She Knows What She's Talking About: Women Driving Change in the Golf Cart Industry

She Knows What She's Talking About: Women Driving Change in the Golf Cart Industry

The golf cart industry has never had a shortage of passion. Walk into any dealership, trade show, or custom build shop and you'll find people who genuinely love what they do. What you might not always notice — at least not immediately — is that some of the most capable, knowledgeable, and driven people in those rooms are women. And for a long time, too many people walked right past them to ask a question of the nearest guy.

That's changing. And the women leading that change have stories worth telling.

The idea for this conversation was born at the 2025 GolfCarting Expo & Dealer Summit, where a handful of women in the industry approached GolfCarting Magazine with a simple but powerful ask: let's talk about this. What followed was an hour-long online roundtable with six women who represented a wide cross-section of the industry — dealership co-owners, a brand manager, a marketing VP, and the founder of a golf cart LED lighting brand. Different roles, different backgrounds, one consistent theme: the work of proving yourself never really stops. But neither does the determination to do exactly that.

Meet the Panel

Jordan Hoyle is the co-owner and self-described "She-E-O" of SCV Carts. She can adjust the valves on a gas engine and once wanted to be a race car driver. She ended up here instead — and she's glad she did.

Jenn Tenney is Brand Manager for Bolt and Madjax at Nivel. She started as a stay-at-home mom, learned the business from the ground up alongside her husband, and can walk anyone through a battery installation without missing a beat.

Tracy Spreatz is CFO and co-owner of Resort Life Carts. She built a bridal business, published a magazine, produced large events, and managed sales across 12 states before landing in golf carts. Around the office, she's known as the Intimidator. She earned it.

Kirsten McGannon is VP of Marketing and Sales at Prime Golf Carts. She's 24 years old, previously ran her own dealership, and will show up in a landscaping truck to personally deliver your cart. Don't let the higher-pitched voice fool you.

Amy Rixmann-Boger is founder and CEO of Golden Hour LEDs. She came from a C-suite background in enterprise sales, spotted a problem dealers were having with LED lighting installation, and built a product to solve it. She also does her own installs — and has the grease stains to prove it.

Megan DiStasio is co-owner of Carts Inc. She started flipping carts out of the garage during COVID, juggles kids and operations with equal intensity, and can back a loaded 40-foot gooseneck trailer without breaking a sweat.

The Assumption Problem

Ask any of these women about the biggest challenge they've faced and you'll hear a version of the same story. The details differ. The frustration is universal.

Customers asking to speak to "one of your service guys." Phone callers who selected technical support and couldn't hide their surprise when a woman answered. Vendors walking straight past the female owner to find the man at the event. The assumption that a woman at the dealership must be the receptionist, the wife, the marketing person — anything but the one who actually knows the answer.

Jordan put it plainly: "Secretary, someone's wife, support. I think that's always assumed." She's learned to channel the frustration differently now. "Sometimes anger doesn't have to be anger — it can go to education, and that's going to drive it a whole lot further."

Jenn described a rhythm she's developed at the dealership. When someone calls and asks for the mechanic, she simply stays on the line and starts solving the problem. "They always expect a guy to be on the end of that," she said. "I love being able to answer their questions. The way they're talking changes by the end. I love that."

Tracy had to prove herself even inside her own business. When she transitioned from moonlighting as owner to working full-time, the skepticism was real — including from her own office manager. "I remember thinking, I've got to win this girl over," she said. Three weeks in, that same office manager shut the door behind her as she was leaving, then opened it again. "I'm so glad that you're here," she said. "I just wanted to tell you that." Tracy still laughs about having to prove herself in her own company. "Hard work is hard work. Knowledge is knowledge. Leadership is leadership. It can transfer to any industry — whether you're in a dress or a polo shirt."

Confidence: The Common Thread

If there's one word that surfaced more than any other across the entire conversation, it's confidence. Every woman on the panel named it as both the biggest hurdle and the most essential tool.

Megan described her moment clearly. She showed up to the dealership one day in sweatpants, no makeup, kids in tow — and sold a cart anyway. "The customer didn't care what I looked like. They were just like, you know what you're talking about and you're willing to sell me that cart? Awesome." That was her aha moment.

For Kirsten, it came on a delivery run in her landscaping truck. The customer watched her climb out, did a double take, and then realized: this woman called me, sold me the cart, handled the financing, and just delivered it herself. "In that moment I was like, yeah. I can do this."

Amy put a finer point on it. "The credibility will follow as soon as they see the results," she said. "I just solve a real business problem instead of worrying about where the credibility comes from."

Jordan introduced a concept the whole group recognized immediately: imposter syndrome. "Sometimes the question that keeps coming up is, how come I get a seat in this room?" she said. Her answer to herself? "I probably built that seat and wrote my name on it. And I was ready to sit in it." She's also learned to stop moving the goalposts and actually celebrate the wins — something she admitted she's still working on.

The Bigger Picture

This conversation isn't really just about women. It's about anyone who has ever walked into a room in this industry and felt like the odd one out — anyone who's had to prove their knowledge before getting the chance to use it, anyone who's been underestimated and had to decide what to do with that.

As Amy observed, "There has honestly never been a better time for women to be building real businesses and running businesses in the golf carting industry." The industry is growing fast, it's attracting new kinds of entrepreneurs, and it increasingly reflects the diversity of the customers it serves.

Jordan closed the conversation with a line that might be the best summary of where this industry is headed: "If you find that you are the outlier in a room, it doesn't mean you're in the wrong room. It just might mean that you're early."

These six women aren't early anymore. They're here — adjusting valves, running payroll, building LED lighting systems, delivering carts in landscaping trucks, answering the tech support line, and coaching their teams to be better salespeople. They're doing the work, earning the credibility, and making room for the next generation of people who show up to a room where they don't quite fit the expected profile.

The golf cart industry is better for having them in it. And judging by the momentum of this conversation, the best is still ahead.