Susie Wolff: Managing Director of F1 Academy

21:37Susie Wolff:And I didn't really know how I was going to literally get back on my feet. But again, I had this gut instinct that I wasn't going to give up because I got this far. And I often think back now, what have I had given up just then? just before I ended up getting my big break. So I think for anyone going through a tough moment, for anyone that's sometimes doubting, just trust your gut instinct. It's not always that you push through and always have to make it to the end. You know, I've had to change goals of mine because I haven't made them happen. But I very much trusted my instinct then to say, you know, I'm going to keep going.

22:12Susie Wolff:And thankfully I got an opportunity to get back in a race car and start testing. And just six months after that accident, well, actually after I'd recovered, And I was back in a car. I was signed as a worked Mercedes Benz driver. And that was my big break, not just for my career, but for my whole life. It changed the trajectory of everything. And how close I was to that not happening is sometimes scary to think about. It's interesting how one break that was bad led to a break that was good. Exactly. Also, it's interesting because this is now the second time you're talking about tuning into those instincts and the importance of that.

22:48And I think about that all the time, especially for women. I feel like oftentimes I have an instinct for something and I sometimes have not valued that instinct because on some level, the instinct feels female. It feels not grounded necessarily in data or it doesn't feel like there's necessarily an apparatus to support it. Something in me just knows. And the older I've gotten, the more I've realized like every single time I've had that internal voice and ignored it, it's been the wrong choice. The information is coming from my lived experience, from my understanding of the market, of all of these different things.

23:32And if we can tap into that inner voice, that instinct and trust it, it feels like the sky's the limit. not just women, but for anyone, if you can really hone and listen to that inner voice, it can change everything.

23:47Susie Wolff:I'm with you, Hilary. There's also been moments, probably more in my business career, because you're right, when you've got your own career in your hands, you kind of have to only trust yourself. And I always say, well, if you don't believe in yourself, how should other people believe in you? You have to be your own biggest champion. But I've also had instances where my instinct has said one thing, but people around me have said, no, no, this or the data showing something different. But I think it is being empowered to follow your instinct because we're in a day and age now where there's so much information, there's so many choices, there's so much content that I think it's even more important now than before of really trusting your instinct and not being thrown off a different path because of outside expectations or outside noise.

24:27Right. Okay, so let's talk about Mercedes-Benz. So here we are, you went through rehab, and then six months after healing yourself, the fact that you were in a car again, that just feels insane to me. So walk me through how the bad break led to the good break in 2006 with Mercedes.

24:46Susie Wolff:I was testing in another series called World Series by Renault and was very much trying to get a budget and a seat for the following season but then got called to compete in this one-off German touring car test and a lot of you kind of said to me you must have been so nervous on that day because it was everything riding on it but the truth is when you've got nothing you've got nothing to lose so I just gave it all I had and didn't worry too much about the outcome just worried about doing a good job on the day and that led to me being offered it was a one-year contract and I ended up staying for seven seasons it was actually my choice to leave because it was that one opportunity that just really changed the course of my life and I grabbed the opportunity with both hands you know the first race the big boss said to me listen you've got the chance of a great career for us but you need to learn German and learn it fast that's what our culture is and within three months I was having conversations in German and with the six months I was fluent.

25:40That is not an easy language to learn

25:42Susie Wolff:Well, I was lucky I had a little bit from school because I ended up moving over to Germany to really immerse myself to Switzerland, the German-speaking part. And I remember after three months of German license, he said, oh, you're moving to Switzerland? Well, you're going to be fluent in three months. And I said, never. I mean, I was walking around with a dictionary. But he was right because putting yourself and immersing yourself and forcing yourself to speak it every single day, that's what made it easier. And then living so close to Stuttgart where Mercedes Benz headquarters were, I just immersed myself in the culture.

