She’ll Be Right Rally team members, Pam Wright and Dana Benyo, are back competing in the tenth anniversary Rebelle Rally. After completing the 2024 rally competing in Pam’s 2023 Ford Bronco their rookie season, they decided to add a unique challenge for 2025. Their 2025 third teammate will be Dana’s 32 year old Land Rover Defender 110 North American Specification, example 370 of 500, also known as Beastie. Beastie’s manual transmission, minimal electronics (ie. NONE), and occasional flare for the dramatic will make this team one to watch.
I've worked for Adobe since 2006 (I look like a baby in my first badge photo) and it's been a wild ride - the company has changed a LOT over the last 20 years and so have I. I've worked in many, many different roles/functions and in 4 different countries (Canada, USA, Australia, UK). I love my job - every day brings a new challenge or a new learning opportunity. It's very fast paced and I have to stay on my toes - much like Rebelle!
San Jose, CA
Loyalist College (Belleville Ontario); Advertising
"Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all. (Helen Keller)"
I have fantastic peripheral vision (which allows me to read really quickly because I can read the whole page all at once) and extremely poor 3D vision (which makes me really suck at hiking since I have to look down at the ground all the time)!
Did it last year and felt that I had unfinished business since I had learned so much!! And, I just loved the experience...even when it was really hard, I loved it.
All of the women who came before me and fought to get us where we are today
I don’t listen to podcasts, my brain totally checks out. It’s hard to choose favorite books and shows! My favorite movie is Notting Hill. The “Long Way” series’ are great too for exploration inspiration. Books…probably a book of maps for wherever we’re going next!!
Back to the Australia trip of course! If I had to pick one part of that...crossing the Simpson Desert. You have to bring enough water, food, and fuel to sustain yourself. It is extremely remote and extremely risky if you aren't appropriately prepared.
2024
Just trying to push my own boundaries, apply skills I learned last year, trying to constantly get better and figure out how to solve new problems.
I really like reading books and the local library brings me a special kind of joy when I get to go in there and pick up a new stack of books. I also love to cook and have recently gotten into asking ChatGPT for recipes and grocery lists which is working well so far! My husband and I travel a ton and are always trying to find new adventures, including 4 wheel driving and overlanding/camping.
No background in motorsports, but my husband and I have always loved road trips, starting with long journeys in our bright red mustang convertible. When we moved to Australia, we bought a Jeep (mustangs were like $120k when we moved there!) and threw off-roading into the mix, which opened up remote areas, so of course we had to get into camping too...eventually we ended up taking that Jeep & a rooftop tent all the way around Australia on an epic road trip. Rebelle is like getting a specially curated epic road trip that I didn't have to plan, although there's the competition factor thrown in too which keeps it interesting!
I've lived in four countries. In Australia my husband & I quit our jobs and spent a year traveling around in a Jeep with a rooftop tent. We kept a blog of our travels which I love reading every once in a while: www.nickandpam.com
Last year, I loved driving anywhere there were Joshua Trees, the most... I also love/hate Johnson Valley...it's difficult terrain but it has something of everything.
Last year, I didn't know what was going to happen and that was a total mind-f*** for me. I hate not knowing what's going to happen. This year, I have a better idea of the format and what each day sort of will look like, but my partner and I are doing it on hard mode with a 30 year old vehicle with a manual transmission! So I think the most challenging part this year will be just holding our shit together!!!
I'm a perfectionist and a high achiever. The Rebelle taught me that I cannot do everything perfectly, and some days I can't even do anything well at all (I'm looking at you, day 4 & Sperry Wash!!). That's actually helped me relax a little. There will always be an endless list (of checkpoints, of chores, of work projects, etc). That's never going away. So get over yourself and stop trying to think you can do it all.
I always name cars since I was a little girl. Our first car I can remember was named Happy, and then there was Jenny, Diamond, Lucky, and so on.
I recently took on a new leadership role at a gaming and financial technology company focused on the regulated Gaming industry where I drive the financial strategy and planning, competitive intelligence, and corporate development functions. It’s a big role I’m not sure I would have put myself up for if it weren’t for my experience at the 2024 Rebelle Rally.
Los Gatos, CA
Bryn Mawr College (Economics), Rice University (MBA)
"E. B. White about Bryn Mawr graduates (I graduated from Bryn Mawr)..."As they grow in years, they grow in light. As their minds and hearts expand, their deeds become more formidable, their connections more significant...""
I use to play rugby in college
I realized all the ways I've challenged myself in the past has been by applying my expertise to adjacent areas. I hadn't pick up something completely new in quite a while until I competed in the 2024 Rebelle Rally. I took some time to consider competing in the 2025 Rebelle Rally as I processed the 2024 experience. Parts of the Rebelle are wonderful and terrible simultaneously, but without the good and the bad, it would not be as impactful. The Rebelle teaches you focus on what is most important, even if when what’s important makes you uncomfortable, happy, scared, or empowered. But like any skill, if you don’t practice it regularly, you will lose it. That’s why I’m back in 2025, I need more practice focusing on what is most important.
My Son..no one challenges themself the way he challenges himself. His work ethic, bias for action, and quiet leadership inspire me everyday.
Slumdog MillionaireThe GodfatherTed Lasso
Rebelle Rally 2024
2024
Well…since Pam and I have decided to do the 10th anniversary Rebelle in a 32 year old car, my objective is to get across the finish line and have a profoundly meaningful experience doing it!
Outside of work, I spend time with my family, supporting my son’s distance running training, and my 2 dogs (Vizslas). Been practicing and preparing for the Rebelle 2025, I have been learning about confirmation dog shows and field trials with my breeder mentor.
Prior to competing in the 2024 Rebelle Rally, I had no background in motorsports. The Rebelle Rally has been my one and only experience, so far! I’m applying to participate in the Land Rover Defender Trophy, we’ll see if I am selected to participate in the North American edition.
I’m not that cool…competing in the 2024 Rebelle has given me some street cred. I hope to earn some more by successfully competing in the 2025 Rebelle with a 1993 Defender.
I don’t know if I have a favorite terrain, it has all been pretty amazing in different ways. But I know which one scared me the most last year, the sand dunes. I’ve spent extra time training in the dunes, almost exclusively, and I’m hoping this year shows I’ve turned a corner with the dunes.
I think the hardest thing for me on the Rebelle is being able to bounce back after multiple bad days. A bad day on the Rebelle is usually the result of multiple things going wrong, but when that happens across multiple days, it can be hard to bounce back.
As I mentioned early, I’ve taken on a larger role in a new industry for my day job. And I’m back in 2025 to practice focusing on what’s most important. Without my 2024 experience, I won’t be pushing myself in new ways outside of the Rebelle.
I’ve had lots of memorable moments with cars, but there is one that stands as a pivotal moment in sparking my love of automobiles. In high school, one of my friends convinced her Dad to let us take out his 1993 Porsche Targa to dinner. We took the top targa top off, headed off to dinner and a movie. Four of us stuffed into the Porsche had an amazing time driving it to dinner, so much fun in fact, we never made it to the movie. Spending 3 hours exploring the limits of that car, it was life changing.
