Stefy Bau: Picture a Mountain

Learning how to ride is learning how to live, says Stefy Bau, one of the all-time greats in motocross--winner of 3 World Championships, the Loretta Lynn, and many more. We discuss her career-ending injury and the life-lessons taught to us all by motorsports. We also discuss her time as CEO of an electric bike company, her new company, INIT (now the official AMA E-sports powerhouse for sim racing) and all the many 'firsts' Stefy has made for women in motorsports.

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Transcript

Andrea Hiott: 0:15

Hey, everybody. Welcome to Forever Motoring. Today, we have a special guest named Steffi Bau--maybe you've heard of her. She's the fastest or one of the fastest women in the world. Highly regarded as one of the best motocross racers ever to race. She's won three World Championships, the Loretta Lynn, seven Italian championships, at least two WMX USA championships and on and on. S he knew she wanted to do motocross from a very young age. She was already riding when she was four. On a very cute little bike. And by the time she was 6 she was telling her parents that she knew what she wanted to do. And that was to be a motocross racer. By the age of 17, she'd gone pro. And, around that same time became the first woman eligible to compete with male racers in the field. However, her home country of Italy though, she had qualified in the top three of all racers in that country would not allow her to compete for them in the World Championship because she was a woman. So she decided to move to the United States and make it happen another way. And she soon became eligible there and did become the first woman to compete against male racers in the field. And that persistence and belief of Steffi's really continued, even when she was challenged in the most extreme way in a terrible crash in 2005 that left her unable to walk and just suddenly changed her entire trajectory. But as she tells it, it also woke her up to a larger mission. And showed her that these kinds of events h elp you understand that when a mountain appears you don't always have to go over it. Sometimes you can go through it or around it, or even under it. The real trick or the real skill, life skill, as she tells it, is in finding the strength not to give up. So we talk about that a bit today and how she found her strength. And she really is strong in so many ways. Not only is she, as I said, one of the fastest women in motocross racing. And not only has she won all these championships in Supercross and Motocross She's also a business woman and she was the CEO for an electric bike company. Fantic bikes, the USA. Branch of it. Then she also founded her own company called INIT sports. I N I T. You've probably heard of E-sports. Maybe you dismiss them. Maybe you love them. But I suggest you check out this E-racing and SIM racing, which is part of what INIT does, Steffi's company. They have over 80,000 people turn up every week to watch these racing events, which are all online. INIT is like a powerhouse, for SIM racing and motorcycle events right now. And with E-sports being a billion dollar industry. Steffi Bau is one of the most powerful women in the field, but she's also focusing with her company on real life events. Starting numerous programs to help young women find their passions in the STEM fields--in science technology, engineering, and mathematics. Also helping E racers become racers in real life. Steffi herself has also been featured as a character in numerous video games. I think she was also the first woman to be featured in any motocross video game ever. Steffi has really led and mentored so many women in motor sports. And she does so from so many angles. The riding, but also the business angle. Also just in terms of inspiration and sharing what she's been through and what she's learned. She really puts her heart and soul into everything as you'll hear in this interview. And she really believes that together we can change the world. I hope more of us will join her in that spirit and belief, as we find better ways of forever motoring. Enjoy getting to know Stephie Bau as much as I did. And I hope you also join her and maybe volunteer or have a look at some of her work or become a racer. All right, let's go. Hi Stefy thanks for being with us today on Forever Motoring.

Stefy Bau: 4:35

Hey, nice to meet you, and I'm happy to be here.

Andrea Hiott: 4:37

So this is a podcast about what moves us and the ways that we move. So the first question I'd like to ask you is just what's a moment in your life when you remember being moved?

Stefy Bau: 4:48

Well, I am a, a person that was born already with an idea in mind of what I wanted to do. at six years old I looked at my mom and dad in the eyes and I said, one day I will become a motocross racer. So I move myself very well, and I just like to go for things and trying to do things that kind of break that glass ceiling for women in male dominated industry.

Andrea Hiott: 5:12

You were six years old when you told your parents

Stefy Bau: 5:14

my mom and dad were fan of the sport, so they had the, the magazine to come around, in, in the house. And then every time there was the World Championship coming to Italy, they were bringing me with them. So I got so fascinated by the sport that that's what I wanted to do. And, I was able to win three world titles,

Andrea Hiott: 5:34

it's incredible. Three Women's World Titles and seven in Italy. Is that right? And Three AMA do I have it

Stefy Bau: 5:41

That is all correct., I was the first woman to race competitively with the men on the top of the sport. So I do have a few firsts in my career.

Andrea Hiott: 5:49

You started really young. Your dad taught, took you to someplace near your house and you were racing was that kids, Was that boys and girls? Did you think about being a woman at

Stefy Bau: 5:58

No, I think until like the, 13, 14 years old of of age, there is nothing difference. You are just a kiddos. So you go out there and you play and then you ride, you race, but it's all the same. But, then when you start to be a teenager, hormones comes into play so becomes a different story. And then you start thinking, oh yes. I'm, I'm growing up to be a young woman and those are young boys. So it becomes a little bit more competitive in a way, and because the classical, the boys doesn't, doesn't wanna be beaten by the girl. And for me I was like, well, if I'm as fast as than you, I deserve to be there. So at the teenage year, it kind of like started to change and being a little bit more difficult. But I had two wonderful parents that taught me that anything you want to do in life, you just have to work hard and go for it. I grew up with that mentality. So I was behind the gate with everybody else. I have the helmet on everybody else, and I was just going and do the best I could.

Andrea Hiott: 7:01

So those are really like your earliest memories, would be, a lot of them would be connected to, to the Motocross or, or would

Stefy Bau: 7:09

Yes, absolutely. At some point I remembered, I had all entourage like uncle and aunts, they were coming, to hear my grandma and whatnot. So yes, it was a totally family affair and I've been super lucky to have, my parents, there's so many sacrifice for me, to be able to achieve what I did in, in this sport. And I guess, it becomes a little easier when you win because not only me, I wanted to go to an X race and win again, but also becomes like something for the family too.