26:11Susie Wolff:And that really was the changing point in my life. And certainly moving abroad, when you move into a new environment, when you really challenge yourself, that's when you grow the most. And it's not comfortable. It's not comfortable at all. But I look back and I think, my goodness, in those months, that's where I transformed. So I think sometimes forcing yourself out of your comfort zone is really important. So as you mentioned, this is a job that really changed your life. in no small part because this is the first major paycheck right you're gonna laugh at this story but Hilary it was transformational in that I suddenly had a Mercedes Benz in my driveway and when it first arrived I kept looking out the window in disbelief that it was my car and the first thing I did when the first paycheck arrived I drove to the New Year's cash machine just to look at my balance, I'd never seen so much money in an account.

27:07Susie Wolff:And it was a huge transformation. I thank my lucky stars to this day because that really was my big break. So talk to me about what happened next. It's one thing to get a job. It's another thing to keep a job and to grow in a job and to thrive in a job. You said you were there for seven years. What was that like? What were you doing on a daily basis? Take me back to that time. Well, it was really a journey because I hadn't raced the year previously because I'd broken my ankle. So I was a little bit out of my depth. It was a sink or swim moment. That's why it was only a one year contract. But I had great people around me and I showed them that I was willing to work hard.

27:43I showed them I wasn't a diva, that I wanted to earn my spot there.

27:47Susie Wolff:And in that first year, I just managed to do enough to show them that I deserve to be there. but I was very much trying to balance this kind of tightrope of wanting to be taken seriously in a male-dominated space so I just felt I couldn't be too feminine or you know how should I dress when I was invited to a big conference to speak for Mercedes Benz and it was definitely challenging in that I wanted to be taken seriously but I needed to stay true to who I was and I wasn't just a tomboy so those years took quite some adjustment of really finding my feet and in my third year in the series I got told that I would be driving a pink car because my sponsor wanted to paint it pink.

28:26Susie Wolff:You can imagine blonde racing driver female in a pink racing car and I had always shied away from pink because I had my pink side pods on my GoPro. I had my little pink race suit and I realized I saw it as a sign of weakness this femininity this idea that I was a little girl but it was that pink car and all these little girls turning up at the racetrack to see this pink car that also brought me to the realization that representation matters. Why is it pink or Barbie that gets seen as something that isn't acceptable in the world of racing? In the end, I was feminine, but I was also fierce. So it started to be this kind of battle of saying, well, I am who I am, and I'm not going to shy away from it anymore.

29:08Susie Wolff:If that means I drive a pink car and I have little girls who love that pink car, then I'm going to have a pink car. And obviously now in my role in the F1 Academy, me, I have much more ability to really break down that narrative and show people that it's not a man's world anymore. And it's not that pink doesn't belong in racing. It's not that femininity doesn't have its place in racing. We can have both. I love that. So talk to me about the decision to leave. What was the calculus that you were doing in your head at that time? Well, I just got married and felt very secure, but also very comfortable.

29:46That's not when you're growing then.

29:47Susie Wolff:No, it's not when you're growing, exactly. And I guess at some point I thought, well, my dream was always Formula One. And this is the moment where it just was that instinct in me again that said, do something else, you need to do more. And it was really funny because I remember people saying, well, if you're going to leave, what are you going to do? And I said, I don't know what I'm going to do. I just know that it's not this. and that blind belief that I had to go because I also didn't have the amount of success that I had wanted in the series I had zero doubt that it was the right thing to go and when everyone said well what are you going to do next I knew that I had to close that door before the next one would open and I wasn't at all scared of what would be next because I had such a strong instinct that that part of my life and that journey was over and then towards the end of that year I met Sir Frank Williams and he offered me a test in his Formula 1 car it was only ever supposed to be 25 laps But again, when that little sniff of opportunity presents itself, I grabbed it with both hands.

30:42But I also look back now with perspective and think it was brave at the time because I was in such a comfortable position. I was doing well financially.

