DiscoverThe SportsGrad Podcast#320: How to make a career change into Motorsport from real-estate at 30 years old | Motorsport Australia Development Manager, Charlie Barlow
#320: How to make a career change into Motorsport from real-estate at 30 years old | Motorsport Australia Development Manager, Charlie Barlow

#320: How to make a career change into Motorsport from real-estate at 30 years old | Motorsport Australia Development Manager, Charlie Barlow

Update: 2025-06-09
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Pivoting careers at 30 can be seen by a lot of people as daunting, but for Charlie Barlow, she made a change into motorsport work.


Charlie is the Development Manager at Motorsport Australia, leading programs like Girls on Track, First Gear, and Esports to get more people doing more motorsport, more often. But her journey into the industry didn’t begin until she made a bold decision at 30 years old to go all in on a career she truly loved.


After years in real estate, construction, and admin roles, Charlie went back to uni, studied journalism, worked unpaid gigs, and eventually became a journalist at Supercars, before stepping into her current role shaping the future of motorsport participation in Australia.


She’s also built a following on Social Media as a leader for Women in Motorsport, and recently was part of Channel 7’s national coverage of the Shannons SpeedSeries.


In this episode, we discuss how Charlie made a career change at 30, how she was able to break into motorsport, and how she managed to accomplish her career goals even when it seemed impossible.


Lastly, Charlie is our guest speaker at the Brisbane SportsGrad Meetup coming up on Thursday June 24, so if you want to connect with her, grab a ticket from our website.


We cover:


(02:38 ) – Interview begins


(04:33 ) – Quickfire Questions


(15:14 ) – What Charlie did about her career once she turned 30


(30:45 ) – How Charlie started to build experience in sport


(42:58 ) – Charlie's role with Motorsport Australia


(30:45 ) – How Charlie started to build experience in sport


(57:47 ) – The impact of Charlie's personal brand on her career


(1:08:13 ) – What opportunity exists for those wanting to grow their personal brand on social media?


(1:14:05 ) – Advice to her younger self


If you like this ep, give these a go next:


#289: How to move from London to Australia and work in Sports Marketing | George Ludlow’s journey to Gemba

#265: From Westpac to the Adelaide Crows FC in 29 days with Community Engagement Manager, Parth Suri

#208: How to make a career change into the sports industry with Kerry Gassner


Want a job in sport? Click here.


Follow SportsGrad on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok Follow Reuben on socials: LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok


Big thanks to Deakin University for making this episode possible. Check out their Master of Sport Management, ranked #1 in Australia.


Thanks for listening, much love!


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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#320: How to make a career change into Motorsport from real-estate at 30 years old | Motorsport Australia Development Manager, Charlie Barlow

#320: How to make a career change into Motorsport from real-estate at 30 years old | Motorsport Australia Development Manager, Charlie Barlow