Indian Motorcycle Shop Talk #5 - (EP 563)

Sarah Andrew, Chela Alvarez and Brett Davis talk shop about Indian Motorcycle of San Diego

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Start, So everybody, we arehere at Idiot Motorcycle in San Diego,
the top dealership probably in California,maybe even the United States. But I'm
very blessed to have these two wonderfulladies that are running the show here at
in San Diego. We try,we try. I'm Sarah. This is

(00:20):
Sarah, of course, and I'mCella. My name is Marcella. What
do you prefer either one? Irespond to everything. Do you like the
best? What's your gut instinct?I love Marcella. I love my god
given name. Marcella's a beautiful man. But Chelle is just something that was
adopted when I started working in themotorcycle industry. So yeah, cell is
just my motorcycle shop name. She'sstuck with it and I stuck with it.

(00:42):
Well, I think it's good.One thing I like about your location,
and it's not a store or evena location. It's almost like family.
You come here. There's there's thisenergy that's created, I mean,
from the pet adoptions to all thethings you do for veterans, for everything
in the communit because the biker communityis very giving, as is India Motorcycle.

(01:07):
I'd say the biker community out ofevery other little niche that I've seen
or been in. Everyone's like,don't bikers kind of have like that reputation?
Rightly, Everyone's like, oh,they're bikers, Like they're the scary
ones, like keep your children away, you know, go across the street.
The bikers are the nicest guys.Most of the bike clubs. I
mean, there's like the one percentthey call the one percent, right,
So it's like the one percent ofthe guys that do the outlaws stuff.

(01:30):
They're so rare that ninety nine percentof every other bike club, every other
biker, every other like organization that'sinvolved in motorcycles. It's all about charity
every single event. We have somany events and just clubs that come to
us in general that want to becharitable, want to do things for the
community, and they're all the biggestscariest teddy bears in the world. They
all want to donate, they allwant to give their money, They want

(01:52):
to help kids, they want tohelp puppies. Yes, I mean,
how can you not love a personwho wants to help kids and puppies.
Well, maybe maybe it's that thoughtprocess that you just mentioned about the biker
community is what we need. What'slacking in this country is leadership and things
that are just the right thing todo. The community is very good at
doing those things. Maybe we needmore of that type of philosophy of living.

(02:13):
Maybe we have the less problems thatwe're having right now if we had
that. I feel like you haveto be able to take a stand,
you know, so even if thepeople that are above us are making decisions
and not doing things that we feelare right or best for you know,
our whether it's our country or ourstate or our town, we have to

(02:35):
be the ones strong enough to makea stand to go. You know what,
if you're not going to do it, We're going to do it.
Bikers there's one thing that they're notand they're not cowards. So they are
playing over or pushovers. They havea big So here's my here's my background,
and this is something I've ever talkedto you both about. I've had
many lives. Probably shouldn't even behere by now, but but my father
owned bars, about a dozen bars, and I as a bouncer. Yeah,

(03:02):
so I got to know I wouldbe the guy that the clubs would
come and they would say, watchour bikes were going to go in for
drinks. So I got to knowthat a lot of a lot of bike
My father had a dozen of thesebars. That's a lot of bikers.
Yeah. I got to know alot of bikers and they were all very
good people to know. And itwasn't really hard for me to come to
Indian because when I first met Tim, I had this image of my mind

(03:23):
already because I kind of knew whatthe clubs were about. And Tim says,
Okay, well, if we didwork together, what would you like
to do? I so, well, no, what is it you're passionate
about? So I was looking fora whole total answer what he was going
to say. He says, I'mpassionate about pets. And I'm like,

(03:43):
okay, can we do a petadoption? And I'm a bike shop?
But there is you know, thething what I'm worrying about is first,
like you said, the community isvery giving. Tim's very giving. Uh,
this whole both of you are verygimmy. It's a very psych I
said, It's like ad family here. So what are some of the things

(04:04):
that you're you have coming up oryou're working on now? Well, I'll
leave that to you. So shedoes also set friends and being amazing at
that. She does all our marketing, so she's incredible when you go on
our website and you sell the reelsand the videos and alt, like that's
all, that's all her, It'sall her, a little moment's doing all
of the creative stuff and coming upand how many people can do math and

(04:27):
finance and then still be creative anddo reels and like, she's a pretty
unique, uh person. This one'sarchitecture background, so that's where that comes
from. I originally wanted to bean architect. I went to school for
architecture for a year. I gotmy degree in drafting and design, so
that's where that comes from. Ido have a passion for design and creativity.

