As the first professional transgender motorsports racer, Charlie Martin is breaking records, personal bests and stereotypes. The LGBT+ and diversity speaker has first hand experience of the importance of inclusion, having experienced stigma as a transgender woman. Charlie is now using her influential platform to promote acceptance and understanding, from sport to business. Motorsports in itself is a male dominated industry, so Charlie is having to face discrimination as both a woman and a member of the LGBT+ community. Despite this, she remains steadfast in her message; "I want to share my story with everyone".
As a racer, you can usually find Charlie competing in the Ginetta GT5 Challenge. Starting in 2018, she competed with Richardson Racing, followed by Ligier. This is where Charlie first tried her hand at endurance racing, which would later lead to a place in the German VLN Championship. The championship includes a 24 hour race, the pinnacle of driving endurance. Upon joining the Racing Experience team, Charlie took part in the 2019 Michelin Le Mans Cup - she even came fourth in the Circuit Paul Ricard.
Charlie's after dinner speeches discuss her experience behind the wheel. A thrilling spectacle for audiences to enjoy, she also shares the invaluable endurance and persistence techniques that she employs on the track. In the early stages of her career, Charlie took part in the 2006 Hillclimb Leaders Championship. Behind the wheel of a Peugeot 205, she experienced her first taste of competitive motorsports. Fast forward 10 years, and Charlie soared past the competition to take second place in Class B of the 2017 Race of Remembrance.
Inspired by transgender model Caronline Crossey, Charlie is a vocal advocate for LGBT+ representation. She has led a number of influential campaigns in the sport, including encouraging drivers to proudly wear the rainbow flag at the 2018 Ginetta GT5 Challenge, for Pride Month. Charlie wants transgender representation to become normalised, she wants people to look at her and see a good racer - not just a transgender woman. As the first racing driver to join Athletes Ally's, a non-profit LGBT+ organisation, Charlie is highly regarded as a trailblazer of representation, both in motorsports and across the world. The ideal diversity speaker for your event, Charlie will inspire a new, more accepting perspective in her audience.
How to hire Charlie Martin
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Charlie Martin for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do not accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
When she's at corporate events, Charlie is known to cover the following topics:
- Motorsports
- LGBT+
- Diversity and inclusion
- Courage and bravery
- Battling stigma
Feedback for virtual events and webinars
During the Covid-19 pandemic and the temporary halt of live events, Charlie was booked for a range of virtual events and webinars. Read her latest feedback from virtual events below.
"We really appreciate the time she took out of her day to come to speak to our Axon employee base. We had an incredible showing for today's event, and we've received amazing feedback on how fantastic, enlightening and impactful her talk was. I personally am in awe of Charlie and find her so inspiring. Thanks so much for your partnership in putting this event together, and we look forward to future opportunities to partner as well!" - Lara, Director Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, Axon
"I wanted to say thank you for the excellent talk. The feedback received has been extremely positive and has shone a positive light on trans awareness" - Daniel, EMEA Product Stewardship, 3M
Feedback from in-person events
Charlie is also booked as a speaker for a range of in-person events, read her latest feedback below.
"Charlie was brilliant. She is a really inspirational, engaging and authentic speaker and above all an inspiring human being. We would definitely recommend her for future clients/bookings. She was very thorough in her preparation, sought to understand our work culture and touched on the key messages we had in the brief. She was great in the Q&A round as well. The audience really enjoyed the talk and there were a lot of inspiring takeaways from the session. Furthermore, she left us with some very inspiring life lessons in terms of how we can approach challenges in life. " - Bonnie, Senior HR Manager, Travelex
"Just wanted to say a huge thanks to you for helping organise our event with Charlie yesterday. She was a total delight and her talk was really spot on. The reaction/ feedback internally has been really positive so please pass on my thanks to her again. Hopefully we can have her involved in our campaigns again" - Claire, Internal Communications, Genius Sports
"It’s about endurance and she has that in spades"- Sarah Holt, CNN
"In a male-dominated sport that lacks visible diversity, she is changing perceptions and championing inclusivity" "If there is anyone to inspire you to follow your dreams with passion and determination, it’s Charlie!"- Katherine Conway, AON
"I thought the session was fantastic and very inspirational, a great story of being your authentic self and not only overcoming challenges but flourishing"- Brian McNamara, GSK
"We’ve received some amazing and highly positive feedback, Engagement across the business was 96% for #ASOSFOL, which we wouldn’t have been able to achieve without you being part of it"- ASOS, Festival of Learning
"Charlie was an inspirational speaker – our students hung on to her every word. She was assured, eloquent and talked passionately about her journey. Charlie made a huge impression on our staff and students"- Irfan H Latif, DLD College
