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Kelley Earnhardt, successful businesswoman and daughter of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, opened up about her personality in a conversation with Kenny Wallace. She talked about how living in the shadow of her famous father shaped her life.
Kelley is the co-owner and CEO of JR Motorsports. She was the VP of sales at Action Performance and currently serves on the boards of the Blueharbor Bank and The Dale Jr. Foundation. Kelley is also the author of "Drive: 9 Lessons To Win In Business and In Life," a book about her experiences in life, published in 2020.
On "Kenny Conversation," Wallace asked Kelley - who has a net worth of $50 million (as per Celebrity Net Worth) - if she ever found herself acting like her father. She responded (07:20).
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"I think that's not me because I lived in that shadow too. You know, I lived in the shadow of my dad being famous. And the same thing, I talk about in my book that I wrote, Drive...My dad is by far the most awesome person in the universe, as far as I'm concerned.
"Uh, the most awesome race car driver, um, just all of these great things. But we—our dad-daughter relationship was tough."
She emphasized how she tries to know her employees personally and make sure they feel valued (08:38).
"I try real hard. At work, I know all of my employees' names. I know their kids. I know what they're doing.
"Just like I mentioned to you on vacation, that connection is important to me. I follow up with people if they've told me that they had somebody sick." she added.
You can watch the full podcast below.
"I had learned from the best" - Kelley Earnhardt on her success
Further in the podcast, Kenny and Kelley Earnhardt also discussed her influential role in NASCAR.
Kelley won the Top 25 Women in Business Award from the Charlotte Business Journal in 2007. An Associated Press article called her “one of the most powerful people in NASCAR,” same year. ESPN.com ranked her as the third-most powerful woman in NASCAR in 2009.
Kelley Earnhardt explained how she took charge of her brother's career and used her business knowledge to build a successful business. She believes that it helped her earn recognition in the industry. Kelly said (12:20):
"I took my brother's career at that time and charged forward with it, like only I knew how to do. I had learned from the best—in terms of my dad in business. Working at Action Performance Licensing was so huge.
"Then I got the right people in place.. attorney-wise and things like that, and just said, 'This is the business we're going to build, and this is what we're going to do.' So, you know, I give a lot of credit to that scenario of us making that decision to that award right there."
Kelley Earnhardt's latest award came in 2015 when Sports Business Journal named her one of the Game Changers/Women in Sports Business for her influence on motorsports.
