Ep 53: Racing Communities, Abandoning Internal Misogyny, and NYC Public Schools with Motorsports Streamer Ash Kalita

Ash Kalita (known as ashvandelay on social media) is a motorsports Twitch streamer and creator who joins me on this week’s episode of If I’m Honest with Julia Landauer. A fellow New Yorker who also went to one of the specialized public high schools, we immediately bonded over our similar backgrounds that unexpectedly led to careers in motorsports. Ash shares how her Polish heritage led her to root for Robert Kubica in Formula 1, how she found online communities through playing video games during the pandemic, and why she sets boundaries around parasocial relationships online. We also dive into the beauty of the community of women content creators in motorsports, abandoning internal misogyny, and the increase of brands advertising to women in motorsports. I ask Ash to share how she got her gig with Red Bull Oracle Racing, to which she emphasizes the importance of in-person face time and gives a pro-tip for working in corporate. Lastly, we touch on her approach to content creation, her role models in motorsports (shout out to Lyn St. James!) and we end with a rapid fire If You’re Honest.

Follow Ash on:

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ashvandelay

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashvandelay

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AshVandelay

X (Formerly Twitter): https://x.com/ashvandelay

And you can visit her website here: https://www.ashvandelay.com/

Articles Referenced: https://www.femalesinmotorsport.com/post/female-fan-abuse-in-f1-was-drive-it-out-just-hollow-words

Grid Clique: https://www.gridclique.com/

Learn more about Julia Landauer at https://julialandauer.com/

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