My Story So Far

I  guess from the age of 17 events have been, well challenging to say the least!

I was in an abusive relationship when I was 17, involved in a road traffic accident when I was 18 (trapped under the car – very lucky to be alive) and my parents divorced. You could say I wasn’t having such a great time.

By my late teens, early twenties I had hit rock bottom – a very soul-searching time. I took a look around and decided I didn’t like what I saw. What did I want for myself? Having had a ‘live life to the full’ attitude when I was a kid (having my first helmet aged 12 to race my BMX at the local track), so how could I be in this dark place? I knew if I could get through these times then I would have the strength to achieve anything – I owed it to myself to be the best I could and do everything to the max.

So this was the start. I knew I would have to support myself and so went to Uni to study Business and Finance and then Interior Architecture. At this time I sat down analysed what I was good at, what I enjoyed doing and what I loved. I had completed a couple of race school days – speed, competition, cars, driving, technical approach, creativity, sports – that was what I loved. Still having regular treatment after the accident but only as I was working for long periods, I was surviving on a concoction of pain killers and alcohol and was in pretty much constant pain for 6 years sometimes unable to feel my legs and arms. It was strange but I found the answer to keep my focus through all of this – my love for racing. I was (and still am) absolute in my determination and self-belief that I would succeed and nothing would change my mind. During this time I found that studying and working under pressure for long periods of time was bad for me and playing sports, working out in the gym eased my pain. So that wasn’t rocket science then – don’t work for long periods of time under pressure and train more. Only one thing was that not working for long periods wasn’t an option and training more was a ‘would be nice but not gonna pay the bills or any racing’ kinda deal. So things would probably have to get worse before they got better.

The general idea was that if I graduated I could earn enough money to at least start my racing career that would be great – I couldn’t or wasn’t going to quit. Everyday was a battle as I worked on average 18/20 hours but I didn’t care – as long as it would lead to the start of my racing career. I figured it couldn’t get much worse as there were only 24 hours in the day and I was already working most of them – this crazy chick wasn’t afraid of hard work or anything else for that matter. My graduation ceremony was at the Royal Albert Hall, London, which made me feel very proud of my achievements.

OK so crazy world became even more crazy. With no experience I decided to become a self-employed, freelance designer as it would give me time to search for sponsors and pursue my racing ambitions. Racing was and still is the most important thing in my life – all my decisions, big and small have been based on this.

At about the same time I met a team boss when I was visiting my mother in Scotland who had a spare race car. At last this was my opportunity to finally sit behind the wheel of a race car – I just had to persuade him I could do it. After probably getting bored of hearing my begging pleas I managed to secure my first drive. This then lead to a few firsts – my first bank loan to go do my ARDS test to gain my race license and to compete in my first few races and my first proper job as a freelance designer.

I was working just outside London in an architectural practise during the week and flying up to Scotland to race every couple of weeks. I was under a huge amount of pressure as the boss had given me a new role – Assistant Project Architect – but I had studied design, not Architecture. OK so now I had to learn and understand how to draw architectural details and sections – from previous experiences I could handle pressure. So this was my first experience of racing – it felt great to be behind the wheel of a race car – although it was only a Ford Fiesta Si. I knew I was fit and ready for it but having had absolutely no experience, like my job – I learnt a lot! It felt amazing! I just went out on track and was immediately competitive, having great battles and proving my fighting spirit of which I seemed to have honed over the previous few years. It was great to drive to the limit – giving everything I had and the car had. The focus on the start, the roar of engines, the late braking – how close to the limit could I go, my next over-taking move, wailing engine revs, screeching tyres on the limit of adhesion and on occasion tyre smoke from a big lock up of the brakes at the hair-pin bend. I sure was giving it everything!

So my first few races were full of challenges! Somehow I knew I could do it and I proved I was right. I came first in class twice, second in the championship and was voted Best Female Racer in Scotland that year! I had proved I was quick, assertive on track and had some great battles – this is what I had been working so hard to achieve and I just wanted more of it – I felt alive! That’s what it’s was all about – giving everything and having no regrets that I should have done more. Collecting my award at the end of the season ceremony at a large hotel in the centre of Edinburgh was just amazing! I felt very proud of my accomplishments and then suddenly realised that I had achieved this success without any coaching, mentoring or support from anyone and was working in a team of two on a multi-million pound architectural project, having only recently graduated from Uni.

Now that I had a taste for racing I knew I had to look for some sponsorship to continue. I also knew I had to keep working. The only thing was I had no idea about sponsorship hunting but at least work was steady, although stressful. So I found myself saying hello to 18 hour days again as I worked all evening on sponsorship after finishing day job and gym session. Well I had already committed to giving it everything I had – I knew I could put the hours in from experience at Uni so I did. It was difficult to fit sponsorship hunting into my day as work pressure was building up and I couldn’t take time to make many calls. I knew work was having an effect on sponsorship but I couldn’t see an alternative. I had a couple of races over the following couple of years, completed the Silverstone Race School week course and had a couple of awesome driver training days. I even bought and sold a flat (a long story!) which paid for a race in torrential rain at Brands Hatch in November three years after my first few races in Scotland. This was an epic race in a Renault Clio Cup car and my first with bad weather conditions. Keeping true to my ‘take no prisoners’ approach I had some great over-taking passes as the whole field slid, aquaplaned and tip-toed round the sodden track. I was very grateful to the team who with their knowledge of the track explained the best lines to take and knew I had to be smooth with all my actions to stay on the black stuff. Again I did myself proud, qualifying 11th out of 22 and setting the 8th fastest lap time during the race.

However I soon realised my grand scheme was fundamentally flawed. I was working as a self-employed designer with little experience so I could spend time looking for sponsorship, test and race. Well I wasn’t achieving much in the form of sponsorship, no testing and painfully no racing and when work dried up (which it often did) I had no income and mounting debts. But somehow I managed, using one credit card to pay another, credit cards to pay my living expenses, another loan to pay for the credit cards and then another loan to amalgamate some of my credit cards. Not an approach I would recommend or for the non risk-taker or the stress-adverse.

After all my sponsorship searching I had finally found someone who loved racing, had sponsored in the past and was interested in investing in my season. I had decided a couple of years earlier that I would like to race in the Renault Clio Cup Championship as it seemed to offer sponsors the best deal. So I had the meeting and took another along with me and the deal was agreed. Based on this I took out a bridging loan to cover the initial payment to the team to compete in what would be my ‘home’ race only for the deal to fall through. The person who helped me with the deal said he would find a replacement but didn’t and that was it – another loan to cover and it was substantial. So I was racing in the National championship – the Renault Clio Cup, a support race the British Touring Car Championship. I had been a fan of the BTCC since my mid teens and it was great to be racing as part of the weekends programme. My first race weekend was awesome! In only my third qualifying session in four years I out-qualified other drivers and was only one second off pole. Well again I gave it everything in the race – using all of the track and on occasion more as I kicked up dust from the edge of the gravel trap!

The few races I had in the Renault Clio Cup in 2005 (results and more info on the web site) had some good on track battles, set the fastest sector time in the second test session at Croft. The Brands Hatch weekend was the beginning of a rollercoaster ride through good and bad experiences. Sponsorship hunting, trying to drum up some publicity, press interviews including a live radio interview on Autosport Radio and unfortunately the realisation that the team I was racing for were well let’s just say, less than honest. I was very dissatisfied with the situation, the level of professionalism and therefore I left the team.

Last year was spent working to get some things in order and learning a new income stream – the stock market and trading from home, whilst working in design and networking/learning more about sponsorship. I was however selected as an award finalist by a sponsorship and marketing company based on my understanding of the sponsorship process, my racing talent and my marketability. I also had my best kart race ever – my take no prisoners approach earned me a podium place, although I suspect not too many friends. It’s not that I played dirty; I just gave as good as I got, fought to maintain my position and triumphed!

I can’t wait to be racing again and actually completing a full season would be fantastic! Season 2007 – bring it on!!

So I’m looking to speak with decision-makers within companies;

• who can see a strong brand fit – a parallel with my focus, determination, professionalism and ambition.
• who sees merit in a fighting spirit and a never-give-up attitude.
• to build a lasting relationship with my total commitment to complete success, in every aspect.
• to build a strong team and work closely with strategic partners to make sure all expectations are exceeded.

If you would like to know more about joining our team and making a vital contribution as a strategic partner, please contact annabel@annabelmeade.com