Denise Maple founded VaVaVroom, 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 to middle-market and large corporate companies. 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 senior vice president and manager of LaSalle’s Corporate Development group, leading several strategy-related projects for the bank’s senior management team.

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 mentoring Chicago Public School students through Future Founders. This program was created to give motivated high-school students in Chicago’s underserved neighborhoods the opportunity to learn about and experience entrepreneurship during the school year from some of the city’s most successful entrepreneurs. In addition, she teaches Entrepreneurship at Columbia College in Chicago.

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.