Easy Ways to Make your Bike Shop More Welcoming to Women
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If you’re a shop owner who’s skeptical about women’s programming you aren’t alone. Mason admits she was skeptical, too, until she saw the outcomes. You’ll learn how to start women-led programming even if your shop has no women on staff, and what small changes you can make that will improve the customer experience for everyone.
Please enjoy listening to Easy Ways to Make your Bike Shop More Welcoming to Women:
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Steph & Heather
Tue, 8/18 10:44AM • 46:58
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
women, shop, bike, bike shop, cyclist, people, ride, cycling, program, bicycle, feel, lead, life, talk, industry, men, shop owner, conversation, create, saddle
SPEAKERS
Heather Mason, Steph Waite, Rod Judd, Kent Cranford
Rod Judd 00:10
You are listening to bicycle retail radio brought to you by the National Bicycle Dealers Association.
Steph Waite 00:16
Welcome to bicycle retail radio brought to you by the National Bicycle Dealers Association. I’m Steph Waite, a part-time sales lead and marketing consultant for Johnny Velo Bikes in Columbus, Ohio. Before we get started, I want to acknowledge that Coronavirus has created an unprecedented situation for bike shops, and really all of us right now. The NBA has put together a comprehensive resource page for retailers on this topic and I highly recommend you check it out. If you haven’t yet. You can find a link on nba.com as well as the link to become a member of the NBA. But we decided to go ahead with our plan topic for this week. Even though you may not be able to implement a lot of this right now. If your shop is anything like the one where I work your customer interactions are pretty limited if you’re even open at all, but I’m really excited about our guest today. And I hope you’ll stick with me for this episode because she’s going to share some important information and tips that you can noodle on and implement when life returns to some semblance of normal. We are going to have a frank discussion about making your shop more welcoming to women. And even if you think you’re already doing it right, I promise you, you’re going to learn something new from our guests. I’m here with Heather Mason, who leads the eastern US business development for Bianca bicycles. Heather’s career has touched on just about every aspect of the cycling industry. She was a pro-24-hour mountain bike racer. She’s been a coach. She was a bike mechanic and a shop owner. She’s also a writer who regularly contributes her expertise in industry publications, and how Or even has her own product line of bicycle waste packs. Have I missed anything? Heather, you’ve kind of really done everything, haven’t you?
Heather Mason 02:07
Hey, Steph, I’m so happy to be here. First, I just want to tell you how thrilled I am to have this conversation with you today. Yeah, it’s crazy right to think I, you know, I went to school for Culinary Arts, and I ended up in the bicycle industry, a person who’s totally driven and led by passion. And you definitely covered all the major milestones. There’s so much little stuff in between there that I think that’s where the meat is. But I don’t know, maybe that’s another podcast. Yeah, I’ve been in the industry for quite some time. And I love that I get to give back and I get to give to all the dealers and in my writings for bicycle retailer, you know what I’m seeing in the pulse of the industry, this conversation is going to be awesome. So I’m very excited to chat with you about the woman’s environment and how retailers can make some positive changes.
Steph Waite 02:52
So I just have to say I have had Heather’s cooking, by the way, and it’s amazing that culinary arts thing has really paid off? It was you’re very good at it. So can you start by talking a little bit about the program that you run for beyond key which is also the reason that you and I know each other?
Heather Mason 03:13
Oh yes, I was super fortunate a couple of years ago when I started working for Bianchi bicycles, to have the opportunity to create a woman’s ambassador program. So we started the VIP dama program in 2018. And really is to find those individuals who are just super passionate about cycling and their personalities very contagious, and to align them with our retail partners to brainstorm and collaborate on ways to get more writers to the spore holding group rides, clinics, special events, to build a true rider community within their shop environment. It’s been awesome. So you’ve been part of the program yourself and that we know we sat in rooms with other women brainstorming, and here I am now in year three, and this year there’s over 60 ladies part of our program. But since the beginning, I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to learn and develop ideas jointly with over 200 women. So the program is a great thing for our retail partners. It’s a great thing for the industry, and we’re getting more women into the sport because of that I’ve met you and we’ve run bikes together, so it’s working.
Steph Waite 04:30
You know, what I think is really special about that program, actually, is that it’s not just there’s not just one type of woman in this program. And it’s not just one type of cyclist. You know, you’ve got women on all kinds of bikes, you have women at all levels, all experience levels, which I think is really interesting. What made you decide to take the program and you know, take like a recreational cyclist and people who are triathletes just to bring women from all different areas of cycling together.
Heather Mason 04:56
Yeah, so my life has been an evolution. the process so that after I was a pro racer and I started working in a shop locally, I wanted to create a team or a club, let’s say of people to come together and just be more active on bikes I needed people to ride with. I developed this program here locally. And it became my family, my community, and I realized that it wasn’t divisive pro riders. It wasn’t, it wasn’t the best of the best. And in my area, it was everyone and because it was everyone, that’s what made it so great. So I use that when I was thinking, brainstorming how we make this program, how we find these people that are part of this program. Who are they? I really wanted it to be a mix. I wanted it to be everyone, everyone that all the prereq was is that you had to have a huge smile and a love of cycling and cycling had to have changed your life. Oh my God, we did it. We found those people.
