When One Door Closes....

Another One Opens! Like Really, Really Wide.

It’s been a crazy Summer so I haven’t had time to update.

I’m excited to announce I’ve been spending it at my new job as Retail Experience Manager for REV’IT! USA. Luckily we are based in Denver, so no, I am not moving back to Philadelphia anytime soon. (No more humidity!)

Since April I’ve been traveling, seeing friends along the way and most importantly, talking to riders! So here’s what I’ve been up to in case you missed my IG feed.

AUSTIN, TX

Right after I started, I headed right to MotoGP in Austin. And bumped into Danilo Petrucci! Ok, he was invited to our party in downtown Austin since he’s one of our sponsored riders in this year’s Moto America Championship. He’s also a former MotoGP rider and has taken the US championship by storm.

PORTLAND, OR

After MotoGP I went to Portland, to the amazing One Show. We also had a booth there and were able to preach the gospel of REV’IT to the masses. It was an incredible experience, with SO MANY PEOPLE! The creativity and overall enthusiasm for bikes was such a wonderful thing to see and experience. And YES, that is the very funny Alonzo Bodden.

NETHERLANDS

Then a few weeks later, it was off to visit our Global HQ just outside Amsterdam. Yep, the company is Dutch! It was such an incredible experience. I was able to ride bicycles in the canals, try stroopwaffle, see the HQ and more. I am definitely not good at the whole jetlag thing. I don’t know how I managed to stay awake the entire time.

Then the first week of June somehow showed up and I headed to Philly for our US Sales Meeting. I got to meet dealers from all over the US and Canada! Wasn’t a whole lot to see there, except meetings.

BROOKLYN, NY

Then came late June, as I headed to Brooklyn to actually help Comoto open the 3rd ever RevZilla Showroom in Brooklyn. Yes, it was surreal but it was also such a great time! Everyone was happy, in a great mood and just all around excited for RevZilla to land in Brooklyn. I was incredibly happy for them and was glad I could be a part of it. Part of my job is conducting training around the US and Canada for dealers / stores that need me. I spent a couple days training almost all of their sales staff on our brand and what we have to offer.

MOTO AMERICA LAGUNA SECA

14 Year Old Kayla Yaakov, Altus Motorsports

The following week, I ended up going to a last minute event called Moto America! It was hosted at Weathertech Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey. The weather was incredibly perfect and the racing was awesome. I was particularly impressed by this young woman named Kayla Yakoff, just a cheerful 14, going on 15 year old girl doing what she loves! She’s racing in the Junior Cup series on her Ninja 400. Last month she made history by winning the first Junior Cup race by a female!

I also got to meet Patricia Fernandez. She was racing in not just 1, but 2 series (my favorites) that weekend: King of the Baggers and Super Hooligans. If you’ve never seen a Harley Bagger leaning over far more than anyone probably thinks it can, going 100+mph down the straightaway, it’s something to witness. There are only two women racing in the Bagger and Hooligan series and it’s Patricia and Shelina Moreda who’s been racing for over a decade. It’s been so great to see her move through various racing classes as well. She also runs women’s dirt training classes in Northern CA and is just an all around talented human.

Right now, we are sponsoring PJ Jacobsen, Tytlers Cycle Racing on a BMW M1000RR and Danilo Petrucci on a Ducati Panigale V4 R, Warhorse HSBK Racing.

We also had a little booth in the vendor area because REV’IT is sponsoring the Twins Cup series this year! Hopefully by next year, you’ll see a little more of our track suit son the podium. :-)

You can catch up on all the races on Moto America’s youtube channel.

STURGIS, SD

Then the following week was RevZilla’s ADVFest in Sturgis. I’ve never been to Sturgis so for this one, I brought the man so he could ride his new to him DRZ400S! Thanks to Rawhyde Adventures for the killer novice adventure class that he took. It was insanely hot, but everyone still had a great time and I got to see a ton of ZLA friends that I hadn’t seen since pre pandemic!

LEADVILLE, CO

Then it was off to Leadville, CO for the first annual Holiday Moto event, which took place at the Leadville MX Track. REV’IT! was the title sponsor and I got to see a lot of new faces. No riding for me at this one, but soon!

CANADA

And finally I had a few weeks until I left for Canada to visit and train a couple of our awesome dealers over the border. I got to spend 2 days in Calgary with Blackfoot Motorsports, (please tell them I sent you!) training their sales team and meeting local riders.

TORONTO

Then it was a couple days in Toronto at GP Bikes. Another team of passionate, excited riders who needed some product training too. It was so busy I didn’t have time to take a lot of photos. I did manage a selfie in the Triumph room!

it’s only August but there are a few months left and a few more fun projects and events coming. Stay tuned for updates. :)

Work at RevZilla in Philadelphia

As you may know, I currently work as the Assistant Showroom Manager in Philadelphia, at RevZilla Headquarters.

