Sep 25, 2019
Ashley:
Hello. This is Ashley here with the Mompreneur Tribe. I am so
thrilled today to have someone that's in it kind of different
market. You really sometimes wouldn't think of a mom entrepreneur
in this area. But here is a mom that is rocking it, is business
partner with her husband. Her name is Catie Bird. She is with
Harley Davidson of Durango, Colorado. Welcome, Catie. Thanks for
being on. I'm just so excited because this is just ... You have
such a unique business. So can you introduce yourself please and
tell us a little bit about you?
Catie:
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much first of all for thinking of me
and wanting to include me on your podcast, it's a really big honor.
I think that being a mompreneur is definitely something to be
really proud of and excited for. I'm in about two and a half years
of entering that mompreneur role. So I'm still learning quite a lot
of what it takes to be a business owner and whatnot. I'm just
really 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 girl
from Texas, was born and raised in South Texas my whole life. And
now as of about two years ago, I now live in Southwest Colorado
with my husband, Trevor, who he and I have been married for 10
years, celebrated in November. We have two beautiful children.
Millie is our daughter. She just turned nine last week and our son
Reese, who turned seven recently as well.
Catie:
My husband, Trevor and I own Durango Harley Davidson here in
Durango, Colorado, which is far Southwest Colorado. So if you think
about the US map and you're looking in Southwest Colorado, we're
right next to the four corners, so where we connect with Arizona,
New Mexico and Utah. It's really a pretty amazing place to live as
far as landscape, the mountain ranges and the rivers. It's just a
beautiful place to be and a really big destination for motorcycle
riders.
Catie:
There's so many wonderful rides that draw people here. So we are
mostly a seasonal business, which is a big change for us from
coming to Texas because we in Texas ... It's summer basically
year-round. So people are riding motorcycle all the time, so things
don't really slow down. Here, it's very, very different.We have
about six out of the year to really sell, sell, sell, make it or
break it before winter hits, and everything basically comes to a
halt. So it's definitely a very different way of life in a very
different style of business from what we're used to. I think we've
done a really good job of adjusting to that and running our
business based on that model now of seasonality. So-
Ashley:
Tell me about how you got there. That was the next thing is like
why did y'all leave Texas to go up to Colorado and start out on
this business? Because y'all been a part of the Harley Davidson
Family for a while now, right?
Catie:
Yes, yes. My husband, Trevor has been working for the brand, sell
Harley brand for gosh, close to 17 years now and with two
dealerships back in Texas where we're from. I've never been
involved with the Harley business. When I graduated college, I went
into the corporate world and I started working for the NBA with the
San 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 ready
to start a family. And so I became a stay at home mom for about
seven years, which I feel very blessed that I was able to do that
as long as I was. All the time while I was staying at home or
working with the Spurs, my husband was continuing with Harley
Davidson in San Antonio in the New Braunfels area.
Catie:
Then I kind of started feeling my kids were getting a little bit
older, starting Mother's Day out. I was kind of feeling like I was
missing something, I love being a wife and a mom, but I was missing
a purpose I felt like for myself outside of those roles. My best
friend actually has started her own business selling custom men's
wear, custom men's wear company. So I jumped on with her. Because I
have a love of fashion, I have some merchandising background as
well. So I jumped in and started my own business with her selling
custom men's wear. So that was really fun and fulfilling. I was
able to do it on my own time and still be there for my kids, and be
home for Trevor and do the whole mom-wife thing as well.
Catie:
But just a few years ago, an opportunity kind of arose, Trevor and
I had been really praying and thinking a lot about our future and
what we wanted for our kids. While he had a partnership in some of
the dealerships in Texas, we felt like it was time for us to branch
out on our own, with all, with all of his years of knowledge, it
was time for us to go and find our own dealership where that could
be 100% owned by us and our family. Durango kind of fell in our
laps, it's kind of a long story of how that happened. But it has
been such a huge blessing. If you would've asked me 10 years ago
where I saw myself today, living in Southwest Colorado, owning a
motorcycle dealership would never have crossed my mind.