(04:47):
I like to create hands on,So I love that I get to
feed that passion here when I'm here, because I also get to be around
what I also so love, whichis motorcycles and be around really good people.
So U for someone like myself whodidn't quite find her a place in
the traditional corporate America, I thinkthis has become like the perfect spot for

(05:08):
me where I can still be mylittle number person that I like to be.
I'm pretty good with numbers, butI also like to be creative and
I like to talk to people.You know, I don't quite fit.
I try to be an accountant abook keeper for a minute there, and
even then, given my old boss, I remember that, are you sure
you're an accountant, because like youactually have a personality. A lot of

(05:29):
accountants and c pas you're not reallyan accountant type either. That which,
you're very good at numbers. Youknow, it's a gift and a curse.
I'm super good at numbers. Butalso that's like, you know,
the whole I can't shut it off, No, you can't. The whole
world becomes numbers. Literally, it'seither like geometry or every everything is a
mathematical equation for sure, but numbers, they know, that's the thing.

(05:50):
Rights. We're pretty good at lockingthem into there's no beating around the book
the numbers. But it is rareto find any sort of career or passion
where you're good at numbers in math. But somehow you still get to have
a personality and be around people.And that's why I like the industry.

(06:11):
Yeah, I got into it,you know, ten years ago, not
thinking that it was going to beanything for me. It's been ten years
now, going on eleven, andI started as a temp. You started
as a temp also, I thinkmany plus years ago. Yeah, I'm
a little oler than you. Idid just both. You both look like
you're in your twenties. So thankyou. We are You guys want to

(06:32):
work with Luna, who's behind thescenes running things. We believe in that
whole age is just a mental constructure. I don't feel I don't feel sixty
almost I've got sixty, but Idon't. I don't feel I don't you
know. I think it's the peopleyou hang around with, the energy absolutely,
and the things you do and thethings you get to contribute with,
right, because a lot of thingsis you understand, people don't feel fulfilled.

(06:55):
That's why they they're so bummed outat their jobs. And so we
have something very unique here where yeswe have a job. Yes we still
have to do the day to day, we still have to do the grunt
work. Even though our job looksvery glamorous, there's still gruntwork involved,
you know. But we also getto give back and it makes us feel
like we're doing something and it bringsthe fulfillment at least it does for and

(07:25):
do have this really cool event comingup with it, says they always ask
to host events here because we're justopen to that, we're open to giving
back to the community. And it'sthe local chapter in San Diego called BACA,
which is Bikers Against Child Abuse.So that's going to be held here
on Saturday, April twenty seventh.Anyone who is welcome to come and support
them. They'll be barbecuing, they'llbe grilling for people, they're going to

(07:46):
be holding some raffles, and allthe money is going to be going back
to that organization, which you knowSan Diego doesn't have the only chapter.
They're all around, and that's justpart of the heart from bikers, right,
Bikers Against Child Abuse, Like there'san higher organization that's worldwide. Yes,
that's all Bikers against childeas. It'spretty fantastic and I think I mentioned
it the last time I was here. Is because bikers are pegged as the

(08:09):
outcasts of the community. They wereprobably the ones that didn't fit in at
some point, and they're trying tojust like give back to that right to
those people, the unforgotten, theless fortunate, Like they're just trying to
be like we weren't seen for along time. But now we get to
do something that maybe helps these othercommunities and other organizations be seen. And
that's what I really love about beingin this biker organization community. I don't

(08:31):
know what to call it, theworld by the world. I always say,
the derelicts and the broken all likesee each other, right, we
all find each other. That isthat why I feel connected to Yeah,
I don't know anyone that's like beenin this industry like long Joy was,
at least the motorcycle industry. Mostof the people that I know that are

(08:54):
still around that have been doing thisfor ten years, fifteen years, twenty
something years. You know, noneof us had like an easy upbringing her
childhood. But I think it's kindof like what gives us the fight.
Yeah, it's kind of what givesus the spunk. And especially as women,
you know, you have to haveyou have to have a little bit
of spunk. You have to havea little bit, you have to be
a little bit of a can's aman's world still is it is? Right?

