Zandara Kennedy, a professional stunt performer and Formula Drift driver, shares her journey from circus performer to motorsport pioneer. She discusses the importance of commitment in both drifting and life, emphasizing that success requires full dedication. Z highlights her historic achievements as the first Canadian woman to earn a Formula Drift license and her efforts to create a supportive community for women in motorsports. With insights into the challenges and triumphs of her career, Z's story inspires listeners to embrace their passions and push boundaries.
Zandara Kennedy is in the driver seat today. Zandara, a pioneering Hollywood stunt driver and the only Canadian athlete in professional drifting, known for her electrifying work in major films like X-Men and Deadpool. An outspoken advocate for diversity in motorsports, Zandara not only dazzles on screen but also fiercely competes with a Formula Drift Prospec license, breaking barriers and championing inclusion. Off the track, she dedicates her time to empowering the next generation, particularly young women, in the world of motorsport. Buckle up and listen as we dive into the dynamic and daring world of Z, where every turn is an adventure and every drift a story.
"...her attention to drifting and eventually earned her Formula Drift license in 2021. Zeke completed her rookie season in Formula Drift in 2023..."
Formula Drift is a competition where drivers race their cars sideways, showing off their drifting skills. It's a fun and exciting sport that attracts many fans.
Formula Drift is a professional drifting series that features drivers competing in drift events across various locations. It showcases the skill of drivers as they navigate courses while maintaining control of their vehicles in a sideways motion.
"...her attention to drifting and eventually earned her Formula Drift license in 2021. Zeke completed her rookie season in Formula Drift in 2023..."
Drifting is when a driver makes a car slide sideways while still controlling it. It's a popular style in racing and looks really cool when done right.
Drifting is a driving technique where the driver intentionally oversteers, causing the rear wheels to lose traction while maintaining control of the vehicle. It is often used in motorsports, particularly in competitions like Formula Drift.
"...I had a motorcycle in my van, and I was towing my race car, and I thought,..."
A race car is a special type of car built to go really fast on a track. They have special parts that help them handle better and go quicker than regular cars.
A race car is a vehicle specifically designed for competitive racing, featuring enhancements in speed, handling, and safety compared to standard vehicles. They often have specialized components like racing tires, lightweight materials, and performance-focused engines.
"...I made it to Willow Springs racetrack, and that's all I did. My coach is there..."
Willow Springs racetrack is a famous race track in California where people go to drive fast cars and motorcycles. It's a popular place for racing events.
Willow Springs International Raceway is a motorsport complex in California known for its various road courses and is a popular venue for racing and driving events. It has hosted numerous professional and amateur racing events.
"...I had decided I was going to compete in a series in Florida called Clutch Kickers. And that turned into basically,..."
Clutch Kickers is a drifting competition in Florida where drivers compete to see who can perform the best drifting maneuvers. It's popular among both new and experienced drivers.
Clutch Kickers is a grassroots drifting competition series held in Florida, known for its accessible entry and competitive atmosphere. It attracts both amateur and professional drivers who want to showcase their drifting skills.
"...but I think that year I did over 90 days of driving on track driving in my car. 90 days? It was a lot."
Track driving means taking a car to a racetrack to drive it fast and safely. It's different from regular driving because the track is designed for high-speed driving without traffic.
Track driving refers to the practice of driving a car on a racetrack, where drivers can push their vehicles to the limits in a controlled environment. It is often used for racing, testing, or performance driving.
"...now I'm drifting. Now I have two drift cars and I love it so much..."
Drift cars are cars that are built to slide around corners on purpose. They have special parts that help them stay in control while they drift, making it fun to drive.
Drift cars are specially modified vehicles designed for drifting, which involves intentionally oversteering to lose traction while maintaining control. These cars often have enhancements like increased horsepower, suspension modifications, and specialized tires to facilitate drifting.
"...learn about some element of vehicular mechanical components, whether it's wheels, whether it's the suspension, whether it's basics of engines..."
Suspension is the part of a car that helps it ride smoothly over bumps and keeps the wheels in contact with the ground. It includes springs and shock absorbers that help manage how the car moves.
The suspension system of a vehicle connects the wheels to the chassis and helps absorb shocks from the road, providing stability and comfort. It includes components like springs, shock absorbers, and control arms.
"...learn about some element of vehicular mechanical components, whether it's wheels, whether it's the suspension..."
Mechanical components are the different parts inside a car that help it work. They include things like the engine, wheels, and brakes.
Mechanical components refer to the various parts of a vehicle that work together to enable its operation. This includes everything from the engine and transmission to the suspension and brakes.
"...I have a cable cam moving beside me and I have an ultimate arm so who are you doubling in this movie?..."
A cable cam is a tool used in movies to move a camera along a wire. It helps filmmakers get cool shots of cars or action without shaking.
A cable cam is a filmmaking device that allows cameras to move smoothly along a cable, providing dynamic shots from various angles. It is often used in action scenes to capture fast-moving subjects.
"...I have a cable cam moving beside me and I have an ultimate arm so who are you doubling in this movie?..."
An ultimate arm is a special camera setup that helps filmmakers move the camera around easily while filming. It’s great for getting different views of cars in action.
An ultimate arm is a type of camera rig that allows for versatile camera movement and positioning, often used in car chase scenes to capture dynamic angles and perspectives.
"...there's like the little reflector like little orange reflector on the front of the chrome bumper and I just like just steered that off like just on a tree..."
A chrome bumper is a shiny part at the front or back of a car that helps protect it. It looks nice and can last longer than other types of bumpers.
A chrome bumper is a type of vehicle bumper that is coated with chrome for aesthetic appeal and corrosion resistance. It adds a classic look to cars and can be more durable than plastic bumpers.
"...it's basically forcing the car to an uncontrolled state right because you're skidding but that's actually not true..."
Skidding happens when a car's tires lose grip on the road, making it slide instead of driving straight. This can happen if you turn too quickly or brake hard.
