We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sarah Levenson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sarah below.

Sarah , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Looking back, what’s an important lesson you learned at a prior job?

I had major imposter syndrome walking into my last corporate job. I had moved to an entirely new city for a role I ended up hating and nearly getting fired from, and upon realizing it was not a good fit for either them or my own sanity, I pretty quickly jumped ship. Thankfully, I landed another job relatively soon after, but where I was confident in myself and my abilities six months prior, I entered this new role with extreme doubt and hesitancy of the value I would bring.

On my first day of the new job I had an introductory meeting with the company’s COO. While I nervously sat in front of his desk, hands sweaty and shaking, he asked me one thing: “How do you think we can improve as a business?” I was floored. Not only was I already feeling inadequate, but who was I to govern the roadmap of an established multi-million dollar organization? I don’t remember the exact words of my response (as my anxiety had taken well over at that point), but it was something along those same lines – I don’t know enough.

What he replied back to me continues to be one of the most important pieces of guidance that leads my business to this day: whether it’s your first day or your 500th, there is always value you can bring, because there is always something you have learned previously that can be applied to your current situation. That every single individuals’ insight is valuable, because each person has a unique set of perspectives and experiences they bring to the table. That gathering insight from a variety of individuals, all with different perspectives, is the best way for an organization to truly grow and succeed. And that no matter your expertise or experience, there is always something you can learn from someone else.

I left that meeting with both a new mentor and a newfound perspective of the role I could play at that organization or any other. Knowing that my insight was valued, if for no other reason than because no one else shares my unique point of view.

The first thing I did when I walked back to my desk was write on a sticky note in big, bold letters, “You’re not starting from scratch, you’re starting from experience.” And five years later, that same sticky note hangs from the monitor in my own office.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

When people ask what I do for a living, “car racing” is probably the last answer they expect. To clarify, I’m not a racecar driver myself – however cool that would be – but a marketing and strategy consultant in the sport.

People typically get into racing in one of two ways: they were raised watching races on Sundays with their families, or they found it through social media and hit docuseries. I, however, am an anomaly. A friend of mine from college was tired of being the only female showing up to Formula 1 watch parties with her group of all-male friends, and started to drag me with her. The second I walked into a room full of people screaming at spaceship-looking cars at 8am on a Sunday, I was hooked.

Years later, I had bounced around a few cities in the east coast building up my post-grad marketing and PR experience. When COVID hit and I couldn’t see my motorsports friends on the weekends anymore, I took to the internet looking for an outlet. Whether it was fate, accidental manifestation, or dumb luck, I soon found myself surrounded by an incredible group of individuals who were either fans or working in Formula 1. They saw my knowledge passion for the sport and routinely asked why I wasn’t working in it. I came to a fork in the road: I could continue the safe and predictable path that a tech job offers, or I could take a leap of faith and give working in something I love a shot. As you could probably tell, I went with the latter.

I quit my job and moved to Miami to start my own motorsport marketing consultancy, Blue Flag Communications, knowing that a new F1 Grand Prix was coming to Miami the year following. Three years later, I can happily share that leap of faith – no matter how risky or reckless it seemed at the time – was the best decision I have made in my career.

Most brands know they have gaps within their organization, but they either don’t know how fill them or don’t have the bandwidth to do so. I help organizations across motorsport find and navigate those gaps. Whether that means developing a marketing strategy, guiding leadership on important brand initiatives, assisting with sponsorship or sales enablement, or acting as a media liaison on behalf of the brand; I analyze brands’ business models to spotlight what can be improved and help lead them to the next step of their journey.

I also run a passion project on the side, Grid Clique – an online community aimed at developing the narrative of diversity and inclusion within motorsport, led primarily by interviewing and giving a microphone to the diverse individuals across the paddock who aren’t often shown in traditional media. Working on both sides of the media landscape is an incredibly unique position to be within the sport; I am able to develop relationships with members of the media who are frequently covering the same races, while simultaneously partnering with them on behalf of brands. My work with Grid Clique not only makes me a better human – as I truly believe in what we’re doing to change the sport for the better – but my relationships with the media translates exceptionally well as I help teams, series, and drivers best tell their own brand story.

