CASTLE TO CAROLINAS | CHEF KRISTEN KISH

We always enjoy being able to sit down with Chef Kristen Kish to talk about what she is working on or where we will see her next. Last month, S4 of Peacock’s The Traitors kicked off and we have been enjoying seeing her navigate this murder competition show that takes place in a castle and has a number of our favorite celebs across reality shows included. As of reading this issue, all episodes are streaming now and you can see her journey!

Next month, BRAVO’s S23 of Top Chef is back starting Mar. 9th (if you have Peacock, you can see the first episode early on Mar 3rd). This year, our favorite host along with her co-judges Chef Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons will bring us to North and South Carolina as we learn more about the chefs who will be competing, along with learning more about the cuisines that are indicative of these areas!

We wanted to know more about her participating in The Traitors, Alan Cumming (Glenrothan, X-Men franchise, Golden Eye) as host, and to get to know a bit about the inner workings of this show. We also wanted to know more about the upcoming season of Top Chef as we get excited to see this culinary competition show. As always, we want to know more about upcoming projects that she is working on as we look ahead to the Spring.

ATHLEISURE MAG: As a murder mystery competition show, The Traitors is one that we enjoy. It’s an interesting blend of watching talents that you know from various shows coming together to win challenges while also picking people off. What led to you deciding that you wanted to participate in this show?

CHEF KRISTEN KISH: Saying yes to The Traitors felt a lot like when I was first asked to compete on Top Chef. It wasn’t something planned, it just presented itself. I have learned that those unexpected opportunities are usually the ones that shape me the most.

What made me a bit nervous is that it’s not built on one skill set. In the kitchen, I can rely on technique and experience. This was different. It was psychology, intuition, and navigating discomfort in real time.

AM: When you sat down at the first roundtable where the initial Traitors were selected, what was that feeling like and what did you want to be?

CHEF KK: I wanted to be a Faithful. Sitting there blindfolded, in complete silence except for Alan’s footsteps, was incredibly disorienting. You’re suddenly cut off from real life and fully immersed in the game. It feels like the moment everything shifts.

I wasn’t trying to count his steps or calculate where he stopped. I was actually very aware of my own thoughts. I just let myself settle into the reality that the game had officially begun. It was less about strategizing in that moment and more about grounding myself in what I was stepping into.

AM: Each morning, the breakfast table is one of my favorites to see everyone come together! Did you have a favorite item that you enjoyed eating?

CHEF KK: Not really a single favorite, but I did enjoy the coffee. Right before missions, after finishing breakfast, I found myself snacking on a lot of the dates they had in the kitchen. Quick energy! I started out eating hard‑boiled eggs in the first few breakfasts, but that got a bit tiresome. The dates became my go-to.

AM: With so many different types of personalities coming together, how did you prepare to be in this unique environment?

CHEF KK: For me, there’s really no way to prepare for something so unknown, especially as someone who has battled with social anxiety. Even in the middle of a game that encourages lying, deception, and manipulation, it is a game at the end of the day and my goal is to have fun.

AM: Alan’s outfits are iconic what was your favorite look that he wore?

CHEF KK: Recently, one of my favorites was when he dyed his hair blue, pink, and white; a nod to the trans flag. I loved how he incorporated messages that had nothing to do with the game, but reflected social justice. Those little choices made his style feel personal and meaningful beyond just the outfits.

AM: What was your favorite look that you wore during The Traitors season, favorite moment, and favorite challenge?

CHEF KK: I did dress up in a black pinstripe suit one day because I thought I was going to find out I was murdered that day. Knowing that I had to do my own glam everyday, I needed clothes that felt like a polished me. A well-tailored suit is timeless, comfortable and temperature appropriate.

My favorite challenges were the physical ones that tested strength and athleticism. I’m active, so I really enjoyed being able to move and push myself. There was one in the weird, creepy cabin where I was convinced a snake would drop from the ceiling. My favorite part? When it didn’t!

AM: What was a takeaway you had from being on The Traitors?

CHEF KK: The biggest takeaway for me was that stepping outside your comfort zone can lead to incredible experiences and even lifelong friendships. That was honestly the best part of the whole journey.

AM: You’ll be back on our screens again with Top Chef on Mar 9th on Bravo! What are you excited for us to see for this season?

CHEF KK: I’m most excited for everyone to meet this new group of incredibly talented chefs. It was a pleasure to witness how each of them brought something unique to the table, and tasting their creativity and passion unfold was such a joy.

AM: When we think about the cuisines of The Carolinas, what are the ingredients that are indicative of these states?

CHEF KK: Throughout the season, it’s about using the ingredients but also drawing from the cultures, and the history behind them. Each chef brings their own perspective and their own creativity to the table. Watching them transform those ingredients into dishes that tell a story, their story, is one of the most special parts of the season.

AM: Each season there seems to be some twists. We know that there are twins competing this year and a few format changes - what can you tell us about this?

CHEF KK: There are always subtle changes each season, but the heart of Top Chef remains the same, it’s still the show you know and love. The twists come through how the chefs perform and adapt, so you’ll see new surprises emerge naturally from their creativity and strategy. You’ll just

have to tune in to see how it all unfolds!

AM: How did you prepare for this season of Top Chef?

CHEF KK: I research places I would like to dine at since we are there for such a long time. I research the landscape and cuisine so I have baseline knowledge going into any season. Overall, I love watching and having a front row seat to the chefs’ journey. I know how Top Chef can change your life and that aids my excitement and compassion for their journey.

AM: You are also the Chef-in-Residencen at Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, which we know that Teyana Taylor (The Rip, One Battle After Another, The Book of Clarence) is currently a student there. Why did you want to be the Chef-in-Residence and why is this so important to you to be involved in this?

CHEF KK: I saw that! I think it’s very cool that with as busy as she must be, she’s taking the time to explore her passions. I’d love to get in the kitchen with her!

The team at Escoffier have been great partners and we’ve built this role together focusing on what we all believe are some of the most important benefits of culinary school outside of the technical skills... mentorship, building confidence and sparking curiosity. The core of what I do as the Chef-In-Residence are student-focused initiatives and this year we’re expanded on that.

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

CHEF KK: I’m focused on continuing to build Kish Aperitif and introducing it to a wider audience. I’m incredibly proud of what my partners and I have created, and I’m excited for more people to experience a part of my heritage through this lens. I also have a few ideas brewing that will allow people to engage with my world in new ways — and I’m looking forward to sharing more soon ;)

IG @kristenlkish

PG 113 PHOTO CREDIT/HAIR STYLIST Derek Yuen MUA Alyssa Fall STYLIST Charlotte Rose Coleman | PHOTOS COURTESY PG 114 Griffin Nagel/Peacock | PG 116- 118 Euan Cherry/Peacock | PG 120 - 123 Paul Cheney/Bravo | PG 124 Sarah Israel/Bravo |

Read the FEB ISSUE #122 of Athleisure Mag and see CASTLE TO CAROLINAS | Chef Kristen Kish in mag.

THE BACHELORETTE S22. E0. | BEFORE THE ROSE

PHOTO CREDIT | ABC The Bachelor Key Art/Sami Drasin

PHOTO CREDIT FOR THE BACHELOR CONTESTANTS | Disney/Evan Mulling

After The Oscars, Before the Rose aired a mini episode where we got to see Taylor Frankie Paul begin her journey as S22 of ABC’s The Bachelorette! We just finished watching S4 of The Secret Lives of Morman Wives and we see Taylor navigating the weeks prior to being The Bachelorette! How will this mom of 3 who we have seen with her baby daddy, take on the opportunity to be part of this experience?

We get to see her embraced by previous Bachelorettes as she is the 22nd one. They give her advice, they wear matching sweats, and we get a few glimpses of the previous women’s experiences as well as what their life has been like after their seasons! As we get excited for the season to start on Mar. 22nd, it’ll be interesting to see how she takes on this challenge, if her past will come crashing into her present, and more.

Each night during this season, we will tweet about The Bachelorette and you can chat along with us (@AthleisureMag + with our Co-Founder/Creative + Style Director, Kimmie Smith @ShesKimmie) to see what’s taking place!

Each week we will let you know who our faves were from the last episode and if we’ve changed up since then as it pertains to who we think should go to Hometowns. You can watch The Bachelorette on ABC kicking off on Sun Mar 22nd and each Sun thereafter. It’s available on Hulu the day after!

We also suggest a podcast that we’ve become obsessed with over the past few seasons, Wondery’s Bachelor Happy Hour to get their feedback!

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

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WHO WE THINK WILL GO TO HOMETOWNS

BRANDON

MICHAEL

SHANE

TRENTEN

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THE BACHELOR CONTESTANTS

AARON

BRAD

BRANDON

CASEY

CHRISTOPHER

CLAYTON

CONRAD

DOUG

JOHNNIE

JOSH

KEVIN

LEW

MALIK

MARCUS

MATT

MICHAEL B

MIKE T

RICHARD

ROD

RONN

SHANE

TRENTEN

AWARDS SEASON | OSCARS WINNERS

Today, the 98th Oscars announced the nominations for this show that will take place on Sunday, Mar 15th on ABC and Hulu at 7pm ET from the Dolby Theatre in LA. The show will be hosted by Conan O’Brien for his second year in a row. As we do throughout Awards Season, we share our predictions in bold, the ones we correctly identified as winners are in bold italics and winners that we didn’t predict are in italics. On the night of the event, we will share who we predicted correctly as well as those we didn’t that won.

Best Picture

Bugonia (Focus Features); Ed Guiney & Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone and Lars Knudsen, Producers
F1 (Apple); Chad Oman, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Joseph Kosinski and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers
Frankenstein (Netflix); Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Scott Stuber, Producers
Hamnet (Focus Features); Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris, Nicolas Gonda, Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes, Producers
Marty Supreme (A24); Eli Bush, Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Anthony Katagas and Timothée Chalamet, Producers
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Adam Somner, Sara Murphy and Paul Thomas Anderson, Producers
The Secret Agent (Neon); Emilie Lesclaux, Producer
Sentimental Value (Neon); Maria Ekerhovd and Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Producers
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian and Ryan Coogler, Producers
Train Dreams (Netflix); Marissa McMahon, Teddy Schwarzman, Will Janowitz, Ashley Schlaifer and Michael Heimler, Producers

Best Director

Hamnet (Focus Features), Chloé Zhao
Marty Supreme (A24), Josh Safdie
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.), Paul Thomas Anderson
Sentimental Value (Neon), Joachim Trier
Sinners (Warner Bros.), Ryan Coogler

Best Actor

Timothée Chalamet in Marty Supreme (A24)
Leonardo DiCaprio in One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Ethan Hawke in Blue Moon (Sony Pictures Classics)
Michael B. Jordan in Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Wagner Moura in The Secret Agent (Neon)

Best Actress

Jessie Buckley in Hamnet (Focus Features)
Rose Byrne in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (A24)
Kate Hudson in Song Sung Blue (Focus Features)
Renate Reinsve in Sentimental Value (Neon)
Emma Stone in Bugonia (Focus Features)

Best Supporting Actor

Benicio Del Toro in One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Jacob Elordi in Frankenstein (Netflix)
Delroy Lindo in Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Sean Penn in One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Stellan Skarsgård in Sentimental Value (Neon)

Best Supporting Actress

Elle Fanning in Sentimental Value (Neon)
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in Sentimental Value (Neon)
Amy Madigan in Weapons (Warner Bros.)
Wunmi Mosaku in Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Teyana Taylor in One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Bugonia (Focus Features); Screenplay by Will Tracy
Frankenstein (Netflix); Written for the Screen by Guillermo del Toro
Hamnet (Focus Features); Screenplay by Chloé Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
Train Dreams (Netflix); Screenplay by Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar

Best Original Screenplay

Blue Moon (Sony Pictures Classics); Written by Robert Kaplow
It Was Just an Accident (Neon); Written by Jafar Panahi; Script collaborators Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, Mehdi Mahmoudian
Marty Supreme (A24); Written by Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie
Sentimental Value (Neon); Written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Written by Ryan Coogler

Best Animated Feature

Arco (Neon); Ugo Bienvenu, Félix de Givry, Sophie Mas and Natalie Portman
Elio (Walt Disney); Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina and Mary Alice Drumm
KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix); Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle L.M. Wong
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (GKIDS); Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han, Nidia Santiago and Henri Magalon
Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney); Jared Bush, Byron Howard and Yvett Merino

Best International Feature

Brazil, The Secret Agent
France, It Was Just an Accident
Norway, Sentimental Value
Spain, Sirât
Tunisia, The Voice of Hind Rajab

Best Documentary Feature

The Alabama Solution (HBO Documentary Films); Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman
Come See Me in the Good Light (Apple); Ryan White, Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro and Stef Willen
Cutting Through Rocks; Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni
Mr. Nobody Against Putin (PINK);
The Perfect Neighbor (Netflix); Geeta Gandbhir, Alisa Payne, Nikon Kwantu and Sam Bisbee

Best Animated Short

Butterfly (Sacrebleu Productions); Florence Miailhe and Ron Dyens
Forevergreen; Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears
The Girl Who Cried Pearls (National Film Board of Canada); Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
Retirement Plan; John Kelly and Andrew Freedman
The Three Sisters (Polydont Films/Rymanco Ventures); Konstantin Bronzit

Best Casting

Hamnet (Focus Features); Nina Gold
Marty Supreme (A24); Jennifer Venditti
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Cassandra Kulukundis
The Secret Agent (Neon); Gabriel Domingues
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Francine Maisler

Best Cinematography

Frankenstein (Netflix), Dan Laustsen
Marty Supreme (A24), Darius Khondji
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.), Michael Bauman
Sinners (Warner Bros.), Autumn Durald Arkapaw
Train Dreams (Netflix), Adolpho Veloso

Best Costume Design

Avatar: Fire and Ash (Walt Disney); Deborah L. Scott
Frankenstein (Netflix); Kate Hawley
Hamnet (Focus Features); Malgosia Turzanska
Marty Supreme (A24); Miyako Bellizzi
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Ruth E. Carter

Best Documentary Short

All the Empty Rooms (Netflix); Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones
Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud (HBO); Craig Renaud and Juan Arredondo
Children No More: “Were and Are Gone” (Sky); Hilla Medalia and Sheila Nevins
The Devil Is Busy (HBO); Christalyn Hampton and Geeta Gandbhir
Perfectly a Strangeness (Second Sight Pictures); Alison McAlpine

Best Film Editing

F1 (Apple); Stephen Mirrione
Marty Supreme (A24); Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Andy Jurgensen
Sentimental Value (Neon); Olivier Bugge Coutté
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Michael P. Shawver

Best Live-Action Short

Butcher’s Stain (Tel Aviv University Steve Tisch School of Film and Television); Meyer Levinson-Blount and Oron Caspi
A Friend of Dorothy; Lee Knight and James Dean
Jane Austen’s Period Drama; Julia Aks and Steve Pinder
The Singers (Netflix); Sam A. Davis and Jack Piatt
Two People Exchanging Saliva (Canal+/The New Yorker); Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Frankenstein (Netflix); Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey
Kokuho (GKIDS); Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino and Tadashi Nishimatsu
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine and Shunika Terry
The Smashing Machine (A24); Kazu Hiro, Glen Griffin and Bjoern Rehbein
The Ugly Stepsister (Independent Film Company/Shudder); Thomas Foldberg and Anne Cathrine Sauerberg

Best Original Score

Bugonia (Focus Features); Jerskin Fendrix
Frankenstein (Netflix); Alexandre Desplat
Hamnet (Focus Features); Max Richter
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Jonny Greenwood
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Ludwig Goransson

Best Original Song

“Dear Me” from Diane Warren: Relentless (MasterClass/Greenwich Entertainment); Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix); Music and Lyric by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon and Teddy Park
“I Lied to You” from Sinners (Warner Bros.); Music and Lyric by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson
“Sweet Dreams of Joy” from Viva Verdi! (Viva Verdi!); Music and Lyric by Nicholas Pike
“Train Dreams” from Train Dreams (Netflix); Music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner, Lyric by Nick Cave

Best Production Design

Frankenstein (Netflix); Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
Hamnet (Focus Features); Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton
Marty Supreme (A24); Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Monique Champagne

Best Sound

F1 (Apple) Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta
Frankenstein (Netflix) Greg Chapman, Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke and Brad Zoern
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); José Antonio García, Christopher Scarabosio and Tony Villaflor
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Chris Welcker, Benjamin A. Burtt, Felipe Pacheco, Brandon Proctor and Steve Boeddeker
Sirāt (Neon); Amanda Vil

Best Visual Effects

Avatar: Fire and Ash (Walt Disney); Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett
F1 (Apple); Ryan Tudhope, Nicolas Chevallier, Robert Harrington and Keith Dawson
Jurassic World Rebirth (Universal); David Vickery, Stephen Aplin, Charmaine Chan and Neil Corbould
The Lost Bus (Apple); Charlie Noble, David Zaretti, Russell Bowen and Brandon K. McLaughlin
Sinners (Warner Bros.) Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter and Donnie Dean

THE BACHELORETTE S22. E0. | MEET THE MEN OF TAYLOR FRANKIE PAUL'S SEASON

PHOTO CREDIT | ABC The Bachelor Key Art/Sami Drasin

PHOTO CREDIT FOR THE BACHELOR CONTESTANTS | Disney/Evan Mulling

On Mar 22nd, we’ll be joining Taylor Frankie Paul as she kicks off S22 of ABC’s The Bachelorette. If you have yet to see her as one of the stars of The Secret Lives of Morman Wives, then you need to check out this reality show to get to know more about her before she looks for love.

