Episode 16

full
Published on:

17th Jul 2024

The F1 Girlies Revolution with Ella Coppola

Who run the world?

The F1 Girlies!

In today's episode of 'Dare to be Iconic,' Amanda spills the tea with Ella Coppola, the founder of The F1 Girlies, to discuss the importance of creating safe spaces for women in the male-dominated world of motorsports. Ella shares her journey of starting The F1 Girlies revolution where she empowers a community of iconic girlies who love Formula One, fashion, and pop culture. Amanda and Ella emphasize the importance of authenticity and self-expression, offering insights on building inclusive communities and the positive impact of female fans in F1.

Plus, don’t miss out on the July issue of The F1 Girlies starring our very own icon, Amanda, out now!

Read the July issue!

Connect with Amanda!

Grab your copy of 'Break Up With The Past, Fall In Love With The Future' journal!

Connect with Ella & The F1 Girlies:

Ig: https://www.instagram.com/thef1girlies?igsh=bXFmankxdzRwdWRp

Website: www.themotorsportsgirlies.com

Linkedin:https://ca.linkedin.com/in/raffaela-c-082a141a3

Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@thef1girlies

00:00 Welcome to Dare to be Iconic

00:43 Meet Ella: Founder of F1 Girlies

00:46 Defining Iconic & Embracing Uniqueness

01:36 Creating a Space for Women in Motorsports

02:51 The Challenges Faced for F1 Female Fans

05:52 Reclaiming the Term 'Fangirl'

09:07 The Impact of Female Fans in F1

13:23 Bridging Generations Through F1

17:06 Encouraging New Fans and Inclusivity

19:55 Iconic Insights & See You Next Week!

Transcript
Amanda Paolicelli:

What's up, radiant icons, and welcome back to

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Dare to be Iconic, the podcast made

for icons daring to be themselves.

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I'm your host, Amanda Paolicelli

and today we are joined by a

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very, very special guest, the

founder of the F1 girlies, Ella.

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Ella is an everyday icon because she is

creating a small revolution for women

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in motorsports, she is cultivating a

beautiful community of young women who

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are daring to embrace their inner fangirl.

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And that is what Ella and I

discussed today so let's get into it.

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Are you ready for your tea

time sesh radiant icons?

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Because it's starting now.

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Ella, welcome to the Dare

to be Iconic podcast.

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Before we get into the interview

portion, what does iconic mean

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to you and how do you dare to

be iconic in your everyday life?

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Ella: So to me.

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Being iconic means just being

like uniquely you, really staying

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true to what you care about,

what you, you love, what you do.

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And that way people just recognize

you and they align with your values

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and they really like follow you.

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And how do I do that every day?

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I just challenge myself to do

things differently than others.

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And just, I try to always bring

something new to this world and really

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just being myself and challenging me

and others to do things differently.

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Amanda Paolicelli: I love that.

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And I can really relate to that on how I

Dare to Be Iconic, but Specifically when

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it comes to being a woman in motor sports.

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So Ella, you are the

founder of the F1 girlies.

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And I would love if you can just talk a

little bit more about why you started F1

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girlies, because we think it's so powerful

to have a space for women in motor sports.

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Ella: So I really started the account

and the website because I I'm a content

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creator, like for beauty and fashion.

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And when I started just posting about

F1 just regularly, just to share my

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passion, people already started coming

to me and saying, there is no space for

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women, women who love fashion, beauty.

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You get stereotyped, and you

get judged when you like F1

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and you really like fashion.

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So I decided, okay, let me

just create that space myself.

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I'm going to do it, and people are

going to be able to just have a little

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space to make friends, communicate.

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But yes, it did not stay small.

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Everyone just seemed to really like it.

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Amanda Paolicelli: Yeah.

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And I think that stays true to that lesson

that is not only the foundation of Dare

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to be Iconic, but what you were talking

about beforehand on what iconic means to

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you and how you dare to be iconic in your

everyday life is by staying true to who

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you are and not trying to be anything that

you're not, and I think that's what people

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really resonate with is that authenticity.

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What have you seen as a thought

leader in this space and creating and

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cultivating this community of strong

women who are embracing who they are

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Ella: Well, like I've seen like a lot of just women coming to the space where we

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communicate like the discord server and

saying, wow, I feel like I belong here.

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I feel like I can be here and

I can have my own opinions.

