Cars Yeah with Mark Greene

Lyn St. James has raced cars for over 40 years. She was the 1992 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year, the first woman to earn that award, she has victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, Watkins Glen, Elkhart Lake, and set closed course speed records of over 225 mph. She’s an author, a motivational speaker, and was named by Sports Illustrated for Women, One of the Top 100 Women Athletes of the Century. Lyn serves as an Ambassador for the RPM Foundation, a service providing not-for-profit to help advance the careers for people working in automotive restoration and preservation. She founded the Women’s Sports Foundation Project Podium Scholarship for women in racing where she has distributed almost $100,000 to over 10 female drivers in the past 10 years. Lyn is a lady who has changed the world, not only for women but anyone who strives to succeed. 

Lyne was my 341st guest here on Cars Yeah back on September 22, 2015. 

Direct download: Ep1259_-_Lyn_St._James_-_final.mp3
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Heidi Mraz is a conceptual artist and automotive researcher who creates bespoke portraits of significant automobiles celebrating their beauty and provenance. Her intoxicating works of art are equal parts eye candy, history lesson, and hide and seek. She is best known for her handmade multilayered historical based collage works she calls “The Art of Provenance.” You will find her art in both corporate and private collections enjoyed by enthusiasts around the world. Some of her clients include the world’s top automotive collectors and museums and include:  Peter Mullin, Robert Jepson, Ferrari, Hagerty Insurance, and the Petersen Automotive Museum. Heidi was selected to create the official poster art for the Pinehurst Concours and the Art in Motion Concours in New York. She also works as a curating consultant for the White Collection in San Francisco. Cars are Heidi’s muse.

Direct download: Ep1258-Heidi_Mraz2.mp3
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Martina Kwan is a Hong Kong born, Chinese-German, British-American racecar driver from Los Angeles, California. She has lived in Asia and the Middle East and her marque of choice is Porsche, which she drives exclusively. She started going to racetracks in California in 2015 with the Porsche Owners Club and quickly picked up the right line around a track. She’s earned a first place with the Porsche Owners Club MS racing class in 2017 and a first in the Club’s M4 racing class as well as picking up the Most Improved Time Trial Driver Award. She holds track records and is a National Certified Porsche Club of America Driving Instructor. Martina’s goal is to inspire young women and girls to be themselves and Dare to be Different! 

Direct download: Ep1257-Martina_Kwan.mp3
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Sue Callaway is an entrepreneur, award-winning journalist, and author, media marketing pioneer, and automotive insider. She has built and transformed global brands for Time Inc., Wenner Media, Hearst Magazines, co-founded Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit and innovated marketing and content platforms for brands from Esquire and Jaguar to TrueCar and THE AUTO 100. She is the founder and CEO of Glovebox Media, a boutique agency dedicated to bringing brands’ best stories to life, growing loyalty and driving engagement and transactions. Previously, she was EVP, Editorial Director at Edelman, where she oversaw content strategy and creation, and crisis and media training for global clients including Nissan/INFINITI/Datsun, HP, Bridgestone, and man others. Sue was the Senior Editor, Automotive, for Time Inc. overseeing the automotive industry coverage – digital, video, and print – for Fortune, Sports Illustrated, Time, and Money magazines. You will also find Sue judging on the lawns of the most prestigious Concours events around the country.

Direct download: Ep1256-Sue_Callaway.mp3
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Tegan Hammond holds two land-speed records at Bonneville having gone over 300 miles per hour. Going very fast on the salt isn’t the only adventure Tegan enjoys. She’s completed Rick Seaman’s Cars Jump class and launched a vehicle 60 feet through the air. She earned a win in the Vintage Spring circuit at Santa Maria raceway her second time in the driver's seat competing against an all-male group. She’s a stunt car driver having driven a Ferrari 2019 Pista Spider being the first woman to appear in a Ferrari campaign and has been a movie stunt double for Higgins doubled as Jordan Brewster in Magnum PI and for Heidi Klum, to name a few. Tegan was also a commercial stunt driver in numerous ad spots. Tegan is on her way to being a well respected and highly sought-after professional female stunt driver when she’s not ice climbing, skiing, skateboarding, water skiing, or training in her BMW M3.

