Rebelle Rally: Empowering Women Through Off-Road Adventure

Emily Miller is not one of those people who, when they reach significant milestones, are surprised by how they got there. The founder of the Rebelle Rally, the first off-road navigation competition for women in the United States, knew she wanted to establish something meaningful that would last. Now, as the tenth annual Rebelle Rally approaches later this year, she has done just that.

“We knew that it was going to be different, something that you normally don’t see here in the U.S.,” says Miller. “We knew it would take time to build and meet this goal of creating a truly world-class car rally. So, it was always designed to be enduring.”

An experienced off-road racer, Miller was well aware of what she was getting into. She began racing in the early 2000s, training with Hall of Fame racer Rod Hall and competing in numerous races around the globe including in the U.S., Mexico, and Morocco, and established a driving and navigation school, Rebelle U. She knew what it took to create a rally competition because she’d participated in them — and won several. 

“When I was racing, there were not a lot of women driving at all, or in racing, and even [at Rebelle U], women weren’t coming to classes,” says Miller. “Even when they had the opportunity to and the classes were fully paid for by their company, they just didn’t say ‘yes.’ And so, I really wanted to create an event that women would not be afraid to say ‘yes’ to.”

She envisioned and ultimately established what she calls an “international-style car rally” for women that didn’t previously exist; one that winds over more than 1,500 miles of iconic California and Nevada desert. The competition isn’t about time, but reaching various checkpoints in stock — not specialized — vehicles with only analog equipment to guide them, no GPS or technology allowed. “It’s long, it’s challenging, it’s hot, it’s cold, it’s dusty, dirty — all those things,” says Miller, but still, “There’s a comfort level that it’s built for them and is very respectful to them and their skills.”

It’s the combination of all those elements that brings women to sign up for the Rebelle rather than puts them off. “We find a lot of women who sign up are the type of woman who is more afraid to say no and miss the adventure than afraid to say yes,” says Miller.

A Colorado native, Miller says, “I’ve always loved cars, and I’ve always loved what I would call ‘line-picking’ sports” — sports including competitive driving, skiing, snowboarding, and cycling that require you to seek and navigate the path ahead. “And, I really enjoy endurance sports,” she adds, saying that multi-day events like off-road rallies are what truly inspire her for the challenges they present.

It’s not only competing in the rally that’s difficult; planning it is plenty tough. “We start thinking about the course about 15 months in advance, and then we definitely spend a year working on the course, and then anywhere from 20 to 40 days per year actually laying out the course on the ground,” explains Miller, who is the owner of a sports marketing company, Soulside Network. “You’ve got to drive it. You’ve got to check it. You’ve got to work on it from our computers. And then get back on the ground and work on it again.” 

Between the course’s up to 160 checkpoints, the various distances between each point are rated for difficulty, similar to a ski run, and each two-woman, driver-navigator team is looking to collect as many points as possible over eight days of driving. “It’s like its own competition between each checkpoint,” she says. “It’s a pressure cooker in the car. It really shows you your strengths and your weaknesses.”

For Miller, the reward is learning how the experience has changed the lives of the women who participate. “I think I get more satisfaction from the days where you go, ‘Wow, this is really challenging. Am I crazy to even be doing this?’ And then right about that moment, the universe sends you this special gift, like someone will write a letter to talk about how much the rally and the community of the rally has made a major impact on them, and when you get that, it’s very powerful,” she says.

“I hear women say, ‘I got back [from the rally], and I got a huge promotion, and now I’m running a much bigger group of people.’ And ‘My boss said to me, I didn’t know you were such a badass.’ And they will say, ‘How did you not notice?’ But you realize that people don’t necessarily have a lot of opportunities to shine. Something like the Rebelle is really a bucket list event, but also, because it’s so challenging, we wanted it to be a badge of honor for everyone who completes it,” says Miller.

This year’s Rebelle Rally, which will take place in October and is already sold out (there is a wait list, and Miller says spots do open up). She says many of her drivers return year after year, coming back to experience the thrill of the competition, overcoming the challenges of the traditional navigation, and the joy of disconnecting from our now omnipresent technology for eight full days. 

As Miller talks excitedly about this year’s rally, she also teases that “another fun project that will be related but separate” is also in the works. And though she says the news won’t officially break until this spring or possibly summer, for now we can rest assured that it will be inspiring. After all, it was Miller’s Rebelle Rally that was the model for the Jameel Rally, an all-women off-road rally that took place in Saudi Arabia just four years after women were given the right to legally drive in the country. When it comes to Emily Miller, the line she continues to pick is one that has the power to transform women’s lives. rebellerally.com