(09:20):
But here's the other thing. Sowomen have started to you know,
there it's more common to see womenin this industry. But the hardest part
I think is that most women feellike they have to sort of behave like
a man to make it in thisindustry. We don't feel that way.
Well, we definitely don't. We'reboth very feminine. Yeah, when we
met, we met at Dilomos.I worked there for a very short time

(09:43):
right before I came here, andshe had been there for what almost year
or so. And the literally theminute I met her, I was like,
we see each other, and I'mlike, I ever lave, I'm
taking it with me, and shedid. I took her with me.
But it's because you meet another personlike that immediately and you're you know,
you kind of look at each otherin the eyes and you're like, I
see you, you see me.You have a good heart, you have

(10:05):
a good soul. Because a lotof the other women are either like I
said, hey, they're really tryingto like man themselves up because they feel
like they can't be a woman.What's the point of being a woman in
a male industry if you're just gonnaact like a male? Exactly. We
have to bring our touch to it. We have to bring a little softness
and a little gentle, but youalso have to be able to like standing
ground standard ground. You know,have a little spunk in yeah, because

(10:28):
you know, you get a littlebit of everybody. But the other side
of that is the other ones thatare really good. You turn around for
a second, you feel like theymight stab me in the back. So
when you find the good ones,it take them with you when you create
a family. Like every person inthis building was handpicked and they're all just
like the best people. We're solucky that we finally have this team installed
in these walls. That every singleperson here, I can literally say,
it feels like a brother or asister or you know, a literal family

(10:52):
member to me. And we're fromall over the United States except me,
except her. She's our only local. I am the only local. You're
raised and see we're like third generationmy family. We've been here forever,
yeah, which I love having moveddown here from out of town and have
come from a small mom and popmotorcycle shop and having met her and I
was like, so, was thishow it is in the big league.

(11:13):
She's like, well, where weused to work. She's like, no,
this is not how it is.She's like, let me show you
the real ways. And I'm soglad that she did. I remember she
goes you know everyone san Diego,so you know everyone. I think I
think one thing is a little bigcommunity, which also the Indians based on
in San Diego, because I knowfor a fact I've been other dealerships that

(11:37):
I visited, and you have away of feeling like people feel like they're
like I said family earlier, butpeople feel they can trust when they're here.
There's a trust that's there and friendshipsdevelop. It's not just a sale
because Tim's ever been. Since I'veknown Tim, Tim runs Indiana Motorcycle in

(11:58):
San Diego since i've known sales report. Yeah, he's a numbers guy,
he's got a CPA background, buthe was always about do the right thing,
find find out how we can getinvolved community, how can we help.
He's never been the one that's reallypushed the envelope on sales. And
I know it sounds funny, butit's true. It is so true.

(12:20):
It's actually in his business model.Like our actual business model for Indian Motorcycle
of San Diego that you know TimBrod had pretty much created is this is
a customer first, eccentric business model, meaning most people that come in here
to purchase an Indian motorcycle are goingto be in here. They're gonna have
three, four or five passes.So they're coming through this door and they're
touching and feeling and sitting and testriding these bikes over and over and over

(12:45):
again in this building. But ifyou go to an Indian shop, you
know, close to us or anywhereelse, a lot of times they're being
kind of pushed. And it's notjust Indian, it's it's anywhere any motorcycle
shop, right, because that's sortof what they're business, you know,
So they have people above them tellingthem like, hey, you need to
need to get these bikes out,we need to pay the bills. Tim
has always had the mindset of themoney will come and the business will come

(13:09):
from starting. Treat the people right, make sure they get on the right
thing, build the trust, makesure that they're happy, because before anything
else, motorcycle enthusiasts. So youknow, he had like three or four
Indians before he ever even opened thisplace, and he had been purchasing them
at another place in San Diego.Every time he made his second, third,

