NATIONAL NAME YOUR CAR DAY

Summary

The Carpool with Kelly and Lizz - Episode: NATIONAL NAME YOUR CAR DAY
Release Date: October 2, 2024

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Introduction and Personal Updates

Libby’s Transition to a Larger Family

The episode begins with Libby St. John sharing her personal journey as she navigates the challenges of expanding her family from three to four children. She reflects on the chaos and survival mode that comes with the addition of a new member, expressing feelings of anxiety and the struggle to let go of control.

"This is chaos. We are in survival mode."
— Libby [01:28]

Libby discusses the difficulties of adjusting to the new dynamics, emphasizing the emotional toll of feeling overwhelmed and the importance of giving herself grace. She highlights the physical and mental challenges she faced during previous transitions, particularly with her third child, George.

"Zero to one will always be my hardest transition."
— Libby [01:52]

She also touches on the logistical challenges of moving to a larger house with more space, which has introduced new obstacles in keeping track of her children and maintaining a sense of control. Despite these challenges, Libby expresses optimism about finding joy and freedom amidst the chaos as her children grow older.

"I am looking forward to the kind of person and mother I am once I can let go of a lot of these expectations."
— Libby [02:40]

Celebrating National Name Your Car Day

Libby Introduces the Episode's Theme

Libby transitions into the main theme of the episode, National Name Your Car Day, explaining the significance of naming vehicles and sharing her obsession with names, especially for her cars.

"We are big name people around here. I just have an obsession with all things baby names."
— Libby [07:32]

She reveals that this episode includes a special guest, Sunny from Capital One, and hints at a fun car name reveal in line with her children’s unique names.

Guest Introduction: Sunny from Capital One

Sunny Shares Her Car Naming Journey

Sunny, Vice President at Capital One, joins the conversation to discuss the tradition of naming cars. She shares her recent decision to name her Lexus RX350 “Betty,” explaining the dual significance behind the name:

"Betty has two meanings for me. One, my grandmother's name was Betty, and she was the love of my life. The other, Betty was a slang term in the '80s for a really beautiful girl."
— Sunny [19:15]

Sunny elaborates on the popularity of car names, revealing that Betty is the fourth most popular name for cars. She discusses the patterns she’s noticed in car naming, such as alliteration and rhyming, and shares examples like “Greta the Jetta” and “Dora the Explorer.”

"Alliteration. So those are kind of the themes that I'm seeing here."
— Sunny [23:57]

Capital One Auto Navigator

Sunny Explains Capital One's Auto Navigator Tool

Transitioning to industry insights, Sunny provides an in-depth overview of Capital One’s Auto Navigator. She explains how the tool benefits both consumers and dealers by offering a seamless car shopping experience.

"Capital One allows you to get very granular on things like monthly payment. This helps you know what to expect and build the deal accordingly."
— Sunny [31:05]

Sunny highlights key features of the Auto Navigator, such as:

• Digital Inventory Access: Users can browse millions of cars from thousands of dealers nationwide.

• Pre-qualification for Financing: Consumers can get pre-qualified without impacting their credit scores, providing a clear understanding of financing options.

• Trade-In Estimates: An upcoming feature that allows users to receive instant trade-in value estimates for their current vehicles.

"One of the features I'm most excited about is the ability to get an instant estimate on the trade-in of your vehicle."
— Sunny [33:55]

Sunny emphasizes that the tool is free and accessible to everyone, not just Capital One customers, making it a versatile resource for all car buyers.

"Anybody can use it, which is awesome. So it's free and available for anyone to use."
— Sunny [33:28]

Ditch the Drive Thru: Quick Dinner Solutions

Sunny Shares an Easy Dinner Recipe

In the “Ditch the Drive Thru” segment, Sunny offers a practical and quick dinner solution ideal for busy families. She introduces her favorite recipe: Cilantro Lime Chicken, which is perfect for families wanting a nutritious meal with minimal cleanup.

"I’ve recently started to teach myself how to grill because it’s so easy cleanup."
— Sunny [34:22]

Recipe Details:

• Ingredients: Chicken breasts, olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, and honey.
• Method: Marinate the chicken for 20-30 minutes and then grill. Serve with easy side dishes like French fries or pasta.

Sunny highlights the versatility of the recipe, mentioning how it can be adapted into tacos or salads and how leftovers can be used for lunches the following days.