Direct download: Ep1255-Tegan_Hammond.mp3
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Natalie Tackett is the artist and creative spirit behind a decorative and restoration art and design business called B R U S H E D, based in Bristol, Tennessee. Most of the time Natalie works close to home but travels for special commissions all over North America and has taken on restoration projects worldwide. She has been working on and off in the field of restoration and decorative arts for the past 20 years but didn’t start her business until 8 years ago when she built up the courage to work for herself full-time. She credits both of her parents for her creative and artistic genes—and, for passing on a love for cars, design, and attention to detail.

Direct download: Ep1254-Natalie_Tackett.mp3
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Rhonda Madden started her company, Creative Automotive Consultants, in 1977. She is a trained appraiser and works for estates, individuals, and she is a licensed California DMV agent working as a vehicle verifier. After college, Rhonda moved to Los Angeles and worked as a fashion model, an actress, and a dancer and appeared in many movies and television shows. She often purchased collector cars filling warehouses with her acquisitions and she supplied vehicles to the entertainment industry to be used in movies and television and she still provides vehicles to the visual arts industry today. Rhonda collects model cars and trucks and an occasional collector car or two.  

Direct download: Ep1253-Rhonda_Madden.mp3
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Jamei June owns a professional marketing and business consulting firm specializing in medical facility needs. She is also the producer and host of Beauty & Keys, a video format show dedicated to the automotive industry and women who are influencing the car community. The show has a cosmetic and automotive focus. Jamei is a licensed cosmetologist, award-winning beauty writer, a model, and is one of iStock Photography’s number one internationally sold commercial print models. By combining her passion for cars and cosmetics, she shares how women can be beautiful and bold on and off the asphalt. She contributes as a media Coordinator for the North West Ferrari Club of America and was the first female mistress of ceremonies for the North West Ferrari Concours. Jamei is one of Seattle’s most sought after Event Emcees and hosts and was nominated Top 10 for King 5s Best of Western Washington’s TV Personalities for 2015 and 2016.

And a shout out to past Cars Yeah guest William Howard for introducing me to Jamei. 

Direct download: Ep1252-Jamei_June.mp3
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Jody DeVere is an internationally recognized speaker, trainer, often quoted industry pundit, and spokesperson for the automotive industry on the women's market. She has been featured by the New York Times, NPR, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Fox Business, Forbes Women, Oprah Magazine, and Parenting Magazine, to name a few. As CEO of AskPatty.com, she provides automotive education to women consumers and an interactive online Certified Female Friendly® certification training program for automotive retailers on how to attract, sell, retain and market to women. Jody is a champion for women in the automotive industry and her company serves as the first point of contact for women seeking the very best experience when purchasing a vehicle.

Direct download: Ep1251-Jody_Devere.mp3
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Lynn Kehoe is the Founder and CEO of Shift Up Now. Her goal is to use motorsports to show girls and women how to develop courage and confidence so to succeed in achieving their personal and professional goals. She manages drivers for speaking engagements with groups to share their racing experiences and help to build leaders in the industry. She started racing in 2015 after spending 3 years moving up the ranks in a High-Performance Driving Education program. She earned her first competition license through the Sports Car Club of America and holds a Time Trial license with the National Auto Sports Association. She has ice raced with the Adirondack Motor Enthusiast Club and she trained at Le Mans, France, attending a Porsche Driving School Stage GT3 RS. Before Shift Up Now Lynn had a successful career spanning three decades in financial services, real estate investing, business development, and consulting.

Direct download: Ep1250-Lynn_Kehoe.mp3
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Crystal Snow is the Founder and Director of Car Kweens Association located in Oklahoma. Her goal was to create a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support and encourage women in the automotive industry and hobby. Crystal’s goal is to support women through sponsorships, by supplying replacement parts, pay for continuing education and drivers training courses. She wants to provide women unique opportunities in the industry that is often dominated by men. She organizes meetups, exclusive educational events, and an all-female driving event she titled the FastHer Road Rally. Crystal is the mother of two boys, wife to a mechanic, and a lifelong automotive enthusiast.

