She’s in charge: At the F1 Miami Grand Prix, many top executive roles are held by women

MIAMI GARDENS Fla AP For the Miami Grand Prix someone is in charge of all the strategic planning and the budget Someone else oversees the construction of temporary buildings needed for a Formula race weekend Someone else designs the seating areas and keeps track of food and beverage necessities Someone else makes sure that the rich and famous have everything they need and want from the right drink to the right kind of throw pillow These jobs make the race happen And in Miami they re all being done by women It s something that the Miami Grand Prix believes sets its race apart In a sport and a circuit still dominated by males there hasn t been a woman behind the wheel for a Formula race since it will be arduous this weekend to find an element of the event that isn t overseen by a woman I m so proud stated Katharina Nowak the Miami race s vice president of business operations The amount of talent whether male or female that we have in that room it just makes you want to be better Every day we push ourselves to just continue to maintain the standard at which we all expect to be working at which just pushes everybody to be better for each other because no one wants to let anyone down The women leading the way There are men on the masthead for the race s local overseers Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross owns the race Tom Garfinkel is the managing partner and Tyler Epp is president of the race that takes place at the Dolphins Hard Rock Stadium campus From there several other top Miami roles are held by women including Nowak only years old reports to Epp as the race s second-in-command and oversees all strategic plans the budget and internal departments She also speaks four languages Natalie Clark is the senior director of event operations overseeing the process of building loading in and loading out which means she tracks what every truck is bringing onto the campus and where it goes Sydney McClain is the senior director of events and food and beverage meaning she creates virtually the entire fan experience on the -acre campus Melanie Cabassol is vice president of hospitality and curated experiences meaning she creates the atmosphere for premium clients a list that in past years has included the likes of LeBron James Patrick Mahomes Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos I ve worked at other places before and it hasn t been that I m sitting around a conference table and a majority of women are driving different initiatives within this business McClain commented So it is very unique It s very exciting And I think that we owe a lot of that to the female leaders that have been here been in our shoes before and that have helped pave the way for us The race s impact on Miami The race now in its fourth year is part of a diverse series of events at the Hard Rock campus It s primarily the home of the Dolphins who have their training facility adjacent to the stadium It also plays host to Miami Hurricanes football concerts soccer the Club World Cup later this year and the FIFA World Cup next year will hold specific matches there and the Miami Open tennis tournament The F race alone has generated more than billion in economic impact in its first three years The women leading the Miami race aren t alone in their fields At F the chief commercial officer is Emily Prazer and until late last year Sacha Woodward Hill had been there for nearly years as the chief legal officer But Miami stands out revealed Susie Wolff the managing director of F Academy an all-female developmental racing series I think it s something which we can all take quite an amount of pride in that the sport has shifted in such a way that it s now the event that it is not regarded as something strange Wolff reported I don t see it as atypical I think is a testament to the progress we ve made How it happens in Miami This week in Miami takes the other weeks on the calendar to prepare for Eight months of planning three months of executing the plan and then one month of it all veritably happening Part of Clark s job along with overseeing tent structures and generators and miles of plumbing infrastructure all of it temporary and hidden also is to work with architects and construction companies who execute what she draws up for a plan I think when I was younger in my career I got a little bit of Who is she Why is she in the meeting Why does she have these construction plans Clark explained And what happens over time is they hear you speak your confidence and once people understand that you are a master at your craft there s less questions being urged Cabassol leaves nothing to chance in her job She s in charge of the the bulk luxurious spaces on the campus the Palm Club the Casa Tua Trackside Club and the Club The original blueprints for those spaces were her vision Every glass every bottle of Champagne every element of those spaces gets her approval They call her group a white glove group VIP institution for VIP guests She even manages a secret road of sorts on the campus Palm Alley they call it a palm tree-lined path that drops off various of the world s richest people feet from the entrance Inside the club there are the strictest of rules no entourages no private protection the VIP and one guest only No cameras no media Cabassol and her group know the likes and dislikes what kind of food what kind of drink every guest will want ahead of time by dealing with the VIPs own teams If there is a Palm Club guest who doesn t like another Palm Club guest they even have a plan to keep those people away from each other Everybody must enjoy themselves no matter what She makes it work So do Nowak Clark McClain and countless others What has happened here is they ve brought the right people together to create the right company to execute the vision Cabassol commented I guess I would say I m proud to represent women in this space but I m even more proud to be a part of the gang that recognizes and elevates talent that collaboratively work together in this 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