(13:35):
or fourth purchase, he didn't feelmore special. It didn't feel like
I'm kind of a VIP. NowI've bought like three four bikes here.
It turned into every time I'm comingback for another experience, it's getting worse.
The experience is getting less exciting.I feel less special. I don't
know any of these faces. Andhe kind of felt like the brand wasn't
really being properly represented. So whenyou love something so much, whether it's

(13:56):
motorcycles for Tim, it was Indianmotorcycle in general, because they're so beautiful
and you couldn't tell, like therereally wasn't anyone. I mean, if
you could see around the room thatwe're in, I know they can't,
but there's in this building. Wejust have Indian memorabilia everywhere, stuff all
the way from like nineteen oh oneuntil now. It's a place maybe a

(14:18):
future show. We need to weneed to have a tour, ye right,
I can get introduce all the staff, staff and all of the memorability
the people that have been in here. There's a lot of military stuff in
here that's signed by people, isn'tit. Well, yeah, that's pretty
cool. There's it's it's a reallyspecial place to be. So he really

(14:39):
wanted to represent the brand, justcoming from a motorcycle enthusiast standpoint. So
when you start a business coming froma place in your heart and not a
place with dollar signs in your eyes, your business model is different. It
falls into place, it does everytime, and it's working. Right.
So we have these customers that arerepeat It's why we keep getting like the
real you know when whenever we winlike the reader and dig a reader thing

(15:00):
every year, what we did withthem four years in a row. Years
Now it's it's them right, Likethe customers are the ones going in and
doing the voting every day. They'rethe ones that are taking the time out
of their day to make sure thatlike you know, we're at the top
of that list. And then youknow that everyone in San Diego's coming together
to make Tim Broadhead's entire business modelworkout. And now he understands like it's

(15:22):
working. People want to come back. We have the most repeat customers of
anyone in the industry. So it'sso we know, we know that pet
adoptions are huge here. I meanyou even had done one so far,
You've done multiple and I have andour dog Poe is from here. It's
from here, Like we have ashop dog who used to be from one
of the pet adoption events. Yeah, well we Indy, Yeah we've had

(15:45):
that. That's not to be ourthird, that's your third, right,
So I mean, I of courseI hate to bring my daughters because right
off the bat they want to bringI don't even like to call them a
pet. I'd say friend, familymember. Poe is Poe is like he
runs. I think the cat quietlyruns the house, but Poe is just
such thing. You had the catfirst, and you brought the dog.

(16:08):
Yeah, that work exactly. Thatwas the challenge. But but I was
telling Sarah the other day, Sarahthat, uh, the dog will be
walking by, that will be layingit next to me and the cats that's
what I call him cats. Right, the cat walks by and it looks
at the dog like cat and goesand then and then the walk he's walking.

(16:30):
I'm like that wasn't very nice,just reminding him, yeah, out
of nowhere, like what the settleabout? Right? But every time?
But every day, so what else? Every day this happens every day The
cat just goes by and does that, and I look at the cat.

(16:51):
I'm like, it's not very nice. That's your brother anyway, So what
else besides pet adoptions, because wehave a huge and this is something people
don't want to talk about. Wehave a huge mental health crisis in the
country, and we have a lotof military that are trying to tough it
out and don't wear their hearts ontheir sleeves. But motorcycles are instrumental part

(17:12):
of fighting off that depression and thebipolar stuff that's going on, isn't it.
I agree. I'm a rider myself. I go out there on Sundays,
you know, just sometimes not pluggingin with anybody. I don't want
to go ride in a group.I don't want to go ride to work.
I just want to go for aride, really, and it is
very therapeutic for me. I've beenalso through therapy, and I meditate and

(17:33):
I do all of the things.So for me, it's a different form
of meditation. I have to beon that bike and I can't be anywhere
else because at the moment I amno longer even mentally on that bike,
I'm physically off the bike. Sothat's why it's so meditative, so therapeutic.
I feel like for a lot ofpeople, you are right there,
You're not thinking of what happened yesterday, what happened a long time ago.