Skidding refers to a loss of traction between the tires and the road surface, causing the vehicle to slide uncontrollably. It can occur during rapid acceleration, braking, or turning.
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life is the same as drifting is the same as the other sports that I've done, which is it only
works when you're fully committed. You cannot do a half-speed drifting. You have to be committed
and have full intention, and that's the only conditions under which things will work.
It doesn't mean that they will work, but they definitely won't if you don't try completely.
You're listening to Femcanic Garage, the podcast that features women in the automotive and motor
sports industries. A community that elevates, empowers, and evolves by smashing stereotypes
and breaking down barriers for women. I'm your host, Jamie Blossmann. Buckle up for the ride, Femcanic.
Dandara Kennedy is in the driver's seat today. She is a professional stunt performer and driver
from Vancouver, Canada. If you watch movies or TV, you've probably seen her in action,
maybe even seen her on fire. She loves to drive anything with the motor, from scooters to tractor
trailers and is happiest when driving them sideways. Her desire to perfect her craft
brought her attention to drifting and eventually earned her Formula Drift license in 2021.
Zeke completed her rookie season in Formula Drift in 2023 and pioneered the first women
of Formula Drift behind the scenes for showcasing the women working in diverse roles
to make Formula Drift happen. Now let's sit back and enjoy the ride.
Hello, Femcanic. This is Jamie B coming to you, and I have Zandara Kennedy in the hot seat or
driver's seat today. How are you doing today, Ze? Doing really well. Thank you. We just got done
talking about it. You have such a beautiful first name, but your brand leans towards just calling
you Z. So throughout this interview, I may say Z, and for fun, I may say Zandara just because
it's a beautiful freaking name. Thank you. I appreciate it. And yeah, I started going by Z
because I work on film sets and often 200 different people each day. So it's everyone the time of
learning to pronounce it. Just call me Z. A lot of interesting pronunciations. They say you've
arrived when you can go by just an initial anyway. So you have arrived. Well, you know, what does it
they say? Dress for the job you want? I've tried to just, I'm manifesting that level of arrival.
There you go. You know, I go by Jamie B just because I like the way it flows. It's like got
a flow to it. It's interesting how we met. A lot of the people that I've interviewed, I find them
on Instagram or just kind of perusing around. And we actually met twice before we ended up
actually talking, talking about stuff. And it's funny how the universe works where it's like,
okay, you put certain people in your life once, and if you don't get the message, then we're
going to do it again. Right. So I co-host RTBC, which is for racetrack owners. And we actually
met last year at PRI. I think we discovered it was at Beth Peretta's like kind of after party,
where we chatted a little bit about women's motor fest. Then I talked to the guys at Gridlife.
They reached out to you this year and they're like, you got to talk to Jamie. And then you reached
back out to me and I'm like, Oh my God, we talked before. So we're talking about women's motor fest.
And then I dug in a little deeper. You sent me your information. And I have to say out of
everyone that I've interviewed, you are the first person ever to purposely get lit on fire.
Like, it's crazy. I always talk about cars, automotive, and you do stunts for movies.
This is a first for someone getting lit on fire, getting their body lit on fire, just to be clear
to everyone. This isn't a car like getting flipped and it gets caught on fire. This is your body.
Did you even think about that as a little girl? Like when I grow up,
I'm going to be a stunt driver and I'm going to get my ass lit on fire.
You know, it's funny. I didn't. Growing up, I wanted to be a circus performer.
I did trampoline and contortion when I was younger and I always envisioned going to
search SLA. But my familial circumstances meant that I moved across the country at a weird time.
And basically I ended up in British Columbia, which has a very large film industry.
So when I discovered that was a job, I really started pursuing it,
not knowing much about it at first and not knowing anyone. But no, I didn't grow up thinking
I want to be set on fire, but I did know I wanted to perform in some capacity and I liked
pressure, I guess is the best way of putting it. I loved being the one at the top of the pyramid
or getting thrown. And there's a certain amount of trust in circus. There's definitely a huge
amount of trust in stunts when it comes to wire work. And again, in motorsport, we drive these
vehicles at their absolute limits and we have to completely trust that the people, if it's not us,
that the people who are maintaining our car or looking at it between labs are doing their jobs
fully, you know, that they're basically taking care of our safety.
Now, we kind of let the cat out of the bag or I let the cat out of the bag. Just for the listeners
who maybe don't know who Z is, like the 60 second commercial, I can imagine being a listener like,
hold on, she gets lit on fire for movies. Wait, wait, hold up, hold up. So maybe just a quick
synopsis of, hey, here's what I've done in the stunt world. Just a quick 60 seconds, like the
craziest things that you've done. I've done a ton of TV commercials. I've done car chases for
movies like the Adam Project, X-Men, Deadpool. I've worked on TV shows overseas in Morocco.
I worked on a show called Blood and Treasure. I'm a stunt coordinator. I stunt coordinated
three seasons of Nancy Drew and a few other TV shows. And I'm a maniac for being behind the wheel.
I'm a complete motorsports addict. And now I do all of those things I just described,
just to pay for times. Now, that is a great lead in. Thanks for the lob ballsy,
which is a great lead in because I want to talk a little bit about what you do professionally now.
Now, you've been professionals, stunt coordinator, you've done stunts. Not only have you been behind
the camera coordinating, you've been in front of the camera, but last year was your first official
year of Formula Drift Prospect. Now, not only that, you actually made history by being the first.
First Canadian woman. There's a few firsts, actually, and I'm going to say them all.
Yes, please do. First Canadian woman to earn a license and compete in Formula Drift.
We had the first all-female battle in Formula Drift history last year with Kelsey Rollings.
I'm also the first openly LGBTQ plus driver in the series. Oh, my God, I love it.
