As a former leader of Williams F1 and the youngest-ever Deputy Team Principal in motorsports, I know how hard it is to deliver competitive and commercial success within financial, regulatory and ethical frameworks while driving modernising change in a traditional British engineering environment.
When I took over in 2013, after working my way up from the press office, Williams had been struggling on and off the grid for the past decade. Over the next few years, my leadership team and I completed an end-to-end strategic transformation that doubled crucial revenue streams and led to the team’s best performance since 2003, with third-place Championship positions in 2014 and 2015.
Since leaving Williams in 2020, I’ve leveraged that background to consult on leadership, team performance, sponsorship and marketing and communications, particularly for clients entering the F1 space. Increasingly my focus is on non-exec work and as a speaker and brand ambassador in sports, technology, green tech, women’s initiatives and charities, most recently collaborating with Swiss Re and Johnson & Johnson.
My proudest achievements at Williams came from fostering a high-performance culture across a workforce of 1,000 people by finding exciting new talent in racing, engineering and commercial positions and evolving the wider organisational vision.
I placed our mission to help develop a more sustainable future at the heart of our green tech R&D arm, Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE). It’s a privilege to continue to work with WAE as a brand ambassador, supporting their acceleration of an efficient, electric and decarbonised future.
As a woman in a male-dominated environment, I was inspired by many trailblazing women in other industries to promote diversity, equity & inclusion for all minority groups via new workplace opportunities. My father, Frank Williams, was paralysed after an accident in 1986, and as VP of the Spinal Injuries Association, I honour his memory by helping those who face similar challenges.
I often hear from people who want to break into F1, and I tell them that it’s not just about a passion for speed, although that certainly helps. It takes absolute commitment, overcoming obstacles through the type of resilience that enables a driver to maintain peak performance under unimaginable pressure. For those who are built like that, it’s a dream of an industry to work in.
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