"The kids love this. It’s such an easy thing, too."
— Sunny [35:45]

Closing Remarks

Libby and Sunny Wrap Up

As the episode concludes, Libby thanks Sunny for her insights and practical tips. Sunny shares a light-hearted reflection on her name and its implications both personally and for her car.

"Sunny is a great name for a car. It can do both."
— Sunny [26:25]

Libby expresses her gratitude towards the community for their support during her postpartum challenges and acknowledges the importance of community in overcoming personal struggles.

"You are rock stars."
— Libby [08:53]

The hosts encourage listeners to subscribe to the podcast and share it with others, ensuring that no one misses out on future episodes filled with engaging conversations, games, and auto-industry news.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• "Zero to one will always be my hardest transition."
  — Libby [01:52]

• "This is chaos. We are in survival mode."
  — Libby [01:28]

• "We are big name people around here. I just have an obsession with all things baby names."
  — Libby [07:32]

• "Betty has two meanings for me. One, my grandmother's name was Betty, and she was the love of my life. The other, Betty was a slang term in the '80s for a really beautiful girl."
  — Sunny [19:15]

• "Capital One allows you to get very granular on things like monthly payment. This helps you know what to expect and build the deal accordingly."
  — Sunny [31:05]

• "Anybody can use it, which is awesome. So it's free and available for anyone to use."
  — Sunny [33:28]

• "Sunny is a great name for a car. It can do both."
  — Sunny [26:25]

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Conclusion

This episode of "The Carpool with Kelly and Lizz" offers a heartfelt look into Libby’s expanding family dynamics while celebrating the fun tradition of naming cars. With insightful contributions from Sunny of Capital One, listeners gain valuable tips on both personal life transitions and practical car-buying tools. The blend of personal anecdotes, expert advice, and community support makes this episode both engaging and informative for listeners navigating similar journeys.

Transcript

[Kelly]

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[Kelly]

Welcome to the Carpool podcast with Kelly.

[Libby]

Because I felt like with three kids, like I still kind of had like, you know, we were still like coordinating our outfits and like I was still like getting the kitchen cleaned every night, like I was still on it. And with four, it kind of has like that similar feeling from going from zero to one. Just I'm not in control. This is chaos. We are in survival mode.

[Kelly]

And Liz, your mom time off starts now.

[Libby]

