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Drive: 9 Lessons to Win in Business and in Life
An inspirational, practical guide to success in business and life learned through the opportunities and challenges of growing up as the daughter of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. and becoming one of the most influential women in professional sports. A successful businesswoman shares her story of growing up in the world of NASCAR and the lessons she learned along the way.
Just like a racecar as it takes to the track, each of us needs a certain amount of fine-tuning for our journey through life. In Drive, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, daughter of Dale Earnhardt Sr. and sister to Dale Jr., opens up about growing up in the world of NASCAR, sharing the lessons she learned about being a successful business leader and what she discovered, often the hard way, about winning in life.
Kelley never felt she was winning at anything until she began to deal with the thoughts and feelings that were driving her decisions and taking her in the wrong direction. Her journey of transformation is what empowered her to run the family business in an entirely different way than she had previously and to lead people not only with her head but also with her heart.
Drive offers nine important lessons learned about winning in business and in life, given not as a formula for greatness but as insight from a fellow traveler on a journey that is sometimes difficult, painful, unexpected, or confusing and sometimes exhilarating and
Be Authentic and Approachable
Manage Your Emotions
Succeed Using Strengths
Let Go to Move Forward
Customize Your Communication
Know How to Make Decisions
Aim for the Win-Win
Show Kindness
Live a Balanced Life
Become a stronger person and a more effective leader by facing the truth about your own life in a healthy way and then drive to the win!
Just like a racecar as it takes to the track, each of us needs a certain amount of fine-tuning for our journey through life. In Drive, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, daughter of Dale Earnhardt Sr. and sister to Dale Jr., opens up about growing up in the world of NASCAR, sharing the lessons she learned about being a successful business leader and what she discovered, often the hard way, about winning in life.
Kelley never felt she was winning at anything until she began to deal with the thoughts and feelings that were driving her decisions and taking her in the wrong direction. Her journey of transformation is what empowered her to run the family business in an entirely different way than she had previously and to lead people not only with her head but also with her heart.
Drive offers nine important lessons learned about winning in business and in life, given not as a formula for greatness but as insight from a fellow traveler on a journey that is sometimes difficult, painful, unexpected, or confusing and sometimes exhilarating and
Be Authentic and Approachable
Manage Your Emotions
Succeed Using Strengths
Let Go to Move Forward
Customize Your Communication
Know How to Make Decisions
Aim for the Win-Win
Show Kindness
Live a Balanced Life
Become a stronger person and a more effective leader by facing the truth about your own life in a healthy way and then drive to the win!
224 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 7, 2020
84 people are currently reading
3557 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
April 5, 2021
In Drive, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, a mother to three and CEO, shares nine key lessons she has learned to become the success she is in both her personal and professional life. This book feels like having a one on one mentorship with a friend advising you how to win in life.
Her approach has always been easy, full of heart and a servant leader approach. She goes over these points in depth and in a way that can be applied easily and immediately.
* Be Authentic and Approachable
* Manage Your Emotions
* Succeed Using Strengths
* Let Go to Move Forward
* Customize Your Communication
* Know How to Make Decisions
* Aim for the Win-Win
* Show Kindness
* Live a Balanced Life
I highly recommend this read for anyone looking for success and finding the balance in their persona and professional life.
Her approach has always been easy, full of heart and a servant leader approach. She goes over these points in depth and in a way that can be applied easily and immediately.
* Be Authentic and Approachable
* Manage Your Emotions
* Succeed Using Strengths
* Let Go to Move Forward
* Customize Your Communication
* Know How to Make Decisions
* Aim for the Win-Win
* Show Kindness
* Live a Balanced Life
I highly recommend this read for anyone looking for success and finding the balance in their persona and professional life.
April 13, 2021
I don't read a lot of self help books and definitely don't read how to succeed in business since I'm retired and it doesn't apply to me. However, when i saw that this book was written by Dale Earnhardt's daughter and because I live in Nascar country, I decided to give it a read. I thought that the beginning of the book was very interesting - Kelly talked about growing up with a famous but distant father, problems with her step mother and the closeness she had with her brother Dale, Jr. She also talked about the early mistakes she made in her career and how she changed to become a successful as the vice-president of JR Motorsports. When she got into the success in business part of the book, it wasn't applicable to me but I wish that I'd have had this kind of advice when I was starting in my career.
April 19, 2020
I am huge Earnhardt family fan and a life-long NASCAR fan, so I jumped on the opportunity to read this book when it came out.
I appreciated the insights on the famous family from a point of view I hadn't heard before. Some of that came across as a little bitter and there was lots of selfish finger pointing. I don't want to unfairly judge someone's life story, however I do feel I can judge the writing style. The choice of words and stories felt very one-sided and a little unfair, especially for someone who said they had been through therapy to cope.
