Examiner Resurrection: On The Motorcycle Scene With Diva Amy
Diva Amy doesn’t do “plain.”
I had seen this extremely exotic, crystal-encrusted custom Harley up in Keystone, CO, at the International Women & Motorcycling Conference in 2009. It was such an attraction that I ended up shooting pictures of the numerous people clustered around it taking pictures of it.
When I saw it again in Scottsdale at Arizona Bike Week I knew I had to meet this person. So I introduced myself to Diva Amy.
The first thing you need to know about Diva, as she is known familiarly, is that she rides. “I’m out here riding the bike in rain, and sleet, almost snow, whatever, because I love it that much.” Her tricked-out ’07 Harley-Davidson Road Glide had 46,000 miles on it in March so you can bet it has more on it now. This is no trailer queen.
The second thing you need to know about Diva is that “Plain is not in my vocabulary.” She adopted the Diva persona “Not because I act like one but because I love everything shiny and embellished.” She tells of meeting a fellow at a truck stop who asked her what a diva is, and “I said, a diva to me is a woman who gets what she wants. But I’m no Mariah Carey. I don’t need Evian water everywhere I turn. So that’s my name, and my credo of life is, ‘Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.'”
And what Diva does is make and sell hats and bandanas and belt buckles and various other items. None of them are plain. When I met her she had a booth set up in the vendor area at Arizona Bike Week, with her Road Glide parked for maximum visibility as a sure-fire way to draw crowds.
Diva Tells How She Got Into This Business
“It all started because all of us girls knew we needed to wear hats. I had some girlfriends who said, ‘I would wear a hat but they’re all so ugly.’ And I thought, ‘Let me go to work on that.’
“That’s what started it all. I primarily focus on the cowboy hat silhouette, but I’m also doing fedoras and cadets. And I come from a fashion and merchandise and sales background. For 29 years I sold and merchandised and promoted a line of ski and snowboard apparel out of Aspen, CO. It was so seasonal I needed something to do when I wasn’t doing that so I started my own company called Team Diva. I named it Team Diva for all the women I’ve known, and I know now, and I will meet in the future. Because we’re all a team, getting through everything here. I love to hang with the divas and people we can be with and promote and share the love of riding. And that became a whole new segment for me as far as things go.”
The Bret Michaels Connection
Then she got a big break.
“I have a girlfriend whose husband is Bon Jovi’s bass player. And she said to me, ‘Diva, I’m going to go see Bret Michaels (of the group Poison). Give me a couple hats. Let me see what I can do.’ This gal friend of mine delivered. And Bret put those hats on–I sent a couple–and then I heard from his camp and I sent about 10 more.”
Michaels wore Diva’s hats on “Celebrity Apprentice” and in his own reality show “Life As I Know It,” and then on tour with the Bret Michaels Band. Meanwhile, Diva’s work on customizing her Harley was tied in with the money she had coming in, and she wanted designer Paul Yaffe to do a high-roller wheel for it. She got the wheel.
“I actually call this the Bret Michaels wheel. Because I sold enough hats that I could finally write the check!”
Diva also teamed with Michaels to support breast cancer funding-raising.
“I just got done making a dozen hats for Susan B. Komen gals who are fund-raising. The top 12 fundraisers got pink hats made by me for him to sign.”
Diva Offers Strong Support To Women Considering Riding Motorcycles
“I call it pulling the trigger. If you’re thinking about doing it, go take a motorcycle class, see if it’s your thing. If you’re comfortable being a passenger, do it. If you’re thinking about doing this, take a class. Get out in one of the parking lots on a little 250 and see. A lot of women talk to me because I’m in my 50s and I’m riding. This bike has 46,000 miles on it. It’s never been in a trailer. And it’s only three years old. I ride it. I think the whole idea is, if it’s something you’re thinking of doing, pull the trigger and go try it. And then the bug bit me for touring and that’s all I love to do now. My god, I love it. I love it. I could pack a bag and be gone a different place every day. I love it so much. So that’s kind of my thing, you know?”
Look for Diva Amy at a motorcycle rally near you. You’ll know that bike the moment you see it.
Biker Quote for Today
Taking B12 is the price of getting to be vegan, the way wearing a helmet is the price of getting to ride a motorcycle and giving up alcohol for nine months is the price of getting to have a baby. — Victoria Moran
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