How Amanda Golka Turned Fangirl Energy Into a Sports Media Takeover

One thing Amanda loves talking about is what she calls the “fangirlification of Formula 1.” If you’ve noticed F1 edits, memes, or fan accounts popping up that feel more like K-pop stan culture, you’re not wrong. Amanda points out how this new wave of fans is reshaping F1 and doing better promo than most marketing teams. It’s authentic, it’s creative, and it’s changing the way people connect with the sport.

At the end of the day, Amanda isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. What makes her stand out is her curiosity and her willingness to learn out loud. She’s not afraid to ask questions, research what she doesn’t know, and create content that feels real. In a space where viral moments often overshadow the actual sport, Amanda’s approach is refreshingly different and exactly what keeps her audience coming back for more.

What drew you to F1 and sports, and how did you carve your space as a woman in a male-dominated fandom? My friend Hannah got me into it! I’ve always loved fast paced sports but my family are not motorsports people at all so it really was a whole new world for me. I just fell in love with it. My family is a hardcore baseball family honestly. I really don’t see it as carving space because I don’t feel the need to carve space or prove myself as a fan or as a creator in this space. I love F1 and hockey and baseball the same as anyone and I talk about things I love, so I make content about it. Maybe because I have been making content for years but there is no such thing as too much good content so I don’t really feel the need to prove myself, if the content connects with people it connects, but otherwise I like making it and that’s what’s important.

How has Twitch evolved beyond gaming, and what opportunities does that open for creators? It’s funny because I know Twitch is the live gaming site, but for myself as a viewer I always gravitated to just chatting and IRL creators. I think livestreaming is such a great tool for connecting with your audience, especially as a long form video creator myself. You get that live interaction with your audience that you often only see once you have completed a video and reach the comments, and even then it’s not always a back and forth. 

How do you balance humor, pop culture, and live sports reactions in your streams? I’m delusional and think I can do it all. Honestly it’s really not difficult with the motorsport calendar. I currently mainly do live reactions to F1 and Indycar races. Indycar is currently done for the season but when it is happening often F1 is hours before the Indycar races. If anything the struggle is my sleep schedule since I often have to be live at 4 AM my time. And that’s just on weekends, the rest of the week my chat and I talk about all kinds of things and even game when I feel like it. Basically I bring my audience in on my YouTube research.

How has your experience with Bell’s Palsy shaped the way you work and create? I would love to tell you it made me less of a workaholic but that would be a lie. I’m coming up on ten years since I had it and I still think it’s going to happen again every time I get a twitch in my eye or my anxiety gets ramped up for whatever reason. Having my dog Hermes helps actually, he makes me take time to log off and go on walks and play with him. Huge help in forcing time to recharge.