Andrea Hiott: 7:39

And did you feel that early on, did you get sort of addicted to the trophies and the, excitement and the, winning for your family, that feeling? That must have been something very special.

Stefy Bau: 7:48

Oh yes, absolutely. I mean, it changes with time. Like at the very beginning when you're very young, you just like to bring home the trophy. So you know, you are wa waiting for, the weekend to go race. When I started to, to to grow into the professional ranking, then it becomes more like a job and therefore, you started to appreciate even more the fact that your parents, your family did so many sacrifice for you to be able to achieve, what, what your goals are. So the mentality change there now, really, you are not doing it just for yourself. Now you're doing it for the family. So we were all together to go and pursue this.

Andrea Hiott: 8:24

Yeah, it's interesting when that moment, when you start to realize it's not just about you, it's about your family. And then it sounds like you also had some further realizations that it was also about women and charting a kind of new path for women.

Stefy Bau: 8:38

I guess I started out, not so much for others, like at the beginning was more like hey, I'm good at this. I'm, now having the opportunity to, to be professional and therefore, I wanted to demonstrate, with everybody, but to myself too, that, I'm a woman, so what, like I can do a male dominated industry. And with that automatically comes the effect of inspiring others. I will say that I did have a, important moment in my career, which is, when I got hurt, I had a career ending injury and

Andrea Hiott: 9:12

in

Stefy Bau: 9:12

like

Andrea Hiott: 9:12

That was in 2005

Stefy Bau: 9:14

2005? Correct. So I was already, toward the end of my career, I was 28 years old. And Motocross is a, is a young sport and, you are never prepared, especially in the way that happened to me. Meaning that all of a sudden, sudden anything that I knew up to the point in life stopped completely. But, I was able, again, through family and support, to turn the negative into positive. And at the moment is when I realized, hey, now I can do stuff for others, right? And continue to help the community and help other women. So they want to pursue a career such as the one that I had, and help them avoid some mistake and be there for them. So that was a critical moment when I finally realized that, there is a lot that can be done for other women in the sport.

Andrea Hiott: 10:03

And it wasn't even just in motocross, you've actually opened many different paths in many different fields. But first, that kind of time between, I guess it was mostly like the late nineties, that you were really winning all these races, right? Early 2000s?

Stefy Bau: 10:16

That correct. Yes.

Andrea Hiott: 10:17

how did you end up going pro and then how did you end up in this international scene? You started racing. You were really good at it. You were natural at it. You How, did it become your job?

Stefy Bau: 10:26

I am turned officially professional at 17 years old when basically when you become professional, when you start getting paid for what you do, right? That's the, the how you classify somebody is professional, what they do. It's a combination of both sponsor, they pay your way, they want to be associated with you. And then also, there are prices on winning races. it's a combination of both things. So that, started to feel very good, because now sort of like a hobby turning to something that, hey, I can do this for a living.

Andrea Hiott: 11:01

And I guess you were getting a lot of attention then too. Probably

Stefy Bau: 11:04

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I also come up with a stupid age, meaning it happened during the time that you are in your stupid ages because 17, it's a difficult time in everyone's life.

Andrea Hiott: 11:18

that's for sure. So much changing, but I, it sounds like you were confident, which you must have had to be, to be winning these races. That can be a time when people are very, yeah. Not confident. So you obviously were, you had some confidence.

Stefy Bau: 11:31

yes. A lot of confidence there. A lot of time it got interpreted as cockiness, but it comes with the territory,

Andrea Hiott: 11:39

Many good athletes have this, I guess.

Stefy Bau: 11:42

Yeah, you have to believe that you are the best in in the world to be able to do what you do. So it just comes with it. But then eventually, and luckily you grow out of that phase, and then you become a normal human being again.

Andrea Hiott: 11:57

Yeah. But you actually did become the best in the world. Not everyone does that, but in any case, okay, so you're 17, you're a little bit cocky or confident, and you're winning races and you're starting to go pro

Stefy Bau: 12:08

yeah. I started to race in Europe, so I put myself, in front of like a, a bigger competition and I started to add success, success in, Europe as well. And then my goal was, to become the first woman to race a round of the men's world championship. So back then, we are talking 1998. How the sport, used to work was that, you needed to do qualification in your own countries and, through a time trial. So if during that time trial you were, in the top five, then technically you could have been selected to go to represent your own country into the world championship round or the entire series. So I did this time trial in Italy. And I added the third fastest lap time. So I was on cloud nine, I'm like, I made it. And like with the cockiness and the confidence. I appreciate that you call it confidence, I was I was like, oh my God, I just made history, I was gonna be the only female in the history of the sport to do this. I'm gonna make history, this is what I dreamt since I was little and, and so on and so forth. And then a few days later, I receive a phone call from the federation saying, ah, we decide not to send you because you are a female. And that was hard.

Andrea Hiott: 13:33

That was the message we decided not to. send you because you are a female. Oh,

Stefy Bau: 13:38

Yeah, that was insane. And it was still, early ages, I guess, in Italy, discrimination was overlooked at that time. So that was actually the turning point for me to want to come to the United States. So that's what made the change. And I'm like, gentlemen, you're not gonna let me do it here. I'll show you. I'll make it happen. So then, I packed up my luggage. I went to the United States. I did not speak a word of English then. And I started racing, like I had the support from Kawasaki when I first arrived in the US. So I had sponsor because I was professional over in Europe, I was able to, receive support in the United States right away. And then I came in and I start winning races. And then I asked to have the professional license with the men here in the United States. And because I had the points to be able to do it, I was not, declined it. So I had it. At that point, I finally achieved what I wanted to achieve in the United States instead, for my own country. But, but it comes full circle because in 2005, which was a bittersweet year for me I did receive that phone call where they asked me to become the first woman to race in the World Championship

Andrea Hiott: 15:01

Ah, so they want

Stefy Bau: 15:03

The,

Andrea Hiott: 15:03

you

Stefy Bau: 15:03

Exactly, they wanted me back. And then it was a, like I said, a good reward because at that point I was like, yep, I will be super happy to do this, but this is how much it's gonna cost you now. So I came full circle at the end. 1998.