Welcome back to the Carpool podcast with just Kelly, Kelly and Libby. This is like my first time ever even attempting to record like a semi solo introduction. Lucky for me, this is not a solo podcast. We have a really great guest coming up on the latter half of this episode, but I thought I would just hop on the mic, give a little introduction, say hello to everybody because I have so missed podcasting and I'm excited to be back for the month of October with some really fun guests lined up and just kind of get back into the swing of things a little bit. So what can I catch you up on? Well, I have obviously four kids now and I was talking about the transition on my Instagram because now that I have gone through technically four different transitions, people asking like, which one's the hardest, which one's the easiest? And I think so much of the transitions definitely have to do with the kind of postpartum experience and journey that you're going to have. Zero to one will, I think, always be my hardest transition. And I think it's just really. I think zero to one can be tough for a lot of people who don't necessarily know what to expect. I obviously was like the oldest in my family and I never really saw anybody very close to me go through a postpartum journey. So I think I was very naive to what it was actually going to be like. And just the transition from, you know, being this, like, selfish 20 something year old to being a mom. So zero to one is always going to rock me. I think I. George was also probably my toughest by far. George was my toughest recovery physically and mentally. So zero to one, still the hardest. One to two. I feel like I didn't skip a beat. I felt like it was very easy to bring Hattie home. Three to four, I felt like it was harder, but I was in a really good headspace and I was very much ready for that next phase of my life. My birth with Fred was really easy. My recovery was really easy. I had the opposite of postpartum depression. I had postpartum joy. I just really was so happy for so much of the Fred postpartum journey. And then Libby has kind of, or just the transition from three to four has definitely been a little bit harder. And I really feel like it's. I feel like it had kind of been like my breaking point to having to let go of a lot of control because I felt like with three kids, like, I still kind of had like, you know, we were still like coordinating our outfits and like, I was still like getting the kitchen cleaned every night. Like, I was still on it. And with four, it kind of has like that similar feeling from going from zero to one. Just I'm not in control. This is chaos. We are in survival mode. And I think being in survival mode for me has really kind of put like a little cloud of anxiety over a lot of my life because I always feel like I'm just trying to survive. So I'm really working on letting go of a lot of expectations and just really trying to give myself a lot of grace, be very patient. And I'm really just trying to remind myself that I know these kids will get older one day and it won't always be this crazy. And I am looking forward to because I know I will get there. I'm looking forward to the kind of person and mother I am once I can let go of a lot of these expectations and not just like say I let go. Like, I mean, truly let go of a lot of these expectations. And I think I'll find a lot of joy and a lot of freedom in the chaos. And I mean, I like the chaos. Like, I've always been a pretty like high capacity kind of person who's kind of thrived off almost stress. Like, I like, I like to be busy, I like to, you know, but this has just been. It's just taken me a step back and I don't know. So that's just like, those are my honest opinions. I also think that four kids is a lot. And I think having four kids in five and a half years was also a lot. And I don't even really know why we had kids so quickly. It's just kind of how it worked out. And I know I'm gonna like, love their age gaps. Cause I love George and Hattie's age gap. So I'm very excited for Fred and Libby to have something similar, but it just felt like a lot of kids and not a lot of time. So I'm so truthfully, like getting my bearings, like trying to figure out what this new normal is going to look like. And then there was also that the added stress of bringing home this baby into a different house. And if you've listened to the podcast for a while, you know that we moved from like a 1200 square foot house to a much bigger house with a much bigger yard, like with acreage in a barn and no carpet, which I like. Can't I miss the carpet so much. But there was something so much easier about our older house because just everybody was so close. And I always could like see the baby, be with the baby, see where the baby was. I could hear the other kids in the other room. Like, you know, if they were going to go outside, it was to our fenced in yard. And this house has just brought a lot more challenges because it's bigger, it's more spread out and there's so many more places for the kids to go. And you know, Fred's at the age where he wants to go up to the barn with his older siblings. Well, Fred's not technically old enough to go up there by himself. So it was me finding the balance of keeping Fred inside or taking Libby up there and just things that felt a lot more spread out than they were at my old house. And I Just, I think it's funny for us, for as ready as I was to move from that house, there's a part of me that would love to go back to that house for just this post, this early postpartum stage, because I just loved everyone being so close. And I truthfully wish I could get a little bit of that back.

[Sunny]

But it's all good.

[Libby]

We're going to figure it out. I'm excited that we're on the. I'm excited that colder weather is coming so that the kids won't want to go outside quite as often, and we can be a little bit more inside together. And I'm excited for the holidays and, you know, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and just doing things as a family of six. There's something that feels very complete about us having. About my family, all about my family, you know, being complete. Like, everybody's here. So now I know, like, if I get a picture, like, this picture is going to be relevant forever because I'm not, like, missing a person. So that's a little bit of what's new with me. Besides that I am now entering the. Like, let me see, when I'm recording this, I'm. What am I, three weeks postpartum? So I'm kind of entering the. Okay. Like, I have my bearings a little bit. I feel a little bit better now. Let's kind of, you know, get some postpartum projects done or, like, goals accomplished, which might be toxic to some people. It's very helpful to me, and I'm talking, like, little goals. Like, I made a cabbage soup. I don't know if you guys follow me on Instagram, but I made a cabbage soup and I haven't stopped talking about it. I'm telling everybody I know. I sent my mom home some, and I made her, like, call me while she was tasting it. And it probably, honestly, not even that.

[Sunny]

Good of a soup.

[Libby]

