Faye Hadley – Everything You Need To Know
Following on from our recent women in motorsport guides, today we’ll be looking at everything you could want to know about the ‘All Girls Garage’ star, Faye Hadley.
Introduction
After we recently wrote an article about Faye’s former ‘All Girls Garage’ colleague, Cristy Lee, fans have been requesting our follow-up article on our ‘women in motorsport’ guides, to this time focus on Faye.
As always, we’re more than happy to oblige!
Many will know Faye Hadley for her ‘Pistons & PixieDust’ website, where she teaches auto repair classes via live stream to aspiring females looking to follow their dreams.
Alongside Pistons & PixieDust, she’s also the co-founder of the ‘#WomanAndMachine’ movement. Woman And Machine is an organization of tradeswomen that host day-long, female-oriented automotive workshops across the country, empowering other women to follow their dreams.
Of course, it’s her appearances as an automotive technician in the TV show ‘All Girls Garage’, which is broadcasted across the nation, that will be most familiar to most.
Based in a repair shop in Phoenix, Arizona, Faye works alongside Sarah ‘Bogi’ Lateiner, and formerly Cristy Lee, to show that women are more than capable when they aren’t afraid to get stuck in and get their hands dirty under a car.
While being part of the Discovery Channel trio (which is now a duo) is what she’s best known for, this hard-working entrepreneur certainly has a few more tricks up her sleeve with her hugely inspiring life story.
With the most recent addition to her impressive portfolio hosting ‘The Best of Top Gear’ TV show Faye is beginning to appear in all the right places more than ever before.
But, where did Faye Hadley’s inspirational story begin, and where does it go from here?
We’re covering everything you need to know in this guide as we take a look at her life and her fascinating affection for cars, both old and new.
Faye Hadley Facts, Bio & FAQ
In this section, we’ll look at the most commonly asked questions about Faye and also take a look at her family and education history.
How old is Faye Hadley?
Faye was born in the USA on 26th September 1986, which makes her 34 years old when this article was published. She could have easily convinced us she was still in her early twenties!
Faye Hadley’s Education
Although Faye undoubtedly knew from as early as middle-school that she wanted to work on cars, she made an early decision that it would be best to follow the corporate ladder, like her father, who had a Ph.D. from MIT.
After proving that she’s got plenty of brains to go with her beauty, her fantastic grades would land her a spot at Harvard, where she later earned a degree in psychology in 2010 at the age of 22.
Faye Hadley’s Hobbies
It probably won’t come as much of a surprise that Faye’s hair and makeup generate a lot of interest from her fans, and in true Faye style, she’s shown her everyday makeup and hair routine.
Spoiler alert: Yes, she still looks stunning, even without makeup!
Faye’s creative side certainly shines through, and anyone who puts this much effort into looking good must indeed have fun doing so.
With over 100,000 views and 1,300 comments on her video, it’s clear to see that the fans approve!
Her hairstyles have certainly changed over the years – check out this throwback snap where she showed off her ‘fire engine red’ hair.
Given that cars are her prominent main hobby and passion, Faye thoroughly enjoys getting behind the wheel of her project cars, and she’s often known for going on long road trips in her VW Rabbit.
She stated, “After my first term at Harvard, I had an early life crisis. I was walking to my apartment after exams and saw this Volkswagen GTI with a license plate from Alaska. The owner told me he was on a trip around the US and I knew I wanted to do that too.”
She might struggle to find time to get away as much as she’d like with her hectic schedule these days, though.
We’re not sure whether cars are her favorite interest, as the chickens that have an entire section on her website dedicated to them seem to get plenty of attention.
Faye Hadley’s Family
Faye initially followed in her fathers’ footsteps through college. Her dad, who received a Ph.D. from MIT, influenced her earlier years, as she followed the ‘ideal’ career path, graduating from Harvard and starting life as a licensed therapist.
However, Faye soon realized that the typical lifestyle wasn’t ticking the right boxes in her life despite her successes.
Eventually, Faye’s mom was the one to point out to her that she should follow her dreams.
“My mom pointed out that the times I was happiest was when I was solving a problem with a car. She said, ‘Faye, you do not have anything to prove to anyone. You only have one life’”.