30:51Susie Wolff:But it was that feeling that I had stopped growing and that I had more that I could achieve and do. So talk to me about that next gig. Can you walk our audience through being a development driver? Well, the interesting thing was that when I tested the Williams car, it was only ever supposed to be 20 laps at Silverstone. But I did well at the test and the amount of media interest that it created because there was a young female driver back in a modern-day Formula One car. There was a lot of question marks. Would I be physically fit enough to drive the car? Could I drive the car? And there were also questions that I didn't know, but I was willing to at least try because it was my dream to drive.

31:29Susie Wolff:And it was in November of the year. They were all set for the following season, and the team made up the role of development driver, which is a common role now in Formula One teams, because it's basically the driver that does all the development work in the background, so all of the aerodynamical straight-line tests, which actually don't happen anymore because they're all done in the simulator, all of the tyre tests, all of the testing in the background, which the racing drivers don't have time for, is what the development and test driver does. So that was a role they created for me. That's amazing.

32:00So in 2014, you became the first woman in 22 years to take part in an F1 race weekend. What was that experience like?

32:10Susie Wolff:It was a really special moment. You know, I remember there was so much anticipation around me doing the FP1 sessions. I wasn't taking part in the race. It was only the first practice session, but even that was still a big thing. And I remember arriving at the track with my husband, who at that time was already running Mercedes Formula One team and having a lot of success. and we entered the paddock together and I stopped outside Williams which was my team and said well I'm going to head into my team and he said well the next time I see you you're going to be out on track in an F1 car and I said yeah and I was waiting for the words of wisdom the big kind of good luck and he just looked at me and said don't be shit now he's Austrian he knows exactly how to rev me up in the right lane and I looked at him and I said I'll show you I will show you that I will not be shit.

33:00Susie Wolff:So by the time I jumped in the car, I was very motivated to just get out there and prove what I could do. So then a year later, you decided to retire. It was a few years later. I was offered another contract to stay on, but I knew I wasn't going to make it into a race seat. By that time, I'd spent probably too long on the sidelines. Again, Hillary, I was comfortable. Oh, no. Oh, I know. Me comfortable. That's dangerous. But I guess by that time I was in my early 30s and as a sports person you always know that there's a ticking clock and I wanted to be in control of my own destiny and not wait until I just wasn't offered a contract anymore.

33:38Susie Wolff:And I was also really conscious of wanting to be successful in whatever I chose to do next, not just be known as an ex-racing driver. So the decision was pretty easy to say I'm going to hang up my helmet. The reality was a lot tougher because I suddenly had a massive loss of identity and realized that I was no longer waking up with a clear goal every day because for so long I'd known just so precisely what I wanted to achieve and where I wanted to get to and what I had to do. Whereas on the one hand, I was incredibly lucky to have a white sheet of paper to start again. But on the other hand, it was hugely daunting.

34:11Susie Wolff:Who was I? What did I want to be if I wasn't a racing driver? So those were some difficult months. And on top of that, I became a mother for the first time. Nothing like a small world shift. but that was kind of the first time I took a real break in my career and enjoyed those months and loved being a mother but quickly also realized that I had to do something you know I had too much fire in me to simply not chase some kind of challenge but it took a while to find out what that would be and I also was very conscious that any time spent away from my son and my husband it had to mean something it had to be worth it so it took me a while to find my feet again Talk to me about finding your feet again.

34:52How did you start thinking through your new path? And how long did it take to come to the idea of co-founding Dare to be Different?

35:04Susie Wolff:Well, Dare to be Different was an initiative that I set up with the governing body of UK Motorsport to very much give something back to the sport. I had only ever done one interview in my whole career where I wasn't asked about being a woman. And I really wanted to show the next generation that regardless of your gender, there are opportunities in the sport. It's not a man's world anymore. Still thinking about all those little girls who are showing up. Yeah. And the little boys. Like, it's for both. It's for both. Exactly. So that was an initiative that I felt very strongly about. that someone had to do something.