Like, I'm probably going to make it again in a couple of weeks and be like, what was the hype about this? But it was just the first thing I felt like I had accomplished post Libby was, like, making this very delicious, nourishing soup for my family. So that's. I mean, then, like, I wrote the recipe out, I put in my recipe binder. I mean, I just. True. If you've talked to me in the last two weeks, I will have probably brought up my cabbage soup to you. So that's new with me. But today I'm very excited for this episode. We had recorded this a couple of weeks ago, actually, before I gave birth To Libby. And this podcast episode is sponsored by Capital One Auto Navigator. Because we had Sunny, who is a VP at Capital One, come on and we talked about a really freaking fun topic and that is National Name youe Car Day and the tradition of naming your car. Now, you guys know we are big name people around here. I just have an obsession with all things baby names. And I was very mindful, very demure about naming my expedition. So we do have a name reveal on the podcast. It's very, very in theme with the rest of my children's names because it had to be. It was just a fun little episode kind of talking about, you know, naming your car, why people do it. And I don't know, it's, it's, I think the tradition of naming your car, especially for like our community. I think it's kind of important because our cars really do become such a part of our family that they just, you know, that they deserve their own name. Like I always say that mothers spend so much more time in their car than the average American. I truthfully believe that because between all of the grade school, between all the school drop offs, the sporting events, the weekend activities, like we are living in our cars. We are having meals in our cars, our kids are sleeping in our cars. Like we are. A lot of us are always on the go and our cars take really good care of us, right? They keep us comfortable, they keep us safe. And I'm a person who definitely gets an emotional attachment to a car. And it's funny because I do change cars so often. But now that I'm in this expedition and I'll probably have the expedition, I don't know, maybe like two, two and a half, three years even. I have very much felt like I'm kind of settling into it. And there's just something fun about like, you know, your kids just knowing your car and all the memories that your parents car car has held for you that I just think it's, I just think mom cars are cool. And that's why I can't cool. And that's why I can't believe that the rest of the world hasn't kind of caught on to the importance of what it means to be have a mom car or a family car and truthfully, how important they are to us. So anyway, that's what you can expect on today's episode.

[Sunny]

That's what's a little bit with what's.

[Libby]

New with me trying to think what else you guys kind of need. Liz, here we got pigs, we have chickens, we still have a bearded dragon. We've got four kids. Hattie wants a cat. So we'll probably add that to the, to the farm eventually. And yeah, life is crazy. Life is chaos. But I'm looking forward to, you know, the rest of this kind of postpartum season and then kind of getting back to work in a more like, full time capacity after the holidays. Liz and I have a lot of big plans for 2025, and the car mom's really going to grow in a lot of exciting ways. The podcast is going to grow in a lot of fun ways. And I'm just very, very thankful for this job, this community and. Oh, and I have to shout you guys out for the freaking. Just absolute love and support I had for when we had to go back in the hospital with Libby because a lot of the people on the carpal Facebook page got together and, you know, all went in to get me like a little welcome or Ashley put together, then a little bit of like a welcome home back care package basket. And I felt so loved and supported. And yeah, like, going back into the, going back into the hospital, having to get readmitted really, really was difficult. Probably why I even feel like this transition was so hard and it's been so humbling because every time I talk about it, I always, like, try to preface it by saying, but, you know, I know, you know, a lot of other families experience a lot worse because looking back, I mean, we went in for jaundice, which is a very treatable thing. Once it's over, it's over. She was never at the risk of, I mean, her levels got high enough where, like, there was talks of blood transfusions, but we never. Nothing ever happened. Like, the lights worked. All her only treatment was lights. So, you know, looking back, I kind of felt silly for feeling so emotional about it. But every single person who has had a NICU stay who's reached out to me has said, you know, I was in the NICU for 72 days and your feelings are valid. Any day is too long to be there. And like, just every NICU mom who had a longer, harder stay than me has met me with such kindness and been like, in just such validation of what my experience was that it's just been amazing. Like, people who have gone through things that I can't even imagine, like, validating my little jaundice day has just really put a lot of my faith back in humanity, back in, you know, this motherhood community, back in this village. So I think you all are freaking rock stars and if just no one told you whether you've had a NICU stay or not, you are a rock star. So, okay, let's get into the interview with Sunny. Thank you guys so much for tuning into the Carpool Podcast, and I will be back. I don't exactly know when, but I will be back soon with some really fun guests the rest of October. And I'm very excited to kick it off with Sunny from Capital One.

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[Sunny]

Honey, welcome to the carpool podcast.

Oh, it's so great to see you and be here today, Kelly.

I am so excited we made this happen. And I am so excited to just, like, sit down with another woman in auto and talk about such a fun topic for me, which is naming your vehicle, naming your car.

Love it.

There is no one I'd rather celebrate national name your car date with than you.

Aw.

And I am such at the carpool podcast, like, we are such a baby name. People like Elizabeth and I always do baby name clues. Like, we're obsessed with, like, sibling sets and just, like, fun names. And I think expanding this into, like, naming your car is so fun. I'm also the kind of person who I kind of, like, name a lot. Lots of things in my life. Like, we currently live. We currently live on, like, a mini farm with, like, 12 acres and, like, we have 18 chickens. And, like. No. Yeah, they have names. Like, they're not just the chickens. Like, and I get my kids into. It's like, I'm a big name person.

