Alisa is a world traveler, author, professional experience maker and confidence coach. Alisa's book Boost Your Confidence Through Motorcycling: A Woman's Guide to Being Your Best Self On and Off the Bike became an Amazon.com #1 Bestseller. In 2019 Alisa was named a Dealernews Top 100 Leader in Powersports and was also named to the Women Riders Now Leadership Board. Alisa’s personal mission is to support and empower other riders, particularly women, to be their best selves on and off the bike.
Wendy’s powersports passion permeates every facet of her life. She is a factory-trained motorcycle technician with two decades of experience, the owner of a busy motorcycle shop, and an enthusiastic two-wheeled adventurer. Her greatest joy is long distance motorcycle riding, and after a decade of endurance competitions she recently became the first woman ever to win the 11-day, 11,000+ mile Iron Butt Rally. Recipient of the American Motorcyclist Association’s 2020 Bessie Stringfield Award, she loves to share stories of success and failure, trial and error, and how everyone can apply these hard-won lessons to improve the safety and enjoyment of their ride regardless of how far your journey takes you.
Leah Boles has been a marketing professional for over ten years focusing on digital design and event coordination. She has driven the B2B marketing strategy for key brands in the health industry, including WebMD and Molina Healthcare, before returning to her first love of consumer events with Progressive International Motorcycle Shows. Being raised in a powersports family, growing up on dirt bikes, quads, and jet-skis, IMS was the fateful next step in her career that allowed her to pursue her 2-wheeled passions and share them with fellow enthusiasts. As the Marketing Coordinator, Leah develops partnerships and experiential marketing strategies for the International Motorcycle Shows (IMS) and ContinueTheRide.com. She is a new motorcycle rider herself and currently seeking to further her rider education after she passed her BRC in Los Angeles.
My love of motorcycles started with a red Honda Mini Trail. I knew then that motorcycles would always be a part of my life, fueling my independence. Over the years I’ve ridden dirt bikes, mopeds and vintage café racers – until my Mom convinced me to buy a Harley. Most important is my passion to connect women in motorcycling
From the darkness and despair of being widowed at 35, to falling in love with motorcycles, to becoming the editor of Woman Rider, Joy found family and home in the motorcycle community. She's now working to transform and reenergize Woman Rider, so other women can connect and find "home."
Joanne is a motorcycle gear expert with an emphasis in fitment and sizing for men and women. She currently works for RevZilla.com as an Assistant Showroom Manager where she shares her expertise and channels her enthusiasm for gear and riding.
A motorcyclist for over 25 years, Valerie Figarella got her start in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, sharing garage space with such luminaries as Indian Larry. Pioneering the Community Garage concept, Val established Motorgrrl LLC: A full service community garage based in 2004, providing a proactive example to girls, women and all those who love motorcycles.
Sandra teaches for a local motorcycle school in Brooklyn, NY on weekends when she’s not leading a ride for her motorcycle club, The Sirens. Sandra is the Vice Chair of the national Women’s Coalition of Motorcyclist (WCM), 5 Borough ABATE Road Captain, and a member of the New York City Motorcycle Advocacy Council which meets with NYC Dept. of Transportation and NYPD monthly to address the safety concerns of the NYC motorcyclist.
Egle has been traveling the world on motorcycles since 2013, working as a freelance writer and journalist and hoping to share the passion with other women riders via the Women ADV Riders online mag. Currently, Egle is riding around Europe and racing cross-country rallies wherever she can find them.
Sheri grew up at MTV, and has since worked with world class brands like Intel, Walmart, Virgin, Sprint, Hard Rock and more. She now is in charge of telling the world how great Medjet is. If you are sick, or injured, or your safety is threatened while traveling, a Medjet Membership can help get you home.
Healer, author, and motorcycle aficionado Liz Jansen combines her artistic mediums to create stories and experiences that inspire readers to embark on their own journey of self-discovery.
Dee Jones aka Momma D is a momma who breaks all stereotypes. This 130lb, 6-foot-tall, post-menopausal, African-American motivator loves Country music, rides a motorcycle, and has no tattoos or piercings. She didn't straddle her own motorcycle until she was almost 41 years old.
Magda has been motorcycle enthusiast for a long time and especially enjoys riding long distance. Her favorite trips have been a couple of cross-country journeys and in Colorado where she resides. An MSF Rider Coach and Accident Management instructor, in her professional life she is a Registered Nurse. Magda always enjoys sharing her knowledge and is often a tour guide for Women's Motorcycle Tours.