Everything that my brand stands for is about taking stereotypes and just blowing them up to
expand people's minds in all people, not just women, all people to expand their minds about
what's possible. You have stretched the limit on what people believe is possible from a stunt
perspective. It blows people's minds, but not only that, but what women are capable of doing as well.
Thank you for saying that. I mean, I don't feel deserving of that, but I'll take it. I will say
like motorsport in general and the other women that I've encountered in that space have really
expanded my view of what's possible for women. It's been a really big driving force between why
I keep pushing myself as hard as I do and also why I approached Formula Drift to do an initiative
bringing women behind the scenes to see the women who are already here. I'm super fortunate. I am
currently borrowing the office of a woman that I met through Formula Drift who is a super badass
team manager and she actually is the person that inspired me to do that because I looked at her
when I went, oh my god, you're so cool and you've basically carved this path for yourself. All of
the women that are in this space have overcome incredible odds and just by being there consistently
and doing what they're good at, I want more women to see those women. Racecar driver is this really
cool job. It's like stunts. It's very cool. There's lots of talk about people get excited,
but there are so many women making these really cool industries happen that just they work so hard.
They don't look for the credit. They don't share their own stories, but those are the ones that
are really inspiring to me. I couldn't agree with you, Morsy. There's a couple of things that come
to mind when I'm listening to you talk and the Femcana Garage podcast and the way that I interview
is known for not going down the predictable path of interviews. There's a couple of things when
you and I were chatting that blew me away. When I was kind of thinking through this and when we
were talking, the one thing that I feel gets lost in social media and even in a lot of
traditional interviews is the behind the scenes. I hate using the word sacrifice because that
sounds like you're losing something when really it's just about being focused on a goal. Does
that make sense? Yes, absolutely. I can understand why you would think of the word sacrifice
because I sometimes use the word suffering or I summarize it as crying under a race car.
There is a large price, social and physical, that the price that we pay to live these extreme
lifestyles and chase these very extreme goals, it is high and it isn't often reflected in the
highlight reel that can be social media. Would you be willing to share any of your story around
that? What you have been willing to do in the name of, I'll call it a passion project,
even though I say that because I could feel your passion in what you're doing with formula drift
and what you want to introduce, really bring women into it. I want to talk more about that, but
I think to get to where you are now, I think sometimes people don't understand. They only
see the end result. What I really want to pull out selfishly for me as well, it's like our story
isn't crazy different in the sense that I sold my house, left a relationship. Let's get a clean
slate. Let's make sure I'm in the right proximity to the right kind of people. I'm more mobile right
now to see where life takes me next. Can you share a little bit about maybe in the last 18 to 24
months what your life has been like? When I say behind the camera, I don't mean literally behind
the camera for you, but your life, what really took to get there? Yeah, I'm going to summarize it,
and then I will expand. People often ask, what does it cost to do this? My honest answer is
everything you have. It's not that expensive, it just takes everything. I never intended to be
a professional race car driver. I liked my life in stunts and in film, but when I got my license,
I realized that I didn't know when the next person like me would come along
to have that opportunity. And so I felt like- And by like you, what do you mean?
Even just a Canadian woman, there are two women up until this year, there were only two women in
Formula Drift, and there haven't been many women to compete in the series. Those two women come
from very different backgrounds and very different backgrounds for me. So I didn't feel when I looked
around and I went, oh, are there any like queer women in the space? Are there any women that
make me feel like, hey, that's me, and there weren't. So the day I got my license, I knew
my life had changed, but I didn't realize what it would take. I had been working throughout COVID,
80 hours a week on film sets, and it was killing my soul, honestly. I love the job, but a person
like me doesn't get into an industry to work and extended nine to five. I'm bad at routine,
generally speaking. It's not where I thrive. So I had originally decided to leave BC on vacation
in January of 2022, and I had a motorcycle in my van, and I was towing my race car, and I thought,
oh, I'm going to have this great adventure. And I made it to Willow Springs racetrack,
and that's all I did. My coach is there. And basically, within a month, I had decided I was
going to compete in a series in Florida called Clutch Kickers. And that turned into basically,
by May, I had sold my home. I had put everything into storage, and I did a 20,000 mile tour of the
US. I competed in something like 20 events that year because I wanted to be ready for formula
drift. I felt that I'd gotten lucky. Circumstances aligned so that I would get my license, but I
didn't feel like showing up the way that I was. I'd be making a very good impression.
I got to pause you one second because I want people to wrap their minds around that.
A 20,000 mile tour, and you did how many events? I think it was roughly 20 events,
but I think that year I did over 90 days of driving on track driving in my car.
90 days? It was a lot.
To help people wrap their minds around it. Again, they see the end result, and sometimes I feel
like I'm saying this so I can hear me say it. I recently read this book called Outliers by Malcolm
Gladwell. If anyone hasn't read it, I strongly recommend it, but they talk about gifted people.
It was like this debunking around gifted or genius, the Bill Gates, these multi-millionaires.
Some of it's luck in the stars aligning, some of it, but not all of it. There's still an element
of work here. I think sometimes people who are out here watching, standing outside watching people,
that they think it's all luck, and it's not. It's been scientifically proven that if you do
10,000 hours of that thing, whatever that skill or thing is, you have reached expert level.
But what I think is amazing about Uzi is that you recognized that, hey, things are starting to
line, and instead of fighting it, you allowed yourself to be vulnerable and lean into it.
You sold your house, you did all of these things, and then really went all in and did this 20,000
mile tour, and basically every chance you got, you got on the track to practice, to get those
hours in. That's what I want people to get, because you're in unique person Z where the
average person wants to sit back and look at someone and say, oh, look at what they got.
No, this wasn't handed to you. You saw an opportunity, you made air quotes, sacrifices,
choices to put yourself in the best position to practice, and you just went after it.
That takes guts in itself, because people get scared of those things.
Yeah, it's not an easy choice, and there are times when I think if I had known how hard it
would be that I might have made a different choice, but I arranged things in such a way
that I couldn't change my mind. What do you mean by that? Can you give just one example of that?
