Conversations with Rina Rae

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rina Rae.

Hi Rina, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
At the very beginning of my existence, and at the prompt age of only three years old, I attest of my very first core memories. As my mother recalls it, she put me on a carousel at a local mall with many other young children to ride on. As the ride started moving, the other children we’re laughing in enjoyment as the ride spun round, and the music started to play- but to her dismay, her daughter wasn’t giddily as the other children were, but she was simply focused, head pointed to the top of the machines ceiling, all the time watching as the components moved and pivoted and spun up and down moving the ceramic horse she rode. When my mother first told me this story once I was older and could properly comprehend it, she explained to me, ” I thought, It looked as though my three year old daughter was focused on trying to understand it and figure out how the thing was working!” So apparently, I’ve always had some sort of a mechanical aptitude. But as I grew, I found I was always interested in building and figuring out things worked, big or small. Even if it was just a piece of furniture from Ikea or something similar of that sort, you could most definitely count me in! When I was around the age of five or so, I even apparently took a ride in my late uncles E46 BMW that he won the NASA National TimeTrials races not once- but twice! Unfortunately, shortly after meeting him, his life was taken much too early, when he suffered fatal injuries from a tragic helicopter crash, which dishearteningly stole his lives remainder.

It wasn’t until I was around seventeen years of age when I was really initially fascinated with anything automotive related, when I took a drift ride-along with my friend at the times car back in high school. It was the first time I had ever firsthand experienced anything like that to my recollection, and I fell in love with it immediately. In the part of town I grew up in, it was by no means the “norm” for someone to have a vehicle with a manual transmission, let alone to have a modified automobile, and once I had that drift experience in one, I was immediately encapsulated. By the time I hit nine-teen, I then purchased the same car, a little 2013 scion fr-s, in hopes of learning how to drift and drive a manual transmission. It was my very first sports car, and it is what has become the single thing that I can wholeheartedly say I have poured everything of myself into over these past three years to build.

Initially when I got the car, I was just a broke teenager with the dream of learning about all of the systems and components of it, and how they worked together in order to make the machine operate. I remember initially asking my stepfather if I could work on it at our house, and was met with an astounding NO. The garage? NO! Even the cul-de-sac in our neighborhood park? NO!! But to his dismay, one thing about me is I have the capability to be extremely stubborn, ESPECIALLY if I am met with a burning passion and have a good WHY to doing something. I believe this is a quality in which can be applied as an extremely advantageous resource when formulated into one’s personal foundation, that when used and applied to the right thing, will aid in fueling ones determination to action like no other! Naturally, I sought out to find a place to work on my car and learn, ultimately packing up all of my tools into my car, and driving to the closest nearby malls parking garages to use the space to learn and work when nobody was around late at night. The more I learned, the more I saw how much there WAS to learn, so I jumped right in.

Although I found the vastness and complexity of it all initially daunting, it was something that for the first time in my life I found that I had a burning passion to really learn about. Ive always believed that if you’re not learning, you’re dying- and once I saw that I had found a field to learn in that was really a never-ending opportunity for doing so. I went at it with everything, and decided I would attend an automotive trade school in hopes of accelerating my knowledge and experience in my new found field of choice.

Shortly after my few months in attendance at the trade school, a friend told me about a job opportunity at what turned out to be my first job as a mechanic in the field at a Mazda dealership, so I quit my job as a bartender, and was hooked into turning wrenches both in school, and for a paycheck which was no initial feat. It was sink or swim. Working as a flat-rate dealership technician only half-day trying to make ends meet and living paycheck to paycheck was by no means an easy feat. It was at this time that my entire life started revolving around cars, I literally ate, breathed, and slept automotive, and was so happy to now be in a position in which I was able to freely learn and really have the ability to have the vital experiences needed to learn more about what I was passionate about, without the limitations of unsupportive and blockading environments around me, this is where I truly flourished.

