Heroes in Business - Pat Bondurant President of the Bondurant Performance Driving and Racing School is interviewed by David Cogan

Episode Date: May 9, 2024

Pat Bondurant President of the Bondurant Performance Driving and Racing School is interviewed by David Cogan of Eliances Heroes amfm, iHeart. Pat talks about her rich history in fast design for performance vehicles including Tomahawk fighter jets and now the cars at Bondurant Racing School. 

Welcome back to Alliances Heroes, where heroes in business align. To be part of our super community and find out more about Alliances, visit www.alliances.com. Now, back to our super host, David Kogan, founder of Alliances. That's right, David Kogan with Alliances, And while I may be a super host, we've got superheroes in the studio because so much is going on. I mean, we just had the Hall of Fame racing legend and founder and owner of Bondurant Performance Driving School. But our next guest, she is the president of the Bob Bondurant School

of High Performance Driving and Bondurant Racing School. It is the premier performance racing school that was started by her husband, racing legend Bob Bondurant. We have Pat Bondurant, who can be reached at bondurant.com. That's B-O-N-D-U-R-A-N-T dot com. So, Pat, what type of experience do you want your customers to have when they come to the Bondurant Racing School? Oh, my gosh. That's an open question.

Of course, you want them to walk away with, and they do, with the biggest smiles you can imagine. And to know that the amount of money that they spend on that kind of course, they got their money's worth and they hands down. And so they actually get trained and they're able to drive a race car? You know, we have Hellcats and Vipers on the facility at this time and it doesn't get any cooler than that. And how fast are they able to drive?

You know, our straightaway will only limit you to probably about 100, 125 miles an hour. And that's all you need to do and you've also too you've you're you're a professional businesswoman you've negotiated one of the largest automotive sponsorship deals in history and you're in the process of redesigning the racing school and racetrack with your husband bob who we just had interviewed But what's the key to negotiating? You know, for it to be a win-win is such an overstated, you know, reaction to that question. But the truth is, is that stand by your guns and know what it is you want. Keep your vision in your in your in your mind so that you know what you want.

You know, you do have to, you know, step to the side and agree to agree that you're not going to get everything that you want you know you do have to uh you know step to the side and agree to agree that you're not going to get everything that you want but um but hold on to what it is you want and negotiate and wiggle room a little bit in there but um if you're at the negotiation table you should already know by that time exactly where you're willing to move and where you're willing to not move interesting interesting and prior to to being president of the racing school, you were a beauty pageant contestant, architectural designer. What do you feel that you learned from that that carried over to your role now? You know, I had such a unique childhood.

I was raised with nine brothers and sisters and right in the middle of five brothers so I could have been the cutest little baby doll sister on earth but I was right in the middle of five brothers so there was no cuteness there it was you're gonna build a tree for it you're gonna jump in the creek you're gonna swim with the snakes with us there was no opportunity to see what you look like so I wasn't one of those little girls that grew up and go you know wow how cute you are. You're going to go far because you're pretty. It was, you know, constantly being combative with your brothers

on who can excel to be the best. Incredible. And we have Pat Bondurant. She is the president of Bondurant Racing School, bondurant.com. You're listening to Alliance's Heroes with David Kogan. So go to where entrepreneurs align, be part of the community. There are so many people involved. E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. We'll also have this clip featured on our website. I'm getting a lot of social media hits right now and

people want to know, let's see here, what does Tomahawk cruise missile have to do with you? Well, my first job was on the NASA Space Shuttle Enterprise. And so when that shuttle went up and was successful, they laid all of us off. So we all went in different directions. And it was tough finding a job when you got 4,000 qualified extraordinary people looking for jobs. So I went into architecture. And the architecture was like me swimming. I was like a duck in water. I absolutely knew like beyond my years things about architecture that absolutely defied what I was doing on drawings. And I had a boss at

United Technologies who says, my God, this is amazing how you're telling me things that, you know, I should have already known. And so it gave me an opportunity to be over the entire design facilities design department on the Tomahawk cruise missile facility. That was our new building. And I did. And it was, I think every woman should really reconsider going into architecture because it's like we're trained from the time we're little. The knives go here. The forks go here. The spoons go here.

You're going to cook from the stove, from the refrigerator. And it's simple, basic logic of what makes the most sense in the shortest time frame to get the job done. And that's what I did. It's incredible. And I got to ask you, both, you know, you and your husband are here in the studio and your husband can't stop taking his eyes off you when he, when you were being interviewed, you couldn't, when, when he was being interviewed, I got to ask you, what's the key? How are you both

so happy, married and everything of that? What's the key to that? I want to tell you something. It's such a karmic love story that we are actually in contract talking to people about doing our movie. It's a chick flick and a guy racing movie all rolled into one. But it's so extraordinarily karmic, the love between us. You can't make this stuff up. I mean, amazing. In 1968, when Bondurant first opened in Southern California, I understand the school had trained really hundreds of thousands of students

to be better drivers. I mean, 90% of the NASCAR drivers, movie stars. It was mentioned about Robert Wagner, James Garner, Paul Newman. I mean, teenagers even. My daughter just got her driver's permit. What would you teach her at the racetrack? Well, I'd teach a guy. There's absolutely simply no difference.

I will tell you one thing. Women listen better. Isn't that great? Oh, that's great. What would you say those happiest moment maybe of running the school? Wow. We have so many life-changing stories from it could be, you know, the little guy who had eight days left to live and his wish was to go do hot laps with Bob Bondurant. And we gave him a helmet. Bob signed it. Eight days later,

that little guy died with his helmet in his arms. Stories like that, you can't even imagine what we see at that school and the lives that we change. Because when you go through that school, it's more than learning how to drive a car we're teaching you confidence that you did not know was inside of you in fact too you're very involved in charitable honors you're part of child help catwalk body positive hundred other charities and that tell me though why you got involved with child help that stacy weber thankfully she's been on the air and stuff of that you know recommended you wow uh you know it's a shame it's probably our dirtiest secret in the United States and it's the most pathetic um situation that we have is children

being abused and neglected and um you know five children a week are murdered at the hands of an abuser and and if five people a week went down in an airplane crash, the news would be all over it. Nobody's talking about how many children are being murdered at the hands of their abuser. And I think that is a pathetic statement in this country. And, you know, I'll fight all the way, and Bob and I will do everything we can to help that organization raise funds. And you can learn more about ChildHelp by going to ChildHelp.org. and Bob and I will do everything we can to help that organization raise funds. And you can learn more about ChildHelp by going to ChildHelp.org. Learn more about racing at Bondurant.com, B-O-N-D-U-R-A-N-T.com.

What do you think is the best way, talking about children, a child can grow up and increase their odds of being a contributor to society like you have? Oh, my. Guidance, having somebody to show them that they are significant, they're important, that they have value. You know, it's funny, when we're little, all we know is that the big people are the ones that run the world, but what we don't realize and what we're not taught by our teachers or probably our parents is that you are growing up every day and you're probably going to be that next owner of that company or that race car driver or,

you know, I mean, it's to inspire. I mean, absolutely incredible. Everything that you're doing, Pat, you've gone from being one of the boys on late night drafting teams, boardrooms, construction trenches, I mean, winning national architectural awards, standing on both sides of TV cameras as a star, as the producer, negotiating high stakes real estate deals. The list just goes on. Keep doing what you're doing. You're a hero.

Pat Bondurant at bondurant.com. And when we return, oh my gosh, he's been the CEO of so many companies, Denny's, and the list just goes on and on and on. David Kogan with E-Liances.