Car-Loving Woman

I’m not as much of a “car enthusiast” as my husband or those around me, but I think I fall into the category of being more “car-loving” than the average woman. And in everyday life, I still feel it’s quite rare to meet women who love cars.

Lately, I often hear about young people losing interest in cars, and with car-sharing becoming more popular, the number of people who actually own cars is decreasing. And when it comes to “women,” well, it’s no surprise there aren’t many.

However, precisely because car-loving women are rare, I’ve often benefited from this especially in work situations.

Many of the people I’ve met through work are business owners, and when I casually bring up something like, “Actually, the other day, my family and I drove to such-and-such place…” those who love cars usually jump right into the conversation.

“Oh, you like cars? Me too!”

From there, the conversation often blossoms. One person I met once said, “About five years ago, I bought a Boxster.” So I asked, “Oh, would that be the 981?” and he replied,

“Oh wow, yes!!! …I’ve never heard a woman say ‘981’ before, so I’m really impressed!”

That made me laugh.

On another occasion, someone said, “I love cars, but my wife has zero interest… How can I get her interested?” which was quite amusing.

Being a car-loving woman doesn’t guarantee contracts, but it definitely helps close the gap quickly even on first meetings. Leaving a good first impression tends to nurture ongoing relationships, which in turn seems to increase the chances of business opportunities.

A Niche Porsche Blog

I’ve often thought about what it means to be a “minority presence.” Not being like everyone else, but rather “being someone rare in your surroundings,” and the more your presence is needed by others, the more your unique value increases.

Since childhood, I’ve disliked “fighting” or “conflicts.” Even when it came to fighting over sweets, I would quickly say, “Then I don’t want it,” basically conceding defeat early. (Not very motivated, I know.) As I grew up, this gradually shifted to thinking about “how to stand out without fighting.”

So, with this Porsche blog, I often think about how to be niche, how to be one of a kind. But of course, it’s not that easy. When I shared these thoughts with my husband, he said this:

“It’s tough to stand out in just one field. It’s really about combining things. Horie-san also said that if you combine three ‘1-in-100’ titles, you become a ‘1-in-a-million’ presence. There are lots of people writing Porsche blogs out there. So when you think about how to be one of a kind among them, it’s good to think about combining the three skills you have to become that ‘1-in-a-million’.”

Indeed, becoming one of a kind in just one area is no small feat. Even if you have knowledge about Porsche cars, there are countless people like that. But it’s pointless to highlight and combine irrelevant topics that readers don’t care about.

Thinking along those lines, I considered what strengths we might have…

Me: writing skills, female Porsche driver, mother of two, can drive manual, entrepreneurial experience, not very knowledgeable about cars, website management experience
Husband: multiple Porsche owner (old and new), car knowledge, IT/web skills, photography skills, test drive review ability, company executive

Something like that…

Thankfully, some sites and blogs have introduced this blog, and from what I’ve seen, the fact that the Porsche blog is written not by a male automotive critic but by a mom raising kids seems to be a pretty big plus.

After all this thinking, I’ve come to the conclusion that the charm of this blog lies in its gaps. For example,

Porsche is something men drive → a blog written by a mother of two
An amateur wife who isn’t knowledgeable about cars & a car-obsessed husband → the gap between the two
Luxury sports car owners probably don’t drive anything else → we actually drive a Nissan Note too

I think these kinds of gaps combined make this kind of Porsche blog quite unique and interesting. That said, I probably don’t understand myself best, so I might be totally off base. Self-understanding is probably a lifelong theme.