{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/6502ec015032c7001167fc64/69c12df4007cdcf83fb83ce3?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"I Quit Banking to Become a Stunt Driver (with Tessa Wittock)","description":"<p>In this episode of&nbsp;She Dares Wins, recorded live at the&nbsp;Be Right Back&nbsp;event, Michelle sits down with&nbsp;Tessa Wittock, a stunt driver and car drifter whose journey takes her from&nbsp;investment banking in London&nbsp;to&nbsp;drifting in muddy fields, then all the way to&nbsp;Hollywood, working on&nbsp;Mission Impossible 7&nbsp;with&nbsp;Tom Cruise.</p><p>Tessa shares how she got hooked on drifting after a passenger ride in a Skyline, built her own off-road Suzuki Vitara, and taught herself to drift before going on to&nbsp;win European drift titles&nbsp;and carve out a name in a&nbsp;male-dominated motorsport and stunt world.</p><p>This conversation is packed with&nbsp;adrenaline, honesty, and practical advice&nbsp;for anyone who wants to push past their limits—on the track or in life.</p><h3>In This Episode, We Cover:</h3><ul><li>From banking to burnout (the good kind):</li><li>How Tessa left&nbsp;investment banking&nbsp;to pursue drifting full-time and what that transition really looked like.</li><li>Learning to drift from scratch:</li><li>Her early cars:&nbsp;Fiesta ST, Focus ST, VXR Nürburgring, Suzuki Vitara</li><li>Teaching herself in&nbsp;muddy fields&nbsp;and at&nbsp;Santa Pod</li><li>Being a&nbsp;visual learner&nbsp;and jumping into other people’s cars to improve.</li><li>Breaking into stunts &amp; Mission Impossible 7:</li><li>How drifting opened doors to the&nbsp;British stunt world</li><li>Her mentor&nbsp;Terry Grant&nbsp;and introduction to stunt director&nbsp;Wade Eastwood</li><li>Auditioning against other female drivers and landing Mission Impossible 7</li><li>Driving everything from&nbsp;BMW M5&nbsp;to a&nbsp;military H2 Hummer</li><li>What it’s like doing&nbsp;one-shot, high-pressure stunts&nbsp;with&nbsp;multiple cameras&nbsp;and huge crews.</li><li>Competing at the top level in drifting:</li><li>Winning&nbsp;Queen of Europe&nbsp;and placing&nbsp;second in King of Europe</li><li>Handling (and sometimes not handling) the&nbsp;pressure of qualifying</li><li>The infamous&nbsp;“Ticked Off at Teesside”&nbsp;story and what she learned from it.</li><li>Women in motorsport &amp; role models:</li><li>Navigating a&nbsp;male-dominated industry&nbsp;and not letting it define her limits</li><li>Early female inspirations:&nbsp;Belinda Chalice&nbsp;and&nbsp;Lisa Branch</li><li>Why she admires&nbsp;Jess Hawkins&nbsp;and the impact of&nbsp;F1 Academy</li><li>Her message to young women:&nbsp;<em>“If I can do it, anybody can.”</em></li><li>Teaching others to drift:</li><li>Running her&nbsp;drift academy&nbsp;at&nbsp;Three Sisters Circuit in Wigan</li><li>Why she believes&nbsp;anyone&nbsp;can learn to drift—students aged&nbsp;81 and 84&nbsp;included</li><li>Her top tips for first-time drifters (including Caterham drivers):</li><li>Look where you want to go</li><li>Use your eyes to guide your hands</li><li>Always be&nbsp;two steps ahead&nbsp;on track</li><li>Common misconceptions racing drivers have when they try drifting.</li><li>Mindset, nerves &amp; performing under pressure:</li><li>How Tessa manages&nbsp;nerves on the start line</li><li>The music she uses to get in the zone (drum &amp; bass)</li><li>Using&nbsp;mental checklists&nbsp;before a run to stay calm and focused</li><li>Dealing with self-doubt and moments that made her feel “not good enough”</li><li>Pivoting, pushing on, and continually challenging herself.</li><li>Cars, dreams &amp; what’s next:</li><li>Her&nbsp;dream garage&nbsp;– drift car, A90 Supra build, off-roaders, and supercars</li><li>Working as a&nbsp;product expert for Rolls-Royce, driving long distances and on track</li><li>Why she wants to&nbsp;try rally&nbsp;and ultimately something&nbsp;Dakar-related</li><li>Plans for a&nbsp;touring drift academy&nbsp;to bring drifting around the UK.</li><li>The She Dares Wins “Dare”:</li><li>Tessa’s dare to other women:</li><li>Challenge yourself to do something different and out of your comfort zone—every day if you can.</li><li>Tessa’s dare to herself:</li><li>Step into rallying&nbsp;and push into a completely new motorsport discipline.</li></ul><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><a href=\"https://berightback.uk/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">https://berightback.uk/</a></p>","author_name":"Michelle Hands"}