Livia alias WithLiv – How posters and Excel-spreadsheets led to Porsche

In just over a year and a half, content creator Livia from Zurich has made a name for herself in the car scene. One brand of car in particular is often seen in the Instagram feed of WithLiv, as Liv calls herself. I recently had the pleasure of meeting Liv. She told me how memorizing car brand badges on the way to school and creating Excel spreadsheets led to a great passion for cars over the years. This much in advance: Liv’s journey was anything but ordinary.

Who is Livia, also known as WithLiv?

My name is Livia, but most people know me as Liv. I am 28 years old, come from Zurich and am a trained media designer for advertising technology. I have worked in graphic, web and interior design. For almost a year, I have been self-employed as an automotive content creator. I mainly document my work on Instagram. You can find me there as WithLiv. A YouTube channel is in the starting blocks.

Where does your passion for cars come from? Were there petrolheads in your family?

Nobody in my family has anything to do with cars. Half of them don’t even have a driver’s license. The fascination came all by itself. For example, I started memorizing license plates on the way to school at an early age. I somehow managed to memorize the combination of letters and numbers. Shortly afterwards, I started to learn the brand logos and models. The ones with horses in them were particularly appealing to me. And I then copied these emblems from memory at home.

I’ve always had other interests than my friends, such as soccer, gaming and cars.

Livia, aka WithLiv

When I was about nine years old, I played cards in a car quartet and started buying and reading car magazines with my pocket money. I then marked the specifications with a highlighter and later entered them into an Excel spreadsheet on my laptop. I didn’t even have WiFi back then! (laughs) Today, I can recognize almost any car brand on the road. I turn naming model types and their engines into a game every day.

And at some point, I noticed a red Porsche 964 Targa on the way to school. Convertibles were very rare back then and it was always in the same parking lot. I thought it was very cool. A poster really got the ball rolling, as it did for many other kids at the time. For me it was a lizard green Porsche 991 GT3 RS. From then on at the latest, I had a very special relationship with the Porsche brand.

What brought you to car photography? And what was your first car?

When I got my first cell phone, I started to regularly take photos of cars that caught my eye. In the beginning, I still had a flip-up Samsung cell phone that I used to take photos. Even as a teenager, the photo gallery on my phone was full of cars. There were already an infinite number of exotic cars in Zurich, but I wanted to see even more. That’s why I regularly went to Geneva at the age of 15 to be close to the latest sports cars. Auto Zürich, the biggest car show in the region, was also a fixed date for me.

Pretty much at the same time as I bought my first car, I bought a camera in 2022 and taught myself how to take photos. My first car was a manual Renault Mégane RS and I still have it today. That’s why I first joined the French Car Community. My first car meeting was one specifically for French cars with lots of Alpines and Renaults. I loved the atmosphere and since then I’ve been to car meetings almost every weekend. Whether supercars, V8 meetings, Porsche meetings or simply cars & coffees all over Switzerland.

You’ve been running your Instagram account WithLiv since 2023. Was your goal back then to start your own business?

I’m actually a very safety-loving person and originally wanted to become a police officer! The reason was simple: I thought you’d be allowed to drive faster than permitted and there would be action. I like it when there’s something going on! But I decided to take a creative path and did a four-year apprenticeship as a designer for advertising technology. I wrapped cars, did lettering, created designs and much more.

At the time, my phone was full of car photos, but nobody was interested in them on my private Instagram account. So I created a new one called WithLiv that was all about cars. It was actually just for fun. I had no real ambitions for a career change. But the channel developed really well straight away!

At some point, I came to the conclusion that I should go for it.

Liv, aka WithLiv

I gave a lot of thought to whether I should try working as a freelance content creator. I had a very good relationship with my old employer. It had been almost eight years, that I worked for the company and I had always been loyal. With my boss, I spoke very openly about this. He encouraged me to pursue my passion. At some point, I came to the conclusion that I should go for it. After all, I have no children and no major risks. I have a plan B and plan C up my sleeve.

What was it like for you? What is the best part of your new?

It was one of the bravest steps in my life! But I have not regretted it. The interaction with the cars is great. I like working with the car. The more mechanical, the better. It can also smell a bit like petrol. And a car doesn’t always have to be clean for me. As a night owl, the free time management also suits me very well. That’s why I particularly like doing shoots until the sun goes down.

I also really like creating together and networking with other creators. It’s a great feeling to show the cars from their best possible side together, to present the interaction between driver and car in pictures and videos. The Swiss mountain passes offer an ingenious backdrop for this. I love photographing unique cars there, or unicorns, as I like to call them. Also, I find special liveries and motorizations exciting. It’s incredible that this is part of my new everyday life!

