CURLING NATION | MATT HAMILTON

For the past decade or so, we have been fans of curling. We find it so calming to watch the stones glide across the ice, while also feeling all of the anxious feels of the frantic sweeping that takes place. It’s such a fun sport to watch and we’ve always been fans of Matt Hamilton, who as a member of the Men’s Team USA Curling where he helped secure the first-ever curling gold medal for the US at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games, and he also competed the following year at the Winter Games in 2022.

We took some time to hang out with Matt to talk about curling, dynamics of the game, his partnership with Swiffer, and how important it is to him to grow this sport, which has been on the rise!

ATHLEISURE MAG: Matt, it is so good to connect with you! We are such a fan of curling. Love the sport, seeing you play, and it’s good to talk with you today.

MATT HAMILTON: Thank you! It’s a lot of fun to play. So you should, you should find a place and get into it. It’s way more fun than just watching.

AM: Whenever it’s on, it’s always something that we love watching. It looks like it’s a lot of work to see athletes really working those stones to get them across the ice. So, I don’t know how good we’d be on that front, but we love the camaraderie and the emotions involved!

When did you fall in love with curling, and when did you think about it as a career?

MH: So, I fell in love with curling - I first was exposed to it in, like, 2003, my dad was doing it, but I was like a 12-year-old kid. So, like, what is Dad’s doing, that’s an old man’s sport?

AM: Right.

MH: I don’t want to play that and literally, a couple months later, one of my buddies asked me if I wanted to do it. So then it was like, oh yeah, it’s cool!

AM: Haha right!

MH: Absolutely. Sorry, Dad. It just took a little extra push. And I would say it would have been four years after that. I got picked up on the defending US National Junior team and we ended up going to Worlds that year, and we won the World Championships. So, that’s when I was kind of like, these are all my peers, like if I can beat them now, as long as I stick with it, there’s no reason I can’t beat them. You know, in an Olympics, if I, if I ever make one, so I just got to make sure I keep practicing stay with it. That’s when I was like, convinced I wanted to do it. I will say there’s there’s no such thing as a professional curler in the United States.

AM: We can imagine.

MH: Right? I have a regular job, then I have curling, and I have social media stuff. I’m definitely a regular guy, I have a fairly normal job, I work on radio and I have my own radio show (Editor’s Note: Jim, Matt, and Molly is an afternoon sports-comedy radio show on 100.5 ESPN Madison as well as being available as a podcast – the hosts are Matt, Jim Rutledge, and Molly Brown). It’s, it’s fun to say, I’m a professional curler, but if you want to be correct – it’s semi-pro because curling is not as lucrative as basketball or football.

AM: Well, that is true.

For those that may not be familiar with the sport, can you kind of tell us about the mechanics, and what position you play and how do you score points and ultimately, how do you win?

MH: So, during the 2018 Olympics, I was the second, which means I throw second. There’s 8 stones per team, and you alternate throwing. Right now, what they do to start the game is they throw a draw, which is like a rock that stops in play.

They try and run as close as they can to the center, and then they measure it, and whoever gets the closest gets to go last, which is called the hammer. It’s the last shot. If you have the last shot, you should score. That’s the theory behind it. There’s these 12 foot rings, and it looks like a target or a bullseye. One of the big misconceptions is the rings don’t mean anything like being right in the middle of the bullseye is no different than just barely touching the edge. The goal of the game is to get as many of your rocks closer to that middle, then the opponent’s closest stone.

AM: Right.

MH: So if you don’t have any in the rings, mine could be anywhere they’re worth a point. The rings are actually there visually during the game as you’re strategizing how to score and where to put rocks. I can look down from the top and try and visually see which one’s closer. If it was just a big circle with a hole in the middle, it would be very hard to tell. So now, those rings are just like reference points so I can make that quicker decision at which one’s closer and why I would play one shot versus another.

AM: We always like asking when you have athletes that are doing a particular sport, what are the workouts that you do to optimize yourself in that sport? As mentioned at the top, there is a lot of upper body strength that’s going on, and so are there things that you do for that?

MH: For me and my position at second, I’ll throw 2 of the 8 rocks, but I sweep for the other 6.

AM: Right.

MH: So, there’s a lot of, sweeping involved, and it’s way more physically demanding than most people think. Maybe that’s a credit to us, like athletes everywhere, like when you’re very, very good at something, you make it look easy. That’s definitely the case in curling with sweeping. So for me, it’s a lot of back, shoulders and pectoral muscles. So I do obviously work on everything. Your legs are important because you gotta drive out of the hack (Editor’s Note: A rubber block embedded in the ice at each end of the rink, which curlers use to push off from to gain momentum for their delivery). The core strength for balance, and maintaining while you’re sweeping which is super important.

Well, the biggest thing I think is different about curlers is a lot of, like interval training, so sweeping is something you do during the shot, right? A shot could be up to 30 seconds long, so you might have to be going in like sweeping as hard as you can for 30 seconds.

AM: Yeah.

MH: You know, I would say to anybody, do something physical for 30 seconds straight, like you will be out of breath!

AM: Right!

MH: The other team has to throw, and then you’re right back at it. So you might have to sweep another one right away for another 30 seconds. You might have to throw, and then you have a finesse shot something where you need a lot of finesse and touch. If your heart rate’s at a buck 60, it is not easy to throw that finesse shot - you got endorphins and adrenaline running. Like, that’s not easy. So for us, it’s a lot of interval or circuit training where I might not go with the highest weights, but I’m gonna go for a minute doing whatever. Maybe it’s rowing as fast as I can, and I’m going to take about a minute to try and recover, and then do it again or go to the next exercise, and do that for a minute. So rather than rep based, it’s time based workouts.

AM: We have such a respect, because when we’re watching it, you see all of that and although it would be great to try it, we realize there is so much sweeping across the ice. Ours arms ache every time we see it as it is very intense, but it’s very cool.

MH: The beauty of this partnership that I’ve got with Swiffer is that I sweep really hard when I am on the ice, but when I’m at home, I don’t need to sweep that hard with the Swiffer it’s way easier. I prefer sweeping at home, then I do on the ice, that’s for sure.

AM: Plus, when you guys are on the knees and going in, we always think about people with knee issues. But it is so exciting to watch it and even with all of the action and the precision, it is very calming, while being aggressive as you mentioned with the intervals on and off.

So you competed in 2018 at the Olympics and won Gold, and you also competed in 2022, and you have a gold medal as well. What does it mean to you to play on such a global stage at the Olympics?

MH: It’s an honor and it’s such a privilege to get to represent the United States and with curling being such a unique sport, what other sports do you have the athletes mic’d up where you can hear everything that I am saying and I am not wearing a helmet. You can see my face. You can see the expressions and I really feel like our sport really shows the emotion and feelings of players, in game. Having the opportunity to represent, like myself, on the world stage, but also like the United States and trying to convey that we’re regular people and really awesome people that just want to put on a show and play at a high level, I think it is great. Pressure is a privilege, so having that opportunity - there was a lot of pressure, but it was thrilling and I wouldn’t obviously change it for the world.

AM: Although you’re not competing this year at the Olympics, do you plan on trying again for 2030?

MH: I’m a little up in the air on that. I think I have the juice to keep going. The problem is, I think, some of my teammates are going to retire and I’m an old guy, so I don’t know how much young guys are going to want to play with an old dude. We’re gonna see how things shake up. The team that went to the Olympics are good friends of ours. I actually talked for like an hour with a couple of the guys, just like how to pack for the Olympics, things to expect, how I dealt with media, and social media. People can be pretty brutal on social media too. I gave a good fair warning, and so hopefully they’ll ask me to play with them next year, but who knows? It’s up in the air. I think I’d like to play, but I’ve got a lot of, life changes coming up. We’ve got a kid on the way.

AM: Oh, congrats!

MH: My first one! I’m super excited about that. So we’ll see how that carves my time up. I don’t want to go into a potential Olympic run and not be able to give it my all. There’s a lot of things that I’m weighing back and forth right now.

AM: Well, you clearly have a passion for the sport. How are you working to pass it on to that next generation? When we think about when we first heard of curling, which has been over a decade as we started watching in 2012 and to see where it is now - a lot of people are aware of it and are playing it. Truthfully in the beginning we were always looking for Matt with the hair. What are you doing to keep people aware of it and to encourage them to play it?

MH: I mean, part of it is just playing it and self-promotion. I got a lot of good followers from the Olympics and because curling is always on my mind, it ends up being on my timeline. So I think that really helps. Getting that Gold medal and seeing the way curling blew up in the United States – I think that after the 2018 Olympics, there’s 10 to 15 new curling clubs that popped up in the United States. 8 or 9 of them were all in the South where you would not expect a curling club.

AM: Wow, not at all!

MH: Texas has a couple Arizona’s got one, Southern California’s got a club. Both the Carolinas have a club. Florida’s got a group, so like places you wouldn’t expect an ice sport. They are picking up and getting into curling, so being on the forefront of that curling explosion in the U.S. It’s been amazing so! Basically, what I tell everybody. It’s an amazing game. You can use it as something to get through the winter, that’s why my dad did it. He didn’t really like bowling, so it was a good way for him to look forward to something each week and get through the winter and it makes the time go by. Or, you could do what I did and be like, I’m all in. Yeah, I want to practice every day. I want to hit the gym. I want to travel to Canada, Europe, and Asia for curling tournaments and everywhere in between. There’s so much room for athletes of every level at curling that it really is such a great sport, and it’s so inclusive.

There’s common interest in the sport, but part of like the roots of the game is, when you’re done, you sit down with the other team and talk about life. Talk about the game, talk about curling the camaraderie. You kind of feel that sense of family with curling outside of just your direct teammates, so that’s what I think is really the most appealing part and why I would pitch this to people. If you’re looking for some of that camaraderie, meet new people in a town or just try something new, it’s just unparallel.

AM: And you mentioned Swiffer earlier, what does that partnership look like, and what are you doing with them?

MH: So super excited! After the 2018 Olympics, I would get people who dressed their kids up like me, and I got videos of people throwing random things on ice and using a Swiffer to sweep in front of it. So, when they finally contacted me, I was like, it’s about time!

AM: Exactly!