Andrea Hiott: 15:21

You made that happen though.

Stefy Bau: 15:22

Yeah,

Andrea Hiott: 15:23

Is that, is that normal for you that you decide to make something happen and you do make it

Stefy Bau: 15:27

yeah. I'm kind of kind of person. If I like something because I, I'm fueled by passion, right? So if I like something and I love it, then I'm like, okay, I'm gonna make it happen. I'll figure it out a way. And when I do a lot of keynote speech or like inspirational speech to people, I always say picture a mountain in front of you, there is so many way to go around it. You can go on top, underneath, through it, around it. You just have to find a way. it's not because there is a mountain that that is gonna stop you. So just keep going for what you love.

Andrea Hiott: 16:03

I love that because I was expecting you to say, you can always get over it. But yeah, you just opened up a whole other space to think you can go around it. You can go on the side of it, you can go. That's like a whole other way of thinking that there's many, many ways to deal with that thing that's ahead of you and you've had a few of those mountains. The actual races themselves, but also what we've been talking about, the limits that you broke through in terms of women, but then also this accident that came in 2005, which I wanna talk about next. But first I wanna go to that moment when you got that letter in Italy, did that shock you? Were you expecting that at all? Okay, now I see how it is that because I'm a woman, I can't compete

Stefy Bau: 16:40

Well, it was, I would say a combination of emotion. I was not expecting it. I was in rage. I was like, why this? Why why there is has to be a difference, I'm just behind the gate with the helmet like everybody else. It doesn't matter if I'm a woman and I'm not a man, why this? So I guess it fueled even more my desire to be the best. So that's why I say what I said, okay, this is just a bump in the road. I'm gonna come full circle around and I'm gonna do it somewhere else.

Andrea Hiott: 17:15

In a way it gave you more energy to achieve something and do something that from a different way that ended up actually bringing even more things into your life. Positive things

Stefy Bau: 17:25

Absolutely, absolutely everything that happens in life happens for a reason. And if you can really try to always find a positive out of it, then you are gonna always win. So for me, that was like, Hey, I can go to the United States, which is a country that a lot of people aspire to, to go and live there and do my sport. M ama was not super happy. I have to tell you that But my parents always knew that if I wanted something, I was gonna go and get it no matter what. So that was my turning point to come to a different country and with the good and the bads, because, It's not easy, especially if you are by yourself,

Andrea Hiott: 18:06

oh no. And the language that can be so hard.

Stefy Bau: 18:09

Yeah. The language, a totally different culture, it was not easy, but again, I have that goal in my mind, so nothing was gonna stop me and I went for it.

Andrea Hiott: 18:19

It's amazing that determination. When you were actually racing these times. When you're winning so much and there's so many races, what was your schedule like during the day? Were you training all the time? Were you going to school still?

Stefy Bau: 18:31

Yes, it's training all the time. When, I was in my professional years, my typical day was, something like this, getting up at seven in the morning, go for a four or five miles run, then come back home breakfast, and then go to the track and at the track spending like, the majority of the day doing what we call in the industry mottos, which is 40 minutes on the track, like to mimic a race. So you are gonna do that two or three times and then come home and go for a 20 mile bicycle ride or a swim, right? That was every day. It's a lot of physical activities, but you have to be in the top shape possible to be able to be, at the top of the sport. It's very demanding. It's also very demanding mentally. So be able to have a body that can sustain you, you know what you wanna do. It helps the mental side as well.

Andrea Hiott: 19:30

I've never been on a dirt track, and I just wonder, could you describe the feeling of it, how does it, how does it feel and, yeah. Especially in terms of needing to be in shape,

Stefy Bau: 19:40

I mean, to me, what the sport motocross and supercross taught me is everything that I needed to have a good life life, period. So let me explain it more like this, the track changes every lap. So you need to be sharp as a, a sharp shooter, meaning like you have to be completely focused all the time because if you mess up, y ou can get on the ground. If you don't pick your line correctly, another opponent can come up and pass you, right? So you have to look all the time, scanning that ground and in super fast, and make a decision, like it right there on the spot. Then the physical side, you have aerobic and strength all at once. So to be able to, do the sport is like a soccer player that runs for, the entire time of a match in addition to a body builder. Together. So it's, it's a lot, and then comes the strategy even more in regards to how to manage your strength and your abilities and that for a length of time, like each, race is about 40 minutes. So for 40 minutes, like you need to be able to pace. Your capabilities and win against your opponent. So there is a ton of components that go into this sport, and I feel very lucky that I choose this sport because those are similar things that you do in life. Another thing, once you win, you are in front of 80,000 people, you have to make a speech. So that is, to me is very similar to, like when somebody goes up for a job interview, you might not be in front of 80,000 people, but the feeling is the same because you have to perform and say the right things to be able to have your audience, cheering you on or liking you or hiring you, right? That's also another thing that I learned through the sport. So yeah, and the never give up attitude, again, in life, like in, in, in motorcycle racing, we used to say you crash 10 time and you get up 11. you never stay on the ground. And then, the same thing with, with life, if there are stuff that happens to you, it doesn't matter. You keep going, you get up, you keep going. I just had, a talk, at the full sale university last week, and it was fun because I titled the talk Do Not let go of the handlebars. And that is because. The last thing that you do, like the last thing that you do when you are about to crash and like it's, it's almost unsavable the crash. You still hold on to the handlebar, and then sometimes you have to let go because you know it happens, and that is a lesson in life. you have so many thing coming to you and happen to you during your life, but if you stay strong and motivated on what you have the passion for and what you like, you definitely not gonna let go of that handlebar