(17:56):
You're not thinking about what comes next, or actually you are, but it's
just what it's in front of you, in front of the road, what
gear you're going to be and doyou have to downshift, do you have
to upshift, do you have toclutch in? Do you have to break
do? But you're not thinking aboutthe problems that you've got at home.
You're not thinking about any of thatstuff because the moment you do, you're
off that motorcycle. So I feellike that's why a lot of people find
it so therapeutic, because there's nowhereelse you have to be in that moment

(18:19):
in time, but on that motorcycle, and you know, you can go
out there and some people ride forfour, six eight hours in a day
and they ride. Most of theguys that are retired now all they do
is ride because it's so therapeutic forthem. You know, it's like they
had an identity when they were working, when they were military members, and
their identity that's what they knew.They woke up every single day and they

(18:40):
already knew what their day was goingto look like like. And all of
a sudden, you toss them backinto real life. What what am I
supposed to do? Now? Themoment you throw them on a bike,
they don't have to think about that. They don't not have to think about
what I have to do next tothem. They found a new identity.
I'm a biker. To them,they belong again. They're seeing again,
right. It's that feeling that oneof the major six human needs is wanting

(19:00):
to feel seen, feel loved,feel wanted. The actually have a name
for it, they do. Theycall it win therapy and that and that's
the segue into where we were going. How did you know that? Well
picked up on it. So foranybody, this is something that we've been
talking about. A lot of peoplehave not heard what that is, but

(19:23):
we have been discussing, uh Andwe had talked to Tim about this.
If he was going to do adocumentary movie, what would he want to
do? And he said the firstthing he'd like to do is a movie
on wind therapy, which we've talkedto Luna, who's going to be involved
with this movie as well. Andof course we're having your Your research on

(19:45):
a therapy is everything that Marcellogist said, as far as you know, a
lot of our employees here that workhere now are vets. Almost all of
them typically here are vets. SoI mean we learn a lot uh through
that familial and familial and that workrelationship. When you get so close with
people we hear about PTSD, youknows, as like non military people or

(20:11):
you know, it's not just peoplein the military that have these types of
mental health issues, but working withpeople that have the most common ones.
When you really hear about it fromsomeone who's like living it and experiencing it,
it's absolutely terrifying and it will owsmy mind how many people in America
on a daily basis are like livingminute might by minute at work. They

(20:36):
work at seven to eleven, theywork at Starbucks, they work as a
high powered CEO, whatever they dothey are living. It's almost like a
double life in their mind because it'sjust always there until they can find the
right therapy or whatever. But withwhin therapy aside from having to be just
completely focused on what you're doing becauseotherwise you you know, it would be

(20:56):
unsafe. But it's a serotonin boost, so you know, you worked out
a lot, but you know,yeah, it gives you a Sarah really
nice to you. Guys. Yes, but you know, it's the same
thing when you work out. Soanyone that like, you know, slugs

(21:17):
into the gym and they're like,I don't know. Most of the trainers,
most of the people always say,try it. I think you're gonna
feel better. And especially when youfirst start, you get you through your
first workout and like you might feelexhausted, but you're like in the best
mood. All of a sudden,you're like, I felt so good,
I can't wait to go to thegym tomorrow. Until you wake up and
you can't walk something the next day, and then you're kind of like,
but it's that same that's always happento me anyway, But it's the same

(21:40):
thing. So you literally you geton that bike and all of a sudden,
you get this serotonin boost and yourbrain of a sudden, you're not
back at it and you're not tired. You don't feel that sort of slug
that you feel all day long,even if you just ride on your lunch.
People say literally that they will rideto their lunch, eat lunch,
come back to work and not throughthe second half of their day gives them
that boost. So what do youthink the and I think that's for the

(22:03):
military. I think anybody that's goingthrough forms of depression or mental anguish or
maybe loss or whatever could benefit fromthis. I mean, the military are
very connected to it. How manyof the military you think, well,
it is growing, I will say, because I feel like, you know,

(22:26):
the military guys kind of stick together. Okay, But there's a lot
of people who've never even thought aboutriding. They came from a different place.
If you're in San Diego, there'sa good chance you thought about maybe
riding a motorcycle when you got older. But in a lot of other places
they thought about owning a tractor,ranging a farmer, you know, so
they've never had the opportunity. Itell them, get on like just a
bicycle, and go fast and seehow it feels, and you'll get it.
Roll down the window when you're onthe freeway in your car, have

