Breaking In

I’ve loved motorsports since I was a kid. My dad lazily turned on Formula 1 one morning when football wasn’t on, and from then on I was hooked. I don’t come from a motorsports family. I didn’t grow up in a garage with a wrench in my hand. I grew up at school, loving math, and knowing I wanted to be an engineer. My love for motorsports came later and that’s when everything clicked. I haven’t had all the opportunities people around me have had, this isn’t my world. But one thing I’ve learned in the last year is that perseverance beats luck every time.

Earlier this summer I had the opportunity to attend the DirtFish Women in Motorsports summit in Seattle. I desperately needed to reconnect with motorsports. College is hard, and I had lost touch with where I wanted to end up, even considering changing my major. So I walked into this summit knowing that I would walk out sure, one way or another. I spent the day in awe. The women who spoke were those I had heard of only in articles: Jess Dane, Pernilla Solberg, Emilia Abel, Mariana Dunach, and even Claire Williams. These women attested to what I already knew: the motorsports industry, especially for a woman, will knock you down over and over again, and all you can do is pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and try again. I’ve faced this reality, head on.

Though I have faced situations where my gender plays a role in my treatment, that’s actually the least important part of this journey in my opinion. I’ve faced sexism since I was the only girl in my advanced math classes, that’s not new, or hard to cope with. The thing that knocks you down is the lack of opportunities and constant rejection that comes with it. This is something that I am still learning to move through, but I know that I will eventually be given one opportunity, and I constantly work to ensure that I can make the absolute best of that opportunity, whenever and wherever it may be. When I wasn’t offered an internship by any of the companies I interviewed with last year, I was discouraged, but an opportunity presented itself. My university’s automotive program released a posting for a job with a local karting tour, mostly just as a trackside marshal. I leapt at the chance to learn more about race days, karting, and logistics. I figured if racing drivers started in karting why can’t the engineers too? So, I spent this summer interning with the karting tour. The board allowed me to take on a bigger role than anticipated and I was able to do everything from tech inspections to race directing our last round of the season. This is exactly what I intended: take a small opportunity and make it larger than life.

The motorsports industry is one that has been built on nepotism for too long. One that claims to be open to everyone, but hands opportunities to those who share the last name of the owners. I do believe that motorsports is changing, gaining traction and attention, and I do believe that the intention for the future is moving away from this exclusive family club culture. However, in order for this change to happen, people like me and you, those who come from a world nowhere near motorsports, need to have the courage to break into the world. That is the one thing I wish there were more of, women who come from outside motorsports breaking their way into the field. And the good news is that I intend to do just that. Welcome to The Woman in the Garage. I hope my journey inspires just one little girl who looks up at the TV wondering how she can become a woman in those garages.