Carla King is an adventure travel author, journalist, blogger, speaker, and writing and publishing coach. In 1995, Carla pioneered the art of the internet travelogue (now called blogs) with stories about breakdowns in small towns all around the USA from the saddle of a Russian Ural sidecar motorcycle. Other trips on unreliable indigenous motorcycles took her to India, China, Europe, Baja, and Morocco. Carla is founder of the Destination Published author coaching service, Self-Publishing Boot Camp workshops and courses, the Author Friendly Podcast, and a post-covid Virtual Travel Writing Group. She speaks widely about writing and publishing in the adventure travel and literary worlds, at events like Overland Expo and the SF Writer’s Conference.
Joey Lindahl started riding shortly after joining Polaris in 2012, inspired and motivated by the large number of female riders she met there. In her current role as Senior Marketing Manager, Customer Growth, Joey brings her excitement for riding to women and diverse riders through her work to increase representation, inclusion and participation of women in powersports.
Lauren Lloyd, Public Relations Manager for the Powersports Group, Engineering, and Global Licensing Group at Informa Markets, received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University and has been working in communications, branding, and public relations for the past six years, 2+ of which have been spent with the Progressive International Motorcycle Shows. Lauren works hand-in-hand with key business and trade press in the Powersports sector on a daily basis for both the IMS and Continue The Ride brands, and recently led the strategic PR announcement of Progressive IMS Outdoors that challenges the industry to reach new riders while also supporting the core audience. Living in Denver, Colorado, Lauren can be found hiking and skiing the Rocky Mountains with her boyfriend and Bernese Mountain Dog Biscuit.
Meredith Loza received her BA in Communication from the University of Southern California and has been working in the Motorcycle Industry for the past 10 years doing marketing and events. Starting out at Alpinestars is where she truly became a race fan and enthusiast and has now been with the Powersports Group of Informa for the past 6 years. As the Marketing Manager for the Progressive International Motorcycle Shows, Progressive IMS Outdoors and Continue The Ride brands, Meredith is dedicated to supporting the industry, cultivating new riders and bringing together brands with riders in exciting experiential and digital formats. In her personal time, she enjoys attending concerts and adventuring outdoors in Southern California and Lake Tahoe with her husband and two young daughters.
Lisa is a touring and off-road aficionado with over four decades of riding experience, who loves the motorcycling community's camaraderie. In 2005, after a long IT career, she combined her motorcycling passion with her profession. Lisa started in the industry at a BMW/Vespa dealership, where she worked her way up to GM. She then worked at industry giants Schuberth North America and RideNow, before becoming an entrepreneur. She has served on the boards of the Women's Coalition of Motorcycles, the BMWMOA, and the BMWRA. Lisa was also staff on the 2016 Sisters’ Centennial Motorcycle Ride. She recently retired and volunteers enthusiastically as well as writes articles for motorcycle magazines-both online and in print. She is currently the WMF's representative to the Women's Coalition of Motorcyclists.
Pam has ridden and loved motorcycles & scooters for decades and is a daily commuter in Los Angeles. Her YouTube videos cover mods, riding with Gizmo Biker Dog & more. She competed in the 2018 Scooter Cannonball, a strenuous, coast to coast, timed endurance challenge on a Vespa GT200. The day by day account of this wacky rookie Cannonballer's adventure can be experienced on her YouTube channel: VROOM GOPAM.
With decades of riding experience, including sidecars for her children, achieving certification as an MSF RiderCoach and ASI ATV instructor, and years of being a dedicated volunteer - all after a serious crash at 21 years of age, Maggie brought a unique perspective to her position as the first female Chair of the American Motorcyclist Association's Board of Directors. Maggie has recently joined forces with the power team at WomenRidersNow.com as WRN's Director of Rider Outreach. She is passionate about exposing females of all ages to the many forms of motorcycling: road riding, track and desert/woods racing, recreational trail riding, charity events, rider education and safety, plus motorcyclists' advocacy/rights.
Brittany is a professional rider, journalist and safety expert. Brittany lives and breathes riding - even a devastating injury couldn’t keep her off the road for long. She embodies the spirit of living life with passion, courage and adventure. As a mentor for the Can-Am Women's Mentorship Program, she wants to show new riders how fun riding can be and empower all women to feel safe on the road. Reach out to her with your questions about safety and taking on the road.
