CORE VISION | BRYAN MYERS

We're always excited to join a number of boutique fitness studio classes. There's nothing like being able to really enjoy a specific modality. When we started introducing pilates into our routines, [solidcore] was one of a few studios that we started trying. We spoke with their CEO Bryan Myers, we wanted to know more about his background, transitioning from sweetgreen (a fave of ours) to becoming the CEO and President of [solidcore] and finding out what he is focused on as he continue to exapnd the brand!

ATHLEISURE MAG: We’re excited to be able to connect with you! Before we dig into it, what was your career path that led you to being an alum of sweetgreen and currently at [solidcore]?

BRYAN MYERS: Thank you for having me! I come from a military family, and am a first generation college graduate. My parents have been supportive and proud of me my whole life, so that still pushes me to be my best every day. Post college, I followed a typical path for young professionals in DC – consulting. Craving more adventure and experience, I took a risk with a DC-based startup people have come to know and love as sweetgreen – the fast-casual salad chain that changed the way we think about the intersection of fast food and health food. I learned so much from the founders and leadership team, and it gave me what I needed to eventually join [solidcore] as COO and lead a rapidly growing team. And while the road hasn't always been easy - particulary the last two years - the challenging moments have been the most informative, impactful, and meaningful moments of my career to date. I wouldn't be the leader I am today without the setbacks and experiences I went through.

AM: Sweetgreen is one of our favorite salad places. As VP of Development for this fast casual chain, can you tell me what your responsibilities were as you grew them from a regional chain of 22 restaurants to 90 locations nationally for your 4 years there.

BM: One of the blessings of being a part of a rapidly growing organization is that you get the opportunity to wear many different hats. My experience was no different, but my final role there consisted of overseeing all of our new restaurant growth operations including real estate selection, restaurant design, and construction. It was a really challenging, but fun job that allowed me to play a first hand role in bringing sweetgreen to communities all over the country.

AM: Working with sweetgreen, what drew you to work with this brand and what did you learn from being in the food space?

BM: I was young and seeking something that felt more entrepreneurial. Although I loved my time in consulting, I realized that the true entrepreneurship that I craved wasn’t going to be possible in that environment. At the time, sweetgreen was poised for rapid growth and as an already-loyal consumer, I was already bought into the product! My wheels began turning immediately… I knew together sweetgreen and I had the tools to explode onto the fast-casual health scene, and that’s exactly what we did.

AM: In 2018, you came to [solidcore] what led you to join them as their COO?

BM: My journey with [solidcore] actually began in 2014 as a client. As a lover of the product, joining as COO allowed me to marry many of the skills and experiences that I had developed during my time at sweetgreen with another DC-founded company that I loved.

AM: We have covered two of [solidcore]’s locations in Athleisure Mag’s feature Athleisure List previously. For those that may not be familiar with this fitness studio, can you tell us about it?

BM: [solidcore] is a 50-minute, full-body, strength training workout. It is an entirely immersive experience - held in a dimly-lit room under blue lights, fueled by energizing music, and led by an experienced coach who offers personalized instruction. This is a workout like no other! We utilize our signature machine, [sweatlana]. The [solidcore] workout is one that will transform your body and deliver noticeable results. Whether considered a person’s primary workout, or a supplement to a regular training routine, [solidcore] is designed to make clients stronger and more resilient - physically and mentally.

AM: Since arriving in 2018, you moved on to being the President and COO and you are currently the President and CEO – what is your day-to-day like here?

BM: Everyday is different - and that’s the joy! Of course, at its core, as CEO I am responsible for setting our company’s strategy and building an incredible team to help execute it. I’m so proud of the work that our team has accomplished: we’re near opening our 100th studio, we just wrapped up our Greatness Within campaign where we challenged our clients to discover their inner greatness, we launched a first of its kind partnership with the WNBA Washington Mystics, and so much more. I also coach classes and travel the country to meet our team and clients, which is one of the most rewarding parts of my role! All of it has excitement and challenges and learning opportunities. The varied days keep me going, inspired, and excited for what’s next.

AM: During COVID-19, many fitness studios, like many businesses in various verticals had to adjust to the pandemic. What did you have to do during those years?

BM: In March of 2020, we had to lay off 98% of our staff and coaches and pivot our business model to adapt when the world was in crisis. A skeleton crew stayed on - we all took significant pay cuts - and we worked harder, smarter, and leaner than we ever had before. None of us had all the answers, but together - we found solutions. We built back. And now we're near 100 brick and mortar studios and exceeding pre-Covid numbers. When the going got tough - the team got us through.

AM: You are known for your ability to grow businesses, you’ve opened over 87 locations across 24 states currently and you have an aggressive expansion goal, how do you decide on where these studios will be and are there thoughts to extend the brand internationally?

BM: One of the most compelling parts of the [solidcore] business is the diversity of the communities where we’ve been able to find success. We operate in smaller markets like Fargo, North Dakota, and also the largest cities in the country such as Los Angeles and New York City. That, of course, makes deciding where we go and when very tough because there are so many options! We weigh a bunch of different factors as we think about expansion, but primarily we look to identify markets where we can open multiple locations in attractive trade areas and leverage all of the inbound inquiries that we receive via email and across our social media channels to help prioritize as well! As we look ahead over the next several years, we are excited to begin to bring [solidcore] to markets outside of the United States as well!

AM: We read that [solidcore] has partnered with the WNBA’s Washington Mystics as the official offseason workout partner. What does this partnership look like with the team and fans? Do you have other partnerships that you can share and/or are you looking to connect with others to make creative synergistic partnerships?

BM: This was an exciting one for [solidcore]. You know, we are DC-born so partnering with the Washington Mystics as their official offseason workout partner was a total pinch me moment. Members of the team make their way into the [solidcore] studios and enjoy incorporating our modality into their workout regimen... it's great to be surrounded by such talented athletes which also speaks volumes about the efficacy of [solidcore]’s workout. If these athletes are shaking and sweating, you know it’s going to be a challenge! Of course we are looking to do similar partnerships, but you’ll have to stay tuned for more.

AM: In a competitive landscape, how does [solidcore] maintain its ethos with a focus on building strong, inclusive communities for clients and communities?

BM: One of my favorite things about [solidcore] is how community driven we are. Even though there are nearly 100 [solidcore] locations, each individual studio is evangelist-led by community members with genuine, shared passion. As a whole, our members want to put in the work, and we all believe the work is the joy. We all do it for the sweat, the connection, the challenge, and the growth of it all and that’s what makes [solidcore] such a strong leader in the fitness industry. They come for the workout and stay for the connections.

AM: What is your vision for [solidcore]?

BM: Oh, the sky's the limit with where I want to go with [solidcore]. The brand is redefining the fitness space and provides a workout that challenges and changes you both mentally and physically. Now more than ever we are pushing our members to discover their greatness and create the strongest version of themselves. Just being a part of this movement and expanding to over 100 studios is a win, but who says we’re stopping at 100 studios? We’re hungry to be innovators in the fitness space and you’ll see much more from us in the years ahead!!

AM: Is there anything that [solidcore] is working on or launching as we head into the holiday season/early next year that you would like to share?

BM: [solidcore] is continuing to expand in many of the markets where we already have a presence, including Los Angeles, New York City, and Seattle. We are also preparing for a strong first quarter of 2023 when many of us look to recommit to our health and wellness goals. As we did last year, we’ll have a number of exciting offers to help our communities stay committed to those goals!

AM: There are challenges that you face as you navigate growing your brand, taking space in places where you may be the only person of color or in a very small group. As a Black, gay male CEO – how did you navigate making space for yourself regardless of the adversity that came along?

BM: I am a gay, black man. The first in my family to graduate from college. I have a job running a company that’s helping people mentally and physically, a husband that I love, and a brand new baby boy who is filling my cup and challenging me in ways I literally didn’t think possible. I strive to shatter glass ceilings and break barriers so it was important to me to claim space in this industry. That said, I often talk about the “superpowers” that we all have as a result of the identities that we hold. I’m incredibly proud of the ways that being a Black, gay man has shaped me and many of those qualities have helped me become the leader that I am today which has been so critical to my success.

AM: How do you give back to the community and how important is it to you that you do this?

BM: Giving back to the community is something that has always been important to me, instilled in me since I was young. Currently, I serve on the Board of the Ridley Scholars Foundation, an organization that provides financial and mentorship support to high-achieving African-American students. This is an organization that resonates with me on a deeply personal level since I was a Ridley Scholar myself. It’s such a powerful feeling to have this “full circle” moment where I can help contribute to the future of these amazing students in the same way that others were able to support me.

AM: As someone who is successful and has a lot on his plate, are there other projects that you are working on that you would like for us to know about?

BM: My plate is full but I’ve never been happier. I am constantly inspired by my husband and our new bundle of joy keeps us on our toes. Outside of my day-to-day work with [solidcore], my husband and I have begun to do a small amount of investing behind ideas and entrepreneurs that we believe will shape the future of our country. Additionally, I’ve started to explore corporate board opportunities as another way to take the experience that I’ve gained over the course of my career and help other entrepreneurs and business leaders on their journey of success.

IG @bmysofly

@solidcore

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | [solidcore]

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see CORE VISION | Bryan Myers in mag.

FORGING AHEAD WITH TRX | RANDY HETRICK + JACK DALY

We've been using TRX in our workouts for a little over a decade. We love how they allow us to do a number of workouts whether indoors or outdoors and you can pop them into your bag so that your fitness goals stay on track! This functional training system is an innovation in this space and we're excited to see where they go next. We caught up with Randy Hetrick, founder, and creator of this fitness methodology as well as TRX CEO Jack Daly, who recently acquired the brand this summer. We wanted to find out how TRX was created, the background of both of these men as well as what their vision is for the future of the brand, and its products including the TRX Training Club.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Randy, before we delve into the vision of TRX, can you tell us about your background and what led you to creating this fitness methodology?

RANDY HETRICK: I had a background in body weight training and spent a career as a Navy SEAL, so I hatched this kookie idea of using a jiujitsu belt, I mistakenly brought with me on deployment, and some dilapidated parachute material to create this wacky harness that allowed you to lean back, use your own bodyweight against gravity, and train across a wide variety of movements needed to stay strong, agile, and mobile for the SEAL teams. Today, we call that functional training. By the time I was out of the SEALs, I thought I would apply to business school at Stanford. I didn’t think I would get in, but to my everlasting astonishment, they wanted a SEAL on the recruitment poster the year I applied, so it was serendipitous how it all worked out. I was admitted and while there, I utilized the second year of business school as an incubator to determine if the fitness tool I developed overseas was something I should move forward with. Following that year, in 2004, I decided to launch what eventually became TRX.

TRX started around its hero product, the "TRX Suspension Trainer," which in retrospect, is funny, because that is the name I coined to describe it. Suspension Training wasn’t a thing back in the 2000s. It became a fitness phenomenon on the back of TRX. As we grew, we broadened our stance over time, and became one of the global leaders of functional training. We had the benefit of being both good and hard working. But, just as important, we also had timing. The functional training movement was in its infancy, to such a point that when I first heard the term, I thought I should get the URL. So, I went and registered it for $10 which tells you how early we were in the functional training movement. We became one of the main players in what would help to popularize functional training. I also like to categorize it another way – small tools, big movements. This is different from traditional weightlifting and exercising machines you see at every gym, and here we are 18 years later.

AM: And before we talk about the TRX reacquisition, Jack can you tell us about your background?

JACK DALY: I got to know TRX through a friendship with Randy, which is what brought me here. I have spent 25 years on Wall Street as a partner at Goldman Sachs and moved over to be a partner at TPG Capital. My expertise is making controlling investments in large companies. I bought industrials and service companies and have taken companies in public markets and made them private, and taken private companies and later made them public. Over the years, I’ve been working with large-scale companies, which led me to the opportunity to acquire TRX. This is something I have been doing for a very long time.

