Career Spotlight: Meet Jodie Kemp, PR and Commercial Manager at Rodin Motorsport

In the fast-paced world of motorsport, you have to quick to adapt to whatever comes your way and that’s a lesson Jodie Kemp is putting into practice at Rodin Motorsport.

As the team’s PR and Commercial Manager, she is a vital part of their operations both trackside and back at base in the UK. We caught up with Kemp to chat about what she's learnt in her role, her advice for those looking to enter the industry and the joy of getting to work with drivers up and down the junior series ladder to set them on a path to success.

DESCRIBE WHAT A TYPICAL DAY AT WORK LOOKS LIKE FOR YOU?

“So if I’m not at a race weekend, I’m in my office back in the UK and it varies. I check through what’s coming in from a commercial side. We might have some drivers that we need to sign, we might have some stuff to do with sponsors and partners. There’s an awful lot of that that I get involved in.

“I look after the drivers with their race suits and any of their needs with that. I also have a general oversight on a lot of the stuff that’s going on in the team as well — managing the PR for the team, making sure that our messaging and our brand is correct, and our marketing.”

WHAT DOES AN AVERAGE WEEKEND LOOK LIKE AT THE TRACK?

“When I’m at the track, it’s much of the same really, but obviously a little more frantic because we’ve all got other things to do as well. I don’t get involved in the social media anymore, I’ve dropped that one off in recent years. I’ve got someone who helps me with all of that.

“I look after the drivers and I make sure that at a race weekend, they’re where they need to be a lot of the times, they’re talking to the correct media and they’re doing what they need to do. I’m just supporting the team.”

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WHAT’S THE MOST REWARDING PART OF YOUR JOB?

“For me, I really enjoy seeing the drivers develop. We’re very fortunate that we race in championships where we can work with 14 and 15 year olds and take them right the way up to the door of F1. It’s really exciting when you get those young drivers like Lando Norris when we had him in British F4.

“You can really see them develop and grow as a driver, take them right up to F2, get them to Formula 1, IndyCar, Formula E and all these Championships, and just that immense sense of pride that you’ve had something to do with it.”

WHAT’S THE TOUGHEST ASPECT OF YOUR ROLE OR A CHALLENGE THAT PEOPLE MIGHT NOT EXPECT?

“So much! I think it's the fact that you have to constantly adapt. That's one of the things that you don't realise is so necessary in this role. You have to constantly be able to just adjust your scheduling, adjust the way that you approach things. I think that doesn't come naturally to a lot of people in a lot of roles and it's something that you do have to learn.”

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WHAT’S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’VE EVER BEEN GIVEN?

“It was a good 14 or 15 years ago and it was from a girl that was working in the World Rally Championship. She said to me ‘perseverance’. She was like ‘just keep going, take on any opportunity, any kind of work experience, any free volunteer work you can do. Just keep pushing and you’ll get somewhere’. Well I took that onboard, I did my volunteering, I put myself out there and I got what I wanted."

WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT SKILLS YOU NEED?

“Organisation, I guess. Again, you need to be able to adapt to situations, you need to not let yourself get stuck in the moment too much. That's mainly it really, you just need to have a love for it actually. I think that's the biggest thing with motorsport because you put in so much of your time so having that passion for it helps and it means that you don't necessarily need to be completely, amazingly strong in certain areas as long as you've got that passion and that willingness to learn.”

ANY CAREER HIGHLIGHTS SO FAR?

“It’s really hard just to pick one, I’ve had so many. Years and years ago, winning the Macau Grand Prix, that was a really big highlight. Just general Championship wins, but I think personally for me as well, when I see achievements that we’ve done as a team. When we change our team kit, we change logos and we change this and things like that. Our brand continuing to be as strong, I think that’s a really big personal highlight for me.”

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WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG WOMAN ASPIRING TO BE IN A JOB LIKE YOURS?

“Don’t be put off because sometimes you don’t see that many female faces in the paddock, it is changing. Absolutely strive to get where you want to be, go for those goals. There are more of us now and exactly the same — perseverance. Keep pushing, keep trying to get where you want to be, keep doing things. Keep getting your name out there and you absolutely will.”