Andrea Hiott: 22:49

It's a good image too to carry around. You had this long life history, even though you were only 28 by the time you had this crash in 2005, but you'd really developed a whole kind of way of being in the world that was about those things you just described. Being in the present moment in a sense, because you don't know exactly what's coming next. Being able to balance, being able to be seen and talk in front of people, all these qualities. I also imagine you had to learn some business instinct about how to take care of yourself in terms of money and all that. That's a whole other lesson. So it really was like a school of, I don't know,

Stefy Bau: 23:25

I I can call it like a school of life, because again, for me, the sport that really gave me all the tools necessarily to then, continue to do what I, I had the passion for in life after racing. again, the never give up aptitude, the resilence, respecting others, because you have to respect your competitors too, like they're there to, to try to win as well. So you need to be able to stay in front of them without creating a crash or, endanger others, right? So that's a formal respect, you, you argue and you be the best you can by. competing against other people and work harder so you can be the best. And if you are not the best, it's okay. It's okay to fail. Like the crash motorcycling racing represent also that in my opinion, like you can fail, you can crash, but you have to get up and do it again.

Andrea Hiott: 24:16

You can learn a lot from that. I guess sometimes even more than just winning all

Stefy Bau: 24:20

Exactly. Because you learn not to do that again and next time,

Andrea Hiott: 24:23

mm-hmm. life can really give us some big challenges and some really difficult things. And even with this whole skillset you had, I have to imagine that the last thing you really expected was what happened when you were 28 in, in 2005 and you had this crash and it was during a practice or

Stefy Bau: 24:39

yes.

Andrea Hiott: 24:39

Set it up for us a

Stefy Bau: 24:40

Yeah, we were getting ready to, to prepare for the 2006 season. So we were testing in Thomasville, Georgia. I was with the Honda team at time. And, I messed up this jump and in the two, three seconds, that I was in the air that I knew that the accident was gonna happen, the first thing I thought about it was, dang, I'm going to miss next week's race. And the second thought was like, ah, this is might hurt quite a bit. But again, the first thing in my mind was like, not be scared, not be upset or whatever. It's I, I can't race next week, so again, it shows the character or like a hyper condition with this sport, but then again, you grow up by, with this sport to make all of this kind of decision, in a split of a second. And sometimes are good, sometimes are not, and you live with the consequences of it. In this case, I don't know what happened. I can't tell if it was my error and motorcycle error, but it did happen and on the line of what we are saying after two hours since the accident, I was already on the operating room. And the surgeon was saying you might lose your legs, we have 1% chance that you have your legs coming out of the surgery. And still on that bed. I was talking to the surgeon, say, yes, okay, but when can I go back racing?

Andrea Hiott: 26:06

You were just pushing forward. Even that moment you were persisting.

Stefy Bau: 26:10

looking forward, forget what happened. Okay, that happened all. So how can I go past that, and continue to, to go forward?

Andrea Hiott: 26:18

That's a lot of change in three hours. you're practicing everything's, you have this regimen of waking up at seven and all this. this whole life is built on this. You probably have a team, your family's probably still working with you. It's a whole moving machine, and then this thing happens and in two hours you're on a operating table and everything has changed, right?

Stefy Bau: 26:38

Yes, that is correct. And the way that you put it is exactly how I felt. Meaning that now what? Now what's gonna happen? And I have to say, I went in a dark place, at first because you know how your life all of a sudden, the life that you knew and the life that you lived, like for basically 28 years it just stopped, like you are never prepared for that. And it's just you are getting into this spiral. This what am I doing? What, what is

Andrea Hiott: 27:10

Yeah. It's almost must be like a state of shock too. it's almost too much to handle because everything is so linked. even just the routine of your life, changing the routine of your life in a little way is hard. But with that kind of change, where it's, of course, it's also your passion and what you wanna do. So it's mental, it's emotional, it's physical, and it's also just the routine of your day.

Stefy Bau: 27:28

Yeah. It wasn't easy, as I said, I was in a dark place for a little while. I probably also fueled by, the medicine I needed to take, not to feel pain, and all of that. but little by little thanks to the team, meaning like the people around me, especially my family, I needed to, to get that change and start looking at the positive, right. and turn this negative into a positive and was stuck with me was this concept. It was that, I start telling myself that, hey, at 28 years old, I concluded an incredible career and now I have the opportunity to start the brand new one and be as successful. So that's how I turn it around. And that's was worked for me because justifying the fact that then maybe a lot of people in the world, at 28, they still don't know what they wanna do when they grow up

Andrea Hiott: 28:23

Absolutely. You've already changed history.

Stefy Bau: 28:25

Right, exactly. So I'm like I'm just gonna take this as a chapter and now I'm gonna open a new one and I'm gonna be as successful at that.

Andrea Hiott: 28:33

That really says something about you being able to dance or be a bit flexible too, you were on this path and you were really loyal to it and persistent. But then when, the mountain suddenly appeared in that path, you were able to move and, and get around it. Do you think that also comes somehow from your training?

Stefy Bau: 28:52

Absolutely, absolutely 100% because in motocross racing, you have to make decisions in a split of a second, right? So it didn't take a split of a second to get outta my dark spot.

Andrea Hiott: 29:06

of course not. Yeah.

Stefy Bau: 29:07

But you know, like I was conditioned from thinking that way, meaning okay, so this happened, now we know we need to do something to keep going, again, it was not easy at the beginning. My mental health was not pretty at that time,

Andrea Hiott: 29:23

Yeah, and it's good you say that cuz I think we have to let ourselves acknowledge that things are hard and the dark times do come and you can let them pass.