Until then, you can check out the men that will be competing in her season below! We don’t know a lot about the men, but we have selected who we could see making it to Hometowns and will continue to speculate each week!

Each night during this season, we will tweet about The Golden Bachelorette and you can chat along with us (@AthleisureMag + with our Co-Founder/Creative + Style Director, Kimmie Smith @ShesKimmie) to see what’s taking place!

Each week we will let you know who our faves were from the last episode and if we’ve changed up since then as it pertains to who we think should go to Hometowns. You can watch The Bachelorette on ABC kicking off on Sun Mar 22nd and each Sun thereafter. It’s available on Hulu the day after!

We also suggest a podcast that we’ve become obsessed with over the past few seasons, Wondery’s Bachelor Happy Hour to get their feedback!

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

---

WHO WE THINK WILL GO TO HOMETOWNS

BRANDON

MICHAEL

SHANE

TRENTEN

---

THE BACHELOR CONTESTANTS

AARON

BRAD

BRANDON

CASEY

CHRISTOPHER

CLAYTON

CONRAD

DOUG

JOHNNIE

JOSH

KEVIN

LEW

MALIK

MARCUS

MATT

MICHAEL B

MIKE T

RICHARD

ROD

RONN

SHANE

TRENTEN

GO GET'EM MODE | MICHELLE BUTEAU

We’re days into the New Year and we’re making sure that we are setting ourselves up for the best success! Although we know that the 1st is the beginning of the year, it’s that first Monday that really lets us know what we’re in for. Jan 5th is really the beginning of a series of days and weeks where we really have to get in gear!

We sat down with actor, standup comedian, producer, Co-Creator and star of Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest Michelle Buteau to talk about her career, her creative process, her projects and why she partnered with Premier Protein! She talks about the importance of showing up for herself and being good to herself.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Hello! We met briefly at Chuks Collins dinner this Fall when he shared his collection at Bryant Park Grill. I was waiting to be seated, turned around and then there you were looking stunning walking by and all I could get out was, I love you in Survival of the Thickest!

MICHELLE BUTEAU: Oh yes, that was a great dinner and Chuks is so special!

AM: Yes it was such a good dinner and it’s great talking with you now.

MB: I love to hear that people love the show because it makes me feel like I am doing my job, so thank you for that! I will never get tired of that.

AM: I am a fan of your energy, your humor, your authenticity and all the things! Honestly, I don’t know where I was in life, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that I was like wait who is this – I loved you on Netflix’s Barbecue Showdown, you were the host of a social reality show that I loved watching, being on BET’s First Wives Club – I was like this woman is working! You literally got me through the pandemic which then brought me to watching the other things that you do as well!

You’re an actress, a comedian, a producer, a host, you can do drama – when did you realize that you wanted to be an entertainer?

MB: Oh my goodness! I feel that every kid thinks that they can be an entertainer. I think that it was when I was around 12 or 13 that I was like, “I think that I want to do this” to my parents and they were like, no you don’t. I don’t think that I really told myself or gave myself permission or license to really go far with this until my 20’s which is so crazy, but you know, whatever makes you happy!

AM: Well, whether you’re preparing for a character or an upcoming film, or series, what is your creative process or what do you pull from when you’re trying to get ready for things that you’re working on?

MB: You know, that’s such a great question! I don’t really have a process, the main thing that I have to do, because I have a husband, 2 dogs, 2 kids, are responsibilities at home and in life. The main thing for me to do is that I am happy and healthy, that I have all of my vitamins, and I am taking care of myself because my brain is working! When I have a good amount of rest because I like to be busy – the main thing is that I am taking care of me throughout the day!

AM: In Survival of the Thickest, I love it with the energy of that show! You are showing the industry and what goes on in it. I am the Co-Founder/Creative + Style Dir of Athleisure Mag but I am also a Fashion Stylist. So when I am watching the show and your character, I’m like oh yeah – that is what it is!

MB: Yeah, you get it!

AM: Yup, I’m like, that’s pretty much it! It’s glam when it’s glam and then it’s just not.

MB: Yeah and I love that about it. It’s a parallel to comedy which is why I chose that job for my character. That job will humble you real quick and the next day you could be flying first class or private in this whole different realm, so I think it is important to know that there are a whole of different places that you can live especially with the job that you love.

AM: What made you want to be a Co-Creator of this show and also star in it as well? I know that you’re back in production on S3 and I am so bummed that this will be the final season – but the series has everything!

MB: I mean, it was just really natural right? I have been doing standup for 24 years and it has helped me figure out my voice, my platform – and when I wrote this book when I brought my kids home from the hospital. I was like, “oh, I have twin babies now and I guess I will be at home so I need to write a book – I mean what? What?” But I will say, hot tip, I do put some Premier Protein Shake in my coffee because that’s how I get my protein! I get my coffee kick, my caffeine kick, my protein kick! So that was very helpful! Obviously lots of hugs and fresh hugs too – but anyways!

AM: What is life without fresh veggies and hugs?

MB: Ok now! Downward dogs and everything – cat/cow!

I mean, I wrote the book and then when Netflix optioned the book, they said, “do you want to build this world yourself or would you like to work with someone?” There’s nothing better than collaborating. When you find the right person it just sings and so I am so happy that Netflix introduced me to my Co-Creator Danielle Sanchez-Witzel (My Name is Earl, New Girl, The Carmichael Show) because we had a time! We had a whole kiki! It’s been so fun! It is 3rd and final, but that’s ok because I think that it is a gift knowing that you are not coming back so that you can do what you want to do. Also, no one is a 1 trick pony! We can go out there and do other things – I mean look at you!

AM: Tell me about The Surviving and Thriving Tour!

MB: Oh my goodness! Well, you know, everybody has got – the whole point is that we can live in 2 places at once. While we feel like this is really hard, there also some really good things too. You have to wake up really early, but isn’t it really good that you get to wake up really early and get to do all the things that you want to do? I feel like being busy or stressed is a privilege – I get to have the responsibility to do these things which is really fun. So Surviving and Thriving is named kind of after that. I love standup and I can’t wait to go back out on tour. I love performing and just writing hard jokes, hard jokes. I want people bending over with laughter! I want people to just be cackling because laughter is medicine and I’m a doctor!

AM: I mean, I will take in all the prescriptions that you’re providing!

MB: Yeah! There’s no Co-Pay, come get you some laughs!

AM: Spa Weekend looks amazing! It’s a great cast! Why did you want to be part of that project?

MB: I mean, there is just this beautiful, wild and comedic powerhouses coming together! I love Isla Fisher (Now You See Me franchise, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Nocturnal Animals), Leslie Mann (The Other Woman, Blockers, Motherless Brooklyn), Anna Faris (Scary Movie franchise, Mom, The House Bunny) and how could I not want to be part of that team? I also love the idea of strong female bonds and relationships when we are from different walks of life. The one thing that we have in common is that the women of Spa Weekend, go on a spa weekend because they need it. They are really busy with the responsibilities and the mundane things that are done in life and they have to go away. They just go away for a wild weekend and they just have a lot of fun stuff going on and a lot of hijinks!

AM: I cannot wait to see it!

You recently partnered with Premier Protein as a part of their New Year campaign and Go Get ‘Em Mode. Tell me about this mode and what it is and why did you want to partner with this brand?

MB: Oh my goodness because I like to Go Get’ Em so let’s Go Get ‘Em, come on sis – let’s roll! Are you for real? So I remember and this was a full circle moment. My dad, he was like the busiest man alive. He would lift weights in between meetings, take me to the mall and he was so busy. He would always have a Premier Protein Shake! So I grew up watching the busiest man I know always being in Go Mode and getting it done and always taking care of his body. So when Premier Protein Shake approached me, I said yes! Everyone knows about that hard start of the year at the top of January 1st and it isn’t always that and then people beat themselves up – it’s the Monday – it’s the January 5th of it all. It’s really exciting because Premier Protein wants to set people up for success by going to goget2026.com and you can go on there and try them out for free! They will send it to you in your house in select cities (Atlanta, NY, Chicago, LA, Philadelphia and Miami). We all know what that is! We know what the pre-party is before you have to go to work so it’s that 5-9 where you’re like, uh-oh how am I going to do this, who am I going to be, what am I going to wear? You know, can I touch my toes, will I have enough energy – yes you can! It’s Premier Protein and they want to help you get that energy sis so let’s go!

AM: I love that and a shake is a great way to do all of that!

What do you love about drinking these shakes? Do you have a special flavor?

MB: I’m a Chocolate or Caramel girlie! What I love about it is that I am doing something for myself. I feel like because women – I mean, I’m no doctor – I only play one on TV – actually I did!

AM: I was going to say you did!

MB: You got me!

AM: You did!

MB: We need between 40 and 65 grams of protein a day. So you get 30 in one shot with the bottle, it’s like pretty great! When I have more energy, I’m nicer to people! There’s no road rage you know what I mean? I hope you heal! Oh my God there’s a spot! I found a parking spot? Yes you can cut me in line! You go –

AM: That’s right!

MB: I’m just a nicer person when I have more energy. So yes, I do that for myself - treat yo’self all year long!

IG @michellebuteau

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Netflix/Vanessa Clifton

Read the JAN ISSUE #121 of Athleisure Mag and see GO GET’EM MODEL | Michelle Buteau in mag.

FINDING YOUR BALANCE

Avid readers of Athleisure Mag know that a few months back we had an article that was focused on fitness and menopause where we talked with Dr. Jessica Shepherd, Board-Certified OB/GYN, Chief Medical Officer at Hers, and Pvolve Advisory Board Member for Women’s Health & Longevity. It was the first time that we covered this topic.

She shared how menopause is comprised of perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause. She also talked about symptoms that many of us may be familiar with from hot flashes, irregular periods, brain fog and more. We know that this tends to happen to women between 40 and 50. Although a number of elements of menopause seemed to be new to what we knew about, we were not prepared to learn so much more in Balance: A Perimenopause Journey which is a docuseries created by 2 monastic filmmakers, Sadhvi Siddhali Shree and Sadhvi Anubhuti, who not only started their menopausal jounrey, but wanted to share their experiences and how they are approaching it as they found that there was quite a bit of misinformation, lack of research/education, and stigme around this portion of a woman’s lifecycle. This docuseries premieres on Jan 30th on Apple+ and Prime Video.

We do not only hear from them and the doctors that are treating them as one focuses on Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) and the other opts to do so utilize natural remedies. They also have medical professionals who have varying opinions, regular women along with their partners who weigh in, and even Executive Producers Alyssa Milano (Who’s the Boss, Charmed, Spin City) and Jeannie Mai (The Real, Raid the Cage, America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation) share their accounts as well. In watching this 4-part docuseries, we were constantly reminded of so many aspects that people don’t talk about and why we need to do the research necessary to assist us as we navigate this time as for many, this journey start 10 years prior to the target age of menopause which is in the 30s for many of us!

ATHLEISURE MAG: First off, we have to say that we’re positively frustrated in watching this docuseries. That is to say that this is an incredibly informative docuseries where we learned a number of things that we didn’t know about the menopausal journey and that it makes us want to do more research and yet to see the gaps that exist that shouldn’t be. We could go on and on but I am excited to sit with you to hear from you as filmmakers and women navigating the menopausal journey.

Why did you want to make this docuseries?

SADHVI SIDDHALI SHREE: We wanted to make this docuseries Balance, because we wanted to educate women. We are not prepared and because we’re not prepared, we don’t know what we’re going through. We often criticize ourselves, we blame ourselves and we feel all kinds of frustrations because we are going through this transition but no one told us how to navigate. So, to reduce that suffering is important to us as monks and filmmakers.

AM: What’s really impressive in this docuseries are the different voices that you have coming together to talk about this topic. You have different kinds of medical professionals, those who are pro HRT, as well as those that aren’t, I was so excited to see Dr. Jessica Shepherd who I met a few months ago and I had interviewed her about menopause as the event was on the topic, having regular women, Alyssa Milano, and a former cover of ours – Jeannie Mai – both who serve as Executive Producers of this docuseries. So why did you want to approach it in this way by having those on various sides of the issue for, against, and those in the grey area?

SADHVI ANUBHUTI: You said it right! We wanted to make sure that we covered everything. When you are treating perimenopause and menopause, you want to treat it holistically. So we wanted to make sure that we had nutrition, activity, and a full understanding of what is happening to us from the OB/GYNs and a full scope of everything. So it was very important that we included trusted voices.

AM: Why do you think that there is such a stigma around the transition of menopause from the awareness, the marketing aspect, the fact that there is this timeline of life prior to menopause, 1 day which is the actual menopause, and then after. I’m 46 and I will be 47 in Sept. When I went to my first menopause event last Fall I remember thinking well that is for people in their 50s and 60s – is this even a fit? Then learning about the menopausal journey, it was like, “oh no you are in that mode and you need to learn about this!”

SA: You are right! It’s that misunderstanding of what is happening in this space. It’s the fact that women have not been included in that research and we have been underfunded, under researched, and misunderstood. That needs to change. So information needs to be out there and that is why this series needs to be there.

AM: It covers so many things from the social, emotional, and physical aspects of this journey. How long did it take you to think about creating this, doing this, traveling all over the world, and the research? What was the process in creating this?

SSS: I would say, that we were going through the early perimenopause symptoms for a few months and as filming was going on, we realized that no one knew about this. We were researching for ourselves and so we knew we had to do a docuseries in 4 parts so that it would cover everything. So the whole process took about 2.5 years. So as soon as we knew that we could film our appointments because we wanted to show this raw and honest from the very get go.

AM: It took 2.5 years and it’s now coming out Jan 30th, the same day that our JAN ISSUE #121 drops, what Jan 30th, what has been the response that you have received from those with early previews/screenings? Even for those that have participated in it as we get to see other people’s journeys along with their spouses as well and how they are doing. You also have your journeys as well.

SA: I think that for the first time, many women are starting to feel seen, validated, believed, they’re not crazy – this is something that all women go through. I think that we are building our own community of women who are saying that they are not going to suffer anymore, they’re not going to go through it like their mom did, and so it is very empowering to see that response.

AM: Where should people go to find out more information about the movie as well as this journey of menopause? In watching this and hearing certain responses in the docuseries, I think about things I have noticed and just attributed it to other things. I’m someone who eats healthy, works out etc, but maybe something I felt that I just assumed I was tired could be a symptom so I know I will be rewatching and taking personal notes to get to the bottom of things that I didn’t know could be more aligned to this and not just something that is about age or being tired. So where can people go to find out more about this?

SSS: Our viewers can go to the Balancedocuseries.com website where there we will have resources and viewers can follow all the doctors that they resonate with featured in our series because they have education on this, they are posting all of the time on social media and you can always go to the Menopause Society as well. It’s one of those things that you need to go to a trusted resource so that you have the right guidance as that is critical in this time and that’s why Balance is such a trusted resource because it is raw and it is real and we’re not holding anything back.

AM: You guys are filmmakers and I have enjoyed seeing other documentaries that you have done. What do you enjoy about storytelling, and how was it to do this particular story because it is personal? You’re telling this story and you have also injected yourself in this as well as we’re following your journey, as well as others in this docuseries as being objective must have been something that was always in mind in navigating telling this story.

SSS: I think that it comes from our experience of being monks and filmmakers on 3 other films – 2 on human trafficking and another one on animal cruelty. So, these are very dark and human subjects and we are passionate people. What we practice in our system is that there are so many sides and you have to see them and there are various truths to those sides and how do you do it – no pun intended, in a balanced way? That is really important because you have to honor all voices and as you have seen in this series, I have taken the hormone therapy path and she (name) has taken the natural approach which will resonate with audiences and we have our own questions so it kind of covers the whole spectrum of the topic.

IG @siddhalishree

@sadhvianubhuti

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Balance: A Perimenopausal Journey

Read the JAN ISSUE #121 of Athleisure Mag and see Finding Your Balance in mag.

AWARDS SEASON | OSCARS NOMINATIONS

Today, the 98th Oscars announced the nominations for this show that will take place on Sunday, Mar 15th on ABC and Hulu at 7pm ET from the Dolby Theatre in LA. The show will be hosted by Conan O’Brien for his second year in a row. As we do throughout Awards Season, we share our predictions in bold, the ones we correctly identified as winners are in bold italics and winners that we didn’t predict are in italics. On the night of the event, we will share who we predicted correctly as well as those we didn’t that won.