MH: This has been a match made in heaven for a long time. I was super excited, and they came here to my house. We did some filming, and I would spill stuff, and I used their Power Mop to clean up some of my messes. There’s no movie magic going on there. I just use the mop the way you normally would, and it was fantastic. It picked everything up and I got to try the new exclusive one, which is 10,000 scrubbing dots to help you pick up all the dirt and grime, and it does exactly what they advertised it to do. It is, it is an all-in-one cleaning system. So, I’m stoked on it because I got a bunch of stuff down in the basement for a future messes, but it was a great time and we cut up all the videos and I’ve seen them all and they’re hilarious. They’re very much my taste and show my personality, but the sweeping on the ice and sweeping at home is just so similar, and it’s just hilarious how this all worked out. I am so fortunate to be able to work with such a great group like Swiffer, because not only they’re quitting products work great, they see the humor in it and we had a great time!

IG @hamscurl

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 94 ©2022 – IOC/Michael Smith – All rights reserved | PG 97 ©2022/International Olympic Committee (IOC)/PARR, Abbie (photographe Beijing 2022) |
Read the FEB ISSUE #122 of Athleisure Mag and see CURLING NATURE | Matt Hamilton in mag.

ON THE BLADES | STARR ANDREWS

The Olympics has so many components, from those that are qualified to hit the podium, alternates that are ready in case they need to step in, coaches/support teams, and a host of volunteers! We sat down with Starr Andrews who is an alternate for Team USA Figure Skating for the Winter Games 2026. We talked with her about the sport, how she trains, selects the components of her program, being an alternate, and more!

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in love with skating?

STARR ANDREWS: Definitely when I first saw it. The first time that I ever saw skating is when I thought that it was just so cool and as a child when you see something, you just think, I love that! I was so little, but I have always loved it.

AM: Did you first see it on TV or was it in person?

SA: I saw my mom skate.

AM: When we’re watching ice skating, there is an intricate blend of the music, costuming, and various movements that take place within your routine. When you are thinking about what your routine where do you start and how does it all come together?

SA: It’s kind of a process. When I pick my music, I listen to different things and then I play it in my rink to hear what it sounds like on the big speakers. Sometimes I like it and sometimes I don’t. I’ll ask my coaches opinions as well. He will either be with me or he’ll be like, “maybe not.” One time he said, this sounds better in my car and I took that as a no. The music comes first and then the costume. I pull inspiration from different designers and different pieces. Sometimes if I am skating to music in a movie, it will be inspo from that movie or a music video. So if I like something, we will take something from the outfit that she wore in her music video and to see what it would look like in dress form. With choreography It’s up to my coach Derrick Delmore or Adam Rippon (1B), he did my short the past 3 years. It will be on them and I have a bit of say so and I add a bit of my touches to them, but it is mostly my coach who has the power of the program.

AM: We always enjoy hearing about how athletes optimize themselves in their sport. Are there 3 workout routines that you do to assist you when you are on the ice?

SA: We do a lot of specific exercises of course – single leg calf raises are important. That’s because our ankles need to be strong. I also do a lot of ankle exercises with bands because we are jumping on one foot and landing on one foot and our ankles need to be strong because we are landing on a blade and there is only so much you can go left or right before you’re deeply hurting your ankle. It’s very important that we are very strong ankle wise.

Our core is very important to be strong and we do a lot of core exercises just to keep it tight because it is the center of everything. If we have a loose core it’s easy to go sideways, forwards, and backwards.

AM: In general, as you are an alternate for Team USA, as well as watching everything that is going on, what makes you the most excited for the Winter Games and is there anyone specifically that you are cheering on?

SA: Of course, I am cheering on my team members – let’s go Team USA! I was just watching ice dancing yesterday and they were all amazing! It was just a different atmosphere watching the Olympics and seeing everyone skate! I have skated with them at Nationals and have seen them there as well as getting to the Olympics knowing how hard we have all worked! It makes me happy and so proud of them and for them to be able to go out there and to skate! I’m living vicariously through them and seeing their dream! Every game is different and I have watched a lot of Olympic games. I don’t know, it hits different when some of the colleagues that are there are people that I have hung out with, we have talked about skating and a bunch of different things. To see them and know who they are as a person makes me happy and I love that they are living their best life and it is so cool!

AM: We know that we will be seeing you there soon!

SA: Oh yes! I am working even harder! I seriously have FOMO right now as I want to walk around the village and see all of the things! It makes me happy that they are experiencing it.

AM: When you’re competing, do you have things that you do earlier in the day to get into the mindset of performing, and then are there things that you do to come down from all of that energy?

SA: I would say that I try to make my day as normal as possible. The reality is that it is a normal day, I just get to perform my entire program in front of judges instead of just at home in front of my coach. When I was younger, I had a little more of a tradition such as if I skated later in the day, I had spaghetti before I skated. If it was in the morning, I would always have pancakes. So that was a tradition that I had, but now I make it as normal as possible. Now I know that I just need to put my dress on and just skate as opposed to putting on leggings and a Lululemon top and just skate at home.

AM: What is your beauty routine like and what part of it assists you in ice skating?

SA: So, I would definitely say that I have very dry skin. I moisturize to the gods because my skin sucks it all in like there is no tomorrow! I always have Chapstick on because I just can’t have dry lips. I am a lip product fanatic and I have so many and I can’t deal with dry lips and I hate the idea of dryness so moisturizing is king! In the morning, I put so many things on and the last thing is an oil based sunscreen. After my skin gets nice and thick, I love it.

AM: You have partnered with Gillette Venus, why did you want to connect with them and what are you doing with them?

SA: I have loved them before I connected with them as I used the razors. I love them! I found out that they have even more razors than I know like pubic hair razors – gamechanger! I love the fact that it is small and it’s easy to travel with it. It has this 1 razor on top that is like a trimming razor and I love that they have it. I feel that sometimes it’s hard to use razors that don’t have it because the small areas that I have it really can be focused on by having it. I am obsessed with it and I like how it is very grippy. Most razors have just the thumb that you can hold it. This one doesn’t slip at all. All razors should have this, especially when you’re in the shower and there is water!

AM: What can we keep an eye out for?

SA: I don’t have any competitions for me right now because I am an alternate for the Olympics as well as Worlds. We’ll see what happens with that. My last competitions was 2-3 weeks ago so I am just training and enjoying watching the Olympics! Make sure to follow me socially as I’m always updating my status as they say on Instagram!

IG @starrandrews

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Melanie Heaney/U.S. Figure Skating

JAMIE ANDERSON | DEFYING GRAVITY

One of the most decorated women’s snowboarders is none other than 3X Team USA Snowboarding Olympic Medalist and 21X X Games Medalist, Jamie Anderson. With a number of accolades under her board, she owns the most X Games hardware of any female athlete and the second most Winter medals of any athlete! She’s a 5X ESPY Female Action Sports Award Winner, is an 11 career World Cup winner, has 8 career U.S. Open wins, and wins across every other major action sports series in the last 2 decades! She has even joined X Games League Winter Founder Athletes ahead of the Winter League debut in 2027.

We wanted to know more about this phenomenal athlete, her passion for the sport, how she approaches snowboarding, and competing at Rockstar Energy Open last year, as well as the X Games which took place this month.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Do you remember your first moment on a snowboard and when did you fall in love with it?

JAMIE ANDERSON: I fell in love with snowboarding when I was 9 years old. My two sisters had started the season or two before, and as soon as I fit into their hand me downs, my mom took me to Sierra Tahoe and I had a ski school lesson. I remember it being super difficult at first, but later that day or the following day, I remember it clicking and being able to kind of ride and do my turns and that’s the moment I really fell in love with snowboarding and just having that freedom being on the mountain, exploring, riding trails through the woods. It brought me so much joy and presentess - just being in the moment. And literally almost 30 years later, I still just absolutely love snowboarding.

AM: When did you realize that you wanted to go pro?

JA: I would say relatively early, I think by 12 years old, I had a few years under my belt and I was starting to compete in amateur events right away. I really loved it and loved the whole industry. When I was 13, is when I qualified for my first X Games and I was definitely still an amateur at that point, and competing at Boardercross at the X Games, but I knew I really wanted to go Pro, travel, and have sponsorships. It was about two years later when I was 15, when I got to compete in freestyle and slopestyle, and I won my first medal. That really was the start of my professional snowboarding career.

AM: You are focused on Slopestyle and Big Air. What is it that you enjoy about competing in these 2 areas?

JA: I love Freestyle because it’s creative, it’s fun, it’s ever changing. I like going to different parks around the world and riding and figuring out my flow. It’s just fun. It’s playful. I kind of imagine it like a playground on the mountain for adults. 


AM: In order to perform at the most optimized level, what does an average week of training in terms of fitness routines/methods?

JA: Well, I’m a lot different than most athletes. I now am a busy mother of two, so my training program is a little bit all over the place. I like to do yoga. I try to snowboard as much as I can, but sometimes that is two or three days a week. And yeah, when I can, I like to do some weight training -- but I haven’t, to be honest in quite some time. For me, my kind of overall fitness and health routine is trying to get good sleep eating, nourishing, whole foods, exercising and staying as active and fit as I can without a gym -- the walking, the yoga, the carrying little babies around.

AM: How does nutrition play into that and what are 3 foods that you eat to assist you in your training goals?

JA: Nutrition is everything. I really believe we are what we eat and I love whole foods. I don’t have any necessary diets, but I try to eat as much grass-fed or wild meat.
My fiancée hunts, so we eat a lot of venison. I do a lot of pasture eggs, I like milk and apples and I also love my carbs. I eat a lot of pasta. I like making lasagna. I like Mexican food. I like anything as long as it’s fresh and good ingredients. 


AM: How important is recovery in this sport?

JA: For instance, at the Rockstar Energy Open event, we had a nanny come in and help me with the kids during practice. But when I got home, I would hang with the girls, maybe take them for a walk or go swimming, do a little stretching and a recovery, and then try to look at footage and make a game plan for my run. Then have dinner, maybe take a bath and go to bed. It’s very busy with the two kids because I really love momming and it’s my number one priority. We’re trying to kind of balance a lot, but it’s fun.

Recovering in this sport is huge. I think you have to feel good to perform good, so I think being strong and flexible is really key, and nutrition plays such a huge role in recovery as far as breaking up lactic acid, having your body and muscles hydrated. I often travel with a Bemer mat, which is like a PEMF, that really helps flush lactic acid and helps me recover. I’ve been using the Bemer mat for many years and I think it really, really helps me. It’s key. Taking care of my skin and letting it recover is also super important while spending so much time in the mountains. I love using First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream.


