How (and Why) SRAM is Investing in Women

June 19, 2018|Arleigh Greenwald

This is our fourth episode of the Shift Up podcast micro-series, Bridging the Gap to achieve gender balance in cycling, sponsored by Quality Bicycle Products. This week on the Shift Up podcast we are continuing to discuss the issue of gender disparity in cycling while sitting down with the Women’s Program Coordinator at SRAM, Sara Jarrell. Having been in the cycling industry for nearly 15 years as a technician & technical ambassador as well as a technician instructor, Sara offers valuable insight into the rapidly growing emphasis on the women’s market of cycling. It is undeniable that SRAM is putting an emphasis on investing into the women’s market & Sara candidly shares why her position was created & why she was brought on to help facilitate these initiatives that SRAM is undertaking which are aimed at simply getting more women on bikes. Through this conversation with Sara, it is clear to see that real, positive change is already taking place, but that there is still more to do in the industry as we look to remove the barriers & involve more women, finding engaging ways to motivate them to get into cycling. While SRAM is not the only brand in the industry prioritizing the engagement of women, Sara gives a glimpse into the specific ways they are pioneering initiatives to do this in a real & fresh way. Through initiatives like partnering with UBI & QBP to offer scholarship opportunities for women interested in becoming mechanics, to hosting Q&A’s, tech clinics & women’s rides, SRAM is looking for ways to engage with women & make cycling relevant to them on their own terms, while finding ways to foster their passion for the sport. During their discussion, we also speak to specific ways the industry is working to see further engagement of not only women but also other overlooked markets within cycling. This progress will only be made by finding ways to speak to the people you’re trying to engage & tailoring the message to their needs as you discover what’s important to them. And as Sara identifies, it is only by changing the voice, language & imagery of the message being offered that the industry can effectively speak to those they are trying to engage. It is with this idea in mind that many are now looking for ways to collaborate with other outdoor brands who have a like-minded focus to carry out these initiatives. Make sure to add your thoughts, opinions, and questions by commenting below or sending us a message hello@shiftuppodcast.com

About our series sponsor

Quality Bicycle Products (QBP) is on a mission to increase gender balance & improve gender equality in the bike industry. They are a bicycle company that builds innovative, world-class brands and distributes bicycle products from the best vendors in the industry to over 5,000 bike shops. They aspire to make the world a better place and get more butts on bikes, and they’ve made good on that goal for over 30 years. Learn more about QBP: https://qbp.com/shiftup

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Show Links

Follow Sara on Twitter @ muddywrench
Connect with her on LinkedIn
SRAM’s events: https://www.sram.com/events
SRAM’s women’s events: https://www.sram.com/stories/sram-womens-program-2018-season-kickoff
SRAM/UBI/QBP women’s technician scholarship
Little Bellas mentorship program: https://littlebellas.com/

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Use the tag, Bridging the Gap, to find all episodes in this series!

You can subscribe to the Shift Up Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and YouTube. If you enjoyed this episode make sure to listen to others here.

Join the Conversation!

Make sure to join the conversation on your favorite social channel using #betterbikeindustry. If you enjoyed this episode then make sure to listen to others! Disclaimer The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this podcast belong solely to the host and guest speakers and are not necessarily representative of the views, thoughts, and opinions held by Quality Bicycle Products (QBP).

2 comments

Great podcast. Emotional intelligence, moms, women mechanics, bike/fishing trips, fighting the good fight! But, IDK about changing bike shop bathrooms, they are unique places in this Apple store world, seek them out and let your retailer know your impressions.

Kevin • July 9, 2018

A question from the older, straight white male demographic. How much is women riding at a lower rate than men a function of the bike industry not catering to their needs and how much is it women simply being in a socially more vulnerable place across the board? How much can the bike industry fix cat calling or assault ?

Riley Casey • July 9, 2018