Best Picture

Bugonia (Focus Features); Ed Guiney & Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone and Lars Knudsen, Producers
F1 (Apple); Chad Oman, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Joseph Kosinski and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers
Frankenstein (Netflix); Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Scott Stuber, Producers
Hamnet (Focus Features); Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris, Nicolas Gonda, Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes, Producers
Marty Supreme (A24); Eli Bush, Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Anthony Katagas and Timothée Chalamet, Producers
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Adam Somner, Sara Murphy and Paul Thomas Anderson, Producers
The Secret Agent (Neon); Emilie Lesclaux, Producer
Sentimental Value (Neon); Maria Ekerhovd and Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Producers
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian and Ryan Coogler, Producers
Train Dreams (Netflix); Marissa McMahon, Teddy Schwarzman, Will Janowitz, Ashley Schlaifer and Michael Heimler, Producers

Best Director

Hamnet (Focus Features), Chloé Zhao
Marty Supreme (A24), Josh Safdie
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.), Paul Thomas Anderson
Sentimental Value (Neon), Joachim Trier
Sinners (Warner Bros.), Ryan Coogler

Best Actor

Timothée Chalamet in Marty Supreme (A24)
Leonardo DiCaprio in One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Ethan Hawke in Blue Moon (Sony Pictures Classics)
Michael B. Jordan in Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Wagner Moura in The Secret Agent (Neon)

Best Actress

Jessie Buckley in Hamnet (Focus Features)
Rose Byrne in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (A24)
Kate Hudson in Song Sung Blue (Focus Features)
Renate Reinsve in Sentimental Value (Neon)
Emma Stone in Bugonia (Focus Features)

Best Supporting Actor

Benicio Del Toro in One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Jacob Elordi in Frankenstein (Netflix)
Delroy Lindo in Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Sean Penn in One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Stellan Skarsgård in Sentimental Value (Neon)

Best Supporting Actress

Elle Fanning in Sentimental Value (Neon)
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in Sentimental Value (Neon)
Amy Madigan in Weapons (Warner Bros.)
Wunmi Mosaku in Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Teyana Taylor in One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Bugonia (Focus Features); Screenplay by Will Tracy
Frankenstein (Netflix); Written for the Screen by Guillermo del Toro
Hamnet (Focus Features); Screenplay by Chloé Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
Train Dreams (Netflix); Screenplay by Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar

Best Original Screenplay

Blue Moon (Sony Pictures Classics); Written by Robert Kaplow
It Was Just an Accident (Neon); Written by Jafar Panahi; Script collaborators Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, Mehdi Mahmoudian
Marty Supreme (A24); Written by Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie
Sentimental Value (Neon); Written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Written by Ryan Coogler

Best Animated Feature

Arco (Neon); Ugo Bienvenu, Félix de Givry, Sophie Mas and Natalie Portman
Elio (Walt Disney); Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina and Mary Alice Drumm
KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix); Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle L.M. Wong
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (GKIDS); Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han, Nidia Santiago and Henri Magalon
Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney); Jared Bush, Byron Howard and Yvett Merino

Best International Feature

Brazil, The Secret Agent
France, It Was Just an Accident
Norway, Sentimental Value
Spain, Sirât
Tunisia, The Voice of Hind Rajab

Best Documentary Feature

The Alabama Solution (HBO Documentary Films); Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman
Come See Me in the Good Light (Apple); Ryan White, Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro and Stef Willen
Cutting Through Rocks; Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni
Mr. Nobody Against Putin (PINK); Nominees to be determined
The Perfect Neighbor (Netflix); Geeta Gandbhir, Alisa Payne, Nikon Kwantu and Sam Bisbee

Best Animated Short

Butterfly (Sacrebleu Productions); Florence Miailhe and Ron Dyens
Forevergreen; Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears
The Girl Who Cried Pearls (National Film Board of Canada); Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
Retirement Plan; John Kelly and Andrew Freedman
The Three Sisters (Polydont Films/Rymanco Ventures); Konstantin Bronzit

Best Casting

Hamnet (Focus Features); Nina Gold
Marty Supreme (A24); Jennifer Venditti
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Cassandra Kulukundis
The Secret Agent (Neon); Gabriel Domingues
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Francine Maisler

Best Cinematography

Frankenstein (Netflix), Dan Laustsen
Marty Supreme (A24), Darius Khondji
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.), Michael Bauman
Sinners (Warner Bros.), Autumn Durald Arkapaw
Train Dreams (Netflix), Adolpho Veloso

Best Costume Design

Avatar: Fire and Ash (Walt Disney); Deborah L. Scott
Frankenstein (Netflix); Kate Hawley
Hamnet (Focus Features); Malgosia Turzanska
Marty Supreme (A24); Miyako Bellizzi
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Ruth E. Carter

Best Documentary Short

All the Empty Rooms (Netflix); Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones
Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud (HBO); Craig Renaud and Juan Arredondo
Children No More: “Were and Are Gone” (Sky); Hilla Medalia and Sheila Nevins
The Devil Is Busy (HBO); Christalyn Hampton and Geeta Gandbhir
Perfectly a Strangeness (Second Sight Pictures); Alison McAlpine

Best Film Editing

F1 (Apple); Stephen Mirrione
Marty Supreme (A24); Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Andy Jurgensen
Sentimental Value (Neon); Olivier Bugge Coutté
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Michael P. Shawver

Best Live-Action Short

Butcher’s Stain (Tel Aviv University Steve Tisch School of Film and Television); Meyer Levinson-Blount and Oron Caspi
A Friend of Dorothy; Lee Knight and James Dean
Jane Austen’s Period Drama; Julia Aks and Steve Pinder
The Singers (Netflix); Sam A. Davis and Jack Piatt
Two People Exchanging Saliva (Canal+/The New Yorker); Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Frankenstein (Netflix); Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey
Kokuho (GKIDS); Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino and Tadashi Nishimatsu
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine and Shunika Terry
The Smashing Machine (A24); Kazu Hiro, Glen Griffin and Bjoern Rehbein
The Ugly Stepsister (Independent Film Company/Shudder); Thomas Foldberg and Anne Cathrine Sauerberg

Best Original Score

Bugonia (Focus Features); Jerskin Fendrix
Frankenstein (Netflix); Alexandre Desplat
Hamnet (Focus Features); Max Richter
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Jonny Greenwood
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Ludwig Goransson

Best Original Song

“Dear Me” from Diane Warren: Relentless (MasterClass/Greenwich Entertainment); Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix); Music and Lyric by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon and Teddy Park
“I Lied to You” from Sinners (Warner Bros.); Music and Lyric by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson
“Sweet Dreams of Joy” from Viva Verdi! (Viva Verdi!); Music and Lyric by Nicholas Pike
“Train Dreams” from Train Dreams (Netflix); Music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner, Lyric by Nick Cave

Best Production Design

Frankenstein (Netflix); Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
Hamnet (Focus Features); Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton
Marty Supreme (A24); Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Monique Champagne

Best Sound

F1 (Apple) Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta
Frankenstein (Netflix) Greg Chapman, Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke and Brad Zoern
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); José Antonio García, Christopher Scarabosio and Tony Villaflor
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Chris Welcker, Benjamin A. Burtt, Felipe Pacheco, Brandon Proctor and Steve Boeddeker
Sirāt (Neon); Amanda Vil

Best Visual Effects

Avatar: Fire and Ash (Walt Disney); Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett
F1 (Apple); Ryan Tudhope, Nicolas Chevallier, Robert Harrington and Keith Dawson
Jurassic World Rebirth (Universal); David Vickery, Stephen Aplin, Charmaine Chan and Neil Corbould
The Lost Bus (Apple); Charlie Noble, David Zaretti, Russell Bowen and Brandon K. McLaughlin
Sinners (Warner Bros.) Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter and Donnie Dean

AVANT GOTHICA WITH VSA

We’re excited to share an interview from our Athleisure Mag Summit Series which gives you an indepth look at a brand that we have had the pleasure of including in our photoshoots from celeb covers, model editorials, and even wearing it personally with a number of looks. Virgins Saints and Angels is a brand that includes a number of accessories that tell an array of stories and adds visual texture to whatever your style may be!

We sat down to talk with Cheryl “Finn” Finnegan, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Virgins Saints and Angels. We talk about the origins of the line, the assortment, her design process, and essentials you need as you begin to build your own collection.

ATHLEISURE MAG: I have to say it is such a pleasure to be able to chat with you finally for this Athleisure Mag Summit Series Virtual Event! This series allows us to talk with great fashion brands that I know our readership and community should know about. Having them hear from the brand, learning about their assortment, and what we can expect from them in upcoming seasons! As you know, I have been a fan of your brand for the past 2 decades from wearing it personally when I’m out and about, for TV segments and also including it in our photoshoots for Athleisure Mag!

In talking with you right now, I am wearing the first ring that I ever received from your collection as that in itself is a full circle moment as it was the first piece that I wrote about for a blog that I started back in 2004 and how was I to know that in 2011, my boyfriend who I am still with who is a Co-Founder of Athleisure Mag, would not only buy this ring without knowing that I knew about it, but he ordered it through Ylang23 which is a retailer that I knew and would talk to off and on when I was working on my site! They knew me and thought it was such serendipity and then around that time, I was in Santo Domingo designing my collab line with Sebago as we were were preparing to launch the collection on HSN and I ended up meeting the leather team that supplied leather for your belts because their company was supplying the leather for my shoes!

CHERYL FINNEGAN: Oh my gosh thank you so much and I just think the world of you!

AM: Same! It’s a brand that I have loved ever since I knew about it, it’s what I wear every single day and I love everything about it. I just want to say thank you for creating it and your aesthetic is something I appreciate and I really love that you are taking the time!

CF: Of course!

AM: So prior to launching Virgins Saints and Angels, I’d love to know about your background because I know you are a fashion veteran as you worked in marketing for Levi Strauss and Co.

CF: Yes, I have been working in fashion since I was probably 16!

AM: Same!

CF: Yeah, starting out in the local department store and moving on from there. I worked with Levi Strauss and I had the best title on the planet! I was called an Image Consultant!

AM: Ok, that is the best title!

CF: It is the best title! I loved handing that card out! So, I was in charge of going out and checking out boutiques. I was searching out for places for us to be in. So I was always on the cusp of what was happening. So when I moved down to San Miguel I originally started doing these plastic woven bags. They were super cute and I reinvented the whole plastic bag in the mercado and I had to brand it because I am a marketing person.

The branding in these plastic bags – I couldn’t sew anything in there and it was cheesy to glue something in there. So I had the weavers who were prisoners, they did that job in the prison system in Mexico – I had them weave the little ring in there and I did a key fob.

AM: Ah I’m seeing where the DNA of VSA came from the minute you said that and now I know why the brand also has key fobs!

CF: Then that key fob turned into a belt buckle which then turned into a ring and then a rosary and that is how it all began!

AM: Yeah, I always wondered what was the piece that sparked everything else – this is fascinating because it’s an extensive assortment that has an array of pieces that speak to each other inside of the collections as well as those adjacent to it, but I couldn’t figure out where it started and what the root was.

CF: Right! I was making these little itty bitty key fobs and I had a sweet little logo under resin and then Fred Segal was buying the bags. But one day he said to me, “do you think that you could just sell me some of the key chains?” I thought that was great because the bags take up major bulk right?

AM: Yes!

CF: So most of the cost of the bag was the shipping. So I thought, I could ship 100 key chains in a little box. So then I started putting in the religious imagery in them. Then I had cute little hangtags on them so it would be Adam and Eve and the cute little tag would say, “They always look better than they taste” or something fun about the Virgin of Miracles or whatever. I had these cute little tags on them and Fred Segal went crazy over them! I was just selling them as fast as they got in and then eventually, it turned into a belt buckle. Literally, I was walking down the street in LA with my belt buckle and Laurence Fishburne’s (Matrix franchise, John Wick franchise, The Amateur) relative stopped me and asked me what I was wearing and I told her that I had just made this belt buckle and it was my prototype. She said that she had to have one and I just took it off my body and I sold it to her!

AM: Oh my God, that is insane!

CF: Then I thought, I think that I could be onto something!

AM: The pieces are so iconic. When we had Lala Kent from Vanderpump Rules as our cover for our MAY ISSUE #29 in 2018, she wore one of your crowns for the cover.

CF: Yes – insane.

AM: It’s just amazing the responses that you get when you’re wearing them even in the wild. On days where I’m running between editor’s appointments and showrooms and I’m just rocking leggings and a top but I have my VSA which takes it to another level, I do get stopped and you have mini conversations about them and it’s so fun to engage with people in that way.

What is your sourcing process like? I do like the elements in the pieces an San Benito and then the Magdalena – where do you get all of these things from?

CF: Well inspiration is local, I mean you’re in Mexico. When I first got here, I didn’t get it. I come from the Midwest –

AM: Same!

CF: Right, your religion is private.

AM: Same! That’s how I was raised too!

CF: I’m from near Chicago.

AM: I’m from Indianapolis originally and obviously, I’m in NY now. But I totally get it. Like growing up there you’re religious, but it’s not something that I would just throw out in conversation.

CF: It’s reserved right?

AM: 1000%

CF: In Mexico, Guadalupe is on every other tattooed man – it’s just very visible. I found it interesting and then I started looking into it more and then I started adding in this Gothic kitsch. I was definitely more of a punk goth chic when I was young. I had the spiky hair and black that was my thing. I definitely have a bit of those elements in every piece that I do. The Magdalena was that ability to wear a rosary and to wrap it around. I particularly love the belt buckles and to me, those were it! That was my go-to piece that I was known for and every celebrity would wear the belt buckle and be pictured in it and you would see it! An earring you may not see necessarily, a ring you may not see, but a belt buckle – you’re going to see that.

AM: I do love the Gothica style of it. I always say that there is this noir/macabre feeling in the pieces that are pleasantly moody where it’s not fully leaning in that direction but you get that essence. I’m not a preppy girl by any means, although I growing up that is how I dressed – hello Midwest. But, I love that I feel when I wear them that it grounds the look, it gives an edge to it. It feels approachable, it has visual texture, and there are always great conversations around the pieces and it goes on for minutes! You see a cross, then there is an interesting design, or some other fun element.

CF: I know! It does kind of push the limits! I will never forget when I was in San Francisco, I was in a store and a woman came in and she told me that her parents had a dining room and it was all in black velvet and had Jesus and Mary in it as they were very religious. This woman was wearing her Virgin of Guadalupe belt buckle and she felt kind of dirty wearing it there – ha! It definitely pushes something.

AM: It does push the limits but you have created this world from the jewelry to the campaign imagery that you put around it that creates a cohesive story and what it means to be in that space. Sometimes our shoots end up popping up so quickly that I may not have time to reach out to your team to put a request in for something that is in a new collection or an archive piece and I will shop my personal VSA collection to bring it to set as it adds that element of drama.

CF: Oh honey! We’re so happy to work with you!

AM: Of course sometimes when there is a tight window you have to make do! You had a cameo set that we pulled a couple of years ago and I had requested various pieces from it as I wasn’t sure how we were going to have it with our model and by the time I saw the looks, I realized that they all needed to be worn together as we shot it at the Algonquin Hotel here in NYC.

CF: Oh yes! I loved that!

AM: Your team was great to work with to get that going. And between the dress and the layers of statement necklaces and the earrings this Cameo Noir moment just really came together. My team was like, wait all of this together and I’m like the whole thing!

CF: You’re too cute!

AM: Where do you start in your design process? Being where you are in Mexico, walking around definitely must be something for the senses and crazy inspiration.

CF: My new collection is just coming out and it’s called Brigid. So, Brigid took me back to my original roots. So when I was first introduced to San Benito, I was in Ireland. I saw the Celtic cross and I remembered being in San Benito and seeing the San Benito Monastery. That was the Celtic cross and I have Celtic roots. So Brigid takes me back to the first trip in Ireland when I was first introduced to that Celtic cross in a town called Kildare. Killdare happens to be the town where Brigid is. I wanted to do something that was very Irish and I started looking back into it and the famous Celtic cross in Ireland is in Kildare and Brigid, she is the only Goddess who is also a Saint. So she is a pagan Goddess and a Saint at the same time.

AM: Interesting!

CF: She is all 4 elements. She is Air, Water, Fire, and Earth.

AM: Now it makes sense with the images that you sent knowing that!

CF: Exactly right? So, I’m tying things back to my Celtic roots but yet, it is so very Mexican inspired for the pieces. All of my pieces are handmade!

AM: That’s another thing that I love about your brand! It already comes out with that heritage aspect to it due to how it is crafted. It is polished not like something that is mass produced, but in a way where you feel that an artisan made it and it is passed down to you. Every time I put it on – even if it is a new piece or one I haven’t worn in a while, you have this feeling that is warm and as if it something that you have had for years.

CF: You need to come down here and come down to the workshop!

AM: I want to come and see this, I would probably freak out!

CF: All of my clients that come to the workshop, they always say, “you don’t charge enough for your pieces.” They are blown away!

AM: I have to say that I have always felt that your pieces are a great price point; however, you have all the people that are making it by hand –

CF: It’s a lot! I have the same workers for 25 years.

AM: Really?

CF: Yes, the same people! They are the best of what they do. They love when I bring a magazine photo in and show them. They love seeing Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus or a number of the people that have worn their brand. They all have their little alters at their work stations. They really put a lot of love in what they do.

AM: When you make a collection each season like Brigid, how long is that process from concept to finish?

CF: It’s a lot. It can take – Brigid is coming out on Feb 1st and what we do is that we always wear the pieces beforehand. So after awhile in wearing a piece, you can see how it feels and you may say, this isn’t right. So we have to change and we have 2 pieces that we are right now in the process of getting ready. For Brigid, we have been working since Oct on this. It takes a long time and as a designer, I’m working all of the time. You don’t just stop your brain from being creative right? Every time you are looking at something, you’re saying, how does this translate?

It’s very interesting and I love it. I sit with the workers, I don’t hand them a sketch. I sit with them while we are making the pieces. I don’t have my cell phone with me or my laptop, I sit with them and I say, let’s do this and let’s do that. Then, they give me ideas, and we do it together.

