Hello my name is Holly Wainwright and until, oh, about two months ago, the only thing I knew about tyres was that they were black and round. And that I gave mine a good work-out. My job at Mamamia sees me travelling up and down the highway from my regional home on the NSW south coast to Sydney a couple of times a week, and my real life as a mum to two kids and a woman who needs… stuff, sees me driving around my neighbourhood every day.
So when Bob Jane T-Marts wanted to talk to women about their cars and their tyres and how to keep themselves safe and running, I put my hand up to help in about 30 seconds flat, because I know exactly why a lot of women are as ignorant as I am about the machine they spend half their lives in. Mamamia is a media company for women, and I talk and listen to women all day long. They’re self-conscious about what they don’t know about the cars they own and run themselves, and they’re distrustful that when they go to ask questions about them to professionals, that insecurity might get them ripped off. All that leaves them a bit embarrassed to ask. So I asked for them.
Over the coming months I’m going to be finding out what I actually need to know about my tyres to keep us safe on the road. What questions I need to ask, what’s a non-negotiable and what I just don’t need. On Tyre Check Tuesdays I’ll be learning something new at my local Bob Jane T-Marts, and in Candid Car Chats I’ll be trapping my 14-year-old daughter Matilda in the car to make her have a conversation with me about something that will keep our relationship running.
Come with us. I promise it won’t be boring. Especially that bit when I learn how to change a tyre. That part’s hilarious.