a billion. But, I’ll narrow it down to the one that affected me most, since it was a fellow woman who was blocking my success. The road to pursing my dreams has been a bumpy one for sure. Not everyone in positions of power want to give you a chance. And not all women want to support other women: this was the hardest part for me to learn. I remember following a suggestion to visit a female-owned auto body shop outside Denver, Colorado. I was networking like mad about how I can learn anything and everything about cars. After getting a tip about a women’s-only auto class, I drove straight over, introduced myself, and asked the female owner if I may come intern (for free), and shadow her technicians at the shop, so that I can start to learn about cars by osmosis. She said no. Another lady behind the counter could feel my passion and asked the owner why not? But, the owner just stared at me, and said ‘it would take a village’. Which ultimately bummed the hell out of me. I remember thinking, ‘Jesus, lady, we’re all better than this’.
Nowadays, women are coming together in support of one another…. as evidenced by the start of communal female industry projects, like all-female car builds, like the one I participated in, in Phoenix lead by Bogi from All Girls Garage. Luckily, the unsupported female-against-female mentalities of the past, happen less and less these days. Which makes me so freakin happy!
Where did you get the drive to continue, even though things were so hard?
There’s an invisible cord that ties us to the things we love. If we’re tuned in, have
even a shred of self-love, and give a rip about the impact we want to make with our lives, that cord gets stronger and stronger. I wasted a lot of time in my life trying to make other people happy. And learned not to sacrifice my own happiness, nor my principles, based on someone else’s version of what my life should be. I supposed I could say that being a pain the ass got me through the tough times. But, really, it was the realization of self-love that kept — and stills keeps — me going.
So, how did Grit lead to your eventual success? How did Grit turn things around?
You can’t paint a masterpiece without using dark colors. Morgan Freeman said something like that in Bruce Almighty. Always resonated with me. He also said, “triumph is born out of struggle, faith is the alchemist.” I’ve replaced religion with spirituality as an adult, and I believe we are all spiritual beings having a human experience. Which, coincidentally enough, is something Jim Carrey once said later on, after Bruce Almighty.
The opportunity for grit is a favor, not a burden. It feels like a burden deep in the throws. But, we have everything to gain by picking ourselves up and continuing to walk the path that’s right for us. Why? Because the entire world is made better by people following their dreams and using their gifts. Benjamin Franklin, Nicola Tesla, Beethoven, Eminem, Lyn St. James, all these people have done a part to expand our group consciousness in their own way, because they were empowered enough to show the F up.
As for me, I’m still on my journey. No one graduates from Grit School. If we let the opportunities it provides crush us, we either choose to remain in ruins or else we build upon its ashes. At this moment in my journey, I’ve experienced both. And building yourself up is the only way to go. The gift of hindsight is a mofo, isn’t it?
There’s a story that goes… two brothers were born, both with the same unsupportive father. One brother grows up to be verbally abusive and entitled. The other takes a higher, more enlightened road. When each are asked why they turned out the way they did, they both gave the same answer: with a father like mine, what choice did I have?
I like to see self-empowerment as a superhero-weapon. Like a sword of light that I wear sheathed on my back. When a troll comes along, I whip out my love sword, and hack my way past, like, ‘Fuck you! … in love, of course!’
So, how are things going today? :-)
Amazingly! And all in divine timing. I’m putting my television segments from Cars From A Woman’s Perspective on my YouTube Channel. Pro race car driver, drifter and rapper, James Bondurant and I are co-hosting So Clutch Podcast. I’ve been approached for reality shows, but it needs to be the right crew and the right message. So many producers out there still want women to behave inferiorly, and I’m just not going to do that crap. I already produce my own regional show, and my goal is to expand into network television or Netflix. But, the message will have to be empowering, educational, badass, or any combination of the three!
What do you think makes your brand stand out?
Two things: 1) I’m not b.s.ing about my car passion. It’s not something you can fake. 2) I only talk to top industry professionals, like Lyn St. James, Ryan Hunter-Reay, James Bondurant, Andrea Zagato, Ferris Rezvani of Rezvani Motors… I’m always most intrigued by how people at the top think. It’s like a drug interviewing people like this; they literally see the world from one lens: excellence.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
Always be true to who you are. Then, you’ll always have a North Star to follow when you feel tumbled around by life.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Outside of my husband, who ROCKS, and has filmed most of my car reviews with me… I am extremely grateful for Rod Perkins, a Master Mechanic and teacher I met at Emily Griffith Technical College in Denver. Rod was the first person to encourage me to learn as much as possible about cars. He taught me how to change oil using a lift! Which we documented in a YouTube video. He even thanked me at the end, and said I could change his oil anytime. That still makes me laugh. I still call him every so often, as my good friend, and one of my most loved car mechanic mentors.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I truly feel that part of my life’s work is to offer behind-the-wheel experiences of cars via private retreats. People always tell me that my passion for cars rubs off on them! Whether they’re watching my car segments on television, or if we’re just chatting about cars. It’s time to take this passion to the streets. To share my love of driving with others who want to experience my intoxifyingly-fantastic world of cars.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Subscribe to So Clutch Podcast!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LihpoAtZ-ag
www.carsfromawomansperspective.com
www.instagram.com/alissatyler_insta
www.youtube.com/carsfromawomansperspective
www.facebook.com/carsfromawomansperspective
www.instagram.com/soclutchpodcast
