Social media influencer and car customizer Christina Roki got started in car wrapping by trying to help her family through financial constraints. Roki’s mom drove her to school and went to work in a 2005 Honda Accord that was basically falling apart, so she attempted to fix it herself from watching YouTube videos in the effort to be frugal. But, little did she know that the budding hobby would eventually turn into an actual career.
In this interview with Playboy, Roki dishes on being a huge auto influencer, what inspires her to start a new project, and of course, car wrapping.
Playboy: Tell us about your background: Where were you born? What was growing up like for you?
Roki: I was born in Michigan, the motor city! I grew up moving into low income apartments every other year. My schools were constantly changing to the point where all I could do was focus on learning and making sure I got my family out of this financial situation the second I got older, which was my main driving force for all my success today.
Playboy: Where did your interest in cars begin?
Roki: It really started from the constraints I had growing up. My mom took us to school and went to work with a car that was barely running and it sure looked like it too. By trying to save money, I attempted to fix my mom’s car just so it was safe enough to drive. From there, I started wanting to learn more about cars and was introduced to the other side of the auto world with modifications and all so it just grew from there.
Playboy: What was the first car you ever customized?
Roki: My mom’s 2005 Honda Accord. I decided to surprise her and fully spray painted it red, added some wheels, and cleaned it up. This was my first ever series I posted on TikTok as well.
When I started [on social media], I didn’t want to be that technical jargon person that acts like they know everything. I wanted to come out as super vulnerable, like “Hey, I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m learning. This is what I know not to do next time, because I absolutely broke it, and now I had to order another part.”
I think it really made it more relatable. And I feel like it really introduced a lot more females into the auto industry. I feel like it gave people confidence, saying that they could do it too. Because if I came out here saying I’m a skilled car mechanic or working on cars for the past eight to 10 years, that’s just kind of more overwhelming to someone new watching that wants to get into cars. So I wanted to be that bridge that’s just like, hey, we’re all learning here, everybody that’s super technical and a pro all started from nothing and started working their way up and acquiring skills.
Playboy: What was it like the first time you wrapped a car?
When I first started wrapping, I was like, “I am not going to pay two and a half grand to have someone wrap my car. I’m just going to learn how to wrap myself.” My first one obviously wasn’t wonderful. It was a lot of trial and error. There’s a lot of times I finished wrapping a part of the car and completely ripped it off. I’m like, “This looks so bad, so I’ll just start over again.” It teaches you a lot of patience. I wasn’t like a natural pro at it at all. It came with practice.
Playboy: Which customs are you the most proud of?
Roki: Off the top of my head, there’s two I am most proud of: my first project car, a 2008 Nissan 350z. I purchased and modified it with my leftover scholarship money. And a 1994 Ford Mustang I completely restored with my own creative twist. I took a very well known holiday calendar (advent calendar) and built a huge one filled with car parts for this Mustang. Each day [of December], I unboxed one car part and installed it until Christmas day (which is my birthday) where it was fully restored.
Playboy: What materials do you enjoy working with most? Why?
Roki: As much as I say I absolutely despise wiring, I do find enjoyment in it when I finish and everything works as intended. But more often than not, I fail a few times before I succeed. Wiring is a little bit more of a technical and engineering base. Obviously everything has to be right. You don’t want to blow a fuse. You don’t want to do anything wrong, because then you’re going to end up going to the store quite a few times to get it fixed or order more parts. So that one’s really rewarding, because when you’re wiring new headlights or side markers or underglow on the car, whatever the case is, you just want to wait till the second it turns on and it turns on right, and I’m like, okay, good. It’s working. That’s all I needed to know.
When it comes to car wrapping, it’s such a tedious process. Because [as you do] the first few panels, you’re like, “Okay, I got this, I got this.” And then a couple days go by and you’re like, “Oh my gosh. I can’t wait to be done.” But it’s kind of just an acquired skill. Anyone can grab a piece of wrap and just practice and learn. I also really enjoy wrapping only because I know that once it’s done, it’s gonna look so good.