Are there any special experiences that you will remember in particular?

Some! I’ve had the pleasure of driving such great cars… for example a Lexus LFA with V10 or a manual Porsche 991 GT3 and 992 GT3. That’s one of my favorites, of course. Older cars are also always particularly memorable for me. The older and more mechanical, the better. You hear a lot more, the cars rattle and shake, it shakes… The experience is so raw and I just love it. Which is not to say that I don’t think a 992 is great. It’s just a much more modern car with various assistance systems and much more comfortable. The great interiors with a good sound system, heated seats and especially heated steering wheels also have something going for them.

Specifically, my first drive in a classic Porsche was a great experience. It was a 1985 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 Coupé. But I will never forget my second encounter with a Porsche 930 Turbo. I spotted one in Martini livery at a meeting and posted it. Shortly afterwards, the owner of the car contacted me via Instagram and we met up in Zurich for a photoshoot. He entrusted me with the keys and let me take it for a proper spin. It was a great experience!

Through your work, you also have to deal with much more exotic and expensive vehicles. Why does Porsche still play the main role for you both privately and on WithLiv?

For one thing, I know a lot about the history of Porsche and am familiar with almost every model. Porsche has something for everyone. Every car is iconic. The 959 or Carrera GT, for example, are real unicorns. And it’s not just the cars. Porsche also offers a lot beyond that. The community is great, there are an incredible number of creative people in the Porsche world and the events are always excellent. There are a lot of bright minds behind it, whether young or old and from a wide variety of fields. They simply pick everyone up and I think that’s really cool. I don’t think much about other brands, because for me Porsche is simply one of the best! That sounds totally mainstream, but my feed is filled with Porsche content for a reason!

Which destinations do you still have in mind? Where would you like to do a shoot and which roads would you like to drive?

Shooting in California on the beach with the cars right by the sea, that would be great. Unfortunately, we don’t have that in Switzerland. For a relatively long time, I had a wallpaper with a classic Porsche on the beach, with a surfboard on top, in a totally idyllic atmosphere. I would love to do something like that one day. It would be a great shoot. Preferably with a Porsche 992 Sport Classic or an original 911 Carrera RS 2.7. Given the opportunity, I’d love to drive along the California State Route in a classic Porsche Coupé or Spyder.

Although I have the Alpine roads on my doorstep, I’ve never spent a whole day driving around only on mountain passes. I’d love to do that in the Dolomites or the Vosges. In a relatively modern, manual car. Maybe a 997, 991 or 992, but South Africa must also be fantastic. I keep seeing pictures of the coastal region with its breathtaking landscape and animals. Driving off into the sunset there in a 356 Speedster would be an absolute dream.

What advice would you give to someone who says to you “I like what you post on WithLiv. I want to do something like that for a living”?

Just get started! A lot of people write to me and ask how I get the cars for the shootings. In the beginning, I simply photographed parked cars and posted them. Later I went to car events – meetings, races, exhibitions and Cars & Coffees. The cars come there all cleaned up and people want their cars to be seen. In the beginning, you have to do a lot in your spare time at your own expense and keep at it.

Another, in my opinion even more important point is to focus on your own skills and style. Certain angles, captions and video ideas are often copied to a certain extent. I think it’s better to give free rein to your own passion and creativity. Having your own style gives images something personal, like a signature.

If money were no object, which Porsche would we see first on WithLiv?

A Porsche 911 S/T with the Heritage Design package would probably be very high up on my personal wish list. The Porsche 930 Turbo would also be a dream. But I’ve always said that I’d rather have a nice house first, and only then choose the nice car. You get used to a car very quickly. And even if you think today that an S/T or GT3 RS is so awesome that you can’t top it, after a short time the need for “more” is real. What makes me particularly happy is the variety of different cars.

And what would you like to share with the community as a final message?

Pursue your passions to realize your dreams. As much as I would love to have my own Porsche, never forget to appreciate the little things. That way, you’ll be grateful for the big things too. Drive while we still can! Enjoy cars with all your senses – smell, hear, feel… At least that makes my heart beat faster!

The pictures were kindly provided by Liv (WithLiv on Instagram).

Meet our contributor

Richard Lindhorst is our chief-editor and lives in Northern Germany. He thinks about cars and bikes almost 24/7. If you’ve got a story for him, or just want to get in touch, feel free to contact him on his Instagram (@rchrdlndhrst).