I love it.

Um, so, yeah, so I'm really excited. I actually just made, like, a big announcement on my Instagram, and I finally picked a name for my expedition.

Nice.

And we went with the name Lil Debbie.

Oh, okay. I like snack.

Well, I mean, I don't know, like, who came first? Like, who's. Who's to say who's named after who? But I liked the idea of Lil Debbie for a couple reasons. One, I liked the juxtaposition of it being an expedition Max and having a Lil involved in some way, shape or form. I also wanted a name that had a formal name because my expedition has. Had. She's been a little bit of a problem child, so there's some days where she needs to be referred to as Deborah. And, like, I have to get down and, like, serious with her. And also, the way that I have named my children totally by accident is I have efgh.

No way.

I do. Like, it's giving Bridgerton. Like, I didn't really mean to do that. George and Hattie and Fred were a happy accident. And then, I'm not gonna lie with baby number four. I kind of felt like I had to choose an E or an I name. And I liked it, so I did. And now I can't stop the tradition. So then I was trying to choose between a D name and an I name to, like, keep the Alphabet going. Oh, and then someday I hope to connect. Yeah, someday I hope to connect all of this to the family. So.

Wow. Wow. That's. That's quite impressive, I have to say, Kelly.

So Lil Debbie, Deborah, if she's, you know, in trouble in the shop. And that's what I've decided to do with the expedition. But, Sunny, let's talk a little about you.

Okay.

Well, I kind of just kind of jumped right in there, but I kind of had to get that off my chest. I would love to hear one. What your. What car you drive.

Yep.

And if it has a name. And if not, we'll brainstorm together.

Okay. Well, this was quite a hard homework assignment for me because unlike you, I didn't have a name for my car until just recently. But I drive a Lexus RX350.

Love.

I love this car. This car is beautiful. It never gives me a problem. Knock on wood. Safe. It always looks good. I feel good driving it. I can't say enough. So this is just super graceful, super beautiful. And so I was thinking about what I wanted to name this car, and I came up with a name. I can't laugh at it, though.

I'm not going to promise you I'm not going to laugh at it.

But there's a story to it. So I named my car Betty. Now, Betty has two meanings. See, you're already laughing. Betty has two meanings for me. One, my grandmother's name was Betty and she was like love of my life. So grandmother's name is Betty. Now I'm probably going to date myself, but Betty also had a meeting back in the 80s and if, if you, if you met like a really beautiful girl, you would call her a Betty. She's such a Betty. Like a babe.

[Libby]

Oh, okay. Okay.

[Sunny]

I didn't actually know that Grandmother and babe in one Betty. So there you have it.

Okay. I didn't know that Betty was. I guess so we could use the word, like slang term.

[Libby]

Yeah.

[Sunny]

For okay. That's so funny because I wanted to kind of figure out like, what if, like this naming your car trend was as popular as I think it is. Because everyone in my life, and truthfully, like in the car mom community, we're naming our cars probably because we're all moms who like, are used to naming things. And actually Betty is one of the top 10 most popular car names.

You're kidding me.

[Libby]

No.

[Sunny]

But I don't think it's for the reasons that you chose. I think it's because they say a lot of black cars are named Betty because like that song. Oh, Black Betty.

Oh.

I mean, that's what I guess. But I like your. And actually my grandma's name was Betty too, so I love that version of it. And I had no idea that it met like a good looking girl. Yeah, that is funny.

I never would have thought Betty was a popular name.

Yeah. Here are the top 10. This is funny. I wanted. I really. I don't know how they did this because I think, I don't know how they got this list because it's not like it's the top 10 baby names list. Like we're pulling like Social Security data. Like, I don't know, I don't know where this information is coming from, but top 10 car names. Number one, baby. Number two, Betsy. Number three, Ruby. Probably all the red cars. Number four is Betty. Number five is Beast. Number six is Max. Seven, Bertha. Eight, Pearl. Nine is Frank. And number 10 is Christine, which I have no idea where that came from. Those are the top 10 most popular car names.

I'm shocked.

I'm shocked. I can see some of them. Like, I get the Ruby. I get Betty. I get Pearl. What I think is interesting about naming a car is. And I'm in the firm camp and I think this is a little maybe controversial, but I think that all cars are female and should have female names. And I think a lot of People refer to planes, trains, boats, automobiles, cars as female. And I always heard. And I'm wondering if you've heard anything similar. I've always heard it's because how women, like, carry people. Cars and vehicles carry people, so that's why they're female.