Jeanine Moss is a lifelong learner in health, wellness and the psychology of happiness. Jeanine grew up in Venice, California, in the 60’s and 70’s where the wellness and cannabis culture were born. If it weren’t for hip replacement surgery, she might never have discovered the medicinal effects of CBD and THC. When traditional medicine threw Jeanine into an opioid brain-haze, she found cannabis products helped her function, abate the pain and return to normal function in a matter of days rather than weeks. Today Jeanine considers herself a “Modern Midlifer” striving to be well in body, mind and spirit, and consults with companies like Wisdom Essentials in legal states, actively helping educate people about the benefits of the plant. She rides a Piaggio 50cc scooter.
Senior Vice-President of Can-Am On-Road, Josée Perreault built her expertise internationally for more than 25 years. With a bachelor’s in Urban Planning from the University of Montreal and an MBA from Concordia University, Josée has made her way within big multinationals thanks to her leadership, her ethics and her expertise. After 23 years at Oakley, where she was most recently Senior Vice-President, Global Affairs, Josée joined BRP in 2016, ready to take on new challenges. For Josée, joining BRP was about trying to influence the experience of riding and bring more women into riding.
Part of the Can-Am On-Road team since 2017, Evelyne is leading the Can-Am Women's Mentorship Program, a new program designed to help break down the barriers women face to get on the road. With a bachelor’s degree in Business from the University of Sherbrooke, Evelyne has been at BRP for the last three years. Growing up surrounded by powersports vehicles, she understands what it feels like to be a lady in this male-dominated industry. Evelyne stands for inclusivity and women empowerment; she’s on a mission to encourage more women to feel the thrill and power of the open road!
Katja Rusanen is a #1 best-selling author, spiritual mentor, success coach, and creator of the Client Attraction Story System, a step-by-step program for purpose-driven entrepreneurs to craft stories that attract ideal clients. She has worked as a supervisor in one of the world’s leading business banks and has been part of a team in a multi-million dollar coaching company that was named one of Inc. 5000’s fastest-growing companies in America. She has now dedicated her life to helping clients discover the power of personal stories and creating a business and life they love.
Indy Saini is a filmmaker and motorcycle rider passionate about adventure and travel, driven to increase the complex stories of women in mass media. Her short film directorial debut "The Lesson,” garnered international awards including Best US Narrative at the Women’s International Film Festival in Miami. Indy’s many years behind the camera has landed her work with master storytellers including Ang Lee and David Lynch on major Hollywood movies such as “Harriet,” “Gemini Man,” and “A Wrinkle In Time.” Her documentary work as cinematographer includes: “Soma Girls,” about education the children of sex workers in India that aired on PBS; "Women in the Front Seat,” and “Ice Bear,” a National Geographic Wild film for which she received an Emmy Nomination.
Sarah is an avid street and off-road rider who has more than two decades in the motorcycle industry under her belt. She originally got into the motorcycle field as an MSF RiderCoach and continued her career, working with several industry companies, including Hein Gericke, Schuberth, the American Motorcyclist Association, the International Motorcycle Shows, and BMW Motorrad before landing in her current spot heading SW-MOTECH USA. Sarah’s industry involvement includes being the first woman elected to the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) Board, the FIM Commission on Women in Motorcycling. She has received numerous leadership awards including "Powersports Industry Leader" by Powersports Business, one of the "50 Makers of Motorcycling" by Bonnier, and a "Top 100 Leaders in Powersports" by Dealernews.
Erin Sills is a 45-time land speed motorcycle record holder, industry spokesperson, and retired Facebook executive. She owns Hunter Sills Racing which races 1000cc BMW motorcycles on the Bonneville Salt. Erin and her team hold more records in the 1000cc class than any other, including the coveted 1000cc Production record at 207 mph, the top naturally aspirated mile record at 238.389 mph, and a top speed to-date of 242mph. Erin is co-chairwoman of the largest US website for female motorcycle enthusiasts, WomenRidersNow.com, and has been named the American Motorcyclist Association Female Athlete of the Year͟ for her motorcycling accomplishments and the American Marketing Association’s Woman to Watch͟ for her business accomplishments. Erin most recently served as a Global Director of Marketing at Facebook. She and her race team have set two Guinness Book World Records, and Erin a member of the Bonneville 200 MPH Club, the El Mirage 200 MPH Club, the BUB 201 MPH Club, and the Mojave 200 MPH Club. Erin currently serves on the AMA Specialist Sport Commission, the FIM Women in Sport Commission and the board of the AMA Heritage Foundation. She is also an off-road adventure riding coach and in 2014 was named University of Cincinnati, College of Business alumni of the year. Amidst all that … Erin enjoys most her advocacy for women in the sport of motorcycling.