I sold my home. I quit my full-time job as a stunt coordinator. I basically
eradicated all of the support structures that I had in place that I would be able to return to
to feel safe and keep doing what I had been doing before. Basically, I left myself with no choice.
Sometimes we do that like, oh, the screw future me, I'm going to go to bed late,
or I'm going to get super drunk, who cares if I have to stay up early the next day? There's
that version of it. Then there's a version of knowing that I guess the willful side of me,
setting things up so that when things get hard, the only way is through. I have to keep going,
and it has been hard, but I've also been really fortunate in that as I pursue this thing,
life is being the people to me that I need to help me along my journey. I'm encountering these
people and people have been so generous when they see what I'm doing and they share my passion in
some capacity. This might feel like an isolated journey, like a lone quest, but it's not possible
without the other people. I've been very fortunate to find it. I love that. I think that's beautiful
because sometimes, especially women, I don't know what it is. As women, I don't know if it's
part of our DNA, we think we have to go at it alone, and we don't, and we shouldn't. There's
this misconception of women cat fight and are at each other BS. Here we are. I'm going to do whatever
I can to help get the word out about what it is that you're doing. That's the way all of this
works. We're here to help each other, and that's just another myth that's going to be debunked.
Let's talk a little bit more about the work that you're doing and your quest in bringing women
closer to Formula Drift. I always say the first race car that I sat in was mine,
and I had to build it. I had to have a whole other career, become interested in motorsport,
start taking classes, just get really stupid about it and decide I'm going to build a race car.
I even knew what it would be like to be in one at that level. For me, that was because I wasn't
exposed to it. I never saw it as potential. My family sat into motorsport. The anecdote I always
give is my dad will take my car when he's borrowing it to the shop to change the battery,
that kind of thing. It's not a mechanical family. I had to learn all of this,
but what I learned because I started from nothing and I worked with a coach who basically would
tell me how to do things but never do them for me when it came to fixing my car because they break
all the time. That's the thing with motorsports. I realized, oh, this isn't actually
car. It's not complicated. Most of working on a car is fairly straightforward. You just have to
do it and it's probably going to suck. Embrace the suck. Embrace the suck. If it's going to suck,
do it soon. Do it first. That attitude is something that I've really developed and that's really
helped me in a lot of ways, just lean into the difficult moments. I realized that it was a lack
of exposure. It was a lack of knowing that it existed. This is a thing that I love so much.
My favorite thing to do, I love competing. I love driving my car super fast, but the thing I love
the most is putting someone who's never experienced a car in that way in the passenger seat and giving
ride-alongs. The thing that I go to when I'm at my lowest is recordings of people's faces when I'm
doing that because it's just the most extreme feeling. It's not supposed to be happening. I
feel like a human roller coaster. I get to share this thing that I've learned over time to be able
to do at such a high level that people are willing to trust in their perspective, trust their lives
to me, and let me just do this in a car with them. I love it. I want more people like me
to be exposed to it so that they can love it too. I truly believe that the disparity and maybe the
gender gap in motorsport is largely due to exposure and people not seeing a path for themselves
because they don't see people like themselves out there. I am one of those people that just
wants it so badly. I don't care who's around me doing it, but I know that feeling welcome
is a big piece. As a woman, I haven't noticed it as much, but as a queer person going into every
space and wondering how much of me is welcome, whether it's okay to be myself in this space,
whether I'm wanted, I know people are asking those questions. For me, the goal is show people
that they're welcome. Don't just stay it. Open the door. Create a reason for them to come in
and let's build community. Community is something that I really felt lacking. You spoke a little bit
to this concept that women don't support one another. That is something that over the years
I've experienced to an extent, especially in spaces where women have to be exceptional to be in the
space. We start to create this correlation that, oh, I'm the only exceptional one. If someone
else comes in here, either I'm not exceptional or there's no space for me instead of understanding
that we had to make a bigger table. Let's create more space. My favorite line is why is the
mediocrity reserved for the white guys? There should be equal opportunity mediocrity.
I want to be surrounded by as many exceptional people as possible. I want to be exceptional.
I want to push myself. I want to be around people who hold themselves to really high standards
because it's inspiring and it forces us to continue growing. But that doesn't mean
I should only be around women. Everyone has a different goal out of life. My goal is apparently
to suffer as much as possible, but also achieve extreme things. Other people's goals might be
different, but it's been really cool coming into Formula Drift. There aren't as many women as I'd
like to see, but all of the women that are there were these exceptional women. I want to bring
a group of women around. Will you talk to them? I think you're inspirational. It is an old-school
mentality. I don't think it's totally incorrect, but I think that we can change it and we can change
it by being the people to embrace that insecurity around, what if I do this and I lose out on something?
Because I think underneath that's what it is. There's a scarcity mentality and when the resources
are scarce, we're afraid to share them, not understanding that we can create an abundance
by sharing. Yeah. I created another podcast called Women Getting Stupid Rich. It's just
leveraging my financial background to help women get to that. You got to pick a target
market, right? That's my target market. What I challenge women's thinking on holistically is
instead of fighting for that one seat at the table, so to speak, the whole concept is, and let's be
honest, the real secrets in training happens at the golf course at the bar, not at the table anyway.
Let's be real. Instead of fighting for a seat at the table, I want to put women in the position
to own the whole damn table. I don't even want them to get more seats because the control is
still out of their hands. Just own the whole damn table and then you get to pick who's at the table
and that's a whole paradigm shift. But baby steps, we got to start somewhere, right? And that's the
thing that I noticed in this industry is the one thing that is holding women back the most
is money. It's the money to get the seat time. That's why I'm choosing to kind of focus in that
space is to help women get more money in their pockets. It doesn't bring happiness. What it
brings is choice and that's the whole key to it, right? I'm sitting here thinking and just processing
what you're saying. You are an absolute inspiration. You've been told that multiple times and I'll
tell you the same thing. You absolutely are. But in all that you've done, you have had such an
impact on other people. What I get fascinated with is, is there a person or a moment in your life
where you felt incredibly impacted by someone else or some other event?