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A lot of people just seem to enjoy

being fans because of this space.

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People really just seems to

enjoy just being themselves.

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I feel like as a woman people

really judge everything that you

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do and everything that you say.

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It's never good enough and you

will get judged no matter what.

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That's something I noticed

even just as a regular creator.

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I get comments on everything.

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My hair is not okay.

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My clothes are not okay.

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My size is not okay.

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Everything.

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I feel like this is one of the

aspect that really stops fans from

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just developing their passion.

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Because when you feel that judge,

especially, especially like for the

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younger girls, like 14, 15, that's a

period in your life where you are growing,

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you are learning to love yourself.

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So I feel like if you get judged

at that period of your life, there

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are chances that you will just

give up and stop talking about it.

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Amanda Paolicelli: And I feel like

at that age, like you mentioned,

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it's such a pivotal time.

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We're going through so

much emotionally, right?

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Our bodies are going through stuff,

or we're in that weird period of

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developing who we are, but not really

knowing who we are, and people just

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love to just bash us for enjoying

something, like why can't I just enjoy

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what I want to enjoy and not receive

negative feedback on me just being me?

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Just living my life.

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Ella: It's really important to just

have a space where you can really truly

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be yourself because When you don't have

that, like I said before, you really

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can't express yourself fully because

the second you are judged, it really

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ruins your chances to be yourself.

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So that's really why I wanted like a

really, truly 100 percent safe space

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for everyone who loves motor sports,

but also a fashion, but cool culture,

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just anything, just a space where you

can make friends and just be yourself.

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That was like the main reason

why I started everything.

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That's really the most

important part of all of it.

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Like, I'm just me, I'm just a

regular student who does this.

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So I can't really bring

that much to this sphere.

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Amanda Paolicelli: Interesting though,

Ella, that you're saying that because

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it takes so much courage for someone to

honestly just start using their voice to

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empower other individuals to do the same.

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You're doing something so beautiful,

which is creating a safe community for

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female fans in a male dominated space.

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space that, you know,

we get judged a lot for.

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And one thing is have you seen the term

fangirl be used a lot in your community?

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Ella: I feel like, realistically, it

is still a really negatively used word

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in a certain way, But I feel like this

is still a bit like a thing But I feel

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like with the younger generation they

are reclaiming the word Yes, i'm really

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noticing that people are really just

starting to use it because it's that's

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it's what it is We are fangirls And there

is nothing You Weird or wrong about that

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is it's really just a term to qualify.

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We are so I'm noticing really people

are starting to just reclaim it and use

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it non ironically, because just a word.

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Amanda Paolicelli: I think it's

so interesting that a little

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word like fangirl can create

so much like negative chaos.

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Yes.

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Like, I don't know who was like, you

know what, let's pick this term as a term

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to demean a whole bunch of young women

who just love something, whether you're

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a fan girl of F1, fan girl of Taylor

Swift, fan girl of anything, right?

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Like that was the term that they

decided, Oh, let's use that against them.

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Ella: Yes.

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It's so like, Just hearing the word

fangirl brings me back to this era of just

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being a teenage girl who is being judged.

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That just always brings me back.

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It's incredible how much power

just a small word has on an

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entire generation of girls who

are just trying to have interest.

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It's really crazy.

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Amanda Paolicelli: No, it's

like the most insane thing ever.

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And like, hello, and I, oh my God.

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Okay.

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Here's a fun little, little tidbit.

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When I first started like posting

on LinkedIn specifically, right?

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I was so, so terrified to like, even talk

about F1 in general because I was like

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who am I like genuinely like I'm just a

fangirl because of everything that was

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told to me prior That my thoughts and my

words and everything you basically mean

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nothing is what was told to me, right?

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So I was like, how do I?

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Use my voice in a space where I have a

lot of thoughts and opinions and I want

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to share them and I know it's important

and I know other people would relate,

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but if I label myself as a fangirl,

people aren't going to take me seriously.

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But the more I started doing it

and having the courage to actually

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be like, yeah, you know what?

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I am a fangirl.

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So what?

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The more people, at least on

LinkedIn, which was very surprising,

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like were into it, like they were

actually very accepting of it.

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And do you think?

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Now because the younger generation

like we're embracing that term fully

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and we're taking our power back in it.