Prior to my career in business and finance, I spent six years on faculty of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland where I was a mechanical engineer, teaching classes in product-development, design, and manufacturing. The important parts about my background are probably less Wall Street and more the product-development side. I’m also a fitness nut and have been for a very long time. I think this endeavor is more about my enthusiasm for fitness, my product-development experience through my engineering days, and the friendship with Randy, than it is about the 25 years I spent as a partner at Goldman Sachs and TPG buying large companies. But what that experience gave me was the ability to team up with Randy and acquire TRX. This is an acquisition I made with my wife. It’s our family business and it’s a partnership with Randy. I am not investing someone else’s money. I’m investing my own money into TRX through this acquisition, and I’m very excited about it.

AM: That’s fantastic. We have been fans of the products, and have used them. What is that process like in terms of bringing new products to the brand?

RH: I can’t tell you how excited I am to be in business with Jack. Jack’s reputation as a supporter to the SEAL community is unprecedented and, fortunately, I have been able to get to know him much more closely through this opportunity. Everybody knows the story about this thing getting driven into the ground by some guys that didn’t know what they were doing. What I'm most excited about is having Jack, at a point in his career where he decided to step back from being the "deal" guy to start focusing on other quality-of-life-oriented pursuits. This opportunity came up at the perfect time for both of us.

I can tell you about how we brought on products previously, but how cool is it to now have someone on that same path of wanting to create and provide solutions to problems in the fitness realm. To be able to do that in a way that helps people live healthier and better lives, as well as to perform better in sports, is a blessing. It’s also about keeping my former colleagues fit on the battlefield as well.

The foundational idea at TRX is to innovate by looking at problems people have and trying to find an elegant solution. And by elegant, I mean something that is not too complex and not to expensive. Some of the hallmarks of our brand have been our ability and our aspiration. We want to make the same kind of products that benefits the pros - the best on Earth, whether in athletics or tactical fields - and can be used as well by regular folks from a functionality and price perspective. This way, they can take them home and benefit in their own lives. In partnership with gyms, trainers and coaches, we engaged with them to get their honest feedback and recommendations, which is how we built the company for the first 12 years. We like to take real-time input from the folks on the front line at gyms, health clubs and professional- athlete environments who know what our core audience needs. Many of our ideas come from our professional coaches that are training a variety of different people, from physical therapists to strength and conditioning coaches. They have ideas.

Quick question, have you been able to use our TRX Bandit?

AM: Yes, we love them and use them!

RH: People love them and this is an example of something we have developed that provides a solution to a very specific need, yet is not very complex. It’s the antithesis of complex. Literally, it's just a handle that pops over any resistance band. But by creating the product, it encourages people who didn’t like bands to use it, because they previously didn’t like the uncomfortable experience of their hands on a resistance band. I have a knack for sitting down and thinking about things I am super excited about. To be able to sit down with Jack, who can bring that knowledge as a successful product designer in his early years, and combining it with his success as a board member and best best practices from his companies, is a benefit as well. I think, as we go forward, that's how I would look at new product development. Always looking at innovation and always addressing a need. We will try to address a real need, as opposed to coming up with something just because you can. From there, you want to make sure you are creating products that can sell through to the consumer, and that gyms and training facilities would also want. That’s my take on it.

JD: What’s great about this is that you can only imagine how excited I am to team up with such an iconic man. I’m going to embarrass Randy just a little bit. He’s an iconic and legendary inventor of fitness products, having pioneered functional training in this industry through his creativity and genius, and being able to make things happen. Randy's ability to develop these beautiful products, especially on the creative side, just can’t be taught. My time spent teaching undergraduate and graduate engineering courses on product development showcased this clearly.

There is an innate ability to see things that other people can’t see and to be able to bring them to life. Randy has that more than anybody else out there. You have this creative genius who was able to build a company based on that.

Now, with my experience, I can come at it from a disciplined company-builder perspective, plus understanding the product-development process and what goes into that. From an organizational capability, we have that nuclear power engine of the creative genius of Randy being able to really spark the ecosystem and come up with all those ideas. But someone has to see all of those ideas and then take them in, nurture them and develop them. Then, we can come at it with a process overlay and investment perspective on what makes sense, how to do it, how to get all the people around the table, how to action those ideas, how to bring them to prototype, how to test those prototypes and then how to introduce them into market. There is so much that goes into all of this, but I think that is where our skills are very complimentary. As I think about the new products going forward, we're very well positioned to be utilizing this process.

AM: How does TRX Training Club fit into the TRX universe?

JD: From my perspective, I have to tell you that I am very excited about the TRX Training Club. As we came in and looked at the business, there are many things that are great about the company. One of them is the potential of the TRX Training Club. We're off to a very good start and have over 30,000 subscribers in the TRX Training Club ecosystem. What we can do, with the right amount of focus, time, and attention, is take that product and really improve it and then grow it pretty rapidly in many different ways. When you think about how you do that, we can take what we are doing now and bring in Randy's experience, the authentic TRX experience. It’s really about expertise in this kind of training. The foundation we are building for this TRX Training Club is based on authentic expertise and TRX style funcitonal training.

You start off with back to basics...back to core...what are we really good at? And then there is the fitness and entertainment side of it. It has to be entertaining to be effective. The foundation has to be an authentic, real experience and then we will make it entertaining, because you want people coming back over and over again. We marry that with the organizational capability of Quincy Carroll, for example, who is our Chief Technical Officer. He has been involved in building some of the largest subscriber-based businesses in the world. He happened to go to Stanford Business School with Randy 20 years ago so they’re friends, and he wanted to come in and join our mission to do this. We’re thrilled to be able to attract a technology leader like Quincy to come in and bring the tech to match up with Randy and other senior leaders in the company. To have that depth of expertise that has taught people for 20 years in funcitonal training, and - match it with our ecosystem of hundreds of thousands of trainers worldwide, is a good thing. To be able to get expert feedback and to bring it to the TRX Training Club is a great service to provide the customer. If we can marry the expertise we have with the technology platform we are building, and layer that into our ecosystem and get that excitement from our ecosystem around it, that’s a huge opportunity for us. We’re investing a lot of time, energy and, effort into the platform, but it takes time. With a product like that, we won’t be making a lot of changes right away, but there will be changes over the coming quarters to improve it. And I would guess that we will see our subscription numbers grow pretty quickly as we do that.

RH: The only thing I would add here is the company was built on this premise of what we call the "Triple Threat." It was innovative and supported by two pillars. One is wrapping it in great content for the end user, which allows us to entertain and deliver great results that are relevant. The other pillar is partnering with trainers, physical therapists, and coaches. Giving them a level of comfort and depth of knowledge with our tools, enables them to deliver results to their patients, clients, and athletes. That idea has been there since the very beginning of the company. What has not always been there was the tech. We were up online for over a decade, but digital has risen, and you know you have to be a little more deliberate and modest about your expectations, because people have begun to convert over to digital. So, what I'm super excited about is that once we have this app - and it almost feels like we're underselling it by calling it that, because it's such a broader platform than just an app, we'll be able to reach around the world for that consumer and deliver all of this incredible content, education, support, and entertainment to customers of all levels. We'll be able to do it in a way that is efficient and affordable. We never had that ability before. This is someting that is being called TRX 2.0. I'm just "Jacked" about it, no pun intended, because we can take this thing and make it so much bigger that what it ever was before.

AM: What are the roles and responsibilities that you guys have?

RH: While I was away from TRX, as you may or may not know, I developed a company called OutFit that I’m the CEO of. But as we started talking about this (acquisition of TRX) from the beginning, we knew that I couldn’t be the CEO.

I’m an entrepreneur and I love building things. Even towards the end, when I was selling control, TRX was getting to be of a size that I am really passionate about creating. I think what was ideal about the situation was that I was able to say "Jack, we’re going to have to find a CEO for this." Initially, his response was, "We’ll go hire the best CEO we can find, and we'll bring them in." Then as I worked with Jack a little bit, I got to understand him and the way in which he works, and frankly, the talent that he can bring into something. I started pestering him and said, "I don't think we should hire an outside CEO. I think you should do it." His initial response was that he wasn’t doing that. I told him that if he wanted to be a really great control owner, to do that, you have to at least take a couple of years and run it. This way you’re not some smart-ass running things from the cheap seats and asking why the spreadsheet doesn’t match to the reality of how things are. He said that wasn't what he does, but eventually myself and Jack reached out to one of our board members who he can tell you about. Jack told him that I was pushing this crazy idea, and he wanted to know what he thought. Turns out, he joined me in ganging up on Jack to become the CEO for however long he chooses to do so. I have to tell you, as a guy that would tell you that this is not what he does, I'm learning every day from him about best practices on running businesses. I'm really pleased! I don't know whether I'm an Executive Chairman, but I'm way more than a guy sitting out there and coming to a boardroom. I am someone who goes to Jack with my true and honest perspective.

JD: That is the true story. Randy put me in this position. I certainly agree and support those statements. When I decided to acquire the company, I wasn’t thinking of running the company. That’s clear, but Randy and I are very much partners in running this business. Now, he is right. As we were getting closer to thinking about who the best person in the world would be to run the company, he came to me and said that I should do it. He told me I have an intensity issue and would probably kill anyone else in that seat, and I probably do have that. Then a board member and close friend, Mark Fields, who was the CEO of Ford for many years and has also been the CEO of Hertz and runs major companies around the world, and I agreed that I would come in as the CEO and that any one of the three of us can fire me at any moment if I'm not performing or if we find someone better. That was the deal that we had going in. Having now been in this seat going on the third month, I’m having a blast! It really is the perfect position for me. I was in the warehouse running a forklift on Saturday. I was doing an inventory count with the team, and I spent time in the UK with our sales team for our European business arms. I’m getting to know everybody in the company much deeper than I would have otherwise, and I’m having a blast. I’ve been on the phone with our certified trainers worldwide, and I’m really getting to know the ecosystem. We have a summit coming up in Massachusetts in early December that Randy and I will be part of. From my perspective, it has turned out to be a perfect position, and I’m really excited about that. There’s an activation energy that comes, even at this stage in my career, from taking on a role like this.

Randy is the vision, direction, and spiritual leader of the industry and the company, and he’s actively involved in all of the major decisions that we’re making as a company. I’m building the team and making the trains run on time. We work together a lot. I talk with Randy multiple times a day. We're buddies, so that makes it easy. Randy's partner, Jill, on the other hand, probably wants me to talk to him a little bit less, but we're having a great time doing this. We're building this team and we're all on this mission of what we want from this company, and I have to tell you it's fun and exciting.

RH: The one other thing I will add is that by structuring it this way, we’re able to move fast, which is such an asset. Normally, if you think about how it would work, a CEO would be separate, and you have these board members, and there’s this whole series of delays and a lot of inefficiency that comes from having the CEO constantly having to put everything together for board approvals, which takes up a ton of time. For us, we're able to pull our team together quickly with a couple of board members and make quick decisions. This is a critical position to be in, coming into a business that was struggling and trying to turn it around rapidly. What you're going to see over the next 12-18 months just couldn't happen in a different structure at this kind of pace. I have been really happy. It was something that I didn't really anticipate, but it has worked out really great.

JD: The point Randy is making, which is worth noting, the team that has come together is a combination of OGs and NGs within the TRX community. We have OGs like Randy and Rick Cusick who came in as our Chief Revenue Officer after exiting the business in 2019/2020 and brought a great perspective. Our senior management team is really extraordinary. I mentioned that Mark Fields is on our board. Frank McGuigan, who is also on our board, is one of the most recognized senior leaders in global supply chain. If you look at the management team, our CFO was Revlon's former CFO for eight years, Doug Greeff, who also ran Global Leverage Finance for Citigroup. He's an extraordinary finance executive who is on this mission with us. Quincy Carroll, who I mentioned earlier, is the CTO and, a friend of Randy’s, has known this business for a long time and is very close with him. Our VP and General Counsel, Alain Villeneuve was TRX's litigation attorney for 12 years. When we came together to acquire the company, he came to us and said that he wanted to be on the team. He wanted to be in-house and on this mission with us. We’re about to announce the new head of Supply Chain. An 11-year Senior Executive at Nike, who was at Nautilus six years before that and provides great start up experience as well. World class talent is here.

