Page 10 - 2019 April-May IWMA Magazine

Business Owner Kate Dillon Shares Her Knowledge
Kate Dillon desribes herself as “the girl who sells race car parts”. She grew up in a racing family, but it took several years for her to get back to racing. Out of high school, she explored the United States as a traveling salesman for five years. Then, she bounced around to different colleges until she decided to become an Interior Designer. She graduated with an Interior Design Degree and then worked in Architec- ture and Design for 7 years.
But then, her life took a turn. “My Dad and my broth- er were putting a racing trade show together. I moved from Idaho to North Carolina to help them out. I was there to do sales and marketing. But, when I heard a racing engine start up after not hearing one for several years, I knew racing was my home. When the trade show ended, I started the website,
www.CrateInsider.com to provide the best tech information and products for racers running crate engines.” she shared.
When she is not working, one of her favorite things to do is to take her kayak onto a flat lake and paddle around. Besides selling race car parts, her business has evolved. She also builds ecommerce stores for other companies, and she recently released a program called Winning Motorsports Marketing to teach racers about marketing and sponsorship. Marketing and business are her passions and she loves to share her knowledge.
As a little girl, she played with both cars and dolls.
“I was never a girl who liked baby dolls, but I did like Barbie. My brother had a lot of Hot Wheels cars. Sometimes when he and I would play, Barbie would do daring, adventurous things like high dives into a pool we created out of a cooler. And we both loved building crazy tracks for the Hot Wheels cars.
Kate’s favorite tv show is Game of Thrones because it’s so epic! And Halloween is definitely her favorite holiday.
Kate is very busy. Besides selling race car parts, she is also known for
video. “I shoot a lot of product and tech vid- eos for racers. I also have a live show called ‘Top 5 Tuesday’ that airs every Tuesday at 2:00 pm eastern on the Crate In- sider Facebook page.” she said.
Kate’s long term goal is to keep doing what she is doing and continue to grow her business. If she has ideas for new projects, she makes them happen.
“For instance, my next project is to launch the Racing Insiders Podcast in the Spring of 2019. I want to tell the stories of the people behind the companies and brands in the racing industry. I’m also considering writing a book or two.”
When she is not racing she loves to kayak or relax by water of any kind—pool, lake, river, and ocean. She also has her own YouTube channel. She offers marketing and busi- ness advice, but also posts random vlogs just for fun every once in awhile.
If they made a movie of her life, people say she re- sembles Ashley Judd, so that is who would play her.
Her favorite race car driver is her Dad, Dick Schiltz.
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Reach out too Kate at www.crateinsider.com!