As a woman in business, I hoped I could glean some new tips to take back to my life as a VP. I appreciate and agree with the 9 lessons presented in the book, however this book read very much to me as a mom's advice on business rather than a straight set of tools anyone can apply. As a woman in business, I want to be supportive of women in business but this book focused too much on emotional factors and work-life balance for my taste. The writing style was very conversational which didn't quite land with me and my career needs. I could see this book being most impactful to a younger person trying to navigate the waters of business for the first time. That said, getting in the door is half the battle some times and going into the family business and having success is quite different than making your way on your own.
I appreciated the insights on the famous family from a point of view I hadn't heard before. Some of that came across as a little bitter and there was lots of selfish finger pointing. I don't want to unfairly judge someone's life story, however I do feel I can judge the writing style. The choice of words and stories felt very one-sided and a little unfair, especially for someone who said they had been through therapy to cope.
As a woman in business, I hoped I could glean some new tips to take back to my life as a VP. I appreciate and agree with the 9 lessons presented in the book, however this book read very much to me as a mom's advice on business rather than a straight set of tools anyone can apply. As a woman in business, I want to be supportive of women in business but this book focused too much on emotional factors and work-life balance for my taste. The writing style was very conversational which didn't quite land with me and my career needs. I could see this book being most impactful to a younger person trying to navigate the waters of business for the first time. That said, getting in the door is half the battle some times and going into the family business and having success is quite different than making your way on your own.
May 29, 2022
I heard about this book from Dale Jrs podcast. Dale Jr is an open book and I have learned a lot about him by following him in NASCAR, listening to his podcast and reading his books. Dale has talked about Kelley a lot as it relates to him and his story. But she is still a mystery. That’s why I was interested in reading this book
Not only did I learn a little more about her but she gave a lot of advice about balancing family and work as a successful woman. I can relate to a lot of what she said. A lot of this book confirms my belief on how to be successful in the work place but she did have some interesting examples that related to some of the topics she addressed in the book
One of the things I admire most of Kelley is how she really has looked after her brother. It appears they leaned on each other because at times, that’s all they had. I don’t think most people realize their life as son and daughter of Dale Earnhardt wasn’t as glamorous as everyone thought.
This book had a lot of insightful information, not just about Kelley as an Earnhardt but Kelley as a successful business woman with great advice.
Great read!
Not only did I learn a little more about her but she gave a lot of advice about balancing family and work as a successful woman. I can relate to a lot of what she said. A lot of this book confirms my belief on how to be successful in the work place but she did have some interesting examples that related to some of the topics she addressed in the book
One of the things I admire most of Kelley is how she really has looked after her brother. It appears they leaned on each other because at times, that’s all they had. I don’t think most people realize their life as son and daughter of Dale Earnhardt wasn’t as glamorous as everyone thought.
This book had a lot of insightful information, not just about Kelley as an Earnhardt but Kelley as a successful business woman with great advice.
Great read!
April 30, 2021
Kelley offers nine important lessons about winning in business and in life, and what I liked the most is that she ties each of these lessons to her experiences growing up as the daughter of Dale Sr. and the sister to Dale Jr., so parts of this book read like a memoir, and I enjoyed those insights into her personal life. I am always inspired from women who are in leadership roles, and the parts about hiring the right people and balancing your work with your life really resonated with me. Overall I thought this was a great read, organized very well, and I appreciated that she shared her personal journey with the reader.
Thank you to @tlcbooktours @thomasnelson @kelleyearnhardtmiller for the gifted book to review.
Thank you to @tlcbooktours @thomasnelson @kelleyearnhardtmiller for the gifted book to review.
December 31, 2025
This was a very well written book by a very inspiring woman. She gives insight from her past and shows how that can shape your future. Definitely worth the read.
April 28, 2021
This was a book sent to me as part of a book tour. I usually enjoy memoirs, especially of strong independent women. So even though I don’t follow NASCAR, I agreed to read and review this book because as a small business owner, I love reading about the success of other women in business.
“I think one of the most important qualities a person needs to succeed is a positive attitude and a willingness to work.”
I am not a NASCAR fan nor follower of the sport. So take my review as someone simply reading from the perspective of looking for gaining business knowledge I could apply to my own work.
“Moving forward is not enough. We also have to intentionally let go of what holds us back.”
Kelly Earnhardt Miller is a mother of three, a co-heir to the Earnhardt throne and works as a leader in a male dominated field. At one point, she shares the story of literally being the only woman in the room. The first half of this book is more about her family history, troubled relationship with her father and his second wife, and strong bond with her brother. If you love NASCAR, you may enjoy the peek into the inner workings of their family life.
