November Member Profile

Chesapeake Region

Member Names & Join Date:John Wojcik and Kimberlie England2013: Joined PCA Motorstadt (Lansing, MI)2015: Joined Maumee Valley Region (Toledo, Ohio)2022: Moved to Annapolis and joined PCA Chesapeake RegionCurrent Cars, Previous Cars:Previous:1998 Boxster, Base, Arctic Gray Metallic2018 Macan, Base, Sapphire Blue Metallic

Current:

Member Profile: John Wojcik & Kimberlie England

2019 Boxster, GTS, GT Silver Metallic

Have you served on any Regional or National committees:

Currently John is serving as a PCA Chesapeake Region, Concours Cochair.

What encouraged you to join the Porsche Club of America:

We heard the PCA was a group of fun people who enjoyed each other’s company inasmuch as they enjoyed each other’s cars. John lived in Lansing, Michigan and Kimberlie lived in Toledo, Ohio for 7 years of their marriage, so they commuted 112 miles one-way to see each other. We initially joined as members of the Motorstadt region in 2013 for a couple years and moved to Maumee Valley Region near Toledo when we were moving closer to retirement and were spending more time in the Toledo area.

When it came time to buy a vehicle, what made you choose your Porsche? Is this your first Porsche (if not please detail prior Por-

sche's):John has always been the one to select the Porsche for our family. Here is his story:

Growing up, my favorite poster was a 1988 Guard Red 911 which decorated my bedroom walls all through high school. I loved the lines and curves of the 911. To me, it was the perfect sports car. I loved the round headlights and how they fit perfectly into the design of the front fenders. Wonderful cars. Life moves on though and I went on to college and then to law school. I tabled my dream of owning a Porsche.

On September 11, 2001, so many lives changed and mine was no exception. After the attacks, I quit private practice as a medical malpractice defense lawyer in Lansing and went on active duty as an Army Judge Advocate with the Michigan National Guard. That move created the opportunity for a 20-year career as the general counsel for the Michigan National Guard. In 2010/2011, I spent a year in Afghanistan with a lot of free time on my hands. I eagerly searched the internet for the perfect 911 that I was going to buy when I got home. The final hook was when one of my friends sent me pictures of the Porsche he purchased during his two-week R&R break.

When I got back, I drove to Grand Rapids MI to look at some classic Porsches. The place had a 911 Carrera 4S in Guards Red that I was certain I was going to take home. However, I walked by a 1998 Boxster with a Metropol Blue roof, and it was pretty much love at first sight. On my drive back to Lansing, the check engine light came on. The car needed work. My friends and I replaced two O2 sensors on the exhaust which made for a rough ride. Then, there were the coils and the rear spoiler that didn’t work – and the plastic window in the top had to be replaced. But to me, the car was perfect.

Kimberlie and I put close to ten years-worth of miles on that car. We’d take it on 3-day trips and had every storage cubbie perfectly packed – it even fit the martini case. We had it down to a science. During one of my favorite drives, Kimberlie navigated us to Petoskey through the back roads as we dodged summer thunderstorms because we wanted to keep the top up as we sang at the top of our lungs. It was blissful.

That car was downright quirky. One summer, the horn started beeping every time I hit a bump and turned left. Everybody would smile and wave at me, and I’d just wave back. The problem was ultimately identified as a worn rubber ring between the horn and the steering column. But the memories from that car still make me smile. I loved seeing Kimberlie’s wide smile and curly blonde hair frolicking in the wind when we had the top down. It’ll be a memory that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

Eventually it was time to bring another Porsche into the family, so we bought a 2018 Macan to shuttle me

between Lansing and Toledo. I put 154,000 miles on it in a little over 4 years. Rock solid car. Kimberlie and I took the kids on endless ski trips and went exploring all over. I ordered it without the sunroof to make sure we didn’t put any skis through the glass.

At age 45, Kimberlie received a buy-out which enabled her to retire from her business consulting practice where she’d been a shareholder for 15 years. Then COVID hit and I reached my 20th year of active-duty service in the Army. It gave us the opportunity to move in together and combine our entire family – including my 18-year-old, and her two teenagers. But we decided that we would make an adventure out of the whole situation and chose Annapolis for our home. To make the move, we sold multiple houses and sailed our boat from Traverse City to Annapolis (through the Erie Canal, Hudson River, and the Atlantic Ocean).

Upon our arrival, we needed to get all the stuff from our 26-day sailing trip back to the house in Annapolis, so we drove the 20+ year-old Boxster to the marina and filled it up to the brim. Then nothing happened. Dead battery. Kimberlie gave me “the look” and paused when I started pushing the Boxster down the slope. “What are you doing?” she asked in a startled tone. I jumped back in the car, popped the clutch and the engine started. Off we went. Vroom.