Catie:
I never grew up around motorcycles. I didn't know really much about
them at all other than I would ride with Trevor and we would go
places and do stuff. A little bit of the business side from what he
would share with me. But that definitely was not in my wheelhouse
of plans for myself. So it's kind of really interesting to see
where I am now. But I wouldn't change a thing. It's been an amazing
blessing for our family to be here. I also never thought I would
leave Texas. I've gotten my Southern roots and they are deep. But
it's really been fun, a fun adventure to try somewhere new and be
somewhere new with meeting different people. There's so many
wonderful blessings that have come from it.
Catie:
But now, when we took over ownership of the dealership back in June
of 2017 is when we started, we were just blown away immediately by
the team that was already here and in place. All of the managers
that were with the business before we took over ownership are still
with us today. That's something that Trevor and I are really proud
of because this team that we have is in my opinion, the best in the
business.
Catie:
They were really great about transitioning and learning a new way
of doing things with our business model and whatnot. They have just
really, really made our jobs easy as far as leadership because they
all are leaders. They all do a great job. We really are a family
here. And that's one thing that sharp and I have always talked
about from the beginning is that we want to be a family where we
want everyone to feel welcomed, and loved, and supported. Also, we
are a family owned business. Our kids are very much involved in
everything that we do here at the dealership and combined with them
being here all the time and having a strong relationship with our
team, we feel really lucky to be here. So that's kind of how we got
where we are in a nutshell.
Ashley:
That's such a leap of faith to leave, be a Texan and leave. I feel
like so many ... So many people come to Texas, they rarely leave
unless it's a big calling. And you found that calling and y'all
left. Now here you are, you're two and half years into this new
business venture. But it sounds like you guys are very settled in
it. Can you tell me a little bit about your roles? And what it's
like being in business with your partner? And how you all divide up
responsibilities and then day in and day out of juggling the
kids?
Catie:
Yes, absolutely. So it's really kind of cool how it's worked out
because 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. And
I'm thinking, are we going to butt heads? We've never worked
together before. How is this going to work? And so it just fell
into place in that I know his strengths, his strengths are my
weaknesses and kind of vice versa as well. My strengths are kind of
his weaknesses. So where Trevor takes over, he handles most of the
overlooking things, the motorcycle sales division and all of the
finance part of the business, which I am not a numbers person. That
is so far over my head, and I will admit it.
Catie:
That is a big weakness of mine. Being a business owner, it's
definitely something that you should know really well. I'm taking
the baby steps to really try and dive, dive in and learn more about
that side of it. But for now, it's great that I have this partner
that does know that side really well so that I can focus on where
the other needs in the business are, which are marketing and the
merchandise sells, so the general merchandise department. So if any
of you who aren't familiar with Harley Davidson or have never been
into a Harley Davidson dealership, I'll just kind of explain a
little bit of what it looks like. Besides this your showroom floor
with all of the motorcycles, the new and used, we also have a very
large general merchandise department.
Catie:
So clothes, fashion, writing gear, your leather jackets, your
riding boots, all of your protective gear as well as just your
casual gear that you wear when you're not on the bike, so the
fashion side of it. There's also a parts department where you can
come and buy motorcycle parts and then have them installed in our
service department, which we have a really large service
department. Very, very wonderful service department.
Catie:
We get compliments on our team back there all the time on their
great service and, and how well that they do. So there's lots of
different areas of the business that need to be managed and watched
over. So Trevor does sales and finance and I handle all the
marketing and the merchandise. And it works really, really well
because there wasn't a marketing department here in the shop
beforehand, before we took over ownership.