Direct download: Ep1249-Crystal_Snow.mp3
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Cindi Lux is a race car driver who has won thirteen road racing championships, more than 80 victories, and over 160 podium finishes along with 50 pole positions. Her 13 career road racing titles include the American Le Mans Series, Women’s Global GT Series, SCCA and Trans Am Northern Cub events. She earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oregon Motorsports Museum Association, was the Oregon SCCA National Driver of the Year, and Pro-Driver of the Year to name just a few of her awards. She figured out how to balance her busy race schedule with a demanding business schedule. She is one of the leading program managers in the world, a managing partner of the Hahn Automotive family of dealerships, and manages Lux Performance group with her husband, Fred.

Direct download: 1248-Cindi_Lux.mp3
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Lisa Clark is a race car driver who was born in Phoenix, Arizona. She grew up participating in desert motorsports from a young age. Being raised by a single father, she spent weekends riding dirt bikes, playing in the garage, and working around cars with her dad. Today, a mother of two daughters, Lisa continues to have a passion for motorsports but being a mother took up most of her time. It wasn’t until later in life that she began racing. She’s worked her way up the ladder in the racing world and currently drives as an amateur in the Ferrari Challenge series.

Direct download: Ep1247-Lisa_Clark.mp3
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Margaret Palango is the Executive Vice President at Autoshop Solutions. She has overseen and been a key catalyst in Autoshop Solutions’ growth into the award-winning website design and Internet marketing agency it is today. Margaret leads all of their corporate marketing initiatives, as it continues to be the industry’s gold standard for online marketing solutions. She joined the company in 2006 when she began establishing its brand position for quality customized website design and progressive Internet marketing. Margaret started by handling direct customer interface and then on to managing the entire website production. She now spends her time working with industry partners to bring innovative solutions to the automotive aftermarket. On the weekends she is often found driving her cars to a local PCA event and she is an active member of the North Carolina Hurricane Region Porsche Club.

A shout out to past Cars Yeah guest Deb Pollack for introducing me to Margaret.

Direct download: Ep1246-Margaret_Palango.mp3
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Jessica Fickenscher is a 19-year veteran of Speedway Motorsports where she facilitates capital improvement and property development projects across all eight of Speedway Motorsports' premier NASCAR facilities. She also explores New Fans First Initiatives and supervises the company's relationship with food services partner, Levy Restaurants. Jessica also oversees business and operations for Speedway Motorsports' subsidiary, U.S. Legend Cars International, the world's largest producer of fun and affordable racecars, as well as INEX, the sanctioning body for U.S. Legend Car racing worldwide. She served for seven years as Vice President of special projects and previously worked as Director of Special Projects, Director of Client Services, and Manager of Client Services. 

Direct download: Ep1245-Jessica_Fickenscher.mp3
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Amelia Dalgaard is the woman behind the edgy and often hilarious blog Motorhead Mama. She is also the President of the Motor Press Guild and the Director of Content for CarLabs.ai. Amelia started her career as a TV writer and producer. She was a part of VH1’s hit show Pop Up Video & Bloomberg’s colossal flop The Morning Music Wire. Amelia also led the Southwest team for Design Within Reach as the company went from one store to 25 and through its strong IPO. Since launching Motorhead Mama, Amelia has test driven over 100 vehicles and crashed very few. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two dogs, two kids, and roughly 4 million other automotive enthusiasts.

