Life on Wheels

October came with the theme Transit. CreativeMornings Lisbon virtually got together with CreativeMornings Porto and the first national event happened! What a ride it was!

It started with a virtual dance party with the incredible DJ Teté Funky Leaf.It was such an energizing way to start the event! We then focused with some meditation exercises powered by Marta Afonso to slow down and center ourselves. In other words, there were different rhythms but we were always moving, from dance moves to a zen state of mind. 

Then our amazing speaker, Inês Ponte Grancha shared her perspectives on the theme. As a mother, a physical therapist and a rally co-pilot, she shared with us how she manages all these pillars of her life, always in motion.
Her passion about racing started with the influence of her father, who bought her a crosskart when she was still a kid, even though all she wanted was to do ballet. However, with her father’s lead, her passion for this racing world started to grow. Inês started racing at 9 years old and at the age of 13 she drove her first stick shift. As she got older, she got her first job as co-pilot and fell in love with this work. The co-pilot’s role is really complex, but important. They’re the ones who give instructions to the pilot and a minor error can put both of their lives in danger.

In between, Inês graduated as a physical therapist, a job that also involves constant movement! She appreciated that it was a job where she could deal with people of all ages. So, the second pillar of her life was growing. 

Finally, she wanted to be a mother.  It was a long-time dream. However, she was told she couldn’t have children and this discovery really weighed her down. At the same time, she got an invitation to be part of a great racing team, one of those irresistible invitations she couldn’t say no to. It was then when it happened! Without expecting and thinking it was impossible, she got pregnant! Family is really important for Inês and motherhood really filled up her life.

So, how does the amazing Inês manage all of these roles?! With a lot of creativity, focus, passion and a bit of stubbornness, she has proven she can do it. Especially as a woman in a men’s racing world, where she fights to be part of it as an equal, even though there is still a gap in the way she is treated. 

“Success only happens when we don’t try to be too ambitious,” she says. One should have goals of course, but without putting relationships at stake along the way. She has also learned to stay positive, even when adversities come. Inês shared with us–with vulnerability and honesty–a big accident she had three years ago. It was a time when everything could have fallen apart. She was in a wheelchair that could have been with her for the rest of her life and the doctors said that she would not be able to race anymore. However, Inês had a huge and unexpected recovery that not even the physicians can explain! Now, she walks, she carries her children, she races and she is always moving! 

Inês is movement embodied, the way she communicates is all about movement, transit and a great energy. Movement is part of her life. Thank you, Inês, for sharing your life with such passion, vulnerability and a positive vibe!

Text by Ana Sousa

Photos by Sónia Ramalho