35:36Susie Wolff:But in terms of what I would do next, it was difficult because my husband was still in Formula One, so I was pretty sure I didn't want to work in the sports. I didn't want to work for him for the sake of our marriage. I didn't want to work against him for the sake of our marriage. So I was really looking at different things, fashion and wellness, but nothing really felt right. And I think a lot of women will be able to resonate with the fact that when you are a wife and a mother, you put your own needs second. And somehow it felt that I had to hang on to who I was. You know, I was an ambitious driven person and that couldn't suddenly just disappear because I was busy looking after everybody else as much as that also brought me joy.

36:17Susie Wolff:And I remember when I was going through those difficult months, you know, I had some people saying, oh, you have postnatal depression. It's fine. I was like, how dare you? You know, I'm going through a tough moment of readjustment of trying to figure out my career and how quick people are to put a label on you and to tell you, you know, what these feelings are. And I think I was just lost. And also to assume that it's like birth related. Like, yes, my identity here is shifting. But, oh, yes, my larger independent identity is also changing at the same time, which, by the way, that feels so intense.

36:47Susie Wolff:Yeah. And I think for anyone going through that time, don't let other people tell you what you're feeling. You know, and it's a huge adjustment in your life. But that feeling of being lost, that's what I was going through. but I was very sure that it was that feeling and not a kind of fundamental darkness or black cloud that was over me. But it was challenging all the same. And on the one hand, I was so grateful to be a mother and I didn't take that for granted. But on the other hand, felt that I couldn't just let go of myself completely and no longer have anything for myself. And then I got a call from a gentleman who had asked me to drive for him some years previously.

37:23Susie Wolff:And he had a Formula E team, which was all electric series. And to cut a long story short it felt right it was a series that my husband wasn't participating in and it felt like a challenge that I could take on it was a team that was racing at the back because he'd had health problems so the team was losing a lot of money was racing around at the back but it was a challenge that I felt was right and don't get me wrong in those first few months I had a few moments of thinking what have I got myself into here right but again despite the first few months being incredibly tough. And when I see pictures of myself at that time, I just look permanently exhausted.

37:59Susie Wolff:But they were definitely months where I learned an incredible amount more on the business side of the sport. In this role, it was more about team management versus racing the car, correct? I was no longer a racing driver. So I was running a team and I take an equity in the team. So I own 30 % of the team. That's a shift. What did you know about management at that point in time? Obviously, you had been a part of a team, but did you have the team management experience or how did you get upskilled in that? Well, I'd watched my husband be very successful in Formula One. I had grown up watching both my parents have their own businesses.

38:34I obviously had that one year of international business, but more than anything, it was an industry I understood so well.

38:39Susie Wolff:I had lived in that sport since the age of eight. Yeah. I knew all the good people. I knew people I rated and I very quickly surrounded myself with great people. and quite often in motorsport, the quickest way to get performance is to poach people from teams that are winning because they bring all their know-how. So I think my first six months were very much building the team out and bringing an energy in that the team believed that we were capable, that the drivers were good enough. And I think I was also quite open of being honest that I didn't have all the answers. I didn't pretend that I knew everything.

39:12Susie Wolff:I was the first in meeting to say, okay, I don't understand that, but I'm going to go away and read it and come back and then I will understand it. But I think because I had such an understanding of the sport, I could sniff bullshit from a mile away. So that was helpful. What parts were more challenging or surprisingly difficult? Were you like, oh, wow, I did not foresee that being as hard as it was? Well, I started there to be different. So it was running on its own. But I remember going to my first round table as a team principal. And the first question was, what qualifies you for this job? Fair enough.

39:45Susie Wolff:That could be asked to anyone. The second question was, did your husband get you the job? That was a bit below the belt. He had nothing to do with it. And the third question was, well, you've just become a mother and how are you going to manage all the logistics and travel related to your job? So the questions were rude, sexist, sexist. Exactly. And that was the moment, Hilary, in that situation, that fuels me rather than tempers me. And that's when I thought, okay, I have got a job on my hands here, but I am going to make this work. And I think what came quite easily was the people side of the business.