That's.

That's.

I. I like that. But, you know, I'm. I'm like going down memory. And between my husband and I, we've all. We've only had female cars, so that's so interesting. But, yeah, you carry people, passengers like you carry children. Yeah, I can get. I can get behind that.

So have you ever.

[Libby]

So was this.

[Sunny]

You have not been, like a name your car person until. Or did you ever name them?

So I think when I first, like, started driving, I named my cars. But with this particular car, I've had it for a couple of years, and I actually never named it.

I don't know why you can't rush into it. Maybe you need to get to know her a little bit.

I think I had to get to know her, and then the name just came. So I'm kind of glad, you know, she now has a name because she deserves it. She's beautiful. My beautiful Betty, which is the fourth most popular name. I had no idea. But I think it's fun. I think it's fun.

I do, too. And so I also wanted to ask the carpool community if they name their cars. Sounds like basically everybody does. We got some really good names. And I'm kind of noticing themes when people name their cars as well, because I think you can go the direction of, like, a descriptive word. I think you can go with the rhyme, or I think you can go with the. I'm not. I'm not hooked on phonics, but what's it called when it's like an iteration, like Ellie, the Expedition, like an ee.

[Libby]

What's that called? Do you know what I mean?

[Sunny]

Yeah, yeah. Alliteration.

Alliteration. Thank you. Yeah. Alliteration. So those are kind of the themes that I'm seeing here have been some of my top submissions. We had Greta the Jetta. Ooh, Love Greta the Jetta.

Yeah, I like that name, too.

There's. There's a lot of rhymes on here. Rhonda, the Honda. Kind of. Kind of into it. We also had Dora the Explorer.

Okay.

The Ford Explorer.

Yep.

And we had Clifford, which they described as a very big red car. I loved those.

I think those are great. I love the rhyme.

I like the ride rhyme, too. And, you know, a lot of rubies. A Lot of Betties.

I thought I was coming up with something unique.

I think you were. I think you just got there differently than other people. But I. I really like it. Well, anyway, that's National Name your car Day, so if you haven't named your car, join us in celebrating. And you can obviously choose from the list of the top 10 something that speaks to you. I mean, I obviously, like, kind of overthought mine with wanting to have, like, the D and the formal name. But I. I think it's a really fun tradition. I get a lot. I go through cars, like, when I'm not. Previously, before I got the expedition, I was going through cars every three to four months. And I did have a period where I stopped naming them because, you know, also, it's hard to get attached.

Yeah, yeah, it's hard to get attached.

But I remember my very first car was like, a big thing to name it. Like, when I turned 16. I feel like a really big thing to name your car. And my very first car was a Hyundai Santa Fe. And it was a, like, sparkly blue metallic. And I remember it looked like my grandpa's fishing boat. Like, you know how fishing boats have, like, some metallic paint on them? So I named it Fishboat.

Oh, fish boat.

Fish.

Now, was it a female or a male?

We never got there. It didn't. I don't remember. Yeah, yeah, it was. I wasn't a. I don't remember. And I only had it for a couple of months, and then I was like, okay, this is kind of. I can't be. I can't be renaming these all the time.

[Libby]

Yeah.

[Sunny]

Bye, bye, fish boat. But anyway, Sunny, thanks for going down, you know, memory lane and just all things car names with me.

Love it.

Sunny's actually a good name for a car I know and a VP at Capital One. I want to be clear. Like, it can do both.

Yeah, it could do both. Yeah. Yeah. Sunny. Yeah, I could see that as a car name.

I actually did a. I did a baby name consultant for this baby, and my maiden name is Suntrup. And they. One of the consultants. Top names for me was Sunny because they thought it would be like a really cute. Like a tribute to my maiden name, which I hope one of my siblings does that either for a middle name or a first name because I do think Sunny is such a cute name.

It is a. I like my name because it's unique, but it's a name you have to live up to. I can't be Cloudy or Rainy.

Oh, the pressure. No, you're so right. The pressure.

Oh, I have pressure. I mean, I gotta live up to this name my parents gave me.

So is Sunny the full name?

That is my given name.

I didn't even think about that. You've gotta be a ray of sunshine if you.

Yeah, I have to. I try to be.