AM: You recently competed in the Rockstar Energy Open in Breckenridge and it seems different than other competitions, why did you want to participate in this event?

JA: Now we’re a little bit past the Rockstar event, I chose to support and compete in this event because it felt like a real core snowboard event. I like that it had a different format with the final round being head to head. I loved that the course was unique and creative and it had rails. It had a butter pad type of jump. It had a hip, a quarterpipe, which really showcased all over skill and talent, and I just thought it was so fun. I’m really stoked I landed a good run. I ended up in the finals. I ended up in the last final round and took second place, and I am so grateful and proud of that.

AM: This month, we have the X Games and you are one of the most decorated snowboarders to have competed! Why do you love being at this event and what’s that like?

JA: Oh, I love the X Games because honestly, it’s like the mecca of action sports. I feel the X Games has done so much for snowboarding and all action sports, and it’s just fun. They have a sick course and take good care of the riders. My sponsor Monster is a huge part of it. It’s just a really fun event that I look forward to every year. My career started there when I was just 13 years old. Here I am, 35, still doing it and still loving it more than ever.

AM: Of course, all eyes will be on Italy for the Olympics. As a hopeful, what is it like for you to compete on this global stage and are you excited to be going back?

JA: I am so excited to be hopefully going back to the Olympics. I’ve yet to lock in my spot, but I am doing my best to ensure I make the US Team. I feel nervous about the big world stage, but I feel honored and that it’s truly such a privilege to compete at an Olympic level event. And not even an Olympic level, just at the Olympics itself is really an honor and a privilege. I feel so stoked to represent the U.S and ride with our team. I think it’s going to be a really beautiful experience. And I’m so excited to soak up the Italian culture. Eat a lot of pasta and just embrace the whole experience.

AM: You also love pushing boundaries in the Backcountry - why is this part of snowboarding so important to you?

JA: Backcountry snowboarding is kind of like it’s riding for your soul, you know? Backcountry snowboarding is just so fun. I feel like it really fills my spirit with joy and there’s nothing like riding the powder, riding Alaska, riding big lines or even just writing the resort with all your friends after it’s blanketed with beautiful, fresh snow. Yeah, backcountry snowboarding is a gift from God.

AM: As someone who has been in this career for awhile, who has had many success and is a mom of 2, how do you feel you’re approaching the sport now?

JA: Now I feel I have a way different approach to the sport. I’m kind of doing it for fun. I know the younger generation has progressed the sport so much, and I know I’m not going out there trying to do the most technical runs, but I just feel stoked to be getting out there at all and linking fun runs and just doing my best. My approach is way more relaxed in shell and I feel at peace with it.

AM: Tell us about the Jamie Anderson Foundation and what it does?

JA: So I started my foundation in 2013 to essentially give back to kids in the community. Growing up in a big family, I’m aware of how expensive it can be getting into snow sports ao I wanted to give back to kids in our community. We sponsor young athletes, peers and snowboarders, and give grants to help them with their careers, with travel expenses, accommodation, even snowboards and outerwear and things like that. It’s still pretty grassroots, but I want to see it grow more as time goes on, and hopefully help as many kids as possible.

AM: You have amassed a number of accolades and have competed at the highest levels! What do you want your legacy to be known as when people think about Jamie Anderson?

JA: I mean, I hope when people think back of me, I would like my legacy to be like spreading the love, having fun, embracing the journey, having a lot of gratitude and a full heart, and giving back to those around me.

IG @jamieanderson

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | X Games

Read the JAN ISSUE #121 of Athleisure Mag and see Jamie Anderson | DEFYING GRAVITY in mag.

9LIST ROUTIN3S | JACK HUGHES

Read the JAN ISSUE #121 of Athleisure Mag and see 9LIST ROUTIN3S | Jack Hughes in mag.

9PLAYLIST MULTI | DUSTIN JOHNSON

Read the JAN ISSUE #121 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST MULTI | Dustin Johnson in mag.

PUSHING THE LIMITS | MARK MCMORRIS

This month, we end the year with a cover star that we are very excited about who is the most decorated snowboarder in X Games history, with 24 medals (G11, S10, B3) as well as being a 3X Bronze Olympic Team Canada Snowboarding medalist - Mark McMorris! He is known for taking to the snow in Slopestyle, Big Air and Backcountry as he truly has a passion for his sport! His love for it has taken him all over the world, whether he’s competing or doing stunning films such as his latest PAVED in collaboration with Red Bull and Burton, that are both sponsors of his! He has additional coveted list of sponsors as well as including Oakley, Dove Men + Care, KLM Airlines, and Toyota to name a few.

We caught up with him ahead of some phenomenal competitions including Rockstar Energy Open that took place this month, X Games next month, and the Winter Olympics 2026 in Milano Cortina, Italy - for his 4th appearance - just for starters. We wanted to know more about how skateboarding led to snowboarding, the styles of snowboarding that he enjoys doing, the importance of competitions, how he approaches training, the upcoming season, and how he gives back through the McMorris Foundation!

ATHLEISURE MAG: We know that you enjoy skateboarding. What took you from that sport and drew you to snowboarding?

MARK MCMORRIS: Honestly, we went on a family trip and my brother and I are 2 years a part and my mom was about to have us go on a ski lesson and we saw snowboards for the first time! They were on the wall in the rental zone where you would sign up and get your gear for your lesson. I had skateboarded the entire Summer before and I thought, “I want to stand sideways, I want to be able to skateboard on the snow.”

Thank God our neighbors on our street were skateboarders and kind of got me into that and hooked on that! If not, I might have went into ski lessons! I’m very thankful that I became a boarder and it is a huge kudos and thank you to skateboarding!

AM: At what point did you think that you wanted to go pro and really do this as a career?

MM: I think when I was 12 or 13. I knew that I had potential and that I loved nothing more than being able to snowboard and to be up in the mountains with my friends. I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but I was definitely plotting that I would be able to stay in the mountains and to enjoy this and to do it for the rest of my life! I didn’t know what avenue I was going to go, but I did have my mind made up that I wanted to snowboard for the rest of my life.

To do so professionally was the dream. I mean, when you’re super passionate about something, it’s crazy how hard the human can work towards it!

AM: 100%!

You’re known for Slopestyle and also Big Air, can you tell us about these disciplines and why you are drawn to them?

MM: Slopestyle is a combination of rails and jumps – kind of what you would see around every single snow park. Most resorts will have a couple of jumps and a couple of rails. That’s what a lot of kids grow up doing in that freestyle of things of riding. There’s less and less half pipes nowadays. Where we grew up in Western Canada, there wasn’t many half pipes if any! So, that’s kind of what I was drawn to and obviously, I liked catching big jumps.

So, catching Big Air, is just one single jump. Slopestyle is a combination of jumps and rails which we really love and are drawn to. That’s kind of what you would see in the movies and things like that. So, I have always had a big love for it, and still do!

AM: Clearly, snowboarding is a full body sport, but do you find yourself doing other fitness methods or workouts that help to optimize you when you are doing this?

MM: For sure! Having mobility and strength in those deep ranges will keep you less injury prone, will make you be able to stay on the mountain longer – so strength and mobility are kind of the 2 bigaboos and I work on those daily. Especially as I get older, it’s always been very important to me and I came up during a time where my elders were like, “you have to stretch and you have to do gym work.” If you want to be a pro, you have to be a pro athlete and you have to have fitness and that kind of strength to be able to do it at the level that we are doing it and to of course have that kind of longevity! You want to try to stay out of that rehab zone!

AM: From what you can tell as we’re talking to you as you’re preparing for the Rockstar Energy Open in Breckenridge – how is it different than other competitions that you have been in as I know this is their first debut in snow.

MM: Yeah. I think it is really exciting that there is a different kind of contest that is happening in an Olympic year where it’s usually very regimented. It’s nice to be able to switch it up and kudos to them to get a unique group of riders together and to have a very unorthodox, fun, creative course that we would normally not see and to have a fun twist on things! I’m really stoked to be here and it’s nice to have this break in the season. You’re still competing and you still want do well and you’re making a plan and trying to do a run. At the same time, it feels a little more laid back and you’re not chasing points to qualify for the Olympics or going for broke on some 80’ jump – it’s all fun sized and extremely creative.

AM: You have the X Games coming up as well as the Winter Olympics. What’s a week of training look like when you are focused on competitions like that. Are you doing anything different?

MM: A week of training during a major competition like the X Games or the Olympics, is a lot of planning around when the practice sessions are. You’re trying to peak at the right times, trying to get the rest you need – when you have a day off, maybe you’re going to do a lift then. Most of the time, it’s a lot of recovery and mobility, breathwork, thoracic spine, and things like that – trying to just keep the chassis in tip top shape. Trying to eat clean and prioritizing a good 8 hour rest, things like that.

I would say that on non-competition weeks, you’re lifting more weights and doing harder gym sessions. But the practice sessions are a ton of impact and a ton of mental stress. So when you get off the hill, you’re in the gym, but it’s more about spinning, recovery, mobility, eating clean, and sleeping.

AM: Wow!

You’re one of the most decorated snowboarders and with the X Games being a few weeks away, what do you love about competing there and what are you looking forward to?

MM: The X Games has been so amazing for my career! I have had great success in Aspen and I love the town – it’s a special place. I can’t say enough good things about X Games and Aspen – it has truly built my career to what it is. I’m just thankful that I am still doing it and my first X Games was in 2011 in Aspen –

AM: Which is crazy because that’s veteran status there!

MM: Yeah, 15 years now! I’m thankful to still be going out there, I’m thankful to still be able to have a shot at winning. I’m feeling healthy and happy and I’m really excited to be able to get back there!

AM: This will be your 4th Olympic appearance. What does it mean to you to represent your country, participate in the opening and closing ceremonies, and to compete on that kind of global stage?

MM: It’s an honor to represent your country! Like you said, it will be my 4th time around which I am extremely proud of. There’s not a single male that I competed with in 2014 at the Sochi Olympics that will be at the Olympics in Italy. I am proud of that longevity and I am proud of the hard work that I have put in. I am really looking forward to going out there and doing my best and riding to the best of my ability. I really feel like that if I do that, I have a good shot at some hardware. I’m excited for family and friends to be around because the last one in 2022, it was quite COVID’d out. It wasn’t a ton of spectators.

