Meet Christina Lardie, PEAK Performer

Christina Lardie has turned her passion for DIY car restoration into a successful career as an online influencer and PEAKSquad member. She has built a substantial online following on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, where her "Gearhead in Training" videos have racked up more than 1.6 million views. That's an impressive tally by any measure, and it's an outcome that Christina didn't see coming when she first became a car hobbyist.

What's even more interesting is that Christina isn't your conventional gearhead. Her story is highly personal, deeply moving, and a perfect expression of how a love for cars can keep people connected even when they're separated by an unbridgeable gap.

Christina's Origin Story

Christina never intended to become a DIY car-building influencer. She started out as an emergency medical technician (EMT), a career she was forced to retire from due to injury.

That unfortunate turn of events had a silver lining: It gave Christina time she didn't previously have. She decided to use it to embark upon a project she had intended to work on with her dad. "My dad really loved cars," she says. "He used to be called 'Greasy Gary.'" 

As Christina and her four siblings started growing up, Gary Lardie started buying cars — not for himself, but for his kids. "He had purchased a 1969 Camaro with the intent of us working on it together," Christina explains. "He stripped the whole thing apart, put the unibody on jack stands, and surprised me on my 30th birthday."

The idea was that Gary and Christina would rebuild the Camaro together as a father-daughter project. Sadly, they would never get the chance to complete it.

"Unfortunately, about a year later, he passed away," Christina says. "I hadn't learned anything. He was working all the time. I was working all the time. I didn't get garage time with him growing up. I was too afraid to jump a battery. I didn't know how to change a tire. And I decided, 'I'm going to figure it out. I'm going to make it work. I'm going to finish this car.'"

The Journey Begins

Christina could never have predicted where this personal tribute to her dad would eventually lead. "I had no idea that I'd be here today, doing what I'm doing," she says. "Being an influencer and all this stuff was just not on the bingo board."

The journey began when Christina asked her stepmother to send her all the parts her dad had collected for their 1969 Camaro. Struggling to make sense of the rag-tag collection of items she received, Christina headed to Hot August Nights, a huge classic car festival held annually in Reno, Nevada.

"I went out there with a list of part names by companies. I had no idea what any of them were," Christina recalls. "I went to different booths at Hot August Nights, going, 'What in the world is this? I have no idea.' So after talking to all those people, I didn't realize that I was setting myself up for success in the future just by building those relationships."

At the same time, Christina was well into a mission of personal discovery that had nothing to do with cars. She started establishing a social media presence focused on becoming the best version of herself that she could be. 

During a Zoom call with one of her mentors — a fitness influencer with an established presence on YouTube — Christina floated an idea. "I was like, 'What if we started a channel called "Gearhead in Training" that came from the newbie perspective?'" she recalls. "If [my mentor] had told me, 'No, it's a bad idea,' I wouldn't have done it at all. But she was like, 'Yeah, absolutely. I would watch that. You should do it.'"

Rebuilding a Camaro — And a Connection to Her Dad

Christina launched her "Gearhead in Training" channel on YouTube and got back to work on the 1969 Camaro. "The car had been sitting for a while. I had sent it to a couple places to have the rear end done and then sent the body to have things put together, and it felt really disconnected," she says. "It really bummed me out that I had no idea [what to do]. I didn't even know how to take the fenders back off."

That lack of experience, and the process of acquiring knowledge through hands-on DIY, became Christina's signature online brand. She traveled to a Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) event, where she began introducing herself to exhibitors and other automotive enthusiasts. From there, Christina set a goal of getting into the Great Race, a famous cross-country rally race for vintage cars.

"At the time, I had only started my YouTube a couple months ago and I had less than 1,000 followers," Christina recalls. "I was like, 'Okay, I'm going to make this happen.' I went to SEMA, started meeting all the people, asking all the questions, and the relationships started building."

After several more years of relationship-building and DIY learning, Christina felt confident enough to start working on her Camaro. It didn't go smoothly at first. "It took me, I think, two months to install the Wilwood brakes on my car," she laughs. By pushing through, Christina earned a powerful sense of accomplishment. "It felt really good once I actually finished that," she remembers.

Christina has yet to realize her goal of entering her 1969 Camaro in the Great Race. Yet, her journey has taken on a totally different dimension as her online following has grown. "I haven't, in the grand scheme, made it very far in the build itself," she admits. "But in terms of the amount that I've learned, the relationships that I've built, and how I'm setting myself up for the future," Christina's efforts have already paid huge dividends.

Why She Does It

"All that grief of missing my dad, like being here watching Alex Taylor and [her father] Dennis Taylor, I got emotional," Christina confessed during her first time at a National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) event. "This still is a father-daughter project, even though he's no longer with us."

Over time, Christina has also realized there are other, deeper, and more personal dimensions to her journey of growth, discovery, and healing. Part of it is about empowerment in a space traditionally dominated by men. But, for Christina, there's much more.

"I have struggled my entire life feeling valued. Like, truly feeling valued. I didn't feel that as a person, as an individual, that I matter," she shares as she fights back tears.

Losing a dad is tough for anyone, but for Christina, it was especially devastating. "I grew up having ideas and no-one would ever show up. My dad would want to show up, but my mom wouldn't. My dad was the only person who I knew had my back 100%. When I lost my dad, I lost that rock."

Christina's emotional challenges compounded in the aftermath of her dad's death. "I struggled with anxiety and depression," she confesses. "I've also struggled with self-harm thoughts for a very long time. And being able to push through those things, where you feel that confidence, that good in yourself … when you do it, finishing the brakes after two months of working my tail off, that feeling at the very end of it — I don't know anything else that gives you that feeling."

Christina ends with a powerful message for her viewers. "I want you to chase whatever it is that lights your heart on fire too," she says with authentic passion. "Your feelings, your dreams, they all matter. You matter. And know that when you do take that leap, your people will find you and they will support you. It won't be easy, but it is 100% worth it."