40:19Susie Wolff:I knew who I wanted on my team. I knew that I had to empower them and I wasn't scared to bring in the best of the best. And to bring them on the journey, I had to fight to get them because it was a team that wasn't running at the front. But the people side of it and creating that energy and momentum, that's what I'd known throughout my race career and I knew how important that was what was challenging first and foremost was the legal side we had a mountain of bad contracts we had to get out of so I got the best counsel I could find who turned out to be a woman actually and we just methodically had to work out okay what can we get out of how can we navigate ourselves into a better position both technically but also financially and commercially and that took a bit longer but those were key learnings which I'm happy I learned on the job and that I went through and then when the success came we won our first Grand Prix in Hong Kong six months later suddenly the commercial interest picked up we got our first sponsor and then it was just incredible how the momentum built then suddenly the following season we won six races the following season we nearly won the title we were title favorites and this energy in the team and this self-belief and this confidence just really built and it was a wonderful journey of learning but it was also nice to be on the team side as opposed to the person in the car.

41:34Right. I mean, that is like incredible momentum. That must have been very rewarding and feel phenomenal to see that build over the four seasons, right?

41:46Susie Wolff:It was. You know, we lost out in the world championship in our last year and I was ready to go for it the following year and win. But my business partner decided he wanted to exit. There was a lot of interest in the championship at that point. But it was definitely such a good learning. Also that the team wasn't good at the beginning. That's where you learn when the moments are the hardest, when the performance isn't there. And that turnaround was definitely tough at times. I don't want anyone to think it was all Rosie's. There were sleepless nights where I didn't know how we were going to make it work.

42:18Susie Wolff:But there were also really rewarding moments where we were the underdogs and suddenly we started winning and people just looked at us and treated us in a different way. That is extremely rewarding, or at least it sounds like it was, and very exciting. Talk to me about leaving the team and what you did next. Well, my business partner tasked me with selling the team. And because I put my heart into that team and had a lot of loyalty to the team that we built, I wanted to go into a safe pair of hands. So we found a very passionate American investor who took over the running of the team. And I had kind of made it clear that I wouldn't be staying on because it was really in his hands.

43:01Susie Wolff:And he was very hands-on anyway and had his own vision for where the team should be. So it was all very natural and it felt like the right thing to do. And I was moving on with my business partner. He wanted to go into the space industry, which for me felt like the right thing to do something outside of motorsport, a new technology. It interested me. It was something very different. And then, of course, I got the call from Stefano Dominicali regarding this idea of an all-female series run by F1 called F1 Academy. And that was the curveball that really set my path onto a different trajectory. And I was so far along in my space project that I didn't really feel that I could make that new turn.

43:42Susie Wolff:But it was my husband that kind of said, well, listen, you're passionate about showing that this sport has a place for women and creating opportunity for women. You are a driver. You've gone through it. You've run a team. You know the industry. Who better? If you don't do it, who will? Yeah. And that's what led me to the role now. And again, it was also one of those roles at the beginning that was a bit like of what I've ever got myself into here. Yep. That's how you know it's good. That's how you know it's good. But four years in, and it's a great team of people at F1 Academy. I have to give a lot of credit to F1 because they put the investment in.

44:13Susie Wolff:It's not just a box-ticking exercise. It really is something that's having a positive impact on the sport. And all 10 Formula One teams have a female driver, have their livery in F1 Academy. We have 18 young drivers supporting F1 on seven Grand Prix weekends. You know, I always think I was lucky to get some amazing opportunities in my career. And I feel very proud to be a part of helping the next generation get their own opportunities. So for anyone who doesn't know or hasn't seen the Netflix series, can you talk a little bit about how drivers are selected? in? We basically want to have the best 18 young female drivers in the world, which means we are looking at every corner of the globe.

44:55Susie Wolff:And the differentiating factor with F1 Academy is because the sport has quite a high financial barrier to entry. We fund over 80 % of the driver's budget. So actually, we're just creating the opportunity for them and the platform to show what they can do in the hope that the best and most talented move onwards and upwards in the ladder. So we have a rookie tryout. The F1 teams pick their drivers. We have our partners, cars who always look for the most talented. We have many different nationalities and we have some great racing out on track. Are there any certain traits or tells or skills that you recognize immediately as being the sign of someone that has the raw goods that we can turn them into something?