When I go to an Olympics, it’s always been pretty focused mode – horse blinders on. Not really like taking in a ton – you’re just kind of focused on what you’re doing. I actually went to Paris for the last Summer Games and it was a lot of fun to be able to take in an Olympics and not to compete! I could just be a fan and I really enjoyed that! So I’m excited for friends and family to come to get that experience and obviously, as I get older and mature more, I know that there is a lot more to life than that, but I will definitely be locked in and focused and I will try to enjoy it as well as the pizza and pasta as well!

AM: Pizza and pasta – that’s our language right there!

MM: Yup! If we’re going to get a big work in, you get to have a carb load!

AM: As someone who has competed all over the world, you have filmed all over the world, are there 3 places that are your top destinations to snowboard in that you can share?

MM: It’s really hard for me and I guess I’m biased, but I will say that Western Canada has got to be in my top 2 if not 1! I think Japan is a place that if you love to ski or snowboard, it’s a must! Anytime after the New Year to late Feb, it’s really hard not to score there. It’s a really special place and it’s neat to go there and to experience that culture. I spend a lot of time on the glaciers in Europe during the Fall for training and I like spending time in Switzerland, Austria – places like that! I really like Italy – their mountains are amazing and the people and the culture are also amazing there. I think that the Alps, Japan and Canada are my 3 favorite places to go.

AM: Because you do travel so much, are there 3 items that you like to take with you that make you feel like you’re at home?

MM: Yeah! You know I return to the same spots a lot over the last 15 years. Something that always comes with me is this little portable blender and then I have juicers all around the world at the places that I stay! Then, there’s my roller! Like I bring that in my carry-on because sometimes I get off the plane and when I am waiting for the next flight, I can just roll my back out and it’s such a good feeling – I love it! I would say that those are obviously my essentials – I mean clearly there’s my passport and things like that.

But the things that I bring that I like, my portable smoothie, I have juicers everywhere and my roller!

AM: What do you think has allowed you to have such longevity in this sport?

MM: I think what has helped me to have such longevity in this sport is keeping a good circle of people around me. Keeping friends, family, agents, and managers that keep it fun for me. That’s really important and people that want to work hard and succeed, you need to surround yourself with people that have like minded goals for sure! Then there’s my overall passion for snowboarding, my love for snowboarding has been something that has definitely pushed me and helped me to elevate my career. My love for the community of snowboarding, and how thankful that I am that it has given me the life that I couldn’t have even dreamed of. It has literally been something that I couldn’t have even dreamed of. It’s really important for me to try and to give back. We do that with the McMorris Foundation and things like that. We just try to break down the barriers of entry. I think that giving back to a community that has given you everything is really important with longevity. Also not just competing my whole career – it’s also breaking off and doing some films and just not doing the same thing constantly – it has kept it fun for me!

AM: You mentioned the McMorris Foundation that you started with your brother, Craig, did you think that it would be where it is at today?

MM: No! Honestly, I’m so thankful that we did it as far back as we did. It kind of seemed like we weren’t big enough to have a foundation when we started it, but that’s not true. We got to meet some incredible people and some generous people and have had quite a big outreach. We’ve had connections to other athletes, we’ve got to do some amazing things and to raise tons of money and I feel like we’re so lucky and have been able to play hockey, to play baseball, to snowboard and to do this and to do that. It taught us a lot in life. You can learn a lot through sport and I want every kid to have that experience and it is something that is near and dear to my heart.

AM: When you’re not competing, how do you take time for yourself?

MM: Um, I am a huge sports person so even when I have time off, I’m engaging in sports whether it’s surfing, playing hockey, skateboarding, going to sporting events! Obviously, spending time with my family – we all like to golf. I like to chill with my friends really and just doing normal stuff. I definitely like to try and experience some of the places that I have been lucky enough to go to, but it is so work focused. So I prioritize that more by going on trips to see places and really immersing myself in the culture which I quite enjoy. It can be like I said, like horse blinders sometimes when you are going to these places and you have such a goal and it’s like work – well it is work because you’re grinding. So, I want to experience these places and more things and those places that I love. I’m a huge food guy, I love food from different places around the world. So I really indulge in that when I can!

AM: You’re also known for snowboarding in the backcountry and last night, we watched PAVED.

MM: Nice!

AM: Yeah, it was the best 42 mins of our time last night watching this in prep for this interview!

MM: Sick! That’s really cool to hear – thank you!

AM: We’ve snowboarded and we are nowhere near your level, but we do like doing it to go out a bit and then to have drinks after.

But watching you and the other athletes in the backcountry at locales around the world was really great to see as we are fans of theirs as well. Tell us about this movie as we know it was done in partnership with Red Bull and Burton and why did you want to participate in this?

MM: I mean, it was a little tricky timing in terms of being in such a big year coming up. It was something that is so important to me in being able to have such a presence in the backcountry and the film world. It was really cool to hear that you watched it because you see how cinematic it is in the backcountry and how it looks. Of course it can look a little scary sometimes.

AM: Oh it was terrifying to see the ones in Alaska – couldn’t imagine it!

MM: Yeah it’s like wow! Snowboarding on these untouched slopes it’s just so majextic and picturesque and honestly, it’s a ton of fun to be out there for me. I love pushing myself like that as well and it’s such a team effort filming. You’re all helping each other and you have each other’s backs! That’s a nice change sometimes – I mean we all have each other’s backs, but we’re also competing. So being in the backcountry with Zeb Powell (X Games G1 + S1) for the first time and long time friends with Danny Davis (X Games G2), Brock Crouch, and Ben Ferguson (X Games S1 + B1) – to have that crew together and just making an awesome film! Thank you to Red Bull and Burton for giving us that rad opportunity! It was something that I definitely couldn’t pass up and I think that they did an awesome job on the movie!

AM: It was beautiful and what came to mind was in watching surfing for years and specifically things like the big waves in thinking about HBO’s 100 Foot Wave, you know about the tow in for surfers. The film illustrated this with drops ins from the helicopter as well as the Ski-Doos - not sure if that is correct...

MM: Oh yeah the Ski-Doo, you’re right – you nailed it! It’s crazy what you can access on those things and that’s a big part of it. Of course, as you saw, the triangle has the Helli on top which is the top mode of transportation! But Ski-Doo, they’re amazing what you can get to. I loved being back there and being able to enjoy that with friends, it’s freaking special and you don’t have that kind of instant gratification. Like if you’re doing a competition and you do well, you’re on that podium. But when you do this and you get clips and you see it all come together, and it’s such a team effort – that’s comparable, if not more gratifying at times.

AM: The film was awesome and the music – everything was just produced and came so well together. It was very cool!

MM: Thank you! I’m happy that you enjoyed it.

AM: You have 24 medals from the X Games, 3 from the Olympics, you’ve won US Opens, you have coveted brands that are sponsoring you, you’ve been in a number of films, and you have left your fingerprint on the sport. What do you want your legacy to be known as when they are looking at Mark McMorris and this incredible career?

MM: Ooo. Someone that pushed the limits. Someone that had a love for the sport and really focused on all sides of the sport and wasn’t just kind of like a one lane kind of guy. Someone who gave back to the community. That would be something that I would be truly proud of!

AM: We appreciate you taking the time, we didn’t realize that you will be training tomorrow in prep for the competition that is taking place this weekend!

MM: No problem! I’m so excited for this cover and it’s so neat that I will be on the cover as there have been some very impressive people that have been in it!

IG @markmcmorris

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | FRONT COVER/BACK COVER Chris Singer/Red Bull Content Pool | PG 16, 27 Frederik Kalbermatten | PG 19, 20, 28, 30, 34, BACK COVER Aaron Blatt | PG 23, 24 Emily Tidwell/Red Bull Content Pool | PG 33, 40, 44 - 51 X Games | PG 36 Christian Pondella | PG 38 Cole Giordano/Red Bull Content Pool | PG 42 Rock Star Energy Open |

Read the DEC ISSUE #120 of Athleisure Mag and see PUSHING THE LIMITS | Mark McMorris in mag.

NEW YEAR, N3W YOU

Read the DEC ISSUE #120 of Athleisure Mag and see NEW YEAR, N3W YOU in mag.

THE SUPER AGENT | LEIGH STEINBERG

We spoke with legendary sports agent, author and philanthropist, Leigh Steinberg. It was intriguing to hear how he became a sports agent before it was a core field and what research and strategy he puts into win-win dealmaking. Agents, managers/owners and entrepreneurs alike surely benefit from listening to and following his tried and true methods. He is all about making relationship bonds and helping athletes on and off the field. We discuss some of his major sports deals; working with top sports players and teams; as well as landing endorsements that align with player values. His new book, The Comeback: Resilience, Empathy and What Matters, comes out this Super Bowl, and includes his story of alcohol addiction and rebounding to be over a decade of continuous sobriety, as well as continuing to help athletes on the field; their health; as well as being a role model and supporting their respective communities, nurturing young sports talent, and during local tragedies.

ATHLEISURE MAG: So what led you to become a sports agent?

LEIGH STEINBERG: Well there really wasn’t a field of organized sports agentry when I began.I was a dorm counselor in an undergrad dorm working my way through law school and they moved the freshman football team into the dorm, and one of the students was the quarterback, Steve Bartowski, and in 1975 he became the very first player picked overall in the draft, the first player in the first round, and he asked me to represent him. I was out of law school a year choosing between different offers, and all of a sudden here I had the first pick in the NFL Draft and we ended up with the largest rookie contract in NFL history.

So that got it started, but my dad had two core values. One was treasure relationships, especially family and the other was make a meaningful difference in the world. In that very first experience, I saw that athletes were venerated in idol worships and that if I used their experience to try to trigger positives in the world that we could send them back to the high school community, and they could set up scholarship funds, or work with Boys and Girls Club, or a Church at the Collegiate level, they could endow scholarship or retrofit equipment and bond with the alums, and at the pro level that we could set up a charitable foundation that would attack some problem that bothered them in the world and use the leading business figures political figures and community leaders to assist in executing the program.

So that’s work done and running back who just put the 220th single mother and her family into the first home they’ll ever own, or Patrick Mahomes II his 15 and the Mahomies it helps at-risk kids, kids in hospitals, kids without enough to eat, and so that’s how I began, and that’s been the spirit of our firm.