I did not acquire this business to flip it. I want to build this over the next couple of decades to take something that is very special and make it even better. We have this great team around us that is making it possible to do that, and these are just some of the names.

AM: That’s fantastic! Looking into next year, what is the vision of TRX as a brand, its projects and new products?

RH: We have a bunch of cool, innovative new products that are in the pipeline that I was part of before the dark days came and I went away. Fortunately, that group couldn’t figure out how to get those things to market. There are some really interesting new products that are new takes on training modalities like elastic resistance, which is something that I am really interested in. I think that it is something that has been under-leveraged, and there is a real opportunity to leverage there. Our products are pretty damn smart, but we’re interested in making them smarter. I think there is a way to do things we have been doing, but make them better, faster, more efficiently and more profitably. TRX will never do some crappy commodity product, just because we can. We want to speak to premium and quality, and have items that speak to deliberate and smart approaches. If we can’t do that and wrap it in amazing content, then we shouldn’t do it.

JD: We’re completely on the same page. From our perspective, now that we are two months into the acquisition, and having a retooled senior management team, we’re really focused on getting back to basics as a first step which won’t be as exciting to you, but it’s really important to us. Getting back to basics is critical and understanding what we do now, what we do well...how we do everything well...in a first-class way and improving the foundation. Obviously, the business has been up and running for a long time now. So focusing on those basics is key, such as making supply chain a competitive advantage rather than focusing on just getting product out the door.

Those are the things we’re doing. On the new product side, Randy has a bag of magic tricks, and the trainers in our ecosystem do as well. As we get through this period of focusing on what we do today, we’re going to look for competitive advantages through improving the products we have and through the development of new products as well. Things like expanding the functional training product line is a natural thing to do. Working to ensure that the services within the TRX Training Club work hand-in-hand with the products is critically important. Then it’s about looping back to a connected system. Everyone is looking for more feedback and more information. They want to have that connected experience and bio feedback. We have lots of places that we can grow through new services and new products that collectively create a complete system where you’re not only working out, but it’s being tracked and, you’re getting feedback in real time, so you’re able to compare yourself day over day, month over month and year over year. It’s like anything else, when you’re getting ready to compete in a sport, get your body in excellent shape. Get your cardio and your strenth up. Get your agility where it needs to be, and then you get into the ring ready to do battle. What we’re doing now is getting our cardio up and getting our strength and our agility up, and then we’re going to pick our spots to see what rings we’re going into, where we're going to do battle, and we're going to do all that in a very deliberate way. We have the expectation that it's coming and we'll need to be a little patient while we work on our core health. But then watch us as we start coming up with these new tools, equipment, and capabilities for our customers, while we simultaneously activate our ecosystem. There are people all around the world that are excited about the brand!

If you have not tried the TRX Training Club, Jack and Randy are giving our readers 90 days free to try it out for yourself!

You'll have access to an all-in-one virtual gym built for everybody, everywhere, every level. When you move with TRX, there’s no limit to how far you can go.

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PHOTO COURTESY | TRX

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see FORGING AHEAD WITH TRX | Randy Hetrick + Jack Daly in mag.

THE WELLNESS ADVOCATE | GABBY REECE

Growing up in the 90s, when you thought of Beach Volleyball, you thought about Gabby Reece! Whether it was seeing her in a number of commercials, gracing covers of Elle, Women's Sports & Fitness, appearing in Arliss (which in many respects laid the groundwork for future HBO shows such as Entourage and Ballers), interviewing athletes, modeling and so much more. Gabby really made her presence know whether she was on the sand or off.

We enjoyed catching up with Gabby to talk about her career, how she got into playing volleyball and how she used her creativity and natural curiosity to continue to add an array of work to her portfolio is amazing. In addition, we talk about how she is an advocate for fitness, wellness and nutrition and why this is something that she is so passionate about. We also find out about other projects she has going on such as The Gabby Reece Podcast and her entrepreneurial projects with her husband, big wave surfer, Laird Hamilton.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you realize that you wanted to play beach volleyball?

GABBY REECE: Well I moved from the Caribbean my junior year of high school to Florida and I was 15 and I was 6’3” and I had dabbled a little bit. But because athletics was so organized in the US, it was sort of like they said that I had to play. I was really a beginner and kind of like a neophyte at it and like I said, I had just kind of dabbled. Then I started getting offers my senior year which is pretty late for college which was a surprise to me for basketball and for volleyball. So it really was something that I fell into. I think that being part of something was really powerful for me. I think that my nature is that I like to work hard. I think that if you had said to me at the end of my junior year that I would be going and playing college volleyball, I would not have known that! Quite frankly, the same with professional volleyball. When I was in college, I had not participated in beach volleyball. It was only because I had moved to Miami after college and I picked up the game and someone said after about a year and a half, that I should move to California. I’d say that I did that a lot in that realm.

AM: We’ve been fans of yours watching you during your iconic career, you made your presence known from being Nike’s first female spokesperson, the first female athlete to ever have designed a shoe for Nike and their first ever female cross training spokesperson. What do you feel are your biggest achievements in the sport?

GR: You know, I have to be honest, I feel that just being able to participate in anything at a high level with other people that are doing it! I mean, I won a World Championship, but there were some other things and I think that for me personally, it was being able to play at that level and being around that caliber of athletes and coaches. Because I always say that volleyball in a different way kind of saved my life a bit. It sort of directed me in this area that I remained in for my adult life. So I think that for me, it was a very deep relationship! Plus, I feel like volleyball, like any other sport, it’s very honest and I always felt like I had respected myself after practice if you will, if that makes sense. Because you can’t bs it. If I was modeling, they could give you really good hair and makeup or you could be like whatever and tuck in this and this – wear something tight there. But I think that there was something that was really honest about it which I know that this sounds weird, but then it also makes being imperfect and vulnerable easier because you’re like, “oh yeah, I know what it’s like to fall on my face in front of a lot of people.” So it almost gives you the strength to be like – yeah I know how to suck and I know how to fail and it’s ok, you’ll be able to survive it.

AM: I like the way that you put that. You’ve navigated the sport and have also added in these other elements of yourself whether it’s being an author, modeling, acting and hosting. Why is it important to you to be able to utilize these skills in your creative pursuits?

GR: Well I think that you just said. I think that we’re all creative and we express ourselves differently. For me, my husband says this perfectly because Laird is a surfer and Laird is more dedicated to his sport because it’s part of his life and it’s very different. But he says, I’m Laird and one of the things that I do is surf. And I think for me, it was a creative outlet, but so were the other things! Interviewing other people and learning from them or writing books or writing columns, these were just other extensions of who I am and a creative outlet because in certain ways I combat being very linear. So, every once in awhile when I have these opportunities, to have these creative expressions, I feel like it just helps me. You get a level of satisfaction I think in life when you get to do that.

AM: Tell me about the Gabby Reece Show, why you wanted to start this podcast and what you have learned by doing it?

GR: Oh my gosh, what I have learned is that there are a lot of smart people out there! You know, I used to interview people when I started for TV in the early 90s and I liked it, but it was short and quick. You got 7 mins, you got 12 mins whatever. I like the idea of it also not being about me because I was interviewed often so it was like, oh this is cool this is about them. You’re doing your homework. I did a podcast with a gentleman named Neil Strauss, he’s an author and we’re very different. So we did that for a few years and to be honest, I didn’t have the confidence necessarily to think that I could do it myself and be interesting. I thought that I could be interesting for like 12 shows…

AM: Impossible – impossible!

GR: No, I’m being honest! I’m always in awe of people who say that they are so fun to watch. I’m like, wow you’re amazing! I think for me it was like, yeah it makes me uncomfortable, but I am curious and I do like to learn and so I do talk to a lot of different types of people – scientists and doctors and the hope was to get the very best in information – the sharp end of the stick of information and communicate it at the 6th grade level and also try to give it to people who really need it. I always say that people like myself or athletes or people that have the opportunity to have trainers or eat organic food – they already don’t need it. It’s people that are working their butts off and they are just trying to get there minute by minute – how do we condense this information for them and to get it to them in a way that it is understandable, but it’s the really good information. And it’s like, can you tweak this one thing or could you do this? So that’s my hook because if you’re very high performance, you’d say that this is very good intel, but if you’re like, “I’m too busy to deal with it,” then we sift through it for you and say maybe this is what you really want to focus on.

AM: As a mom, you’re someone who is involved in a lot of entrepreneurial endeavors, health and wellness is key to you and we’re always looking at things that we can add into our workout – what are 3 exercises that you do that we should consider including?

GR: You know, I’m sometimes the anti person in this way – I’m like, oh! I have a friend and we say 100% of the things a 100% of the time. So when we talk about cardio, stretching or lifting – I will say this, anytime that you can use more of your whole body and also work on proprioception and balance – like working out on one leg at a time is great. Like a sit up, you’re going to be very strong in a limited range of motion. But if you do a clean and jerk or a 1 arm dumbbell snap, you activate from your neck to the top of your knee. So I would say that squatting, overhead snapping and one legged type movements where you are doing one legged row or deadlift is best. I don’t want women to shy away from lifting weights.

Cardio is good for your heart, but lifting some time under tension I want to say that I really want to encourage women and if they say that they don’t want to get too big, it’s very hard to build muscle, you’re not going to get too big. Those muscles work in your favor long after you have lifted weights and they just do so many positive things for you. So I would say that and you know having some kind of mobility and integration in there. That’s the other thing, if you asked me where I really blew it. I got really tight as an athlete andI didn’t integrate enough mobility.

When you say to me to pick 3, I would say things that challenge your balance and those that are working on your whole body, but warm up because if you are doing 3 joint kind of moves versus single joint moves that are more complex and learn how to do things correctly. Let’s not go in the wrong direction every day, let’s try to move in the right direction so that we don’t get injured. Do some kind of diversity where ok you’re outside and walking, maybe take your shoes off, you’re on a bike and you’re doing something – not to do the same things over and over! I want people to support themselves and to participate in their recovery. So it’s not like, oh it’s my day off. It’s, ok it’s my day off and I am going to do some breathing or meditation practice. It’s my day off and I’m going to see if I can get myself into a sauna or do a cold plunge. So, making the recovery a dynamic process that you support yourself. It shouldn’t be just like oh I’m not doing anything. My hope is that everyone works out and they do it decently – hard at least a couple of times a week forever. So, we need to find ways to recover.

The other part is that you should be truthful to yourself. On the days that you don’t feel different than the days that I call it, bone tired. If you’re genuinely bone tired, it might be better to take the day off and that's why it's tricky too. Because if Wed is your day off, but what if you feel great on Wed and you feel like shit on Fri? I also want to encourage people to listen to want themselves. If you hate the gym, then the gym isn’t for you – so what is for you? It’s just getting them to do that because it’s the only way that we will be consistent.

And there’s also only so much time in the day! Laird and I joke all the time about these new exercises that I’m doing to help my hip, it’s like everybody feels that way! The other thing is that I would direct people, there’s so many people that are really good. I don’t work with any of these people, but I know them. Jill Miller has things that she can teach people about self-mobilization for those that say that they don’t know what to do. I like Jill Miller, I like Kelly Starrett and what happens is, if you see one, it will lead you to the next. So Kelly Starrett wrote a book called Becoming A Supple Leopard. These are people that give you these proactive tools. Even though we’re talking about motion, we all know that the #1 is just food right? It’s like there is no way around it. Food is everything. So no matter what, I want to encourage people that we focus on the training, this and that, but what’s so important is that it is all about our nutrition. It’s a bummer because it’s the hardest one and it’s the one that could be the most sexiest or fun that we use to medicate like I'm bored, I'm heartbroken whatever. But I want to encourage people to not give up on that because that is the most important part of this whole equation.