Okay, well, while I have you on here, Sunny, I thought we could kind of just dive into a little bit of like an industry news segment, kind of basically what we just did. But I want to expand a little bit upon Capital One and their Auto Navigator tool. Sunny, can you start by just telling the carpoolers? I mean, I know you're a VP of Capital One, but can you give us a little bit more sense of your position and your role there?

Yep, absolutely. So at Capital One, you know, we, you know, build products like Autonavigator for end consumers, but we also try to build products for our dealer customers. And so I spend time with a group of dealers that help us co create, build and test new products that we're bringing to the market. And so that's the thing that I'm spending my time on these days.

And let's kind of dive into, I mean, because I think a lot of people associate Capital One with being a bank. But can we speak specifically to some of the auto related tools that Capital One offers?

Absolutely. I know a lot of people don't associate Capital One with car shopping, but we have have a tool called Capital One Auto Navigator and it allows car buyers to shop a digital inventory of millions of cars from thousands of dealers nationwide. You can pre qualify for financing with no impact to your credit score and see all of your financing options in one place. So it makes it super easy, it saves a lot of time and you can do it from the comfort of your home.

Yeah. It's funny I think to the I always feel like I have a, a different perspective on Capital One because being like coming from the auto background, like to me, I associate, I associated Capital One with auto first and I love that it's a tool that's used by both consumer and dealers because something that's so important to me at the car mom is always trying to bridge that gap. And I hate that there's you know, some, you know, some tech for dealers and some tech for consumers. And then like no one's talking to each other and we wonder why our industry has such friction sometimes between consumer and dealer. So the fact that this is a tool that's, that's like so respected by the dealers and so user friendly for the consumers, I think it really is just a way to make a car buying experience easier, which is always, always my goal when I teach car buying to people like, it just, we gotta make it easier.

Yeah. Because it can be scary. It can be overwhelming at times. And I think you're right. It's all about creating that transparency, both for the consumer and the dealer. And I think that's one of the things that we've worked hard to do, is build, like, that integrated technology that empowers car buyers to engage wherever they choose to be, whether it's online or in person, and then connect that with the dealer so the dealer knows and can meet the customer where they're at in the process.

[Libby]

Totally.

[Sunny]

So on the. On the Capital One Auto Navigator tool, I would love to hear your favorite feature, and then I'll share my favorite feature.

So. You know, it's funny, my. My daughter is about to turn 16, so I have been searching for cars. I'm trying to get her down to the appropriate budget. But that's what I love about autonavigator. I am on there searching inventory of all the dealers in my area, you know, trying to find a car that meets our financing and budget needs. Meets her, like, needs in terms of what she wants. But it's been fun. So I'm like, I'm on there searching vehicles, showing them to her, you know, learning more about the, you know, the different parts of the vehicle. So something that we've been doing together. But the inventory search is, I think, my favorite feature.

Yeah, mine's. Mine's similar. I really love that, to use one of my favorite words, Capital One allows you to get very granular on things like monthly payment. I think there's a lot of. I don't want to call it like. I think a lot of people still don't have a good grasp on, like, what a 400amonth car looks like, what a 500amonth car looks like. And I think a lot of this, unfortunately, is like, you know, some. Some advertising and some, you know, what they think it should be. And not realizing just things like down payment, term and interest rates play such a role into your monthly payment. And one of the things I hate is when people, and I think what makes a bad car buying experience is getting sticker shock at the dealership. Like, the last thing you want to do is the first time you see payments on the car you think you want to buy is across the desk from a salesperson. It's just.

It's true. It's not for both parties, because you're.

Like, oh, we're so off base. I had no idea. Or I needed to be a lot closer to this. So I think what I, what I really like about Capital One is, you know, getting prequalified allows you to get a much more accurate understanding of interest rate, term, down payment. And then you can also filter cars by monthly payment. So if you want to look at cars like your specific make and model in your area, between 450 and $500, you can, you can get that granular and see that. And then when you go to the dealership, you're so much more empowered because you know what to. You just know what, what to expect. Expect. And you kind of built the deal. So now, as the consumer, you're telling the salesperson, hey, like, I actually know how I'm going to get to my monthly payment, because I know I'm going to put this amount down, and I know I'm going to finance for 60 months, and I know I'm going to get this car for this price. And it's just like. And I'm telling you, like, people, the dealer likes it, too. Like, you're making it easier. No salesperson wants to, like, no offense, like, go on a test drive and do all these things to find out that you guys weren't even talking about the same budget. So it's just, it's better for everybody. And I love that part of the Auto Navigator tool, and I think it's very unique.

