Ashley:
Hello. This is Ashley here with the Mompreneur Tribe. I am sothrilled today to have someone that's in it kind of differentmarket. You really sometimes wouldn't think of a mom entrepreneurin this area. But here is a mom that is rocking it, is businesspartner with her husband. Her name is Catie Bird. She is withHarley Davidson of Durango, Colorado. Welcome, Catie. Thanks forbeing on. I'm just so excited because this is just ... You havesuch a unique business. So can you introduce yourself please andtell us a little bit about you?
Catie:
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much first of all for thinking of meand wanting to include me on your podcast, it's a really big honor.I think that being a mompreneur is definitely something to bereally proud of and excited for. I'm in about two and a half yearsof entering that mompreneur role. So I'm still learning quite a lotof what it takes to be a business owner and whatnot. I'm justreally grateful to you too for including me in this podcast.
Catie:
A little bit about me, my name is Catie and I am a southern girlfrom Texas, was born and raised in South Texas my whole life. Andnow as of about two years ago, I now live in Southwest Coloradowith my husband, Trevor, who he and I have been married for 10years, celebrated in November. We have two beautiful children.Millie is our daughter. She just turned nine last week and our sonReese, who turned seven recently as well.
Catie:
My husband, Trevor and I own Durango Harley Davidson here inDurango, Colorado, which is far Southwest Colorado. So if you thinkabout the US map and you're looking in Southwest Colorado, we'reright next to the four corners, so where we connect with Arizona,New Mexico and Utah. It's really a pretty amazing place to live asfar as landscape, the mountain ranges and the rivers. It's just abeautiful place to be and a really big destination for motorcycleriders.
Catie:
There's so many wonderful rides that draw people here. So we aremostly a seasonal business, which is a big change for us fromcoming to Texas because we in Texas ... It's summer basicallyyear-round. So people are riding motorcycle all the time, so thingsdon't really slow down. Here, it's very, very different.We haveabout six out of the year to really sell, sell, sell, make it orbreak it before winter hits, and everything basically comes to ahalt. So it's definitely a very different way of life in a verydifferent style of business from what we're used to. I think we'vedone a really good job of adjusting to that and running ourbusiness based on that model now of seasonality. So-
Ashley:
Tell me about how you got there. That was the next thing is likewhy did y'all leave Texas to go up to Colorado and start out onthis business? Because y'all been a part of the Harley DavidsonFamily for a while now, right?
Catie:
Yes, yes. My husband, Trevor has been working for the brand, sellHarley brand for gosh, close to 17 years now and with twodealerships back in Texas where we're from. I've never beeninvolved with the Harley business. When I graduated college, I wentinto the corporate world and I started working for the NBA with theSan Antonio Spurs was my first job out of college.
Catie:
That was a really amazing experience and really learned a whole,whole lot there. Then from then, from there I decided we were readyto start a family. And so I became a stay at home mom for aboutseven years, which I feel very blessed that I was able to do thatas long as I was. All the time while I was staying at home orworking with the Spurs, my husband was continuing with HarleyDavidson in San Antonio in the New Braunfels area.
Catie:
Then I kind of started feeling my kids were getting a little bitolder, starting Mother's Day out. I was kind of feeling like I wasmissing something, I love being a wife and a mom, but I was missinga purpose I felt like for myself outside of those roles. My bestfriend actually has started her own business selling custom men'swear, custom men's wear company. So I jumped on with her. Because Ihave a love of fashion, I have some merchandising background aswell. So I jumped in and started my own business with her sellingcustom men's wear. So that was really fun and fulfilling. I wasable to do it on my own time and still be there for my kids, and behome for Trevor and do the whole mom-wife thing as well.
Catie:
But just a few years ago, an opportunity kind of arose, Trevor andI had been really praying and thinking a lot about our future andwhat we wanted for our kids. While he had a partnership in some ofthe dealerships in Texas, we felt like it was time for us to branchout on our own, with all, with all of his years of knowledge, itwas time for us to go and find our own dealership where that couldbe 100% owned by us and our family. Durango kind of fell in ourlaps, it's kind of a long story of how that happened. But it hasbeen such a huge blessing. If you would've asked me 10 years agowhere I saw myself today, living in Southwest Colorado, owning amotorcycle dealership would never have crossed my mind.