AM: You’re a brand ambassador for Rebalance Health. What is synergistic to you about incorporating this into your lifestyle and what made the partnership right for you?

GR: Well, typically, I don’t know why I have always been like this, but even in my early 20s when I was first starting out in this work, I would never talk about things or represent things that I wouldn’t personally take. I will say that in the case of Rebalance for example, they wanted to vet me as well. I took the product for a lot of months actually maybe 5 or 6 months because you have to feel it right? Especially with things like this which are subtle. So what attracted me to the product initially was that it felt realistic to me, it was easy to use, it had a melt in your mouth lozenge, they have 3 kinds of mint in there and it didn’t say it was going to do this overnight – it’s a system to help you manage cortisol levels. I am familiar with a lot of the ingredients – ashwagandha and maca. The womens formula is different than the mens imagine that! They have things like tongkat ali which I know about from Laird which can boost or support your system for testosterone. Just things like that – I felt that this was well created and formulated and the ingredients were high level and it was very thoughtful. There was this idea that some people thought that cortisol was bad, but no we want cortisol – it helps us get a lot done, but we do want to manage it so that we can have a restful sleep.

I love that there is the Morning, Evening and Bedtime. That made sense, the ingredients made sense, it’s easy to use and it’s achievable. If you tell someone to take this 30 mins after you eat and 4 minutes before something – no one is going to do that. I love the other side. I know that this is pretty obvious, but I love it when there is no downside!

The idea of something being really good and things like this that are focused on natural herbs, they elevate your own system so that it can do its job better. When I hear things like that, that I believe. I started taking it and for me, I had an energy and my sleep improved. For me, that has always been my Achilles in terms of my sleep. I do a lot of mind grinding like a lot of people and trying to solve all the household issues at night when I’m sleeping or when you get up at 3am and you think, I’m going to tell that kid that thing tomorrow! It really helps with that and I felt that pretty quickly. For me, it was about a week and then we collaborated and after checking me out, we agreed to work together and that's how we got here. For me, it's in my cabinet and the way that I do it, I have coffee in the morning and as I’m running out the door, no one wants coffee breath and I’ll just pop my Rebalance Morning lozenge in the morning and it’s like boom I have mints and it’s melting. I want to encourage people that try the product, please don't eat it just try to let it happen so that you can absorb it through sublingually – let it melt. It’s one of those ones where I know how hard it is to formulate it and to bring it at such a high level and to encourage people to do it this way. I feel really honored.

AM: I have been taking it for the past few days and I have noticed that my sleep is better. The Morning part, I have it after my protein shake as the shake is a bit dense so it’s good to have something to freshen up with after drinking it.

GR: Yes! Doesn’t it help – it’s like the double whammy! When I use my Night one it’s when I’m preparing dinner, because you’re just held in one spot and I just sort of pop it in and then I let it happen. What I say to people is for the Bedtime one, if you’re taking a shower before you go to bed, maybe pop one in and just let it happen.

What has your boyfriend thought about it?

AM: I know the Morning one was a bit much for him as the minty aspect was a lot for him, but I think that he liked the Bedtime one. I like that it’s something that we can do together as it sits on our vanity and it’s a system. It gives you something to add into your day, I like the stickers and the packaging!

GR: It’s beautiful! Then they do the refills which is less packaging and it’s just the bag.

AM: I think that it’s something that is working for me and it’s nice after that first protein shake – I chug it and put the lozenge in.

GR: I think that they want people to know that it’s not a sleep aid, but because you are dealing with your cortisol levels, it helps you manage and that ends up leading to a better more restful night sleep. We’ve talked about movement and food, but we all keep our sanity and the only time that we recover is when we’re sleeping. Whether you want to manage weight, deal with vitality, longevity or you just want to look younger, it’s sleep.

AM: I do have to say because I check my REM cycles and stuff, I feel that I have gotten 20 – 30 mins more of the REM sleep.

GR: Interesting.

AM: I’m not saying that that will be the case for other people.

GR: No no it’s your experience.

AM: Yeah, it’s something that I have seen and in terms of things that I do for my sleep, I feel that that tablet has something to do with that over time. So if that’s what it is for me, then bring on the tablets!

What will your partnership look like in terms of what you will do with Rebalance Health?

GR: One thing I am excited about is the ability to do giveaways and to give people the opportunity to try it out. They've been very kind that once a month that we do 1 female and 1 male giveaway so people can try. It will really be about hopefully using the idea that the credibility that I represent that people will say that they are curious to know more. There is also an educational component as well for people in terms of how they would use it in their own lives and why.

So not to make it too technical, there has to be an educational process because it would be too hard for people to try something new where people have to take it orally and not sort of give them some information. I think it’s important to empower people in any part of this whether it's exploring physical health or nutrition and what have you. They have to understand their why and providing that user friendly information especially since it’s new and they haven’t taken certain herbs or things. What’s the difference and certain things have a systemic impact on you and it’s understanding that whole organism and system. I take it, I want to give it away and if makes sense for their day to day lives, I want them to know about it and why they should take it. We’ll be doing that in the upcoming months and year. My thing is, if I find stuff that is good, because it is hard to find things out there that are, we need to put some light on it. I use this and I find it to be really good and if you were my girlfriend down the street, I’d be like, I learned about this or I saw that and I would vet it first so that you’re not coming back to me 6 months later saying, “hey Gabby, I don’t know about this.” The other part is making sure that I am being responsible. I want to feel good about things and feel proud to work with companies and that if people are trying it out, they are your friends.

It’s like when I go to a doctor, I ask them, what would you tell your sister? I treat everyone like my neighbor. If I’m not going to do it, I wouldn’t suggest it to someone else either.

IG @gabbyreece

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Gabby Reece

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see THE WELLNESS ADVOCATE | Gabby Reece in mag.

HOMAGE TO FOOD & CULTURE | CHRIS SCOTT

This month, our cover features Chef Chris Scott who was a finalist in Season 15 of Top Chef in Colorado and brought his technique and culinary view to the show. From that season, he continued to be on our radar as we saw him appear on a number of shows and food-oriented festivals and more. He's always focused on the food, making sure that it educates us on the cultures and regions it comes from as well as ensuring that he continues to reach back and assist chefs that are coming up by sharing knowledge where he can! We caught up with him ahead of the holiday season to dig a little deeper into his background, what he is focusing on with his restaurants, what it's like when you're going through the Top Chef process and his cookbook Homage: Recipes and Stories from an Amish Soul Food Kitchen. His insights on the intersectionality of foods he grew up with as well as how he has created impactful James Beard Foundation dinners is a conversation that we truly enjoyed!

ATHLEISURE MAG: We’re excited to have you as this month’s cover. We have connected via in the past and it’s always great to see you and your food, and what you’re working on!

When did you fall in love with food and when did you know that you wanted to be a chef as a career?

CHEF CHRIS SCOTT: I would say that I fell in love with it when I realized that early on in my career. It was sort of when it became more than just cooking and it became more so a way of life and the way that I understood the power from within the food and what it could do. Not only to sustain our bodies and everything, but what it could do culturally and things of that nature. It became more of a revolutionary kind of platform for me.

AM: How do you define your culinary style?

CHEF CS: My style, it changes from time to time. When you first start out, you're busting out all of your best moves in the beginning. You see that a lot in younger chefs and they really want it to be more about them than it is about the food! So you kind of go through those phases – the up and down and through the ebb and flow. But the older that I get, I understand that it is about the food and it was never really about me so you try really hard to highlight those things as far as food and everything is concerned. It’s about the farmers, it’s about the growing aspect and it’s about all of those things!

My cooking, some of the styles of it, I have been trained in fine dining and I have been doing that for 30+ years. You know I’ve worked in some very high-end spots. Right now, I’m kind of focused in on the food of my ancestors, but I do it all! The focus is really about the food and not about me, you know?

AM: Right!

Tell us about Butterfunk Biscuit Co. I’ve looked at the IG posts over the past few months or so and it’s some drool worthy pictures!

CHEF CS: Yeah! I don’t do the social media on there! I’ve seen it here and there. Butterfunk Biscuit Co is heritage biscuits at its finest. You’re going to be experiencing biscuits that have been passed down for 4 generations and it’s the biscuit that I did on Top Chef that got a lot of notoriety and people were lined up outside of the doors and they still are! But it’s where you can really come and it emphasizes more on Black bakers because I actually do a lot of pastries out of there and I’m going to be expanding into a lot of Rotis and Jeera and everything. So really focusing on chefs that bake from Brown countries. Just really trying to emphacize breads that are made by Brown hands.

AM: We enjoyed your season of Top Chef Season 15 in Colorado. Why did you want to compete on the show? You were a finalist on that season which was amazing and it was great to hear your story!

CHEF CS: It’s funny because that particular season, I did not want to compete! I applied 5 times onto the show and just didn’t get onto it and everything. I read somewhere that over 200,000 chefs apply to the show every year and they choose anywhere from 12-15 people and after awhile, the process is very long. Not only do you have to fill out this intense application – sometimes you hear back and sometimes you don’t. To only have to go through a bunch of Skype calls, to doing tastings, to be flown to different locations around the country – it’s a pretty long process and I didn’t want to have to go through that process for a 6th time!

AM: That’s understandable!

CHEF CS: At that time, my wife and I, we had our youngest kid, so we had a 1 year old and a baby. When I got the call, I turned them down at first and I told my wife, “hey listen, Top Chef called, they wanted me to come and try out for this season, but I told them no.” She said, “call them back and tell them yes!” I said, “how are we going to do this? How are you going to run 2 restaurants and 2 small children if I get on the show?” She said, “don’t worry, we’ll find a way.” So I got on and we found a way.

AM: Well you found a way!

Shortly after that season aired, Cochon 555 happened and that’s where we first met you in person as we were media sponsors of that event here in NY. It was cool to see you as well as other cheftestants from your season there as well. We know that you support other chefs, you do other types of foodie events – why is that so important to you to be able to participate and to present yourself in those spaces with all of those people?

CHEF CS: You know, it’s always good to be able to keep yourself out there and to show people what you’re out there do show people what you’re out there doing and to use that platform sometimes for a bit more than just food. It’s also about talking about how the industry is moving, what’s new or even some new dishes that you might want to be able to highlight. But it’s also important to want to uplift the ones that are coming up behind you as well. I think I did that event with Tyler Anderson (Millwright's, Ta-Que, Bar Piña) and Bruce Kalman (Soulbelly BBQ, BK Brinery) you know back in the day. Actually, there was a Cochon in Aspen while we were filming and we were at the finals and we weren’t supposed to leave the cast house, but we snuck out and went to the Cochon party back then. Not only was it fun, but you get to rub elbows with your colleagues from different parts of the country, but it’s good to kind of lift up the other chefs that are coming up behind you to give them that experience to be there and to also see what’s happening so that in the following years, they can be involved.

AM: We recently saw you on Bobby’s Triple Threat! Love that episode and how was it to be on the show and to taste 2 great chefs going head-to-head and then having to score them and to figure out a winner?

CHEF CS: Right! I mean for that day, it was some good eats for sure!

AM: It looked so good!