Catie:
It was kind of a split job between like our accountant. The
accountant would kind of do it, the controller and everyone kind of
shared responsibilities, which was great. They made it work because
again, as a seasonal business, we only have about 10 full-time
employees that are here year-round. Then once the season starts to
pick up, usually in May, then we add about 10 to 15 more just for
the summer. So we grow quite a bit in our peak season and then kind
of go down to the skeleton crew in the winter time. But there
wasn't a specific person that was handling the marketing. So my
degree is in public relations and communication. So it was kind of
an easy role for me to kind of just step into and start handling
that part of it.
Catie:
So it's actually been really awesome working with Trevor because we
respect each other's strengths and we lift each other up. We always
lean on each other because we know that this is make it or break it
for us. We moved our family away from everything that we knew to
take on this dealership. This is our livelihood. So I know to
respect him when he says, "No, Catie, this isn't going to work.
We've got to restructure and think of something else," and vice
versa.
Catie:
He does the same with me. So having that mutual respect and trust
in each other has really made this partnership work, being able to
work with my husband each day. I will say there are those days that
he really gets on my nerves. I just go and I just shut myself in my
office so that ... 'Cause we are husband and wife. We don't get
along all the time and we don't always agree, but we respect each
other.
Catie:
So I know when he's in a bad mood, if he's having a bad day, I'm
just going to keep my distance today and I will handle what I need
to do and vice versa. So it works. It works for us.
Ashley:
I like that you pointed out several different things. Being in a
partnership with my mom, we've definitely learned that we play off
of each other's strengths and weaknesses. So her strengths are some
of my weaknesses and my strengths are some of her weaknesses. We
really play that to the advantage of our business. Then at the end
of the day, when you just have respect for your partner, your
business partner, whether it's a parent or a spouse or a friend, it
really truly goes a long way in business and being able to trust
them that "Hey, this is for the good of the business." And like you
said, it's your family's livelihood. It's the same with us. It's,
actually two families' livelihood and plus you feel the
responsibility of all the employees that you employ as well and
their livelihood.
Ashley:
You want to make it work and make it successful for everyone. So I
love those points that you pointed out. And then at the end of the
day, not everything's perfect. We're all humans, right? So you
really know how to keep your space.
Catie:
Yeah, absolutely.
Ashley:
So what is a tip that you would give to fellow mompreneurs that are
trying to juggle it all and juggle having a business and kids? And
because you were a stay at home mom, lik you are very active in
your 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 out
honestly. It's just day by day and for me, like I'm such a Type A
planner type person that I feel like I have to have every moment of
my day and my week planned out. I'm trying to reverse that and to
just like being present in the moment and what I'm doing right
then, and focusing on that and not stressing so much about what's
going to happen later because I find that when I do that, if I'm at
either when the kids are at work with me or if I'm at home with
them, 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 kids
next?
Catie:
Instead of being present right there and jumping down on the floor
and making that puzzle with my kid or going outside just to kick
the soccer ball with my son. I need to be more intentional and more
present. And that's something that I'm really working on. So my
advice for other mompreneurs out there is that even if you're not a
planner or if you are, I do think it's ... I'm a very big list
person. I think like being intentional and like actually scheduling
that time even if it's just 10 minutes to give your children like
your full attention is important 'cause otherwise, the day can just
get away from you and you get busy getting ready for dinner, doing
laundry talking to that client on the phone problem solving, doing
homework, all of that tha. I find that if I schedule lik okay, from
6:00 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 her
day. I'm going to give her what she needs right now. That's not
going to happen every day. And that's okay. I think we also need to
give ourselves as moms a lot of grace and understanding that we're
not going to be perfect every day, all the time. The mom guilt is
real. I have it all the time. The first year for me going from
being a stay at home mom to working full-time in a new place
without any other family here to help with the kids and all of
that, I was really hard on myself and I felt like I was failing at
everything, whether it'd be work or the kids because I wasn't doing
it 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 figured
out and to not be perfect in everything. My kids are loved. They're
happy, they're flourishing in this new place. I rest in grace and
mercy in that. Like I know that they are good. I guess the advice
is just don't be so hard on ourselves. We're doing the best that we
can and that's all we can do. I also think that it's really
important for our kids to see us as moms struggling. I think that
they need to see that mom isn't perfect but mom tries her best. I
think that's important especially at work because my kids are at
work with us all the time because we don't have extra help. We
don't have other family here or whatnot. So a lot of times after
school, they come up here to the dealership and they, luckily it's
a pretty cool, fun place to hang out. My son loves to go to the
service department and sit there and watch all the technicians work
on 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 just
being back there, watching these guys work. He's got this engineer
brain and it's really cool. He loves that. My daughter, she'll jump
in on the sales floor and start folding t-shirts. She's an expert
t-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 me
if 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 to
Durango Harley Davidson. Can I help you find anything today?" So
it's a cool place for them to be. I think they're also learning the
value of hard work being here and seeing mom and dad running this
business.