Catie:
I never grew up around motorcycles. I didn't know really much aboutthem at all other than I would ride with Trevor and we would goplaces and do stuff. A little bit of the business side from what hewould share with me. But that definitely was not in my wheelhouseof plans for myself. So it's kind of really interesting to seewhere I am now. But I wouldn't change a thing. It's been an amazingblessing for our family to be here. I also never thought I wouldleave Texas. I've gotten my Southern roots and they are deep. Butit's really been fun, a fun adventure to try somewhere new and besomewhere new with meeting different people. There's so manywonderful blessings that have come from it.
Catie:
But now, when we took over ownership of the dealership back in Juneof 2017 is when we started, we were just blown away immediately bythe team that was already here and in place. All of the managersthat were with the business before we took over ownership are stillwith us today. That's something that Trevor and I are really proudof because this team that we have is in my opinion, the best in thebusiness.
Catie:
They were really great about transitioning and learning a new wayof doing things with our business model and whatnot. They have justreally, really made our jobs easy as far as leadership because theyall are leaders. They all do a great job. We really are a familyhere. And that's one thing that sharp and I have always talkedabout from the beginning is that we want to be a family where wewant everyone to feel welcomed, and loved, and supported. Also, weare a family owned business. Our kids are very much involved ineverything that we do here at the dealership and combined with thembeing here all the time and having a strong relationship with ourteam, we feel really lucky to be here. So that's kind of how we gotwhere we are in a nutshell.
Ashley:
That's such a leap of faith to leave, be a Texan and leave. I feellike so many ... So many people come to Texas, they rarely leaveunless it's a big calling. And you found that calling and y'allleft. Now here you are, you're two and half years into this newbusiness venture. But it sounds like you guys are very settled init. Can you tell me a little bit about your roles? And what it'slike being in business with your partner? And how you all divide upresponsibilities and then day in and day out of juggling thekids?
Catie:
Yes, absolutely. So it's really kind of cool how it's worked outbecause I, to be honest, was not quite sure how it was going to go,working with Trevor 'cause we are together all the time anyway. AndI'm thinking, are we going to butt heads? We've never workedtogether before. How is this going to work? And so it just fellinto place in that I know his strengths, his strengths are myweaknesses and kind of vice versa as well. My strengths are kind ofhis weaknesses. So where Trevor takes over, he handles most of theoverlooking things, the motorcycle sales division and all of thefinance part of the business, which I am not a numbers person. Thatis so far over my head, and I will admit it.
Catie:
That is a big weakness of mine. Being a business owner, it'sdefinitely something that you should know really well. I'm takingthe baby steps to really try and dive, dive in and learn more aboutthat side of it. But for now, it's great that I have this partnerthat does know that side really well so that I can focus on wherethe other needs in the business are, which are marketing and themerchandise sells, so the general merchandise department. So if anyof you who aren't familiar with Harley Davidson or have never beeninto a Harley Davidson dealership, I'll just kind of explain alittle bit of what it looks like. Besides this your showroom floorwith all of the motorcycles, the new and used, we also have a verylarge general merchandise department.
Catie:
So clothes, fashion, writing gear, your leather jackets, yourriding boots, all of your protective gear as well as just yourcasual gear that you wear when you're not on the bike, so thefashion side of it. There's also a parts department where you cancome and buy motorcycle parts and then have them installed in ourservice department, which we have a really large servicedepartment. Very, very wonderful service department.
Catie:
We get compliments on our team back there all the time on theirgreat service and, and how well that they do. So there's lots ofdifferent areas of the business that need to be managed and watchedover. So Trevor does sales and finance and I handle all themarketing and the merchandise. And it works really, really wellbecause there wasn't a marketing department here in the shopbeforehand, before we took over ownership.
Catie:
It was kind of a split job between like our accountant. Theaccountant would kind of do it, the controller and everyone kind ofshared responsibilities, which was great. They made it work becauseagain, as a seasonal business, we only have about 10 full-timeemployees that are here year-round. Then once the season starts topick up, usually in May, then we add about 10 to 15 more just forthe summer. So we grow quite a bit in our peak season and then kindof go down to the skeleton crew in the winter time. But therewasn't a specific person that was handling the marketing. So mydegree is in public relations and communication. So it was kind ofan easy role for me to kind of just step into and start handlingthat part of it.