Another thing that brings me peace is simple maintenance work, because I know that the car will be safer, it’ll run a lot smoother. And it’s a very common process to follow. It’s not like I’m installing something totally out of the blue. Certain procedures you follow, everything goes smoothly, make sure you’re doing everything right, and then the car’s running and it’s safe and, you know, it’s in good hands.
Playboy: What’s your bucket list custom?
Roki: This has been a secret for so many years but one of many would definitely be building an Acura NSX GT3, it is an absolute dream and I can’t wait to make the dream come to life very soon.
Playboy: What’s the auto custom community like?
It’s a small community. At the end of the day, I feel like everybody knows each other. When I first started, I did short form content, while most automotive influencers came from long form content like YouTube. So there was a little bit of like, not butting heads, but … it took more understanding from both perspectives, right? Because they have a different approach in filming than I do.
When it comes to working with brands, it’s surprising to think that a lot of these car companies say they want to support and welcome more females, but then, all they do is support male automotive influencers. Having conversations with [the companies] when you see them at certain trade shows does help us move forward and progress in making things more equal and welcoming female automotive influencers. Because not all of us are going to be wearing sweatpants and hoodies. We still like to dress up, and we still have the same knowledge that any male would have in the industry as well.
When I first started, it was kind of competitive between females, like who knows more, who has the cooler car? But it slowly started to grow out of that, and [now] it’s kind of more like the girls got each others’ backs. And so it’s a wonderful thing. It’s become more inclusive throughout the years. And I feel like that’s thanks to the short form content. Because I feel like short form content requires a lot less effort to just put a video out there, so it welcomes so many more people. They don’t even have to have a nice, sporty car. They could have, like, you know, any car they want that they just want to modify. So its content that really helped the auto community become more inclusive.
Playboy: What other auto creators inspire you?
Roki: Most of my inspiration actually comes from non-car related stuff like my nails, fashion trends, and such. Tiktok is such a great place because you get to see a lot of people you don’t follow thanks to the For You page, so I get introduced to a bunch of different content from a bunch of different people. So right now, one thing that’s coming back is Ferrari red nails. At one point another trend was the clear nails with the groovy waves. I like to take stuff like this into consideration, because I could DIY it into a wrap of some sort.
These trends are in the makeup industry too, like strawberry makeup. And you can have a strawberry car, too! So I like to bring that into the category of automotive.
Playboy: What trends are you seeing in the world of auto customs right now?
Roki: I am starting to see a lot more cosmetic work being done than I used to when I first started. Cosmetic work is about the appearance and the aesthetic of the actual vehicle. That can include changing out the wheels, the color of the wheels, the color of the car, whether it’s wrap paint, headlights—basically, modifications that wouldn’t be deemed as like a performance upgrade. I’m seeing this a lot more often in the auto creator side of things—and even in the auto manufacturers – sometimes there’s more focus on the appearance rather than performance. There’s also the EV side of things, and you can only do so much performance when it’s an EV vehicle.
So people are leaning more towards cosmetics for their videos, and honestly, cosmetics are a lot cheaper than performance modifications. Also, certain states have a lot of different emission laws, so you can only do so much to your vehicle without getting in trouble.
A lot of people that watch my videos have one car that they want to ramp up a little bit. They want to see it in the parking lot when they’re shopping at a store. They don’t want to do all the performance upgrades because they’re just taking it to the freeway or going to their work or going to a friend’s house. So a lot of times, appearance is more just visually appealing to a general audience.
Playboy: What advice would you give other women who are interested in hobbies that are male-dominated?
Roki: Don’t feel pressured to change who you are to fit in. Your unique perspective and approach are valuable. Don’t be afraid to admit you don’t know something. No one is born with a certain skill set. It is all gained by learning, practicing and making mistakes.