45:36Or do they still surprise you?

45:38Susie Wolff:I try not to be judgmental because I think between the ages of 16 and 19, people can develop at different rates so I'm always very conscious of giving the opportunity and seeing how the young person develops and grows and progresses because for me sometimes the rate of development is more important than the raw speed at the beginning. Interesting. Because if someone has the tenacity to get through and to keep pushing they are sometimes going to be more successful than the one that just has the raw speed at the beginning but doesn't have the tenacity to follow through. So we take in all the different elements.

46:14Susie Wolff:We do interviews with the drivers. We try to understand what their character traits are so that we can help them become the best racing drivers they can be, that they can go on to be successful in the sport. So like psychological insights and then customizing training based on that? Yeah. And we're lucky that we have the five best junior teams running the cars in F1 Academy. So they've worked with some of the best Formula One drivers there are. They know what it takes to build a good racing driver. So they are very tuned into creating an environment where these young drivers can excel. I mean, we can never take the pressure away.

46:48Susie Wolff:The performance pressure will always be there, but we just try to give them the best chance at success. And hopefully fewer sexist questions. Yeah, definitely working hard on that one. Yeah. So one of the things that I love about what you're doing is the way that you're championing partnerships with brands like Hello Kitty and Charlotte Tilbury and again continuing to make that statement that femininity has a place in racing. Talk to me a little bit about some of the other ways that you're breaking down that barrier or other areas where you're interested in changing things or other successes that you might have had.

47:24Susie Wolff:Well I think on track we're very aware that the next generation needs to see a place for themselves in the sport and what we touched on at the beginning you know a little nine ten eleven year twelve year old she can't drive herself to a kart track so we need the parents to also understand that it's not karts for a little boy and horse riding for a little girl there are opportunities for those little girls that would have a passion for the sport so it's about building up that talent pipeline changing the perceptions and making sure that we just have a wider talent pool of drivers pipeline is everything pipeline is everything and the more we get racing the more chance we have of finding the most talented and it's then our role to get our champions who are the best of the best and try and help them also succeed onwards and upwards you know you touched upon those brand partnerships that we have they are such important pillars in us challenging perceptions because they allow us to reach new audiences they allow us to show that racing and girls in racing it's cool it has its place so we've achieved a lot in a short space of time but still very ambitious for what we can do long term.

48:28Do you have any dream partners that you haven't closed yet?

48:32Susie Wolff:There's one partnership that we're working on now that I would love to get over the line, but we just closed Sephora. We obviously have Gatorade. We have American Express. Very grateful because those partners came on board when we weren't an established series, but they saw the potential. They saw the impact we could have in the sport, and they realized that they could help build something. and by them coming to the table and saying we support you it just allowed us to get so much more traction more quickly so for the brand out there don't think that your impact when you choose to back women's sport it plays a huge role and I think that's positive for any women's sport regardless of what it is because there's so much growth potential there's so much positive impact we can have on the next generation who see themselves in sports where they maybe didn't before, but that takes investment and that takes brands that are willing to stand up for what they believe in.

49:25And sometimes that's not always the most obvious on paper, but when they give their

49:30Susie Wolff:name and their power to something, it can be transformational. I mean, from a brand point of view, I would think that it would be a very smart decision because it can have so much of a bigger impact long term, which again, if the goal is making smart business decisions, this is where I'd put my money. Thank you, Helen. We're also a lot cheaper than Formula One. So you know what, you get more bang for your buck. Exactly. And that is literally the definition of a good business decision. So when you look back at all the things that you've done, what is the most rewarding part of getting to move this industry forward?

50:07And what is the most rewarding part about working with these young drivers?