(22:48):
a little bit of that wind therapy, and then come see us. Yeah,
and then if that kind of getsyou connected, my next thing is
always go take the course, Gosee if it's really for you. Before
you make a five, six,ten, fifteen thousand dollars commitment, go
spend a couple hundred bucks take theMotorcycle Safety Foundation course. They give you
a bike and you get to actuallysit on one, you get to actually
maneuver one, and then you getto feel like is this this that I

(23:11):
see? Actually it's actually very wisebecause it's putting your toe in the water
seeing if it's a fit without youhaving to buy a bike, right one,
Having people that are actually certified toteach you how to ride a bike.
There's a big difference between just likepicking up a musical instrument or you
know, jumping in the gym andtrying to figure out how to lift properly
right, so you can pick somethingup. But if you're not you're not

(23:32):
holding your back right, your kneesright, you're not doing it right.
You're not going to get the rightbenefit. So people people learn all the
time. They're like, oh,I've been riding for years, but I
don't have my motorcycle license that I'venever taken the course. Interesting, yeah,
they shouldn't be riding. So thenwe're like, well, we need
to go get the course and thencome back and see us. But when
they come back they're always shocked,like I was, I was doing it
wrong from step one. I didn'teven know, you know, so when
you go take the course, you'regoing to learn the proper building blocks and

(23:56):
then from there they have intermediate coursesand advanced courses and refresh courses that you
can take for safety all the wayup to like track racing, or you
can plug in with like a motorcyclegroup like we have here at IMSD.
We have a very active motorcycle groupthat's all about safety. So they meet
here once a month as well,and so that's something that Tim really promotes,
a safety behind a motorcycle safety firstsafety. So first Saturday of every

(24:18):
month, Yes, what's the nameof that company, that's the IMRG,
the Indian Motorcycle Riders Group and meethere there you go, every first Saturday
of the month at nine am.Welly, I always feel like when we
talk it goes by too quick,It really does. We've been flashed the
time a few times. I know, otherwise we'll keep jabber, But I

(24:41):
really mean that because it's always sorefreshing to hear what you're all working on,
which is always good stuff. Well, we appreciate you helping us get
the word out there too, becausehonestly, we can work on it here.
We can do all the charity,all the adoption events, we can
do all the mental health awareness,the Bikers against childhoose, But if we
can't get the word to more people, if there's not really nice people like

(25:02):
you and your beautiful wife Sarah whoare willing to just give their time,
which by the way, that's whatthey do. They literally just give their
name back to the community to helpus get word out like this. They're
wonderful people just like Tim. Sowe're lucky to know you, but we
really appreciate you helping us get theword out. So we feel like we're
employees. We feel like we're partof the team. You are are you
guys every day. But I feelthat's one of the biggest reasons Tim is

(25:30):
so successful here. Oh that's reallynice to be associate that things because of
him though too. You know,he he's the best type of leader to
have. When he's really good atsomething, he'll jump right in there and
he'll he'll nail it. And whenhe knows that's not his his forte,
that's not his specialty, he hasno problem getting out of the passing the

(25:51):
wall. That's the perfect leader makesa good leader. So here's an instinct,
instinctive feeling. That's great. Youknow everything you say I agree with.
Why do you give me something positive? End to show on quote,
something that comes to your heart,your mind, that we can leave the
audience with something inspiring, whatever comesto you, whatever comes your way.
I got to put us on somethingor maybe just something that comes to mind.

(26:15):
You have to be long. Imean I I have the quote that
I use all the time, andif you go on my Instagram, I
have a hat that says it.But it says speed free my soul.
And when I say that, Iliterally mean it's the same as the wind
therapy. I'm an adrenaline junkie.I need the speed. So that that's
what makes you feel free? Fine, fine, what frees your soul?
It makes you feel Look in thereand tell you it says speed to free

(26:37):
my soul. So I need togo fast. And on that and on
that note, everybody have a goodweekend, be nice to each other,
be safe. Thank you for allowingme to be happiness. Because happiness is
a choice. Sheuse happiness. Happinessis a choice. Everybody, Take care
and take care. Thanks guys.Bye,