Alex Hirschi, from Boonah in Queensland, has lived and worked in a number of countries around the world.
But after moving to Dubai with her husband in 2008, the popular social influencer hasn’t looked back.
Now Mrs Hirschi, 30, who goes by the moniker Supercar Blondie online, lives an enviable lifestyle in the city where she enjoys a luxury, high-end lifestyle by night and reviews the world’s most expensive supercars by day.
‘I always wanted to at least visit Dubai – it was a city that I loved to watch on the Discovery Channel. It had the world’s biggest everything and clearly had a vision to stand out,’ Mrs Hirschi told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I really wanted to go and see these incredible buildings and be around people who wanted to do something different. I just had no idea I’d end up living here, and I ended up moving here straight out of university.’
Mrs Hirschi was a newsreader and presenter for a drive radio show in Dubai for five years before moving into the supercar world.
‘After establishing a relationship with Bentley through the show, I was lucky enough to be given a Flying Spur for a weekend,’ she said.
‘That weekend, I felt like I was living my dream! So I started working on how I could be given more cars on a regular basis – but what could I offer in return?
‘The answer turned out to be delivering content on social media that no one else was creating. I was just uploading pics to my personal Instagram account and after some time I started developing a following.’
Mrs Hirschi worked for a year and half every night after her full time job and on weekends to develop unique content around cars.
‘Once the following started to grow, I moved from my personal account to create Supercar Blondie and uploaded pics exclusively around cars,’ Mrs Hirschi explained.
‘Then it came to a point where I could do this full time, so I just recently I left my job on air and went full time on social media. It was a big decision for me, jumping from traditional media to social media, but I knew it was the right move.’
Mrs Hirschi has always had a passion for supercars and often has ‘pinch me’ moments when she realises how lucky she is to be doing what she loves.
‘I’m not sure why that is [the passion for cars], but I think it comes down to two things – coming from a driving culture, and having parents who love to drive. We would go on 12 hour road trips in to the country, so I spent a lot of time in cars,’ she said.
‘My mum likes to remind me of the birthday treat I asked for when I was just 13… and that was for them to hire a stretch limo for my birthday when we travelled to LA.
‘I was just always into nice cars and the experience that goes along with them. Driving a fast/luxurious car has always been something I aspired to. For some reason, it makes me super happy being behind the wheel of these cars.’
Mrs Hirschi said she realised she could do this full time once she had reached 60,000 followers.
‘Brands started to recognise my reach and came to me. It’s like the radio, if you have enough listeners, brands will want to advertise,’ she said.
‘Brands are starting to recognise that social media can be more targeted than traditional media because there are stats on every account that shows who is watching what. It can be quite specific.’
Recalling her most memorable moments so far, Mrs Hirschi said one of them would be a ‘supercar run’ that she went on recently.
‘About 50 of us got together, and because of the influence of some of the members, we all drove with a police helicopter escort through the country, just to make sure everyone was okay,’ she said.
‘This was a definite pinch me moment. I was driving a Ferrari 488 Spider through the desert, and I looked up and saw a helicopter flying directly above me.
‘This supercar group also drove through Saudi Arabia before I joined them close to the UAE border. In Saudi, the Ministry of Interior spent 6 months removing the speed bumps on the roads they were driving on, so the trip would be possible in these cars.’
Mrs Hirschi has also driven with The Stig from Top Gear around a track in Abu Dhabi.
‘He was here to film one of their episodes. He really doesn’t say anything ever, and you have to put your phones outside, just in case you film him from the side and his identity is revealed. There are a lot of procedures in place to make sure he stays unknown,’ she said.
Mrs Hirschi, whose lifestyle is the envy of many on social media, says there’s more to her job than turning up to events, taking a few photos and then going home to relax by a pool.
‘Don’t get me wrong, there are some people who do that, but they won’t be successful. In order to stand out, you need to come up with ideas that haven’t been done before, or if they have, do them better, or come up with a twist,’ Mrs Hirschi explained.
‘It’s like watching a show on TV, you see the final half an hour product, but the time behind the scenes coming up with the idea, the actors, the filming, the script, the contacts, access etc. are things that I need to think about as well.
‘I could go to three or four events or locations in a day, take 100 photos and a few videos, and only choose one thing to upload. I’m always aiming to upload content people want to see, most of the time it works, sometimes it doesn’t. You’ve got to take risks.’
Mrs Hirschi was also recently featured on the famed ‘Rich Kids of Dubai’ Instagram page – and urges people to never judge people solely by what they see online.
‘I don’t really have any feelings one way or another on that account. There’s an account for everything on social media. If that’s your thing, you can follow it, if it’s not, then you can ignore it,’ she said.
‘The page is about people who have luxurious lives, but as you can see some things can be misleading. I am on the page, but I’m not just some rich kid who’s been given everything, I’m a country girl from Queensland who has worked hard to get to where I am.
‘I don’t think we should judge anyone on Instagram, we don’t know their story. If they are wealthy, it’s most probably because they’ve worked for it. Or if they appear wealthy, then that might just be their brand on social media and that’s why people follow them.
Mrs Hirschi is also a lover of designer fashion – but will regularly purchased pre-loved pieces.
‘There’s a great site in the UAE that only sells pre-loved designer items. Lots of people here are cash rich, so they’ll buy a bag and be sick of it a month later, so there are some amazing finds here that are practically new,’ she said.
And her favourite pieces?
‘I love my Cartier love bracelet and my LV speedy 25. My Chanel Espadrilles are so comfy and can take you from day to night. Plus I don’t leave home without my Dior SO REAL sunglasses,’ she said.
‘I love fashion but I often wear just jeans and a top for practical reasons, because I’m driving a lot,’ Mrs Hirschi added.
Mrs Hirschi also recently purchased her own dream car, a BMW i8.
‘I spent about a year deciding. I love to drive so many of these cars that this was a hard decision! However, when I first stepped in to the BMW i8, there was something special about it, so it was always one of the ones at the top of my list,’ she said.
‘In Dubai, you could easily see a few Ferraris and Lamborghinis on a daily basis, but you will rarely see an i8. I love how unique it is in this market.
‘I think it’s one of the best looking cars too, it feels like you’re stepping in to a spaceship, and the sound it makes as you drive away in electric mod, reminds you you are in a car just a little bit different than everything else.’
And when it comes to dealing with negativity online?
‘I do occasionally get some messages saying that it’s sad that I only like material things. Just because I upload photos of supercars doesn’t meant that’s the only thing I love and care about,’ Mrs Hirschi said.
‘My account isn’t about documenting every part of my life, otherwise there’d be photos of everything I love, my friends, my family, my dogs etc. but it’s not about that, it’s about supercars. That’s what makes it different.’
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