Stefy Bau: 29:32

The thing that I wanted to share with everybody listening is that the dark time, they do not last forever. So stick with it, Go through it. It's something that it's important for individual to learn from it, and it's part of growing, and they don't stick around forever. You might think that, and I was guilty of it, in the moment. But, you just try to find some ways to, to grab something and fail forward, like looking forward, like on what, what's happening in that moment.

Andrea Hiott: 30:05

How did you do that? Was it mostly just thinking, what could I do next? Or was it talking to people or was it, reading something or,

Stefy Bau: 30:13

I guess it was a combination because at first it took me some time to realize that I was never gonna be a motorcycle racer again. I thought that I could continue racing even though, it was this, scariness of having my legs amputated. My mind was still going there and say, Hey, I can become an X Games adaptive. so continue to go to that, to that direction, and say, nothing can stop me. this is just a bump in the road, and so on and so forth. However, like my injury took 10 years to fix, so it was a long and strenuous, journey.

Andrea Hiott: 30:54

It was, your ankles mostly in the end.

Stefy Bau: 30:56

the problem was that on my left ankle, I develop a hole. And this hole was, this might be a little bit gruesome for some listeners, so if you don't wanna listen, just cover your ears for a second. This, this hole open, and they couldn't figure it out how to close it and they couldn't figure it out why that was happening. And I still decide to live my life. So I was going around, I went to Africa, I went to other countries and I was going into doctor offices walking in, and they said, it's impossible that you are walking. And I'm like, okay, so you're not a doctor for me, because clearly I just walked in here. So even that mentality, if you are telling me that it's impossible, I'm walking and I'm walking, so either I'm, I'm crazy or you are crazy, it's all of this thing that, it's all related to my life as an athlete, to wanna, to keep going and, and keep, doing things in the way that, I need to think, yes, this is the right way or not. So it did take a long time,

Andrea Hiott: 31:59

when you were traveling around, was this the time when you were starting to do some mentorship I'm trying to figure out how you eventually found your way into, being a mentor to many, other women in the sport I guess it was in those 10 years that it started.

Stefy Bau: 32:12

Yes, indeed. So like my accident was in 2005, the end of 2005. So for the entire 2006 I was in bed then in a wheelchair and then try to learn to walk again. Let's put it like that. And then in 2007 is when I finally got the switch saying, Hey, I need to start a new career here. Luckily I had the support so I was able to become the general manager of the newly born FAM Women Motocross World Championship. So before, I used to race with the girls and now, they asked me to be the general manager of the championship. So for me that was an incredible proud moment because I had the opportunity to now be the mama to all the other girls. I was the mentor to everyone. I loved it. Because I put it down on the table right away, it's Hey, there is no competition with me anymore here, so let me help you. I'm not your competition anymore, so let me help you become the best you can be. So that was a magic in that happening. I, I loved that time of my life, like we were able to create a super strong community. So now, yes, when the gate dropped, everybody was an enemy. But, when the, when we were done, we racing, we actually, really work all together, almost like a team where we were figuring out whether we couldn't do better to grow the sport as a whole. So I kind of like felt into a position of leadership, and be the person that everybody was coming to for advice and figure it out how they can be better and get more response. That was very rewarding because now it is when my life changing on the giving back, uh and not only be about and my racing, but start giving back.

Andrea Hiott: 34:16

That must have felt good to be able to give so much, it can be very healing to be able to give, I guess.

Stefy Bau: 34:22

Absolutely. Yeah. And, it comes a certain point in life I guess, but the power of giving back to others, it fulfills you in so many different ways that it's like one of the best things that an individual can experience in my opinion.

Andrea Hiott: 34:42

even better than winning a world championship.

Stefy Bau: 34:45

yes, yes. In a way it is because now you just see other people doing what you did, right? So it reinforced to you as an individual the way you did was meaningful because now there is others that wanted to do it too, and be part of their life. It's so powerful that it just creates this whole Feel good situation, which I think if more and more people will do it in the world, we will have probably a world with less craziness that, that we do, you know?

Andrea Hiott: 35:20

Definitely if people understood that that can be so fulfilling.

Stefy Bau: 35:24

Yes, absolutely. But I, I do think that comes with Age we are being so that we continue to grow, and it would be weird to see a kid all day is just like that. Right? That doesn't think about herself and, and think about others, right? So you have it, it is a rite of passage in life. You need to do what moves you, what makes you passionate. And that there is a time in your life that you'll say, well, this is bigger than just me. So you wanted to helping others to, to experience the same. So at least this is what happened to me in my life.

Andrea Hiott: 36:00

Yeah, that's a good point. It's not either or. You can do both. You can excel and go with what moves you

Stefy Bau: 36:07

for sure. So we were talking a, a little bit about, The trajectory after the racing. So first I did that. Then from there I was able to be part of the women commission inside the F I M. So the FIM is the international Federation of Motorcycling, which is a base in Geneva, Switzerland. And that was another step toward, like helping more women getting involved as a whole, and come up with the strategies and plans as to how to continue to increase that. A little bit political, for what I used to be doing up to that point. But you know, it was another great experience in my life and I learned a lot, like on how I. Sometimes you have to, to be, to make things happen. I'm always like, yeah, drop the gate sometimes. Instead, you just have to hurry up and wait.

Andrea Hiott: 37:04

Well, another first of yours was being the first woman in a video game, motocross video game. Is that right?

Stefy Bau: 37:09

Yes. And that's cool. That's super cool because it also ties back in with what I'm doing now, and who knew there was gonna come full circle like that. This was the year 2000, the first video game I was part of. EA sport, decided to create a game and have a motorcycle racer be part of it. And I go ask to be one of them. We are talking it 23 years ago. It's like mind blowing to think about it.

Andrea Hiott: 37:36

You must have just gone pro more or less or

Stefy Bau: 37:38

Yeah. Yeah. That was when I went to pro that is correct.

Andrea Hiott: 37:41

So you were the first Woman in the video game too. the other people were men, I guess, in that game.

