At 60 years of age I started a YouTube channel, Bruce’s Garage.

This seems a bit odd and maybe it is, but I’m always looking for ways to learn something new and I tend to get immersed in things I love. So what exactly brought me to YouTube?

For about a year prior to starting my own YouTube channel, I found myself regularly using YouTube to learn about various topics, including photography and car detailing. I’ve been shooting still photographs nearly my entire life, but videography was always something too complicated for me to jump into, without a purpose. As a fan of still photography, I never really embraced videography, but rather enjoyed showing motion in a still photograph using blur, slow shutter speeds, or intentional camera movement. I also fully embraced the notion of capturing a split second of time in a still photograph which is the antithesis of video. However, video also captures things that still photos cannot; it can convey a deeper understanding of the subject, without leaving it to the viewer to interpret a message based on the photographer’s artistic energy conveyed in a single frame. So, as I toyed with the idea of learning videography, sound, and digital video editing, YouTube came to mind.

 If I was going down the path of YouTube, what would I create? Who would want to listen and watch what I had to say? What would I produce? How would I do it? What additional equipment would I need? My mind was racing with thoughts and self-doubt. I absolutely love to learn new things, but I hate the struggle that goes along with being a novice and the necessary evil of producing something that is sub-par while on the learning journey. I also always hated being in front of the camera, hence my desire to be behind the camera. That’s when the epiphany hit: this journey into YouTube would make me super uncomfortable and maybe that would be the ticket to becoming more comfortable with being uncomfortable – that I would learn to embrace the painful journey of learning all these new things to become more knowledgeable and developing new skills. Some of these new skills would translate to my professional life and even to become a better person by not limiting myself due to unreasonably high expectations that I produce “expert” level outcomes on my first attempt at anything.

Why Bruce’s Garage?

If I was going down this new journey, I wanted it to be fun and I wanted to learn. That’s it. That’s all I wanted out of YouTube. For about 6 months prior to starting my channel, I had found a new hobby, car detailing. Yes, a strange hobby. I would detail every weekend, begging my wife to “find me a car to detail this weekend.” She would call family and friends, many of whom were willing to “lend” me their car for the weekend so I could entertain myself by completely detailing their car for free, no strings attached. I would thoroughly detail everything from the exterior, interior, engine bay, and even do a complete paint correction and polishing. All for free, in exchange for feeding my obsession with detailing.

It seemed natural then to take what I was learning from car detailing and combine that with my knowledge of photography, along with my new venture into videography. Bruce’s Garage was born.

What inspired me to detail cars?

In 2022 we moved backed to the St. Louis area from Louisiana and purchased a home that had a fantastic garage. A fully heated spacious 3 car garage, epoxy floor, and built in cabinetry had my yearning for how I could effectively use this space. There was so much storage space that was a blank slate and the space was so empty I felt it needed to be leveraged in some way. While I always had enjoyed keeping a clean car, I hadn’t previously embraced detailing, other than to occasionally hand wash my car and maybe put a coat of wax on the paint. Once my mind gets hold of something, it doesn’t stop working until it’s satisfied with a plan. Sometimes it’s a curse; other times it is a tremendous strength.

 I thought and thought about this unused space and finally decided that I was going to spend time taking care of the cars – my brain landed on detailing our cars. I’ll use the space to detail our cars. It quickly then became an obsession to learn about detailing, what equipment and supplies I would need, how would I organize it all, and how quick could I make this happen. So straight to YouTube I went. I watched many videos, most of which were from Chemical Guys. Then on to Amazon to start a purchasing frenzy. Weekly I was trying something new, yes, from Chemical Guys (far from the best detailing chemical). They had tons of “how to” videos that were super helpful and, of course, they had even more chemicals and equipment you could buy.

Creating my first videos was a real struggle.

I already had an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription because of my still photography, so I began learning Premiere Pro for video editing. I again turned to YouTube and Amazon for help. I purchased a couple of books and watched many videos. I slowly made progress but was becoming increasingly frustrated by unanswered questions I had while editing. I had pages of notes, questions, and challenges I was facing. I searched online for formal in-person Premiere Pro training, but the offerings were limited. I felt like if I found someone who could help me, just for a few hours, I thought it would accelerate my learning. I started searching for contacts I had and wondered if I knew anyone with video editing experience. I also searched online for a tutor or coach, even found an app for freelancers to offer their services to help others learn. I sought out an individual, but never found anyone on that app – I was somewhat committed to in-person learning only and quickly discovered this was self-limiting.

 Once I became open to learning virtually, I eventually found a tutor from Varsity Tutors, a company that brokers freelance “experts” to tutor children or adults on various topics. I purchased a four one-hour blocks of tutoring and was matched with an instructor. That was the best investment in supporting my growth. Within three sessions, I felt much more comfortable editing and producing my own videos. She not only helped me with the technical skills I needed, but also gave me insight into pre-production planning and its importance in creating a well-executed product.

What have I learned?

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Personally acknowledge that when you are learning something new, your first attempts will likely suck and that is all part of the journey. You don’t start something new and become an expert overnight. Learning requires you to be a beginner; beginners are inexperienced and stumble along the way, regardless of any innate talent. These lessons, albeit a bit late in life to learn, are truly transformational from a growth perspective. I have been able to translate these principles to all aspects of my personal and professional life. However, I’m still on the journey to truly getting comfortable with being a beginner at anything because I want to produce a professional outcome (regardless of what I’m doing) on my first attempt. (This is the most ridiculous and unrealistic expectation – it can be very self-limiting)

My day job keeps me very busy and has nothing to do with video production or detailing.

I won’t bore you with the details of my professional career history (if you’re interested, feel free to visit my LinkedIn profile), but I have been in healthcare for 40+ years. Starting as a paramedic and currently as a Vice President of Nursing Workforce Management for Ochsner Health in New Orleans. The learnings from this YouTube journey have translated to my day job as I work to help my team get comfortable with the progression around starting something new and not being perfect out of the gate, yet having internal customers who seem to expect perfection from day one (they really don’t, but some of this is our perception of their expectations).

If you’ve read this far I am very grateful that you have an interest in who I am.

As I have openly stated on my channel, I’m just an average guy who has a passion for learning and sharing knowledge. I hope to inspire others to enjoy the relaxation associated with car detailing or even to venture out into the unknown territory of learning something new, being vulnerable, and embracing your fears to overcome them, regardless of what they are. Thank you for visiting, watching my videos, and simply go have some fun.