You're so true, and I couldn't agree more. And the other thing, as you mentioned, it saves so much time. You know, the last thing you want to do is spend as a consumer, you know, three to four hours in a dealership. Using this tool to, you know, build your deal as you've described, really helps you save time. So you can, like, get. Get that vehicle that you want, drive off in it and not have to spend, you know, a half a day at the dealership.

I feel like a question that might come up is, do you have to be a Capital One customer to use the tool?

And the answer is no, anybody can use it, which is awesome. So it's, it's free and available for anyone to use.

[Libby]

That's so cool.

[Sunny]

And anything on the horizon, like, is there any, like, new features coming? I mean, you can. This is a safe place, Sunny. You can tell us. We probably won't tell anybody else.

Okay, good. No, there's a. There's a lot of cool features. I think one of the, one of the Features that I'm most excited about is the ability to get an instant estimate on the trade in of your vehicle. So oftentimes I know, like when I go to buy a car, I'm trading something in. And now you can work that trade in value while you're building your deal as you've just described. So I think that features I'm really excited about and that that will be coming out soon.

Oh, that's very exciting. Well, Sunny, before we let you go, we have a segment here at the carpool podcast called Ditch the Drive Thru. And you are a busy working mom. And I want to know, you know when you're driving home in Betty and you're so tempted to just like, pick up Chick Fil a for the kids, but you're like, no, we have food at home. What is your easy dinner recipe to mix it up to get you out of your dinner? Ruth?

Okay, I love this. And you know, one of the things I've recently started to teach myself how to do is grill, because it's so, it's like easy cleanup. The thing I hate about cooking dinner is, like, the cleanup. And so the grill is like my easy solution when I want to ditch the drive through. So. And this recipe, my very picky children and husband request, like, I think every week.

Okay.

But it's, it's cilantro lime chicken, but basically I take a couple chicken breasts. I always have chicken breasts, like, sure. At the ready. I throw them in like a Ziploc bag with a little bit of like olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, and honey. Okay. And you just let that marinate for 20, 30 minutes, throw it on the grill, and dinner is done. And I'll serve it with like some French fries or pasta, you know, whatever is easy.

Well, I like that because, like, you did the protein. If you feel like doing more, you'll do rice. If not, because it's chicken for dinner. This is what we're cut up an apple.

Exactly, exactly. And I tell you, the kids love this. It sounds like, oh, no, they're not going to like this. But I tell you, my picky children and husband request this every week.

And it's such an easy thing, too. I love recipes that are very easy to double to save for lunches the next day. And you know, by the time you start the grill, it's like, no, I'm gonna throw on more than four. Like, let's do like, if we're here, let's do this. Yeah, that's a And I could see how you could turn it into. Yeah, you could just turn it into tacos. Put it on a salad.

Yeah, the chicken, you can use it any. And I. I make leftovers the next two nights with this, so it saves me so much time off the try.

We've kind of been talking a lot on the podcast recently how I don't understand why grilling is such a big thing in the summer. Because I actually am very excited. I like to grill in, like, the fall and the winter because I'm like, it's hot. Like, why am I standing over a grill in the summer? Like, I think going into fall to have, like, some really. Just don't forget to use your grill. You know, in the colder seasons, too. Like, you're gonna get warm. It's kind of a winter.

Yeah.

Well, you know, it's funny.

I think why I started to do it is, you know, we live in Dallas and it's so hot, but, like, when I was cooking over the stove or with the oven, it made my kitchen hot. So I'm like, I'm going to just go cook outside.

Yeah. So then at least it's. It's already hot out there.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

I love it. Well, Sunny, thank you so much for joining the Carpool Podcast. So fun to just talk about names, Capital One and Cilantro lime chicken, and that's kind of what you can expect here. It's just. It's a. It's kind of a mixed bag. It's a little bit of everything.

I love it. I love it. Well, it was so great to chat with you today, Kelly.

All right, everyone. Well, thanks so much for listening to the Carpool Podcast. I will be back next week with another solo episode while we wish Elizabeth a wonderful recovery, and we will see you guys next time.

[Kelly]

Thank you for listening to the Carpool Podcast with Kelly and Liz. Make make sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode. And if you enjoyed riding with us, tell everybody you know there's room in the car for everyone.