AM: I did the same thing with my shoes as there was so much to learn by being able to talk with the artisans that have been doing this for years. I was able to share my vision, how I wanted the leathers arranged and then to watch them put it together, offer directions and adjustments to make a beautiful collection that I sold on HSN. So being in Santo Domingo and to have that experience really opened my eyes to craftsmanship. They knew that product and it was a pleasure to work with them. They knew that leather better than anybody, they knew about the last and so many components of the shoe.

CF: Yes! I have to say that it is very different than going to a factory in China where they are throwing things in a machine and spitting it out. There was a period where there was a copy cat of mine and they were making it in China and you could tell that it wasn’t the same.

AM: You knew the difference! Just the weight alone. It always surprises me that the pricing of your collection is so reasonable and then when you think about the hand made element as well, it’s amazing that your prices aren’t higher.

CF: People know once you start wearing it and playing with it. Our pieces in addition to being hand made are also hand polished. In this industry, when people say handmade – what does that mean because there could be elements that are and others on a machine. I do such a volume that I am fortunate that I am able to keep the prices at where they’re at. That definitely helps and we have a nice kind of flow to our factory – I don’t call it a factory I call it an atelier. We have about 13 people who work with us and every piece has its own hand antiquing. I don’t like that usually in jewelry when you antique it, they throw it in a black pot and they tumble it. I don’t like that. I like to brush it on by hand and I tell them where I want it to be more intense and where I want it to be less intense.

AM: Oh wow that explains something else I have always wondered. It’s yet another little detail that I am learning about you and the brand! I always noticed that it wasn’t the same all over in terms of my rings as I have more in this category than other portions of your line. So I will see certain parts of the ring will look one way or another when I am turning my hand or picking something up. I just thought that my skin was making it do that!

CF: There is a designer that wore my cuff to death in the shower, swimming in the ocean and I ran into her in NY and I said Nicole, would you like for me to replate that for you? It was black! And she was like, it’s my natural patina piece – my personal patina! I was like ok!

AM: Oh wow!

Who would you say is the VSA customer if you had to put a person in a category or categories?

CF: I know! There is the woman that I think she is that is this punk rock cool chick. But it’s so difficult because we have people from Miley Cyrus to Maria Shriver to Marilyn Manson. It is the most bizarre brand. A marketing company will come to me and say who is your customer and I really know that we are all over the board. We are being included in the upcoming season of Euphoria –

AM: Oh yeah, that’s huge! It’s their 3rd season!

CF: Yeah and they’re using my pieces all over! Yeah! So I have that kind of client and I have no idea as I have never seen that show.

AM: I did try to watch it but I feel like the show the cast when it first started they were like 16 but they’re definitely show the cast going through it. They’re drinking, doing drugs, navigating relationships. For me, watching younger kids do that isn’t for me versus seeing the same thing done with adults. But it is an acclaimed show and I know people really love it! I mean Zendaya (Challengers, Dune franchise, Spider-Man franchise), Colman Domingo (The Four Seasons, Fear the Walking Dead, Sing Sing) – so now I feel like I need to get on that train.

CF: I know! I have to watch it.

AM: So now that VSA is in it, I have to support it.

CF: You’re not going to see Zendaya in it but it’s another main character –

AM: Could be Sydney Sweeney (White Lotus, The Housemaid, Eden) as I know she is in it.

CF: I don’t know, but the main character is going to be wearing a signature rosary as that is her thing. You’ll see a belt buckle and you will see everything. I don’t want to say too much but I am excited.

I have also had a number of programs contact me as there is this whole witchy aesthetic that has been going on lately. When VSA started, Passion of the Christ came out, The Da Vinci Code so there was a lot of the religious thing, then we moved into Disney because there was Once Upon a Time –

AM: Yes! Loved that show and the pieces for that were huge as that was such a major collab with Disney!

CF: I fit in with those things personally. Then things got a little boring and now there is this whole witch thing going on. So there’s a movie called Forbidden Fruit that they chose my pieces for and then there is this new series that they are filming in Canada right now and I sent them 150 pieces. They went crazy for everything!

AM: I would love to see them in White Lotus, I don’t believe they are in production just yet. When they were filming in Thailand for S3, I was reached out to by someone working with them and they were looking for designers to partner with. I don’t know if it was for the show or for promotional items that would flow coming off of that and I told them then that they should talk with you and that I would be happy to connect the 2.

CF: Love it! I will tell you that my team is so professional and you have worked with them so many times. We say that we will have it on X date – we do, we have the return label, everything is packaged clean, we do what we say we will do. I don’t know how many people in the industry do that.

AM: Not a lot! Many times I have the request with a buffer and you’ll have some people still missing that window – so crazy!

CF: They’re kind of taken back at how easy it is to work with us!

AM: Oh yes, you guys package it nicely and everything is just ready to go. I find that in this business even though some people don’t do things to standard, when you are not a massive brand or with a massive firm or whatever the case may be, you have to be more on point and easy to work with so that you can continue to navigate and I always appreciate when people take care and pride in what they do! It’s about the details and the follow through!

CF: I also have this immense archive!

AM: I was just going to ask you about that!

CF: It’s massive – it’s crazy! So this program called The Body that is coming out, they shared the storyline and I told them that I would pick all of the pieces so they could give me direction. I gave them my mood board with all of the pieces. The pieces I showed them were not on the website. I can just pull from the archive and it’s so fun and most people don’t know that I do head pieces – I have thousands! I’m not going to put them on my website. People don’t necessarily want to spend a $1,000 on a headpiece that they will wear once.

AM: But it is there should they want it!

CF: It’s been so much fun and I can’t believe that I have had this life.

AM: Your photoshoots are productions in themselves and I get it as we do a number of them here at Athleisure Mag. What is that like as they are immersive and they have such a storyline and you had one that always comes to mind which was a Last Supper motif.

CF: I know! That one was so controversial. I would have surprise photoshoots with my team and that one was a team photoshoot.

AM: Oh wow!

CF: They didn’t know it was going to happen we were just eating like we normally do. I do them at my house, so I have the MUA sneaking in, the costume guy, the hair guy – everyone is setting up. So I let everyone know this is it – the Last Supper photoshoot. I have Mariana there with her long black hair naked, covering her breasts with the black tears and huge belt buckle. We have 12 women dressed super elegantly with the hairdos and I wanted a crystal turkey – the food had to be crystalized! We have so much fun with these shoots and they are all at the office or at my house!

AM: I always enjoy seeing your campaigns, photoshoots, and videos. There have been times that I have used them in terms of creating my moodboards for a shoot or concept. It’s art and it has everything in there.

CF: I go outside of it. When I do Marie Antoinette, she’s going to have the white makeup on and we’re going to go all out. Forget about the hybrid! I’m the real deal!

AM: What do you feel are the 3 key pieces that someone should have if they are just starting our their VSA collection?

CF: Ok, well for certain my Magdalena which is a multi-beaded piece that is super versatile and the first necklace that I designed! It’s still in the line and still my #1 piece. Lady Gaga wears it, Madonna wears it, everyone! That was the necklace that Britney Spears put me on the map. Then when she was going through that period of time where it was about Save Britney Spears was all over the Internet. She decided that she was going to pose naked on the Internet with only my necklace – she is like Maria Magdalena reincarnated. Lady Gaga wore it for her half time show and people choose to wear my pieces during key moments. Miley Cyrus wore that necklace for forever. It means something to them.

I would definitely say a VSA ring. I would also say a belt buckle. These are great statements. A lot of people think that with a belt buckle you have to have a skinny waist – no you don’t. You can wear your belt buckle high on the waist if you want our buckles are big it’s somehow an illusion!

AM: I tell people it’s a look that should be incorporated.

CF: Those 3 items the Magdalena the beaded necklace, the buckle, and the ring. My rings are statement pieces as you know – don’t be afraid of them!

AM: I say that too. You get used to wearing them and I don’t leave the house without them! I would feel weird leaving the house without them. The few times I do, they are probably in my bag waiting to be put back on. I workout in them and they sit in the little ring tray when I am getting my nails done.

CF: It’s like protection.

AM: I do feel that they are a bit like armor when I put them on. I have had them for so long and I like being able to choose a nice arrange of rings as I tend to wear 4 and always 2 from VSA. The fact that you have archives I do want to dig into those as a few years ago I was looking through that with one of your team members because we thought a project was going to take place and I couldn’t believe pieces I was drooling over that I had never seen on the website.

CF: Oh yeah the archive!

AM: Right and to your point, I was like we need to go to San Miguel because I can only imagine!

CF: You and Paul need to come down you would have so much fun! I love how versatile the pieces are the people that love this brand. I remember when Tim McGraw was in a photoshoot and he was styled in various pieces. The shearling coat was Dolce Gabbana and the best photo of all is a full page shot of him in his lounge chair in his office. He had his belt buckle on – VSA belt buckle and his hat and his favorite denim shirt and the credits said that the buckle was designer’s own. He was so proud of wearing that piece. I don’t care that he didn’t say my name –

AM: I remember seeing that picture and looking at the credits and I knew it was VSA!

CF: Yeah! That’s the thing – he chose that outfit because that was the picture and he looked so relaxed and so great.

We get phone calls and emails of people claiming that the pieces have done something to save their life – it is bizarre. We had a woman from NYC call the office and she was crying. She told me that she was weaing the Guadalupe belt buckle in Central Park and walked up to a woman crying on a park bench. She put her hand on her shoulder and said can I help you? The woman looked up and saw the belt buckle and said, “you just did.” The woman on the bench had prayed to Guadalupe asking for a sign or she would end her own life.

AM: Oh my.

CF: I mean, we were all crying by the end of that story. It was just amazing and we get these stories. People from Patagonia that had a life changing event that happened while wearing the necklace and now they aren’t going to take it off. You can’t believe some of the things that we hear and there is a power behind it.

AM: I always feel settled when I wear them it’s putting on those last elements to take on the world like armor.

CF: Listen to us!

AM: I’ve always felt that when you wear an accessory and especially when it comes to jewelry and that skin to skin contact, there is what the designer intended by designing it and then it merges with who you are as a person and then it becomes like a totem in many respects. You wear it every day, stories and moments in time are being associated and there is something there.

CF: I think jewelry does that way more than a sweater or something of that nature.

AM: Totally! I think it’s like when you walk into someone’s home, you feel a vibe because you are in the space of the inhabitants that eat, sleep, and live there and the home becomes an amplifier of the energy and sentiments that are there.

CF: Exactly.

AM: So the pieces that you’re wearing, because it is everyday and next to your skin – it is a thing.

IG @vsa_designs

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 56 - 65 Virgins Saints and Angels | PG 73 - 75 Paul Farkas

Read the DEC ISSUE #120 of Athleisure Mag and see AVANT GOTHICA WITH VSA in mag.

NEW YEAR, N3W YOU

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

AWARDS SEASON | GOLDEN GLOBES WINNERS

Today, the 83rd Golden Globes announced the winners that took place on Jan 11th on CBS at 8pm ET and you streamed live on Paramount+. Niki Glaser hosted this show for the 2nd time in a row! As we do throughout Awards Season, we share our predictions in bold, the ones we correctly identified as winners are in bold italics and winners that we didn’t predict are in italics.

Best Picture – Drama

Frankenstein
Netflix

Hamnet
Focus Features

It Was Just an Accident
Neon

The Secret Agent
Neon

Sentimental Value
Neon

Sinners
Warner Bros

Best Picture – Comedy Or Musical

Blue Moon
Sony Pictures Classics

Bugonia
Focus Features

Marty Supreme
A24

No Other Choice
Neon

Nouvelle Vague
Netflix

One Battle After Another
Warner Bros

Best Performance By a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Jessie Buckley
Hamnet

Jennifer Lawrence
Die My Love

Renate Reinsve
Sentimental Value

Julia Roberts
After the Hunt

Tessa Thompson
Hedda

Eva Victor
Sorry, Baby

Best Performance By a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Joel Edgerton
Train Dreams

Oscar Isaac
Frankenstein

Dwayne Johnson
The Smashing Machine

Michael B. Jordan
Sinners

Wagner Moura
The Secret Agent

Jeremy Allen White
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

Best Performance By a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Rose Byrne
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Cynthia Erivo
Wicked: For Good

Kate Hudson
Song Sung Blue

Chase Infiniti
One Battle After Another

Amanda Seyfried
The Testament of Ann Lee

Emma Stone
Bugonia

Best Performance By a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Timothée Chalamet
Marty Supreme

George Clooney
Jay Kelly

Leonardo DiCaprio
One Battle After Another

Ethan Hawke
Blue Moon

Lee Byung-Hun
No Other Choice

Jesse Plemons
Bugonia

Best Performance By a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

Emily Blunt
The Smashing Machine

Elle Fanning
Sentimental Value

Ariana Grande
Wicked: For Good

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas
Sentimental Value

Amy Madigan
Weapons

Teyana Taylor
One Battle After Another

Best Performance By a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

Benicio Del Toro
One Battle After Another

Jacob Elordi
Frankenstein

Paul Mescal
Hamnet

Sean Penn
One Battle After Another

Adam Sandler
Jay Kelly

Stellan Skarsgård
Sentimental Value

Best Director – Motion Picture

Paul Thomas Anderson
One Battle After Another

Ryan Coogler
Sinners

Guillermo del Toro
Frankenstein

Jafar Panahi
It Was Just an Accident

Joachim Trier
Sentimental Value

Chloé Zhao
Hamnet

Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language

It Was Just an Accident (France)
Neon

No Other Choice (South Korea)
Neon

The Secret Agent (Brazil)
Neon

Sentimental Value (Norway)
Neon

Sirāt (Spain)
Neon

The Voice Of Hind Rajab (Tunisia)
Willa

Best Picture – Animated

Arco
Neon

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle
Aniplex, Crunchyroll, Sony Pictures Entertainment

Elio
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

KPop Demon Hunters
Netflix

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Gkids

Zootopia 2
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

Paul Thomas Anderson
One Battle After Another

Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie
Marty Supreme

Ryan Coogler
Sinners

Jafar Panahi
It Was Just an Accident

Eskil Vogt & Joachim Trier
Sentimental Value

Chloé Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell
Hamnet

Best Original Score – Motion Picture

Alexandre Desplat
Frankenstein

Ludwig Göransson
Sinners

Jonny Greenwood
One Battle After Another

Kangding Ray
Sirāt

Max Richter
Hamnet

Hans Zimmer
F1

Best Original Song – Motion Picture

“Dream as One”
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Music by: Miley Cyrus, Andrew Wyatt, Mark Ronson, Simon Franglen
Lyrics by: Miley Cyrus, Andrew Wyatt, Mark Ronson, Simon Franglen

“Golden”
KPop Demon Hunters
Music by: Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo, Park Hong Jun
Lyrics by: Kim Eun-jae (EJAE), Mark Sonnenblick

“I Lied to You”
Sinners
Music by: Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson
Lyrics by: Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson

“No Place Like Home”
Wicked: For Good
Music by: Stephen Schwartz
Lyrics by: Stephen Schwartz

“The Girl in the Bubble
Wicked: For Good
Music by: Stephen Schwartz
Lyrics by: Stephen Schwartz

“Train Dreams”
Train Dreams
Music by: Nick Cave, Bryce Dessner
Lyrics by: Nick Cave

Cinematic and Box Office Achievement

Avatar: Fire and Ash
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

F1
Apple Original Films

KPop Demon Hunters
Netflix

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Paramount

Sinners
Warner Bros

Weapons
Warner Bros

Wicked: For Good
Universal

Zootopia 2
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Best Television Series – Drama

The Diplomat
Netflix

The Pitt
HBO Max

Pluribus
Apple TV

Severance
Apple TV

Slow Horses
Apple TV

The White Lotus
HBO Max

Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Abbott Elementary
ABC

The Bear
FX on Hulu

Hacks
HBO Max

Nobody Wants This
Netflix

Only Murders in the Building
Hulu

The Studio
Apple TV

Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Adolesence
Netflix

All Her Fault
Peacock

The Beast In Me
Netflix

Black Mirror
Netflix

Dying For Sex
FX on Hulu

The Girlfriend
Prime Video

Best Performance By a Female Actor in a Television Series – Drama

Kathy Bates
Matlock

Britt Lower
Severance

Helen Mirren
MobLand

Bella Ramsay
The Last of Us

Keri Russell
The Diplomat

Rhea Seehorn
Pluribus

Best Performance By a Male Actor in a Television Series – Drama

Sterling K. Brown
Paradise

Diego Luna
Andor

Gary Oldman
Slow Horses

Mark Ruffalo
Task

Adam Scott
Severance

Noah Wyle
The Pitt

Best Performance By a Female Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Kristen Bell
Nobody Wants This

Ayo Edebiri
The Bear

Selena Gomez
Only Murders in the Building

Natasha Lyonne
Poker Face

Jenna Ortega
Wednesday

Jean Smart
Hacks

Best Performance By a Male Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Adam Brody
Nobody Wants This

Steve Martin
Only Murders in the Building

Glen Powell
Chad Powers

Seth Rogen
The Studio

Martin Short
Only Murders in the Building

Jeremy Allen White
The Bear

Best Performance By a Female Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television

Claire Danes
The Beast in Me

Rashida Jones
Black Mirror

Amanda Seyfried
Long Bright River

Sarah Snook
All Her Fault

Michelle Williams
Dying for Sex

Robin Wright
The Girlfriend

Best Performance By a Male Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television

Jacob Elordi
The Narrow Road to the Deep North

Paul Giamatti
Black Mirror

Stephen Graham
Adolescence

Charlie Hunnam
Monster: The Ed Gein Story

Jude Law
Black Rabbit

Matthew Rhys
The Beast in Me

Best Performance By a Female Actor in a Supporting Role On Television

Carrie Coon
The White Lotus

Erin Doherty
Adolescence

Hannah Einbinder
Hacks

Catherine O’Hara
The Studio

Parker Posey
The White Lotus

Aimee Lou Wood
The White Lotus

Best Performance By a Male Actor in a Supporting Role On Television

Owen Cooper
Adolescence

Billy Crudup
The Morning Show

Walton Goggins
The White Lotus

Jason Isaacs
The White Lotus

Tramell Tillman
Severance

Ashley Walters
Adolescence

Best Performance In Stand-Up Comedy On Television

Bill Maher
Bill Maher: Is Anyone Else Seeing This?