I think those moments happen all the time. Is there one that sticks out in your head where
it's like, ooh, man, that got me? For me, it's always been the people who advocated for me when
I didn't see it as benefiting them. And that's something that I really try to emulate. So very
early on in my career, I had a few men that were mentors for me, stunt drivers or stunt coordinators,
and they didn't take the easy path. It was often assumed if a man had a female assistant,
it was because they were dating. And sometimes people would react negatively to that. And I had
a few people that I assisted who would really stand up for me, either suggest me for opportunities
or when they encountered that resistance, say, well, what's happening here? And when they were
flat out accused of like, well, we're not going to hire your girlfriend, they would be like,
why can't I have a female assistant because she's good at her job? She is her own girlfriend. I
have my own girlfriend. There's nothing to do with that. But confronting that, those people
having those conversations, I wasn't there for that. He didn't have to. He could have taken
the easy way out. People advocating for my qualification for a job or some of the early
drivers that I worked for where, I mean, it still is common to an extent, although it's getting
much less common, it certainly was much more common when I started. If it was a complicated job,
you know, they would usually just get a man to do it, put a wig on him, wig on him,
or just tint the windows enough that we don't see it. And I had a few early jobs where the
coordinators could have taken the job themselves. And they said, no, I know someone who can do
this job. I have the right person for this job. And they put me in that seat and they gave me
the opportunity to prove that I had the skill and develop more skill through the onset experience.
For me, those moments that the people who create opportunity for others,
those are the moments that keep me going. And for me, a lot of those were men initially.
I've had the same experience. And, you know, it's interesting because what I do see in the very
name of my podcast, Femme Cannon Garage, I actually had a gentleman write my podcast off at
first because of the name of it. And I was very intentional in the name of my company.
And he ended up writing an article apologizing about falling into his own bias around it.
And he and I talk, I mean, somewhat regularly, we stay in touch. And I have found that the biggest
mentors and advocates have been men in my life. That's where some people get this disconnection
where female empowerment and female opportunity does not equal male disempowerment or taking away
from men. Does that make sense? It absolutely does. And I feel like there are many men who
understand it, but there are many people, I think that for them, these movements are the first time
that they've consciously been faced with a space that may not include them. And I think it must be
a very confusing feeling to encounter at first and not understand like this isn't about being
against me. This is for these other people to have a space because almost every space that I
walk into, I'm welcome. And so I don't even think about it. But those people don't feel that way,
right? And that's where that question of like, why, why do we need a pride parade? Why do we need
to have these women's only events? And I've had to explain to people because these are people who
historically don't know if a space is for them or if they can be a space. So creating a space for
these people allows them to grow and feel safe where they may not have had that opportunity
before. It's not about excluding you because you're not like them. It's about including these
people and making sure they have a place. It's almost like a stepping stone, wouldn't you say, Ziv?
When you described your event and what you did at Formula Drift and you were describing like this
group of women walking through Formula Drift where it was unintentional, you said it was creating a
scene where everyone came up to you afterwards like, what was that? There are so many women
in a pack, right? There's a comfort in numbers, especially for women when oftentimes in these
industries, they're onesie twosies. And to have a group of women where they feel safe to ask the
question where otherwise they may feel stupid, not that it's a dumb question, but they may feel that
way. And it's about creating these safe spaces to kind of give them that stepping stone. I don't
know. It's like the best way I can describe it to where maybe they end up going to the Formula
Drift event by themselves or with one other woman, right? Yeah, I think that's a great way of
describing it. It is a stepping stone. I think that once people get into that space, they may
realize it's not what they feared it was or not what they expected it to be. And a lot of the
feedback was, I had no idea there were so many women in this space because I never see them.
I had no idea there were so many girls like me who share the passion that I do. I know that all
of those women are still in contact, which is something that was not my intention, but I'm
really proud of. I love that now they have this community. And something that I said to them was
if five of you go to a drift event together, like a grassroots event, well, now it's a women's event,
right? It is. Or we just normalize the fact that there are women at drift events, but being the
only one that aren't just the girlfriend. Yes, exactly. Or the one in the bikini sitting next
to the car. Yeah, I do try to avoid that. I found when I showed up with my car loaded full of wheels
and tools, nobody treated me differently because I showed up and I was clearly passionate about it.
I loved drifting more than I was intimidated by the idea of not being surrounded by other women.
I was quite used to it throughout my life. That's such an amazing quote, Zee. When you love
something more than your fear of how someone else will interpret it or treat you, that you almost
become blind to it. I just got chills. Like that's straight out wisdom stuff right there.
Well, thank you. It's also addict stuff in a way, right? Maybe.
Two sides of that coin. I love drifting more than I love anything else as it turns out. Money,
having a home, stability, relationships, potential consequence that I will run out of all of those
things that I just listed and basically in a van that eventually stops working forever.
In a van down by the river. Right now, I'm in a van down by the beach.
Well, that's not a terrible thing. I know a lot of people who would love that life.
A van by the beach. Hell yeah. It is not terrible. So Zee, when I researched you and I started going
through like your sizzle reel and videos and I'm like, okay, this chick's been caught on fire.
I saw the picture of your wrist looking like letter S, like getting all jacked up.
You getting pushed out of windows, stunts like where it's like, boy, if that messed up, you'd
get head on with the semi. That seems very bad. All of these things where the average person would
be like, that would scare the crap out of me. And here you are doing it as a job. Then drifting
and even anyone who hasn't watched a drifting event, you guys drift really close to each other,
really close to walls, all kinds of stuff, right? Which is right up your alley, which makes sense.
