August marks the two-year anniversary of when the initial motions for Girls Across The Grid (GATG) began. It’s hard to believe how much has changed for me in two years, personally and professionally, and I owe it all to this incredible community that we’ve grown as a collective over the past two years.
I get asked often by members, friends and anyone who is interested – how did it all start? Why did it all start? To be honest, I never could of imagined how far the community has come in two years, when I first set up a small Instagram group chat two years ago, if you had of told me the way the community is shaped today and the memories I have made, I would have laughed in your face.
But now seems like a good time to reflect back on the very early origins of the community – how was it set up, and why?
August 2022. I was going through a pretty tough time personally, I was 26 years old, about to move out of my house with my ex-partner and into a flat on my own. I have friends, I have some really good friends, but we were all in different stages of life. Meeting up became harder on weekends, I was working from home and just feeling a bit… lonely? And believe me, it’s harder to make friends in your twenties!
The summer break of 2022 had just began, and Sebastian Vettel released that retirement video. I was sat on my own, with no one to cry with and I had thought how nice it would be to have a group of friends who all share the same love for Motorsports as I did. So I put a call out on Facebook.
“Hey! Are there any girls around who love F1 who would want to maybe set up a group chat together?!”
And that is how the very first seed of GATG was planted.
Over the next two months, this group chat, lovingly named “Guenther’s Grid Gorls” went through it together! I remember sitting in the group chat, working from home on the day the Queen died. All of us in that chat who were working from home were watching BBC News and talking throughout the day, it’s a core memory for real!
A group of us decided to book and go to Silverstone together in 2023. What a bucket list moment right?! And to go with a group of girls I genuinely enjoyed talking F1 with sounded like an absolute dream. (Spoiler alert: it was)
At the end of summer break, it was the Belgian Grand Prix – I arranged a meet up for a small group of 10 of us in London to get together and watch the race. OH MY GOD I was petrified no one would show up, how embarrassing right?! I even planned to walk over the O2 with one of the girls who said she was coming before, despite having a fear of heights (that I discovered whilst walking the O2), just so I knew at least one person was coming. I mean it was an experience never to forget! But eventually, my worries were dissipated and 10 girls turned up and we all watched the race together.
The next couple of months, we carried on, we met up at pubs across London. For the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix, that is when I met Val, Shannon and Sophia for the first time – three of my now closest friends from GATG. All bonding over the fact we wanted to watch F1 together. At the 2022 Singapore meet up, the girls even got me a birthday present, cake and a card. I almost cried. I say almost because I am absolutely not a crier!
The turning point from where this went from a nice little group chat into the 20,000 strong community we know today was just after the Mexican Grand Prix. Fifteen of us decided we would go to Wahaca for some Mexican food before going to the pub and watching the Mexican Grand Prix together. I made a post on TikTok because I thought it was a cute and fun idea, and it blew UP! I had hundreds of comments and messages from people who were wanting to join – from all over the world!
I got together with a few of my friends in the community and I brainstormed with them how I wanted the community to look and run. I asked for their opinions, I designed the logo myself, we asked the girls in the group chat to help with a name for the community – and there on the 4th November 2022, Girls Across The Grid was born.
The two years that have followed have been wild, we have expanded over the globe – have little GATG hubs everywhere, run by volunteers who want the same as what I did… girlfriends to watch motorsport with.
I hope the next two years continue to be just as crazy, just as random, and I find more and unite more best friends all over the world.
The origin of GATG is a story I will always hold close to my heart, and if you are still reading, it has been an honour to share it with you – thank you for reading!
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