At a glance
Role: Marketing Manager · Sector: Automotive service and performance · Engagement: 2020–2023 · Scope: Brand, content, events, sponsorship

28,000+ subscribers built from zero · 500,000 views on individual Reels · 3–4× business expansion · Professional motorsports entry

The challenge

S&S was a well-run, locally owned shop with a real reputation — among people who already knew it. That was the ceiling.

In auto service, trust decides everything and almost nobody markets on it. The category runs on coupons, discount oil changes, and radio spots, which means every shop sounds identical to a customer who hasn't walked in yet. S&S had no audience, no content, and no reason for anyone outside a few square miles to have heard the name.

The business didn't need more advertising. It needed to become something people wanted to be around.

What I did

I rebuilt the brand around car culture rather than car repair — the thing customers actually cared about, and the thing no competitor was talking about. Repair is a grudge purchase. Culture is an identity, and identity travels.

Then I built the engine. Parts & Rec was the shop's own content channel, produced end to end in house: concept, shoot, edit, publish, and community response. Short-form carried reach, longer pieces held the people who stayed. It ran on a real publishing cadence rather than posting when someone remembered to.

And I put the brand into the room. I built a community outreach program from nothing — producing large public events, sponsoring other people's, and getting the name into the places car people already gathered. That work compounded: local events became regional relationships, and regional relationships became sponsorship in professional motorsports, a room a neighborhood shop had no business being in three years earlier.

Results

Parts & Rec grew past 28,000 subscribers across platforms, with individual Instagram Reels reaching 500,000 views — built from zero, with no paid distribution.

The business expanded three to four times over during the period. The shop that had been invisible outside its zip code became a recognized name in car culture, with a media property, an event program, and a presence in professional motorsports.

The takeaway: the content wasn't marketing for the business. It was the reason the business grew.