AM: So how is it that you built the relationships with the team owners, the managers, and the GMs to get to some of those biggest deals ever?

LS: I think the whole key in life is listening skills. It’s being able to draw out another human being cut below the surface; understand their deepest anxieties and fears and greatest hopes and dreams; and see the world the way the other person sees it.

Now put your heart and mind into the heart and mind of a general manager, of an owner, of a potential client, and really people don’t tend to share their deepest emotional feelings very easily - so you have to create an atmosphere of trust around another human being so they’ll peel back the layers of the onion and show you who they are, and then you can craft win-win scenarios.

AM: That’s great. So what is it about win-win negotiating that has such big results? We’d love to hear more about your formula.

LS: So it’s first of all, doing an internal inventory so you understand how important is short-term economic gain and how important is long-term economic security. What about family or geographical location, or profile or autonomy and for an athlete? How important is being on a winning team, the quality of coaching, the system that they run the facilities.. and it’s to have an understanding if you’re representing a client of really what is critical to them in this transaction. It’s understanding what’s critical to a management type in the same situation. So it’s doing research ahead of time, it’s understanding the business, the profitability, the revenue streams and in contemporary sports salary caps, and understanding how they work and how to work around them. So it’s really a commitment to a win-win scenario where both parties walk away happy, and it takes creativity so there are times where you need to think outside the square and be more creative in how to problem solve.

AM: There’s so many lessons that you could give us just in an entrepreneurship in general, so what were some of the tools you used or even a war story about when you saw an owner a manager and or GM on the other side, but they weren’t really meshing where they agreed on what to do?

LS: So that’s where it can be important to go to the ultimate decision maker, and hopefully if I can negotiate with an owner.. can I create a concept of whose reality will govern in the situation. So one of the things I do is to create exhibits that show exactly how valuable a player is in a series of statistical categories or honors and that just how that relates to the market, so if we’ve done that correctly it should be a blueprint for a logical conclusion. So instead of saying I want the money or the most money, or whatever you’re trying - motivate the other side through logic, statistics and give them a framework to view compensation through.

AM: What has been part of your recipe for building strong relationships and bonds on and off the field?

LS: Part of it is not embarrass people publicly. That it’s understanding that there are, especially in sports having public exposure, putting the team in an awkward position creating a conflict publicly doesn’t near to the benefit of a client. In other words, you should try to do these things seamlessly behind the scenes quietly so that the first time anyone even knows negotiations are happening is when you have a happy player sitting signing his contract. So it’s being careful to safeguard relationships. if you’re in a situation where someone from the other side has his neck exposed and you’re tempted to step on it, the only thing I can tell you for sure is your neck will be exposed at some point in the future, and I think it’s critical to honor those relationships.

We live in primarily an oral world, so your word is your bond. So I think it’s really important to be trustworthy and to not try to build your own stature through diminishing others.

AM: Very true. So I know you’ve been asked a lot about Jerry Maguire in the past. It really hit me hard when I got to see it, so I wanted your impression by being an advisor, by being the inspiration and also the memo and the infamous tagline - I’d love to hear your thoughts about it.

LS: Well for the memo as you know, our concept is role modeling making a difference in the world. So it’s a boxer Lennox Lewis cutting a public service announcement that says real men don’t hit women and that could trigger behavioral attitude in rebellious adolescents more than a thousand authority figures ever could. So Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous, Vanilla Sky, Fast Times at Ridgemont High) called me up, the writer/director in ‘93 and asked if he could follow me around for a film that would be based on a sports agent. So he went to the NFL draft with me in New York. He went to league meetings in Palm Desert. He went to Super Bowl. He came to a series of games with me and went to pro scouting day at USC. He was like a fly on the wall and I told him stories.. lots and lots of stories and what part of those stories went into it, I’ll leave to Cameron, but then I was technical advisor so I had to vet the script to make sure [there was] the willing suspension of disbelief that holds you in the picture, and that the dialogue seems real, that the look is authentic and didn’t get tampered with, and then I worked with the actors.

I took Cuba Gooding, Jr. (Men of Honor, Boyz N The Hood, Selma), who played the wide receiver down to Phoenix for the Super Bowl and made him pretend he was a wide receiver client of mine all week and he hung out with Desmond Howard and Amani Toomer. I actually had to show the quarterback in the film played by Jerry O’Connell (Stand By Me, Las Vegas, Scream 2) how to throw a spiral because he had gone to NYU and they didn’t have a football program. So anyway it’s been 27 years and still every time I go to an airport or go out to dinner someone runs up to the table and either asks me to say those four words or says them to me that start with ‘Show Me The..’

AM: And is it taken well by you for the most part?

LS: Sure I think that I believe the film humanized sports agents and showed some of the true caring that goes into the relationships and you know it was the highest grossing sports film of all time until The Blind Side came along.

AM: Hmm, well we love that movie and thank you for being part of it and being an inspiration. It’s also inspiration for business people on passion, ethics, discipline and holding on; it’s an inspiration for people in romance - I mean the movie does go beyond sports too.

LS: So it’s really cool one of the reasons it was popular was the relationship, yeah romantic relationship. I have a new book coming out at the Super Bowl and it’s about resilience. It’s called The Comeback and it comes from the realization that life will frustrate us all at some level, hopefully minor and not catastrophic, but in many cases because of divorce and relationship problems and financial problems and substance abuse, people hit a situation where they lost their way and and they seem to be destructive. So the question is not whether that’ll happen in some form, it happens to us all. It’s how do you come back from that? How do you find resilience seeing the light at the end of the tunnel? So, it’s stories of resilience, including my own story.

AM: That’s really cool, looking forward to reading it. A lot of people need comebacks and you know as you’re speaking I think there is also a big epidemic right now of people functioning in their jobs or tasks or relationships but silently maybe not liking it or fitting where where they’re they might be just accomplishing the status quo but they need that pivot or growth that we kind of all need a comeback.

LS: Right, so sometimes not the most devastating moments, but it could be assessing yourself every now and again and making sure that you’re on the right path that’s where that internal assessment tool where you know short-term economics, long-term economic, profile making a difference in the world autonomy - you know vacation, whatever it is it’s having the most pristine clarity as what really will bring fulfillment to a person.

You know it’s fair to say, I battled with alcohol and crashed back in 2010, and so you know people are out there still suffering. The first key is breaking denial. OK, alcohol and addiction is a disease that tells you that you don’t have a disease, so it’s having some clarity about the fact that you’ve hit bottom. You don’t want to live this way for the rest of your life and you’ll take action. My action was a 12-step program, with a unique fellowship and the point is there is light at the end of the tunnel. I mean I just turned 15 and a half years continuously sober, so the point is for people out there despairing, who are confused and despondent - reach out! There’s help available and you can turn your life back into the fulfilling journey that you hope for that’s great.

AM: Let’s discuss the groundbreaking Mahomes deal, so how is it going through all that when you land that deal in 2020 with the Chiefs? What were you feeling when you closed the deal? What did it take to get there? How did Patrick feel and I guess you guys were on top of the world then!!

LS: Again, I think it’s understanding every client and to Patrick what was important was winning and wanted to go to the super bowl. In other words, it wasn’t enough to be the highest paid player on a team that was losing or under, so it’s part of what’s different about representing athletes, is that you’re not representing a corporation or a pig iron manufacturer or some commercial, and they’re a human being, so that you start to grow and care for the person you become bonded with. So being able to guarantee lifetime security felt really good.

AM: You have been a such a pioneer involved with endorsement deals. You know it’s great, that in the endorsement deals that you advocate and close for like-minded values between the players and hopefully the brand at the time and continuing. How is it finding those relationships between athlete and brand and showing athletes that they don’t just have to do things for money, that they could do things with money and values attached.

LS: Well one of the things I’ve tried to be careful of is advising clients not to do all that many endorsements [until] they’ve established a sports career. So to sort of take it easy so Mahomes didn’t do endorsements his first year, he wasn’t a starter and the second he was at the end of that year it was fine, but you want to prove to the fans of the city, to the ownership, to the other players that you’re serious about football or baseball or basketball, and you’re committed. Also hopefully set up a charitable foundation that shows you’re serious about being involved in that community, so a lot is about values, it’s about understanding that high profile is a role model and that your associations with products and and companies in the world ought to do what you suggested, which is to share the same values about what’s important. If you believe in helping people, then there’s a component there and each of the deals can actually have a structure where they go back to help the charity.

AM: Then sometimes you’re involved with helping athletes give back just to a disaster and being involved with the situation. How do you help facilitate those positive impact scenarios?

LS: I remember Ben Roethlisberger donated when they had the big tidal waves in Thailand. He donated a game check to relief, so it’s having an awareness of the time and place. One of the things we’ve been able to do at our Super Bowl party which I hold every year, is to address problems. So for example, back in Miami around 2008 or 2009, we shipped the water machine to Haiti. They had just had an earthquake and cholera problems with impure drinking water, we were able to ship a water machine that purified the water for 140,000 people. So it’s when we had troops in the field, we did a live hookup with troops between the Super Bowl party and Afghanistan and Iraq, so it’s having an awareness of what’s going on societally.

Years ago I created something called the Sporting Green Alliance and it took sustainable technology and wind, solar, recycling, resurfacing and water to state the arena and practice fields to drop carbon emissions and energy costs and it transformed them into teaching platforms. So the millions of fans that go could see a waterless urinal or solar panel and think about how to integrate those concepts into their homes and businesses.

AM: Then there’s also the Leigh Steinberg Foundation, so that’s where you’re helping educate about head trauma and CTE.

LS: I had a crisis conference back in the 1980s because I’m representing half the starting quarterbacks and they keep getting hit in the head and we would go to doctors and ask how many is too many? What’s the number that should contemplate retirement and they had no answers. So we started holding brain health summits back in 1994, and the first one here in Newport Beach had Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Warren Moon, and Drew Bledsoe, all came and listened to neurologists. By the time we got to about 2006, doctors like Bennett Amalu told us that three or more seemed to be the magic number, and after that you had an exponentially higher chance of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, premature senility, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and depression. So I call this a ticking time bomb. We’ve continued to have those brain health summits. We did two hours in New Orleans at our Super Bowl party, and I thought why not establish a foundation to raise money for research into brain health. There are two new modalities, one’s called RTMS and the other is neurofeedback. They can actually through neuroplasticity rehire a concuss rewire a concussed brain, so we’re making some progress and I have a series of neurologists on the board of the foundation and some iconic athletes.

