Read time: 13.4 minutes

“Do you want to come up with a harder question?” Chief Marketing Officer Louise McEwen asks us, only partially joking. “Three words to describe how we felt when we got into the motorsport industry?” Business Operations Director Stephanie Carlin repeats.

For the first time in half an hour, they break from their conversation, spinning their heads and looking just past the camera and at our videographer. Lou and Steph rarely have the time to sit and reflect on their journeys, such is the nature of holding a high-profile role in a fast-paced environment such as Formula 1. And so, when offered that rare opportunity for this interview, they became fully engrossed in the conversation.

Lou and Steph spent 30 minutes sharing a sofa in the McLaren Technology Centre, discussing their career pathways to McLaren, and the roles they can play in supporting and shaping the future for females wanting to work in motorsport.

Of everything they asked one another, that final question - posed by ourselves, rather than one another - sounded like the simplest on paper. In reality, it was the toughest, as they were being asked to offer up three words that could have a lasting impact, when the type of change they’ve just spent half an hour discussing happens over time, through patience and resilience, not overnight and not in three words. They needed to be a part of a much bigger picture, and not be taken in isolation.

“Go get it,” Louise responds, with that in mind. “That’s three words in itself, but if I can have two more: exciting and opportunity.” Steph agrees, saying: “I think they're the perfect words.”

The visibility of women working in motorsport has never been higher, but many of the barriers to entry remain. Steph and Lou both say - whether through youthful naivety or good fortune - they were lucky not to have been impacted by these very real barriers. Having worked tirelessly to get to where they are today, they now hope to influence and inspire the next generation in the hope of a world where those barriers don’t exist for anyone.

Insightful and honest, their conversation is one that any young person aspiring to work in this industry should hear. During the half-hour conversation, they discussed how they got into F1, what they wish they’d known at the start of their careers, and why it is essential to provide opportunities for women in motorsport across the board.

Steph: What was your journey into the motorsport industry?

Lou: It was an interesting one. It wasn't necessarily linear, and I didn’t intentionally go into motorsport, but I’ve been in and around motorsport for around 23 years. Initially, I was at a sports marketing agency that took on Vodafone as a client. They were going into Formula 1 to grow their brand and awareness and I started working on their account, initially with Ferrari. That was my first Formula 1 experience, which was incredible. To be a young person, working with Ferrari and travelling the world was incredible.

After that, I went in-house to work at Vodafone, which switched from Ferrari and made the great decision to move to McLaren. I worked on the Title Partnership of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 Team. Then, for the last seven years, I have been in-house here at McLaren.

Steph: Good to have had that experience in and out of a team on both sides?

Lou: Good to see both sides of the fence, yes.

Lou: What were your first experiences of working in motorsport as a female in a male-dominated environment?

Steph: My first experiences of motorsport weren't shaped by the fact that I was female or that it was a male environment, to be honest. I didn’t actually really acknowledge that in my mind. I just had an opportunity and followed it.

Lou: No one ever really spoke about it as a thing, then?

Steph: No, it wasn't really a thing. Maybe one of the reasons is because I started in the PR and marketing side of motorsport, which historically has always been predominantly slightly more female than male - and I was surrounded by some quite strong female characters.

Lou: To that point, did you feel that there were certain roles for women and certain roles for men?

Steph: I don't think I felt that there was a block at the time. Maybe that was a bit of naivety and because I was young and ambitious, I'm not sure, but I think, in my experience, it was a positive environment. Yes, I had started off in the PR space, but it didn’t occur to me that I couldn’t move into other areas of the sport. It was just a really exciting time with lots of great opportunities. On my first day, I was able to interview greats like John Surtees and Emerson Fittipaldi.

Lou: Wow.

Steph: Right? So, I didn't feel that it was a negative environment at all.

Steph: What has been the most challenging aspect of your career so far?

Lou: As you’ve just reflected, I've never seen myself as a minority in this sport. If you look at motorsport, generally, it’s a high-performance industry, and everyone's at the top of their game.

If I look back, what I saw as the biggest challenges were probably in my own mind at times – the role of becoming a mum and working in motorsport is probably the biggest challenge I faced internally. I don’t think that was something that was externally put on me, but I think, internally, I had this challenge in my head of ‘how can I be both’? How can I be a good mum and have a career in a fast-paced sport where, obviously, there is some travel? But actually, once you progress and work in a global role in any industry, you’re expected to travel. I’ve right-sized that, and I’ve now got a nine-year-old daughter and I’ve made it work.

Steph: I can absolutely echo everything you just said there, I would've answered exactly the same… I completely get you on that one. It is a challenge.

Lou: What do you love the most about working in motorsport?

Steph: The team environment. The public perception is often focused on the driver, and they’ll rightly take a lot of publicity and attention, but for me, it’s the team environment around it. What's great about a team as big as McLaren is it's not just about the trackside team – there’s the team back at the factory as well. It’s a collective effort and collaboration all coming together to deliver a result.

Then in terms of the travel, while challenging from a personal perspective sometimes, you are travelling around the world with a group of people with a common goal. The camaraderie and team spirit is very empowering. That's one of the things that I enjoy the most.

Lou: Definitely.

Steph: Why is it important to provide opportunities for women in motorsport across the board and not just in the cockpit?

Lou: If I look back, we've both reflected on our careers a little bit, and have both said that we never saw those boundaries per se, but I think if you look across businesses now, we live in a different world, thankfully, and I think that everyone recognises and values the importance of diversity and inclusivity. To be World Championship material and to be high performance, you need different thoughts and perspectives, and you're only going to get that if you've got a good blend in a team of people.

I am on the marketing and commercial side of the brand, and we’ve got more women on our team than elsewhere. In my role today, I see it as a responsibility to make sure that other women see the paths and opportunities that are available to them.

I muddled my way through it and I never saw the barriers to entry when I was getting into this industry, but somehow I prevailed. And as a leader now, I need to make sure I am open minded. I need the best of the best to come through into the Marketing and Brand team I run – I want that diversity of thought, it’s really important.

Being in the cockpit, the drivers are high profile, and they bring the eyeballs. That is fantastic, but both you and I work with some incredible women here at McLaren and across the paddock, so I think it is really important to answer your question. We’ve got to show people the pathways and opportunities that exist beyond the cockpit.

I've heard some comments quite recently from some young women who said that they didn’t know what their options were. That is why it is our job to make sure we open up about what those roles are and what they mean.

Steph: Absolutely. If you’re not doing that, you’re missing out on skillsets and a whole talent base.

Steph: What advice would you give to your younger self?

Lou: Control what you can control, and try not to worry about everything else, or what you don’t know. That is easier said than done, but if I look back and think about how I’ve held myself back, it is those ‘what if?’ questions. That’s easy to say 25 years into a career, but I spent a lot of time worrying about what I should or shouldn’t do, when I probably could have accelerated faster. That would be my biggest learning.

Lou: What would your advice be to young women wanting to work in motorsport?

Steph: Have a goal and don’t be dissuaded by anyone. There shouldn’t be any barriers to what people want to do. I believe in manifesting something, because I think that if you have a goal, and you have it in your head all of the time, then you will start to act and make decisions along the way, subconsciously, that help you get to that goal. Don’t be constrained by what you think you can do. If women are underrepresented in a certain area, that isn’t a reason why you can’t do it. Have a goal and stick to it.

And from a practical point of view, work experience is key. I am a real advocate for getting experience in the workplace. Put yourself out there and try to differentiate yourself from other candidates. But absolutely do not ever give up.

Lou: I totally agree.