Stefy Bau: 37:46

Yes, yes,

Andrea Hiott: 37:47

You did it in the virtual world

Stefy Bau: 37:48

yes, indeed. And I think that's why I kind of like came together, because of that, and it was super cool, again, it was my second year in the United States. Here I come, with this bleach, blonde hair, from Italy, barely speaking any English, and having the chance to be in a video game, I was like, oh my God, this is crazy. This just happens in the movies,

Andrea Hiott: 38:12

You were living it. Okay. So you were in video games, but you didn't play'em that much because you were, living it in real life, but, Somehow the eSports has just exploded in the past five or 10 years, or even the past four years. I wanna talk a little bit about that for people who don't know much about it yet, but how did you get into it, this idea of sim racing and eSports? When did that come into your life?

Stefy Bau: 38:33

yes, so it happened because I went to Italy just before the pandemic hit, right? I went to Italy visiting my family, and I saw my little niece that she was spending two to three hours a day watching people play.

Andrea Hiott: 38:52

two to three hours a day., watching, just

Stefy Bau: 38:54

I'm like watching. yes, watching. So like consuming entertainment in a way of watching video games, so I'm like, hmm, this is very interesting. Like the kids nowadays, they're spending their time watching gamers, a light bulb came up and I'm like, maybe I can use this to be able to bring more women and minority into motorsport by lower the barrier of entries. With gaming, it's much easier because even a console, console sets you off maybe$300, right? But a go-kart or a motorcycle is$5,000. Only a certain category of people is able to do that. So therefore,. Using and utilizing gamings will be an opportunity to open up way more doors and therefore expand, the base, of Motorsport as a whole. So I went to learn and then the Pandemic hit and formula One, I was teaching everyone how it needs to be done, meaning like in SIM, the head Charles LeClair Max Verstappen playing in the games with the, the public. So I'm like, oh my God, this is so cool. It's amazing. That got me into, into opening my company. It's called INIT.. First I fall back into the the part of motorcycling because that's where I have the passion. So I connected with the AMA and explained how good it would be to get involved with the gaming community, to be able to bring new people into Motorcross and Supercross and motorcycling in general. And so we make that the agreement. They say, this is brilliant, we like this. You are now the promoter for anything eSport for the AMA. So now we started to create the championships and it's insane. A couple data here to just put the things in perspective. So one third of the world population identifies as a gamer, and F of them are women. So for me,

Andrea Hiott: 41:07

you say? Half of

Stefy Bau: 41:08

f of people that play games in the world are women.

Andrea Hiott: 41:13

I did not know that.

Stefy Bau: 41:14

So for me, I'm like, oh my God, the it is, that's the talent pool. Like we need to go into this industry to be able to expose more women into something that I love, which is motor sport.

Andrea Hiott: 41:26

No one was doing that in motocross. It was Formula One. They were starting to do it, but nobody was doing it in off-road and motocross before you had this

Stefy Bau: 41:34

Mm-hmm. Yes, that is correct.

Andrea Hiott: 41:38

You saw and you went for it.

Stefy Bau: 41:40

Yep. Exactly. And now the, the kids that they play in our championship, by the way, we have 80,000 people that tune in watching the races every Wednesday night. Just to give you some context. Right. It's insane.

Andrea Hiott: 41:57

80,000, I mean, that's just, it's so wonderful. I like video games and things like this, and I like eSports. I'm still new to it, but Do you have any idea why so many people like to watch it?

Stefy Bau: 42:10

I don't know. I think it's a generational thing. I think people like to consume entertainment now by want to be part of something and we gaming now, like Twitch for instance, which is the platform where you tend to go and watch games, you can chat with other people right there. So it becomes a community, right? You can chat with who you are watching, but also with the other people. So now it's not more like a 2D television, it's becoming like 3D meaning like you can really create this community. With the younger demographic, what I have experienced is that everybody wants to do something. They're not just there and receiving information. They wanna do things if you make them do something, then that's when you get their attention. And that's why I think a gaming is exploding in so many different ways

Andrea Hiott: 43:02

This feeling of a community being there and maybe not feeling so judged as you might in other parts of life or something. I don't know. There's a more immediate feeling of connection something to watch together. It's like sports. sports does that, but

Stefy Bau: 43:18

right.

Andrea Hiott: 43:19

So now you're doing it yourself.

Stefy Bau: 43:21

I'm the, so I'm the so owner of, of the company and InIt sport. Is that the only sim racing company led by a woman in the world.

Andrea Hiott: 43:34

It's incredible how many firsts you have for women.

Stefy Bau: 43:36

And it helps a ton because with that we are able to create a lot of different opportunities like two main things that we have going on right now is from the sim racing stuff. So from the car part, we just created and conclude the Screen to Speed. So screen to speed as the goal to being bring female and non-binary people minorities from the Digital world from the gaming world into the in real life world. So they qualifying online and everybody around the world were able to qualify for it. And then the top 15, we got them to come to Las Vegas and participate into the competition, the same racing competition we were in in Las Vegas at the racetrack and around us NASCAR was happening. So we were racing digitally the same track that we were at while NASCAR was happening around us. So it was so empowering. And the winner got to even walk on the NASCAR stage with 80,000 people, cheering her on, which is like, Insane coming from the gaming world We were able to change lives to these gamers that they, some of them, they didn't even been on an airplane before, let alone come to Las Vegas. They winner now, she's gonna come back in June in Las Vegas at the same racetrack, and now she's gonna test on a real Porsche race car. So from screen to speed. So from the digital world to the in real life world. And we got more than 1 million impression on this show as the first going out. So we are gonna continue to do them. There is a lot of talks in the industry because we came at it, for women by women, so in a very authentic way and the responsible support for it. One other thing I wanted to to share is that we also have SIM for STEM now, and that's why I'm in Indianapolis right now, because we are deciding to create a bigger base. So with SIM for STEM, we are going after schools. This event in Indianapolis is in conjunction with the Indy 500. So we have 200 girls from high school where 50 at the time. They're gonna come in four events and we'll teach them STEM curriculums. So they will be doing STEM activities, more sport related. And then what they learn, they apply in the simulators. And then the five, six of them that they're gonna be the most engaged throughout all of this we'll bring them to the racetrack to meet female driver, female mechanics, female engineer, female broadcaster, because we believe that if you can see her, you can be her.