Catie:
So it's actually been really awesome working with Trevor because werespect each other's strengths and we lift each other up. We alwayslean on each other because we know that this is make it or break itfor us. We moved our family away from everything that we knew totake on this dealership. This is our livelihood. So I know torespect him when he says, "No, Catie, this isn't going to work.We've got to restructure and think of something else," and viceversa.
Catie:
He does the same with me. So having that mutual respect and trustin each other has really made this partnership work, being able towork with my husband each day. I will say there are those days thathe really gets on my nerves. I just go and I just shut myself in myoffice so that ... 'Cause we are husband and wife. We don't getalong all the time and we don't always agree, but we respect eachother.
Catie:
So I know when he's in a bad mood, if he's having a bad day, I'mjust going to keep my distance today and I will handle what I needto do and vice versa. So it works. It works for us.
Ashley:
I like that you pointed out several different things. Being in apartnership with my mom, we've definitely learned that we play offof each other's strengths and weaknesses. So her strengths are someof my weaknesses and my strengths are some of her weaknesses. Wereally play that to the advantage of our business. Then at the endof the day, when you just have respect for your partner, yourbusiness partner, whether it's a parent or a spouse or a friend, itreally truly goes a long way in business and being able to trustthem that "Hey, this is for the good of the business." And like yousaid, it's your family's livelihood. It's the same with us. It's,actually two families' livelihood and plus you feel theresponsibility of all the employees that you employ as well andtheir livelihood.
Ashley:
You want to make it work and make it successful for everyone. So Ilove those points that you pointed out. And then at the end of theday, not everything's perfect. We're all humans, right? So youreally know how to keep your space.
Catie:
Yeah, absolutely.
Ashley:
So what is a tip that you would give to fellow mompreneurs that aretrying to juggle it all and juggle having a business and kids? Andbecause you were a stay at home mom, lik you are very active inyour kid's lives and everything. How do you make it work?
Catie:
That's a good question and I think that I'm still figuring it outhonestly. It's just day by day and for me, like I'm such a Type Aplanner type person that I feel like I have to have every moment ofmy day and my week planned out. I'm trying to reverse that and tojust like being present in the moment and what I'm doing rightthen, and focusing on that and not stressing so much about what'sgoing to happen later because I find that when I do that, if I'm ateither when the kids are at work with me or if I'm at home withthem, my mind is just constantly thinking about the next thing.Okay, what do I have to do next? What do I need to do for the kidsnext?
Catie:
Instead of being present right there and jumping down on the floorand making that puzzle with my kid or going outside just to kickthe soccer ball with my son. I need to be more intentional and morepresent. And that's something that I'm really working on. So myadvice for other mompreneurs out there is that even if you're not aplanner or if you are, I do think it's ... I'm a very big listperson. I think like being intentional and like actually schedulingthat time even if it's just 10 minutes to give your children likeyour full attention is important 'cause otherwise, the day can justget away from you and you get busy getting ready for dinner, doinglaundry talking to that client on the phone problem solving, doinghomework, all of that tha. I find that if I schedule lik okay, from6:00 to 7:00, that's strictly for Millie and I.
Catie:
Millie and I are going to sit and we're going to chat about herday. I'm going to give her what she needs right now. That's notgoing to happen every day. And that's okay. I think we also need togive ourselves as moms a lot of grace and understanding that we'renot going to be perfect every day, all the time. The mom guilt isreal. I have it all the time. The first year for me going frombeing a stay at home mom to working full-time in a new placewithout any other family here to help with the kids and all ofthat, I was really hard on myself and I felt like I was failing ateverything, whether it'd be work or the kids because I wasn't doingit perfectly and I didn't have it all figured out.
Catie:
But now going into, let's see, we did two and a half years now.Like I'm finally learning that it's okay to not have it all figuredout and to not be perfect in everything. My kids are loved. They'rehappy, they're flourishing in this new place. I rest in grace andmercy in that. Like I know that they are good. I guess the adviceis just don't be so hard on ourselves. We're doing the best that wecan and that's all we can do. I also think that it's reallyimportant for our kids to see us as moms struggling. I think thatthey need to see that mom isn't perfect but mom tries her best. Ithink that's important especially at work because my kids are atwork with us all the time because we don't have extra help. Wedon't have other family here or whatnot. So a lot of times afterschool, they come up here to the dealership and they, luckily it'sa pretty cool, fun place to hang out. My son loves to go to theservice department and sit there and watch all the technicians workon the motorcycles.
