“Especially with motorsport, we don’t have women in Formula 1, we don’t really have women in Formula 2 either, we’re very lucky to have women in Formula 3 now, but we have to fight twice as hard, because we have to be winning to prove that we’re able to be there; and I guess that’s the mentality that’s still around in some sports, especially in motorsports, and it’s still a bit difficult, but we’re taking on the challenge and we going to do it. It’s really a case of having to win and get those results, because if we had a woman in Formula 1 who was constantly finishing between 15th and 20th that would be highlighted, whereas at the moment, if it was a male driver who was finishing 15th, 16th or 17th consistently, nobody points it out and I guess there is still some of that mentality around.”
Today my guest is racing driver and entrepreneur Shannon Tobin. At 18, Shannon and her sister set up Equissentials which specialises in importing Equestrian goods into the Irish market. As well as starting her own business, Shannon is one-third of Team Valkyrie Racing which is an all-female racing team creating a safe space for diversity and supporting women racing in motorsport. Shannon is also currently working in Alpine which is the sports and racing wing of Renault. Shannon is a great conversationalist and has such a varied career despite still being in her mid-twenties, so I hope you are sitting comfortably and happy to stay with us.
We started off chatting about Team Valkyrie Racing (00:56), the development of women in motorsport (10:25), and working in Alpine (20:10). In the second half of our chat, Shannon told me about her equestrian business Equissentials which specialises in importing Equestrian goods into the Irish market (32:09), before we finished with me asking Shannon what she is watching at the moment (43:28).
Show Notes
- Shannon on Linkedin
- Team Valkyrie Racing on Instagram
- Alpine Racing website
- Equissentials website
- For more, hear my conversations with Bob Flavin, Lt Cdr Grace Fanning and Richard Jones
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The Comfortable Spot Podcast 