3/8/2025-On this day, Janet Guthrie

Just when you think you’ve had a bad day, think about others out there – like Janet Guthrie – who have had to fight through barriers and walls much steeper than yours.

Happy 87th birthday to the first woman to qualify and compete in the Indianapolis and Daytona 500s (1977).

After earning her pilot’s license at 17, Guthrie graduated from the University of Michigan with a physics degree and became an aerospace engineer. However, none of that gave Janet the thrills and challenges of the speedway.

So why is this important to you, speed-racer sales pro?

Breaking into one of the most male-dominant sports of all time puts Guthrie on the Mt. Rushmore of courage and persistence. Janet’s story – and success – is something to study!

Put on your miner’s headlamp, dive into your basement or attic, and unbury that "ten percent more" Janet refers to in today’s quote.

Use that extra gear today.

It’s there…it’s just buried under all those emails and calendar invites.

If Janet can fight through obstacles taller than a mountain, you can fight through today’s BS and your broader challenges just fine.

Janet Guthrie qualified for and competed in the 1977 Indianapolis 500 in a car entered by Rolla Vollstedt but finished 29th with engine troubles.

Janet would go on to compete in only two more Indy 500s and finish ninth in the ’78 race while driving with a fractured wrist. (This woman’s got courage and high pain tolerance…wow!) Janet hurt the wrist a few days before the race while playing in a charity tennis tournament; she had to hide the injury from officials so she could race.

Just when you think you’ve had a bad day, or you can’t take the Acme client anymore, or your company’s management is driving you crazy, think about Janet, who had to fight through barriers and walls much steeper than yours.

Imagine Janet in your passenger seat coaching you on how to take the next curve and when to accelerate. You don’t have to go it alone…find those like Janet who can help you.

Watch this video featuring Janet discussing what it meant to start in a big race against "the big boys." (Shock alert: they didn’t like it – or her – one bit. Neither did the fans.)

Here’s Janet about her career: "The most gratifying thing was to see attitudes change…because they saw that I knew what I was doing and that I could give them some good competition."

Whether you know a little or a lot about IndyCar racing, you’ll appreciate the perspective of a courageous actor on a stage filled with lions.