50:12Susie Wolff:The most rewarding part is seeing the impact you have on young women. And And that goes not just from the drivers that we have in our cars, but the little girls that I see coming to racetracks who have a different perception of the sport. Through our Lego partnership, they built a little F1 Academy car for little girls to build. And the little driver has long hair. And the amount of positive messages I get over social media from parents who say, my little girl now watches Formula One because she understands that it's a sport not just for her brother or her dad, but a sport that she can see herself represented in.

50:43Susie Wolff:So those little moments that my team and I see on a daily basis are really what keeps us going in the knowledge that we are having positive impact. And in the same respect, there's just so much more we have to do. We have to keep going. We have to keep creating that awareness. We have to keep growing the series that it sits on a very strong foundation that becomes financially sustainable in the mid to long term. So lots achieved, but still lots to do. So you have a memoir that's coming out on April 28th called Driven. talk to me about why you wanted to write this book at this moment in your career and by the way it's fantastic oh thank you Hilary it was so funny because I had this idea that I wanted to have a children's book which had a little girl driver that could challenge the perceptions for little girls that they couldn't see themselves represented and when I met with some of the big publishing houses they all said we can do that but the first thing you have to do you need to write down your story and at the time I said I have no capacity to write a book but I went back to Scotland to do some Netflix filming of all things for our show and I met my brother for a coffee and he was always creative one in the family he's a film director and we were catching up and I said I really loved this book but they said I need to write a book first and he said that's so interesting you know because if you'd write a book you know you could do it like this and you could structure it like this and I remember those moments and I sat there and I suddenly thought I am going to write this book and I'm going to write it with you.

52:08Susie Wolff:So we got the deal done and that Christmas holiday we started and I think we both after one week thought oh my goodness we have so much work ahead of us because we're both perfectionists. So nine drafts later by May and many many hours together and on Zoom we had the finished product and it was definitely therapeutic writing it because it reminded me a lot of my journey. It gave me perspective. It reminded me how tough it is for those young drivers coming through. I wanted them and the next generation to learn from my mistakes, to learn from the tenacity I had, the tough moments I had in my career.

52:46Susie Wolff:And in a way, it ends on the Formula One Academy story. And I think it was just the right timing to have my story told. You know, I didn't want it to just be a motorsport book. So it really is interesting because it's my life journey as opposed to just my journey as a racing driver. It's very well done. I feel like you executed on that beautifully. No surprise. Thank you. So for this podcast, we always ask everyone the same three closing questions. And the first one is about mistakes. And I think it's really important to talk about mistakes because, you know, we live in an Instagram perfect world where people share their successes, but they don't always talk about the challenges and the mistakes.

53:30And I think it's so important for women to hear about that because for women to hear, I totally screwed this up. And I was able to not only overcome that, but then move forward and everything was fine. It helps to show people that you can be resilient and come out the other side of it. So with all of that, can you tell me about a mistake that you've made at any point in your career and what you've learned from it?

53:52Susie Wolff:Well, if people want to understand the amount of mistakes I've made, you just need to read my memoir. because there isn't one that I can pinpoint as the mistake. There's been lots and there's been lots of failures, way more failures than wins. But this is going to sound corny. I don't regret any of the mistakes. I don't regret any of the tough moments and the challenges because it's made me who I am today. And as much as I'm really honest about people that say, oh, you know, embrace the failures and make failure your friend. Failure was never my friend. You know, there's nothing worse than that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you've made a mistake or you've failed.

54:29Susie Wolff:But that passes over time and it's what you learn from it and how you choose to pick yourself back up and come back. That's what's going to define you on the long term. So I mean, to pinpoint one mistake, there's way too many, but I don't get caught up in those mistakes. They are what they are. Shake yourself down and move on. So a lot of the folks who listen to this podcast are in their first lives and they know that they want to make a change in their careers, whether that's staying in the same industry, but tackling a different part of it, or changing industries entirely, but they're scared.

55:03As someone who has made pivots in your own career, what advice would you give someone who's standing there thinking about trying a different aspect of their career, but just hasn't made the leap quite yet?