Ashley:
Yes, a young boy's dream playground.
Catie:
Yeah. It's cool. I mean, I feel like he's getting an education justbeing back there, watching these guys work. He's got this engineerbrain and it's really cool. He loves that. My daughter, she'll jumpin on the sales floor and start folding t-shirts. She's an expertt-shirt folder now. She is very confident and talks to customers.It's so cute because I'll have customers come up to me and ask meif she's my daughter and I'll be like, yes. And they'll say, "Oh,she was so great. She came up to me and said, hi, welcome toDurango Harley Davidson. Can I help you find anything today?" Soit's a cool place for them to be. I think they're also learning thevalue of hard work being here and seeing mom and dad running thisbusiness.
Catie:
But our kids also see our bad days. They see it like when there isan upset customer and they're watching how Trevor and I areresolving that. They're seeing like, if Millie comes back to myoffice and I'm just way behind on stuff, or I just lost thiscampaign that I ran just didn't go very well and I'm upset aboutit. I don't hide it from her. My son still so little, I think he'skind of oblivious to a lot of it. But my daughter, she's very intuned to emotions and things. She doesn't miss a beat, but I lether see me. I don't try and hide it whenever things aren't goinggreat. I think that obviously for her, her age, I don't show hereverything that's bad or horrible.
Catie:
But I think it's important for kids to see that we're human andthat we struggle when we fail. But the important thing is that wedon't give up. That's one of our family rules. Birds don't give up,we don't quit. We can fail and that's okay, but there's more honorin failing than there is in not even trying because you're afraidto lose. That's big lesson that we want to teach our kids is youcan't be afraid to go for what you want. We didn't make this leapof faith to Colorado with the expectation of failing. But we knewthat we needed to do, we needed to make a change and this was whereGod's leading us. We're here and it's not always going to be easyand it's not always going to be exciting, fun, happy days.
Catie:
But we stand firm and knowing that we're here for a reason andwe've got a purpose here. I just think it's important for our kidsto see that we are human. When they see how we react to theproblems and to things that are going good or bad, then they'relearning as well. I'm hoping, my hope is that one day when theyenter the workforce for real, they're going to know the disciplinethat it takes to be successful and not being afraid of failurebecause that was a big challenge for me is failing.
Catie:
Watching my husband throughout his business and his life withHarley Davidson, I've seen him take a lot of risks. We've also hada lot of failures. But I really respect that he's never let thatstop him from trying something new and doing what he wants. Sowatching him go through that has given me the confidence to knowthat I can do this too. I may not know a whole lot aboutmotorcycles. I do a lot more now than I did two years ago, but Iknow that I have passion for this brand. I have passion for ourbusiness and the people that worked here and our customers. Itmakes it extremely fulfilling to come to work every day.
Ashley:
Your passion just now, I am just taken away. When you said the wewill show honor, more honor in failing like the life lessons thatyou just talked about right there and how you're showing that toyour kids, it's so impactful. I tell this to my husband sometimes,I'm like taking our kids to work with us, they will learn so muchmore some days than they ever will in that classroom.
Ashley:
The life lessons, and you just like nailed it with everything yousaid and how your kids are involved in the business in the day inand day out, and being a part of it, and seeing your reactions withcustomers. I absolutely agree with you just because we have aretail store too. My oldest is old enough to come and understandthose interactions. You're absolutely right. They're watching ourinteractions, they're learning from it.
Ashley:
It can be such a good thing. It can be such a good thing to showthat to our kids and just the way you articulated it was so greatand just hearing your passion behind it, how it's more thanactually just you being a mompreneur and being in partner with yourhusband. But it's a whole family. It's the whole family there thatmade the move, that's doing this business together. That'sincredible. I applaud you guys. I loved hearing all your passionjust now when you were talking about just the tip that you give, itis true. It is so true. And how we be present in our day to daylives for our kids, but also to give ourselves grace. So muchgrace.
Catie:
Yeah. Exactly. So much grace. Yeah. We're not perfect and we neverwill be. But all we can do is just do the best that we can. I'mmaking it a goal of mine to just not worry so much about everybodybeing happy and everything being perfect and take me. It's okay.It's okay if they're not ... It's okay that they're here at workwith me every day after school this week because I have a lot goingon. You know what, that's all right. Because what would they bedoing at home besides sitting there watching TV or jumping on thetrampoline? They've got stuff to keep them busy here and I can beokay with that. They're going to be just fine.
