Rebecca Schnell tends to the wounded as an ER nurse during her normal work schedule. However, for years, she has also nurtured a passion that the average person would have never guessed: Schnell loves driving monster trucks during her free time. So much so that, thanks to her monster truck passion, she met her now-husband, also a monster truck driver.
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"I created an interest and desire to be a female driver because there are very few of us," Schnell told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview. "I made that very well known to the bosses that be at BIGFOOT cooperation." And she made her point very clear indeed.
While her passion and admiration for monster trucks always existed for Schnell, it was only in 2009 that she let her love for the gigantic vehicles become an essential part of her lifestyle. During a show in North Carolina, she was awed by one of the trucks on display. He might have been a bit too overly-excited, as she entered the truck without permission.
A Monster Truck Marriage
"[I] might have snuck up in his truck," Schnell said, later revealing that the owner then asked her to leave. "He asked me, politely, to get out of the monster truck and then [we] exchanged phone numbers." The driver was none other than Darron Schnell. Rebecca and Darron tied the knot just two years later.
Thanks to her newly-found relationship with Darron, she was able to get even closer to the monster trucks. She got to drive them "in the pit areas from time to time." Once Schnell convinced BIGFOOT to make a custom-made seat for her - other seats did not fit her - she decided to take the driver's seat in 2019. Since then, she never stopped driving monster trucks.
"I was absolutely terrified that I was going to hate it," Schneel recalls. "But it was quite an exhilarating experience."
Inspiring Representation
Since then, she has become quite the monster truck-driving veteran. She became the first female driver in Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live in 2020. Since then, another female driver has become part of BIGFOOT.
"We get to be that representation that there is women in our male-dominated sport," Schnell said. "Spectators don't realize that there are so many women working behind the scenes. We get to be an inspiration and influence for the young women, little girls and little boys too. It's really cool for them to see this movement of women being able to accomplish the same things that men can do."
During her whole monster truck-driving career, the warm welcome of the fans and the open arms demonstrated by her fellow male competitors have kept her very positive about her experience.
Truth be told, to be able to find a passion, invest the time needed to become an expert in it, and then fearlessly share it with the world is something I find extremely inspiring. Entertaining fans and saving lives as a nurse might not be the most common of combinations, but it surely demonstrates how multi-layered a person can be. Rebecca Schnell nurtured the many aspects of her life, and, should we imitate her, I'm sure we might become happier and whole.