What started as a passion and a pipe dream just a few years ago has blossomed into the agency I could have never imagined: working across Formula 1, IndyCar, NASCAR, and ISMA at racetracks around the world. And while the sport has an incredibly long way to go, the endless opportunities for increased diversity, inclusion, and brand-fan connections couldn’t be a more exciting playground to be in.

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

I learned that ‘the only constant in life is change’ remained true – within 4 weeks, I had three new clients signed, and I was able to continue my business. Something no one tells you when you begin to work for yourself is that there are rarely any times you feel truly stable or settled, and even when you do, you don’t know how long it’s going to last. This isn’t meant to be scary by any means, but it’s a lesson learned early on that you begin to adapt with: whether you’re blowing past goals and constantly setting new benchmarks for yourself, or unexpected life events require a steep increase in finances or time away from your desk, nothing remains the same from one moment to the next.

A year and a half after starting my business, I was making the most money I had ever made, working the least hours, and doing what I loved. That came crashing down in nearly an instant when two of my biggest clients gave notice that they had to close their contracts within the same week. Not only did I quite literally see my life flash before my eyes knowing that 60 days from then I would no longer be able to afford rent, but I also knew that both circumstances were out of my control – one client had received heavy investment from a new parent company who was cleaning house, and the other was going through near-bankruptcy.

I had two options: land a 9-5 role within 60 days to ensure I could make rent and have somewhere to live, or give my business one last shot by kicking into a full-gear sales process – something I had never had to do up until that point.

Safe to say that was the scariest 60 days I’ve experienced in building my business, but it taught me two things that have absolutely re-wired how I now operate:

1. Never allow one or two contracts to be the main source of your income. As safe as monthly retainers are as a business owner, putting all of your eggs in minimal baskets opens you up to risk in the future unless you have a safe backup plan or nest egg to rely on for if and when they end (which at that time, I hadn’t).
2. Sometimes you may feel like you’re being buried, but really, you’re being planted. Any adversity you experience will in some way, shape, or form prepare you for the future – no matter how hard or scary the experience is at the time.

I learned that ‘the only constant in life’ remained true – within 4 weeks, I had three new clients signed, and I was able to continue my business. I am the farthest thing from a risk taker, but the experience pushed me to make the hard choice to continue going after my dreams, and that risks are necessary sometimes (whether we like it or not). Do or die, make it happen or make it fail, you only eat what you kill – whatever your philosophy, it is the belief in yourself and taking the actions to follow through that are the foundations for success.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

I know people want to hear practical advice like ‘how to write the perfect pitch,’ but in my experience, growing clientele boils down to two bigger concepts: get out of your comfort zone, and be nice. Those two things are the foundation for everything.

In my line of work, in-person networking is the only way to make it as a consultant. Working with series, teams, and drivers in motorsport carries a unique set of challenges: they may not have enough funding or budget (as some teams and drivers are already barely breaking even since racing itself is so expensive), they already have a PR or Marketing team in-house that leadership thinks can handle everything (they rarely can), or they don’t see the value in hiring a third party perspective to help fill the gaps (which they may or may not know or even accept exist).

By constantly showing up as a face in the space, you can overcome some of these challenges. Brands are able to see first-hand the value you bring to their competitors, and soon realize that in order to stay ahead, they need to prioritize the same things. I’m not saying this is easy – in most cases, you’ll have to make significant investments in both time and money to be in the right places to talk to the right people. Beyond even that, putting yourself in those scenarios can be daunting.

The first race I went to as a member of the media I knew absolutely no one. I needed to use the opportunity to network for my business – but as an introvert who was new in the space whereas everyone else seemed to have known each other for years, I felt well and truly out of place. Instead of throwing in the towel at that first moment of discomfort (which I so nearly did), I told myself to at the very least be nice to people, and hopefully they’ll be nice back. That first introduction at that first race tipped the series of dominoes necessary for me to meet people across the paddock, some of whom have become clients, and many of whom have also become friends.

Putting yourself out there (no matter how intimidating) and being a friendly face is how you can most effectively grow your network – and clientele – in any space.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.blueflagcommunications.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahlev__/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahlevenson/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarahlev__
• Other: https://www.gridclique.com https://www.instagram.com/gridclique/

Image Credits
Group photo of media with Scott Dixon: Dana Garrett 4 women in front of red car: Taylor Robbins