Motivation logo

Proving Them Wrong

If I can do it so can you!

By Keri MasonPublished 5 years ago 2 min read
1

I knew I wanted to do something Sound or Motorsports related from a very young age. I was told "that's nice" by quite a few people and then sent on my way to go back to playing or whatever it was I was doing before I told them my dreams.

That said, I had a few people in my corner helping and encouraging me that I could do anything I wanted to do, even if it wasn't normally a "girl's job."

In high school, I had a guidance counsellor tell me I should go for a more traditional role (nurse, teacher, etc), as I would never make it doing what I wanted to do; in her own way, I think she was trying to keep me grounded and protect me from a very hard business, but it just fuelled my drive more. ⁠

Instead of cutting my losses and focusing my efforts into something I would never be happy in, I never missed a NASCAR/Indy race, even snuck off to Michigan for a race when I was about 17, and raced on iRacing games as soon as they came out.

After taking a gap year in college, I got a job at the local radio station group that covered local sports, including some races at the local short tracks. While I was there, the production department taught me how to edit interviews and sounds/songs and create commercials. I also worked for a mobile entertainment/DJ service where I grafted long, physical (heavy lifting, long drives) and hard hours (often working the overnight and weekend shifts at both jobs) for eight years before moving to the UK...

I have worked just as hard here, but now have a fairly steady job in entertainment, theatre mainly, and continue to find ways to be involved in motorsports, whether it's content creation for a podcast, social media content creation or just staying in the loop/in contact with folks I know and trust.

In a nutshell, I proved her wrong, and she told my mom that she used my story to motivate her “harder cases” until she retired a few years ago. While it would have been nice for her to have encouraged me back then, I don't really want to change it, as her disbelief in my abilities is what gave me the drive to prove her wrong, so I may not have turned out how I did.

The moral of this story is: When someone says you can't do it because of gender, being from a small town, etc., don't take that at face value, challenge it respectfully, and if it's something you want, WORK HARD for it.

goals
1

About the Creator

Keri Mason

I am a Sound & Graphic Designer, and newly graduated Social Media Manager I enjoy NASCAR, cooking & spending time with my family and friends, especially my dog Buzz.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.