Cris Sommer-Simmons is an icon in the motorcycle industry. She is a journalist, author, 3-time Motorcycle Hall of Fame Inductee, a Motorcycle Cannonball Vintage Racer and the host of the Coast to Coast talk show.
Tricia has worked in the motorcycle publishing industry for more than 20 years, working full-time as the Creative Director and Staff Writer at TAM Communications, publisher of the best-selling motorcycle magazine on the newsstand, American Iron Magazine. She has written hundreds of stories for all of TAM's titles. She began sharing her stories and photos with WomenRidersNow.com (WRN) in 2014, and today heads up the editorial department.
Porsche is a passionate and accomplished motorcycle rider, with a background in historical research. Recognizing the need for representation of women of color in motorsports, Porsche became the Founder and Publisher of Black Girls Ride Magazine.
Debra Teplitz was a Midwesterner transplanted to Texas in 2014. When she looked for a women’s motorcycle riding group and found none, she decided to start the Houston Area Women Riders. Her mission is for women riders in the Houston metro area to meet, ride and build lasting friendships. She found that new riders were buying bikes but afraid to get out on the road. So she expanded the group's mission to help make these new riders confident about getting their bikes out on the road and teaching them group riding skills. The group is now 800+ riders strong and new women join every day. Debra lives in Humble, TX with her husband, an MC President, and her 2 cats.
At the age of 52, Debi bought her first motorcycle and preceded to click off 49 states and 7 Canadian Provinces over an eight-year period. The author realized she could navigate life’s bumps and slippery gravel patches astride her beloved motorcycle names Bessie and reach the end of the road stronger in spirit, her soul in-tact. Riding Soul-O is a compilation of her travel blog and her gut-wrenching honesty about love, loss, challenges, and triumph over adversity. Debi Tolbert Duggar is an avid motorcycle enthusiast, educator, and writer who lives and works in Central Florida. Riding Soul-O is her first book, inspired by her love of two-wheeled travel.
Meghan has managed an awesome team of product analysts at InsureMyTrip for close to 11 years. They review many aspects of travel insurance plans to make sure that there are great options available on their website. Working with many of the top travel insurance providers, InsureMyTrip knows that insurance policies have many intricacies. The InsureMyTrip team works to break them down, helping customers get to the exact plan to fit their needs. Prior to working at InsureMyTrip, travel insurance was just something that Meghan had heard about, but never purchased. Fast forward to today, and she doesn't travel without it. Why? You never know what is going to happen prior to departure or while you’re on your trip!
After beginning her career in medicine and education with a Master’s of Science, the tides of Toni’s life changed to bring her home to her family’s business, the Sturgis Buffalo Chip®. Hailed as The Largest Music Festival in Motorcycling®, it has been the epicenter of the Sturgis Rally since establishment in 1981. The Woodruffs will celebrate the Chip’s 40th anniversary this year, and Toni finds it exhilarating to be part of this dynamic experience. Over the decades, she’s worn many hats, including the development of the Biker Belles®. This charitable event celebrates women in motorcycling through mentorship, encouragement and empowerment. In addition to being inspired by the motorcycle community, she also serves on the Black Hills & Badlands Tourism Board and enjoys ranch life.
Andria worked as a newspaper journalist for 18 years (Newsday, The Baltimore Sun, USA Today) and got into motorcycling in 2001 to find a better way to commute to work. Her search for commuting options turned into a real passion for riding and for sharing the joys of riding with others. That lead her to her current role as director of communications for the Motorcycle Industry Council. She is now also a RiderCoach for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation.
Moira Zinn is founder of Powertrip Industries, an event management and experiential marketing agency that provides turn-key event production. Motorcycles are what got her traction managing events for major vehicle manufactures. Specializing in live experiences and social interaction, Powertrip Industries creates exceptional consumer experiences for their clients. Zinn and her team use their power for good making her clients’ events shine whether their product is on wheels or otherwise.
