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Thursday, 22 May 2025

2PJZ Debrief - Edition 9

Hey Reader,

Welcome to Edition 9 of 2PJZ Debrief – this week marks one whole year since I stopped wondering “what if?” and started posting daily about rare cars and the stories they tell.

My official one-year anniversary is this Sunday, 25 May – but I figured we’d start celebrating early.

Before anything else: thank you.
None of what I’m about to share would’ve happened without your support.

Let’s dive in – the real numbers, the hard lessons, and what comes next.

The Year in Numbers

📈 126,000+ total followers across platforms
- Instagram: 1,456 → 62,000
- Facebook: 200 → 37,000
- TikTok: 0 → 22,000
- YouTube: 1,000 → 5,600
🎬 Posted every day – over 460 posts to Instagram alone, plus long-form, Shorts, and more
🗺️ Helped 1,600+ people plan car trips to Japan with my free + paid guides
🚗 Filmed with dream cars – driving the R34 GT-R in Japan, two 993 GT2s, every BMW M3 (for an upcoming doco - keep an eye out!)
🤝 Partnered with brands like BMW, Audi, Aston Martin, Nissan, and Toyota, with two more to come over the next month

What I Got Right (and Wrong)

What worked:

Stuck to daily posting for 365 days straight
Used my Notion content board to stay organised. Dropping this on Gumroad soon for those who want to create
Mixed big-picture goals with small, fun ones to keep momentum
Stayed honest, helpful, passionate – and different to what’s already out there
Learned to stay calm under self-inflicted pressure

What didn’t:

Compared myself to creators who’ve been doing this for years
Beat myself up over unrealistic expectations
Burned myself out… often
Focused too much on the destination instead of the journey
Expected linear growth (it’s not)
Overcomplicated simple content – sometimes “done” > “perfect”
Forgot to celebrate small wins

Top Moments

Partnered with my favourite brand ever (watch socials this weekend 👀)
Hit 60K followers on IG – way ahead of my one-year goal
Travelled to Japan and created content seen by millions
Created a high-production documentary commissioned by BMW (coming soon)
Launched my Japan guides, helping 1,600+ people
Built friendships with creators and car industry figures I’ve admired for years

From July 2024. Publicly setting goals was the scariest and best thing I did.

The Hard Part

Trying to summarise the hard bits in one small section isn’t easy – because honestly, there are moments every week that feel heavy.

Growth has slowed. YouTube hasn’t taken off the way I’d hoped. Balancing 2PJZ with full-time work, a relationship, and a life outside of cars has been brutal. And burnout? That’s not a wave – it’s a constant undercurrent I manage daily.

The hardest part isn’t the grind. It’s giving 100% and still feeling like it’s not enough.

But that’s the game. You show up anyway.

Biggest Lessons This Year

After 365 days of content, here’s what I’ve learned:

The best content doesn’t always perform best
Some of my favourite videos flopped. Some throwaway ones blew up. The algorithm is unpredictable – but your consistency and quality are in your control.
Progress looks boring most of the time
Real growth isn’t fireworks. It’s quiet. It’s replying to DMs, filming another reel, editing until 1am. The boring bits build the breakthrough.
Building a dream life is ridiculously hard
From the outside, it looks like I’ve made it – press cars, dream drives, Japan. But nearly everything you see is self-funded. This only works if you're obsessed. If you’re not? Don’t bother.

And if I had to distill it down:

Consistency > perfection
Honesty builds a niche faster than hashtags
Big brands value trust and expertise over raw numbers
Utility > virality
Nothing worthwhile is easy – and easy things usually aren’t worthwhile

What’s Next

I could write 10,000 words about this past year, but here’s what’s coming:

Finish and release the BMW 3 Series documentary in June
Build out more digital products + services to help others start their journey
Buy a replacement for my Chaser (likely July)
Go back to Japan, buy a DC2 Type R, film it, and ship it home
Grow to 100K+ on IG and finally push YouTube harder
Keep delivering: rare car stories, helpful explainer content, deep dives, and my personal builds
Launch something to help creators and motorsport professionals build their careers (coming soon)

Writing the final bits. Passion + perseverence = success. And yes - I'm still working off my dining table, two weeks into the new house.

Thank You

Honestly – this took me days to write and hours to cut from 2000 words to what you see now. I'm a communications professional by trade, so writing comes quite easy to me. But I wanted to cut the yap and stick to what actually matters to you.

Trying to summarise the past year made my brain hurt.

This brand consumes my thoughts every single day.

That’s how much I care. That’s how much it matters to me.

And that’s why I’m so grateful that you’re here.

Only a small percentage of my audience is on this email list, and I truly appreciate you being part of this deeper layer of 2PJZ.

If you’ve ever liked, shared, messaged, downloaded something, or just followed along – thank you.

I don’t see 2PJZ as a two-year thing. I want to be doing this for decades.

We’re just getting started.