CHEF CS: I knew I was going there so I didn’t eat breakfast at all and I went in there ready! But that whole experience was pretty surreal! I knew of Bobby (Amalfi Las Vegas, Bobby’s Burgers, Beat Bobby Flay: Holiday Throwdown) back in the day in my Philly days. He started out on Food Network doing a show called Grillin’ and Chillin’ with Jack McDavid who’s a Philly chef back in the day and they tried to have Jack McDavid who was this country bumpkin dude wearing a farmer’s outfit and Bobby was supposed to be a city boy coming on the scene. Now here we are 20 some years later, he’s still doing it and I’m still doing it and we were just kind of talking about the old days and having the opportunity to be on the show was a great time!

AM: We love that!

We’re excited to learn more about Homage: Recipes and Stories from an Amish Soul Food Kitchen. I live in NY now, but I’m originally from Indianapolis, so I grew up around Amish communities although they were not in my town per se. I never thought about Amish and Soul Food having a connection until I saw you on Top Chef and you were talking about it. Can you tell us why you wrote this book and what that connection is like?

CHEF CS: So the book was written for a bunch of reasons. I think that the first and foremost is that I look at it like it is a love letter passed down from the women that have raised me to my children and their stories kind of run through me. My mother and grandmother passed away before my children were born and there always comes a time in anyone’s life when they kind of want to know where am I from, who are my ancestors, what did they do and what did they eat? So this book really touches base on that, but also with the intermingling of the food and everything. Soul Food to me, is regional and is based on where you are. So wherever you are in the country, is certainly where some of the ingredients will be available to you. For example, my people are from Virginia – tidewater people so you have a lot of that Virginia agriculture a little bit of that coastal stuff with the shad, the shad roe, the blue crab so on and so forth. You keep on going down South - the Gullah Geechees in the Carolinas. It’s more of a rice culture and more African flavors. Keep on going further South, now you’re in the panhandle of Florida, more Creole. Up where I’m from, there are German, Dutch and Amish, so after Emancipation happened, with the Great Migration and everything, by the time I was born, the Southern culture and the Amish culture were already intermingled so that was the only food that I knew. But that happens everywhere because Black people are everywhere!

AM: So what foods are considered Amish foods?

CHEF CS: It’s more of a flavor as opposed to Black Amish. You know the flavors that we bring with us from Africa, through the Caribbean, through the American South and so forth. But once you intermingle it with some of that German technique and flavors, you have acidity and sugars and vinegar and that sweet and sour aspect really plays its role. For example, that Lemonade Fried Chicken that I did on Top Chef and which is also in the book, everybody and their mama is doing some form of tea brined chicken, but I chose to do a lemonade brine. Now it’s not like Country Time, but it is lemon juice, it is hot sauce, it is buttermilk, it is fresh spices and everything. So, it’s more or less, a savory lemon like a marinade like that which is on the border of sweet and savory.

So you have all of those aspects and flavors that are into it as well. So when I talk about the Amish Soul Food, again, it’s not Black Amish food. It’s more like flavor profiles and stuff like that.

AM: You’ve cooked at 9 James Beard Foundation dinners, 5 of them as the lead chef and you also created the first Juneteenth Dinner at the Beard House with Brother Luck (Top Chef Season 15, Beat Bobby Flay, Chopped), Tanya Hopkins (Kwanzaa Menu, James Hemings: Ghost in America’s Kitchen, Savory & Sweet) and Andrea Cheatham (Top Chef Season 15 Runner Up, Alex vs America, Live! with Kelly and Ryan). This dinner is now an annual event. What is it like to cook at Beard House and what was it like to create that iconic meal on Juneteeth?

CHEF CS: It was super special! I also got invited back today and I am going back on Dec 5th.

AM: That’s exciting!

CHEF CS: So it will be #10 which blows my mind, but every single time I walk through those doors, I always intentionally get there first. I always want to be the first person in the room because I remember all of the legendary chefs that came through before me that stood in that same kitchen and I always like to be their first, put my hands on the table and kind of get a feel and play my music, start prepping and just kind of really set the mood and the vibe for everyone that comes through because tonight is my night! That has always been what’s going on and for chefs of color that might be coming through, I always say, “hey, listen. Before you go, call me and I’m going to tell you how you can really make this night special. I kind of have them follow through. As far as Juneteeth, it was special to be the first to do that and I’m really glad that they continued to do so. Like I’ve said, we always want to be able to pull all the others up and there’s a lot of really amazing chefs from generations that are behind me and that are up and coming and that they are already here! For them to be able to have their moment there is special too!

AM: Well, you’re also the chef at the Institute of Culinary Education. Why did you want to add this to your resume as you have done so many things that are so amazing. What was about that that you wanted to be part of it?

CHEF CS: Well, they asked me to come through. It more so started on the ambassador level, where they said here you’re doing great things – why don’t you use our space and we’ll pay you for it. So whenever we have an idea to do something creative, they want to be part of it. So they tell me to come through, use their kitchen, use their food and all I have to do is to document it and kind of teach that to the students. So that’s what we do. But again, it’s always paying it forward and really showing that next generation what it's all about. Again, it's not ever about me. There was a time when it was and when I needed the whole world to know what Chris Scott was doing. But that is so not important. What’s important is that I’m taking all my wisdom, all my experience, all my know how and kind of giving that to the next generation. Even when it’s how to navigate the way through the kitchen as a chef of color – all of those things. It’s so much experience that needs to be passed along.

AM: Couldn’t agree more with this. My background coming from fashion and being the Co-Founder of Athleisure Media, to navigate as a person of color in these spaces it’s not easy. Anytime I can go back and tell people that this is how they need to do it or how to be on set – giving that knowledge is going to help that person who may not have known anything about that. You have to know what you know and how to actually interact with other people.

CHEF CS: Absolutely!

AM: Are there any upcoming projects we can keep an eye out for?

CHEF CS: Well, we’re currently looking for a brick and mortar spot that’s a standalone for Butterfunk Co all over again. We left Brooklyn back in 2019 and we’re sort of looking to get back into it. I’m currently on the 8 city/19 event book tour. I’ll be down at the BayHaven Food & Wine Festival in Charlotte Oct 19th – 23rd for a second time in a row. As you know, that’s pretty much the mecca of Black chefs like all of the who’s who kind of goes there. We’re doing a dinner that Fri and I will also be there on Sat. On Fri, I am doing a seafood dinner with some of my colleagues and on Sat morning, I am doing a book signing and then I’m back on the plane.

IG @chefchris512

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Front Cover, 16-25, 27 + 29 Courtesy Chris Scott | PG 26 + Back Cover From Homage, ©2022 Chris Scott. Photos © Brittany Conerly |

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see HOMAGE TO FOOD & CULTURE | Chef Chris Scott in mag.

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ATHLEISURE LIST | RISE NATION

Rise Nation was founded by renowned personal and celebrity trainer Jason Walsh in 2014 in Los Angeles, and the NoHo location opened on April 1, 2022.

Rise Nation is born out of simple concepts: to train like an athlete, and to work smarter, not harder. Walsh went back to the basics of primitive movement and took a super motion, gave it a superior application, and built a whole new type of group fitness class around it. Climbing is a primitive movement and is proven to be more beneficial because the climbing pattern reinforces and strengthens proper movement patterns and makes one’s body stronger, using all of the major muscle groups to work together in one motion, in the way they were meant to. Being the first to offer this climbing cardio format, Rise Nation provides smarter training centered on education that is designed for everyone at any age and ability level due to the variable resistance and lack of strain from impact, and meant to change lives.

Rise Nation offers a variety of leveled climbing cardio classes that are 30-minutes long, designed for beginners, intermediate level and advanced level climbers. The classes take place entirely on a vertical climber in a multi-sensory, stimulating environment, during which all of the muscle groups and high oxygen levels are recruited to elevate the heart rate and engage the entire body as one, to be an efficient and effective workout (burning twice the amount of calories in half of the amount of calories in half the amount of time). Complemented by state-of-the-art lighting and sound systems, iconic choreography, and high-energy, motivational, and knowledgeable trainers, Rise Nation classes create a safe and beneficial environment in which climbers are encouraged to learn, practice, and perfect their climbs, while they strengthen and grow to new levels and experience unrivaled workouts.

There are 4 different classes offered: Level 1 Base Climb (700 to 2500 feet climbed, this class is designed to help climbers get the feel for Rise Nation and the climber machine, highlighting the basics of climbing and foundational choreography with in-depth instruction), Level 2 The Ascent (1500-3500 feet climbed, this class builds on the foundation of the Base Climb in a choreographed and high tempo session. This is Rise Nation's ambitious and signature climb), Level 3 The Summit (2500-7000 feet climbed, this class invites guests to experience the ultimate climb in a high intensity workout designed to maximize calorie burn with demanding moves and intense elevation gain and is their most difficult class format) and Mile High Climb (Goal of 5,280 feet climbed, this challenges guests to climb one vertical mile in a 45-minute class designed to energize and inspire one to reach new heights).

RISE NATION

676 Broadway

NY, NY 10012

rise-nation.com

IG @risenation

PHOTO CREDITS | Rise Nation

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see ATHLEISURE LIST | Rise Nation in mag.

ATHLEISURE LIST | FITFIGHTER

FitFighter launched in 2013 with a focus on the fire service as it was founded by Sarah Apgar, Founder and CEO. She is an Iraq Veteran, All-American Athlete, Fitness Professional, Volunteer Fire Fighter and mom of 2 girls. In 2019, it was introduced to the mainstream fitness market with a workout App, certifications for professionals and specified training programs. In 2020, they secured a deal on Shark Tank and has continued to grow from there!

FitFighter's strength system was tied to 8 key categories of training for tactical athletes. When it was used in the firehouse, they realized that this training and style of movement patterns could be utilized across a broad range of applications, from sports performance to conditioning to strength to endurance to physical therapy and any other modality where external load is beneficial. They adapted these programs for coaches, athletes, gyms, and home fitness usage.

The Steelhose was originally created to mimic the feel of a charged fire hose when training firefighters to be ready for their missions. The functionality of Steelhose movements have evolved into an approachable, versatile and modifiable training tool for the general public to build strength for their own personal missions. They come in a variety of sizes from (5lbs - 50lbs) and can be lifted, gripped, slammed, dragged, dropped and moved in various ways. They are great to use regardless of your strength level and fitness experience. These work well with Steelhose! HIIT Training, general strength training, heavy lifting and CrossFit, yoga, pilates, mobility work and stretching.

On Jan 1st, FitFighter Yoga by MelMarie will be available (you can pre-order this starting on Black Friday). This method of yoga is an integrative approach blending the 5 lb Steelhose into dynamic breath-informed stretches and movements to improve mobility and strength, restore the nervous system, and nourish the mind!

A number of classes are offered On Demand, from strength training, mobility, work, HIIT workouts, 'Off the Floor' series, core-focused classes, and yoga. Their FitFighter MoveSTRONG App categorizes workouts in an approachable way so that you can choose your workout according to what you’d like to focus on every day!

There is also an intro series on the App, which is a great place to start for new Steelhose owners! Keep an eye out for new Fit Pro coaches joining the team who will be hosting weekly Live workout classes on our App, so you can work out with the community in real-time!

FITFIGHTER

fitfighter.com

IG @fitfighter

PHOTO CREDITS | FitFighter

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see ATHLEISURE LIST | FitFighter in mag.

BINGELY STREAMING

FLEISHMAN IS IN TROUBLE

Hulu Original

Hulu

We follow along with Toby Fleishman (Jesse Eisenberg) as he navigates being divorced from Rachel (Claire Danes) in Fleishman is in Trouble. This book-turned-series illustrates how he juggles his work, co-parents, reconnects with friends and begins dating in a world that is app based and is very unfamiliar to him.

As he gets a handle on his new status, he realizes that he can't get into a new groove when Rachel disappears and while he tries to keep his kids happy and unaware of what is going on, in order to truly understand what his life has become, he will need to understand what took place in order for his marriage to fall apart. In each episode, we see more clues into how his life unraveled as well as seeing the steps that he makes to create a new way of life that is firmly in his control.

