Written by Lindsay Dobson
My name is Lindsay Dobson. I am a Key Account Manager and I’ve been with Burley for 5 years, although I have been using Burley much longer than that! When I was little, my dad had almost every product category that Burley offered at the time: a tandem bike, rain jacket, trailercycle, and kid bike trailer.
Time sure does fly when you’re having fun. From jumping into a work trip on Day 4 of the job to becoming responsible for international partnerships just 1 year in, I’ve learned to set lofty goals and rise to meet them. I am lucky to work alongside a talented team and have fun products to offer. I know from personal experience that our work impacts so many families; and the stories we hear about how our products create lifelong memories are proof of that.
I’ve learned a lot of lessons over my 5 years at Burley. Below, I discuss some lessons that align with Burley’s Values: In It Together, Quality Work Matters, Think Forward, Bettering Communities, and Enjoy the Ride.
QBP's FrostBike February 2019: Day 4 on the job. Still figuring out the product myself!
In it Together
I am fortunate to have had challenging and rewarding work, supportive managers, and many mentors along the way. We are a small but mighty team here at Burley. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw a big spike in demand while our team was working from home. I’m proud of how Burley handled the changes and pivoted to make sure product was still getting to where it needed to be (thank you, shipping team!). The team worked together and thought creatively to move projects forward. I’ve learned that having a team that you not only work beside, but also like on a personal level, really helps keep the big picture in the front of our minds!
The Burley team bike commuting in to work.
The Burley Team at Eurobike in Frankfurt!
Quality Work Matters
My dad was gifted a Burley D’Lite X for Father’s Day in 2002 to haul around my little brothers. I was 9 and would ride my own bike. Since my brothers were too young to bike, they'd ride in the trailer while we went on mini adventures to feed the ducks at our neighborhood pond. Sometimes we would even do longer rides up to Young’s Dairy for ice cream. Those family trips were what kick-started my dad and I riding bikes together. That trailer lasted at least a decade in our family before it was gifted to someone else.
To this day, our Burley customer service team receives calls about trailers from the 1990s that are still on the road – which goes to show that when you create quality, well-designed products, they last! I love being able to look back at old pictures of my family to see that a quality Burley product created so many adventures and opportunities.
My little brother, Nathaniel, in the D'Lite X. A 2002 Father's Day Gift turned into one of my dad's favorite bike brands. (More to come below).
Think Forward
My favorite project that I’ve worked on at Burley was the relaunch of our pet category in 2022. I may be a little biased because it was a product that I could use with my dog, Chap. She’s 15 and past her days of running alongside a bike. Using the pet trailer, we can take Chap with us when we bike to local breweries, or over to a friend’s barbeque. She misses the freedom she used to have running alongside, but she loves not getting left behind.
Chap in her model era.
From 2014-2021, our pet trailer, the Tail Wagon, had continually been a best seller in the Burley assortment. We saw potential for a category refresh to give riders more options for biking (or strolling) with their pets of all sizes. It was incredible to watch our product development team conceptualize, design, test, and bring an updated Tail Wagon and new Bark Ranger trailers to the market. Launching this product category internationally was the most fun that I’ve had with a product and has been a career highlight for me. As we look to the future of what Burley can be, I am proud to be a part of a team that continually thinks about how to better serve our customers through innovative products.
Chap tolerates her Bark Ranger adventures but will glare at me if I get too far behind. (Cattle dog instinct).
Bettering Communities
As a company, Burley leads by example – giving back to local and national organizations that are dedicated to creating bikeable communities. Some of our key corporate partners can be found here! We are encouraged to use volunteer paid time off to support local non-profits. I've used some of my time to volunteer for United Way's Day of Caring. I have also helped with a few different restoration projects with a local nonprofit, McKenzie River Trust, and even drove a 20' U-Haul truck to pick up pre-loved bikes during a Free Bikes for Kids donation event. It’s fun to be able to volunteer for these opportunities that give back to our local community. It’s even more fun knowing that Burley is committed to making the world a better place to live and bike.
The Burley Team volunteering at Green Island Park in Coburg, Oregon.
Enjoy the Ride
In 2003, my dad and I went to our local bike shop, K&G Bike Center, and picked out a red Burley Tamburello tandem (Yes, Burley used to make bikes!). Every summer, we would pick 2-3 long rides to train for, which took us all over the country. We did so many rides and bike rallies, it’s hard to count. Some of my favorites were the Midwest Tandem Rallies, the Horsey Hundred in Tennessee, the Chocolate Tour in Hershey, and the Five Boro Bike Tour in NYC. The goal was never speed, as I don’t know how much power my stick legs provided at 10-years old, but the tandem connected us, literally. (…and he couldn’t leave me in the dust!) It gave us something that we could work toward, together. I’ve learned a lot from my dad’s example over the years, but working hard while prioritizing family is one of the most valuable lessons that he’s taught me.
My dad and I with our Burley tandem back in the day. (Still working on growing into my stick legs).
Now I live in Oregon, and my dad lives in Ohio, so I don’t get to see him as often as I’d like. A few summers ago, we dusted off the tandem sitting in storage and set up a Burley Travoy to go on a 326-mile, 5-day journey on the Ohio to Erie Trail. The ongoing joke was my husband, who joined us, was the third and fourth wheel. It was a week I will never forget. Some of my best memories happened with a Burley product. It’s fulling to see how our work has helped make those memories possible for me and so many other people.
Ohio to Erie Trip in 2021.
Over the last 5 years at Burley, I have grown and developed at work, while also hitting so many of life’s milestones. I got married, bought a house, and in a handful of months, my husband and I will be welcoming the next generation of “Burley kid” into our family. To kick off this next year, I’ve been reflecting on how far I’ve come, the progress made, and the lessons learned. I’m extremely grateful. Growth is a continual process and it’s not just the finish line worth celebrating, but the ride itself.