Brett Goldstein
Brett Goldstein: The Second Best Night of Your Life

Kevin Hart
Kevin Hart: Acting My Age

Kumail Nanjiani
Kumail Nanjiani: Night Thoughts

Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais: Mortality

Sarah Silverman
Sarah Silverman: Postmortem

Best Podcast

Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Wondery

Call Her Daddy
SiriusXM

Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Spotify

The Mel Robbins Podcast
SiriusXM

Smartless
SiriusXM

Up First
NPR

GO GET 'EM MODE | MICHELLE BUTEAU

We’re 2 days into the New Year and we’re making sure that we are setting ourselves up for the best success! Although we know that the 1st is the beginning of the year, it’s that first Monday that really lets us know what we’re in for. Jan 5th, is really the beginning of a series of days and weeks where we really have to get in gear!

We sat down with actor, standup comedian, producer, Co-Creator and star of Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest Michelle Buteau to talk about her career, her creative process, her projects and why she partnered with Premier Protein! She talks about the importance of showing up for herself and being good to herself.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Hello! We met briefly at Chuks Collins dinner this Fall when he shared his collection at Bryant Park Grill. I was waiting to be seated, turned around and then there you were looking stunning walking by and all I could get out was, I love you in Survival of the Thickest!

MICHELLE BUTEAU: Oh yes, that was a great dinner and Chuks is so special!

AM: Yes it was such a good dinner and it’s great talking with you now as the interaction was so quick and a bit rushed on my part as I was just spitting out the words - so hello!

MB: Oh no it wasn’t! I love to hear that people love the show because it makes me feel like I am doing my job, so thank you for that! I will never get tired of that.

AM: Well you looked phenomenal and I was a table away from you and kept saying (in my head), that’s Michelle!

I am a fan of your energy, your humor, your authenticity and all the things! Honestly, I don’t know where I was in life, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that I was like wait who is this – I loved you on Netflix’s Barbecue showdown, you were the host of a social reality show that I loved watching, being on BET’s First Wives Club – I was like this woman is working! You literally got me through the pandemic which then brought me to watching the other things that you do as well!

You’re an actress, a comedian, a producer, a host, you can do drama – when did you realize that you wanted to be an entertainer?

MB: Oh my goodness! I feel that every kid thinks that they can be an entertainer. I think that it was when I was around 12 or 13 that I was like, “I think that I want to do this” to my parents and they were like, no you don’t. I don’t think that I really told myself or gave myself permission or license to really go far with this until my 20’s which is so crazy, but you know, whatever makes you happy!

AM: Well, whether you’re preparing for a character or an upcoming film, or series, what is your creative process or what do you pull from when you’re trying to get ready for things that you’re working on?

MB: You know, that’s such a great question! I don’t really have a process, the main thing that I have to do because I have a husband, 2 dogs, 2 kids, and responsibilities at home and in life. The main thing for me to do is that I am happy and healthy, that I have all of my vitamins, and I am taking care of myself because my brain is working! When I have a good amount of rest because I like to be busy – the main thing is that I am taking care of me throughout the day!

AM: In Survival of the Thickest, I love it with the energy of that show! You are showing the industry and what goes on in it. I am the Co-Founder/Creative + Style Dir of Athleisure Mag but I am also a Fashion Stylist. So when I am watching the show and your character, I’m like oh yeah – that is what it is!

MB: Yeah, you get it!

AM: Yup, I’m like, that’s pretty much it! It’s glam when it’s glam and then it’s just not.

MB: Yeah and I love that about it. It’s a parallel to comedy which is why I chose that job for my character. That job will humble you real quick and the next day you could be flying first class or private in this whole different realm so I think it is important to know that there are a whole of different places that you can live especially with the job that you love.

AM: What made you want to be a Co-Creator of this show and also star in it as well? I know that you’re back in production on S3 and I am so bummed that this will be the final season – but the series has everything!

MB: I mean, it was just really natural right? I have been doing standup for 24 years and it has helped me figure out my voice, my platform – and when I wrote this book when I brought my kids home from the hospital. I was like, “oh, I have twin babies now and I guess I will be at home so I need to write a book – I mean what? What?” But I will say, hot tip, I do put some Premier Protein Shake in my coffee because that’s how I get my protein! I get my coffee kick, my caffeine kick, my protein kick! So that was very helpful! Obviously lots of hugs and fresh hugs too – but anyways!

AM: What is life without fresh veggies and hugs?

MB: Ok now! Downward dogs and everything – cat/cow!

I mean, I wrote the book and then when Netflix optioned the book, they said, “do you want to build this world yourself or would you like to work with someone?” There’s nothing better than collaborating. When you find the right person it just sings and so I am so happy that Netflix introduced me to my Co-Creator Danielle Sanchez-Witzel (My Name is Earl, New Girl, The Carmichael Show) because we had a time! We had a whole kiki! It’s been so fun! It is 3rd and final, but that’s ok because I think that it is a gift knowing that you are not coming back so that you can do what you want to do. Also, no one is a 1 trick pony! We can go out there and do other things – I mean look at you!

AM: Tell me about The Surviving and Thriving Tour!

MB: Oh my goodness! Well, you know, everybody has got – the whole point is that we can live in 2 places at once. While we feel like this is really hard, there also some really good things too. You have to wake up really early, but isn’t it really good that you get to wake up really early and get to do all the things that you want to do? I feel like being busy or stressed is a privilege – I get to have the responsibility to do these things which is really fun. So Surviving and Thriving is named kind of after that. I love standup and I can’t wait to go back out on tour. I love performing and just writing hard jokes, hard jokes. I want people bending over with laughter! I want people to just be cackling because laughter is medicine and I’m a doctor!
AM: I mean, I will take in all the prescriptions that you’re providing!

MB: Yeah! There’s no Co-Pay, come get you some laughs!

AM: Spa Weekend looks amazing! It’s a great cast! Why did you want to be part of that project?

MB: I mean, there is just this beautiful, wild and comedic powerhouses coming together! I love Isla Fisher (Now You See Me franchise, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Nocturnal Animals), Leslie Mann (The Other Woman, Blockers, Motherless Brooklyn), Anna Faris (Scary Movie franchise, Mom, The House Bunny) and how could I not want to be part of that team? I also love the idea of strong female bonds and relationships when we are from different walks of life. The one thing that we have in common is that the women of Spa Weekend, go on a spa weekend because they need it. They are really busy with the responsibilities and the mundane things that are done in life and they have to go away. They just go away for a wild weekend and they just have a lot of fun stuff going on and a lot of hijinks!

AM: I cannot wait to see it!

You recently partnered with Premier Protein as a part of their New Year campaign and Go Get ‘Em Mode. Tell me about this mode and what it is and why did you want to partner with this brand?

MB: Oh my goodness because I like to Go Get’ Em so let’s Go Get ‘Em, come on sis – let’s roll! Are you for real? So I remember and this was a full circle moment. My dad, he was like the busiest man alive. He would lift weights in between meetings, take me to the mall and he was so busy. He would always have a Premier Protein Shake! So I grew up watching the busiest man I know always being in Go Mode and getting it done and always taking care of his body. So when Premier Protein Shake approached me, I said yes! Everyone knows about that hard start of the year at the top of January 1st and it isn’t always that and then people beat themselves up – it’s the Monday – it’s the January 5th of it all. It’s really exciting because Premier Protein wants to set people up for success by going to goget2026.com and you can go on there and try them out for free! They will send it to you in your house in select cities (Atlanta, NY, Chicago, LA, Philadelphia and Miami). We all know what that is! We know what the pre-party is before you have to go to work so it’s that 5-9 where you’re like, uh-oh how am I going to do this, who am I going to be, what am I going to wear? You know, can I touch my toes, will I have enough energy – yes you can! It’s Premier Protein and they want to help you get that energy sis so let’s go!

AM: I love that and a shake is a great way to do all of that!

What do you love about drinking these shakes? Do you have a special flavor?

MB: I’m a Chocolate or Caramel girlie! What I love about it is that I am doing something for myself. I feel like because women – I mean, I’m no doctor – I only play one on TV – actually I did!

AM: I was going to say you did!

MB: You got me!

AM: You did!

MB: We need between 40 and 65 grams of protein a day. So you get 30 in one shot with the bottle, it’s like pretty great! When I have more energy, I’m nicer to people! There’s no road rage you know what I mean? I hope you heal! Oh my God there’s a spot! I found a parking spot? Yes you can cut me in line! You go –

AM: That’s right!

MB: I’m just a nicer person when I have more energy. So yes, I do that for myself - treat yo’self all year long!   

We want to make sure that you have your best foot forward when it comes to kicking off the new New Year right and being able to kick off Jan 5th right! Premier Protein is giving away free morning shaked from January 5th - 9th in select cities. To fuel people 5-9 before their 9-5, Premier Protein will be giving away free protein shakes delivered straight to their door in under an hour (powered by GoPuff!) between 5-9am from Jan. 5 to Jan. 9 on GoGet2026.com in NYC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami and Atlanta. 

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

KINDNESS MATTERS | CHEF KRISTEN KISH

We have been fans of the Bravo’s Top Chef universe since day 1 and it comes down to a number of factors including: telling a story on a plate, the chefs actual stories, and in many cases even visting their restaurants. It has grown into a network of alums that we enjoy seeing again and again whether they’re on TV, doing a phenomenal project or popping in to eat their latest creation.

Avid readers and the Athleisure Mag community know that we have interviewed S10 Top Chef winner, Chef Kristen Kish a number of times whether it’s a fun partnership/collaboration, various shows she has been a part of or for our MAR ISSUE #99 cover story with her alongside Chef Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons of Top Chef when she took the reigns as host of Top Chef starting S21. She loves the journey of food and the chefs that are involved, she’s always asking questions, and gives words of wisdom that can really be applicable to whatever it is you do in life!

This month, we catch up with her to talk about the upcoming season of Top Chef, S23 in the Carolinas, joining the cast of Peacock’s S4 of Traitors, why being kind matters and her partnership with KIND for the CHOOSE KIND campaign, holiday dishes, gifting, and more!

CHEF KRISTIN KISH: Hello! It’s so nice to see you again!

ATHLEISURE MAG: It’s so nice to see you again! Well, we’re always so excited anytime we get the chance to chat with you, because you’re always doing amazing things. The last time we saw you, that’s when you were our cover for Athleisure Mag right before you hosted your first season of Top Chef which was phenomenal! Now, you have so many things going on, so it will be great to chat with you.

CHEF KK: Likewise, thanks!

AM: So, looking forward to S23 of Top Chef, you’re going to be be in the Carolinas which is amazing – what has it been like for you to be on Top Chef as the host?

CHEF KK: I mean, it’s like, the greatest job. I have very little complaints. I think that the only the only thing that was the most challenging this past season was, you know, the Carolina humidity, which we were certainly prepared for. But other than that, I mean, I, I love making Top Chef. I love spending time with all the chefs that we have coming in to dine with us. It’s a really great quick 2-month crash course in a location, introducing you to new people, and then also hearing from so many people amongst the industry or even not! But just like how other people think and talk about food, I think it’s just - it’s incredible!

AM: Amazing. We know you can’t talk too much about the upcoming season, but what can you share with us that we should be looking forward to?

CHEF KK: I mean, come on – every season is just the best. It’s great chefs, it’s great food, and honest feedback. And you know, I think one of my favorite things to do is - I mean, I love watching the show, but because we don’t get to see the chefs thought process.

AM: Right!

CHEF KK: You know all those interviews, and in the kitchen scenes, we don’t see any of that.

AM: Yeah.

CHEF KK: The only time we see them is when they’re in front of us, and so I always get really excited, and I look forward to getting the whole story and the whole picture.

AM: You’re like, wait, that’s what happened.

CHEF KK: Yeah, I’ve tasted the food, but I don’t know sometimes how they’ve fully arrived.

AM: We also love the companion series Dish with Kish. The format is really interesting how elements of the challenge from the episode as well as working with Top Chef alums in each episode are presented in the series! We just interviewed, Chef Gregory Gourdet (Top Chef S12 Runner-up, S17 Finalist) last month, during the Food Network NYC Wine Food Festival. He was so kind and sweet. We’ve never been able to talk to him before, but it’s always fun to watch him with you on this companion series as you guys have great chemistry together!

As soon as we finish the night’s episode on Bravo, we go to Peacock and start off with Last Chance Kitchen with Chef Tom Colicchio to see how eliminated players fight there way back to get on the show and then we end it by savoring Dish with Kish!

Why do you love having this companion series?

CHEF KK: You know, I think it, it’s just - it’s obviously Top Chef related, where we’re pulling inspiration from that challenge. You know, we’re getting to see some of your favorite Top Chef alums in the kitchen again, cooking. You know, it’s no rules. As you see, the entire set is fair game. It is as if you were in the kitchen with me, albeit I’m in full glam, which I normally wouldn’t be.

AM: The looks you rock in those episodes as well as in the flagship show are always amazing every time – you don’t miss.

CHEF KK: Thank you.

But it’s like, it’s like a fly on the wall moment.

AM: Yeah.

CHEF KK: You get to see real interactions and the time that is spent with sometimes Top Chef alums that I have known for many years, like Gregory, and who we are deeply like, wonderful friends or me being introduced to a new Top Chef alum that I know very little about because I just haven’t had the time to interact. So, I mean, it’s just it’s fun. It’s 11 - 15 minutes of whatever. It’s my kind of TV.

AM: Love it!

You mentioned that shooting this competition series takes place over a 2 month period. How do you take on a show like that in terms of preparation? Clearly, you’re immersed in this environment, but how do you get your mind ready for it before you step into that abyss?

CHEF KK: You know, I think it’s a great abyss to be in. So, like, you know, there’s not a lot of like pumping myself up. I think the the first year that I was hosting, I had definitely more like internal personal work to work on.

AM: Yeah.

CHEF KK: Because I was really wrapping my brain around the pressure that I was putting on myself.

AM: Of course.

CHEF KK: But come Canada and now, obviously, the Carolinas like, you know, I go in a couple days before it. I like to go see the set. I like to get my bearings. I like to unpack and like organize space, equals organize mind. For me, really, the preparation is oftentimes the morning of, so whatever call time, my time is, I need my quiet, introverted recharge battery time. So, I wake up 1 hour and 40 minutes to 2 hours before, no matter what. Even if it’s crazy early, I will still need my time for my quiet and my coffee. It’s a daily practice keeping my mind ready and sharp for every single day.

AM: You’re joining the cast of the Traitors. We love this show, whether it is the US, UK, Australian, or New Zealand editions! And literally, we’ve watched various times for the US portion of the franchise, and thought, “what would it be like to have Alan Cumming (GoldenEye, The Good Wife, X-Men franchise) and Kristen together – we need these interactions”. So when it was announced that you would be doing this, we are ready. So, why did you want to join this show?

CHEF KK: You know, there was a lot of reasons going into it. I think that, for me, cooking competitions are something that I would dabble back into if it were for charity, or fun – but something that is less pressure. But like competition, I kind of hung up my hat on that one. This one is so outlandish, unrealistic in terms of the theme. honestly. We’re all running around the Highlands of Scotland trying to murder banished people!

AM: I know right?

CHEF KK: It’s insane!

AM: And some of those challenges, like the whole bug thing – yikes, so much anxiety for you.

CHEF KK: It’s silly.

AM: Yeah.

CHEF KK: So I felt like that lent itself to just like fully immersing yourself into fun. That was one reason. Another reason is, I’m always trying to find new ways to push my introverted self to get out there and do more, especially if you know it’s like even loosely tied to promoting my show.

AM: Oh yeah!

CHEF KK: So I mean, I’d be lying if I said I went on there not doing that. And then, also, they keep beating us in the Emmys, and Alan keeps beating me in the host category, so I was, like, if you can’t beat ‘em -

AM: You might as well join them. We can’t wait to see that!

KIND has been a brand that we have enjoyed eating. It’s healthy, a great mix of ingredients, and it’s fun. How did you come to this brand, and why did you want to partner with them?

CHEF KK: You know, they came to me, and I think the beauty of something like, KIND, is obviously I’ve had many KIND bars. I know exactly the brand. So when someone or a brand comes to me and says, well, obviously, it’s in the name, right, like World Kindness Day - let’s see what can we do, how can we shine a light on it, and how can we give back? That already, is check, check?

AM: Yes.