What actually scares you? See, it's certainly not the fear of breaking a wrist or an arm or
all this stuff that the average person would be terrified of. And I'm not saying that maybe
you're not scared, but what really scares Xandra? What really scares you? Well, many of those things
do scare me. I've just learned to exist adjacent to the fear and recognize that the fear isn't
actually serving me or my survival. I also feel so strongly about commitments and honoring my
commitments that if I agreed to do a job, it really doesn't matter how I feel on the day because I
said I would do it. Honestly, honor and integrity and accountability are big driving forces for me,
but as far as what scares me is not knowing what if. I think that's really my driving force.
If you have three days to live Z, your biggest fear is the what if part.
I am very hungry for experiences and for life and to really know my own limits. Am I afraid that
I'll completely run out of money and that this will all have been a huge mistake and I could have
been in a comfortable life probably, but a really high level stunt coordinator in Vancouver and also
pilot, he said to me at one point when I was really struggling, he said, yeah, and the only thing
worse than doing this would be not doing it. And he's 100% right. I so concur. You and I are in
very similar places in our lives right now where I sold my house. I got out of an eight-year
relationship. It's just a complete reset and I left my cushy six-figure job and
went out on my own to start my business and it's probably one of the scariest, most exhilarating
things I've ever done in my life. It's like all the emotions wrapped up in one, but I was curious
to hear your perspective knowing that what you do for a living, people watch it and they're afraid
and they're not even the ones doing it. They just watch it like, whoo, my heart's racing, watching
Z do it. I can't imagine actually being the one doing it. So to get your perspective on this
is very, very powerful and I hope people listening to this connects the dots around that where it's
not about the outside physical world. It's about staying true and really listening and honoring
what you're hearing inside and actually doing it. It may not be traveling, God knows how fast
towards a semi head on. It may not be lighting your body on fire and hoping they put it out in
time or whatever. It's actually wholeheartedly jumping in with both feet and chasing your dreams
and that is scary. It is. It's terrifying, but I think life is the same as drifting is the same
as the other sports that I've done, which is it only works when you're fully committed. You
cannot do a half speed drifting. You can't try half the way to do a double flip, for instance,
as a trampoline. You have to be committed and have full intention and that's the only conditions
under which things will work. It doesn't mean that they will work, but they definitely won't
if you don't try completely. I tell my kids this all the time around. If you don't ask or go after
something, the answer is always no. But if you do, right? Yeah, and then that asking piece,
it's funny because I'm someone that does a lot and takes a lot of chances and really never says
no to opportunities, but asking for things has always been hard for me. Asking for a job that I
wanted, asking for sponsorship money, all of those things. Something that is actually quite
consistent between stunts and motorsport is it really is about networking. It's about letting
people know you exist and creating a reason for people to want to take a chance on you because
they are taking a chance on you and that's why there's so much rejection. What I realize in film
and I've tried to transfer this over is what are they going to not hire me even more? Zero percent
is already zero, right? I'm not losing. There's nothing to lose. I'm already at the bottom of
what I could get from that person. The only way that that's going to change is by putting myself
out there by seeking the rejection. When you seek rejection, when you actively try,
it's harder to get rejected and it's harder to fail than you think. I'm going to say that again.
Oh God, you're dropping all kinds of knowledge bombs on the listeners. That's an interesting
perspective. Seek rejection. Don't be afraid of rejection. If you seek rejection, you're not
really getting rejected because you didn't have anything from them anyway. So is it really rejection?
No, this is another thing I'm fascinated with as well. Given everything that you have done Z,
what are you most proud of? That's an interesting question and it's an interesting time to ask
me that question because I'm not currently riding a high of achievement. When I look back at the
last two years, I've accomplished a lot, I've done a lot of things, but I don't necessarily feel that
the crop is fruiting, I guess. But right now, I'm in that state of just hoping that all of the
You're cultivating the soil right now. Put in will come home. Yes. And maybe there's a few
sprouts coming, but for anyone that's ever gardens, many sprouts do not make it to become anything
productive. I'm proud of the journey that I've been on. Honestly, I'm most proud of the people
that I've been able to convince to take up the thing I'm passionate about. I'm really proud of
the legacy I have in Vancouver. There's a lot of women that drift now that didn't before,
a lot of women in film that are focusing more heavily on the stunt driving aspect. I try to
support them as best I can, but I'm proud that I was able to share something I love with people
and they started to love it too and it's affected their lives. Did I share cocaine with them?
In a sense, yes. But also, I've watched these people get empowered and start these journeys
and build this skill set that they were afraid to. I had a friend that came to Formula Drift
Utah, came to support me because she knew I didn't have any family there. She said to me,
hey, do you remember you took me to the drift pack with you? It was one of the first times that
you were drifting in Evergreen, which is in Washington. You said to me, this is possible
for you. You can do this too. And I was like, I don't remember that. And she's like, yeah, well,
now I'm drifting. Now I have two drift cars and I love it so much. And that for me was this moment
of like, oh, I don't feel like I'm changing people's lives. I just love sharing what I love,
moments like that where people are like, this thing you did changed the course of my life
and I don't remember it. I think that's really cool. I love that.
That's the good stuff right there, isn't it? Z, what's next for you?
Well, Formula Drift again next year. They've agreed to let me do the women's event,
basically at as many rounds as I want, but I don't want to do it when I'm competing because
my goal is to have a certain level of achievement as a driver. So I will do the women's tour at four
rounds. I'm seeking partners to help me bring in different female apprentice to each round.
As many women as possible to move on to Formula Drift.
There is a Los Angeles kind of Suarez, you know, we mingle, we maybe have a cocktail,
then we learn about some element of vehicular mechanical components, whether it's wheels,
whether it's the suspension, whether it's basics of engines and create a space again,
like you mentioned, where if you're asking a question, it's safe to ask a question that
might feel silly and it won't be because you're a woman. You know, you're in a safe space for
learning and learning is encouraged and we want it to be fun and really I want to build a community
and I want to demonstrate how many women are here with this interest that are just looking for
somewhere to go, you know, looking for people like them because I've experienced that and
I would latch on to anyone that made me feel like, oh, you're kind of like me, I can do it
because you're doing it, you know, I want to introduce these women to each other. So those
are my small plans for next year. Small, it's an interesting definition of small.