1899

Netflix Original

Netflix

There is nothing like a completely bingeable series that has more twists and turns than you can imagine! 1899 takes us back to this time on a ship that is filled with an array of immigrants from all over the world. At first, this ship and its passengers don't seem to be connected to one another. But as we continue upon their voyage, we realize that they have more in common tham one would have assumed!

The ship is slated to arrive in NY where they will start new lives; however, when the ship comes across a catastrophe and attempts to give aid, the future takes an ominous turn. We realize that nothing is as it seems and that the past is catching up with many people who are trying to leave it behind.

In fact, we see that the future has a much longer time long than expected and that the decisions that we make can place us in a loop of our own making even when we don't realize what has happened.

THE PADDLEFISH CAVIAR

HEIST

Imperative Entertainment

Spotify

When we think about true crime and rings, drugs and diamonds come to mind, but The Paddlefish Caviar Heist brings us to the world of caviar and what the Ozarks have to do with this activity. It is the paddlefish capital of the world! With visitors that are rocking bling, exotic cars and dropping lots of cash for bait and tackle, this quite town becomes the base of an undercover federal sting for an international caviar poaching ring!

Hosted by Helen Hollyman, journalist, editor and cookbook author, she takes us into the culinary world where high taste at any cost comes to a head.

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see Bingely Streaming in mag.

BINGELY BOOKS

BLENDED

Kat Jamieson

Kat Jamieson

There's been some buzz around this wellness lifestyle cookbook from Kat Jamieson of Blended. You may know her from her site, With Love From Kat as she shares a number of looks in neutral tones in style, interiors and where she travels to. But this cookbook, has insights into over 125+ recipes that Kat has created that stem from years of battling various digestive issues she curated this cookbook which has a number of recipes that include those that are gluten, dairy and refined sugar free. We definitely marked a few recipes such as the Pan Roasted Moroccan Chicken Dish, Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese and her dad's Chocolate Cake, Just in time for the holiday season, we imagine that we will be creating a few of these dishes into our rotations as we continue through the holiday season.

EASY SPEEDY VEGAN: 100 QUICK PLANT-BASED RECIPES

Quadrille Publishing

Katy Beskow

We have said this multiple times, including plant-based meals into your diet 2-3 times a week is something that we should all do whether we have a meat-based diet or a number of diets that exist! Whether it's all of the meal or a side dish, it's a nice way to add variety. In Easy Speady Vegan: 100 Quick Plant-Based Recipes, we get access to recipes that take anywhere from 10-30 mintues to make!

This cookbook really gives us a great foundation on Vegan food and the types of ingredients that are found in this food so that you know what you need to stock up on. Katy Beskow even shares tips and techniques that will prove useful as you are making these dishes. We're interested in trying her Garbanzo Beans, Carrot and Olive Salad!

PLAYING THE LONG GAME: A MEMOIR

Random House Canada

Christine Sinclair + Stephen Brunt

Playing the Long Game: A Memoir shares the life of Christine Sinclair, an Olympic soccer gold medalist who is a top international goal scorer of all time and is one of Canada's greatest athletes.

In this memoir, she explores the highs and loves that she has experienced. She focuses on the importance of staying focused regardless of what is happening around you and why team spirit is so important. As a leader in the sport, she also navigates and highlights how the landscape of women's sport is also undergoing changes.

She has played for over 2 decades as the captain of both Canada's national team and the top-ranked Portland Thorns FC in the National Women's Soccer League.

This dynamic athlete is noted to be private and this book provides a number of insights that you may not have heard from her thoughts that have taken place in her journey as well as to her need to inspire and empower those who come up behind her.

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see Bingely Books in mag.

THE ART OF THE SNACK | GG TOKYO

This month, we know that we're in the thick of the holiday season and we need to have our go-to place in mind for after dinner drinks, holiday hangouts and more! We're excited to introduce you and your tastebuds to GG Tokyo and to let you know what you should order when you arrive!

ATHLEISURE MAG: Who is the executive chef of GG Tokyo and can you share his/her background prior to coming to GG Tokyo?

GG TOKYO: The menu was designed by Bryce Shuman, Executive Chef at GG Tokyo and its sister restaurant Sweetbriar, in collaboration with alumni from Shuko, an acclaimed Japanese restaurant in the East Village. The focus of the menu is on having small plates to share with a group of friends over elevated cocktails.

AM: We were near Golden Gai on a trip a few years back but didn’t get to chance to go there at night. Can you set the scene of what makes Golden Gai have a distinctive vibe as it’s an interesting juxtaposition that’s near high rises and step back into another time.

GGT: GG Tokyo consists of 6 alleys with a couple hundred bars, some so small that only a few people can fit in. Tourists are barred from entry at many, and no photos are allowed to be taken anywhere, yet it is a party all the same.

AM: GG Tokyo is located at Park South Hotel and is noted as a jewel-sized izakaya. What is an izakaya and what can you tell us about the décor/ambiance of this spot?

GGT: An Izakaya is a Japanese bar with many offerings from different styles of Japanese cooking. The ambiance of GG Tokyo celebrates art and culture while creating an inspiring place for a meet-up.

We have various pieces of art located throughout the space that were curated for us by local and international artists. Additionally, we work with a few artists who have work on display that rotate seasonally. The décor is modern but minimalistic to shine light on the art, food, and drink.

AM: How would you describe the vibe of GG Tokyo?

GGT: GG Tokyo is great after work/happy hour hang out spot with a fun and lively vibe! We have great drink specials and a prix fixe menu offering!

AM: Cocktails are a major draw when guests come by. Can you tell me about your Beverage Director Ivan Papic and his background prior to coming here?

GGT: Belegrade born Ivan Papic moved to New York in 1998. He fell in love with the industry, first getting a taste as a bar back for the popular Lot 61.

Most notably he has worked with restaurateur Keith McNally at Pastis and Balthazar, at Macao Trading Company, sister bar to Employees Only, and venturing into nightlife with Paul Sevigny at Beatrice Inn, the hardest door in the city, and opening Paul’s Casablanca.

Papic is excited to begin this new chapter acting as Beverage Director at TH/RST Group.

AM: What are 3 cocktails that you suggest that we should try on our next visit?

GGT: Three cocktails that we’d suggest are the Mermaid, Golden Monkey, and Tomodachi.

AM: We assume that you have an interesting sake list – what are 3 that you suggest that we should have?

GGT: The three sake’s that I would recommend are:

Shichi Hon Yari Seven Spearsman, Shiga Saiya Yuki No Bosha Cabin in the Snow, Akita Tatsuriki Kimoto Tokubetsu Junmai, Shizuoka.

AM: If we’re coming for cocktail hour, what are 3 dishes that we should try and what drink should we pair with it?

GGT: Spicy Salmon Hand Roll, Okonomiyaki, Kara-age.

AM: What are 3 appetizers we should have?

GGT: Somen, Gochujang Rice Cakes, Tuna Tartare.

AM: What are 3 main dishes that we should have for dinner that we can enjoy either on our own or to share with friends?

GGT: Three main dishes that we would recommend would be Miso Maple Salmon, Marinated Skirt Steak, Chirashi.

AM: If it’s late-night but we still want to nibble, what do you suggest?

GGT: Anything that’s on the menu; it’s built for that kind of dining.

AM: For those of us that can never get enough sushi, what are rolls that will take our enjoyment of this dish to the next level?

GGT: They are not all rolls, but the GG Roll, Fluke Sashimi, and Crab Pressed Sushi are great picks.

AM: With the holidays upon us, are there events coming up that we should know about? Will you offer a New Year’s Eve promotion etc?

GGT: We will be offering Peking Duck dinners on Christmas Eve and will be throwing a New Years Eve party.

IG @ggtokyo.nyc

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | GG Tokyo

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see THE ART OF THE SNACK | GG Tokyo in mag.

WHERE FOOD IS FAMILY - SERAFINA EXPRESS | VITTORIO ASSAF

Here in NYC, we have a number of restaurants that we enjoy going to that become our neighborhood spots whether we live or work there. One of them is Serafina which is always fun for a lunch meeting, happy hour, celebrating an event or just an average day! We enjoy their menu, the ambiance, the cocktails and the sense that you feel at home regardless of the locations. We've eaten there more times than we can count! We caught up with Vittorio Assaf, founder of Serafina Restaurant Group to talk about this restaurant, their approach to food. We also talked with him about one of their newest additions to the Serafina Family that launched this fall, Serafina Express.

ATHLEISURE MAG: We have been fans of Serafina for well over a decade as the location on W 55th was a go to, countless editor lunches/dinners in Soho and then we attended a media dinner at the location in Tribeca and that became a great go-to as well as location for our cover shoot with the Super Bowl Champs the New England Patriots a few years ago. Before we delve into Serafina Express, can you share with our readers who may not be familiar with Serafina, what kind of cuisine can they expect as well as the atmosphere?

VITTORIO ASSAF: Thank you so much for your loyalty and support, it is overwhelming to read your notes, it make us all very proud and rewards all the efforts and hard work we put into our Serafina Family.

Serafina offers mostly a Northern Italian cuisine that spans as well into Tuscan, Roman (our thin crust pizza) & Neapolitan cuisine.

Common denominator is that we try not to use garlic, with the only exception of a couple of classic dishes like Spaghetti Aglio & Olio Al Pacino, or the Bruschetta.

We also must remember that Italy is a very small country, just about the size of Arizona, and because of proximity many recipes are interconnected from region to region.

AM: I feel that each location has its own vibe and is specific to the neighborhood that it’s in. What factors go into deciding the neighborhood that will be the best fit for the Serafina brand?

VA: We are very proud that each Serafina location shaped its own identity and was able to easily blend and immerse itself into the neighborhood around it.

Most of our locations stem from the multitude of our customers requesting us to come close to where they live. Another factor that plays a role in deciding where we should plant ourselves are statistics, analytics and demographic stats.

AM: Are the menus the same or do the locations have a bit of a twist depending on the one that you’re going to?

VA: The menu is 95% consistent across all locations, with a 5% of variation due to the identity of the neighborhood, many of our customers come for lunch close to their workspaces and come for dinner with their families near their houses, there comes the need to offer a little variation, but at the same time they can still find our staples and their favorites.

AM: What are 3 appetizers whether you’re sitting at the bar or sharing amongst friends that we should get?

VA: Whether you’re sitting at the bar, or sharing amongst friends, our renowned and delicious Black Truffle Pizza can never go wrong. The Bruschetta as well, a dish made with diced tomatoes marinated olive oil for 24 hours, and finally our Carpaccio di Filetto Al Tartufo is phenomenal. Sliced to perfection and coated in a creamy and delicious sauce - it practically melts in your mouth.

AM: What are 3 dishes at Serafina that are a must when you’re coming in for lunch or dinner?

VA: Three dishes that are an absolute when dining at Serafina are the Farfalle al Limoncello, Gnocchi di Mamma and Penne alla Vodka.

AM: In terms of dessert, what are 3 that we should have our eye on?

VA: As for dessert, your eye needs to be on the Berry Tart and Tiramisu. Order the Berry Tart, a Tiramisu and then another Berry Tart for good measure!

AM: I’m always a fan of the cocktails at Serafina and the Tribeca location is always a fave – what are 3 cocktails that we should try?

VA: My go to’s are the Champagne Cocktail, the Jalapeño Margarita and the Strawberry Basil Martini.

AM: We were unable to attend the Grand Opening event for Serafina Express but we know that the offerings there are going to be tasty when we do swing by. What is the thought behind Serafina Express and how is it different from Serafina?

VA: You missed a beautiful night of fun and dancing (and food of course). Next opening let’s make sure you are there! Please let me know when you want to come to Express and I will be there waiting for you with open arms.