CHEF KK: It’s a yes, yes, and yes. I think it’s our duty if we are able to give and shine a light on things or have a platform in order to celebrate something, someone or an organization that deserves it, it’s an automatic yes. You know, I think it happened so organically because I was already going to New Orleans for the Emeril Lagasse Foundation, donating my time to cook at the reception there, and so, what better way to amplify all parties than to really like join forces in a way and give back in an even greater way. So, you know, It just it all made sense. It’s an incredible organization. With KIND, we’re able to give $25,000 to the Emeril Lagasse Foundation, 10,000 bars to YEP (Youth Empowerment Project), like, wow, it was a win-win for everybody.

AM: Will there be other things in this partnership as well, or was it just this with the Emeril Lagasse Foundation?

CHEF KK: The good thing about the Emeril Lagasse Foundation and KIND and myself donating $25,000 is that Emeril Lagasse Foundation supports programs like, YEP, but also everything else. So, they’ve already done a lot of the legwork. So if we can give back to them, they’re then giving back to x amount of organizations.

AM: It’s always great to be kind and to do kind things and how much more important is it during the holiday season to do so?

CHEF KK: Well, I think it’s 100%. Like, definitely, during the holidays to give back to those who might need more, whether that be food, money, time, or you know anything. We’re all capable of giving back in some form. Even if it’s just a smile and kindness throughout the day. You know, I think, on top of that given our climate, it’s not just the holidays.

AM: Yeah.

CHEF KK: It’s an everyday thing. And you know, many hands makes light work. I think that if we can all focus on impacting what we are capable of doing financially or time-wise, or whatever? All those little ripples do make a huge difference. For me, I sometimes get overwhelmed with the the amount that has to be fixed and course corrected, but the beauty of kindness is that you can give it for free.

AM: So true!

We always love chatting with you about different foods. We are in the holiday season. So, what are three dishes that you’re loving to make during this holiday season?

CHEF KK: Oof man!

AM: I know! But you’re always sharing things that we store away to make or to order when we’re out and about!

CHEF KK: We have entered baking season. My wife is Australian as you know. She had never gone apple picking. So, this past Fall, we went apple picking! That was awesome. I was like, how do you not know about this?

AM: I mean – it’s the perfect Fall thing to do and is just part of the checklist for the season – come on! right?

CHEF KK: I mean it’s a lovely tradition! You pick too many apples, you don’t know what to do with them. So, like anything like that, it adds so much like warmth and sense to the house. I love it so much.

AM: Yup!

CHEF KK: The warm spices! My wife is totally into baking from Gregory’s cookbook (Everyone’s Table: Global Recipes For Modern Health) recently, which is fabulous. I mean, honestly, for me, especially being East Coast based - you know, winter is cold. Anything that gets you to hunker down, get a fireplace going, warm meal, and people that you love gathered around the table. I think that there’s nothing better and then the food is almost a secondary to the feeling that it can bring.

AM: You’re always having your hands in a number of pots. We’ve talked about a number of things are coming up, but are there any other projects that we need to know about to share with our community?

CHEF KK: You know, not anything new that I can speak about at the moment. Obviously, January 8th Traitors, Top Chef - Spring of 2026.

AM: Which is exciting.

CHEF KK: And then, you know, great holiday gifts. Kish Aperitif and my New York Times Best-Selling, memoir, Accidently on Purpose.

AM: Love Kish Aperitif, a must for the bar cart.

CHEF KK: Thank you so much! We have a new label, looks a little bit different. I’m just, I’m really, really, really proud of that product. I think it’s delicious.

AM: As always, we appreciate you taking the time. It’s so good to connect and it’s always awesome to see how you authentically navigate with things that we know as well as new things that you do! We can’t wait for Traitors and will be cheering for you. And of course, when Top Chef drops can’t wait to see how everything unfolds!

CHEF KK: My pleasure! I’m sure we’ll be speaking again very soon.

IG @kristenlkish

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | PG 59 + 60X KIND | PG 63 Sam McElwee/Peacock | PG 64 David Moir/Bravo |

Read the NOV ISSUE #119 of Athleisure Mag and see KINDNESS MATTERS | Chef Kristen Kish in mag.

SPARTACUS REVISITED

We enjoyed Spartacus on STARZ which ran from 2010 - 2013. It brought the vivid life of the Roman Republic in 73-71 BC. The show focused on a Thracian gladiator who led a slave uprising against the state. Ancient Rome was filled with sex, violence, political corruption and more.

Now on Dec 5th, Spartacus is back with Spartacus: House of Ashur which is a alternate timeline that looks at what if Ashur (Nick E. Tarabay) didn’t die from the previous season. In this new world, we are met with characters that we have seen before as well as a host of individuals that are part of this retelling. We had the pleasure of attending the press junket for this show to talk with Steven S. DeKnight (Pacific Rim franchise, Spartacus, Daredevil) - Creator/Showrunner/Executive Producer/Writer, Nick E. Tarabay (Star Trek Into Darkness, The Cleaning Lady, Stargirl), Graham McTavish (The Hobbit franchise, House of the Dragon, Outlander), Tenika Davis (Saw VI, IT: Welcome to Derry, Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities), Claudia Black (The Nevers, Ahsoka, Transformers: EarthSpark), India Shaw-Smith (The Magicians, The Pines Still Whisper, Andor), and Jaime Slater (Jupiter’s Legacy, Pacific Rim: Rising, DareDevil).

ATHLEISURE MAG: It’s a pleasure to talk to all of you about this incredible series. Starting with you Steven, we have been a fan of your work for awhile with Pacific Rim, Spartacus, and DareDevil – what led to your creating the original, Spartacus and then deciding to come back with this amazing Spartacus: House of Ashur?

STEVEN S. DEKNIGHT: In the original, I got a call from my agents one day saying that Sam Raimi (Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness, Spider-Man franchise, The Quick and the Dead) and Rob Tapert (Xena: Warrior Princess, Evil Dead franchise, Time Cop) wanted to do some gladiator show for STARZ. They asked me if I was interested in taking the meeting. I said, Rob Tapert, Sam Raimi – yes! I will take that meeting. I didn’t know it was Spartacus until I was in the meeting. They had already sold the concept to doing Spartacus to STARZ and they needed someone to come in and to figure out the story.

That was really the start of it and I was thrown into the deep end. I didn’t know anything about Roman history except for Ben Hur and the original Spartacus. That’s all I knew, but we had some great historical consultants. So that was the genesis of the first show.

For the second one, STARZ and Lionsgate has been reaching out over the last decade every now and then to see if I had any interest in doing some more Spartacus and I was always too busy or recovering from the original show. But the last time, I guess it was about 2.5/3 years ago, they reached out and I was free. I had had enough time to rest up from the original show and so I started kicking around ideas. It was what you would expect – it was Caesar, the Triumvirate, Anthony and Cleopatra, but there was something that I loved about the original couple of seasons about Spartacus. I liked the upstairs/downstairs, the political intrigue of the city – I wanted to capture that feeling. So at the end of Vengeance with the original show, Nick has a line where he talks about the rise of the House of Ashur. Then he gets his head chopped off so he never gets to do that.

AM: Right.

SSD: So, I always thought that that sounds like something fun and that would be a show that I would want to do. I love working with Nick so I pitched the idea, they really liked it and here we are!

AM: Wow! Nick, what drew you to the original Spartacus and what do you think about coming back into this series which is like an alternate history type of aspect?

NICK E. TARABAY: Originally what drew me to it is that again, that world has always been fascinating to me. The original Spartacus is that world of the gladiator, Roman history, and all the drama that goes with that in between. I have always been intrigued by this. I then remember that at the time that I auditioned for it, I thought it was really interesting – the character. So going into it and because the character evolves so much as you go into it, originally he was going to be friends with Spartacus or maybe he was going to be part of the rebels – then they switched it and he was going to become an enemy to them. That’s what intrigued me, I was always behind Ashur meaning, I was never ahead of him. As an actor, I like to be surprised as I’m reading! Now after developing this and I was lucky enough to be able to work on the prequel and to be able to show why he is the way he is. That was just a gift. Then in S3 in Vengeance, I got to play a little bit more. So it was a great arc for a character – beautiful arc for a character. So coming back to that, you can’t say no to this! It doesn’t happen very often.

AM: Right!

NET: And to think, they have added even more colors to him this season which I really like! It’s really a full embodied character and I really love that. So yeah, it’s a privilege to be back on this.

AM: We just heard from Nick and Steven about Spartacus and Spartacus: House of Ashur, we’ll be looking at this new series as we continue to talk with the rest of the cast. What drew you to Spartacus: House of Ashur?

INDIA SHAW-SMITH: What certainly for me, I was such a huge fan of the original series. So when I heard there was to be a new iteration focused on Ashur, I was so excited to watch it – let alone to audition for it. So certainly when that came through, I jumped at the chance to be part of this world that I love so much!

CLAUDIA BLACK: I wanted the opportunity to embody a woman who is in her 50s as I am who is fighting for relevancy. While I don’t want to fight necessarily as that can become scrappy and ugly, it’s a bizarre situation to find oneself in in mid life with culture sort of turning its cheek. Quite specifically, when I had the meeting with Rick and Steven, they said that “they were doing something new and fresh and that they were going to have a Black Gladiatrix.” Every being in my body said that it was a hard yes to that! It was really interesting to know that they were for women and Black women and that they were going to do something and this was really just so important. I thought, that this tells me that they want to bring this show which is so beloved – into the new age and the new era. That feels important and relevant.

GRAHAM MCTAVISH: Well, so many things! First of all, I’m such a fan of Steven’s writing. I just think that it’s such a unique writing style that he has. It’s semi-Shakespearean and it’s Shakespeare meets Conan the Barbarian kind of vibe. I love that. I was a huge fan of the original Spartacus and I watched all of them when they came out. So the opportunity to do this was a no brainer. I don’t know if you know this, but when Steven wrote the character, it was for me for Korris. So that was very flattering!

Also, I’m a huge history buff so ancient Rome is a place that I have always been fascinated by and when I did Outlander, people always asked where I would time travel to and I would always say Rome – just for a day, I wouldn’t want to spend more than a day there. After that, it’s good, I will just catch the last plane out. That would have been fantastic. I think that the thing about Rome is it seems like this far away world and obviously there are things that when you look at it, obviously there’s this, that, costume, weapons, gladiators, etc. But there are actually things that are more in common with their world than what we think. I actually think that we have more in common with Rome then we imagine. I think that there is a Roman inside all of us. We just dress differently. In similar circumstances in the world that they were working with, that’s how we would have been – you and I. We would have been part of that world. If we were dropped in there now, there would be certain things – probably the smell – that would be pretty unusual although the Romans were very clean people. They had baths, spas, and all of those things – maybe a bit like a Four Seasons experience perhaps – who knows? But in all seriousness, you would probably find yourself going, “I recognize these people.” I recognize him, I know what he is thinking and I recognize her and I think that is what is so interesting about doing anything historical because it is the chance to bring it into a modern world and to be able to hold up a mirror to us.

JAIME SLATER: What didn’t? I mean it was everything! It was just such a vivid, colorful, depraved world where anything goes. It’s just fun and entertaining.

TENIKA DAVIS: I’m a huge fan of the world. I just love shows that are bloody, audacious, sexy, and drama filled. That initially made me hooked already! But the fact that I got to play a female gladiatrix and tell that part of history and not only that, a Black Kushite (Editor’s Note: Kushites are ancient Africans from the Kingdom of Kush, an area that encompassed parts of modern day Sudan and Egypt. Historical figures includes Queen Amanirenas a formidable leader who fought and led her army against the Roman Empire in 27 and 22 BC – she halted the Roman invasion and buried a statue head of Augustus Caesar under her temple. The biblical figure of Moses’ wife who is described as a Kushite women. The Kingdom of Kush was known for its powerful queens and warriors.) woman who now becomes a female Gladiatrix. It’s powerful in and of itself and we get to redefine history and retell stories that have not been told before. It’s just bold!

AM: So bold! In reading the notes about this series and learning that a Black Gladiatrix would be in it, it reminded us of the Black Samurai named Yasuke who was African and arrived in Japan in 1579 and became a samurai under the warlord Oda Nobunaga. He was the 1st non-Japanese person to achieve the rank of samurai in feudal Japan.

Tell us about the characters that you are playing!

CB: Cossutia is to be villainess, but she is really fighting for her safety and her daughters because in this environment, when women are not well matched – they really fall through fast cracks. They have fought their way to being in this elite world and they don’t want to lose their power. In this environment, power is really everything and it is their main currency.

ISS: So, Viridia is the daughter of Cossutia. She is a young Roman noble woman and when we first meet her, she is in a period of deep mourning for her husband who was killed by Spartacus and his rebels at the show opening. Viridia is a very raw ethereal soul. She is very good natured and kind hearted. She really sees the best in people and I think that that is something that makes her very unique and a rare figure in this world that is really driven by brutality, death, deception, and high stakes. Certainly where we find her in the beginning of the series, there has been some regression. She was a wife and now she is once again the child. She’s having to find her place in society and she knows that she will have to do her duty by her family and likely remarry.

JS: Cornelia is one of the elites. She is the elite on the show. She is the wife of Caesar. She is very powerful and very wealthy. She plays by no rules and she has zero consequences. She is menacing, duplicitous and I have heard some refer to her as evil. I had to kind of come at this from a different angle because of all the things that she does and says! There’s a lot of things that are hard to relate to with her so I had to approach this in a very much so “what if” state of mind – what if this was fun, what if I liked this, what if this felt good? Once I did that, things started to fall into place.

GM: He’s a fascinating character because he starts in a very typical way as someone who is very guarded, very reluctant to become friendly with people based on experience really. They live in a world of sudden death and to become close to somebody who can literally be dead the next day is probably not a good idea and he has probably lived through that experience. However, as the show progresses, you see those relationships develop particularly through Achillia and Ashur and with Opitur (Arlo Gibson). Those are the 3 principal relationships along with Celadus (Dan Hamill) – but those are the other ones where you will see the other side to Korris. The vulnerable, emotional, tender side and that is just such an interesting area to explore for an actor.

TD: I really believe that life prepared me for this character. I have black belts – a 2nd degree Black belt in Martial Arts. To earn that in and of itself, was a huge feat in really fighting awesome Korean men in our version of the arena at the time. There were lots of tournaments, competitions, and all sorts of stuff. I started realizing that this character Achillia is actually going through a version of the same thing. So I do believe that I was built to play this type of character. Now, there are new elements that are brought into it. I had never used a sword before or a shield or those kinds of weapons to fight somebody. It was normally my arms and legs, but I remember going to that place where I said to myself, “you know what to do in this world. You have been here before and if you’re frustrated and you’re annoyed – understand that that is part of Achillia’s journey and she knows that she is the underdog and that she is going to have to find her way with these new weapons.

AM: What was your biggest takeaway in playing Achillia and being able to showcase something like that that we have not been able to see before?

TD: For me, it’s empowering. But it is important because we haven’t seen this world before, we haven’t seen these types of characters before. We haven’t seen these characters depicted in this version of Roman society. So that just makes this show new, bold, and audacious.

I know that as a little girl, I grew up with the role models like the Warrior Princess – Xena – Lucy Lawless (Spartacus franchise, Battlestar Galactica, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D.)! She was so good in that role and I remember just looking at her and thinking that she was strong, fierce, and powerful. But even with that, she didn’t really look like me. When I had the opportunity to create a character in Achillia and to understand that the responsibility of that is that somebody is going to look at her and feel empowered and that maybe one day they can look like that and be her too. That is the relevance and importance to this telling of this story, and to this world that we have helped create.

AM: What was your biggest takeaway in being able to play Cornelia?

JS: She’s so powerful and I am a very petite person, so the power she exudes over men that tower over her, the way that she humiliates them, the way she makes people tremble and to have an experience and embodying that level of power was really fun. Because in real life, that just doesn’t happen – not that I want it to!

AM: We were fans of the original so we’re excited to dig into this series. So what should fans of this show from the original who are now coming into this new alternate timeline with its colors and tones – how can we frame our minds best as we begin to watch this series?

SSD: Oh I think that you’re going to have everything that you love about the original and more! It’s brutal, it’s romantic, it’s sexy, it’s operatic!

NET: Yes! I just said this before and I am going to say it again! The new show is like cocaine with sugar on top! There you go! That’s what the fans should expect – it’s full on!

CB: I think that the original DNA is there sufficiently. The passion, the people involved at the head of each department, they worked vigorously to make sure that the beloved DNA is still in this. We now have a sort of refreshing trajectory so it has something for everyone, every age group, there’s some wonderful representation for the LGBTQ community, it’s nuanced, it’s layered, it’s dense, it takes a minute to set up this whole new world. But, I do think that it’s juicy and that people who say that they are just so attached to the original – I get it. I order the same thing from the same restaurant every time and yet, I would say in this instance, this is really great on the menu – give it a go and it’s not going to disappoint.

TD: Fans of the previous show, me included, you’re going to get all of the wonderful things that made Spartacus the powerhouse of a show that it is. Spartacus: House of Ashur is going to be bold, it’s returning to that world of blood, sex, drama, but this new chapter focuses on new things that we haven’t seen that is defined in a new way – that’s power, legacy, defying expectations, giving a voice to underdogs and outsiders in a society that doesn’t want them. Doing all of this with new characters that are telling stories through a fresh lens.

JS: Come in with an open mind and expect anything!

IG @spartacusstarz

Read the NOV ISSUE #119 of Athleisure Mag and see SPARTACUS REVISITED in mag.