Steph Waite 05:55
It’s awesome. It’s true. I gotta be honest, I have mixed feelings, right? Now about two women doing an episode about women and bikes, right? That just does that felt cliche, it feels cliche. But this is not just a women’s issue, and I just made air quotes here. It’s an industry issue, right? And it’s an issue that you and I care a lot about, because I’ve only been doing this for about three years very seriously, but correct me if I’m wrong, but a lot of women feel uncomfortable walking into their local bike shop, or they avoid it altogether. What is this? Talk to me about this?
Heather Mason 06:27
Oh, right. Yeah, yeah. Gosh, so yeah. Is this just a women’s issue? Or is it an industry issue? And you know, you and I coming together to chat about this is a conversation that we have a lot, right, like, why do we focus on women’s why there have to be women’s rights and women’s rights and women’s that I think it’s worth the retailer’s time, regardless of gender to sort ways to retain and attract customers at any time. It’s worth stopping to look and say, okay, maybe I should put some extra time into this. It’ll help all consumers. When we talk about women, they’re a big portion of our industry. They’re a big portion of our community. So we’re able to have this conversation because you do have to put a little effort in most, let’s be honest, most bike shops are run and managed by men. And so you’re relating to another sex. And it takes a certain you have to think about it, you know, you have to think how do I do this? So why not push yourself in that direction? Because I think it’s a win-win regardless, you know, so let’s have this conversation but let’s apply this to everyone right?
Steph Waite 07:34
But if we want to make it about women tonight, let’s do that. But it’s there are tools that can be used in every circumstance, I think so let’s say that women are feeling reluctant or uncomfortable about walking into a bike shop. Let’s say they haven’t bought a bike, an adult-like you know, I feel like that’s a lot of the women that I see at my shop women who are buying a bike for the first time for themselves. Maybe they bought one for their child. You know, maybe they love to ride as a kid but we get a lot of women getting into For the first time, how do we even get those women to decide to choose our shops? What can we do to give ourselves an edge over another shop that maybe not putting in that extra effort?
Heather Mason 08:11
I think it starts with just tapping into your creative, organic, unique cell. So myself, I’m a woman, right? And so I’m looking for places to shop or I’m considering a new purchase. Let’s say it’s a lawnmower. It’s not something I’m going to buy all the time. I might consider a bunch of different shops. But if I drive by someplace, or if I read something about someplace that’s pleasing to my eye or pleasing to my unique self as I’m reading it, it makes me want to go there. So I believe it’s about creating a draw. So if you want people to come into your shop, so what do you have to set the scene I always say it as it starts with the outside of your shop. So make sure that it’s clean and current and attractive. I mean, stuff the shop you work at Gianni villas, his storefront who does is displace his wife, right? Like, Oh, my God has windows displays are just, I mean, they stopped me in my tracks. And that’s I’m not even local. I see him online, you know. So I think it’s really important that shop owners think about their landscape, their signage, their window decor, and outdoor displays, you know, bikes with outside, something to catch the eye. But more than that, you have to give people a reason people want to spend their money someplace that they feel like it’s making a difference, something that they could talk to their friends about and brag about almost. So a lot of shops, I’m seeing modern retail these days. They are partnering with other local businesses, so maybe it’s a pottery place or artists, and they’re bringing that into their shop until they’re planning classes or clinics or some kind of calendar and listing it in the local listings to just kind of have a broad appeal and be more than a bike shop and to make themselves seen and part of the scene. Other shops are working with ambassadors so sort of like the Bianca dama program or let’s say exactly like that, giving this Ambassador wings to create programs or host events at their shop. And then these ambassadors on social media, they’re posting about it, they’re tagging the shop, and then her network sees that. So just getting involved in different aspects as well as making your shop very clean and proper and I appealing are always that we can attract new customers, women, especially but
Steph Waite 10:30
Everyone, so I’ve done the right things. I’ve got a new customer in my shop and she’s looking to buy a bike what are some things that bike shop staff, maybe men and women can be doing? maybe doing to turn off women customers and then what can we do? Maybe things that we don’t even realize we’re doing and what could we be doing differently?
Heather Mason 10:49
Oh my gosh, I think staff it’s Have you ever walked into a bike shop and you look around for maybe like it feels like forever and no one has even noticed that you’re In the store, right?