And the thing I'm most excited about is that the day after New Year's Day, I get to drive a fire
truck. I'm totally serious. I like just drive it or like drift a fire truck. I don't I don't
think I'm drifting it but I'll be driving it as a stunt driver and I worked on this show before
I'm not going to name the show but I worked on it another capacity and I saw fire trucks and I
basically this is a prime example of ask for the thing. I turned into it like an eight-year-old boy
and I told the stunt coordinator that day probably about 40 different ways just so you know I'm
qualified to drive fire trucks. If you need anyone like I know someone who can drive that fire truck
for you and it's me you should definitely call me. I'm available if there's a fire truck like just
every possible way and so now we sort of have this joke where he'll message me and he'll literally
just message the word fire truck and I just say when. I'm very excited to start my year driving
a fire truck because it's the one thing that you can't rent it. It's very hard to get yourself
into a fire truck and anyone who's into vehicles like anyone that I say universally guy girl if
they're into cars and I'm like I get to drive a fire truck they're like really? I know I did. I'm
like what? Most people are happy if they can sit in one or when it's parked just climb up on the
side of it. Yeah that's the kind of vehicle where we just don't have access to it and that's a very
cool moment. I'm excited for that. I'm excited for all the other stuff and you know the women
and the racing that's cool you know. Yeah for sure but the fire truck man. Yeah I mean you can't buy
that. The stunt that you have done that you're most proud of. So there's a couple for me. For me
I really like the stunts where it's sort of up to me if I succeed and fail and the stakes are high.
I do not like them beforehand. I find the pressure to be rather a lot. One of the most technical
stunts that I've had to do was for the Adam project we did a chase scene with a vehicle and said
80s GMC Jimmy. I think we called them Broncos the whole time because they're basically they're
all the same truck really. People are going to hate that I said that but they are. I got you though.
I got you. There's a whole off-road sequence and I'm like there's a car chase on the road. I slide
the car we end up in the forest and we had this forest road that we had made and they wanted me
to basically slam on the brakes. I opened the door a flying guy on a hoverboard hits the door
and then I basically slam it in reverse do a reverse. You literally had to open the door
yourself and try to. Yes but we didn't touch us right. Well still you're driving and doing it regardless.
Yeah I mean there's a lot of elements that happen but you know this is why we rehearse this is why
we work with professionals so that we can achieve these things but the stunt on that show that was
the hardest was I had to do a reverse 180 between these two physical trees and we set it up in the
parking lot and these are legit trees in a forest. Real trees so I walked the path and I looked and
I looked at the car and I did not pull out the measuring tape and I went okay I'm pretty sure
if I'm going to do it this is the spot you know and I love those jobs when you're like can you do
it and I'm like I think so. They're like great let's do it and then it's up to me so we did it 11
times and as I'm doing this I have a cable cam moving beside me and I have an ultimate arm so
who are you doubling in this movie? Zoe Saldana I only doubled her for the driving one of my good
friends was her a much better double for her overall so there's a Mercedes with a camera on a crane
off the front of it and the camera is like in my windshield right I have a camera beside me
I'm reversing I have two stunt doubles in the car we're not in like helmets or anything right if we
need to see the faces I do this reverse 180 and I do it 11 times and I think on take nine there's
like the little reflector like little orange reflector on the front of the chrome bumper and I
just like just steered that off like just on a tree. You did it 11 times and that's the only thing
that happened to it. I would say there was probably about eight inches of wiggle room like diagonally
tree to tree you know for the car so that was a very challenging stunt that was a very challenging
show overall just that we were shooting 12 hours a day it was peak COVID everyone was masked
visors the whole thing and it was just nothing but car chase so it was really cool to be doing
but it was so high pressure and really difficult and that particular stunt when we finished it I
was like I'm proud of that that was hard. Yeah wow now what about the fire scenes does it look
worse than what it actually is? I'm very good friends with the guys that founded a company
called fire for hire in Vancouver and they have a proprietary gel that is basically a thermal barrier
between the fire and your skin and the way that fire stunts work is if you're wearing clothes then
you know you wear a dry layer then you wear like a layer of clothing that is soaked in this gel
and then you have your outfit on top and you have basically until you get hot you can be on fire
and then when you get hot usually you do whatever you've signaled and they'll put you out and you
might get minor burns but you don't get major burns for sure the first time that you're on fire is
psychologically challenging right like there is a very human very natural intrinsic like primal
desire for people to get away from fire you do have to fight that urge but once you get used to it
it's actually quite a calm thing and I always try to remember all of the steps that I need to do
to get to whatever the action is you know go through the room knock over this plant try to
save the baby like light all these things on fire like I've definitely had a scene like that um
save the baby knock on the shit set these things my god I mean that's the piece that people don't
realize about stunts and about acting sure can you do this thing yes do it in the context of a scene
and don't forget to hit all of these beats while you're on fire or before you get thrown across the
room on a wire or you know we are inhabiting that character for that moment of time so it's not just
being on fire it's what is that character feeling when they're on fire why are they what you know
what are all the other elements that are happening there's really a performance element to it I don't
find fire scary I really trust the guys that I work with I've done a lot of fire safety stuff myself
I recognize that it's natural and human to be afraid of fire but as you know like many people
also have this draw towards fire why do we have campfires it is basically a source of life for us
right and it's soothing humans have a complicated relationship it is interesting there's like a
paradox to it almost when I think about drifting and your move towards drifting listening to you
talk it actually makes a lot of sense because when I watch formula drift it's almost like a dance
between two cars it's so fascinating and there's a stunt element to it because when you watch the
professionals do this they are really close and close to each other close to the wall close to
everything yeah it's basically forcing the car to an uncontrolled state right because you're
skidding but that's actually not true there is actually control to it it's understanding your
machine that's so accurate and I'll go one further I'm much more comfortable sideways in a car than
forwards at high speed one of my biggest barriers has been formula drift the tracks that we are on
