You probably remember her from her four seasons as co-host on All Girls Garage with Cristy Lee, Jessi Combs, and founder Sarah Lateiner, but before she became Motor Trend famous, Rachel De Barros was rocking it out on her own as the Gearhead Diva.
And she still is today. As chief marketing officer, host and executive producer of the Gearhead Diva lifestyle brand, her goal is to educate, entertain, and empower today's generation to motivate and perpetuate the DIY spirit.
From car building to constructing bizarre but useful robotics, such as a motorized condiment caddy, this self-described "Swiss Army Knife" and her Wrench Army might just be poised to take over the world with their practical, at-home
mechanical know-how.
To Get Started, You Just Take Everything Apart
From a young age, Rachel De Barros was known for disassembling everything she could get her hands on, particularly appliances and electronics. While her Brazilian father was an electrician, her uncle owned a body shop in Washington D.C., where she would help out and get more hands-on experience taking things apart and putting them back together the right way on a much larger scale.
In 2000, she graduated from Ohio University with a degree in marketing. She started her own company, a design and marketing company known as Purple Star Media, LLC. However, even as she achieved success in the business world, she clung to the fascination with automotive restoration and repair that had been central to her early life. Thus, she breezed through the Automotive Training & Repair Program at the Philadelphia Automotive Training School, and turned her love of fixing and tinkering into a major DIY empire.
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Rachel De Barros: From YouTube to Velocity Network
As an avid gearhead, Rachel was driven to share her knowledge with others who might have a passion for putting things together. She launched her Gearhead Diva social media accounts to share her projects and new ideas with other automotive enthusiasts and experimenters. Her videos caught the attention of the execs at Motor Trend, and in 2012, Rachel was invited to become a TV host on a new program: All Girls Garage. While her hosting and writing stint ended after four years, her passion for creating helpful and interesting videos for inventors, restorers, and automotive enthusiasts of all ages has not waned at all.
One of the truly unique features of Rachel's content is that she focuses on projects that can be accomplished at home with things commonly found around the house. From home improvement, to electronics and tech hacks, Rachel's videos and live streams teach subscribers -- known as the Wrench Army-- how to put daydreams and imagination to work to create very real and very cool things.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2F52dNnagO/
Rachel's desire to educate and inspire has led her to membership in the SEMA Businesswomen's Network and SEMA Young Executives Network, including a role in the SEMA Mustang Build Powered by Women collaboration exhibited at the organizations 2012 conference.
In addition to her Gearhead Diva videos, Rachel also creates Virtual Reality content and contributes to automotive, science, and technology publications. She's truly content to "unleash her inner MacGuyver," and encourages her audience to get their hands dirty and play along.
In a world where more and more things are considered disposable, Rachel De Barros reminds us that things can be repaired, renewed, and repurposed with just a little patience and ingenuity. Her real-life approach to stretching the imagination strikes a chord with many of us...especially those who have dreamed of having a small robotic picnic table bring us our barbecue sauce on demand. And honestly? Having a small robotic picnic table deliver condiments is exactly the sort of dream more of us should have.
Rock on, Rachel!