Serafina Express was created to meet the needs of those on the go, who refuse to sacrifice quality, even when pressured by the time. With an emphasis on great Italian food & ambiance, value, accessibility, and easy-to-use technology,

Serafina Express is providing the quintessential Serafina experience in a quick and easy manner, while still delivering the Italian elegance they’re known for.

AM: How many Serafina Express locations do you have and are there plans to open more?

VA: Eight locations in total will open in the coming months. There are three already open open at 30 Broad Street, 402 Sixth Avenue and Eighth Street, and 287 Park Avenue South and 22nd Street.

Five more are in the making and in construction as of now: Jackson Avenue and Queens Boulevard; One Gateway Center at Penn Station in Newark; University Place and 12th Street; 84th and Third Avenue; 777 Third Avenue at 48th.

AM: For those who are eating in Serafina Express, can you tell me about the atmosphere?

VA: The atmosphere is relaxed yet upscale but unpretentious

AM: What are 3 pasta dishes that you suggest that we should try at Serafina Express?

VA: Cacio Pepe, Ravioli Pomodorini and the Canelloni.

AM: What are 3 pizzas that we should try?

VA: Margherita with Cherry Tomatoes, Bianca with Arugula and Parmigiano and Buffalo Mozzarella.

AM: Is there a cocktail menu at Serafina Express?

VA: No cocktails, we only serve wine and beer, please stop by for a glass of Rosé Whispering Angel!

AM: What are 3 desserts that you suggest?

VA: The homemade Chocolate Chip Cookie is an absolute favorite, baked twice a day in house, the Baba Al Limoncello, a dessert original from Capri, and obviously the Tiramisu!

AM: Earlier this year, we shared Serafina: Modern Italian Cuisine for Everyday Home Cooking with our readers in our feature known as Bingely Books. Seeing recipes that we have enjoyed from Serafina as well as comfort foods that we can make from home, why did you want to create this book and what were your favorite recipes that are in this book?

VA: Our long overdue cookbook was created to mark 25 years of Serafina. With this book we honored and acknowledged all those who were part of the journey.

IG @vittorioserafina

@serafinanewyork

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Serafina Restaurant Group

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see WHERE FOOD IS FAMILY - SERAFINA EXPRESS | Vittorio Assaf in mag.

CERTIFIED HUMANE | AMERICAN HUMANE

You may have seen American Humane certification logos on a number of foods that you have purchased, but may not have known what that meant. We took some time to chat with Dr. Robin Ganzert President and CEO of the first and oldest organization that focuses on animal welfare whether it's in the movie and film industry or when you're selecting your proteins for your next meal!

Their focus is to ensure that ranchers and farmers are abiding by the standards that they have set with scientists and ethicists that they work with. This job focuses on over 1 billion animals in the world and they continue to look for ways to ensure that they have a humane and better life. In addition, they recently released a cookbook The Humane Table: Cooking with Compassion which not only has a number of recipes to enjoy during the holiday or everyday, but it features producers who have this certification which you can make note of as you shop for your next meals.

ATHLEISURE MAG: You are the President and CEO of American Humane, the country’s first national humane organization and the world’s largest certifier of animal welfare. Can you tell us about what this organization is and what the focus is?

DR. ROBIN GANZERT: Well American Humane was actually founded way back in 1877 so we’re almost 150 years old for our nation’s oldest national humane organization and you know us through our rescue work, our work with the military for service dogs and in particular, with Wounded Warrior – you know us through our work to protect animals in Hollywood’s Film and Television sets.

But you also know us through our farm animal program which was the very first of its kind and the largest in the entire world! We have uplifted the humane treatment of farm animals by ensuring that scientists and ethicists are actually providing standards for farmers and ranchers to aspire to and that’s part of the animal humane certified program!

AM: Wow! What are your roles and responsibilities that you do?

DR. RG: I am the CEO of American Humane, so I get the pleasure of actually overseeing this incredible organization. I wear that heavy mantle of responsibility to ensure that animals around the world have a better and more humane life. So when people, ask me what I do, I lead the compassion movement around the world! I have the opportunity to actually motivate and inspire people to be a voice for the animals. That’s one of the reasons why we created The Humane Table: Cooking with Compassion, so that we could open up that conversation about what it means to be humane on our nation’s farm and ranches and now we can celebrate every season being humane.

AM: What does it mean to be American Humane Certified?

DR. RG: To be American Humane Certified means that farmers and ranchers voluntarily agreed to subscribe to over 200 point standards for each type of animal in food production. So when you think about this, it’s 200 standards that ensure animal welfare is uplifted and is determined to be humane. Those standards are coming from the world’s top leading scientists and ethicists who actually determine what it is to be humane. So it’s rooted in solid science and then American Humane ensures that those standards are upheld on farms and nations around our great country. Again, this is the #1 program of its kind and in fact, if you eat a caged free egg which I hope you do enjoy, 90% of the entire cage free egg marketplace is American Humane Certified and we just recently did a survey and we wanted to see if this was a value set – cooking with compassion – that consumers connected with. So we did a survey and we found that 67% of those respondents said that they would want humanely raised products and 70% said that they would choose an American Humane Certified product over one that wasn’t certified. So it tells me that many people and families are coming across their dining room table and are sitting there having discussions about whether or not their protein is ethically sourced and humanely raised. That’s why this program exists and it provides consumers with assurances that animals were humanely treated and importantly, I think that it shows values across our entire civilization and indeed our communities.

AM: Well, I know from a personal standpoint, I have always wanted to make sure that I was eating things that were raised responsibly and having that element.

Obviously it’s always been something that we have promoted! I had no idea that what you guys do, also goes into the film industry as well! This is a massive job!

DR. RG: Yes, we’re the largest certifier of animals around the entire world. I go to bed every night worries about 1.2 billion animals under our care through certification programs, through rescue and other initiatives that we do around the world. 1.2 billion. But yet, my wonderful mother always reminds me there are billions more that need to be certified by American Humane, protected by our science and evidence programs and that’s my mission and that the mission of everyone who works at American Humane.

AM: Tell us about the Humane Table: Cooking with Compassion and what are some of the recipes that are in there that are perfect for the upcoming holiday season?

DR. RG: Thank you for asking! Many of the recipes are from my home, so it’s a very personal effort and I love to cook and entertain and I always love to bring up the topic of what it is to be humane by what we are enjoying on our dining room tables. It’s an important value set and to be able to have those conversations across generations is critical.

So the Humane Table for Thanksgiving holidays would include an incredible Butterball turkey that I will be serving. It’s actually roasted with a beautiful whole butter and citrus sauce. It’s gorgeous, herbs are on the side and it’s a beautiful centerpiece for anyone’s dinner table. I love love love the roasted vegetable and tomato souffle! This features Eggland's Best eggs in it. It’s gorgeous and it makes a great vegetable offering. For every night, there are incredible recipes such as Crispy Pan Roasted Chicken – it’s easy to make and gorgeous. I also again, love to have appetizers like these Pesto Deviled Eggs that I love to make, Sheep Cheese Bruschetta that’s delicious and makes for a great tray when you have guests over during the holiday season for cocktails and beautiful appetizers. The Sheep Cheese Bruschetta is incredible! But this holiday season, I’m changing it up! No more Pecan or Pumpkin Pies for my house! We’re going to do a Carrot Cake so that everyone gets their own mini cake. They’re gorgeous and it’s American Humane certified in terms of the butter and all of the goodies in that beautiful Carrot Cake. So for our Humane Table, we love to celebrate cooking with compassion and having those conversations with people that we entertain – families and friends.

AM: Why was it important for you to create this cookbook and although this is the 1st one, will there be future ones as well?

DR. RG: You betcha on future cookbooks! Actually, there are so many recipes that we want to share with our families and friends and again, it’s about celebrating what is humane and ethically sourced and raised proteins. So there will definitely be more and more cookbooks. But as I look at this wonderful opportunity to celebrate the holidays, we see this as a way to celebrate every holiday season and every day with what it means to be humane. So there are great recipes that are here and there will be another volume in a year or two or so and there’s much for us to do that we can celebrate.

AM: What is the process of giving certification to farmers, ranchers and food producers? If someone is in the food space/food supply chain and wants to have this certification, how do they go about getting that from you?

DR. RG: I love that question, thank you! Farmers and ranchers volunteer to be American Humane Certified. They come to us, they agree to comply to the 200 point standard sets that are created by leading scientists and ethicists. They contact our farm team and our farm team is happy to schedule conversations to showcase what those 200 point standards are and you can visit our website at AmericanHumane.org to see our standards for the Humane Heartland, for our Farm Program and you can actually see what it is to be humane for a chicken, for a cow and it’s wonderful. We’ve also recently launched Aquaculture. There’s a lot of fish in our diet recently and so we do have some salmon recipes in the Humane Table and we’re looking forward to certifying Aquaculture! Those animals and all animals deserve humane life and that’s our mission and we’re here to oversee and to make sure that that happens.

IG @americanhumane

PHOTO COURTESY | American Humane

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see CERTIFIED HUMANE | American Humane in mag.

KITCHEN THERAPY | KATIE LEE BIEGEL

It's all about the approach to food whether you're making it or enjoying it. We've been fans of Katie Lee Biegel for a number of years as we love how she simply enjoys telling her story through food. With a hectic holiday season upon us, we wanted to chat with her to talk about her love of food, being a co-host on The Kitchen, partaking in Kitchen Therapy as a form of self-care and her thoughts on her bestselling book being turned into a film on the Hallmark channel!

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you realize you wanted to work in food?

KATIE LEE BIEGEL: I don’t consider myself a chef, I consider myself a home cook that likes to share what I know. I grew up in my Grandma’s kitchen. I’ve always been cooking my whole life and I realized that I could make it a career, probably 20 years ago when I was in college. I started thinking that this was what I wanted to do and I have been fortunate enough to be able to make it my life’s work and it’s also my hobby and I love to cook!

AM: Which is awesome and we always love seeing you in different shows as you make food so approachable. Love seeing you on The Kitchen, what drew you to want to be on that show?

KLB: Oh gosh, The Kitchen is a dream come true! We’ve been doing that show for almost 10 years now! It’s the best thing that ever happened to me professionally. Those are my people and we have such a good time, we have become family. But it’s also our viewers as well. We have such a loyal following and I love hearing from our viewers on social media. Especially at this time of year, the holidays are when everyone is in the kitchen, everybody is cooking and it's our busiest time. I really believe in making and cooking with an enjoyable experience with people. It doesn’t have to be stressful. I teamed up with Sub-Zero, Wolf and Cove for this Kitchen Therapy initiative which I am so into. I like during the holidays to carve out some me time and to go to the kitchen. It's actually my form of self-care by having those moments of peace in the kitchen when everything else about the holidays can be chaotic.

AM: I love that you say that. I never thought of self-care happening in the kitchen so when I heard about it, I knew that I wanted to know more about this as we’re all about wellness and bringing self-care to other areas, so why not here? Tell me more about your partnership with Sub-Zero, Wolf & Cove.

KLB: I learned that 95% of Americans find cooking to be calming. That actually surprised me because you hear a lot of people getting stressed out about food and what they are cooking. I think when it comes to holiday cooking especially, it’s about making a game plan and carving out that time in your schedule as opposed to waiting until the last minute. I always wait to the last minute to buy gifts and then I’m totally stressed. I got the kitchen part down, I just need to get the gift buying part down and maybe I would have a stress free holiday!

I think that when you can carve out that time and get in the kitchen, whether you’re putting on your favorite music or turning on a holiday movie that you love to watch while you cook or open a bottle of wine if you like. It’s about having that time that’s yours. For me, I get that sense of contentment that I am cooking for my family and loved ones. It makes me feel good, especially if I’m not in a rush.

AM: Why do you think it’s so important that we all need to find ways to do Kitchen Therapy?

KLB: Well I mean, food is what nourishes our bodies right? When you’re taking the time to cook good nourishing food, I think that you’re going to feel good about it. I just did a renovation and I’m here in my kitchen in NYC.

