- November 23, 2024
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Mandy Rossmeyer Campbell has a big role in the family motorcycle business, but there’s another legacy of giving back to the community she’s living up to, as well.
BY JARED MAULDIN | STAFF WRITER
Mandy Rossmeyer Campbell is always on the move. And with her office set beside the chrome-laden showroom of one of the dealerships her father, Bruce Rossmeyer, built, she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Right now, I’m planning Bike Week,” she says, pointing to an oversized calendar posted on the wall.
But that's not Campbell's only calendar. In front of a glass case filled with memorabilia is another one, with events written all over it in a bold-point Sharpie. Campbell likes to make sure the white space is filled. And her father, in a lot of ways, was the same.
Her father, Bruce Rossmeyer, bought the original Daytona Beach Harley-Davidson dealership in 1993. But he didn't stop there.
“That building, he renovated it and it just didn’t stop," Campbell says. "He just kept going, building and building more stores, and (he) loved it."
Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Harley-Davidson opened in 2005 and kept growing to include Bruce Rossmeyer’s Destination Daytona, with a 109,000-square-foot showroom, hotel, pub, restaurants and retail stores on the premises. Her father's approach worked, she says. And after he died, in 2009, Campbell attempted to practice the same "common-sense" approach in his place — not only in business, but also in nonprofit work.
While all things motorcycle-related are a passion for the Rossmeyer family, Campbell says the need to give back to the community means even more.
“I work really hard all year long on an (annual) charity ride,” she says. Held every October, the Bruce Rossmeyer Ride For Children will mark its 19th year in 2013.
The ride starts at Destination Daytona, with a police escort, and heads to Camp Boggy Creek, in Eustis. Campbell’s face lights up when she talks about the $4 million-plus the Rossmeyers have raised for the medically supervised camp for seriously ill children and their families.
“It’s an amazing place," she says. "Once you’re there, you just … you’ll always want to help. It’s magical."
Working for the camp has become somewhat of a family ritual, as she points out all of the summer volunteering her three children do there every year. In fact, the whole Rossmeyer clan, including the employees, give their time and money in support of the camp.
They also support the Rossmeyer Family Boys and Girls Club, in Holly Hill. This year, Campbell will buy gift cards, food and toys to help ensure the kids and their families have a happy holiday.
But Campbell's service isn't just a solitary mission, according to longtime friend Tammy Lucas. Every day, she strives to live up to her family name, and that's one of the major reasons that name is so well known.
“It’s hard to talk about Mandy outside of her family, because they’re all an extension of each other,” Lucas says.“She’s got a kind heart and, out of all things, I think that’s her best quality."
Campbell’s role within the family business is nonstop, and she’s diligent about making sure every person she comes in contact with has her full attention.
“She’s the kind of person that can have multiple plates spinning at the same time and still get things done,” Janet Kersey, managing director of the museum store at Bruce Rossmeyer’s Original Daytona Harley-Davidson says.
Kersey also points out that the skills Campbell employs at the family business may be from a role she had no say in deciding — being first born of five kids. Whatever the reason, Campbell’s leadership and hard work are evident in her family business, which has grown to include her brother-in-law Dean Pepe, as their in-house attorney.
But it's not just a business the Rossmeyers are running, Lucas added. It's a tradition, and one Campbell doesn't intend on ending any time soon.
“They have fulfilled and surpassed anything (Bruce) could have imagined,” she says.
Mandy Rossmeyer Campbell
Age: 48
Family: three Kids
Title: Marketing, events and promotions director at Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Harley-Davidson and family of companies
Quirkey fact: She has run in the Boston, New York City and Jacksonville marathons
