Denise L. Maple
Background

Denise Maple founded VaVaVroom LLC, a women's motorcycle apparel company, in February 2007. Frustrated by the lack of options in style and fit, Denise has set out to provide female motorcycle enthusiasts with fashionable, functional motorcycle clothing and gear for women of all sizes. VaVaVroom is not only an apparel company, but a supportive community of women that all have a passion for riding.

Before starting VaVaVroom, Denise honed her business skills in a variety of functions. After graduating from the University of Illinois College of Business in 1990, Denise began her career at LaSalle Bank (now owned by Bank of America) in its Commercial Banker Training Program in Chicago. She worked in several capacities at LaSalle, including as a commercial lender in middle-market and large corporate banking. After gaining valuable experience in the field of corporate lending and from her Kellogg MBA, Ms. Maple took on various roles in training in Chicago and Amsterdam and working for senior management. For approximately one year, she worked for Norm Bobins, former President and CEO of LaSalle Bank, leading special projects and advising Mr. Bobins on credit requests. From there, she took on the responsibility of running the bank's credit training program for all entry-level credit analysts at LaSalle - the program that she began at the bank with in 1990. Before leaving LaSalle in early 2007, Denise was a lead consultant and manager of LaSalle's Corporate Development group, managing several strategy-related projects for the bank's senior management team and a team of analysts.

In addition to her role at VaVaVroom, Ms. Maple is also involved in civic and community groups. Since 1997, she has been a board member of the University of Illinois College of Business Alumni Association. She also donates her time by assisting clients of Bottomless Closet, an organization that provides professional clothing, job readiness and post-employment training and coaching services to women on assistance and working-poor women.

Denise's motorcycle experience began on the passenger seat of a Harley-Davidson Road King. Looking for a more active role on a motorcycle, she took the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Basic Rider course in 2002. Denise currently rides a BMW R1200GS.