She has built her professional journey at the intersection of passion, discipline and the courage to challenge conventions, creating a project that has changed the way women are perceived in motorsport: Women Rally.

Laura Savu is a dentist, entrepreneur, leader and the founder of a community that offers women not only a place on the starting line, but also an environment where they can discover their courage, confidence and personal limits.

Through Women Rally, she has transformed her passion for motorsport into a platform dedicated to women, which has since become a national championship recognized by the Romanian Motor Sport Federation.

Today, Laura is also Chairwoman of the Women’s Commission within the Romanian Motor Sport Federation, continuing to support and promote women’s participation and recognition in motorsport.

Over the years, Laura has built more than competitions and events. She has created environments where women could try, learn, overcome their emotions and discover that they are capable of more than they ever thought is possible. At the same time, her involvement in road safety education has taken the same mission further, reaching children and young people.

In this interview for Strong Women, Laura speaks about strength, integrity and resilience, about the responsibility that comes with visibility, about moments of self-doubt, and, above all, about the courage to keep going when the road becomes difficult.

1. What truly drives you every day beyond success and recognition?

Beyond success and recognition, I am motivated by the positive impact I can create through the things I build.

With Women Rally, I am motivated by the feeling that what I do can genuinely change the way a woman sees herself.

It is not just about cars, competition or the podium. It is about that moment when a woman who may not have had the courage, confidence, or the right opportunity before puts on her helmet, takes her place behind the wheel and discovers that she is capable of more than she thought.

It was the same in dentistry, where I have always been motivated by the joy of my patients, their smiles and the trust they had when they left my dental practice.

On a personal level, I am motivated by my family, and especially by my children. I want them to see that meaningful things are not built easily, but they are worth building properly, with hard work, character and consistency.

Ultimately, I believe this is what motivates me every day: to build things that have meaning, that reflect my values and that can create confidence, courage and positive change around me.

2. What does it truly mean to be a powerful woman today and how is that different from simply being strong?

For me, a strong woman is not someone who never gets tired, never feels afraid, or never experiences vulnerability. That is simply a false image, often maintained out of pride or because of the pressure to prove yourself.

A truly strong woman knows how to move forward without losing herself in the process.

The distinction is important. Being “just strong” can mean enduring, carrying everything and maintaining control.

Being a strong woman means having clarity, knowing when to say no, when to ask for help, when to rebuild and when to stop accepting things that diminish you.

3. What is a value you have never compromised, even when it cost you something important?

I believe the value I have never compromised on is integrity.

In everything I have built, from Women Rally to road safety education projects, I have tried to keep things genuine, consistent and accountable. I did not want to build just an image, but things that could be seen, felt and last.

Sometimes, it has come at a cost. It is harder to follow the right path when you could choose options that are simpler, more comfortable, or more spectacular in the short term.

But for me, it matters greatly that what we say publicly is supported by what we actually do.

4. What has sustained you in your most difficult moments internally, not externally?

In my hardest moments, I was supported by that good kind of stubbornness, the determination to not give up when I knew the direction was right.

I am not talking about blind ambition, but about an inner conviction that certain projects are worth taking forward, even when they become overwhelming or seem impossible.

I was also supported by my ability to remember why I started.

When fatigue, financial pressure, responsibilities, difficult people, or administrative obstacles arise, it is easy to lose sight of the direction. But when I return to the heart of what I am doing, to the women who found their courage, to the children and young people who need road safety education and to the community that has been created, I find the energy to continue.

And although the question is about what supported me from within, I cannot fail to mention that, from the outside, I have had and still have my husband by my side. We share the same profession as dentists, as well as the same passion for motorsport.

The fact that we have built many things together has, at many moments, been one of the most important forms of support in my life.

5. Looking back, who shaped you more in critical moments: a man or a woman, and how?

I believe I have been shaped by both perspectives, but in different ways.

The men in my life, including those I met through motorsport, taught me a lot about rigor, competition, discipline and what it means to perform in a demanding field, with clear rules and very little room for improvisation.

Women, however, shaped me in a deeper way, through the way I came to understand resilience, solidarity and quiet courage.

Through Women Rally, I have met very different women, each with her own story, and they confirmed to me that female strength does not have a single form.

Sometimes it is visible and courageous; other times it is quiet, but immense.

6. What mindset shift is essential for young girls who want to become truly powerful women?

I believe young girls need to understand that strength does not come from other people's validation. It does not come from public approval, perfection, or the image you create on the outside.

Strength begins when you embrace who you are, what your values are and what you are willing to build even when no one is applauding.

I would tell them not to wait until they feel completely ready before they begin. Very often, courage comes after the first step, not before it. And when you build something authentic, with patience and consistency, the impact comes naturally, on those around you, but also on yourself.

That is what I see at Women Rally as well. Many women arrive with emotions, doubts and fear of the unknown, but on the circuit those emotions turn into adrenaline and at the finish line, that adrenaline turns into confidence.

They leave changed, not because someone told them they were strong, but because they experienced it for themselves.

7. What is the most defining lesson you’ve learned specifically as a woman navigating power?

The most important lesson I have learned is that power must be exercised responsibly.

When you build projects, communities, events, or public initiatives, it is no longer just about you. Your decisions influence people, directions, partnerships and trust.

I have learned that power is not just about visibility, it is about the responsibility to use that visibility to open doors for others as well.

I like to believe that I am among the women who support and encourage other women, not only through words, but by creating concrete opportunities for them to grow.

For me, Women Rally has value precisely because it is not just about Laura Savu, but about a community of women who have found their courage, their voice and their place in a field where men's presence remains dominant.

Many came with emotions, learned, grew and discovered, step by step, the confidence to move forward.

Through their own presence, they have changed perceptions around them and have made the idea of a woman at the starting line increasingly natural, visible and respected year after year. This value is even greater because Women Rally has been recognized by the Romanian Motor Sport Federation and has become a national championship.

8. How do you face self-doubt or fear when the stakes are high and what should other women understand about those moments?

I don't believe there is anyone who builds something important and never experiences fear or doubt. I have those moments too, sometimes.

The difference is that I have learned not to let them take control. I listen to them, analyze them and try to understand whether they are signaling a real risk or simply fatigue and pressure.

Women should understand that fear does not disqualify them. Doubt does not mean that they are not capable or that they are not meant for something. Sometimes, it is precisely responsible people who doubt themselves because they understand what is at stake.

What matters is not staying stuck there, but taking the next step, even when you are carrying those emotions.

Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision not to stop because of it.

9. If you could offer one piece of advice to help Strong Women grow into a truly impactful international initiative, what would it be?

My advice would be to stay close to authentic stories, local communities, and women who have built, lost, learned, and can pass on the lessons of their lived experience.

A truly valuable international initiative should bring together women from different fields, cultures, and backgrounds, while preserving one common thread: power understood as responsibility, courage and support for other women.

10. When your journey is complete, how do you want your power, not just your success to be remembered?

I would like my strength to be remembered through what it has left in people, rather than through titles, positions, or events completed.

For me, the most meaningful confirmations have already come from women who told me that, thanks to Women Rally, they found the courage to start something, become better drivers, believe more in themselves, or take the step toward a field that attracted them but in which they did not feel ready.

That shows me that I did not simply build events, but created environments that change something in people.

I do not want to be remembered only as a woman who organized events or opened doors in motorsport.

I would like to be remembered as a woman who had the courage to create space for other women.

For me, this is the most beautiful form of power, the kind that goes beyond you.