AM: You’ve done so much, including golf tournaments and youth support for talented youth to get sponsorships. What is it that drives you to do so much good in the world beyond being an agent?

LS: So my my dad used to say if you see a problem in the world as tiny as picking up a piece of trash or as big as racism or climate change, and your tendency is to wait for they or them to solve the problems, older people, political figures, you know someone else, he would say, you could wait forever son, ‘the they is you,’ ‘you are the they.’ So it’s just a sense of responsibility, that’s part of why I’m in this world, is to heal pain to help people who can’t help themselves, to try, and be as active as I can in bringing hope and healing into the world.

AM: What is one lesser known story in either closing a deal, or in working with a top client - our community would certainly love it.

LS: So Ben Roethlisberger, Super Bowl winning quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers, was very superstitious, and so he had a routine he did before every game. So it came time to see the AFC championship, which was Pittsburgh versus Denver in Denver, and usually players will reserve tickets for you as an agent and everything. So I called Ben before that game about tickets and there was silence on the other end of the line, and I said is there a problem? He said, ‘yeah well, last year you came in Pittsburgh to the AFC championship game, and we lost.’ I said, well Ben there were 70,000 other people there too. He says, ‘I don’t know,’ but I said you mean I can’t come to the game? He said, well you could go to willcall, but you’ll be waiting for hours. So at any rate, they played, they won. So go back to the Super Bowl, which was played in Detroit, and I’m on the bus on the way back with him, and I said, ‘Ben guess what? You just won the Super Bowl, and I’m here, so I guess I get to go to more Super Bowls?” And he says, “Yes, but never an AFC championship game.”

IG @leighsteinberg

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Leigh Steinberg

Read the OCT ISSUE #118 of Athleisure Mag and see THE SUPER AGENT | Leigh Steinberg in mag.

ESPRESSO TIME | LAVAZZA DANIELE FOTI

The end of the Summer means that there are functions that take place that wraps the city up in the festivities - the US Open is one of them as everyone shares their love of their favorite athletes who play tennis. In addition to a number of activities that we attended during this time, we were guests of Lavazza at their US Open Suite at Arthur Ashe Stadium where we were not only able to catch Mixed Doubles with tennis’ biggest stars, but we got to know more about the brand, previewed a launch of their latest machine, and even got to see amazing partnerships that they are involved in! We got to hear about this and more from Daniele Foti, VP of Marketing at Lavazza North America. We sat down with Daniele to talk about many of the things we saw that we’re now able to share with our community.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Before we delve into all things Lavazza, can you tell us a bit about your background and how you came to the brand?

DANIELE FOTI: My career began in finance after earning a degree from Bocconi University in Milan and a Master’s in Accounting from Sweden. Those early experiences at General Electric Capital and Coca-Cola HBC gave me a strong grounding in business fundamentals. Over time, I found myself increasingly drawn to roles where I could have a direct impact on the business and help drive growth — understanding consumers, shaping brands, and supporting organizations in their evolution. That led me to roles at Reckitt Benckiser and L’Oréal Italy, where I honed my expertise in sales, trade marketing, and overall brand strategy.

AM: For those that are not familiar with Lavazza, what can you tell us about it?

DF: Lavazza is, at its heart, a family story built on more than 130 years of dedication to coffee and to quality. From the very beginning, the brand has represented Italian craftsmanship and innovation, from the first espresso blends to today’s sustainable coffee solutions. We are not just about coffee as a product; we are about coffee as a moment of joy, connection, and pause. Whether at home, in the office, or out in the world, Lavazza exists to elevate the everyday ritual of coffee into something memorable and meaningful.

AM: You’re the VP of Marketing at Lavazza. What does this role entail?

DF: My mission is to shape how consumers experience Lavazza across North America. That includes building campaigns that bring our heritage and innovation to life, creating partnerships that amplify our presence, and ensuring every interaction, from packaging to experience, reflects our premium Italian DNA. At its core, my role is about storytelling and helping people see coffee not only as part of their day but as part of their lifestyle.

AM: We had the pleasure of attending your US Open Suite to watch Mixed Doubles matches as well as to learn more about the brand. You presented Flavia at the suite. What should we know about it?

DF: Flavia reflects Lavazza’s commitment to bringing premium beverage experiences anywhere, especially in workplaces and home offices. It delivers café-quality coffee, lattes, hot chocolate, and a full variety of drinks at the touch of a button. At the US Open, guests experienced the new Flavia Aroma Brewer firsthand, discovering how it transforms an everyday break into a moment of indulgence — not just for coffee, but for any beverage the platform can provide. Flavia embodies the concept of “Expect More” — it’s about elevating every pause; offering multi beverage versatility, and creating a premium, indulgent experience every time.

AM: You have partnered with Jannik Sinner (Winner: Australian Open - 2, Wimbledon - 1, US Open - 1) for a while now. What can you tell us about how the brand and this athlete connected and why is this partnership important to you?

DF: Our partnership with Jannik is a natural and long-standing one, spanning over 10 years. Coffee and tennis both require dedication, rhythm, and energy, and Jannik embodies those qualities beautifully. Over the years, we’ve celebrated this connection through activations like the US Open, where Lavazza brings fans closer to the sport and the rituals that fuel performance. His authenticity, drive, and joy in what he does perfectly mirror Lavazza’s values. Together, we highlight excellence, consistency, and the everyday rituals—on and off the court—that make great achievements possible, and we serve as ambassadors of Italian excellence in the world.

AM: While we were at the suite, we got to see about some upcoming partnerships that are taking place with Apple TV’s The Morning Show. What can you tell us about this?

DF: Lavazza is proud to be part of the upcoming fourth season of The Morning Show, now streaming on Apple TV+. This partnership highlights our commitment to bringing moments of calm, warmth, and connection to people’s mornings. Amid the chaos of daily life, Lavazza offers a ritual to reflect, reset, and reconnect—reminding viewers that mornings are an opportunity to “Make Your Morning a Show.”

AM: With the holiday season coming up, what can we expect to see from the brand that our community can be excited about?

DF: The holidays are about conection, and coffee often plays a role in those moments. This season, we want to inspire people to slow down, savor, and share joy over a great cup of coffee. Whether it is gifting, entertaining, or simply taking a quiet moment for yourself, Lavazza will be there to make it special.We’re also excited to bring a unique experience to Art Basel this year, where fans can engage with our brand in an immersive, creative way—celebrating both art and the pleasure of coffee.

AM: Are there any upcoming projects that we should know about that are taking place this year or even early next year?

DF: Yes, there is a lot of momentum. We have recently partnered with American Airlines to bring Lavazza coffee into their premium cabins, giving us the opportunity to share our blends with travellers around the world. We are also expanding our footprint in the U.S. hospitality and entertainment sectors and continuing to bring Luigi, our beloved Lavazza coffee-robot, to new cities for more immersive brand experiences. Consumers should also look forward to our annual calendar and a special experience at Art Basel this year — we’ll have more to share soon! Looking ahead, Lavazza will continue to invest in exciting new initiatives in the market throughout 2026, making next year another thrilling chapter for the brand.

IG @lavazzausa

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Lavazza

Read the OCT ISSUE #118 of Athleisure Mag and see ESPRESSO TIME | Lavazza - Daniel Foti in mag.

WELCOME TO US OPEN 2025

US OPEN LAVAZZA SUITES - MIXED DOUBLES

This time of year is one of our favorites as the US Open brings tennis’ best and brightes to play at Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong Stadium for 3 weeks. In addition to the action that is on the court, there are a number of adjacent events that take place throughout the city! Although the month of Sept. will continue these festivities, we’re recapping what we participated this month.

We kicked off our US Open experience with the team at Lavazza who invited us to go to their suite to watch a series of mixed double matches with our favorites!

We kicked off the morning hitting the grounds to see where fans can get their coffee fix as they arrive and in between matches. In addition to having a large free standing booth that serves hot and cold coffees, you can also get cocktails there as well such as an Espresso martini. Throughout the complex, there are smaller areas to get a coffee as well as to engage with the brands whether it’s playing interactive games to win prizes, photo opportunities with a “stadium” as well as their mascot Luigi!

After taking the tour, we made our way to the suite where we were able to watch phenomenal matches as well as to meet members from the executive team of hear about where Lavazza is focusing its efforts in terms of where it sits in the marketplace, partnerships that are very interesting that will be announced soon, and their partnership with Jannik Sinner (20X ATP Tour Singles Titles, 2X Australian Champion, 2025 Wimbledon Champion, 2025 US Open Champion).

It was great to sit outside of the suite to catch our first match Gaël Monfils (13 ATP Tour Singles Titles)/Naomi Osaka (2X Australian Open Champion, 2X US Open Champion) - L vs Lorenzo Musetti (2 ATP Tour Singles Titles, Team Italy Tennis 2024 Paris Olympics Bronze Medalist)/Caty McNally (8X WTA Tour Doubles Titles Champion) - W and Iga Świątek (WTA No 2 in Women’s Singles, 24 WTA Tour Singles Titles, 4X French Open Champion, 2025 Wimbledon Champion, 2022 US Open Champion)/Casper Ruud (13 ATP Tour Singles Titles) - W vs Madison Keys (2025 Australian Open Champion)/Frances Tiafoe - L played during Round of 16 which led to the Quarter Final between Iga Świątek/Casper Ruud - W vs Caty McNally/Lorenzo Musetti - L. Ultimately, Iga Swiatek/Casper Ruud won this round and advanced in their mixed doubles.

In the other matches for Round of 16, we saw Jack Draper (3X ATP Tour Title Champion)/Jessica Pegula - W vs Emma Raducanu (2021 US Open Champion)/Carlos Alcaraz (22 ATP Tour Singles Titles, 2X French Open Champion, 2X Wimbeldon Champion, 2022 US Open Champion) - L and then the other match in that round was Novak Djokovic (100X Singles Title Winner, 10X Australian Open Champion, 3X French Open Champion, 7X Wimbledon Champion, 4X US Open Champion, Team Serbia Olympic Tennis 2024 Gold Medalist)/Olga Danilović (2X WTA Singles Titles + 2X WTA Doubles Titles) - L vs Mirra Andreeva (3X WTA Tour Singles TItles)/Daniil Medvedev (20X ATP Tour Singles Titles + 2021 US Open Champion) - W. The winners from this portion of Round of 16 played one another for the Wyarter Final Jack Draper/Jessica Pegula - W vs Daniil Medvedev/Mirra Andreeva - L.