Fast forward a few years of wrenching, flipping cars, and learning a thing or two about sales and business, I now currently operate my own small fleet of rental vehicles which allows me to simultaneously have the time and freedom to build my car and online platforms, and still pay the bills. I focus the vast majority of my time and energy now into building my little drift car, that is now a 1300HP capable engine & transmission swapped mechanical monster, that had initially started it all, and also create online videos and content of the building process for others to follow along with on the journey!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Well of course the road has not been a smooth one! The majority of automotive repairs and modifications I would argue are especially most difficult to execute and perform properly when you are a female weighing between 100-110 lbs, with very little to no muscle. But besides the obvious physical limitations, there of course has absolutely also been plenty of mental setbacks ive needed to overcome and grow along the way. Both from people on screen, and from working in the field over the past five years ive been wrenching- iv’e encountered plenty of unhappy and hateful people that will try and tear you down in the blue collar industry.

But as for the everyday challenges, I am constantly and literally daily met with setbacks, there will always obstacles in which require a great deal of mental energy and problem solving. I believe it’s just a part of the craft, some days you’re one step forward, some days you take three steps back- this although can be at times disheartening, is just a part of the learning process. It is all about perspective and how you can mentally turn what can initially seem to be a misfortune- into a learning experience with some sort of light to it, always trying to keep your head up and find the beauty and even laugh in your past failures is a really important thing ive learned that helps keep me driven.

My personal opinion is that it is OKAY and oftentimes very important to sit down and take the time to fully absorb the information along the journey to your set goals end, and that the time spent learning will not be in vain, because you will then be capable to achieve your next goal at a faster rate with far more precision. The less time spent on mistakes or needing to go back and fix things later, does not take a genius to see is the most optimal way! I believe that the process in which you do something complex is everything! It is not to be rushed, for if it is then some information along the line may be missed.

My favorite quote is “There are no hard problems, only problems that are hard to a certain level of intelligence. Move the smallest bit upwards [in level of intelligence], and some problems will suddenly move from “impossible” to “obvious.” Move a substantial degree upwards, and all of them will become obvious.” – Eliezer Yudkowsky

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My current “work” that currently pays the bills essentially boiled down simply is just managing and performing the proper maintenances/ mechanically up-keeping my small fleet of rental vehicles.

However, I am attempting to move towards the more digital aspects of things in my content creation portion on YouTube and Instagram- both in the forms of long and short form content for my audiences In hopes to show people that if someone completely unsuspecting as I can do this stuff, that they can too!

I believe that I am as of now currently most widely known for my (what I’d like to think of as at least slightly comical and hopefully inspirational) short form videos of my adventures for all things trades and bluecollar on Instagram and TikTok. But apparently, I am now also known on urban dictionary for my instagram handle name (@2jzrin) as something along the lines of “the girl that is taking forever to do en engine swap” LOL

I am most proud of my current biggest accomplishment with getting my engine to finally run, and for my car to finally be driving after sitting stagnant so long during the long and extensive building process.

I believe what sets me apart from many others is at first sight is pretty obvious, as I currently have never met a woman of my age with silver blue hair building a high horsepower engine swapped drift car builder- now that not to say there isn’t one out there! but in comparison to MOST other people in this industry, im aware that my looks and attitude of going about things by going big definitely make me stand out in the crowd. I also like to think that my relentless “get back up and keep going” attitude to get where I want to go and accomplish what I desire, despite the seemly never ending setbacks and roadblocks ive endured during the process also helps me to stand out.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
As for support and collaboration, I would say one of the best ways is to check out one of my new YouTube videos and drop a comment! I try to respond to as many as I can if not all of them!

My YouTube along with all of my other social media handles is all @2JZRIN

(I’d like to think that it would be impossible for anyone to have a good sense of humor to not laugh or crack a smile at least once!)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.youtube.com/@2jzRin/featured
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/2jzrin/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@2jzRin/featured
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@2jzrin

Image Credits
I took all of the photos submitted 🙂