AUGUST 2023

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asset she’s carried with her ever since.
Even before she graduated high
school, Christina started a program for
women in STEM. “The robotics team
in high school is there so we can learn
and make mistakes,” she said. “I wanted
to create something like that but
less competitive.” Thus, Christina’s
automotive STEM camp for women,
Project 102, was born.
The annual camp accepts 20 female
high school students who are
interested in STEM and the automotive
industry and leads them through
a five-day program of workshops, lectures,
and hands-on installation of vehicle
modifications.
This year’s iteration of Project 102,
From Scarcity to Stardom
During her childhood, Christina’s parents
didn’t speak much English, and they
had an especially difficult time reading
and interpreting mail. This gap was filled
by her and her sisters, who would help
translate documents and bills.
“I was constantly trying to make
ends meet with my parents’ bills,”
Christina said. Often, she couldn’t afford
to participate in class field trips because
of costs, and she never had stylish,
new clothes to wear in school. “But
I never blamed my parents,” she added.
According to Christina, her mother
worked two or three jobs at a time, and
her sisters would help whenever they
could. At times, this meant applying for
food stamps or healthcare, or filing taxes,
and helping around the house. “My
work for one of the big three as a data
analyst on performance vehicles. Although
the path is less clear now, she
has only expanded her options.
“I had a lot of doubts, but I’ve always
been a big risk-taker,” Christina
said. “I wanted to not take the average
path. I have goals bigger than I could
achieve by taking an average path. If I
just went with the flow, it wouldn’t get
me where I need to go.”
Christina sees herself as a force
for inspiration in her community. She
shared one of her mottos, which she
learned in Chaldean and translated
into English. “Keep your head down
and walk.”
She interprets this saying as a way
to stay humble and focus on your own
path. Have your ups and downs but
going to school now,” she said. “I’m
just here to inspire and be inspired.”
In the beginning, Christina filtered
her content so that she only showed
successes. She avoided telling her audience
about problems she encountered
or mistakes she made. Soon, she
realized she was putting on a face that
was unnecessary; it’s okay to make
mistakes and break things. In fact,
that’s how others learn from you. She
found a lot of media success and more
satisfaction after this stylistic switch.
Christina also shares a YouTube
channel with her boyfriend of more
than five years, Grant Sloan. Together,
they post vlogs of themselves buying,
building, and modifying cars. While
this content is not as lucrative or attention-grabbing
as short-form videos,
From left: A post on Christina’s social media account; young women at a workshop taught by Christina; the influencer in Japan with Nissan.
which concluded in March, was featured
as a photo essay in the Detroit
Free Press. Sarahbeth Maney, a photojournalist
for the Free Press, showcased
the project to the metro Detroit
community.
“I want to inspire girls to join maledominated
fields,” Christina said. “Being
Chaldean, our families want us to
be doctors and pharmacists, but I just
wanted to be an engineer. I wanted to
introduce it to other students for free
so they can figure out if it’s a passion
of theirs. This is something that you
can’t really do unless someone puts it
in front of you.”
Christina tapped into an important
aspect of the gender disparity in engineering
and the automotive industry.
As a general rule, this work is difficult
to access because of its expensive
equipment. Many car engineers and
mechanics end up in the industry after
learning or being inspired by family or
friends, and women are not privy to this
type of knowledge as much as men.
Christina is trying to fix that, 20 women
and millions of viewers at a time.
head was always in the real world.”
This childhood experience feeds
Christina’s strong desire to support her
own family, and bonds them together
in everlasting connection. “We’re very
family-dependent,” she said. “My sisters
and cousins always have my back.
If my mom had one dollar in her pocket,
she would give it to us.”
Christina’s mother tells her daughters
that she came to this country for
them, so they could have a better life.
Christina accepted this love, transformed
it, and sent it back. She wants
her mother to have a better life now
and see something grow out of her
own arduous journey.
Christina’s expertise in the automotive
industry is mostly self-taught,
however, she is an exceptional student.
She graduated from Stevenson one
year early and entered college as a junior
at the University of Michigan in the
College of Engineering. She is due to
graduate this summer, which will give
her more time to work on her car builds
and content creation. Before her social
media accounts blew up, she wanted to
keep them to yourself. “I have so many
ideas and things I want to accomplish,”
she said. “It’s more fulfilling
if you achieve it on your own, without
telling anyone your plans.”
Fast Lane to Fame
Christina’s content has changed a
lot since she began. She first learned
about TikTok from her younger sister,
who was on the app before it even got
its name. “She’s always ahead of the
trend and gives me inspiration and
ideas,” Christina said.
Christina also claims to be one of
the first automotive influencers on Tik-
Tok. In the beginning, she posted educational
content like how to change a
headlight or modify a car. Then, over
time, it turned into a lifestyle account,
and she started to involve her family.
Now, Christina is a shining example
for female automotive content creators.
She regularly sees content online
that is clearly inspired by her own,
and she couldn’t be prouder. “I get a
lot of tags and comments, people telling
me about their cars or that they’re
Christina enjoys this more because it
allows her to form a deeper connection
with her audience.
One of Christina’s favorite cars is
one she made for an invitation-only
drag race created for influencers. She
swapped a Hellcat Redeye with a Challenger
RT, which is a complex process
that involves removing and reinstalling
the Hellcat’s 6.2-liter, supercharged
V8 engine in the Challenger, offering
nearly double the horsepower. The final
modification, which she decided on
24 hours before the race began, was to
wrap the vehicle in rose gold.
With great power comes great
responsibility, and with that, great
fame. When she began, Christina
would send emails and pitch projects
to various brands; most were
not interested. Now, the paradigm
has flipped, and brands are eager to
work with her. “One of the tipping
points was Nissan, which allowed me
to build a car and put it at the SEMA
show front and center,” she said.
For this show, she customized a Nissan
truck with a wide body, lowered
36 CHALDEAN NEWS AUGUST 2023