AWARDS SEASON | GOLDEN GLOBES NOMINATIONS

Today, the 83rd Golden Globes announced the nominations for this show that will take place on Jan 11th on CBS at 8pm ET and you can stream it live on Paramount+. For a 2nd year, it will be hosted by Niki Glaser. As we do throughout Awards Season, we share our predictions in bold, the ones we correctly identified as winners are in bold italics and winners that we didn’t predict are in italics. On the night of the event, we will share who we predicted correctly as well as those we didn’t that won.

Best Picture – Drama

Frankenstein
Netflix

Hamnet
Focus Features

It Was Just an Accident
Neon

The Secret Agent
Neon

Sentimental Value
Neon

Sinners
Warner Bros

Best Picture – Comedy Or Musical

Blue Moon
Sony Pictures Classics

Bugonia
Focus Features

Marty Supreme
A24

No Other Choice
Neon

Nouvelle Vague
Netflix

One Battle After Another
Warner Bros

Best Performance By a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Jessie Buckley
Hamnet

Jennifer Lawrence
Die My Love

Renate Reinsve
Sentimental Value

Julia Roberts
After the Hunt

Tessa Thompson
Hedda

Eva Victor
Sorry, Baby

Best Performance By a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Joel Edgerton
Train Dreams

Oscar Isaac
Frankenstein

Dwayne Johnson
The Smashing Machine

Michael B. Jordan
Sinners

Wagner Moura
The Secret Agent

Jeremy Allen White
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

Best Performance By a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Rose Byrne
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Cynthia Erivo
Wicked: For Good

Kate Hudson
Song Sung Blue

Chase Infiniti
One Battle After Another

Amanda Seyfried
The Testament of Ann Lee

Emma Stone
Bugonia

Best Performance By a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Timothée Chalamet
Marty Supreme

George Clooney
Jay Kelly

Leonardo DiCaprio
One Battle After Another

Ethan Hawke
Blue Moon

Lee Byung-Hun
No Other Choice

Jesse Plemons
Bugonia

Best Performance By a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

Emily Blunt
The Smashing Machine

Elle Fanning
Sentimental Value

Ariana Grande
Wicked: For Good

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas
Sentimental Value

Amy Madigan
Weapons

Teyana Taylor
One Battle After Another

Best Performance By a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

Benicio Del Toro
One Battle After Another

Jacob Elordi
Frankenstein

Paul Mescal
Hamnet

Sean Penn
One Battle After Another

Adam Sandler
Jay Kelly

Stellan Skarsgård
Sentimental Value

Best Director – Motion Picture

Paul Thomas Anderson
One Battle After Another

Ryan Coogler
Sinners

Guillermo del Toro
Frankenstein

Jafar Panahi
It Was Just an Accident

Joachim Trier
Sentimental Value

Chloé Zhao
Hamnet

Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language

It Was Just an Accident (France)
Neon

No Other Choice (South Korea)
Neon

The Secret Agent (Brazil)
Neon

Sentimental Value (Norway)
Neon

Sirāt (Spain)
Neon

The Voice Of Hind Rajab (Tunisia)
Willa

Best Picture – Animated

Arco
Neon

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle
Aniplex, Crunchyroll, Sony Pictures Entertainment

Elio
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

KPop Demon Hunters
Netflix

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Gkids

Zootopia 2
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

Paul Thomas Anderson
One Battle After Another

Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie
Marty Supreme

Ryan Coogler
Sinners

Jafar Panahi
It Was Just an Accident

Eskil Vogt & Joachim Trier
Sentimental Value

Chloé Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell
Hamnet

Best Original Score – Motion Picture

Alexandre Desplat
Frankenstein

Ludwig Göransson
Sinners

Jonny Greenwood
One Battle After Another

Kangding Ray
Sirāt

Max Richter
Hamnet

Hans Zimmer
F1

Best Original Song – Motion Picture

“Dream as One”
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Music by: Miley Cyrus, Andrew Wyatt, Mark Ronson, Simon Franglen
Lyrics by: Miley Cyrus, Andrew Wyatt, Mark Ronson, Simon Franglen

“Golden”
KPop Demon Hunters
Music by: Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo, Park Hong Jun
Lyrics by: Kim Eun-jae (EJAE), Mark Sonnenblick

“I Lied to You”
Sinners
Music by: Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson
Lyrics by: Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson

“No Place Like Home”
Wicked: For Good
Music by: Stephen Schwartz
Lyrics by: Stephen Schwartz

“The Girl in the Bubble
Wicked: For Good
Music by: Stephen Schwartz
Lyrics by: Stephen Schwartz

“Train Dreams”
Train Dreams
Music by: Nick Cave, Bryce Dessner
Lyrics by: Nick Cave

Cinematic and Box Office Achievement

Avatar: Fire and Ash
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

F1
Apple Original Films

KPop Demon Hunters
Netflix

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Paramount

Sinners
Warner Bros

Weapons
Warner Bros

Wicked: For Good
Universal

Zootopia 2
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Best Television Series – Drama

The Diplomat
Netflix

The Pitt
HBO Max

Pluribus
Apple TV

Severance
Apple TV

Slow Horses
Apple TV

The White Lotus
HBO Max

Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Abbott Elementary
ABC

The Bear
FX on Hulu

Hacks
HBO Max

Nobody Wants This
Netflix

Only Murders in the Building
Hulu

The Studio
Apple TV

Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Adolesence
Netflix

All Her Fault
Peacock

The Beast In Me
Netflix

Black Mirror
Netflix

Dying For Sex
FX on Hulu

The Girlfriend
Prime Video

Best Performance By a Female Actor in a Television Series – Drama

Kathy Bates
Matlock

Britt Lower
Severance

Helen Mirren
MobLand

Bella Ramsay
The Last of Us

Keri Russell
The Diplomat

Rhea Seehorn
Pluribus

Best Performance By a Male Actor in a Television Series – Drama

Sterling K. Brown
Paradise

Diego Luna
Andor

Gary Oldman
Slow Horses

Mark Ruffalo
Task

Adam Scott
Severance

Noah Wyle
The Pitt

Best Performance By a Female Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Kristen Bell
Nobody Wants This

Ayo Edebiri
The Bear

Selena Gomez
Only Murders in the Building

Natasha Lyonne
Poker Face

Jenna Ortega
Wednesday

Jean Smart
Hacks

Best Performance By a Male Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Adam Brody
Nobody Wants This

Steve Martin
Only Murders in the Building

Glen Powell
Chad Powers

Seth Rogen
The Studio

Martin Short
Only Murders in the Building

Jeremy Allen White
The Bear

Best Performance By a Female Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television

Claire Danes
The Beast in Me

Rashida Jones
Black Mirror

Amanda Seyfried
Long Bright River

Sarah Snook
All Her Fault

Michelle Williams
Dying for Sex

Robin Wright
The Girlfriend

Best Performance By a Male Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television

Jacob Elordi
The Narrow Road to the Deep North

Paul Giamatti
Black Mirror

Stephen Graham
Adolescence

Charlie Hunnam
Monster: The Ed Gein Story

Jude Law
Black Rabbit

Matthew Rhys
The Beast in Me

Best Performance By a Female Actor in a Supporting Role On Television

Carrie Coon
The White Lotus

Erin Doherty
Adolescence

Hannah Einbinder
Hacks

Catherine O’Hara
The Studio

Parker Posey
The White Lotus

Aimee Lou Wood
The White Lotus

Best Performance By a Male Actor in a Supporting Role On Television

Owen Cooper
Adolescence

Billy Crudup
The Morning Show

Walton Goggins
The White Lotus

Jason Isaacs
The White Lotus

Tramell Tillman
Severance

Ashley Walters
Adolescence

Best Performance In Stand-Up Comedy On Television

Bill Maher
Bill Maher: Is Anyone Else Seeing This?

Brett Goldstein
Brett Goldstein: The Second Best Night of Your Life

Kevin Hart
Kevin Hart: Acting My Age

Kumail Nanjiani
Kumail Nanjiani: Night Thoughts

Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais: Mortality

Sarah Silverman
Sarah Silverman: Postmortem

Best Podcast

Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Wondery

Call Her Daddy
SiriusXM

Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Spotify

The Mel Robbins Podcast
SiriusXM

Smartless
SiriusXM

Up First
NPR

FOOD NETWORK NYCWFF 2025

For a 3rd year, we’re covering the Food Network NYC Wine Food Festival presented by Invesco QQQ. This year’s culinary event took place at The Seaport featuring tastings, dinners, and education from Oct 15th - Oct 19th. As we have done in the past years of coverage, we cover the events, interview those who hosted events as well as culinary participants, and adjacent activities, restaurants and our partnering hotel that hosted us this year to add in the perfect Staycation to bring it all together. Each season, the coverage gets larger and we know that you’ll enjoy getting a bird’s eye view on what takes place as you begin to think about planning for next year’s event!

On the first day of the NYCWFF we made our way downtown to The Wall Street Hotel, which is where the culinary talent stays due to its proximity to The Seaport. We picked up our press passes and tickets so that we could attend all of the events we were scheduled for as our first was later on that night.

We then navigated to the CODA Williamsburg Hotel who hosted us for 5 nights. Make sure to read the in depth interview that we had with this hotel following our NYCWFF interviews and coverage.

A TASTE OF THE TIN BUILDING: A PARTY HOSTED BY JEAN-GEORGES VONGERICHTEN + GREGORY GOURDET

The Tin Building is a Food Hall that we have always enjoyed attending a number of editor events as well as to swing by when we are downtown. On this night, A Taste of the Tin Building: A Party Hosted by Jean-Georges Vongrenichten + Gregory Gourdet took place on both floors for an epic night of bites and sips.

Our first interview was with one of the night’s hosts, 3X James Beard Award Winning Chef Gregory Gourdet who is known for Kann in Portland, Oregon as well as being the Culinary Director of Printemps New York which has 5 dining options including: Maison Passrelle (fine dining), Cafe Jalu (all-day cafe), Salon Vert (raw bar), Red Room Bar (cocktail lounge), and Champagne Bar (a bar). We were first introduced to him on BRAVO’s Top Chef: Boston S12 where he was a runner up and Top Chef: All-Stars LA S17 where he was a finalist. You can also see him during various episodes with Top Chef: Dish with Kish.

ATHLEISURE MAG: We have enjoyed seeing you since you first appeared on Top Chef and have loved your storytelling around food and how you shared yourself with us, so it is an honor to meet to you!

CHEF GREGORY GOURDET: Thank you! It’s so nice to meet you too!

AM: When did you realize that you wanted to be a chef?

CHEF GG: I was cooking for myself for the first time to feed myself in college! I went to college in Montana. It was, like the first time I had to feed myself!

AM: Right.

CHEF GG: I just kind of like had a knack for it I think. My friends told me I was good at it. I would do a lot of potlucks and dinner parties, and it was just like, really, really fun, and I had really been struggling with finding what I really wanted to do in college anyway. I mean, back then, I didn’t even know where culinary school was. So, my first job was washing dishes and the chef suggested that I should go to culinary school and I literally went there! This was in 1990’s before any Food Network or what we knew like what a chef was.

AM: Exactly!

What led you to say that you wanted to do Top Chef? I mean, that is such a competition.

CHEF GG: Yeah, I mean, honestly, I’ve had friends who’ve been on Top Chef since S1. Actually, very funny, my friend, Lee Anne Wong (Top Chef: San Francisco S1, Top Chef: Colorado S15, Top Chef: All-Stars LA S17), was on S1. She worked at 66, which was a restaurant that was owned by Jean-Georges which is where I worked at! So this is a very full circle moment! I always grew up with Top Chef. I grew up as someone who was in my career and Top Chef was always an option, and I actually auditioned twice and finally by the third time, I got cast.

AM: I mean, your season was amazing. I love how you brought your point of view with the food. Why was it so important to present Haitian cuisine?

CHEF GG: Yeah, I mean, I think the thing about Top Chef, and what makes you really good at it, is when you know your food, you know? I think a lot of us, we worked in whatever space, fine dining, and it’s a different culture, and we’re just trying to learn. For so long, French fine dining was really the foundation of so much!

AM: Absolutely.

CHEF GG: You know, it’s like, when you’re on that show and you’re asked to push yourself – you’re trying to find out who you are.

AM: Right.

CHEF GG: As a chef, the best way to express yourself is through your food. So you start to find out what your food is, and you know you, you’re triggered on memory and taste, and things that you’re comfortable cooking.

AM: We’re here tonight, at the Food Network NYCWFF. Why did you want to be part part of this?

CHEF GG: Well, JG asked me.

AM: I mean, say no more!

CHEF GG: He’s my mentor and I’ll do anything for him.

AM: Exactly!

CHEF GG: I worked for him for a really long time for the formative years of my career! We’re still extremely close. He still influences a lot of my cooking, from seasonality to using lux ingredients, to him introducing me to so many spices! I consider myself a global chef today, and it’s a lot of the things that he taught me when I was a young cook.

AM: Thank you Chef for taking the time! We have been a fan for years and we always love seeing when you and Chef Kristen Kish (Top Chef: Seattle S10 winner, Top Chef: Wisconsin + Milwaukee S21 Host, Top Chef: Destination Canada S22 Host, and upcoming Top Chef: Charlotte, North + Greenville, South Carolina S23 Host, Athleisure Mag MAR ISSUE #99 2024 cover star) are together!

IG @nycwff

@tinbuilding

@theseaportnyc

@gg30000

ASIAN NIGHT MARKET HOSTED BY PADMA LAKSHMI + JEAN-GEORGES VONGERICHTEN | CHEF JEAN-GEOGES VONGERICHTEN

For our 2nd night, we made our way to the Asian Night Market Hosted by Padma Lakshmi + Jean-Georges Vongerichten at The Seaport for Asian street food, as well as to interview Chef JG himself, who was also the host for this event. We have had the pleasure of eating at a number of JG restaurants over the years including Spice Market which was a place we enjoyed everytime we were in the Meat Packing District, abc Kitchen, abcV, and more. After all of the many meals we have had there, we were excited to talk with him about how he got into the industry, his restaurants and why he enjoys being part of the NYCWFF.

ATHLEISURE MAG: It’s such a pleasure to chat with you as there is so much going on! We have been fans of your restaurants for years.

When did you realize you wanted to be a chef?

CHEF JEAN GEORGES VONGERICHTEN: Oh, my God, before you were born! It was in 1973, I was 16 years old. I was terrible in school - almost a dropout – I felt bad! I was bad in school, but my parents took me to a 3-Michelin star restaurant for my 16th birthday. It was just my parents and I, we never went to restaurants. At that time it was too big for kids, it was a time where people still had their grandparents and uncles living under one roof! It was 3 generations living under one roof, that doesn’t really exist anymore!

AM: Right –

CHEF JGV: So, they took me to the restaurant. I couldn’t believe how people were out there eating at this restaurant! For me, you ate at home, the pot was on the table, and you serve yourself! Seeing everything that I saw at that restaurant changed me and I enjoyed everything! When we finished our meal, the chef came to our table and he asked how everything was and my parents let him know that if he needed anything, whether it was to wash dishes or to peel potatoes, I was his man because they saw that I had shown an interest in this.

AM: Wow!

CHEF JGV: The chef let us know that they were in fact looking for an apprentice. So that’s how I started and I never washed dishes! I started in pastries and you had to weigh everything so I started in pastries for 6 months and then I continued on with my apprenticeship, but that day, I tell you, my eyes lit up at that meal!

AM: You knew it was for you!

CHEF JGV: I knew that this was delicious and it was everything that I was looking for. Everything you touched just made you feel it and I knew I could do it! I found my calling!

AM: Did you ever think that you would have the portfolio of restaurants that you have now?

CHEF JGV: Oh no! For me at that time, it was about getting out of the house, having a job, and being able to start my life and that was it!

AM: We have enjoyed eating at a number of your restaurants as it is always an experience! What do you look for when it comes to opening another restaurant – do you have a series of criteria that you’re looking for?

CHEF JGV: I mean, here in the city, I want to cover every zip code!

AM: Ok, fair, there are a few you have yet to tackle!

CHEF JGV: When I opened my first restaurant in 1991, JoJo, it’s on 64th and Lexington and it still exists. I love cooking for the neighborhood and tourists that are passing by and it’s in a Brownstone and it’s so cute! This was before social media and cell phones. People heard about it via word of mouth and they came, this was in ’91. So having people come and talking about it was great!

Then I opened Vong, then there was Jean-Georges, and then The Mercer Kitchen which is downtown and so on and so forth. I love downtown, I live in the West Village.

Then internationally, I like to go to a city where I’m going to see something so that means – Tokyo, going to Shanghai, going to Singapore, Paris, London, Marrakech – you always see something new! I have 16 restaurants across the world.

AM: That is amazing and it’s definitely a flex!

CHEF JGV: Oh yeah, I could go to Marrakech and come back with 2 new ideas. Traveling for me is –

AM: Your inspiration board!

CHEF JGV: Oh yes and NY is my inspiration as well! We have so many people from everywhere here! We have the best Italian, the best Asian, the best Chinese, the best Jamaican –

AM: You literally can just keep going down the street and there is something!

CHEF JGV: Oh yeah, Indian, Greek, - there is everything. So living in NY, you’re definitely at home because you’re all around the world in one place and NY is a world of it’s own and it’s like a country of it’s own – no?

AM: Basically!

We had the pleasure of being here last night for the first night of NYCWFF’s A Taste of the Tin Building: A Party Hosted by you and Chef Gregory Gourdet which was just amazing. It was just insane!

