6 Lessons from Danica Patrick
“Sometimes it takes looking at the past to really be able to move forward and learn from it.”
Lessons from Danica Patrick
# 1 — Being a high school drop-out is not the end of the world.
You can still make it big in your specific career, even if you drop out of high school. Danica Patrick did it at the age of 16, moved to England and decided to take up her career in racing. There are many other examples of drop outs who still made it big in life, think of Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs and the list can go on.
# 2 — Competing in a male dominated sport can be a double edged sword.
Being a female contestant in an entirely male dominated sport can be a double edged sword due to the fact that the spotlight amplifies her mistakes and failures as much as her big achievements.
# 3 — Don’t focus too much on your gender.
If you — as a female racer — are competing in a male dominated sport, don’t look at yourself differently. Danica Patrick never felt different compared to the guys. She didn’t think that she is the girl and the rest is guys. Her opinion in this regard is that if you do that, you would be judging yourself too much. Danica Patrick’s goal was always to be the best in what she was doing, and that was to be the best driver, not necessarily the best girl.
# 4 — There are always two sides of the medal.
Yes, being successful can help you in getting further exposure. For Danica is was endorsement and modelling deals and mingling with other celebrities. She was once also invited to appear in a music video by Jay Z, dining with Beyonce and her hip-hop husband. All nice events and surely special moments, however, there are also negative aspects that should be mentioned. For example, when on social media critics start expressing in a brutal way their opinion on how inadequate and bad you are. That you basically don’t belong. When you are competing with other competitors of the opposite sex, you need to be prepared to hear comments like this. However, nobody tells you that you have to listen to those comments and believe in what others are telling you.
# 5 — Don’t get deterred by sexist remarks.
If you are wondering whether Danica ever faced disparaging comments from male drivers, you can be sure of that! A male driver once apparently told Danica Patrick that he would not like to catch her ‘when it’s that time of the month’. Sexist remarks like this did never deter her, on the contrary, she used it to get even more motivated and finally prove herself on the racetrack.
# 6 — Look the part, it makes a difference to the sponsors.
In the past it wasn’t so important to look great on TV or to be able to speak the best, but nowadays if you bring those characteristics along, you will have it easier to find and keep good relationships with your sponsors. If you offer them the total package (by looking the part and speaking the part to CEOs and the media, apart from your impressive achievements in sport) you will be in bigger demand also from a PR perspective.
