Jennifer Stipkala rules the roost in a service department thats very much male dominated. (Count eight roosters and one female service writer.) How well is that working and how does she do it? I wanted to know and what I learned could be important to any woman wanting to work in this business or any manager planning to hire females into this testosterone-packed world.
Working in Motorcycling: Dealership Service Manager
Though it started in 2006 as a test to see how many people would show up, the Womens Sportbike Rally, held at the Fontana Village Resort in Robbinsville, N.C., began its second year with a boom.
On a drizzly day in late-June in Anchorage, Alaska, video cameras were running and men cheered and waved as 11 women motorcyclists rode out of the parking lot of a tour company here. With so much fanfare, it seemed like we were celebrities, not motorcyclists. Check out WRN Contributor Perri Capells take on touring Alaska with just women.
First Womens Organized Tour of Alaska
To some people life in the fast lane equals jet-setting jaunts, late nights, and hard-partying ways. Karen Stoffer defines “fast lane” differently. To her it runs at dizzying speeds and higher rpms than Paris Hilton could ever imagine. Try nearly 200 miles per hour. Or a blazing fast quarter-mile lasting just over six seconds.
Shes young, shes bright and shes on the fast track. The very fast track. Shes Elena Myers, the 13-year-old roadracing sensation from Discovery Bay, California, whos turning heads and burning treads at big tracks on the West Coast. Competitive and driven, she not only holds her own, she often holds a top spot at the head of the pack and a podium spot at the end of nearly every race. Yes, she likes to go fast. And yes, she likes to win.
13-Year-Old Racer On the Fast Track
Aprilia, BMW, Buell, Harley-Davidson, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, Kymco, Moto Guzzi, Suzuki, Triumph, Victory, Yamaha all want you to buy their motorcycles. Thats the main reason these and other manufacturers spend thousands of dollars to make their bikes available for licensed riders at no charge to test ride at events like Daytona Bike Week, Americade, and the Honda Hoot and the Laughlin River Run (to name a few).
Demo Rides: Why Riders Should Take Advantage of the Them
I was not alone those seemingly endless days in May of 2005. The poignant plea captured a nation, headlining everything from national newscasts to Geraldo Rivera. Like others, my heart broke as I watched Steve Groene, a Coeur dAlene, Idaho, father, pleading desperately for the safe return of his two children, 8-year-old Shasta and 9-year-old Dylan. As a fellow biker, I couldnt ignore the motorcycle ball cap he wore each time he was on TV.
It came as no surprise to me when I called Greg Hart, Riveras producer of 20 years, that I would once again hear an emphatic, “Sure, well help.” There was no doubt Id once again stumbled onto more “really nice guys.”
I called Perewitz. And even though I told him I was a freelance writer in the backwoods of North Idaho who has done a little motorcycle magazine work, but primarily work for slicks like Todays Christian Woman magazine and on book projects like “Hot Flashes from Heaven” (Harvest House Publishers, January 2008 release date), Perewitz from the very get-go spoke to me like what I said mattered.
Motorcyclists are a passionate breed. They love their motorcycles, they love to ride and they enjoy hanging out with other motorcyclists. So, when Armanda Squadrilli purchased the late 1880s historic Glens Falls Inn in Glens Falls, New York, she knew she had a built-in market—motorcyclists—because shes one herself.
Motorcycling as a Marketing Tool