Connecting Your Profession and Your Passion – Born To Ride Women’s World

Kelly Vandever enjoyed riding on the back of her husband’s bike, but on a beautiful July day when she wanted to ride, her husband Rich, was out of town. That’s when she decided to learn to ride her own. Her first bike was a Honda Rebel she now rides a Harley-Davidson 883 Sportster Superlow. Since Rich likes to tinker with bikes, he made sure she had a comfortable seat and an easy clutch.

Her first long trip with Rich and their friends Jim and Stephanie was quite an adventure! When they started out riding from Georgia to South Dakota, his clutch started slipping. Later the valve stem of his rear tire had to be replaced. In Missouri, Stephanie got a flat tire. A local guy helped but bent the tube in the process, so it went flat again. In South Dakota, Kelly and Rich got separated from their friends. When they reconnected, Jim had hit a coyote and had fur stuck in his wheel rim!

In January of 2018, Kelly entered a contest to be the social media spokesperson for a motorcycle attorney. She was one of six finalists. The gal who won was an MFS instructor and that got Kelly to thinking.

In her day job, Kelly is President of Professionally Human which helps transform business results through better communication and leadership skills. (www.ProfessionallyHuman.com) Professionally she teaches adults to build career skills. Motorcycle riding is her passion. What if she combined the two?

The internationally renowned developer of motorcycle training courses, The Motorcycle Safety Foundation® (www.msf-usa.org) certifies instructors to teach. It’s a long and challenging process. Having served 11 years of active duty in the Navy and retiring as a Lt. Commander, Kelly doesn’t shy away from a challenge.

First, she met with Austin Guest, site coordinator of the Alpharetta, GA MSF campus who agreed to sponsor her as an instructor candidate. He encouraged her to take the MSF Basic RiderCourse again. Then she took the MSF Basic Bike-Bonding RiderCourse class to refine her skills.

Next, Kelly worked as a Range Aid, shadowing various instructors. She dropped cones for course exercises, did demo rides and observed their training techniques.

Then she was ready to take the MSF RiderCoach Preparation Course to learn the fundamentals of teaching. In this sixty-hour course, there’s a test you must pass to continue the program.

At the end of the course, classmates teach a complete BRC course to a group of new riders. RiderCoach Trainers evaluate your performance to verify that you qualify for the MSF RiderCourse RiderCoach certification.

Kelly was then allowed to teach in a team with two experienced coaches before being able to teach in a team of two.

“I was used to speaking and classroom delivery,” Kelly says. “I’m comfortable instructing in a learner-centered environment.”

What she found most difficult was finding the right level of coaching for each individual student.

Exactly five years from getting her own motorcycle license, Kelly worked on a three person team to teach an all-woman MSF Basic RiderCourse.

If you or someone you know has a unique story contact Myra@MyraMcElhaney.com