The second half focusses on business and she provides lessons she has learned along the way. For me, I was looking forward to this part but found the ones included here to be on the lighter side, especially considering how successful she is and the size of the empire she helped to build. I enjoyed her conversational writing style and down to earth nature. But the lessons she shares are all pretty basic and overall just good life advice like “be authentic”, “manage your emotions”, and “balance work with life”.
I appreciated her take but didn’t exactly learn anything new. Thank you to TLC Book Tours for the book to read and review.
“I think one of the most important qualities a person needs to succeed is a positive attitude and a willingness to work.”
I am not a NASCAR fan nor follower of the sport. So take my review as someone simply reading from the perspective of looking for gaining business knowledge I could apply to my own work.
“Moving forward is not enough. We also have to intentionally let go of what holds us back.”
Kelly Earnhardt Miller is a mother of three, a co-heir to the Earnhardt throne and works as a leader in a male dominated field. At one point, she shares the story of literally being the only woman in the room. The first half of this book is more about her family history, troubled relationship with her father and his second wife, and strong bond with her brother. If you love NASCAR, you may enjoy the peek into the inner workings of their family life.
The second half focusses on business and she provides lessons she has learned along the way. For me, I was looking forward to this part but found the ones included here to be on the lighter side, especially considering how successful she is and the size of the empire she helped to build. I enjoyed her conversational writing style and down to earth nature. But the lessons she shares are all pretty basic and overall just good life advice like “be authentic”, “manage your emotions”, and “balance work with life”.
I appreciated her take but didn’t exactly learn anything new. Thank you to TLC Book Tours for the book to read and review.
November 12, 2020
If you want to know more about Dale Earnhardt, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. you will probably love this book. The business advice from Kelley is reasonable and probably helpful to those who are already running a business. However, there are portions of the book (certainly not the entire book, but large portions) that sound like a justification for Kelley and Dale Earnhardt Jr. for leaving their father's company and striking out on their own. Clearly they hate their stepmother who is currently running their father's company. The narrative was also discordant as Kelley admitted that her father withheld his love for her and for Dale Jr., but then talk about how wonderful her father was. I would be OK with the book if Kelley had balanced these two conflicting sentiments and dealt with them in the same paragraph... something like... even though my father never attended a single play, recital nor paid attention to anything about my childhood, he was still a good father when he... (fill-in-the-blank).
I am also reviewing the audiobook. Dale Earnhardt Jr. chimed in (as a narrator) at the beginning, endorsing Kelley's book and her view of things in their business and his personal life. That was a good move. I needed to hear that. Kelley narrated the prologue and afterword. She has a good voice, but she does not have a professional narrator's voice. I think she would have done well narrating the entire book, but instead they brought in a professional narrator for the main text of the book. That was marginally better and probably a good move too.
I enjoyed this book. At no time did I want to abandon this book, but I doubt I will read it again. Fans will probably gush all over it. I understand and that is just fine with me. I like NASCAR and racing. I don't love it.
I am also reviewing the audiobook. Dale Earnhardt Jr. chimed in (as a narrator) at the beginning, endorsing Kelley's book and her view of things in their business and his personal life. That was a good move. I needed to hear that. Kelley narrated the prologue and afterword. She has a good voice, but she does not have a professional narrator's voice. I think she would have done well narrating the entire book, but instead they brought in a professional narrator for the main text of the book. That was marginally better and probably a good move too.
I enjoyed this book. At no time did I want to abandon this book, but I doubt I will read it again. Fans will probably gush all over it. I understand and that is just fine with me. I like NASCAR and racing. I don't love it.
February 6, 2021
As a huge NASCAR fan and big admirer of both Dale Earnhardt, Sr. and Jr., my husband (a non-reader) picked up this book and finished it within only a few days. He particularly enjoyed reading about how Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. have supported one another through life, both personally and professionally, and continue to do so. My husband mentioned he realized something probably had to give in order for a NASCAR driver to become as successful as Dale Earnhardt, Sr., but was disappointed to learn it was at the expense of his children.
Personally, I found Kelley Earnhardt Miller's correlation between driving and life to be very insightful. Two of her nine lessons, being authentic and letting go, especially struck a chord with me. Although my husband initially believed it was written for women, within its covers everyone should be able to discover a nugget of wisdom that will help them improve their work/life balance and feel more empowered.
Personally, I found Kelley Earnhardt Miller's correlation between driving and life to be very insightful. Two of her nine lessons, being authentic and letting go, especially struck a chord with me. Although my husband initially believed it was written for women, within its covers everyone should be able to discover a nugget of wisdom that will help them improve their work/life balance and feel more empowered.