It was a great day of matches and feeling all the magic that comes with seeing the US Open and being part of the action.

IG @lavazzausa

@usopen

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 43 - 44 Kimmie Smith

WTA CLUBHOUSE X GILLETTE VENUS

Later that week, we made our way to the WTA Clubhouse where we got to enjoy a number of activities while celebrating women in tennis. Whether you took in a workout with Tunde Oyeneyin (Peleton instructor, Nike athlete, and NY Times Best Selling Author), enjoyed an array of treats at their cafe, shopped the marketplace or listened to the panel that included Taylor Townsend (WTA world No. 1 in doubles, 8X WTA Tour Titles, 2024 Wimbledon Doubles Champion, 2025 Australian Open Doubles Champion), Tunde, and Nana Agyemang (CEO of Every Stylish Girl) as they talked about the importance of confidence and navigating their careers that was moderated by The Cut’s Tefi Pessoa.

The WTA is the principal organizing body and global leader for women’s professionall tennis which was founded in 1973 by Billie Jean King (39 Grand Slam Titles - 12X Singles, 16X Women’s Doubles, 11X Mixed Doubles - 4X Australian Open Champion in Singles/Doubles/Miced Doubles, 3X French Open Champion Singles/Doubles/Mixed Doubles, 20X Wimbledon Champion Singles/Doubles/Mixed Doubles, 13X US Open Champion Singles/Doubles/Mixed Doubles) to govern the WTA Tour and rank female players.

It was great to hear from these women and to also continue to celebrate their achievements as well as continuing to get excited about US Open.

IG @wta

@gillettevenus

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 46 - 49 Gillette Venus

TASTE OF TENNIS NEW YORK

As we mentioned in last month’s issue, Taste of Tennis is a yearly event that is known for bringing the world of tennis and culinary together. Guests who attend this event enjoy being able to eat a number of dishes throughout the night and this year’s hosting partner for this event was Aqua New York. In addition, they get to meet tennis greats past and present who continue to bring the good vibes. This year Sloane Stephens (8X WTA Tour level singles titles, 2017 US Open Champion), Chris Eubanks, and Genie Bouchard to name a few were in attendance.

IG @tasteoftennis

EVIAN BIG FOE X DANIEL DINNER

We were excited to make our way to evian’s dinner which was held at SUMMIT One Vanderbilt. This sit down dinner brought Frances Tiafoe (along with his family and friends) and Chef Daniel Boulud together with the official water sponsor of the US Open, evian.

While taking in the stunning views, we enjoyed an array of appetizers, cocktails, chatting with Chef Daniel’s and taking a moment from all of the matches that we had watched during the week.

This sit down dinner was inspired by Frances’ favorite dishes that he grew up with. We were able to be among the first people to experience the evian Club’s limited edition menu. Each place setting had a glass evian bottle that had our names etched on it.

You can enjoy this meal exclusively at Chef Daniel’s flagship Michelin-starred Restaurant DANIEL from Sep 3-7th and can be booked now. For those that can’t make it here to NY, you can enjoy Chef Daniel’s Big Foe Treat Box at Goldbelly to enjoy from your home while watching the matches.

IG @evianwater

@bigfoe

@danielboulud

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 50 - 57 evian PG 58 + 59

Read the AUG ISSUE #116 of Athleisure Mag and see WELCOME TO US OPEN 2025 in mag.

9PLAYLIST | TYSON MCGUFFIN

Read the JUL ISSUE #115 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | Tyson McGuffin in mag.

63MIX ROUTIN3S | TYSON MCGUFFIN

Read the JUL ISSUE #115 of Athleisure Mag and see 63MIX ROUTIN3S | Tyson McGuffin in mag.

RUN THE COURT | TAYLOR TOWNSEND

The tennis season is always filled with a number of stories that reaches around the globe! We sat down with WTA Taylor Townsend who is ranked #2 in doubles. She has won 2 major double titles at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships and the 2025 Australian Open - both of them won with her partner, Kateřina Siniaková. She has won 7 WTA Tour Titles and has reached 2 other major finals for the 2022 US Open (with Caty McNally) and the 2023 French Open (with Leylah Fernandez). We enjoy watching her play singles and doubles throughout the season.

We sat down with Taylor Townsend to find out about her love of being on the court with the sport; how she stays in shape; how she approaches playing singles and doubles; as well as her partnership with Gillette Venus; and her legacy.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in love with tennis?

TAYLOR TOWNSEND: Ooo I fell in love with tennis probably from the first time that I started playing, but I probably really started loving to play it when my parents were going through their separation and tennis was my thing that no one could bother me on the court, I wouldn’t get in trouble, I would just be out there and it was just my peace! I could say whatever I wanted and not get into trouble so that is when I really fell in love with the sport. I realized that it was my release. It was a way to let go and it was a judgement free zone and a worry free zone. My old coach used to tell me that when you step into the gates and you close it, everything else stays on the outside! I really embodied that and I re-fell in love with that in the game. It’s been in and out and I have found that love since coming back from having my son.

AM: When did you realize that you wanted to go pro? There is a huge difference in enjoying something that you love and then deciding that that is the thing that you will do all day every day!

TT: I always wanted to go pro. My sister and I grew up playing together and I always wanted to, but I never saw it as a reality. I didn’t think that it was possible you know? It was just like a dream, a kid’s dream! I’ve always been that person where you have to see it in order to believe it. It doesn’t mean that you have to do it yet, but I am the person that needs to be able to do it in order to know that it was possible. I honestly didn’t think that I would able to go pro until I made #1 in the Junior World Champions. When I became #1 in the Juniors, I didn’t quite feel ready and when I turned pro, I said it again that I wasn’t ready. But I did it anyway and at that time, I was the adult decider and I wrestled with that.

Obviously, I felt that this what what I was supposed to be doing! Regardless of the journey, I do feel that this is the domain that I am supposed to be in and that I can tap into all of my competitiveness as I am very competitive. Now at this point, I am just trying to relearn how I can play the game my way.

AM: Right!

We love that you play Singles and Doubles! What do you love about playing one vs the other?

TT: For singles, I really enjoy the me vs you! Tennis – there is nothing like it and even with the teams as a team sport when you are playing doubles, you still have to operate highly within yourself. Even though we’re a team, there is only 2 of us. It’s not like we’re 11 players. We are literally responsible for ourselves as well as uplifting each other! I have always done really well in team environments. I’m a natural leader, so I enjoy playing doubles as it’s a way to be able to still have that competitiveness and it’s a different kind of game. It’s very strategic in a different way as well as being tactical in a different way. Obviously, you have half the court and you have to go around another person, so you have to be tactical in what you do in that sense versus when you are playing Singles. For singles, it’s a lot easier to create openings on the court and you can hit into the open space knowing that the person is going to have to run there as there isn’t someone that is already standing there!

They both present different challenges that I enjoy and that it taps into different parts of me. They’re both really fun for me and now I am just finding my flow and my rhythm in singles the way that I have done in doubles.

AM: We have been a fan of yours for years and whether you’re playing singles or doubles, it’s always a vibe!

TT: Aww thank you so much!

AM: So you recently partnered with Gillette Venus. Why did you want to be involved in this partnership and what does it look like?

TT: I was really excited to partner with them! I’m really excited that beauty and wellness companies are starting to get into tennis and to partner with us as players and when we’re on our tours. So when they asked me to partner, I was really excited because I already use the products. So that was a no-brainer for me, but now getting into more of the storytelling, and the nitty gritty of it, it excites me more because I can see the opportunity for growth and elevation based on the storytelling. The things that they have chosen, we all have different paths and we have all done different things and we’re all are doing different things and it’s really cool because we are all current players. It’s really fun to be able to have a partnership like this where we can kind of expound as the season goes and as the tournament goes. To be able to do activations and events that we haven’t been able to do in the past, I've really enjoyed the partnership thus far and I'm super happy with the content that has come out. More than anything, we love partnerships because we get great things! Now I have the Gillette Pubic Hair and Skin Razor. For me, I have been able to add that to my pre-match and pre-gameday which I call my everything shower now. It’s part of the things that I do anytime that is before a match – before I play in any match of the first tournament. So I have that razor and I hit all of those areas that may show when I am wearing those little skirts and dresses knowing that I have no irritation, no razor bumps, or any of that which is honestly why I stopped shaving in the first place because it was just so annoying. So for me to be able to have this razor at my disposal at all times is amazing!

AM: Obviously, tennis is a great workout! But what are 3 workouts that you can do that we can share with our community here that they can include in their workouts?

TT: You don’t want to know what I have to do!

For me, I would say focusing on mobility. My coach says I’m built like metal or wood – it goes between the 2. It just depends on the volume. I had to really focus on mobility especially, after having AJ and a C-Section – I had to really focus on my hip area and hip mobility and all of that stuff. I don’t like saying flexibility because everyone has different levels of that. But being able to be mobile and to be able to do certain kinds of movements with ease and something that you can do at all times, that’s important.

Being able to build up your core – crunches, planks and all of that, I would say that really holds you up and stops you from having hip and back problems.

A lot of people think that you have to do all of these crazy workouts, but honestly, calisthenics. I do push-ups, sit-ups, planks, squats. All of those things are the fundamental movements for exercise and work that they actually build up the things that you are doing in real life. Calisthenics if you’re starting or looking for a change, that is the easiest way to go.

You’re never going to get good at it which is the annoying part.

AM: So true, but you have to show up and do it.

TT: And when you get into it, there is always going to be a challenge!

AM: You have so many accolades, so many things that you have won, placements in finals etc. What do you want your legacy to be known as in the sport?

TT: Ooo I love this question! I love that you used that word because when I was at Wimbledon 2 years ago, I was sitting in a café by myself and I was like, “what am I doing this for?” I was a year and a half into my comeback and I asked myself what I wanted out of this. I told myself that I wanted to create a legacy and so I want my legacy to be something that is long lasting and goes beyond trophies and accolades or anything like that. I want to have a lasting impression and to have something that is tangible as well as something that people can remember and that they can get a feeling. When they think about me being on the court or playing, they can feel me.