Andrea Hiott: 46:37

Oh, I love that so much. And also that it's not just the drivers who are super wonderful and important, but so are the engineers and the mechanics, and these are such fascinating careers and just fascinating things to do in life. I really love this connection that you're making between traditional racing and virtual racing. How do you see that kind of evolving? You've been in the real crowds and you've been in the virtual crowds, is there a difference in the feeling of it?

Stefy Bau: 47:04

I mean, it's all connected at the end. It's all connected, it's all together. Like people they play, especially in SIM racing, has been demonstrated that you can race in the SIM and those skills transfer in real life. Like there has been more and more teams now that they're looking at gamers to be able to bring them into a seat of the real car. So it's incredibly connected. It's super cool. Like I love the transferability and I believe it's the only digital sport that has that capability. To go from digital to, to, in real life.

Andrea Hiott: 47:41

What we didn't talk about was the kind of electric little aspect of your journey, cuz you did work for electric bikes for a little while, right?

Stefy Bau: 47:49

Yes. The journey into the electric transportation for me was during my time the, I was the CEO of Fantic Bicycle usa. So Fantic is a company that is from Italy and they decided to open a branch into the United States. And because of course, I'm Italian, but also I have all of the links. And the bridges between Europe and the US in the motorcycle industry, it was like a natural, involvement there. So by, in the US, Fantic is a motorcycle company, but also that's e-bikes. And with them, we decided to open the branch in the United States focusing on that because as you might might know, electric transportation is starting to take on more and more here in the us. It's been like a very big field, a very big industry, and it was a fantastic journey. And we were able to be from an unknown name into the United States to one of the, the companies that sits at the table while deciding for rules in in the United States in regards to electric transportation. So very proud of the work that was done there again, I was one of the, maybe couple female around the table, because I find myself often into that position.

Andrea Hiott: 49:13

I guess you're getting used to that, but you bring more women to the

Stefy Bau: 49:16

I like to say it's not about replacing the guys. It's about building a bigger table. Let's bring a bigger table and bring women in it, so diversity. Inclusion is so important. Like in any, in any, having different mindset and different people that come up with different cultures, for me, it's not about substituting, but it's just about building a bigger table. So more women can be involved and, and minorities. Yeah, so the journey was very cool. It, it was just exploding in the United States in 2016 when I took on this this position. And it was just a time that, that they were doing the three class systems in the US. There's been adopted by many of the states, and I worked a little bit on that as well with a core group of people, for me, I am an E-bike rider. I, I ride E-mountain bikes because of course I need to stay in the dirt, not the, on the road, but yes, my wife and I, we ride as much as we can and and we love it, And yes. It was, it was very good to see the transformation, in regards to the. Approach of a e-bike and, and the community, like the regular bicycle community as a whole, like in Europe, it's been way ahead of time compared to the United States. So there were lots of pain points that we needed to go through because a lot of people didn't understand, oh, they are motorcycles and now they're not motorcycle. You pedal, you don't twist the throttle. So it's, it's different. Right. But e education, it's it's always at the base on everything in reality, and it takes time to make everybody understand. So the people for bike group, they developed the three class system, did an amazing job there to kind of like make a little bit more standardized. Understanding of how e-bike acts, and therefore what each state can do about it. And that was a very big thing that was was done. And then after that, we continue to see more and more companies coming into. The United States, with the, with their products and from, road and transportation, especially in the big cities, it's a big deal because With a younger demographic tune in a lot into the environment, and try therefore to do better for the World Electric Transportation is able to provide that. So with having cities like big City, like San Francisco is one of them, they try to create more and more bike paths. So instead of going to work with a car, you go to work with a bicycle, an electric bicycle,

Andrea Hiott: 52:04

And now you can in San Francisco with an electric bike, you can actually do it on the hills.

Stefy Bau: 52:09

Yes indeed. We were based the branch who was based there in San Francisco, so we completely saw the entire evolution of it. And now, in the morning, like on the Golden Gate Bridge, you see so many electric bikes. So people that choose that to go to work instead of cars, which, little by little is making a change, less car on the road. the world can breathe a little easier,

Andrea Hiott: 52:31

What do you think about electric motorcycles

Stefy Bau: 52:33

I personally love them because I'm always looking ahead, looking forward of what we can do to continue to grow. Right. So whereas I grew up as a part of the gas motorcycle, my entire career was on that, and there is some magic around it. Like the smell, like even right now when I smell gasoline, for me, it reminds me of my childhood, right? But we need to become more and more responsible for for this, this planet that we live on, right? Therefore, Electric gives an opportunity to continue to have the sport in areas that now they've been outgrown by buildings. Right. Before we had Especially in motorcross, we had those hills and, and tracks on hills, around fairly closer to, towns and cities right now. Guess what? The towns are expanding, the city are expanding. So they're eating up the tracks and one of the reason is we don't need that because they're loud, they are noisy, they smell bad. They're not good for the environment. Well, now if you move, we all move to electric. That old argument collapses. Like we can potentially have a motorcycle track in the middle of a city, in a park, and therefore grow the sport in that way. because again, it connects all into the education, putting, thinking in this way. If you put a kid right off the bat at four years old on a regular bicycle, and then you move them on an electric motorcycle right away, they will not know the difference growing up. Because that's the only thing they experience. But you know, if you put them then, into a gas motorcycle, then we are gonna continue to feed the same system that we are trying to change. Be able to get in at an early age, then that kid is gonna grow up and say, oh, I don't want a noisy motorcycle. I want one day. I can actually hear what's going on when I, when I race, or I have fun.

