Join MotorTrend as we celebrate Women's History Month. Each week, you'll hear about incredible women who leave their mark on the automotive industry. (Previously:a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine instead of riding a horse or a train. It wasn't long after that cars came to represent freedom, speed, and individualism.
Shore finds time to pay it forward to burgeoning photographers who are inspired by her career. She said she tries to help as many people as she can who reach out to her, a daunting task given her expansive following of more than 158,000 on Instagram. Not one to back down from a challenge, Shore commented, "I wrote a thing on my website that's literally called "," and it's my entire knowledge of car photography in an 11,000-word article.
Shore's self-confidence seems unflappable, and when she really needs to flex her expertise, she's happy to mention her classic Jaguar restoration shop. Shore said she mentions her achievements "if I meet somebody where they may be a bit of an old boy and they don't quite understand, or I'll meet somebody with my husband, William, and they will start talking to him about cars.
Christi Schimpke built a business upcycling discarded car parts like fenders and doors into art pieces. Her company, Crash Jewelry, aims to retain original factory paint on every piece, imbuing her work with a sense of provenance and authenticity.Schimpke told us she didn't know anything about cars a decade ago, but she founded Crash Jewelry after moving her metalsmithing studio into her husband's body shop.
Schimpke's affinity for Bentley goes back to the origins of Crash Jewelry. "After I moved my studio into one of the shops, this Bentley came in, and it was a Windsor Blue Cabriolet," she recalled. "It was beautiful, and I was just in love with this car, and I was in love with this paint. I was like, 'I've got to do something with it. '"Her plans for Crash Jewelry reflect the automotive expertise she's developed.
While she didn't expect to have this career, Schimpke wouldn't have things any other way. "Crash Jewelry was a complete departure from my former life," she said. "This is the one thing that gets me out of bed in the morning. I love it. I'm excited to do it, and it's the only thing I've ever done that I felt this passionate about.