ABOUT Mimi and Moto: The Inspiration

In September 2015, we were inspired by our infant daughter when she started pointing at motorcycles in the AMA’s ‘American Motorcyclist’ magazine. Unable to find a book for her that we liked, we decided to make one. We teamed up with Atlanta illustrator Esteban Alvarado and began creating the characters of Mimi and Moto, two adorable monkeys who love motorcycles. The result of that collaboration was our first book, “The Adventures of Mimi and Moto: The Motorcycle Monkeys”. The first copy was sold on October 4, 2016.

During 2017 and 2018, we focused on growing our brand one fan at a time and building relationships in the motorcycle industry. From our Mimi and Moto booth, we sold books and t-shirts at as many motorcycle races, events, shows, and rallies as we could get to. At our first MotoAmerica race in our hometown of Atlanta in early 2017, we sold over one hundred books. This confirmed for us that Mimi and Moto connected with motorcycle families and children. In 2018, American Flat Track invited us to set up our booth at their Daytona and Atlanta races which gave us more validation from the industry.

2019 was a great year for us. MotoAmerica invited us to manage their Kids Zone which we continue to do to this day. After running a successful Kickstarter campaign to help fund it, we released our second book, “Mimi and Moto Ride the Alphabet” in July. And in September, Mimi and Moto took First Place at the Motorcycle Industry Council’s ‘Gas Tank’ competition which took place at the AIMExpo in Columbus, Ohio.

As of August 2021, MotoAmerica and American Flat Track carry our books and t-shirts in their merchandise booths, and we are grateful for their support. Our Mimi and Moto books are available at notable locations like the AMA Hall of Fame, the Barber Motorsports Museum, Wheels Through Time, the Haas Moto Museum, the Lane Motor Museum, Malcolm Smith Motorsports, and others. We are also working to release our third book which will be a chapter book entitled “Mimi and Moto’s Magical Meteors: First Gear”.

Through more books, merchandise, animation and events, our goal with Mimi and Moto is to get children excited about motorcycles.

We appreciate your support and hope you will continue to follow us as we grow and expand the Mimi and Moto world in the years to come. Ride Safe!

Nancy Gerloff and Mark Augustyn
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.