Storytellers Series: Chicago E01

Helen Tornquist, @helensmotodiaries

For those of you who don’t know me, I work at a school during the school year, so I usually either travel or take on a seasonal job during the summers. Over the years I’ve been able to try out all sorts of interesting jobs from Spanish camp counselor, to kayak guide, to yacht rental coordinator. Each one of these experiences has allowed me to learn new things and develop new skills, but by far the most challenging job that I ever took on was in 2019 when I worked as a sales associate at a local motorcycle shop. Those who know me know that the decision to do this was completely out of character for me. I’m a self described introvert and, although I like meeting new people, it’s not easy for me to initiate conversations with strangers, much less try to sell them something. But after lots of thought and consideration, I finally decided to pursue the opportunity for three reasons: 

1. I knew it would challenge me in ways that no other job would. It kind of felt like a necessary right of passage, an idea which probably stems from my mom who comes from a family of entrepreneurs and naturally born salespeople. I’ve always been curious about the psychology behind sales and I wanted to prove to myself and my family that I too could be successful at it.

2. I wanted to learn more about motorcycles. And I figured what better way to do that than to be surrounded by them all day every day for two months?

3. I was disappointed with my own motorcycle buying experiences. I was regularly ignored by male salespeople and have been directed toward the scooter section a few too many times. I also noticed a general lack of female representation in all the motorcycle shops and spaces I visited.

My first week on the job was rough. When I walked in, I noticed right away that I was the only female employee aside from the receptionist/office manager. One of my biggest fears when I started was that people wouldn’t take me seriously. And I did end up experiencing a good amount of negativity from people who weren’t so keen on talking to a young female about motorcycles. One day a guy called the store and asked to talk to someone in sales. I picked up the phone and said, “This is Helen in sales. How can I could help you,” he replied, “Uhhh, is there a man that I can speak with.” I responded, “Didn’t you say you wanted to speak to someone in sales? I am in sales.” To which he replied, “I don’t want to hurt your feelings, honey, but I just prefer to speak to a man.” 

On several occasions, I would be talking to a male customer and after answering all their questions, they would then turn around and ask the same questions to one of my male coworkers (who, of course, gave them the same answers I did).

As much as it sucked dealing with difficult customers, my coworkers and managers proved over and over again that they had my back no matter what. On my second day I was shadowing one of my coworkers and a guy came in looking to trade in his very large motorcycle for an even larger motorcycle. I stood by and listened as my coworker went through the process with him. At some point my coworker walked away for a moment and the guy turns to me and says, “Shouldn’t you be getting me a drink or something?” One of my managers overheard this from the other side of the store and immediately yelled back, “Hey man! Helen is the most badass rider in this building. She rode 30,000 miles around South America by herself. You should be getting HER a drink!” The guy looked around uncomfortably. Just then my coworker got back and brought the guy to another room. My manager waved me over to his desk. “That guy was a total asshole! You should stand up to people like that.” I could feel tears welling up inside me. “What’s wrong?” He said, noticing that I was now visibly upset. “I just don’t like sexist assholes.” I said with the tears starting to escape down my face. Shortly after, one of the owners of the store called me into his office. He said he had heard about the incident and assured me that they don’t need or want customers like that and would have no problem kicking him out if I wanted them to. I told him that wasn’t necessary and that I just wanted to go on my lunch break. I spent the next hour in my car crying on the phone with my dad.

After a rough first week, I was more determined than ever to survive my summer sales job. One day I caught a glimpse of myself in a window and noticed how small and timid I looked. In contrast, my male coworkers walked around confidently, with their shoulders back, and a look on their faces like they owned the place. I decided that I needed to do that too. So I literally started walking behind them all day trying to imitate their behavior. One of my coworkers was a tall bald guy and the other a bearded guy with the stature of a linebacker and tattoos from the neck down. I imagine I looked pretty silly at first, but I found that the more I imitated their confidence, the more confident I actually became.

My managers told me that I had to sell 12 motorcycles in my first month or they would have to let me go. I sold three bikes during my first 28 days on the job. I was geared up to say goodbye to my first and likely last sales job, but the next day (a Saturday, which also happened to be the last day of the month) I sold five bikes and got deposits on two more. Apparently only one other sales person in the history of the store had sold that many bikes in one day. My managers decided to keep me around.

The next month my sales averaged about a motorcycle a day and by the end of my short two-month season, I had sold 37 bikes and was granted the nickname by my coworkers, Helen The Sellin’ Machine. 

At the end of that summer, my grandmother (the one from the more business and sales oriented side of the family) was so proud of me that she wrote and sent a letter about me to the Vp of Honda Powersports. I found it both extremely cute and badass of my grandmother to want to be so involved in my motorcycle-related life. In the letter, she told about my world travels on my Honda and about  my success in motorcycle sales that summer. She later told me that she was hoping that Honda would make a movie about me. They sent us some cool matching Honda shirts, but no movie rights, which I am secretly very happy about (you know, because of the whole introvert thing). And also, what’s more important to me, is simply that motorcycle brands and other people in the motorcycle community recognize the knowledge and contributions of women riders. 

Overall, I am very grateful for my sales experience during the summer of 2019 because it helped me to build my confidence and to become a better advocate for myself, which is a skill that will serve me for the rest of my life.