UKIAH'S GRACE WOELBING: MOTORSPORTS JOURNALIST
In the spring of 2018, I was substitute teaching at Ukiah Unified School District's Independent Study Academy when 16-year-old Grace Woelbing, a high school junior, came into my office with her homework. We spent some time looking it over and, at some point, she mentioned that she loved writing. I told her I was a journalist, that I wrote feature stories for The Ukiah Daily Journal; she was clearly intrigued.
Knowing that UDJ Editor KC Meadows was into promoting young people, I suggested to Grace that she write a piece and send it to me. Excited, she asked what she should write about and I said it was up to her.
Soon after, she sent me a piece about hiking in Ukiah, well-written, evocative of springtime in a rural town. I picked up my “red pen” but there was nowhere to use it. I sent it on to KC who published it intact and paid Grace the going rate for a feature story.
Grace came with me on a couple of assignments to get the lay of the land, and thus initiated, went on to be a mainstay, freelance feature writer at the UDJ for the next four years, writing more than 100 stories.
I met with her, sometimes offered suggestions on her early stories and soon realized she was
quite competent on her own. She would always acknowledge the UDJ for giving her this unique opportunity — at such a young age — to pursue her passion.
We lost touch and a few Sundays ago she came up to me during intermission at the Ukiah Symphony. (So grown up now, I didn't recognize her.) We riffed on the usual — how serendipitous it
was that we even met and all that came to pass for her since our first encounter on Low Gap Road. I suggested an interview and she, initially hesitant, agreed.
After getting the go-ahead from UDJ Deputy Editor Jody Martinez, I spoke with Grace at her home in Charlotte, North Carolina, via Zoom. Our conversation has been edited and condensed.
How did you know at such a young age that you wanted to be a writer?
I grew up loving to write, published a novel at 12 and wanted to be an author, a creative writer. The practical side of me
realized I couldn't make a living doing that so I majored in business at Mendocino College, starting when I was 14.
The idea of being a journalist didn't really come to me until our conversation that day. Talking about my love of writing with you and you bringing up the idea of journalism… I had never thought about that before. That sparked the whole thing for me.
I remember going over my recent articles with you when we met at Black Oak; before that no one had ever given me feedback on my writing. It was important for me to hear from someone who was in the industry; the English assignments I would hand in at school were never really edited.
After that first story for the Journal, KC would send me ideas and ask if I wanted to write about them. I usually said yes; we had a good relationship.
And from those first couple of interviews, I felt like that was what I was meant to do — the love I have for meeting people, interviewing them and writing their stories. I felt privileged and honored to be a part of telling their stories.
(Comments in bold are by Karen Rifkin.)
This has been so similar to my own experience. You get to be intimate with people in a way that you would not otherwise; you learn things you would not ordinarily be privy to and then your work is published on the front page of the paper where you live.
Would you talk a bit about the responsibility that comes with that?
Early on I realized that in my role as a journalist, I have the responsibility to capture someone's experience and to share it in a way that brings justice to it and to them.
I learned about the impact that journalism can have, its importance, especially in a small town, a small community, where you're not faceless. What I say in my stories matters. People come up to me and tell me that they read my articles.
Yes, it's very personal here. What were some of your favorites?
Ironically, one of them was about Ariel Blandford, a Ukiah High graduate who made it as an associate producer on the show “Survivor,” talking about the people and teachers here who supported her in her love for television and producing. I was inspired thinking that one day that could be me.
Also, all the relationships I developed — Phillip Lenberg with the Ukiah Symphony and Eryn Schon-brunner with the college dance company. Having those people reach back out to me and ask me to write the next story was so rewarding.
Yes, definitely.
I learned so much; I didn't know much about the county until I started writing about it and all the people of interest who live here and should be written about. That amazed me.
That parallels my own experience as well. I remember years ago writing about the Waste Water Treatment Plant south of town and getting a twohour tour of the facility. And the perfume/soap factory north of town. Who gets to do that? Please talk me through your education.
I enrolled in seventh grade at the Independent Study Academy where I was encouraged to take college classes. I am very goal oriented and loved school; in 2020, I graduated from Ukiah High and from Mendocino College with an AA degree.
Since I had grown up riding dirt bikes and loved racing and Super Cross, I realized that motor sports journalism was where I wanted to be. I enrolled in Cal Poly — when COVID was happening — and attended virtually for a year-and-a-half, majoring in journalism.
I took a feature writing class and interviewed Ralph Sheheen, the lead commentator for Supercross from 2006 until 2020. After the interview, he asked me what I wanted to do, that he owned Speed Sport Magazine and that I should send him an email if I was interested in writing for them. This was an opportunity; they covered every form of motor sports.
In February of 2020 I visited Charlotte, arranged to have lunch with Sheheen and Mike Kerchner, the managing editor, and a couple of weeks later they offered me a part time job as a web editor. A few months later they hired me full time.
I finished college at Arizona State University with a B.A. in Mass Communication and Media Studies and in July moved to Charlotte to become Speed Sport's digital media manager, managing their social media accounts and podcasts… but most of what I do is write — features and editing.
This is a huge auto racing community here with tons of race shops. The first press conference they sent me to was at Petty GMS in Statesville where I interviewed
Richard Petty, the most accomplished driver in the history of NASCAR racing. It was pretty incredible; I could hardly believe it.
I'm still getting educated about all these sports; it's been a huge learning curve. (For those in the know, Grace has gone on to interview other NASCAR greats: Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr.; NHRA drag racing legends Erica Enders and Brittany Force; and Supercross stars Eli Tomac and Ken Roczen.)
This is such a feel-good story, a “local girl {woman} makes good” story, so uplifting. I look forward to following your career.
Anything else you would like to add?
I'm so grateful to all the supportive people back in Ukiah who pushed me forward and helped propel me to where I am now. I'll always be grateful for starting out at the Journal — at the age of 16 — and especially to KC for letting me write feature stories and grow my skills as a journalist.