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Do you think with the future of F1

that F1 itself is going to embrace

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that term more and how do you

think they're going to activate it?

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Ella: I feel like F1 doesn't

really have a choice to embrace

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it because it's their new reality.

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It's coming.

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Yeah.

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Women are more and more interested

and When your demographic of fans

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is changing, you have no choice

but to adapt, and honestly, I think

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we are already starting to see it.

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Like teens are just, you know,

catering to the female gaze a

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lot more than they were before.

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And even, I was talking to my mom

during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend.

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And she was saying when my dad was

younger and he was watching with her,

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when before I was probably even born,

things were not like that in F1.

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She never noticed this like positive

energy bringing, bringing like fans

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together and really including everyone.

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It really changed a lot already.

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And a lot of people are not really

noticing just how different it already is.

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It's already starting to be.

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Amanda Paolicelli: I mean, it's really the

female fans that bring all the good vibes.

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I mean, we bring the signs, we bring the

cute merch, we make a space for ourselves

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when maybe F1 wasn't making spaces for us.

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Ella: It's really not that hard to

just include a woman in, Just do a

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tiny thing that makes you feel like

you are seen and heard in that space.

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And honestly, I'm seeing that

too with all the makeup brands

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sponsoring liveries in sports.

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Honestly, that's like probably one

of my favorite things so far because

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people are not realizing how much

makeup brands can bring to a sport.

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They are an amazing sponsor.

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Amanda Paolicelli: Like.

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All these female centric brands like

dipping their foot into the pool of

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motor sports will bring a whole new

generation of female fans that maybe

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didn't know about it beforehand.

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So like you said, I don't

think it's hard at all.

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I think they need to do better.

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Ella: Just seeing like all the outrage

of people being mad that makeup is coming

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into F1, I see that's really confusing

to me because if you really like the

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sports, you understand that sponsors

are such an important part of it.

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Any brand can really sponsor an

F1, an F1 team or F1 Academy.

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It's important.

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It's a really big part of the sport.

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So being mad at that, I don't really

understand because would you be mad if a

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new energy drink was sponsoring the team?

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Would you be mad if like any

other brand was doing this?

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You probably wouldn't be mad.

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Amanda Paolicelli: Exactly.

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But they're just mad because it's

a makeup brand and they don't

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want to see the lipstick liveries.

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Ella: It's not bringing, it's really not

bringing anything to anyone anywhere.

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Yeah.

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Amanda Paolicelli: It's like.

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Not moving us forward, but

it's also not moving us back.

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We're kind of just like stagnant.

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Ella: Yes, and it really relates

to it's the fans deciding

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if they want change or not.

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Because we are seeing a lot of

people are angry at every tiny

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single change that F1 is making.

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Like, people were so mad

when the Halo was introduced.

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Even though it's saving lives,

it is saving people from dying.

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It's a good change, but

people are more mad.

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So that's why I think at the end of

the day, if you don't want something to

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change, you won't really care, whatever

the changes, it just, you're going to

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be mad at the end of the day anyway.

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Amanda Paolicelli: Yeah.

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And we just have to focus on ourselves

and how we can ourselves create that

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space and hope in return that it's.

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Reciprocated back.

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Ella: Yeah.

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And I don't think it's, it's wasted

energy either to be making ourselves a

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space because it's working the amount of

young women who are saying, I don't know

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anything about F1, but I want to learn.

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And then they come to my comment

section or the discord and

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they are like, I'm learning.

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People are telling them.

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Just what to know.

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And so at the end of the day, it's

working, it's doing something.

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People are interested

and they want to learn.

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So it's not wasted energy to just fight

about it and just keep working on it.

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It's doing something.

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Amanda Paolicelli: Yeah.

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It's doing something good.

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And like, why wouldn't you

want more fans in the space?

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Like, I just feel like, why are

we going to get mad at people?

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Like, no matter how you get into F1,

whether it's through Drive to Survive,

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whether it's through TikTok, whether

it's through seeing an Instagram

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page, where you're like, Oh my God,

I really want to join this community.

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Like, why does it matter

how we became a fan?

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Why does it not matter?

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We are a fan.

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And that's the most important thing.

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Ella: I'm really grateful for the way

that I was brought into the sport.

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My dad really showed me everything.

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And he was so, just, Encouraging about it.

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You wanted me to learn and not once I had

any issue with the fact that I'm a girl.

