- I just wanna continue to make the car buying process
less intimidating and,
I'm even gonna use the word fun.
I mean, I love buying and selling cars,
so I want other women to feel the excitement
of buying a car.
And I want them to feel great in the vehicle
that they chose for their family.
I want them to feel confident.
I want them to feel like more than just
the soccer mom in it.
It's absolutely devastating to hear
how some of the women who follow me
get treated at car dealerships.
I mean, in 2022, we're still dealing with issues
that have been going on for a hundred plus years.
- What you're doing is so important and so needed.
Cars really run in your family, don't they?
- My grandpa and his brother started a used car lot in 1957.
My dad and his brother grew it to a multi-store franchise.
And me and my sister started a blog.
So it's really been truly a family business.
You know, I grew up in the car dealership world.
And when I thought about going into the business,
people were so encouraging, being like,
oh, Kelly you grew up in it.
Like you've been around cars your whole life,
you'll be great.
But I had to remind everyone
that I've actually never bought a car.
My parents have never bought a car.
I've never like seen anyone go through
the car buying process.
I didn't even know you had to pay sales tax on a car
when I first started.
And here I found myself at 22 trying to sell $70,000 BMWs
to men two or three times my age.
- Let's talk about the experiences women have versus men
when they go into buy a car.
You must have seen that firsthand.
- I definitely did see it firsthand.
And I think one of the reasons why I'm able
to relate to my audience so well
is because the same grievances they have
about the car buying process, were the same grievances
I had about being a female selling vehicles.
We deal with the same things, just on different sides
of the aisle.
So it really did kind take me back when I just saw,
one, the stigma around what it was to be a car salesman.
And then also just hearing the stories how some of the women
who follow me get treated at car dealerships.
How a woman and how a mother feels in a car is so important.
We spend so much time in our cars,
that if I wanna feel like kind of cute and sassy
in the Starbucks drive through,
I think that I should be able to.
- A lot salespeople don't understand that these women
have the buying power.
These women are independent.
These women are smart.
They can make these decisions
and they know how to negotiate.
- A hundred percent.
The statistics tell us that women buy 51%
of the cars on the road. They're involved in 85%
of the decision making processes of it.
They're all told that.
And for some reason it is just not,
it's just still not sinking in.
So I just think that's why I'm so passionate
about empowering the women and giving them the tools to,
here's how you negotiate that car deal.
Here's what's not okay.
Here's what you should not put up with.
- What was the aha moment for Car Mom?
- I was sitting talking to my husband,
and we were just going back and forth with the,
should you stay home?
You know, should you go back to work,
childcare for two kids is so expensive.
You're not really enjoying your job.
And I was just so sad because I was like
I just wanna sell cars, like, that's what I love doing.
I just wish I could sell cars.
And my husband goes,
well why don't you just focus on the moms Kelly?
But when he said that, I got thinking,
is anyone talking about cars for moms?
I mean,
I had so many friends who were becoming first time parents.
They would always reach out to me and say,
what do you think of this car?
What do you think of that car?
Do you know if this can fit a double stroller?
I'm like, sure don't.
So I went out, searching for someone reviewing cars
for mothers because mothers always seem
to upgrade their vehicles.
And when I realized no one was doing it,
I kind of looked at my skillset and my resources
of nothing, but car dealerships, lots.
And I said, well, maybe I'll just start reviewing them.
Maybe I'll just give parents a first look.
- It's shocking to me, that car manufacturers
were not tapping into this huge market of moms.
Why do you think that was the case?
- You know, I think that a lot of the auto manufacturers
said, what else do you want?
Like, these are the mom cars, if you want, 'em go get 'em.
But I just have always felt that as a mother,
I've given up so much of my identity to become a mom,
my body, my career, my social life.
And I just don't wanna live in a world where
I'm also told I have to drive this car to fit my family.
I don't think that's fair.
And unfortunately, I also think those cars continue to sell
because there's not a lot of options,
even if they're not properly equipped.
- Who was an ally for you when you decided
to start your own business?
- I'm the oldest of five children.
We're all very close.
So I would say that my sister really came and helped me
with a lot of behind the scenes stuff.
I mean, there is so much that goes into being,
I'll call myself a full-time content creator,
and there's a lot of behind the scenes
that people don't always see.
So the fact that I've been able to have my sister help me
and now she works with us, works with me,
full time has been amazing.
And I just really hope that I can continue to
not only provide them great car buying tips,
but also just the information.
There's still so much that goes into cars and car seats.
But I think in the future, I just really want to
continue to make waves in the automotive space.
I want the Car Mom to be hopefully a household name.
I wanna be able to work with manufacturers
to ultimately make cars more car seat friendly,
more child friendly, safer for women and children.
And I wanna have a lot of fun while I'm doing it.
It's so fun to see a group of women love cars.
When you think, oh, I'm not really a car girl, or like,
you know, cars are more for men.
But to see a woman like get so excited that like,
she can fit her 40 ounce water bottle
in the Volkswagen Atlas cup holders.
Like it's so fun.
- I love how excited you get about cup holders.
- I know it's like a little embarrassing, but I really do.