Catie:
But our kids also see our bad days. They see it like when there is
an upset customer and they're watching how Trevor and I are
resolving that. They're seeing like, if Millie comes back to my
office and I'm just way behind on stuff, or I just lost this
campaign that I ran just didn't go very well and I'm upset about
it. I don't hide it from her. My son still so little, I think he's
kind of oblivious to a lot of it. But my daughter, she's very in
tuned to emotions and things. She doesn't miss a beat, but I let
her see me. I don't try and hide it whenever things aren't going
great. I think that obviously for her, her age, I don't show her
everything that's bad or horrible.
Catie:
But I think it's important for kids to see that we're human and
that we struggle when we fail. But the important thing is that we
don'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 honor
in failing than there is in not even trying because you're afraid
to lose. That's big lesson that we want to teach our kids is you
can't be afraid to go for what you want. We didn't make this leap
of faith to Colorado with the expectation of failing. But we knew
that we needed to do, we needed to make a change and this was where
God's leading us. We're here and it's not always going to be easy
and 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 and
we've got a purpose here. I just think it's important for our kids
to see that we are human. When they see how we react to the
problems and to things that are going good or bad, then they're
learning as well. I'm hoping, my hope is that one day when they
enter the workforce for real, they're going to know the discipline
that it takes to be successful and not being afraid of failure
because that was a big challenge for me is failing.
Catie:
Watching my husband throughout his business and his life with
Harley Davidson, I've seen him take a lot of risks. We've also had
a lot of failures. But I really respect that he's never let that
stop him from trying something new and doing what he wants. So
watching him go through that has given me the confidence to know
that I can do this too. I may not know a whole lot about
motorcycles. I do a lot more now than I did two years ago, but I
know that I have passion for this brand. I have passion for our
business and the people that worked here and our customers. It
makes it extremely fulfilling to come to work every day.
Ashley:
Your passion just now, I am just taken away. When you said the we
will show honor, more honor in failing like the life lessons that
you just talked about right there and how you're showing that to
your 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 much
more some days than they ever will in that classroom.
Ashley:
The life lessons, and you just like nailed it with everything you
said and how your kids are involved in the business in the day in
and day out, and being a part of it, and seeing your reactions with
customers. I absolutely agree with you just because we have a
retail store too. My oldest is old enough to come and understand
those interactions. You're absolutely right. They're watching our
interactions, they're learning from it.
Ashley:
It can be such a good thing. It can be such a good thing to show
that to our kids and just the way you articulated it was so great
and just hearing your passion behind it, how it's more than
actually just you being a mompreneur and being in partner with your
husband. But it's a whole family. It's the whole family there that
made the move, that's doing this business together. That's
incredible. I applaud you guys. I loved hearing all your passion
just now when you were talking about just the tip that you give, it
is true. It is so true. And how we be present in our day to day
lives for our kids, but also to give ourselves grace. So much
grace.
