This article by Rick Kessler appeared originally on RVBusiness.com.
While the “Drab To Fab” project – the ongoing renovation of a used travel trailer by members of the RV Women’s Alliance (RVWA) – is coming along and heading into the home stretch, organizers are just as pleased with how it has already successfully accomplished its goals and objectives in advance of the June 23 reveal at the RV/MH Hall of Fame.
The project is especially noteworthy today, as March 8 is International Women’s Day – a global day established in 1911 that celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.
Drab To Fab mirrored those goals, organizers told RVBusiness, and has achieved all of them as the project has helped RVWA members get to know one another as they develop new skills. At the same time, they said, the project has raised the awareness of RVWA to the RV industry in general. In fact, dozens of sponsoring companies have donated volunteers, products and other resources to help renovate the project trailer.
“We have had so much support throughout the whole industry on this project, it’s amazing,” said Tracy Anglemeyer, vice president of sales for Furrion. “I never thought when Susan (Carpenter, RVWA president) called me one day and we started throwing this together, that it would grow to this. I mean, it gives me goose bumps sitting here right now talking about it because so many women and men have worked on this project. So many different sectors of our industry have donated time, products, sponsorships, and are doing campaigns on it.”
As the chairwoman of special projects for the RVWA, Anglemeyer is shepherding the group’s ongoing “Drab To Fab” project. Noting that RVWA blew away its goal of 800 members by the end of 2020 – there’s about 1,200 RVWA members now, with a little more than 10% being males, Anglemeyer said the “growth has been phenomenal and the support has been great.”
“What I like the best is, the ‘giving back.’ I mean, me being one of the older ones in the industry – I used to be called the baby, now I’m called the mom – it’s now all about teaching the younger ones coming in. How do you start in the industry? How do you move up in the industry? There’s been a lot of mentoring and teaching, and that has been great for some of us ladies that’s been around for quite a while,” she said…continue reading