We had the good fortune of connecting with Victoria Brunner and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Victoria, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
When I think of a successful brand, it has to be a product or company well known to me that immediately brings up a positive feeling or image around them. If not, then they are just another nameless faceless entity in a sea of products. Companies have to work hard to create the brand and image they want around their products or services and stay consistent with their messaging. Individual people are always going to view your company however they want, based on their personal views, but the overall theme needs to be the same. As the owner and CMO, my success will be when I see both potential customers and current customers who see FattE-Bikes they way WE see FattE-Bikes and our marketing goals for the company. A high quality, custom built electric bike company that represents craftsmanship, uniqueness, and integrity that our target customers want in their ebikes. We are still working on bringing that message out and the success comes from people seeing that message and associating our brand with it instantly.
Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Being one of the ONLY female/minority owned electric bike company owner in the country is definitely a feat. However I am super proud of how far we have come as a company and are well on our way to becoming the most customized electric bike company in the world. We’ve come along way since the beginnings, working literally out of our garage. But I knew when I rode an electric bike for the first time they were going to be a game changer for a lot of people like myself. I wanted men and women from all walks of life to embrace these vehicles the same way I did. At the same time, I knew we needed to provide a vehicle that could replace a car. Understanding there were a lot of Chinese boring, low quality ebikes out there, we decided to go in the much more difficult direction of building a customizable, quality AND affordable electric bike that people could make their own. That led to us building them in the USA. NONE of which has ever been easy as it requires a more diverse supply chain, creating a Fatte-Bike build system from the ground up, and learning how to design a brand that attracts customers who see the value in locally built and custom options. I want our customers to be able to design the bike of their dreams, that uniquely represents who THEY are. Not just another cookie cutter ebike. So not only did I have to learn everything from the bottom up but THEN I had to figure out how to build a company the industry had never seen before. We certainly haven’t chosen the easy route, but it’s turned out to be a creation of a brand and product we can actually stand behind.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well, the first thing I would do is suggest we make a weekend excursion around the town on … my FattE-Bikes of course! One day we could traverse down the Platte River Bike Trail heading downtown. Stop along the way to check out Confluence park and the river area. Then head down to Union Station to grab some food and check out the sites, possibly some shopping. The nice thing is we DON’T have to worry about is parking! Because being on our ebikes we’d get front row parking everywhere we went! The 2nd day I’d probably suggest a longer ride down to the trails around Littleton and stop at one of the breweries along those trails (Breckenridge Brewery), or head out to Golden area or the bike trail along C-470. Because our batteries have extended range, you can go on some longer excursions up into the foothills or farther away parks. There are tons of trails around the Front Range, and electric bikes provide an easy way and fun to explore the area, without being stuck in a car.
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
To my partner in crime (and life and business), my husband and co-founder of our business. Without him, it wouldn’t be possible to create this amazing company – he is the yin to my yang for sure! It’s been 4 years of blood, sweat, and a lot of tears and shouting LOL. But it’s been worth it to see how we’ve both progressed our company to where it is today, and where it’s going.
Website: www.fattebikes.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fatte_bikes/
Facebook: facebook.com/FattEBikes
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1F09EE0czIfCXg1ZDaejCw