Ashley:
Yes.
Catie:
So yes, grace is a big, big thing.
Ashley:
Yes. I look at it with our family business is that they could be athome with a babysitter in front of the TV or they could be thereinteracting with ... It's great communication skills.
Catie:
Absolutely.
Ashley:
It's much better than them learning to text or play on thecomputer. They're learning great communication skills, dealing withcustomers and learning to talk to our employees. Ttalkingrespectfully, I feel like that's a great teaching studio forthem.
Catie:
Yeah, 100%.
Ashley:
Catie-
Catie:
That was awesome.
Ashley:
I have thoroughly enjoyed this conversation today. I think youprovided such wisdom to other fellow mompreneurs and especiallythat we just need to show ourselves grace. Something I ask allguests is what is a way that we can show up or support yourbusiness and you guys during this season? Yeah, how can we supportyou guys?
Catie:
Awesome. Well, you can support us if in the way of just follow uslike on our Instagram page we actually have a really cool Instagrampage. We do all these different lifestyle posts everyday ofdifferent motorcycle riders far and wide all around the country, inthe world. They're really, really neat. They all have positivemessages to them as well. So our Instagram page is@DurangoHarleyDavidson, all one word, no dash or anything. And thenyou can also check out our website, DurangoHarley.com. But onething I want to touch on and follow us on Facebook too. Yeah.'Cause we post a lot on there as well. But we also own a motorcyclerally that happens here every Labor Day weekend. We just finishedyear two for us. It's actually a rally that's been around for like26 years or something.
Catie:
But right when we moved here, it kind of fell out. The previousowner that had some bad business skills kind of had ran it into theground. But it used to be, there used to be 20 to 30,000motorcyclists that would come through Durango on Labor Day weekend.It kind of fell apart. So my husband and I, and our marketingpartner in the rally, John Oaks really tried hard to rebuild thisrally.
Catie:
Bring it into a new light with different, with newer events likehooligan dirt, dash races. We just did our first ever motorcyclehill climb at Purgatory Resort, which is where our ski mountainhere. It was a huge success and it was really, really awesome. Iencourage you also to follow Four Corners Motorcycle Rally onInstagram as well. They post a lot of really awesome content, butthe rally is a great way to support our local community here inDurango. They would bring a lot of economic success here for that,that one weekend. So that's a great way to support as well, justtalking about what it is that we're doing here in Durango for laborday weekend and bringing in that next generation of motorcycleriders and bringing something fun to the community.
Ashley:
Awesome. So we will. We will ask, we ask all of you listeners outthere if you will engage with them. So follow them on Instagram forthe Four Corners Motorcycle Rally as well as Durango HarleyDavidson on Instagram. I'm going to go check them both out. Then ofcourse I didn't realize that different Harley Davidson dealershipshave different websites. So that's good to know. If you are aHarley fan or maybe you have a need to buy a gift for a Harley fan,that's where I am. My dad had a Harley day was then growing up. Andso my only purpose I've ever had in life is just to buy gifts.
Ashley:
So I literally walk up to the counter and just check out. I'venever even explored the dealership. I just ordered and picked upthere. S go and shop you guys at Durango Harley Davidson. All ofthis information will be in the show notes as well as if you clickthrough and you got to our show through a social media link, goback to the social media page cause we're going to tag those in thesocial media pages.
Ashley:
Catie, I thank you for being a guest on today's show. Listeners, Iinvite you, you just heard me talk about how we can support Catieand her husband, Trevor in the Durango Harley Davidson dealership,their business. Please go out, engage with them on socialmedia.
Ashley:
That is something you can do that is free, to support any business.And sometimes you hear a big brand and you think, "Oh, that's justsome national brand." No, there's actually families behind thesebig brands. So the Bird Family owns this dealership. It'sfamily-run. Sometimes people get lost in those big brands, but no,it's actually a family-owned business. So go out and supportthem.
Ashley:
And if you liked today's episode, I invite you to hit subscribe andleave us a review. We always are looking for feedback and comments,and want to hear all your great thought and reviews. So thanks forlistening and have a great day.
Speaker 1:
Thanks for listening. To find out more about Ashley, log on to theMompreneurBoutique.com that's the MompreneurBoutique.com.