Steph Waite 11:01
You know what, half of the reason I work at the shop where I do right now the reason I work at Johnny Velo Bikes is that I was new to cycling and I went around to a lot of different bike shops and it wasn’t that any nobody was bad or anything like that there. We have a lot of great bike shops in my area. But this was the first shop where I felt like at home where I came in, and you know, they made me feel at home. So yeah, it does make a big difference. Yeah,
Heather Mason 11:26
yeah, we always say like one of the biggest things and I gave a talk at the cabinet seminar about this is when people come in, you need to make them feel like they’re walking into your house. If you have someone that comes in your shop, you need to engage them and you need to be a genuine good person and a friendly human. So stop overthinking, stop thinking about the million other things you have to do, and relax and focus on this cyclist that’s standing in front of you. And remember yourself as you were that cyclist standing in front of a shop or donor years ago, and talk to them like you would talk to a friend or a family member and be genuine. And if we think about a woman I am like the most nongirly woman you would know, right? When I go to the hair salon, I sit down and my hairstylist is chatting with me, me it’s a little uncomfortable for me personally, because I’m not typically really good at that kind of chat, but my stylist engages me and she gets me to open up and, and I have this relationship with her that I never thought I would have. And I keep going back to her year after year after year because I’m comfortable because she talks to me like a human. So I think the biggest mistake we make is that we avoid people that come in the door, or we don’t actually take a breath and just see them as a cyclist as a future cyclist or a current cyclist be a friendly human. And if you don’t, if you don’t and you’re rushed and you’re thinking and you’re not genuinely looking someone in the eye, you’re going to lose them. They’re not going to back. So I think it’s just in that applies again to everyone men and women, but especially women.
Steph Waite 13:06
You know, it’s funny when I first started that my first few months at the shop, I would see like every woman who walked in the door is like, I wonder if this person would want to be my writing buddy. Like more people to ride with. I’m just I’m gathering a girl gang of people to ride with. And I feel like that’s a good way to build relationships, too. We totally agree. Talk about the layout inside a shop. How important is that to their experience? Men and women want a nicely laid out shop. Right? But maybe that’s something that women are paying more attention to. I don’t know. Tell me what you think about that.
Heather Mason 13:38
So the first thing I think about when you asked me that is Oh my God, I so my father got me into cycling and I was in my late teens and early 20s when I was you know, driving on my own for the first time and taking my bike to the bike shop to be serviced and my local shop that I would go to. I remember all the guys inside were so cute, right? And I was just nervous. Just going there on my own like regardless but there was this glass door and it was a small door It was a single door was glass and to get in the shop I mean you with the bike for service you had to like open the door with one hand and kind of try to wheel the bike and not hit the pedal on the door and I mean gosh, it was so embarrassing. I always was like all eyes were gonna be on me. It was rough like I was afraid to even go in so I think I think the number one it’s true Oh my god, even if no one was looking, you know how you feel like oh my god, everyone’s gonna be there as I navigate this, so I think the first thing is the entry. If you don’t have that glass door entry, you might be okay. But if you have some sort of way that makes it tough to get in the shop, think about that. You know, be aware of people that are coming in and go out and help or have a staff member do that. So the first thing is the ease of entrance but inside the store, you know Make sure it’s clean and organized, make sure that greeting happens that we talked about, just make sure that things aren’t laid out so they’re easy to find it doesn’t look cluttered. I think the biggest thing though, is that greeting I mean, if you have someone that greets someone quickly, with eye contact with that feeling of home, you can get away with a lot because then you have already you’re establishing a relationship and someone feels like they’re in good hands. Without that though, you know, you’re really lost. I know a lot of shops are setting up women’s specific sections, making it very easy to shop. I think all that is really good and really positive and all that helps. Making sure displays aren’t too close together. So you don’t run into stuff as you’re trying to look at other stuff. But again, I feel like if someone can get in your door, they’re feeling comfortable, they’re greeted, then it’s really okay, as long as the shop is clean and organized. You’ve done a lot already. But I think all the other stuff helps too but you know, that’s extra. That’s like icing on the cake if you would,
Steph Waite 15:58
what are some good questions? So You know, you talk about that greeting and that relationship. But what are some good questions that feel like they build a relationship that you can ask? They don’t seem like high-pressure sales necessarily, but they just are a good way to kick off a positive relationship with a customer when they come in.
Heather Mason 16:14
So I think the best is, after you introduce yourself is How’d you find the store? Have you been here before? And then and then talking about? Did you get out today? Asking simple questions, assuming that the persons are there in your bike shop, they obviously already are a cyclist. They’re buying something for someone else, or they want to become one. So it’s like the same thing. When someone says I’m looking for a road bike, instead of taking them to the $500 aluminum road bike or the entry-level aluminum or a bike, why not take them all the way the carbon so when someone comes in, assume they’re a cyclist asked if they got out today, as if they’re part of a club, engage them and just questions that are not sales questions or tell them about what you did earlier that day. Just talk you know, it’s establishing some kind of repertoire, and then you can figure out why they’re there or remind them for something that they forgot that they needed that they could get why they were there as well. You know, so just have a conversation a genuine conversation.
Steph Waite 17:15
So you were talking a little bit about some shops have the space to do a women’s section, some dough art, we have a really small shop. So we have a couple of sections for women’s products, but how do you make good choices? Let’s say you’re a man running a shop and all your staff are men, you’re making some gut choices about products for your female cyclists, how are you making those good choices? bikes? Sure, but clothing and accessories. You know, I know when we were placing an order last year, we had a couple of options. It was a black bike and a purple bike and they were both women’s bikes and the owner said, Well, I think we should get the purple one. I said you should get the black one. He said women don’t buy black bikes. Yes, they do. And he did. He got the black ones and I made people bought the black ones, but they probably would have bought the purple ones that they were there to some people came in and said, Oh, I wish this was like earlier color. And some people came in and said, I’m so glad this isn’t a girly color. How do you make those decisions?
Heather Mason 18:13
Oh my god. I wish I knew. Right. So what the million-dollar question right? So I remember years ago I was sitting in a conference I wrote for specialized so I was sitting in a marketing meeting with the specialized crew and we were picking out colors for bikes for the next year. And you know, there’s this wall with mountain bikes and road bikes and like three color choices for each bike, and we’re the ones that are going to decide what bikes are coming out for next year. And it’s like, I wanted this but the 12 ladies in the room. I mean, it was so split. I mean, who knows. Right? So this is a great question. I don’t even know if I’m qualified enough to answer it. But here’s what I do think if you have a female on your staff, get her opinion, you know, for sure. 100% since she’s on the floor, and she’s selling the bikes see what appeals to her. Don’t think that we all dig pink. I guess the best thing would be to pay attention to what trends are in the industry. And think about when you’re stocking your store the helmets or the shoes that you bought, maybe you could create a color story because women do dig cool gear that looks good together and works so the other thing is to think about asking a local Ambassador or another female local cyclist for their feedback. Colors are tough but I think the biggest thing is the products and why they work and so if you’re thinking about like a woman’s specific hydration pack or a woman’s specific saddle, that’s definitely stuff that you can get input from women and you could ask about why they choose the saddle or why they choose this pack and then you could create like a little blurb on a laminated card and make a display in your the saddle and have like a silent sales talking thing from it. Women’s cyclists to other women that might be shopping in your store so that’s a hard thing staff and I think there’s a lot of different things to consider their colors are always going to be men or women a tough thing because we don’t everything appeals differently to people just know that we don’t all dig pink. Flowers aren’t always cool either.
Steph Waite 20:19
If you take nothing away from this podcast, we do not all love pink. We do not want flowers. That’s it’s important. I would agree but some women do and you know what also, that’s okay.
Heather Mason 20:31
That’s what I was racing Pro. I was known as the pink my bike was pink. My full kit was pink and I had a pair of custom two fuzzy glasses named after me that were paid. So I mean, like, life changes. Okay.
Steph Waite 20:46
You said saddles. We are talking about saddles for a second. We could do like a whole thing on saddles, your man helping a woman choose a saddle and you know, there are lots of good ways. I mean, there are lots of like best practices. And lots of information about it. You know, and I, I’m the kind of person who would totally feel comfortable walking into a bike shop and talking or talking to like a male bike fitter and saying, dude, this saddle smashes my vulva after about 30 miles and I can’t stand it helped me find the right thing, right but a lot of women don’t a don’t feel I’m gonna do that be they maybe don’t even have the words to explain yet What’s happening? Because there are so many things that can go right or go wrong with women and saddles. And you know, I talked to men about this and they say, well, we have saddle issues too. And like fine, I don’t care. I understand you guys take care of yourself. I’m worried about women and their comfort. So I bet a bunch of listeners right now are going to just say Volvo. I did. I did just disable we’re going to talk about for a second. How can men make it easy for women to talk to them about what’s going on with their saddles and how do men talk to women about it and help them find the ones,
Heather Mason 22:01
oh my god, the saddle topic, I love that you brought this up because it’s a real thing. And, ah, God, I think the best thing that is to be fact-driven, if you’ve established yourself, like at the beginning with this human relationship, this being very genuine, you’re looking out for the rider, then you can just be fact-driven and honest. And you already have those boundaries set up, there is the anatomy of a person, your physical anatomy, your body features. So you can say that this saddle is gonna work well for you because it has the cutout here, and it’s gonna really release pressure. And it’s the feature benefit. I think once you establish yourself in that beginning, as a genuine person, you can have these conversations and don’t be afraid to use the words like, Oh my god, I gave a speech once and it was two women, but there were men in the room and I just opened up with pubic hair, and I just was like, all right. Are we shaving it? Are we not shaving it? What do you ladies doing? And like, you could tell the men were like, they like took a step back and their jaws dropped. And the women are just like, nuts and bolts about it. They’re like, you know, summer-like why to shave and some don’t. And we just talked about it. And, and that is like, the great thing about being a woman is we’re not afraid to have those conversations. So I think if you’re a gentleman, helping a woman and you’ve established yourself as a genuine person, and your main goal is to help the person, become a better cyclist, then feel free to go ahead and give it to us the correct way. You know, say hello, say whatever you need to say,
Steph Waite 23:38
at work, right? It’s well worth it. It’s absolutely worth it to find the right saddle. I think also you can say something like women I have talked to have said this so you can always if you’re not if you don’t feel like you’re a good primary source, you can cite a primary source so because odds are if you’re a male cyclist or if you’re a male shop owner, you know women who ride bikes and have talked to you about this before, you can say, Well, I know women who’ve had this problem and you can always cite a primary source. There’s lots of stuff on the internet too. You could point them to resources.
Heather Mason 24:09
Yeah, thinking about a man answering the question, right? It’s like, if you’re going to give the future benefit, you also want to give a little bit of what women are saying, and how do you do that you have to find that you’re writing stuff. That’s so true.
Kent Cranford 24:23
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Steph Waite 24:43
The fact is that these conversations are going to be a lot easier to have with women. If you have a woman working in your shop. How is it important to have women working in bike shops? How would you even go about if you wanted to hire women? I mean, can you? You’d say like, I’m just looking for seeking women mechanics. I don’t know. How do you make your shop a place that the small, you know, relatively smallish number of women in your community maybe who are mechanics or bike sales leads want to come work for you?
Heather Mason 25:16
Yeah. As you’re asked me this question, I’m thinking back to that picture of you with your awesomely manicured fingernails with like, green thumb over them. That was so cool. And that picture is I think Johnnie Walker put on or Facebook or you sent it out. I can’t remember. But that was a cool picture here. You have a woman who’s got these beautiful fingernails all manicured up in you’re covered in grease and getting it done. And I mean, that’s hot, though. Yeah, I mean, I feel like every shop should have a female employee if possible. Let’s see. So when I was working and I owned a bike shop, we would run group rides or we would have clinics or spin classes inside. If there was a female that showed up. I would do Whether and I’d be like, hey, if you ever want to work a few nights, let me know. Or if you want to lead a spin class, let me know. Because a lot of people have full-time jobs. But how cool is it to work at a bike shop? And maybe they’re, they wouldn’t even ask because they wouldn’t even think like a part-time thing would be a thing, but you’re not really the opportunity for a person looking for full-time work in a bike shop. That’s a female, that’s not gonna happen every day. Let’s be honest, I wish it would you know, but it doesn’t happen every day. So cultivate the community. I actually got some teenage girls, some Daughters of the male riders to work at the shops and they became I had this one girl who stayed with me for years into college and she was excellent. So just be on the lookout and, and you never know where it could lead. I mean, no one knows where their life is. You know, if a teenage girl comes in to start working for you at 17 she might not know that eventually, she’s going to be one of the few female vape shop owners in the US. I mean, who knows? So I think it’s really really important to find a female for your staff even if it’s only a couple nights a week or, or what have you, but sometimes you’re just gonna have to cultivate it yourself. And I think having the conversations, you’re just throwing it out there, you never know what you’re gonna get back, you know.
Steph Waite 27:12
So this feels, I don’t think you know, I don’t know if you even know how I ended up working at Johnny Vela bikes do this, you kind of lead into this just now this feels like super relevant. I got serious about cycling, like three years ago. And when I did my first like big charity ride for my work. And you know, I was going around looking for, you know, checking out bike shops, and this one, in particular, had just opened, they had only been open for about six months. And they offered to do a private workshop, as a maintenance workshop to teach us how to like assess our bikes and how to change a tire. And so for our team, my team at work, and so we went and it was all women in the workshop. It wasn’t on purpose. We didn’t plan it that way that just kind of how it shook out. Those were just the people who signed up to do it and It was such a good workshop. And you know, and I felt really comfortable learning how to change a tire with these mechanics who worked at the shop. And I thought, well, the shops 20 minutes from my house, but I’m going to keep going because they went the extra mile to make me feel comfortable here. And that’s worth it to me. So I kept going. And then in the fall, this was, you know, maybe a few months after the big charity ride, and I was like really getting excited about cycling. In the fall I went in, and you know, I had been going there a lot and they were like, Hey, we got a new fitness machine. We’ll give you a free bike fitting to it will be our guinea pig for this fitness machine. So like yes, I will do that absolutely fit me on this bike. So and they figured out that I need new handlebars, but I needed like narrower handlebars, right because my bike had wide handlebars too wide for me. And their mechanic said, Hey if you want to learn how to swap out your handlebars, I’ll show you how to do it. Because you know we’re not really busy right now you can come in and do it with me and you can learn how to and so on. I learned how to change my handlebars and that was like the first thing I ever did. on my bike was changed my own handlebars and rewrap the bar tape and I took off the cheater brakes that were on my bars. I did a whole bunch of stuff and I swapped out the housing and I was like, and I did it all myself under the supervision of this mechanic, and then I just kept coming back because I wanted to learn more. They said, You know, I think we have to pay you because you keep coming back a lot. And every time I would come in, I would sell somebody a customer or something I would you know, they come in and I talked to the customers and they eventually just hired me. I didn’t ask for a job. They just eventually just hired me because I hung around so much. So that woman who’s like hanging around your shop, I have a full-time job too. I do this because I really love to do it. And I like to learn and I like to be part of the cycling industry. I have a full-time job that has nothing to do with bikes. That woman who’s hanging around your shop might be interested.
Heather Mason 29:58
Yeah. Love that you know all that. Oh my gosh, it was awesome.
Steph Waite 30:04
I just I knew nothing until like a few years ago.
Heather Mason 30:09
So awesome. I love that story. I’m so happy just undercuts
Steph Waite 30:12
if that I hope that doesn’t undercut my expertise as a podcast interviewer that I knew nothing
Heather Mason 30:21
makes you super cool.
Steph Waite 30:23
I’ve worked really, really hard to get up to speed though.
Heather Mason 30:26
Oh my gosh, I love that. No, it’s so true though. Yeah, so I think the shop owners just have to throw it out there
Steph Waite 30:32
I agree. You never know you need to look at because it’s not like you’re gonna put it on Facebook and say now hiring women only you know, you’ve just look among the people who are coming into your shop and it’s a great idea. So one of the things I do for my shop is I lead a monthly women’s ride we call it the no boys only or no boys allowed ride. I started that it’s really it could be called a beginner’s ride because it’s not we ride on the bike path. We’re like a block away from a bike path. And we do eight miles upon a flat bike path, we stop at a little park, have a snack and then ride back. It’s a very easy low key ride conversational pace. But I get women who’ve been cycling for decades to come to it, and I get women who just bought their bikes is really a good entry point, especially for women who have just purchased their bikes that people ask me Well, why can’t men come on the ride? There are lots of men who are just getting started. I think a lot of women feel more comfortable when they’re just getting started when they’re just among women. I think there’s something about learning and feeling your way through something new. And doing it kind of you feeling safe just among women. But this is just kind of one program that we do. Do you have other ideas for programming and things that shops can do and how if they don’t have any female employees to run them? You know, how do you find people to do it? Let’s talk about women’s programming and shops and if that matters and what they can do about it. Oh, okay. So
Heather Mason 31:56
if I’m going to be completely honest, which I always am, that’s Something that people know about me. I just say it when I started with Bianca and we had this conversation about creating a woman’s program. I was really excited for it initially, like the idea to create something really gets me I love to do that. I started with Bianca and I started visiting the current dealers and future dealers. And sometimes when I travel, I bring my dad along. And I remember this one trip so specifically and so vividly, I was sitting outside of a bike shop, a big bike shop with big windows, and I just finished a visit now sitting in the car and my dad’s like how to go. And I look up and I see this big sign that says, join our women’s only rides. It was this huge sign glaring at me from the window. And this is before I started the download program, and I looked at the site and I kind of heard my dad in the background talking to me, and he’s like, What’s going on with you? I was like, Oh my god, dad. I don’t know if I can do it. He’s like, What are you talking about? And I was like, see that sign? Join our own women’s Why do we need women’s rights? Like why do shops need women’s rights? And if I don’t believe in a woman’s right, how am I going to make a woman’s program like, I’m like, Dad, I don’t know if I can do this, I mean stuff you have to remember, like, I’m coming from being a pro, you know, mountain bike rider and in mountain bike scene at the time that I was doing it, which is years and years ago, forever ago, I was hanging out with guys all the time, and I don’t have a lot of women’s friends. So this idea that we need to have women’s only rise or women’s only clinics is so something that I can’t relate to right? And my dad’s like, just relaxed, you’re gonna be fine. And so I’m like, okay, but I was super stressed out because I had already agreed to create a woman’s program that I couldn’t actually get my brain to embrace that this is something so I just how to just relax and just go with this concept that there are a friendship and connection. The unity that I don’t know that exists, but I’ve heard about it, and it must be there. So, I mean, we’re three years into this program, right? And I can tell you that my life has been forever changed by this experience. And I’ve gone from this nonbeliever of women’s only things are this earth kind of like, Hmm, maybe, to say like, Oh my god, it’s so important. So just your question like isn’t important. And do we have to do it? Yes, yes. Even if you can’t personally relate to it. Yes. Because a support network a connection and a bond are formed with the women that attend that’s indescribable and, and I can tell you from firsthand knowledge that women change each other’s lives, like when women come together, especially when you’re bonding over something like cycling or, or something that’s you’re evolving your personal self is it’s a huge task, it’s aspiration and has to be women. lead. So if you’re a guy who owns a shop and you’re, you’re running a woman’s Ryder women’s program, I’m sorry, you can set it up, but you can’t lead it has to get the most benefit has to be woman LED. And it has to be a woman fed. Meaning like find a woman to lead it as a woman in your community, even if she’s not an employee to volunteer. Nine times out of 10 someones gonna say yes because women are looking for this. I think men are too But hey, we get me you know, I mean, I think we all are. I mean, we’re all it’s true.
Steph Waite 35:30
I think there are a lot I get from a lot of men who don’t want to do like the super-competitive a group shop ride type, you know, men are like, man, I just want to casual, right? That sounds really good. I want to ride with you guys or I know but like, No, you can’t.
Heather Mason 35:45
Okay, eight, eight men apply for the Bianchi dama program this year. I mean, I know the women’s program, you know, I mean, the thing is, we’re all looking for a connection is really important. It’s really Really important so definitely get some women’s specific program get some nonwomen’s specific programming going but for women, it does need to be women lead it’ll you’ll be more benefits you’ll get more out of it and let it evolve I mean so much in our life we try to put perimeters around and we try to say like okay, we’re going to do this week and this the next week and we try to like I don’t know the monitor and put it in these little boxes, right these like four-wall boxes. I think with women’s specific program you have to kind of be able to just let it evolve naturally have an outline but put it in pencil not pen because you might need to alter it a little bit. Well,
Steph Waite 36:36
you know, it’s funny that on the I had this route, I need that reminder. Sometimes you know, I have this route all planned out and like this is this is the route for the women’s right and this is what we will do and we will stop here and then. And then one day, some women showed up it was on pride weekends and in Columbus pride weekend is huge. Right? Columbus is big on pride weekends. And they said hey is pride weekend. Let’s ride the other direction on the And let’s go down to pride. We were gonna head down there anyway. And I was like, Oh, I thought about the route I have planned, because I’m like a big route planner, even if it’s just on the bike path, but it’s like sure why and I don’t even go that direction. I never ride the bike path other than like that one way and you know, I mostly on roads on the other side of town I’m like, let’s roll with it literally let’s roll with it. Um, so we went the other direction and we rode down to pride instead. And it was super fun. We had a really good time. So I think kind of rolling with what your audience is telling you they want and what they need is a really good idea.
Heather Mason 37:35
Yeah, I totally agree. I’m a big planner myself, and sometimes I have to just roll with it.
Steph Waite 37:44
When I came to the Finger Lakes with you, Heather, I get there and I like to unload my bike, and then we’re like, you’re like, get your bike ready. We’re going for a ride and like, Oh man, I am not in charge anymore. This is hard for me and it was hard for me. And I think you made me work for that 10-mile casual warm-up ride harder than I have ever worked for a 10 mile warm-up in my life. By the way,
Heather Mason 38:09
It was, it was so much fun. That was such a great weekend. We were you know, that’s another thing you know women together doing something. I mean, the bonds that we created that weekend, you know, sitting I remember that living room sitting around that living room and just talking openly and honestly with each other. And I’ll never forget that. And, you know, that’s something that definitely has changed my life. So I think about that often. Seth, that was great, that was a great time. I’m so happy that I’ve gotten to meet you and look at this if you didn’t go into that bike shop and take the classes and if I didn’t start this program, I mean, here we are. It’s just just
Steph Waite 38:46
life. I love it. I love it. Yeah, meaningful connections aren’t and this is why women feel more comfortable. Most and I’m just you know, we’re making a lot of like blanket statements about women What Women Want a woman to order. This is just a general I mean, obviously, not all women feel the same way about you know, we’re not a monolith. But in general, I think most women feel more comfortable opening up about certain things when they are in a single-sex environment. I think it’s just people open up in ways they wouldn’t they bond in ways they wouldn’t necessarily on a mixed-gender ride or in you know, an event or something like that or workshop. So you have been doing I mean, you have had years now of identifying women like picking out from hundreds of applicants, women who will be good at this will be good at leading rides in their communities will be good ambassadors. What would you say to men who are going to choose a woman to ask a woman in their community to do a women’s LEAD program for their shop? What would you suggest they look for in that woman?
Heather Mason 39:46
I choose who would be good for our program? I start with a phone call, you know, and I just have a real conversation and I’m looking for things that jumped out at me like they want to share their story. With me, they want to talk to me about how they found cycling and how cycling has changed their life. Like you can tell right away that when you’re talking with someone, they want to share a story they wanted to they can’t stop talking about how in love they are with the sport. So I’m looking for that contagious, like the love of the sport. I’m also looking for someone that talks to me about their shop. Before I even ask them, they’ll start bragging about the mechanic that they love, or the shop owner that made them feel so comfortable. I mean, those are awesome qualities because you want someone who’s going to direct people to your shop, right? So you’re looking for someone who’s just absolutely in love with her bike and can’t stop talking about it. You’re looking for someone who is very passionate about your shop and really feels connected and knows your staff by their first name. And then you’re also looking for someone who’s you know, talking about the club she’s part of or the ride she did last week or the ride she’s going to do just really or the ride she wants to do. Maybe she’s already inviting you. Maybe she’s in your shop asking you have you want to go ride with her? I mean, those are the people, you know, those people that are just so contagious that you’re just like, it causes you to look twice. And I asked shop owners, I say Listen if there’s someone who comes in that you think would be good, give her my number, give her my email, have her call me. Or if there’s a customer comes in that you just can’t figure out how to help her. You’re not feeling like you have all the answers she needs. Give the customer my name, let me help her, you know, so people stand out the people that are going to be good ambassadors for you, you’re gonna know and if you if they come in your shop, oh my god, do not let them walk out before you talk to them communicate, you know, like, Hey, would you ever be interested in doing this? Would you ever because the people that have that personality, they’re just looking for an outlet. They just want you to know, they would love to reach more people. That’s what they want to do. So if you’re going to help provide them that outlet, we don’t give bikes away API key to the ambassadors. We’re not you know, stuff. It’s not hooked up. It’s We’re just giving you a voice putting some spotlight and how cool you are, you know, and I’m not saying let’s do this, let’s do this. I’m saying let’s get together and chat about what we should do. Everyone’s feedback is valuable. I think it’s a match is looking for those people that come in those people that that have that smile that radiates and then not letting them leave. What are some
Steph Waite 42:19
topics that you have found that you’ve given some of these you go to visit shops, and you give some of these clinics? What are some topics you have covered?
Heather Mason 42:28
Oh, gosh. So with this situation that the industry is in right now, right? And where a lot of us are self-isolating or working out from home, one of the Dhamma we have these weekly zoom calls with the damas. And so one of the things was like, should we have this ask Adama evening where we invite people to zoom in and chat with us about topics. So we’ve just been brainstorming the same thing that you’re asking, like what topics right are good to cover and similar to some of the topics I’ve given in clinics? You know, there’s fix a flat there are questions about cycling You know, you’ve been always afraid to ask anyone but you want to know, some of the best conversations and clinics that I’ve led, though, are just where we sit around. We’ve I’ve ever done like silly things like having a fire pit in the middle of a shop parking lot and sitting around a fire with marshmallows and chatting. But that’s amazing. It was awesome. It was so stealing that idea. And it was awesome. And we just we sat around this fire and we just chatted about it was like an open conversation where people could ask questions, but it was mostly like, here are the things from cycling all these years that I want to tell you like just like really good stuff, spend the $200 on a good helmet. Go ahead and splurge on expensive cycling bibs because you’re gonna love them and they’re gonna be the bibs you use for a long, long, long time. You talked about a narrower handlebar, oh my god on a road bike. What a big difference when you get a handlebar that actually fits you right almost
Steph Waite 43:58
the difference between feeling like I control my bike and my bike controlled me yeah in-between feeling like it was my bike and like somebody else’s bike. Yeah, totally. Like all
Heather Mason 44:07
those little things you know are just really important it’s the sum of many little things that are actually super important right so it’s that it’s just a real conversation about all those little tips and things that are really you know, how often to eat on the bike you know, everything staff how and how important it is to find a group and network you know, that’s important too.
Steph Waite 44:27
And we’re coming to the end of our time so I want to ask you What haven’t I asked you if you wish I had you know, we didn’t we had on that you’ve been thinking about what’s on your mind right now with women in cycling as we’re rolling into spring besides Coronavirus. You know, one of the
Heather Mason 44:43
The major thing that’s on my mind right now is it is related to the Coronavirus like I hate to go back there. We all have these like events that we’ve been training for our goals, you know, goal setting. And I know a lot of the women in the dama program have a lot of goals that we had and a lot of plans to get together and everything’s kind of like, unknown at this point. So I think that’s in life in general, right. But Gosh, I feel like we just need to keep supporting each other. And I think that’s all the time you know, but I think going into it as women, cyclists as retailers looking to connect to women and get more people in the shop and, and having a female on staff. It’s a support network and going into spring and going into an I mean year, being there for each other and creating groups creating activities and keeping things moving forward. So if we can’t do it together, right now, if we have to social distance, create virtual groups create ways to connect outside the shop, keep making programs, keeping women in the shop, keeping women talking to other women about your shop, as being relevant and staying relevant. And so you have to stay active and have your own independent voice. I know it’s a bunch of things together, but my brains a little scattered because of everything going on. But you know, I think that’s true, though. We have to just keep moving forward. And I think that applies to now or whenever, you know, being a retailer who’s staying relevant and staying open in this modern age of internet sales and whatnot is your retailer who’s creating programs and looking at women as a group that you should create specific programs for is very important.
Steph Waite 46:20
I couldn’t have said it better. I appreciate you being here today, Heather.
Heather Mason 46:23
Oh my god, Stan, this was so much fun. We need to ride together soon.
Steph Waite 46:27
I know, right? It’s probably not gonna happen until after all of this passes. Hmm. Thank you so much. I appreciate you.
Rod Judd 46:34
This has been bicycle retail radio by the National Bicycle Dealers Association. For more information on membership and member benefits, join us @NBDA.com
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The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.
Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year.
Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.
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