Catie:
Yeah. Exactly. So much grace. Yeah. We're not perfect and we never
will be. But all we can do is just do the best that we can. I'm
making it a goal of mine to just not worry so much about everybody
being 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 work
with me every day after school this week because I have a lot going
on. You know what, that's all right. Because what would they be
doing at home besides sitting there watching TV or jumping on the
trampoline? They've got stuff to keep them busy here and I can be
okay 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 at
home with a babysitter in front of the TV or they could be there
interacting with ... It's great communication skills.
Catie:
Absolutely.
Ashley:
It's much better than them learning to text or play on the
computer. They're learning great communication skills, dealing with
customers and learning to talk to our employees. Ttalking
respectfully, I feel like that's a great teaching studio for
them.
Catie:
Yeah, 100%.
Ashley:
Catie-
Catie:
That was awesome.
Ashley:
I have thoroughly enjoyed this conversation today. I think you
provided such wisdom to other fellow mompreneurs and especially
that we just need to show ourselves grace. Something I ask all
guests is what is a way that we can show up or support your
business and you guys during this season? Yeah, how can we support
you guys?
Catie:
Awesome. Well, you can support us if in the way of just follow us
like on our Instagram page we actually have a really cool Instagram
page. We do all these different lifestyle posts everyday of
different motorcycle riders far and wide all around the country, in
the world. They're really, really neat. They all have positive
messages to them as well. So our Instagram page is
@DurangoHarleyDavidson, all one word, no dash or anything. And then
you can also check out our website, DurangoHarley.com. But one
thing 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 motorcycle
rally that happens here every Labor Day weekend. We just finished
year two for us. It's actually a rally that's been around for like
26 years or something.
Catie:
But right when we moved here, it kind of fell out. The previous
owner that had some bad business skills kind of had ran it into the
ground. But it used to be, there used to be 20 to 30,000
motorcyclists that would come through Durango on Labor Day weekend.
It kind of fell apart. So my husband and I, and our marketing
partner in the rally, John Oaks really tried hard to rebuild this
rally.
Catie:
Bring it into a new light with different, with newer events like
hooligan dirt, dash races. We just did our first ever motorcycle
hill climb at Purgatory Resort, which is where our ski mountain
here. It was a huge success and it was really, really awesome. I
encourage you also to follow Four Corners Motorcycle Rally on
Instagram as well. They post a lot of really awesome content, but
the rally is a great way to support our local community here in
Durango. They would bring a lot of economic success here for that,
that one weekend. So that's a great way to support as well, just
talking about what it is that we're doing here in Durango for labor
day weekend and bringing in that next generation of motorcycle
riders and bringing something fun to the community.
Ashley:
Awesome. So we will. We will ask, we ask all of you listeners out
there if you will engage with them. So follow them on Instagram for
the Four Corners Motorcycle Rally as well as Durango Harley
Davidson on Instagram. I'm going to go check them both out. Then of
course I didn't realize that different Harley Davidson dealerships
have different websites. So that's good to know. If you are a
Harley 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. And
so 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've
never even explored the dealership. I just ordered and picked up
there. S go and shop you guys at Durango Harley Davidson. All of
this information will be in the show notes as well as if you click
through and you got to our show through a social media link, go
back to the social media page cause we're going to tag those in the
social media pages.
Ashley:
Catie, I thank you for being a guest on today's show. Listeners, I
invite you, you just heard me talk about how we can support Catie
and her husband, Trevor in the Durango Harley Davidson dealership,
their business. Please go out, engage with them on social
media.
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 just
some national brand." No, there's actually families behind these
big brands. So the Bird Family owns this dealership. It's
family-run. Sometimes people get lost in those big brands, but no,
it's actually a family-owned business. So go out and support
them.
Ashley:
And if you liked today's episode, I invite you to hit subscribe and
leave us a review. We always are looking for feedback and comments,
and want to hear all your great thought and reviews. So thanks for
listening and have a great day.
Speaker 1:
Thanks for listening. To find out more about Ashley, log on to the
MompreneurBoutique.com that's the MompreneurBoutique.com.