But that was the last straw for the Boxster in our lives. There were numerous repairs that needed to be

made. A $2,400 brake harness. New battery. New tires and new brakes. It was time to find the Boxster a new home. We found a buyer who wanted to rebuild it himself. Selling the Boxster was crushing. I didn’t expect it to hurt like that, but it really did – more than selling the family homestead.

Sometimes you never know how things are going to go or how much time you’re going to have. Just as we were getting settled into Annapolis this past January, we were met with the challenge of Kimberlie’s breast cancer diagnosis, her surgery, and all the uncertainty that came with it. Kimberlie pulled through all of it with rock star prowess and beat cancer, but we talked about life quite a bit from April through June. After one of our talks, I waved goodbye to Kimberlie with the Macan title in my hand and drove to Arlington, VA. I came back with a car I never thought I would buy – a Boxster with PDK. I had no idea that would be our next car. Sometimes cars just speak to you, and I heard from this one loud and clear.

The drive home in our new 2019 Boxster GTS with PDK was unmatched. Every little comfort has been designed into that car. I didn’t even know air-conditioned seats existed. My old Boxster didn’t even have a cup holder, but this new car has two – two cupholders hidden away but ready to handle my coffee on those chilly autumn Annapolis mornings.

We still needed time for Kimberlie to recover from her medical issues, but I took her for the inaugural drive in the new Boxster through the streets of downtown Annapolis. And she smiled “that smile.” You know the one. It’s the smile you see when blissfulness bursts out of darkness and fear have lost its icy grip. I cried a little. She did too. When we rounded the traffic circle by Ego Alley, a puff of wind came off the bay and played with her hair and her blonde curls danced for me again. What a thing.

What are your favorite Regional &/or National events:

Because we’ve lived two hours apart for most of our marriage, we haven’t had the chance to do any regional or national events. We’re excited to head to Ocean City, NJ for their Boardwalk Reunion and for the Chesapeake Challenge.

What is your favorite PCA memory:

Our favorite PCA events are the monthly driving tours. We love driving with other owners and enjoy taking in all the scenery. It’s been a great way for us to explore our new home state.

What advice about PCA or Chesapeake would you give to new members:

It’s all about showing up. Chesapeake PCA has so many different activities that there’s always something going on. We’ve met some fun people through the club and are looking forward to exploring the DMV in our Boxster.

If money was no object, what Porsche would you love to own and why:

We’re driving our dream car right now. It’s hard to beat the combination of looks performance, handling, and style in our 2019 Boxster GTS.

Anything additional you would like to share about yourself (Family/Work/Etc):

During COVID, we came across a study that reported that 65% of veterans leave their first civilian job in the first 24 months. We thought that would be a good topic to use in my doctoral work. Kimberlie and I spent almost 2 years researching the hurdles that military veterans face when they leave active duty and get their first civilian job. Any time I took my foot off the gas in writing, Kimberlie would lovingly nudge me along by asking for something else to edit. We compared our own research project to other studies on military transi-

tion challenges and confirmed the struggle that veterans face after active-duty service. Our research suggests that veterans leave their jobs because of cultural friction – not because of pay and benefits. They leave when they feel like they don’t fit in.

We wrote Chapter 4 of the dissertation on the sail from Traverse City to Annapolis. I would write and Kimberlie would edit and re-write. She knew the data better than I did and was constantly finding relevant articles and other research. I defended the dissertation in November, and we knew that we had to share what we’d learned to help veterans transition better. We started writing “Mission Next” in January and kept writing during the worst parts of Kimberlie’s cancer treatments. It was a bonding experience that kept us focused on the future. The book went live on Amazon on September 1 st, and we’re excited to be working on marketing and public speaking to promote our first book.

If anyone wants to test the strength of their marriage, write a book with your spouse. For us, it was an amazing experience, but we recognize that it might not go that way for everyone. We fell into a nice rhythm. I wrote half the book. Kimberlie wrote half the book, and then she revised the entire thing to give it one voice. It’s clearly something we enjoy because we’ve already written five chapters for book 2. It’s called “HR’s Mission Next,” and is aimed to help HR leaders in small and medium-sized businesses to build a veteraninformed culture to recruit and retain top talent.

When we’re not writing, we’re building a consulting practice around the books. We are also getting involved in the Annapolis community, particularly in the non-profit sector. John is part of this year’s Flagship Program of Leadership Anne Arundel and is creating a communications strategy for Sail Beyond Cancer – Annapolis for his project. Kimberlie has joined a couple groups associated with the Naval Academy. As we continue to expand our network here, Kimberlie is starting to take on consulting projects – in strategic communications and non-profit strategic planning – similar to what she did in her business consulting practice. We are so excited and proud to be part of the Annapolis community and look forward to meeting new people through the PCA Chesapeake events.