Read
October 23, 2022I never received this book in the mail, however I am so glad I listened to the audio book. It has so much wisdom for any business manager or business owner. Not just talking about being a manager but also overcoming past hurts to be the best version of one-self. Kelley truly shows her humility, leadership, healthy boundaries and approachability to every employee. If more business owners and managers read this book it would help them be more team orientated and have happy employees and better results for the whole company. To many owners think they are above their employees and employees actually try to avoid the owners and managers because of their mentality
January 19, 2021
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book was a very interesting to read, it has alot of good insights for life, how to treat others and your self. It incorporates wisdom we can all use, including some regarding the Lord. The book goes into detail how it really is working with family (I can relate to what she was saying), and the hard decision s that have to be made. Definitely recommend.
June 28, 2021
After reading Dale Jr’s book Racing to the Finish, upon instance from my NASCAR obsessed BFF, I was interested in learning Kelley’s perspective and life story. I like hearing about her background and enjoyed chapters 8 and 16. Chapter 8 focused on letting go of your past to move forward, while chapter 26 focused on being your best self. The rest of the book was hard to relate to in being that it was more geared to business owners.
November 30, 2024
One of the best books that I have read, it explains in very simple words many complex situations that we live in our personal and professional lifes, providing us with questions to analyze them but also providing very simple to do actions to pursue the solution and success aiming for a win to win in which my opinion is the only long term solid action for personal and common success. Greetings from Puebla, Mexico.
February 24, 2025
Oh the tea in this book.
There are some things I simple didn't know about the Earnhardt family and boy was I shock to discover them.
Threw these revelations I don't look at any of them in a bad light, if anything I admire them all the more.
The 9 lessons are excellent for anyone going through Life period. Not just Business.
The writing style was right up my alley and just loved how ever thing flowed.
Excellent read
There are some things I simple didn't know about the Earnhardt family and boy was I shock to discover them.
Threw these revelations I don't look at any of them in a bad light, if anything I admire them all the more.
The 9 lessons are excellent for anyone going through Life period. Not just Business.
The writing style was right up my alley and just loved how ever thing flowed.
Excellent read
May 7, 2020
Well written
The book is well written and very informative. The stories Kelley shares about being a protector door her brother and their relationship makes her sound so down to earth. The book also made me look at my life choices and the steps to become a happy, productive and fulfilled person.
The book is well written and very informative. The stories Kelley shares about being a protector door her brother and their relationship makes her sound so down to earth. The book also made me look at my life choices and the steps to become a happy, productive and fulfilled person.
December 13, 2020
A very motivating book it was nice to see Kelley also show that her family life had challenges instead of making it seem like everything was great with her dad. Some of the tips she gave for business don't work in my industry but overall there was a lot nearly everyone could take away from this book no matter their career or goals.
April 26, 2020
If you are a fan of NASCAR, you are familiar with the Earnhardt name. Drive is written by Kelley Earnhardt Miller. She provides some insight to the Earnhardt family. The book gives tools for women in business which can be beneficial to all readers.
Want to read
May 5, 2020Haven't received copy yet
Won a copy of this back in March, knew they may be a delay. But also specified that winners would receive it before it came out on April 7th. It is now May 5th. So still waiting.
Won a copy of this back in March, knew they may be a delay. But also specified that winners would receive it before it came out on April 7th. It is now May 5th. So still waiting.
September 9, 2020
Kelley Earnhardt Miller has written a great book in Drive. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. I did not expect for her to be so candid about her life and how she overcame. I am giving it five plus stars.
March 5, 2022
This book is inspiring and a great guide to becoming a successful professional. I plan on reading it again with a highlighter and a pen so I can make notes and highlight important points that I can use later to be a better me.
April 17, 2022
This is a great book about simple life lessons those apply to everyone. These are not some high flying CEO lessons. They are very down to earth lessons which can help anyone to get ahead. We also get a glimpse into the world if NASCAR and Earnhardt family along with the lessons.
October 8, 2024
Great book, provides easy-to-read, easy-to-grasp concepts for steering towards success. Principles both for career and life. Insightful both for those seeking to start a career, and as a reminder/refocus for those veterans in their field, or looking for a change.
June 22, 2020
Kelly has been a guiding and powerful force behind the Dale Jr Company and life. It is a good read for anyone who cares about Dale.
October 9, 2020
A business and well being book. I was hoping for more of an autobiography. Still was good and had great life lesssons!
December 10, 2020
Loved this book! Great lessons for life!! Wonderful insight to an amazing woman!
January 6, 2021
Not exactly what I expected but a very good book.
February 13, 2021
I think it’s a great book, whether you’re a business person or not. Definitely lessons for everyone to use in their everyday life.
February 24, 2021
Amazing book. Great For all race fans. Love it!
February 24, 2021
I think that was a great book! I think every woman should read it! Very powerful!
July 11, 2021
An excellent read on leadership and management fundamentals for success
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews