We recently chatted with Priscilla Poon, Marketing Communications Coordinator at INDYCAR, about how she got her big break in the highly competitive industry of motorsport with a prestigious role at one of the most coveted series in North America.
It may seem like you have to be born watching motorsport to be working in the industry, but Priscilla is proud to share that she’s had an unconventional journey into the field. With a degree in Aerospace, she initially set out to pursue a career in Law in areas of remote technology, autonomous aircraft, and patents. However, things changed drastically for her when the pandemic hit and she realised her true passion lay elsewhere.
“I realised my passion for community and brand building [during the pandemic] as many people were essentially in phases of “rebranding” themselves,” she tells Females in Motorsport. “I took this curiosity which drove me to industries of sports and entertainment, and I began making the uncomfortable transition of starting over in a new space by building experience in Marketing and PR. I was absolutely fascinated by motorsport, which my background fuelled naturally.”
Having unearthed her new love for the sport, Priscilla was eager to continue excavating and creating her own path in the industry. With a non-traditional background, she knew it wouldn’t be easy, so she started from the raw materials conducting research and networking to learn more about the potential jobs across different series of motorsport, when a role finally caught her eye.
“I eventually came across an opportunity at INDYCAR, moved from Nashville to Indianapolis, and well you know the rest is history,” she says.
Having been in her role now for over a year, she’s already gathered a wealth of experience in the marketing of motorsport across both series, INDY NXT by Firestone and NTT INDYCAR, where every single day looks different from the other.
“This first year has been such a learning experience,” she says. “From rebranding INDY NXT, which was previously Indy Lights, to finishing my first full season with both series, I have truly absorbed so much. My role ranges anywhere from brand activations for both series, building relationships with teams and drivers, communicating with media and broadcast groups for interviews/announcements, the list goes on! No day is the same, and I absolutely love that.”
As a woman in the industry at the forefront of shaping the narrative around motorsport, Priscilla is very excited to see the growing popularity of women in the sport and INDYCAR, which is slowly but surely manifesting into more women joining the workforce across all divisions.
“It’s unbelievable how many talented women we have at INDYCAR,” she says. “And it’s not just in the Marketing and PR spaces! We have female engineers, mechanics, and safety personnel, who all represent a variety of vital roles in this sport.”
At Females in Motorsport, we have always proclaimed our signature mission “See it. Be it." to help demonstrate the value of a diverse workforce to encourage young girls to pursue the career of their dreams, and Priscilla could not agree more.
“Representation is such an important part of this sport, and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to help inspire future generations of badass women,” Priscilla says.