IPN Spotlight: Nabila Tejpar (Operations and Events Management Executive, Dunkin Donuts UK)
Nabila’s 23, and is a rally driver in the UK. She currently works in marketing and operations for Dunkin Donuts in the UK. Nabila received her BSBA in International Business, Entrepreneurial Management and International Relations from American University.
Nabila always dreamed of becoming a rally driver. Upon completing her degree, she returned to England, acquired her rally license and started to compete. In 2016, she participated in the Junior British Rally Championship. It was an intense experience, and a big learning curve, nothing like jumping into the deep end and learning how to swim!
The Junior class had talented individuals competing in it, she was nervous but excited for the challenge. It was a baptism of fire, but one she worked well with, even with a major accident, she came 8th out of 16 in her first year, against prominently male participants. 2017 has been a strong year so far; she has scored points on every round, and achieved a career best of 2nd.
She is currently 4th in the BRC cadet class, and has secured the Ladies Championship in 5 rounds. Nabila will be fighting for 3rd place in the final rounds.
To know more visit her website: http://www.nabilatejpar.com/
What skills have helped you in your career?
The skills that have helped me most in my current career path are courage, perseverance, teamwork, and constantly learning. Rallying is a sport where teamwork is essential because the co-driver is just as important as the driver if not more. Trust and understanding are vital for this sport. You also have to be willing to push and work hard with every step and every round, or with anything in life. Perseverance and positive thinking allow you to improve, and the harder you work the more changes you will see over a shorter period. Communication is also a key skill, both within the partnership in the car and the team, and also with media and PR aspects. Portraying yourself in a professional yet understanding way is important.
What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
Although I have only been competing in my sport for two years, there is still a lot that I can learn and could have changed. I wish I had started to train and compete earlier. I don’t regret completing my degree per say, but have debated on the possibility of “what if” I had started when I was younger? Would I be faster, better and possibly progressed further? Rather than dwell on these possibilities, and focus on my accident last year and my mistakes, I use them to push me forward, they have made me stronger and more resilient, and have progressed my driving forward.
What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
There is homework in everything you do, and you have to be willing to learn and make changes to improve. I don’t plan to pursue further academic studies; my primary focus is to make significant progress as a rally driver. I educate myself by learning from other drivers by using their feedback to help improve my driving. In between races, we spend time testing and training with professionals to increase my pace and ability. As a team, we analyse car set up, and watch previous event in the car, to see where you can gain seconds, and implement any changes to increase speed. Another key aspect is focusing on pace notes, we practice recce, and work on ways to create a concrete and consistent set of notes. I believe in continuous learning, and I am actively learning from everyone around me and not just from those who are in my field of interest.
What is next for you in your career?
Next for me is to decide on what championship to compete in. There are many options, however, at the moment it is still undecided. I will be looking to move to a faster car, and possibly progress into Europe and some World rounds over the course of the next year. The importance is to continue growing my pace and work on the results. I also plan on working to secure more partnership deals, to help progress to the next level.
What advice would you offer to others?
The best advice I can offer is, don’t get caught up on what you could change or your failures, they are a part of you and a significant part of life that help you get to that success. Instead of getting upset or angry about your failures, look at them and learn from them, don’t dwell on what if I had done this, or I didn’t get where I wanted. Instead look at the failure and think, that didn’t work so I will try this next time, or I can focus on this part, and I should get the outcome I want. My daily mantra is by Jari Matti Latavala a WRC driver, “set your goals high and don’t stop until you get there!”. Also, don’t listen to people who demotivate you or insist that you can’t do something. I wouldn’t be a rally driver if I had! You can achieve whatever you want so long as you are willing to work hard and invest everything into your efforts. Life is short so make sure you can look back and be proud of yourself!
Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Public Speaking
• Marketing
• Media Relations
• Sportsmanship
Please provide the link to your LinkedIn profile:
Nabila Tejpar
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