are generally speaking much faster than other tracks that we get the opportunity to drift on
so I have a like a mental limit in a way or I did have you know where my body is physically used to
going a certain speed and not faster than that forwards once the car is sideways I feel completely
comfortable but it really does come down to you have to feel the machine you have to really be
connected with the machine you need to be able to anticipate what the other driver is doing and
trust them to a certain extent and the other thing and it's sort of like fire in this sense
it's much safer to be closer than to be at a distance because there is this gray area of
distance in formula drift the cars are making a lot of smoke right if you're right beside the other
car you can see it when you get here you get buried in the smoke and you can't see anything
and a contact from 10 inches away versus a contact from a hundred feet away
the relative difference in speed velocity the impact is much lower actually which is counter
intuitive but the safest place is as close to the other car as possible wow also fascinating
what I can tell you Z and then we'll hop into the red line round which isn't going to be red
line for you because that's you live your life in the red line but in my bucket list is to sit
shotgun with a professional drift driver and my hopes were always to be sitting shotgun next to a
woman that was the drift driver we may be able to make that happen for women's motor fest in
southern cow and boy it would be an honor to sit shotgun with you and have my first experience
ever experiencing that you be in the one driving so hopefully we can make that happen but
it's definitely in my bucket list and are you at liberty to share any maybe your top three
favorite videos from people sitting shotgun with you there's a few on my social media I have a
couple personal favorites so I used to have this routine when I was working full-time on Nancy Drew
where now that I'm not employed by CBS anymore I can openly say this I would take directors or
actors on weekends unofficially to a spot that I had that was totally illegal and give them
ride along so I can certainly contact them and ask there is one that is on one of the actresses
social media so that one I can definitely share with you okay but I'll find a few if you could
find a few I would love to meld that in with our interview video because I'm pretty sure I may have
wasted at least 30 minutes to an hour actually watching and not necessarily just yours but like
ride along videos of people's expressions on their face and I totally understand why that's
one of your favorites is watching the expressions and experience of the people that sit shotgun with
you I love it and I'll tell you some of my favorites were grandparents oh yeah oh my god the stuff
that comes out of their mouth is like priceless the younger crowd I feel like they try to play it
cool sometimes and just laugh but grandparent level they just don't give a shit like anything will
fly out of their mouth like this is awesome I just love it why tell you what Zee let's launch into
the red line round it's just five rapid fire questions no right or wrong answer whatever
pops into your head is the right answer are you ready you are not nervous I'm not what if I get
I know you just said there's no wrong answers yeah no we're good all right who or what has
been your inspiration throughout your journey in the industry there's so many women uh very
early in my career there's a woman named Melissa Stubbs one of the top stunt women who's built an
incredible career for herself you can look her up she's a director now just instrumental and just
so badass just never cared along the way I've met many more inspiring women but she was the first
awesome where do you go or what resources do you use when you want to learn something new
where you feel stuck on the job internet I have always been internet person but I'm not a fan of
videos I like forums interesting forums this just popped into my head and this is not part of the
red line but I have to ask what do your parents think of this were they like terrified how old
were you when you got in the industry like the first time you were caught on fire you did a stunt
I started doing stunts when I was 18 but I had been doing circus my whole life and I was a kid
that like when I was three my parents found me with tar on my pants and discovered that I had
been climbing out the window under the roof so I don't think they ever expected anything else
they just want me to be happy so they weren't like scared because a lot of parents especially
helicopter parents right like they would be like terrified like bubble wrap you well if they are
scared they've done me a kindness and never shared that with me gotcha what excites you most about
what you do the stillness in the car the fault when I feel intro and police on everything is
happening it's this stillness in such a busy loud moment in a way it's not quite excitement but it's
this thing that I crave it's almost like a meditation to you yeah the way it sounds oh I love that
what is a personal habit or practice that has helped you significantly in the industry when
you feel stuck unsupported or discouraged a personal habit looking at the things I can control
and trying to start with them it's very easy to get overwhelmed with all the things that are not
going the way that we want or that are outside of our control but for me it always brings me back
into feeling empowered if I can figure out what I can control and what can I do with this thing that
wasn't what I wanted but how could this be an opportunity I'm always trying to look at that
and finally what is your parting advice to other femcanax finding their way in this industry
I think a lot of people will say this and that's just do the hard things you will find you are
more welcome than you think you'll find there are more resources than you think my mother used to
always say jump in the net will appear wait say that again jump in the what net will appear jump
in the net will appear ooh chew on that for a moment like I just visually imagine that but
what an appropriate metaphor although for you it may not be a metaphor for the majority of the
population I think that's a metaphor wow where in hell can people connect with you zi I'm most
active on instagram my instagram is z drives zee drives or zee drives for our non-american audience
um I'm a little bit active on youtube I'm building that up during my off season
and also website z drives dot com zee thank you so much for being in the driver's seat on the
podcast I so appreciate what you're doing I hope that one day in the very near future you get to
scare the shit out of me while I'm sitting shotgun and experiencing that and then I can put that video
on my social channel so people can make fun of me and you can do that as well
it would be an honor to make your top 10 thank you again for taking the time out to share your
story with the community thank you for having me it's been really really fun my name is Zandara
kennedy I am a step woman and professional formula drift driver and I'm a femcanic
thanks for listening to the femcanic garage podcast you can find us on instagram facebook
and youtube at femcanic garage check out our website at femcanic.com for swag and the links
to the resources shared during this episode if you want to help grow this community subscribe rate
and review and most importantly share this podcast spread the word this is jamie b signing off are
you a femcanic
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