55:16Susie Wolff:Well, firstly, it's normal to be scared. I don't want people to think that I was like superwoman unscared and just pivoted. Being scared is normal, but be bold. Believe in yourself and remember what's the worst downside. You know, a mistake is just a mistake. You can turn around and change track if you've made the wrong choice, but you don't want to live your life thinking, what if? What if I had stayed in that economics lecture hall and never chased my dream of being a racing driver? How different my life would have looked. How many regrets I would have maybe had. So be bold, take the decision, go for it.

55:51Susie Wolff:And as long as you can live with the worst case scenario, life is a journey. It's full of adventures. It's not like one decision will be the decision of your life, but be bold. And the most important thing for me is just be your own biggest supporter, be your own biggest champion. Because if you don't believe in yourself, it's difficult to make others believe in you. I also love what you said earlier about like, just understanding that comfort and growth don't always go together. And that's okay. Completely. And, you know, it's getting comfortable in the uncomfortable. Yeah. When you get used to it, you know that you can tackle it.

56:25Susie Wolff:Okay, it's uncomfortable, but it's okay being uncomfortable. Be comfortable being uncomfortable. Yeah. Okay, so my last question is my favorite question, which is if you could get into a time machine and go back in time and speak with your younger self and give your younger self some advice, what would you say? that's such a fitting question to end on because you know when my brother and I had finished the book finally we were talking and he spoke about that you know what would you want you know a young girl to take from this book now looking back on your journey and I ended up writing a letter to my younger self at the end of the book because I felt so strongly that little girl who was so fierce and so brave and had so much belief in herself from such a young age I don't want to lose that little girl and sometimes life and other people's opinions and expectations can drag you away and set you off into doubt and different paths but I have so much respect for that brave fierce little girl and I always try and think back now well what would little Susie have done because little Susie was fearless and she chased those dreams and she didn't care what anyone thought and I remind myself of that little girl because what did we used to dream of when we were little we were sometimes so ambitious with our dreams and why do we sometimes lose that later in life so I often think back to that fierce little girl and I think to myself not what can I teach her it's what she still has to teach me go out there be bold have the big dreams and be fierce I love that well Susie, thank you so much.

58:05The book is phenomenal. I have enjoyed every moment of this conversation. So thank you so much for joining me today. This was an absolute pleasure.

58:15Susie Wolff:Thank you so much for having me. Thank you, Hillary.

58:24That was F1 Academy's Managing Director, Suzy Volz. For more inspiring interviews with women like Suzy, head on over to secondlifepod.com where we have so many more for you to peruse. If you like today's show, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And don't forget to rate and review us. we love seeing you spread the word on social and now you can tag us in your posts we are at second life pod on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook we always want to know who you're interested in hearing from on the show so send in your request to hello at second life pod dot com or you can DM us on Instagram I'm at Hillary Kerr the show is at second life pod our DMs are always open I'm Hillary Kerr and you've been listening to Second Life

59:13Susie Wolff:This episode was produced by Hilary Kerr, Summer Hammeris, and Natalie Thurman. Our production assistant is Grace Ingram. Our audio engineers are at Treehouse Recording in Los Angeles, California. And our music is by Jonathan Leahy.

59:39Thanks again to Nutrafol for sponsoring today's episode. If you've ever dealt with hair thinning, you know it's not just about hair. It's the constant mental math having to think about how you're styling it, what lighting you're standing in, whether you want to be in photos, whether people noticed. No one wants to spend energy managing their hair instead of living in the moment. NutriFull Hair Growth Nutraceuticals are different because they are designed to help you address hair thinning at the root, supporting hair growth from within with a consistent routine backed by clinical testing. showing up as your best self is so important and feeling confident in your hair means one less thing to worry about get hair that changes everything with Nutrafol for a limited time Nutrafol is offering our listeners $10 off your first month's subscription and free shipping when you go to Nutrafol.com and enter the promo code SECONDLIFE that's Nutrafol.com spelled N-U-T-R-A-F-O-L dot com promo code SECONDLIFE That's Nutriple.com promo code SECONDLIFE.