Andrea Hiott: 54:37

Then they'll have memories of that, of the hearing, the atmosphere or, or different memories than the sensory ones we have of like gasoline and all of those things.

Stefy Bau: 54:46

correct. Which again, it's, that was the way that I grew up and I love it, but between me and you, if you go to watch a motorcycle race, you cannot even speak with somebody next to you because it's so loud. So yeah, you are there with some other people enjoying something, but in reality it's almost like you're there by yourself. If we wanted to create a continuous sense of community, maybe we should look into lowering the sound decibel, right? And electric gets you there. So now you can be there, enjoy the show, but at the same time having a word with the person sitting next to you without going home. At night, I not have any voice in you anymore.

Andrea Hiott: 55:29

Exactly same with race car racing. Do you think they're as fun for racing?

Stefy Bau: 55:35

Mm-hmm. I do because I do, because I also try a few of them, and I mean they are just so good, like with time and more investment, they're gonna continue to become better and better, but they are so good. It's all about the torque there. So it's a little bit less skills on how to manage the clutch, I will say, because it's more like torque. But at the same time, it's, it's a lot of power, like it let's you do whatever you need to do. Just like in a regular motorcycle. The only issue still is the battery length, right? So people wanted to go for long or wanted to be able to stop if they are trail riding and the gas station and refuel and keep going. So we are still chasing that dream, but it will happen. It will happen. There is no stopping evolution.

Andrea Hiott: 56:27

No, we're going that way. So you think you can still learn those same lessons that you told us about earlier in terms of kind of life lessons from electric too?

Stefy Bau: 56:37

Absolutely, because the sport is the sport. So when you experience, with gasoline and sound it's still the same track, right? So the, what I experience in my life, it can be transferred again and again, even with electric motorcycles. So I look forward to that. It's gonna take time because of course, like the world runs on gasoline, and there is politics involved and all of that. But even like on the consumer side, on the car world, it's nice to finally see more and more company, like starting to develop an electric vehicle. So it's it's gonna happen. Yeah, it's gonna happen. And we have to, it's, it's not oh, it would be nice. It's more, it's more like we have to, because. We know what's happening. Climate change is real, and

Andrea Hiott: 57:26

Yeah. It's urgent. Yeah. If we wanna keep enjoying all these things we've been talking about, we have to find better ways to do them. Last question relates to all this we've been talking about, and you were talking about it a little while ago, but I just wonder to tie it in about motoring and how this has been an important part of your life. I do also wanna say that you did get back on a motorcycle. We talked a lot about your accident in 2008. You did it right, you got back on, which I have to say like I am respect, like deep respect for that. I need to at least acknowledge that. Cuz you were just talking about riding the electric one,

Stefy Bau: 57:58

yeah. It's, it's about, I guess for me it was about closing the circle. Cause I feel like the, I didn't get the chance to close my racing career, because it just happened for me. So be able to, to go back on and do a few, few more laps. It was incredibly emotional, It was more like, okay, so now, now I'm ready to really close that chapter. Right? And, but I was born a motorcycle, so I don't own one. And that is a reason for it because I know that I will be going back and wanted to be like a. Once I used to be right. So I don't, I don't have a motorcycle, but every once in a while, like when friends comes and say, Hey, you wanna go ride? We have an extra bike. More often than not to say, yeah, I come and do a couple laps, but I need to be, I need to be very careful for, of course, because I was lucky to keep my legs, but you know, like a big impact can, destroy what's been done and maybe I will not be as lucky again.

Andrea Hiott: 59:06

Yeah, definitely be careful cuz we want you to stay around you.

Stefy Bau: 59:10

Thank you, but like my next best things is ready mountain bike. So I don't jump'em. I don't

Andrea Hiott: 59:16

Okay. Okay. But riding, that's a, that's a thrilling thing. And especially if you can do it with your wife where it's a joint experience. it makes it really special.

Stefy Bau: 59:25

For sure, for sure. We, we love it. And we go with electric ones, like I said, and we do the mountain bikes and it's so good. And even that, we were talking about electric, it's important. Like people like myself, they have in a permanent, disability basically, you know, in my ankles. I mean, if it wouldn't be for Electric Mountain bike, I couldn't, I couldn't enjoy being out the dirt. I hope you know, more and more people started to give it a try because for the purist that they said, oh, it's like cheating. I'm like, try to turn it off and pedal and they tell me if it's cheating or not,

Andrea Hiott: 1:00:03

yeah. It's just different. It's like what you were saying about the table being larger, it's like we don't have to choose, but it's better that there's more options and technology can help us in ways that, like you just described, it's opening more possibility We can be more responsible.

Stefy Bau: 1:00:17

for

Andrea Hiott: 1:00:18

Okay, so you've persisted and you've found a way to keep motoring. I, you've gone all directions around every mountain that you've seen in front of you and your life is still about motoring, even virtual motoring, electric motoring. So I guess just to end it, I'd like to hear, what you think about this idea of forever motoring and all these forms that it takes and what it means

Stefy Bau: 1:00:39

Well, for me, I started with when I was very young. So therefore, that's my passion. I, I can never see my life without motoring. It's, it is just not possible. It's part of me, so whatever that is, two wheel, four wheel on skis or whatever, has to have a motor in it. And I think, in general, if I, I should say some takeaways after this this call, anybody and everybody in life, they should just follow their passion and whatever moves you, just go for it.

Andrea Hiott: 1:01:13

Thank you so much for being with us today, and thanks for all that you do and all these paths you've opened for so many people, for women, it's definitely something special and I wanna express my gratitude for it.

Stefy Bau: 1:01:24

Thank you so much. It means a lot to me. Little by little we're gonna change the world.