These words would trigger Faye’s perfect reaction, who immediately felt the need to pursue the desired lifestyle that she’d dreamed of.
After a phone call to her boss to announce her two-week resignation period, she headed to Portland to begin a new life, but she would soon realize that the path to success wasn’t going to be plain-sailing.
Faye Hadley’s Husband
With Faye’s parents having an incredibly positive influence throughout her younger years, it wasn’t until late 2015 that she would begin dating her soon-to-be husband, Brandon.
Yep, sorry guys, you’re a little late to the party.
After getting together with wood artist Brandon Hadley, they would soon tie the not just a year later, on 25th September 2016. If that date looks familiar, it’s because it also happens to be Faye’s birthday!
The pair seem to make a fantastic couple, and since they were best friends before hooking up, we hope that it may long continue.
Although they don’t have any children, Faye’s hectic schedule would likely make it challenging to find time for kids - however, the chickens and personal project cars seem to be doing a great job filling the void.
Faye Hadley’s Career
It hasn’t always been TV cameras and wild makeup arrangements for Faye, and the early years of her career certainly didn’t begin as you’d probably expect.
Therapist
After receiving her psychology degree from Harvard, Faye went on to work as a licensed therapist.
While working as a full-time therapist, she also did off-hours work alongside a mechanic in Providence, RI. It was here that she began to pick up the mechanical skills and knowledge she craved.
As well as the unpaid internship, she also took classes at the local community college, and combining the two, Faye soon learned how to fix the blown engine on her cherished VW Rabbit.
Although she was doing well as a therapist, it was clear that it wasn’t the path she truly desired. Her mom realized this and insisted that she follow her dreams.
After handing in her two-week notice from her therapist job, she headed out onto the open road, where she ended up in Portland, ready to begin the next ten years of her life.
However, like many people who move to a new city, it wasn’t an instant success, and she would struggle to find work.
Toyota and Beyond
Now living in Portland, OR, Faye opted to return to school to improve her skills and knowledge in the automotive trade, where she worked in the evenings at a local independent garage.
The hard work soon paid off, and before she knew it, she had landed a job at a nearby Toyota dealership, where she was able to continue learning and progressing.
During her time at Toyota, she received several certifications and worked exceptionally hard to continue improving her skills.
As her work at Toyota came to an end, she moved to a well-known independent shop specializing in older vehicles.
With the company expanding, they were keen to put Faye’s knowledge to fair use, as she helped the company move onto a new sector, working on Toyota’s and hybrid repairs.
She would soon realize that many of her customers had heard that she’d moved to the new garage, and since she’d made a fantastic impression on them, they soon began re-appearing at her new workplace.
After many commented that they were keen to learn from Faye, this triggered her inner-entrepreneur, and she soon began teaching automotive classes out-of-hours - and this is where Pistons & PixieDust was born.
The Journey Continues
With her ever-growing list of students becoming her customers, Pistons & PixieDust grew so quickly that it was no longer possible to do it on the side in her spare time, so she opted for a new beginning.
Faye’s hands-on approach to teaching didn’t involve screeching chalk on a drawing board. If you attended one of her classes, you’d better prepare for getting your hands dirty!
As a true inspiration, Faye’s teaching method provided women, some of who lived busy lives, with the confidence to work on their cars, without the need for using untrustworthy local mechanics for simple servicing and maintenance tasks.
But, it’s not just the simple tasks that she teaches her students. Her most popular YouTube video involves servicing a sealed automatic Toyota transmission, which has clocked up an impressive 700,000 views.
Faye Hadley’s Cars
Since you’ve made it this far, you’re probably curious to know more about Faye’s VW Rabbit.
1980 VW Rabbit – Gaia
However, the Rabbit isn’t the only precious car in her life. She’s managed to form an impressive collection over the years.
The 1980 diesel VW Rabbit, named Gaia, certainly has the most memories attached, having been her daily driver for over ten years (well, when it wasn’t broke!) after rescuing it from abandonment.
Faye turned the Rabbit into her passion project, and after ten years of being sat in a barn rusting away, she gave it a new lease of life, and she was able to project her style and affection to the car, with hints from one of her favorite movies - “The Love Bug”.
