Today we’d like to introduce you to Sherry Ma
Hi Sherry, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Watching F1 races and keeping up with the drivers was my favorite form of escapism during my final year of college. I have always had a fascination with motorsports and racing, but after graduation, that passion only grew. Last November, I finally attended my first ever F1 race in person: the Las Vegas GP.
I rallied my friends together to come with me even though we couldn’t afford tickets. I spent months planning my clubbing outfits. That was when I came across a recurring problem: I had no way of showing team spirit while also wearing my clubbing outfits of choice. The choices for female motorsport fans were limited to either boring official team t-shirts and hats. I chose to take matters into my own hands and reworked an existing racing-style jacket into an F1-accurate one. It was a hit. I couldn’t go 10 minutes walking along the Vegas strip without being stopped and asked where my jacket was from.
On the drive back from Vegas, my brain couldn’t stop thinking about the existing merchandise problem in F1, especially for women. And the craziest part is, it’s like this in every sport. Sports simply do not cater to their female fans. The typical woman’s “uniform” at sporting events is almost always just oversized men’s wear. In F1, female fans often have to get creative like I did— bedazzling hats by hand, sewing and embroidering dresses, reworking existing jerseys and T-shirts, or simply just finding a tank top in the team’s colors. I find this concept ridiculous. Why aren’t there clothes for the female sporting fanbase? Because, as Kristin Juszczyk and Taylor Swift proved just last year with the viral 49ers reworked puffer coat, there’s clearly a market for it.
There’s a popular F1 stat floating around in the media right now; in November 2022, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said 40% of global F1 fans were women. That number is only rising, thanks to highly-driven female F1 fans who have taken to the internet to share their love for the sport. F1 fangirls dominate the sports’ TikTok space— creating fan edits, sharing outfit ideas, explaining F1 rules & news to the common viewer, vlogging their F1 DIY projects & friendship bracelet making, filming race day “get ready with me” videos, and ultimately— cultivating community.
Even though F1 fan girls are the reason why F1 is rising in popularity in the United States, they have yet to receive their flowers. Nor has any woman in Formula 1. F1 has begun to take notice of the gender divide and just last year launched a “feeder program” called F1 Academy to encourage girls to get involved in the sport. However, there is still not a single female driver on the Formula 1 grid. For me it’s a little disappointing but it’s also exciting; there’s so much to be done, and we’re just getting started. The girls are coming. And GP is a part of that.
Immediately after the Las Vegas GP, I began to think of ways that could make my vision a reality. I started attending Pasadena City College as a fashion design major, where I learned about the clothing manufacturing process and also learned how to start navigating the clothing industry on a professional level. During this time, I also applied to business school. And towards the beginning of the summer, I received my acceptance letter to UCLA’s Anderson School of Management with a nearly full ride.
The past few months have been the most wild, chaotic, and triumphant. Over 20 friends have now helped me in the building of The Grandstand Project and slowly made my dream a reality. The Grandstand Project launched on October 19 and our first collection, Las Vegas 2024, is now available for purchase at www.thegrandstandproject.com.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The Grandstand Project is incredibly start up and what I call, very “My Little Pony.” The entire business right now is being built off of the power of friendship. As with any start-up, my biggest struggles often come down to a lack of financial resources. Starting a business, especially in clothing, is incredibly expensive. It takes a lot of funds to develop and manufacture here in LA, and it takes even more funds to receive the manpower necessary to get a new business off the ground and in front of consumers. For me, the only reason GP is standing is because of friendship. I am incredibly lucky to have such a network of talented and supportive people who have been willing to volunteer their time and resources to help me achieve what originally started as a pipe dream. Ultimately, it’s the people around me who help me push through every obstacle and get to the place I’m in today.
As a young entrepreneur launching my first company, every day there is a new crisis and every day I’m learning something new. Every time I think I have something mastered or figured out I am almost immediately humbled and reminded that I am never as on top of things as I think I am. Some challenges humble me much more than others: such as balancing business school and managing GP. For me, balancing these two very big responsibilities has proven to be pretty darn near impossible. But despite the constant L’s I feel like I’m taking, I keep pushing by reminding myself that quitting or not doing anything is the biggest failure of all. There is always another lesson to be learned and you will never be able to do everything perfectly or to your standards— but that’s also part of the fun of starting a business. All you can do is try your best and just keep going. Things get better with time and there is always tomorrow to try again. It brings me a lot of peace to know that the next GP collection will always be better and smoother than the last.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about The Grandstand Project?
At its core, The Grandstand Project is a people-driven brand. Community is one of our key values and something we noticed is missing in the F1 market right now. We strive to not only fill that gap by creating thoughtful, high-quality products made with female fans in mind but also by ensuring our work is in line with our values. Our brand is made by women, for women and answers to the needs of the female motorsport community. But it’s not only about clothes. It’s about proper appreciation for women who love racing. There are many facets of car-loving women: there are the racing athletes themselves, but also racing fans, mechanics, engineers, car enthusiasts, and so much more. All of us love cars and motorsport, to different degrees and through different angles, but all of us also share a common enemy: misogyny within the industry.
Our industry is motorsport fashion but our work is empowerment. The Grandstand Project will forever be dedicated to what we call “Our Real Project.” Being a woman in motorsport can be incredibly isolating and demoralizing— that’s why GP’s real goal is to shine a spotlight on women in the industry. That’s why we partnered up with Car Girls of LA, Girls of Irwindale, and West Coast Formula One for our launch. It’s also why every single model in our launch video, is a real car-loving girl from the LA car community. And most importantly, Our Real Project is why 3% of all GP sales are donated to nonprofits that also support women in motorsport.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thegrandstandproject.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegrandstandproject/
Image Credits
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Photo Credit: Isabella Margolis
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Photo Credit: Elaine Tantra
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Photo Credit: Emma Borin