For me, the tangible thing is my big goals. I want to build sport complexes all around the world. My lane is tennis, but through tennis, I have crossed paths with a lot of amazing athletes and business people that can help expand that. For me, that is my tangible thing and I look at it like even where I live, I am creating a place where my son can go to after school, where he can get his training and all of the things with the sport that he wants to play because that is what I had growing up and it was a safeplace. It was a place where we were all working towards the same place, we worked hard, and it was a safe environment. That kept us out of trouble, it kept us away from things, and it kept us busy, occupied, and focused on positive things. So even with that, reaching into the community and building people up. I want to create that again where that is a safe place for kids to go and to be. For adults to be able to come and have that great time and they feel like they can be a kid again as well!

So when I think of a legacy, that is what I am thinking of and being able to use the sport in that way – that is what I see!

IG @gillettevenus

@tay_taytownsend

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Gillette Venus

Read the APR ISSUE #113 of Athleisure Mag and see RUN THE COURT | Taylor Townsend in mag.

9LIST STORI3S | TAYLOR TOWNSEND

Read the APR ISSUE #112 of Athleisure Mag and see 9LIST STORI3S | Taylor Townsend in mag.

9PLAYLIST MULTI | BRIANNA COPE

Read the APR ISSUE #112 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST MULTI | Brianna Cope in mag.

63MIX ROUTIN3S | RASHEE RICE

Read the MAR ISSUE #111 of Athleisure Mag and see 63MIX ROUTIN3S | Rashee Rice in mag.

9PLAYLIST | RASHEE RICE

Read the MAR ISSUE #111 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | Rashee Rice in mag.

ATHLEISURE MAG #111 | RASHEE RICE

In this month’s issue, our front and back cover story is with NFL Super Bowl Champion of the Kansas City Chiefs, Rashee Rice. We talk about his passion for the game, his journey, staying in shape, the upcoming season, and how he gives back philanthropically!

We sat down with Creator, Executive Producer, and writer Chris Brancato for Godfather of Harlem which is back for S4 on MGM+. We also interviewed cast members Rome Flynn, Lucy Fry, and Michael Raymond James as we talk about this historically inspired series, why they are part of this program and what we can expect this season. 

We sat down with pro surfer Brianna Cope who talks with us about her love for the beach, surfing, being in Surfer Girls on Prime Video, and her love for cooking on the beach! We chatted with her about her ambassadorship with Gozney and why this is something that we can enjoy when it comes to making pizzas wherever we roam.

We enjoyed an amazing dinner a few weeks back at Ludlow House to celebrate the launch of Cards on the Table, a digital series hosted by Stanley Tucci in partnership with Allbirds. After having such a great time at the event we wanted to know more about Allbirds as a brand, footwear aesthetic, how this series came about, and what we can look forward to.

We have been fans of Chef Maneet Chauhan for a number of years from her restaurants to her hosting and judging shows on Food Network. We sat down with her to find out how she got into the industry, why she loves cooking, finding out about her restaurant group, and upcoming projects.

Our kick off to Spring wouldn't be complete without our recap of this past Awards Season via 9R3DCARP3T which shares exclusive quotes with those who walked the red carpet as well as their teams.

This month's The Art of the Snack takes us to Singapore where we dine at Burnt Ends. We talk with Chef David Pynt on his culinary journey as well as what led him to launching this restaurant and what we can expect when we come in to dine.

This month's Athleisure List comes from Lolita in Midtown NY which have a phenomenal menu for your next meal as well as cocktails! In addition, we also head to Italy to enjoy ARIA Retreat + Spa.

This month we have our 9PLAYLIST from NFL Super Bowl Champion and Athleisure Mag cover, Rashee Rice of the Kansas City Chiefs. We have an additional 9PLAYLIST with EDM DJ/Producer,  KAAZE. This month's 9PLAYLIST MULTI comes US Open 2017 Grand Slam winner, Sloane Stepens who shares what she enjoys listening to, streaming, and reading. Our 63MIX ROUTIN3S comes from Rashee Rice and from pro surfer, Brianna Cope. This month's THE 9LIST 9CH3FS comes from Chef Hailey Nissimov of Figaro Cafe, Owner Will Patton and Creative Dir Devin of Press Club Cocktail Bar and our THE 9LIST 9B-L-D comes from BRAVO Top Chef S22 that is currently airing - Chef Lana Lagomarsini as she shares what dishes we can enjoy for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

SURFING THE NEXT CHAPTER | CARISSA MOORE

We always love when we get the chance to chat with 5X World Champion World Surf League Women's World Tour and the 1st ever Team USA Surfing Gold Medalist in shortboard at the 2020 Summer Olympics - Carissa Moore! We had the pleasure of having her as our cover for our FEB ISSUE #86 and we're glad to have her as this month's cover as she is someone who is not only a talented athlete, but she is someone who cares about her legacy in and out of the sport as well as giving back to others. In addition, she is navigating a new chapter in her journey, being a mother! We talk about this part of her life, what it looks, like and what she'll do next!

ATHLEIURE MAG: We've had the pleasure of having you as our cover in Feb '23 and we interviewed you again later that year! So it's always a pleasure to chat with you. You're in a great period of your life as you are expecting a child! What were the thoughts and decisions that you grappled with as you looked at stepping back from competition?

CARISSA MOORE: The decision to step back from competition wasn’t one that was taken lightly. It weighed on my heart for several years, but it took me awhile to find the courage to take the leap. Competitive surfing has been a huge part of my identity and drive for most of my life so just dealing with the unknown of what’s on the other side and the fears and anxiety that comes with that was something that took some time to process and work through. I eventually got to a point where the fear of staying the same far outweighed the fear of failure and what other people would think. I know in my heart it was time to pivot and to step outside of my comfort zone. This last year has really challenged me physically, mentally, and emotionally but as hard as it has been at times, it feels good to be pushed to evolve in different ways. There was also the importance of starting a family and the stress of tour life for so many years that factored into my decision at this time. I needed a break to recharge and also give myself the space and grace to prioritize my family.

AM: What does this next chapter look like for you?

CM: It’s pretty cool because as much as this next chapter is up in the air and a little scary, it’s also so exciting because there are so many possibilities. There is a dream to maybe come back to competitive surfing when I’m healthy and ready, but I also don’t want to put any pressure on myself. It just feels like there is a little left undone for me in that space especially as a mom. I am super passionate about helping young girls and women thrive through my charitable foundation, Moore Aloha. Our mission is to support females as they navigate the waves of mental health and wellness by educating, empowering and inspiring through sport, mentorship and culture. Our events and programs have really blossomed into something special and super meaningful so I would like to continue to pour my heart into that and see where it goes. I’d love to get better at public speaking, maybe do a TedTalk and write a book one day. But honestly, just working on being the best wife, mom, athlete, human I can be.

AM: I know that family is so important to you and now that you will be bringing a little one into the mix, what are you looking forward to?

CM: I am just looking forward to doing life with our little. All the things, walks with the dogs, days at the beach, adventures around the world... I'm looking forward to seeing the world through her eyes and being bewildered by the magic around me all over again.

AM: In terms of surfing, we've seen you on the waves as a mama-to-be! How important is surfing to you in this transitional to enjoy what you love?

CM: Surfing has kept me sane during this time. Being pregnant is beautiful and miraculous but a massive transformation in all aspects. The changes have been so dramatic over such a short period of time that being on a board has helped me feel like myself while losing myself if that makes sense. Surfing has been a source of peace, comfort, joy through so many different phases and transitions in life. Even though my wave riding looks very different at the moment, just being able to stand up, glide across a wall of water, feel the sun and salt water on my skin, is so refreshing and makes me so happy. Happy mama = happy baby!

AM: How has surfing been for you as you enjoy it without focusing on competing while you prepare for motherhood?

CM: It’s been weird to be honest. I’ve had to fall in love with surfing in a whole new way. I’ve always found joy in the challenge of working on something every time I paddled out or pursuing the next goal in competition. For the first time, kind of ever, I can’t do what I used to so I have been going surfing to just ride waves because it makes me feel good. There is no agenda. No feedback from a coach. No pressure! I’m so used to doing, creating, going, going, going. This pregnancy has forced me to slow down and look at things differently. Take a different pace and know it’s okay. This isn’t forever and to embrace this season I am in. I think it’s super important to be present for my daughter, for her to feel calm and at peace coming into this world.

AM: How has it been balancing work, life, and your passion for this next chapter?

CM: It’s been fun to pursue other passions like my charitable foundation Moore Aloha, spend quality time with family and friends, settle into a home routine and get creative on ways I can use my skills and talents to remain and involved. Grateful to have a super supportive husband and great village to help me navigate this time and redefine a new balance.

AM: What have you learned about yourself in this stage of your life?

CM: Oh man, that is loaded question. I have learned so much at every stage. It feels like every other week I have had to face a different part of me, process it and move through it. I still struggle with self-worth. I’m working on it. Time away from competition and outside validation has forced me to really value myself. I’m learning to love my body. I look back at pictures from before I was pregnant, when I thought I was ‘big’ and I’m like, “Damn, I look strong and lean! What was I thinking being so hard on myself?” It has been a challenge to love my reflection as I grow and gain weight but I’m changing that inner dialogue and doing a better job of appreciating what my body is able to do. I am making a human! How cool?! I also realize that I have a lot of fear around the unknown. Learning to let go and trust. Trust my body, trust the timing, trust that it’s all going to be okay. I like being in control and stress too much over the things I can’t. It’s been a great time for self-reflection and evaluating who I want to be for my daughter. What kind of relationship do I want to have with her? What kind of role model do I want to be? What environment do I want her to grow up in? Becoming someone’s mom has given me the extra motivation to look at my weaknesses and do the work to be the best I can be for her.

AM: Do you plan on returning to competitions in the future?

CM: Maybe… we will see. Like I said, don’t want to put any pressure on it, but it’s not out of the question!

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PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Red Bull Photo Pool - FRONT COVER Domenic Mosqueira /PG 16 +24 Ryan Miller/PG 18 Trevor Moran/PG 22 Jeremiah Klein/PG 26 + BACK COVER Zac Noyle | PG 21 Hurley |

Read the JAN ISSUE #109 of Athleisure Mag and see SURFING THE NEXT CHAPTER | Carissa Moore in mag.

9LIST STORI3S | HAILEY LANGLAND

Read the DEC ISSUE #108 of Athleisure Mag and see 9LIST STORI3S | Hailey Langland in mag.