With VW Rabbits being a rare breed, it soon piqued the local VW clubs’ interest, where Faye began attending meetings. It was here that she met her mentor, Jesse, who provided her with the skills to perform an engine swap on the car - a 200-dollar, 130,00 mile, 2.0L engine from a VW Golf.
Once repaired, Gaia and Faye ventured across the US three times, where she spent a long time living the simple life on the road-prior to her new-found hectic schedule.
From there, it’s come a long way, and it still holds a special place in Faye’s heart.
1998 Toyota 4Runner - Grim Repo
Faye headed to a salvage yard sale, where she would pick up her dream truck, a 1998 4Runner that she’d name ‘Grim Repo’.
Faye said that it’s been “the nicest and most reliable truck” she’s ever owned. Not bad for something that came from a salvage yard sale - a true testament to JDM engineering, we say!
1989 Toyota Supra - Vise
With Faye having caught the JDM bug, she would fall in love with her A70 Supra, Vise.
Alongside her dream truck with the 4Runner, the Supra is her dream car, which she’s still restoring to the present day.
The Supra received a full mechanical rebuild back in 2015, but after having her head work outsourced on the 7M-GTE engine, it never ran quite how she would’ve liked.
Ever the perfectionist, she would begin tearing the car apart again, where she noted, “I’m crazy, I spent three hours hand-sanding the fuel rail trying to get it just right. But why rush the process, why not take the time to enjoy it”?
These issues undoubtedly continued to fuel her desire to encourage other women to carry out their automotive tasks themselves!
2021 Toyota GR Supra
Faye’s love for (well *ahem*, sort of) JDM cars has continued, as she’s picked up (another) dream vehicle - the GR Supra.
It would appear that she has quite a few dream rides!
We’re delighted to see her behind the wheel of a brand new MK5 A91 Supra, and it’s a testament to all the hard work that she’s put in over the years.
After having several time-consuming passion projects, it appears that she’s finally got a car where she can turn the key and enjoy it.
She certainly seems to be wasting no time in doing so, and who can blame her?
Fair play, Faye - you’ve earned it!
Where is Faye Hadley now?
After so much deserved success in recent years, many of you will be wondering what the future has in store for Faye.
At the end of 2020, she opted to close down her business in pursuit of new beginnings.
The Future
It may come as a surprise, but as of early 2021, it’s been back on the road for Faye, who no longer lives in Texas, after recently deciding to begin a fresh start in Los Angeles, California, with big plans ahead.
Although it’s top-secret confidential information right now, we’ve got no doubt that it’s going to be something pretty exciting, judging by her anticipation of the new project.
Thankfully, she will be re-opening a new shop next summer - assuming everything goes to plan.
She may be being secretive about her upcoming projects, but that hasn’t stopped her popping up in various places online, such as BoostRodeo:
As well as this, she’s also appeared on the recent Shift Talkers Show.
In a recent interview on Motortrend, Faye came out with the following quote:
“I don’t feel like I belong on TV, don’t feel like a celebrity. I never wanted to be on TV or an actress, I just wanted to go out be a mechanic and everything just fell into place. If All Girls Garage wasn’t on TV, I would still do it, the celebrity status doesn’t appeal to me at all. I never wanted to be a part of this world, I just want to be myself, the person who fixes your everyday Toyota.”
We love hearing her speak from the heart, and there’s no question that she’s a true petrolhead through and through.
Will her new project see her moving away from the TV screens to follow her dreams once again?
Dream chasing certainly seems to have worked out pretty well for her so far in life, and we hope that it continues to do so.
If you want to keep updated with Faye’s plans, her preferred social network is Instagram, where you can visit her profile.
She also frequently updates her YouTube channel, so make sure you subscribe to see the latest updates.
We would like to wish Faye all the best in her future endeavors, and we hope that the German (sorry, Japanese) reliability continues to enable her once again to love life on the open road.
So, there we have it! We hope that we’ve covered everything you could want to know about Faye Hadley in this guide.
Thank you for reading our Faye Hadley guide.
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Photography credits
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Written by Joe Terrell
Drifted.com founder, motoring journalist and all-round car enthusiast. Read more about Joe and the Drifted team on our about us page. Rate This Article
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