Soul & Science : #109: Building a Brand at 190 MPH | Amber Balcaen, Race Car Driver
SHOW NOTES
Amber Balcaen didn’t just have to prove she could win races. She had to prove she was worth backing.
In this episode of Soul & Science, Jason Harris sits down with Amber Balcaen, a third-generation race-car driver who made history in 2016 as the first Canadian female to win a NASCAR-sanctioned race in the United States. With a background in dirt racing, Amber became the first in her family to transition to asphalt stock cars and has since made more than 40 starts in the ARCA Menards Series.
Together, Jason and Amber explore the parallels between racing and business: the discipline of consistency, the importance of feedback loops, and the mindset required to keep going when results don’t come easily. From cold-calling sponsors to refining her brand story, Amber explains how resilience becomes operational—and why the ability to assess, adapt, and implement is what separates short careers from long ones.
Key Takeaways:
✅ Performance earns attention, but sponsorship sustains opportunity
✅ Resilience works best when it’s treated as a system, not a feeling
✅ Strong brands attract partners instead of chasing them
✅ Long-term success is built through consistency, feedback, and adaptation
Memorable Moments:
💡 “If I wanted to be a race car driver, I first had to be a businesswoman.”
💡 “Resilience isn’t just emotional. It’s operational.”
💡 “Racing and business are so similar: it’s always assess and implement.”
💡 “Hold your vision.”
Brought to you by Mekanism.
In this episode of Soul & Science, Jason Harris sits down with Amber Balcaen, a third-generation race-car driver who made history in 2016 as the first Canadian female to win a NASCAR-sanctioned race in the United States. With a background in dirt racing, Amber became the first in her family to transition to asphalt stock cars and has since made more than 40 starts in the ARCA Menards Series.
Together, Jason and Amber explore the parallels between racing and business: the discipline of consistency, the importance of feedback loops, and the mindset required to keep going when results don’t come easily. From cold-calling sponsors to refining her brand story, Amber explains how resilience becomes operational—and why the ability to assess, adapt, and implement is what separates short careers from long ones.
Key Takeaways:
✅ Performance earns attention, but sponsorship sustains opportunity
✅ Resilience works best when it’s treated as a system, not a feeling
✅ Strong brands attract partners instead of chasing them
✅ Long-term success is built through consistency, feedback, and adaptation
Memorable Moments:
💡 “If I wanted to be a race car driver, I first had to be a businesswoman.”
💡 “Resilience isn’t just emotional. It’s operational.”
💡 “Racing and business are so similar: it’s always assess and implement.”
💡 “Hold your vision.”
Brought to you by Mekanism.
Soul & Science
Does marketing live in the heart, or in the head? Should you trust your instinct, or your integers? If the answer is both, should you lead with one more than the other? As a creative agency, Mekanism has been asking these questions of ourselves and our clients for over 10 years. Join co-founder and CEO of award-winning creative agency Mekanism, Jason Harris, on his quest to answer these questions with the world’s leading marketers from the brands we’ve all come to love. Named CEO of the Year by The Drum Magazine, Jason will draw from his experience during these easily digestible 20-minute episodes to explore the Soul of these famous brands and the Science of staying relevant, exploring how they’ve become culture defining emblems in our modern world.
Brought to you by Mekanism
Brought to you by Mekanism
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