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You had no issue.

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It just took the time to

teach me everything and just

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make me really enjoy it.

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And imagine if we gave that same energy

to every new fan entering the sport.

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It's so welcoming and helping to know

that people just want you to know and

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want you to share their passion with them.

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That's the most amazing thing.

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Amanda Paolicelli: It's so beautiful

to see and I really wanted to touch on

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this real quick because you mentioned

your dad being so instrumental

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in you becoming a fan of up one,

and, um, I think it's so beautiful.

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I know you can relate on this with me, but

I hope some of the radiant icons who are

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listening can as well, but I've never been

really a sports girlie like my whole life.

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Like we grew up in hockey.

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I'm sure if anyone who's watched any of

my, my Instagram stories, we know that

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my, my dad, Papa Paula Shelley, he loves

good hockey game and he loves the Rangers.

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Um, but like, we didn't know

what formula one was at all.

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And when I started getting into it,

it was because of my best friend

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and she told me to watch DTS and,

you know, we binged all of it.

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And my dad was watching

it on the TV with me.

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Like, you know, when they say they're not

interested in your shows and then they

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become interested, like that was my dad.

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But what I think is so beautiful,

especially in like the recent couple of

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months is like, Lando won in Miami, right?

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Like, we all know I was dying

for that, like, certified

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Lando Norris early till I die.

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And my dad literally knew where I was.

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Like, he dropped me off at a bar to, like,

hang out with one of my friends, Izzy.

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The funniest thing was, and it was so

cute because my dad was, like, texting

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me updates through the race of like where

Lando was, like I wasn't watching it.

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And when Lando had won, he

told me congratulations.

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and then even, you know, after Miami,

for the Monaco Grand Prix, my dad, he

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came into my room, I was still asleep.

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And he was like, the race is so

good, Amanda, you have to watch it.

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So I got up from bed, like

unwillingly to watch it with my dad.

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But like having those

moments to share with him.

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When I wasn't really into hockey

beforehand or into sports, like it just

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wasn't entertaining or appetizing to me.

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But to now like see him pay attention

somewhat to a sport that I really love

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and to be able to have those memories

with my dad is something so beautiful.

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And I think that speaks to

that bridge like with Taylor

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Swift and Travis Kelce, right?

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The amount of fathers and daughters

coming together to watch football

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because Taylor Swift was there

and the dad loves football, right?

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Like I, I'm kind of seeing that mirrored

in my own life with my dad, because I

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love Formula One, and he may not know a

lot about it, but he's kind of interested

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because I'm interested in it, and I don't

shut up about it, so he's probably like,

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I have to, but you know, like, that,

that beautiful bridge, and I feel like,

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why can't we have that with everyone?

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Ella: You know,

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Amanda Paolicelli: why can't we have

these beautiful moments, like, you with

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your dad, me with my dad, like, Why,

why can't we have beautiful moments

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like that that bridge it together?

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My dad's not asking me, do I just watch

the sport because of Lando Norris?

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Like, he's, he's genuinely asking

me what's going on in the race.

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Ella: Yeah, like my dad and I, we

update each other on every single news.

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And I'm a newer fan, so

I don't know everything.

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So let's say I'm seeing a new thing.

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Someone made a change on the car.

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I go to him and I tell him, I saw that.

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What's that?

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Explain to me.

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And he does, he just explains

me how everything's working.

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And that's such a positive energy to give.

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To someone else to just learn.

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I, I think it would be so nice if older

fans were all just so nice with newer fans

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to just inspire them and let them learn.

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That's really, I think

that would be so nice.

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Amanda Paolicelli: I think it would be

so much more powerful if it was just

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like this beautiful trickling down

effect of Both sides coming together

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and being like we love this sport.

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Let's let's join forces I

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Ella: feel like in a way it's very

specific to formula one to or just

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motorsport in general Because you don't

really see people being mad that you are

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going to a hockey game if you don't know

anything about hockey Like i'm canadian.

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I I go to a hockey game just

random tuesday just for fun Hey

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Like, people are not mad at you.

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People are just telling

you what's happening.

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It's so different from other sports.

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People get so worked up about

everything that you say and do in

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Formula 1, when, realistically, if

you are watching, you have interest,

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because it's very time consuming.

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It's an entire weekend of just talking.