AM: Which is beautiful!

KLB: Thank you! I got my favorite appliances. I got my Sub-Zero fridge, I got my Wolf Range Oven and my Cove Dishwasher. I think that having those appliances that really do their jobs effectively and efficiently makes me feel a sense of ease as well in the kitchen.

AM: Well how can we make cooking an escape from the stress? What are tips that you suggest? Someone such as yourself has already adopted it, but what can people do that makes it a lot easier for them?

KLB: I’m a big believer in making lists. If it’s not written down, I don’t remember it. So I write out my menu, I write out everything that I am going to need to buy at the store and I shop in advance. I know that the refrigerator is going to keep things fresh so I do a lot of cooking in advance as well. Whether it’s making my dressing a couple of days ahead of time and storing it in there. I have a bread pudding back there on the stove. Bread pudding is a fantastic dessert to make in advance, to keep it in the fridge and then to pop it in the oven before dessert time. I can’t stress enough to plan ahead before the holidays.

AM: What are some of your favorite recipes to make especially with these amazing appliances that you have?

KLB: Oh some of my favorite recipes! I’ve got so many! I always look forward to making my Thanksgiving turkey. Some people are intimidated by the turkey, we always joke that it’s a big chicken! Again, allow yourself some time with the turkey.If you have a frozen turkey, allow yourself 1 day for every 5lbs to thaw in your refrigerator. Then I like to do an herb butter under the skin and I do a dry brine and put it back in the refrigerator and then I let it sit out for an hour to come to room temperature before putting it in the oven. Then it’s going to need a good hour to rest after it has come out of the oven. So think about what time you want to start serving your Thanksgiving dinner and work backwards from there.

AM: What plans do you have for the holiday season and what does Katie Lee’s kitchen serving and doing?

KLB: We’ve got a jam packed holiday season! We moved into our new place in the city and we invited my husband’s family to come for Thanksgiving. He has a big family and we’ve got a lot of plans! So, I definitely have to cook in advance. We’ve got plans to go to the Museum of Natural History, we’re going to do a pizza party at one of our favorite places the night before Thanksgiving so that I’m not cooking the night before Thanksgiving. We’re going to the Thanksgiving Day Parade and then we’ve got plans to see the Radio City Rockettes. We’ve got all kinds of plans. We’re going to do a Chinatown night – super excited for it! But I’ve been thinking a lot about our meal and how I am going to time that out. I’m actually going to start cooking on Mon of Thanksgiving week.

AM: Wow! That’s smart!

You’re also the Executive Producer for the Hallmark film, Groundswell which is based on your bestselling debut novel. How exciting has this been for you to be part of this and to see your book become this whole other thing?

KLB: I enjoyed working with Hallmark so much. It was really a dream come true to see my book become a film and it had been a really long time. That book came out in 2011 and I certainly wasn’t expecting that in 2022, to have it become a movie! So it just goes to show that anything can happen!

AM: Exactly!

What are you excited about for the upcoming year as we’re closing this one out which seems crazy to say! Is there anything that we should keep an eye out for?

KLB: I’m really focused on my daughter, I have a 2 year old and she’s going to nursery school this year, so I’m really enjoying all of the things with her school and participating in holiday events with her. As far as professionally, continuing on with The Kitchen, we are in production all year long so I’m constantly writing recipes for The Kitchen and I’d like to do something again in the scripted world. So we’ll see if it’s another movie or if I start writing another book. I’m not exactly sure, but I want to be able to get those creative juices flowing again! I think that when we first become moms, it’s like that part of your brain turns off, because you’re so focused on your child, your baby and now she’s getting to the point where I can begin to start thinking of other things!

AM: Does she help you in the kitchen as well?

KLB: She loves to be in the kitchen and she definitely helps a lot in making messes!

AM: Every little bit helps and that’s why you plan as you know there will be 20mins of “uh-oh!”

KLB: There’s definitely some extra clean up, but it’s so worth it and so much fun!

Katie Lee Biegel is known for having the perfect recipe and especially during the holiday season, she wanted to share her Pumpkin and Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding that she was talking about that could be made ahead and then heated up when friends and family come over for holiday festivities!

PUMPKIN AND CHOCOLATE CROISSANT BREAD PUDDING

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray, for the baking dish

• 6 large eggs

• 3 cups half-and-half

• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 6 chocolate croissants, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

• Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, for serving (optional)

• Hot fudge sauce

• Caramel sauce

Directions:

1. Spray an 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, half-and-half, pumpkin, sugar, salt, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and vanilla. Add the croissant pieces and chocolate chunks and toss to coat. Transfer to the prepared baking dish. Press the mixture down into the pan. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to overnight to allow the liquid to be absorbed.

3. Preheat the oven to 350° F.

4. Bake until golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes. Serve hot with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if desired. Drizzle with hot fudge sauce and caramel sauce.

IG @katieleebiegel

@subzeroandwolf

PHOTOGRAPHY COURESY | Katie Lee

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see KITCHEN THERAPY | Katie Lee Biegel in mag.

TALES OF THE MOCKTAIL | CHEF JORDAN ANDINO

We always love catching up with Chef/Restaurateur Chef Jordan Andino of big Flip Sigi here in NYC! In addition to bringing Filipino flavors and a great personality that you can see on a number of his shows, he is always working on his latest project that is bound to be exciting!

We caught up with him ahead of his newest show he's hosting on Netflix, Cook at All Costs on Dec 16th, to talk about his partnership with Allstate! The rise of mocktails has increased for those that don't drink alcohol or are the designated driver. He shares a recipe with us as well as how you can enter to win a limited-edition Allstate Good Sips mocktail kit with ingredients, tools and more. The kits are available in limited quantity via sweepstakes now through Dec 8th and you can enter and find out more on their Instagram post!

ATHLEISURE MAG: Obviously you know we are fans of yours and we loved having you as our NOV ISSUE 2018 cover as well as other times you’ve popped up! What is it about the holiday season that you love?

CHEF JORDAN ANDINO: Well listen, I love a lot of things obviously hearing your voice and seeing you again! But really for me, the best thing about the holidays is the fact that you get to be with people and you know, just really celebrate life and celebrate relationships that have really been building throughout the year. Because of that, a lot of people don’t realize that you’re sharing a lot of these times together and you really want to keep the roads safe and that’s why I’m here because Allstate has this legacy for safe driving advocacy and we’ve seen a big growing rise in popularity of mocktails. So they took that and used this climate to help promote safe driving for the entire holiday season.

AM: That’s great to hear and it’s crazy how the mocktail scene has just increased in general whether it’s restaurants adding more interesting cocktails or destinations that only serve them. What can you tell us about mocktails in general for those that may not be familiar with this?

CHEF JA: Ok, so everyone, mocktails is a cocktail without the alcohol. So let’s just put that out there. So then everyone says, why would you have a cocktail without the alcohol? Because! What a lot of people don’t realize is that you drink a cocktail because it will give you a head buzz and it will make you feel all loopy and whatever, but you know what? That’s not the main point! It’s because it’s a social drink and it’s fun to have a cocktail and to be out with people. So now, the alternative to cocktails and in this case, mocktails, are being made so that people can still be out, socialize, enjoy everything that is around you with other people, but all the while ensuring that you will get home safe.

So here, the Allstate Mocktail Collection gives people non-alcoholic options to enjoy not just now during the holidays, but year around as well.

AM: I know that you have created some signature mocktails. What do you suggest that we can have with our friends and family?

CHEF JA: There’s 3 of them that I created. So the 1st one is the 10 and 2. It’s an alcohol free version of an Old Fashioned. Then there’s the Silver Sage, a festive gin inspired one with cranberry, sage and a serrano pepper simple syrup, soda water and of course a sage leaf as a garnish. But the one that I am going to show you is the most important one which is this one right here. This is the Safetini. It’s like a non-alcoholic take on a classic Martini in this beautiful Allstate Blue.

I’m going to make it for you and it’s pretty simple! All you have to do is start with this lovely shaker which I need you to ask me about later so that we can touch on this. You have this shaker with a little bit of ice in it and what we’re going to do is we are going to take one measurement of the blue Curaçao syrup – this is going to give you the sweetness that you need in a drink and it also gives you that blue and a bit of aromatic. Then you're going to have another pour of the lime juice. The lime juice is really going to help you balance the entire drink and to make it delicious and then we’re going to take some mint. The mint has some elements that is two fold it will keep you concentrated, but not just that. It will also keep your drink minty fresh and delicious. So now we’re going to put on the lid and we’re going to shake and now it feels like I’m just the bartender making you drinks like we did before when you came to the restaurant. So take the lid off after shaking and you get that amazing Allstate Blue. Now we’ll top it off with a bit of soda water and there’s your drink with some cranberries right inside and of course a nice sprig of mint to really drive that home – it’s so delicious.

AM: Definitely looks like a fun drink and it’s great that you brought the point home that grabbing a drink is a social type of thing and whether you don’t drink alcohol at all or you are the designated driver, you still want to feel like you have something fun and Instagramable that you can take a picture of but knowing that there isn’t alcohol in there.

You were talking about this shaker – what’s going on with that?

CHEF JA: Ok I appreciate that pitch right there! Starting today, you can visit Allstate’s Instagram page for a chance to win a limited edition Good Sip Mocktail Kit. It comes with all of the ingredients and of course, the highlight of it is this amazing golden shaker! It’s so pretty and it’s perfect for the holidays. You can mix everything and anything in here and it’s a great way to serve up drinks and all the while, there’s no booze in here which means all of the roads are going to be safe thanks to Allstate.

AM: Love that and because I know you’re always on the move and have something going on – you have Flip Sigi, you’ve opened up various locations and you’re always on Food Network as a judge or a host, you’re hosting Cook at All Cost which is coming up on Netflix next month, what can you tell us about this show?

CHEF JA: That’s right! I’m very fortunate, very happy, very grateful! It’s called, Cook at All Costs and it airs on Netflix on Dec 16th – 8 episodes that will be released internationally to every Netflix account in the world! It’s a cooking competition, 3 home cooks are given $25,000 to start at the beginning. They go through 2 rounds that are 45 mins each and they use that money to bid on ingredients that will help them elevate their dish. Then the trick is, whatever money they don’t spend is the money that they take home if they win! It’s a fun kind of strategic part of it. I’m the chef and I go into auction mode so – I’m the chef, I’m the host, I’m the auctioneer and it’s so much fun and I can’t wait for y’all to see it.

AM: That’s super exciting is there anything else that you want us to keep an eye out for? I’m waiting to see when you’re going to be making a cookbook!

CHEF JA: Ok listen, unfortunately cookbooks take 2 years! Believe me, cookbook is in the works! If you really want to know, I have another restaurant opening in the West Village it’s called Carriage House. I’m really excited and it’s actually American Home Style fine dining and we’re launching that right after Thanksgiving! So stay tuned for that as well. It’s a busy busy year!

IG @fork_knife

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Chef Jordan Andino

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see TALES OF THE MOCKTAIL | Chef Jordan Andino in mag.

63MIX ROUTIN3S | RANDY HETRICK

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see 63MIX ROUTIN3S | Randy Hetrick in mag.

63MIX ROUTIN3S | JACK DALY

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see 63MIX ROUTIN3S | Jack Daly in mag.

9PLAYLIST | DR. PHUNK

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | DR. PHUNK in mag.

9LOOKS | ALIEVA

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see 9LOOKS | Alieva in mag.

9LIST STORI3S | TELLI SWIFT

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see 9LIST STORI3S | Telli Swift in mag.

HOW TO DRESS | FOR HOLIDAY MORNING MEALS

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see HOW TO DRESS | For Holiday Morning Meals in mag.

#TRIBEGOALS

Read the NOV ISSUE #83 of Athleisure Mag and see #TRIBEGOALS in mag.