Direct download: Ep1244-Amelia_Dalgaard.mp3
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Kim Kuzma grew up in a racing family watching her Grandpa Kuzma, her father, Bob, and brothers race circle tracks in the Pacific Northwest. Her Uncle Eddie Kuzma built FIA, USAC, and Indy Car and midget chassis and was inducted into the Indianapolis Hall of Fame posthumously in 2003. Kim is active with three Portland, Oregon based amateur race clubs and serves with Cascade Sports Car Club as Active Chair and their Race Official Division representative. She is an on-track marshal, Assistant Chief Starter and her professional race marshal series experience includes Formula 1, IndyCar, American Le Mans, NASCAR, and Champ Car World series duties. She has been on the Start Team for the past two years at Circuit of the Americas USGP and she is the Team Manager for Lucky Dog Racing Series team Worker’s Revenge. In 2014, Kim was awarded SCCA Worker of the Year for outstanding performance.

Direct download: Ep1243-Kim_Kuzma.mp3
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Cindy Sisson is a sports marketing professional with decades of experience building major sports properties. She is the former partnership Director for the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California. She served as a Board Member, Senior Advisor, and Director of Development to the National Foundation of Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition, a congressionally chartered foundation. She was the Co-Founder of ConnectTivity, an agency that assists nonprofits and schools to raise funds through creative fundraising solutions and she served as President of HOPSports, a global health, and wellness network dedicated to fighting childhood obesity. Cindy has worked with the Olympics, the LPGA, NASCAR, the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and PGA and youth sports programming. While in NASCAR, she worked with Roush Racing and Kyle Petty’s Charity Ride Across America.

Direct download: Ep1242-Cindy_Sisson.mp3
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Rachel Blatt is the Founder of Royalty Logistics, an automotive transport and shipping company located in Ferndale, Michigan. Royalty Logistics is a certified, woman-owned company that specializes in moving vehicles for auto auctions, rental car companies, and dealerships. Growing up in Michigan, she was a huge fan of classic cars and attended the Dream Cruise and North American Auto Show every year with her family. Rachel previously worked in the tech sector and decided the auto transport business would be her way into the auto industry, where she could share her passion and love for cars. Rachel excelled as the top transport broker at Wholesale Inc. and United Road before venturing out to start her own company. She is a huge fan of continual self-improvement and is on a mission to help her customers and make everyone around her a huge success. 

Direct download: Ep1241-Rachel_Blatt.mp3
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Valerie Thompson is the Team Owner and Driver at Valerie Thompson Racing. She is the first female motorcycle rider to go over 300 mph, earning her the title of “World’s Fastest Female Motorcycle Racer.” She posted her best top speed of 328 mph in 2018 at the DLRA Speed Week competition in Southern Australia, piloting Denis Manning’s Team “7” Racing streamliner. Valerie is an 8-time land speed record holder with membership in seven different 200 MPH Clubs, one 300 MPH Club and she is a lifetime member of the famed Bonneville 200 MPH Club. She was inducted into the Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2018. Valerie’s current quest to become the world’s fastest motorcycle racer is the subject of P-51 Pictures’ and MN8 Films’ upcoming feature documentary, Rockets and Titans. Her many racing accomplishments have earned Valerie the moniker of “America’s Queen of Speed.”

A shout out to past Cars Yeah guest for introducing me to Valerie, a very fast racer in her own rights, the great Lyn St. James.

Direct download: Ep1240-Valerie_Thompson.mp3
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Karen Salvaggio owns and operates Thunder Valley Racing. She is a builder and racer who began her career in 1985 at NASCAR dirt track events in California. She moved to road racing with the Vintage Auto Racing Association and competed in the Women’s Global GT with the American LeMans Series. She’s earned over 200 first place finishes in driving competitions including Top Eliminator at the Pomona Drags in 1999 and the 2011 Western Endurance Racing Championship. Karen served nine years in the U.S. Air Force as an aircraft mechanic and earned a Bachelor’s Degree, a Master’s Degree, and a Doctorate. She’s served as a Select Committee member on the SEMA Businesswomen's Network and has appeared on TV shows as well. She is also a personal driving coach at the track. Today, Karen builds and races Factory Five Racing Daytona Coupes with SOVREN and continues to develop Thunder Valley Racing as a premier source of racing equipment and support for women Racers.

Direct download: Ep1239-Karen_Salvaggio.mp3
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