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watching everything.

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If, if you watch everything, not everyone

watches everything, but that's okay too.

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But like, it's time consuming and it's

very, it's very intense to be a fan of.

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Amanda Paolicelli: No, it's so

intense to be a fan of motorsports.

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It takes so much time and dedication

and like you mentioned, it's also okay

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to be a casual viewer of the sport.

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Like I don't think that's

normalized a lot as well.

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Ella: Yeah, exactly.

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That's like the worst.

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People are so mad at you if you

say that you are just watching

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casually to enjoy it and learn.

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People get so mad at you and I've

never seen anyone being mad at me

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because I watched a golf once and

didn't really understand everything.

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No one would say that.

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It's, it's literally just a

part of being a fan of sports.

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Amanda Paolicelli: Yeah!

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Like, I just don't know why there's

so much judgment between, Oh my

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god, you have to prove yourself.

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What does DRS mean?

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Can you name other drivers

in the Ferrari voice?

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Or, oh my gosh, you don't watch

a whole week in a Formula One?

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Like, you are such a fake fan.

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Like, what is this?

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Can't we all just be fans and enjoy

it however we want to enjoy it?

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And I think that's what's so powerful

with not only this conversation that we're

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continuing between our collaboration.

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But I think it's so powerful in

general with the communities.

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That are, growing and

developing within our sport.

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We're accepting everyone and anyone.

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And we're truly, really just helping all

of us, whether if we don't understand

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certain things, like we're, we're

teaching them or if we just want to,

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Oh my God, fangirl about X, Y, and Z,

like we're going to fangirl about X,

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Y, and Z, we're going to create these

beautiful friendships and memories.

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Okay, Ella.

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So we had such a good

conversation on how you can dare

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:

to embrace your inner fangirl.

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But before we end our tea time sesh,

I wanted to ask you, what are some

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iconic insights that you can leave

with the Radiant Icon community?

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And where can they find you?

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Ella: So I really want to say, just

don't be afraid to be yourself.

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Don't be afraid to just, I know that's

like literally the biggest stereotype

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ever, but don't be afraid to be

yourself and just enjoy what you like.

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And don't be afraid to seek out other

people who like the same things that as

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you just try to embrace everything about

your passions and just live them at 100

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percent to just enjoy everything you do.

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That's really the biggest thing.

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And you can find me on social media

at the F1 Girlies and you can check

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:

out our July cover that comes out.

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This week.

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Amanda Paolicelli: That is our tea

time sesh for today, Radiant Icons.

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I hope you enjoyed our conversation with

Ella, the founder of the F1 Girlies.

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You can connect with Ella

in the show notes below.

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All her information will be there.

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And guess what?

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You can read that July cover in what?

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The show notes.

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I hope you enjoyed our conversation,

and if you did, make sure to leave

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a review, leave a comment, leave a

rating, share it with your friends,

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share it with anyone and anyone,

and I will see you guys next week.

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Remember radiant icons dare to be iconic.

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Bye.

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Show artwork for Dare To Be Iconic

About the Podcast

Dare To Be Iconic
Embrace Your Iconic Self
Are you ready, radiant icons?

Welcome to "Dare To Be Iconic," the podcast made for icons daring to be themselves. Hosted by your favorite icon, Amanda Paolicelli, "Dare To Be Iconic" is not just another self-help podcast—it's your weekly tea time session where Amanda spills all the tea on topics like self-confidence, self-improvement, healing, and personal growth.

Why Choose "Dare To Be Iconic"?

~Real Talk, Real Transformation: Amanda's journey from heartbreak to triumph is the heartbeat of the show. This podcast is a safe space for raw, authentic conversations about healing, self-confidence, self-improvement, and personal growth.

~Practical Tips: Amanda shares practical, actionable tips that you can implement in your daily life. From overcoming setbacks to cultivating a positive mindset, each episode equips you with tools to navigate your dare-to-be-iconic journey.

~Community of Radiant Icons: Join a community of like-minded individuals who are also on their dare-to-be-iconic journey. The podcast is an invitation to be part of a supportive community that celebrates victories, learns from challenges, and grows together.

~Midweek Boost: Need a midweek pick-me-up? Tune in every Wednesday for your weekly tea time session.

Subscribe now, radiants icons, because your tea time session is starting.
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About your host

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Amanda Paolicelli