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Business News The Griffin Report


American Nicole Plowman is a former Miss Indiana and the experience was the turning point in her life. But a chance encounter at an Ohio car racing track was the ultimate life- changer. Jon Griffin, Chamberlink’s award-winning columnist, went to meet the woman who married a Tamworth-born racing driver.


Midlands’ longest-established print companies – and shares her life with one of the UK’s most successful racing drivers. Nicole Plowman has packed a


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considerable amount into her three decades and counting, and is currently busy writing the next chapter of her life as marketing director at Tamworth-based family firm KEP Print Group. A conversation with the


effervescent American can embrace a variety of subjects, from the future of the printing industry to motor racing, her work helping teenage eating disorder sufferers and the families of US fallen military heroes, or even her love of Broadway classic songs. Still in her early 30s, she is what might be described as a renaissance woman, with an endearing and ready laugh never far away. Back in the summer, Nicole


entertained guests at the Greater Birmingham Transatlantic Chamber of Commerce annual conference singing the UK, American and Canadian national anthems. It’s that sort of multi-tasking approach which has characterised her eventful life so far. Sitting behind a desk at KEP


Print, Nicole exudes enthusiasm and an appetite for life. And she attributes her climb up the corporate ladder to her role as Miss Indiana 10 years ago. “It was a turning point in my life.


It set me on my path, 1,000 per cent. The role of Miss Indiana involved inspiring young people in goal-setting and making good life decisions. Nicole is keen to stress that the


Miss Indiana pageant – which led her to compete in the Miss America final in 2009 – was no mere beauty contest. “The talent and singing


competition was 35 per cent of it, the interview was another 25 per cent – there is much more substance to it than just modelling. I will credit Miss America for my ability to speak on stage – you learn to be quick on your feet and gracious.”


he’s a former Miss Indiana, sings with the CBSO, runs the marketing at one of the


Credit Miss America: Nicole honed her speaking skills in the competition


‘The role of Miss Indiana involved inspiring young people in goal-setting and making good life decisions’


As part of her role as Miss


Indiana, Nicole found herself working with the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, helping teenage girls tackle potentially life- threatening conditions. It was a task which gave her an


insight into the lives of vulnerable sectors of society, an area she would revisit with her future husband in other circumstances in later years. “I had a friend in high school


who had suffered from an eating disorder. I really delved into a lot of research to make sure I was well


versed. It is such a touchy subject, there are a number of problems – it is really more of a mental health disorder, a bit like depression.” While Nicole will always regard


her tenure as Miss Indiana as a key turning point in her life, a chance encounter at a racing track in Ohio was to prove the ultimate life- changer. Her future husband, Tamworth-


born Martin Plowman, had made his name in karting before signing to Toyota for a young driver programme. His career would go into overdrive from the mid-2000s onwards as a professional racing


driver competing in leading motorsports events in Europe and the United States. But Nicole wasn’t too impressed


with the race ace when she first met him at a track in Ohio in summer 2009. “Initially, he was incredibly shy. I thought ‘who is this unfriendly jerk?’ But we had a lot in common, we shared a sense of humour, we just hit it off. We have varied interests but our core values are the same. “The goal had been for me to be


a music teacher but this totally changed my trajectory. I started doing Martin’s PR unpaid and he would push it out. He offered for me to join on full time, and I decided that doing PR and being able to travel was a big opportunity.”


Cont’d on page 18... December 2019/January 2020 CHAMBERLINK 17


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