I moved here 7 years ago to further my motorcycle career. I would love for you to join us, to help riders like yourself get geared up and find out what motorcycling is all about. To welcome riders into the moto family.

I know getting into riding can be incredibly intimidating, especially when you aren’t friends with riders already.

Klim Artemis Women’s Jacket

And walking into a store or dealership that might not be a regular, comfortable place, can be scary the first time around.

I’m very proud of working in the Philly Showroom over the past 7 years and I hope that more riders like myself can find it as rewarding and awesome as I have.

I feel extremely lucky that I have the power to do my very, very best to help women riders find what they need too.

Every woman who’s tried to shop for motorcycle gear knows how incredibly frustrating it can be. I hope that I’ve been able to make that a little less frustrating.

If you’re interested in selling motorcycle gear to riders of all walks of life and from all around the world, click the link below to find out more:

• RevZilla Showroom Geek Retail Associate, Philadelphia

1 Year Later, Still In Philly.

 

When I think about the last year, this image always pops in my head. We drove 3,624 miles from San Francisco and drove into Philly when it was 19 degrees out. WHAT was I doing here?

Well, turns out it was one of the best (and most difficult) decisions of my life. To get up, leave the people I love the most and the only home I've ever known to move to Philadelphia and work for Revzilla.com in our beautiful retail store.

It's been an interesting year and I'm thrilled to say that I'm still here. Leaving a city like San Francisco was NOT easy. And I mean, really freaking hard. It took me a couple months to decide and then another 3 months to physically relocate. I pushed off my move date as far as I could (February 1, 2014) from when I accepted the position (October 2014) and I still felt like it wasn't enough time. Although I was really sad at the prospect of leaving my family and just telling them what I was about to do, I knew instinctually that it was the right decision. I refused to end up in a job that I didn't love, and this was my opportunity to keep my dreams alive. When I was relieved at Scuderia West, I wondered where else can I possibly do that job? The only answer in my mind at that moment was Revzilla. I could work in that beautiful store with all the gear all the time. :-)

It was a weird fleeting thought but a series of events happened after that like my friend Jan, calling me to ask if I'd consider relocating to the East Coast for an incredible opportunity. And then looking on Revzilla's website out of sheer curiosity there it was, Boutique Gear Geek. Or, now formerly known as Retail Store Associate.

I really didn't know what to expect at first. My husband and I decided that we'd give it a try for at least 1 year, see what happens. If we're miserable or I'm miserable then we leave (and live with my parents or something because the Bay Area is so much more expensive than when we left!). But what do I have to lose? Well, I lost a lot of friends, family, and a riding community that I can't duplicate anywhere else. But all is not lost, and my family has been there to support me this entire time. Did I mention that I flew home 3 times between last June and December? So there's always that.

But for me, what has become the most important factor is the fact that I LOVE my job. And although everything else has been a hurdle like getting to know Philly and missing my people (and burritos!), they don't compare to the overall joy I have in what I do. Sometimes I try really hard to come up with excuses to move back home and just leave. But I can't seem to come up with anything! It's one of those things where you just know when it feels right. And by all accounts, this is the most 'right' I've felt in a really long time.

I would much rather have this incredible opportunity than dread getting up every morning, dread looking for a new job and figuring out what I want to do with my life.

If slinging motorcycle gear inside an incredible retail store is somewhere up your alley, Revzilla needs you. We're looking for a Retail Store Associate that loves motorcycles, gear and motorcycles and did I mention gear?  

Apply Here.

This is a full time job located in The Navy Yard in Philadelphia, PA with tons o' benefits like medical/dental/vision/401k/vacation days and free lunches every now and then.

Wanna Ride a Motorcycle? GTFO of Your Comfort Zone.

 

You may need to google GTFO :D. If someone told me a few years ago that I'd be up and moving all the way across the country to a city I've never visited, I would've told them to GTFO!

A few years ago I realized that I wanted to really pursue this hobby and try to incorporate it into my 'career. It's been a difficult journey, especially after losing the one job I thought was going to make that dream come true.

I pretty much gave up on the idea of having a 'real' job in the motorcycle industry, because if you work in the industry, you know how difficult it is to find a really good one that actually pays you real money. I didn't start this website to make money, god knows it's not how I've supported myself.

But I thought there must be some way to do a little of this and some 'real' work on the side. Fortunately, I found Revzilla.

I'd never consider moving across the country for a job I wasn't already in love with. And although this means relocating to a completely foreign city, on a coast I've never lived on, I had no choice. Because I'd rather live in Philly and have this awesome job, than stay in San Francisco and not be completely in love with what I do.

One thing I've figured out so far is that no matter how difficult this journey might be, I know it'll be one of the best experiences I've ever had. But if I didn't put myself out there first, it never would've happened.