CHEF JGV: It was crazy, no?

AM: Without a doubt! I kept seeing you like run by, and I was like, “there’s Chef.”

CHEF JGV: Oh yeah! I did my 25,000 steps.

AM: I would think so!

Why did you want to be a part of the food festival?

CHEF JGV: I mean, I have known Lee Schrager for a long time. We have been participating in the SOBEWFF in Miami for a long time – 15 years.

AM: Yup.

CHEF JGV: We’ll do a dinner usually every year for NY so it could be at Jean-Georges, but we always do 1 or 2 of our restaurants for it. This time, Lee was begging to use The Seaport, because everything started down here.

AM: Absolutely!

CHEF JGV: The Fulton Fish Market was here and this was the city’s first working port. (Editor’s Note: The Seaport was New York’s first working port and by the 19th century, it was the busiest in the nation. The Tin Building by Jean-Georges the culinary heart of the Seaport is the former site of the original Fulton Fish Market which opened in 1822, which operated as the city’s seafood center for nearly 2 centuries. In 2005 The Fulton Fish Market moved to its current location in Hunts Point, the Bronx. New York City was once the oyster capital of the world, with the Seaport’s Fulton Fish Market as the central hub for what New Yorkers considered a staple food in their diet.) So I convinced my partners that we should do this here and they said yes!

AM: That’s amazing!

CHEF JGV: I mean, it’s a little boost as well. When we opened here 5 years ago, it was during the pandemic and everyone was escaping the city. Now that are people are back now and we’re all exploring, it was the perfect match to do this!

Doing our event yesterday with Gregory Gourdet was so much fun!

AM: We interviewed him yesterday, we love him as we do you!

CHEF JGV: He is a protégé of mine. We have been friends for awhile and he is such a delight! I am always very proud of him!

AM: I appreciate you taking the time as your restaurants have always been such an experience visually as well as from a culinary standpoint. We enjoyed last night’s event and are so excited for tonight’s Asian Night Market that you are co-hosting with Padma Lakshmi (BRAVO’s Top Chef Host S2 – S20, Hulu’s Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi, CBS’ America’s Culinary Cup).

CHEF JGV: Oh yeah, the street foods are going to be so good tonight! It’s a little cold!

AM: It’s a little chilly!

CHEF JGV: I just told my assistant that I need to have my sweater! I can’t walk around like this! My son is also cooking tonight too, you should check him out as well (Editor’s Note: Chef JG’s son, Cédric Vongerichten is the Executive Chef and Owner of Wayan (NYC, Aspen, and Hamptons), Co-Owner of Ma•dé, Maritime at Jeddah Editon Hotel, and Executive Chef/Co-Owner along with his father at Perry St.). Say hi to my son when you see him!

IG @chefjgv

GRAND TASTING: DAYTIME EDITION HOSTED BY SOFIA AND MANOLO VERGARA

Saturday morning’s Grand Tasting: Daytime Edition Hosted by Sofia and Manolo Vergara allowed us to enjoy an array of dishes via a Walking Tasting. It was a great way to see culinary demonstrations, a number of chefs on our favorite TV shows, and tasting incredible bites and sips throughout the day. We even heard hear from Sofia Vergara and her son Manolo who shared their empanada company, TOMA.

IG @eattoma

@sofiavergara

@manologonzalezvergara

BULLEIT + SEAN EVENS HOST OF PRIVATE TAKEOVER @ OLD MATES PUB

As soon as we left the NYCWFF Grand Tasting, we went around the corner to Old Mates Pub, which is an Aussie bar that is a cool vibe, to enjoy catching your favorite games. We were guests of Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, which was hosted by Sean Evans of Hot Ones. In partnership with the whiskey brand, he launched a new content series One More Round in collaboration with First We Feast. The series focuses on celebrating the moments when ideas move from napkin sketches to real action. He chats with WNBA legend Breanna Stewart, Black Thought of The Roots, and Lionel Boyce (Project Hail Mary, Shell, The Jellies) of The Bear.

Throughout the event, DJ BYNX made sure that the vibes were in full swing as we enjoyed Bulleit cocktails and an array of bites in a cool downstairs lounge aesthetic.

IG @bulleit

GRAND TASTING: AFTER DARK – THE STEAKHOUSE VIP SESSION PRESENTED BY OLD FORESTER

We made our way back across the street after the Bulleit event to go to the Grand Tasting: After Dark The Steakhouse VIP Session Presented by Old Forester that took place at Carne Mare, a phenomenal steakhouse. At this event, 4 steakhouses showcased bites as well as classic cocktails that used Old Forester. We enjoyed Carne Mare, Cote Korean Steakhouse, La Boite, and Hawksmoor. It was great to enjoy these bites at the restaurant and to take a break from the festivities taking place outside for the larger Grand Tasting: After Dark.

IG @oldforester

@carnemare

@cotekoreansteakhouse

@hawksmoor

@laboiteny

GRAND TASTING: AFTER DARK HOSTED BY CHEF BOBBY FLAY + CHEF BROOKE WILLIAMSON

After the Steakhouse VIP Session, we went back to the Grand Tasting: After Dark presented by Montchevre Goat Cheese Hosted by Chef Bobby Flay + Chef Brooke Williamson for late night eats. We even swung by the stage on the promenade to hear how Lee Schrager got Chef Bobby Flay and Chef Brooke Williamson to host this particular event. An added surprise was to see the 2 dance the night away under the stars which you can see here.

IG @bobbyflay

@chefbrookew

GRAND TASTING: AFTER DARK HOSTED BY CHEF BOBBY FLAY + CHEF BROOKE WILLIAMSON | JEFF MAURO

We caught up with the Sandwich King, Jeff Mauro right before he did a demo that night with his fellow co-star of The Kitchen, Chef Geoffrey Zakarian. We wanted to hear about how his passion for food and why he loves being part of this festival!

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you first fall in love with food?

JEFF MAURO: Jumping right into it! Growing up in a giant Italian-American Family, food is everything to us. Seeing the power of food from a young age where, if you were that just, you know, sweeter to your grandma or your aunts, your mom - tug on their apron, oh so gently - they will give you a little morsel while they’re cooking, right? I was, like, oh my God, this is everything! When we had family parties, graduations, funerals, birthdays - all that stuff I was in it for the food. So, I saw how food is so transformative from a young age just because of the the matriarchs in my family!

AM: Wow!

What was the first bite that you felt that you fell in love with?

JM: My grandma used to make this, like, just homemade pizza, right? She caught it with scissors and it was like so undercooked and gooey that I couldn’t get enough of it, right? It was just like homemade dough, and a little bit of cheese and a little thin. She has this old white stove, and I remember these big steel scissors and just the noise of her snipping, the pizza was like a call to action for me, and you take that bite and that was it!

AM: What do you love about being at the food festival? I mean, it’s always such a fun time and so many people to see in the community.

JM: It’s all my friends you know? We’re a tight-knit group. There’s only you know a couple dozen of us if that, and this is when we all get to hang out. We’re not running around crazy on the TV set or competing, or, you know, this is like, we see each other in the lobby at the hotel. We get drinks, there’s Chef Arrón Sánchez sitting there and you know, you’re in the lobby with the Brothers Voltaggio (Michael and Bryan), as I call them. They’re sitting there having a drink at the hotel lobby and then you come here and I’m with Chef Geoffrey Zakarian and it’s a little yearly reunion every time we do these things!

AM: I love that.

IG @jeffmauro

FOODIECON

On the last day of the NYCWFF, we made our way to Foodiecon which is the educational portion of this event. Guests were able to hear from culinary personalities, chefs, and content creators to find out about their business and how they go about doing it. In addition, there were additional bites, sips, and settings that allowed for people to create content for their social platforms to make their own.

SUNDAY SUPPER PRESENTED BY PERONI HOSTED BY THE PASTA QUEEN NADIA CATERINA MUNNO + LIL MO MOZZARELLA

The final event of the NYCWFF was Sunday Supper presented by Peroni Hosted by The Pasta Queen Nadia Caterina Munno + Lil Mo Mozzarella which allowed us to enjoy a number of our favorite Italian dishes and beverages! It was a great vibe and closing to a successful food festival series.

SUNDAY SUPPER PRESENTED BY PERONI HOSTED BY THE PASTA QUEEN NADIA CATERINA MUNNO + LIL MO MOZZARELLA | CHEF KAREN AKUNOWICZ

Our final interview took place with James Beard Award winner for 2018 Best Chef (her restaurant Fox & the Knife debuted in 2020 and in that year, it was a finalist for Best New Restaurant in America) Chef Karen Akunowicz which was another Top Chef favorite of ours! We wanted to take a few moments with her even though her booth was hopping to find out what she loves about being a chef and why she participated in this year’s festival.

ATHLEISURE MAG: It’s so great to meet you! We have been fans of yours since we first saw you on Top Chef: California S13 where you were a finalist and again Top Chef All-Stars L.A S17.

CHEF KAREN AKUNOWICZ: I appreciate that, thank you so much!

AM: Of course!

So what was the first bite of food that you ate that made you fall in love food?

CHEF KA: Oh my gosh!

AM: I know, it’s a tough question!

CHEF KA: What made me fall in love with food? My mom’s chicken cutlets. That was my birthday dish every year. I still ask her to make them when she comes to my house. I make them for my daughter, the exact same way that she made them. I don’t chef them up.

AM: Wow.

CHEF KA: It’s like 4C Italian Bread Crumbs. I make them exactly the way that she did, and there’s something in that for me that resonates so much!

AM: When did you realize that you wanted to be a chef?

CHEF KA: I realized I wanted to be a chef - I worked in restaurants since I was 17 years old, and I would say that I have done every job there is to do. I worked in FOH for a very long time. I was a barista, I was a server, I was a waitress in a diner, I was a general manager before I ever started cooking. I was applying to get my Master’s degree in Social Work.

AM: Okay!

CHEF KA: While that was going on, I noticed that I never talked about what I was going to do with that, but I would always say, “someday if I own my own restaurant.”

AM: Right.

CHEF KA: That’s what prompted me to go to culinary school. I think for me, you know, that was like a turning point. I said, okay, if I’m gonna do this, I want to have the foundation, the understanding, and I didn’t know if I would continue to cook or not.

AM: Yup.

CHEF KA: But it stuck.

AM: As a fellow Virgo, we like to have all our details!

CHEF KA: Oh yeah, all of our ducks in a row! And also, you know, that, like, I always was aware that, like, I wouldn’t be given many opportunities to fail.

AM: Well, there’s also that part.

CHEF KA: So I had to succeed.

AM: Yup.

CHEF KA: Because I would never be given a second chance and I’m sure, you know, that as well even more than I do.

AM: 100%.

The business of being a chef has gained nuances and layer. It seems like being a chef is amazing, but then adding in TV – shows like Top Chef, social etc. How has that been beneficial to your career?

CHEF KA: It’s beneficial to the restaurants. TV has definitely given that breadth and reach that nobody else has. The thing about it for me is also that it keeps different parts of my brain going. So it energizes me and it inspires me in ways that keep me motivated in different ways in my career, in restaurants, and it also brings new life and ideas to that as well. I think that I’m somebody who I used to say, I really like to be busy. It’s not that I like to be busy, but I like to be inspired and motivated. I like all different sides of my brain to work. I write cookbooks because it works a different part of my brain, even though the entire time I’m writing I’m like, “writing a cookbook is so hard!” It makes your brain work in different ways and it makes everything work better. So I’m so lucky to have these creative outlets in my career.

AM: So you’re here at the Food Network NYCWFF today. Why are you a part of it as we love covering it!

CHEF KA: For me, New York has always been the epicenter of the world, truly. I’m from New Jersey originally, so my dad worked in the city forever, so this is really, you know, it’s the room where it happens, right?

AM: It’s happening.

CHEF KA: It’s always an honor for me to be back. I’m also deeply inspired by what the festival is able to contribute to different organizations there working with the James Beard Foundation specifically to continue programs like, WEL – Women’s Entrepreneurship Leadership. It’s so important. So anything I can do to continue and forward those things is really valuable to me. There’s the stuff that we have to do and then there’s the stuff we get to do.

AM: Exactly!

CHEF KA: The NYCWFF is something that I get to do!

IG @chefkarenakunowicz

@foxandtheknife

SUNDAY SUPPER PRESENTED BY PERONI HOSTED BY THE PASTA QUEEN NADIA CATERINA MUNNO + LIL MO MOZZARELLA | CHEF MATTHEW CUTOLO

While we were at Sunday Supper, we talked with Chef Matthew Cutolo who is the chef at Gargiulo’s to talk about the storied Italian restaurant that has been around for over a 100 years and is a staple in Coney Island. We talked about the restaurant, his love of chefing and why they participated in this year’s festival.

ATHLEISURE MAG: What was the first dish that made you fall in love with food?

CHEF MATTHEW CUTOLO: Without a doubt, pizza. It’s the first thing I ever learned to make with my grandfather. We have two brick ovens that were imported from Naples in the 1970s, and we spent our summers making brick oven pizzas together. There are photos of me at just two years old, standing on a kitchen stool with my hands in the dough. It wasn’t just about the food, it was about the time spent with him. Those moments in the kitchen are some of my most cherished memories and really where my love for cooking began.

AM: When did you realize that you wanted to be a chef?

CHEF MC: My grandfather instilled my love for food at a young age, but I actually went to school for accounting and finance. About halfway through, after a conversation with my Uncle Louie, I realized I couldn’t picture myself sitting behind a desk for the rest of my life. My uncle pretty much said, “are you coming to work when you’re done?” For me it was an easy decision.

From there, I learned from each of my four uncles and aunt, the owners of Gargiulo’s, which gave me a great foundation in every part of the business. But I was always drawn to the kitchen. I learned so much from my cousin Mike the Bake and my Uncle Mike, the head chef. That’s where I truly found my place, and the rest is history.

AM: You’re the chef at the historic Gargiulo’s, which has been around since 1907 in Coney Island! Tell us about this restaurant.

CHEF MC: Gargiulo’s first opened in 1907, founded by the Gargiulo family, and my family purchased it in 1965. Today, my aunt and uncles own the restaurant, and I’m proud to represent the third generation continuing the tradition.Coney Island has changed a lot over the years, but Gargiulo’s has remained a constant. In 1977, we earned 3 stars from The New York Times, which was unheard of for a restaurant outside Manhattan. In the restaurant outside Manhattan. In the early 1980s. we added the catering hall where countless families have celebrated special occasions. We’re a white-tablecloth, tuxedo-clad, fine dining Italian restaurant serving classic Neapolitan cuisine with recipes passed down through generations. Our goal is to make every guest feel welcomed, like they’re sitting at their nonna’s table.

AM: We had the pleasure of trying your dish at Sunday Supper to close out this season’s NYCWFF. Why did you and your restaurant want to be part of this event?

CHEF MC: It’s the best food festival! The energy, the people, the chefs, it’s an incredible experience every year. I love connecting with so many talented chefs, personalities, guests, and brands, whether it’s catching up with old friends or making new ones and always having a laugh. This was my third year at the festival, and it’s something I look forward to every year.

IG @chefmatthewcutolo

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Paul Farkas

During the Food Network NYCWFF our hosts for the 5 days of coverage of this culinary festival was at CODA Williamsburg Hotel. We loved the fact that we could enjoy this staycation, take in the neighborhood and still pop in and out of the city to head to The Seaport to enjoy sips and bites from phenomenal chefs.

We sat down with the hotel’s Interim General Manager, Alberto Hinojosa who talked with us about this poperty whether you’re staying for a vacation, staycation, business travel, or your simply in the neighborhood. He shares features of this hotel from common areas, amenities, their restaurant, and CODA Beach Club!

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did CODA open, and what can you tell us about the hotel in terms of occupancy and its proximity to areas nearby?

ALBERTO HINOJOS: Coda opened its doors in 2023 and is centrally located in Williamsburg, just steps from Greenpoint. The hotel sits in one of the best spots in Brooklyn — easy to reach both Manhattan and local favorites around the neighborhood.

AM: Tell us about the common areas that guests have access to.

AH: Guests have access to our co-working space, a 24-hour fitness center, and our rooftop bar and restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Each space was designed to feel relaxed and welcoming — you can work, unwind, or socialize all in one place.

AM: You also have a restaurant that is part of the hotel, Meili – what can you tell us about that?

AH: Meili is a Sichuan Chinese restaurant led by Michelin-rated Chef Peter He. Williamsburg has a few Sichuan options, but this is the best one.

AM: We were on your rooftop during Bar Convent Brooklyn – tell us about Meili Rooftop.

AH: The rooftop is open daily except Mondays, with a happy hour from 6–8 PM.

AM: Although we’re no longer in the summer season, you also have a pool. Tell us about this amenity, and for those who are not guests, do you have pool passes that people can buy to enjoy CODA Beach Club?

AH: The Beach Club will reopen in May 2026 and run through September. It’s open daily to hotel guests, and non-guests can purchase advance day passes directly from the hotel. The Beach Club is adult-only, though next season we’ll introduce limited extended family swim hours as well.

AM: For guests staying at the hotel, tell us about the kinds of rooms available as well as the amenities that are offered in them.

AH: We offer a full range of rooms — Standard Queen (240 sq ft), Standard King (250 sq ft), Deluxe King (295 sq ft), King Suites (490 sq ft), and our Penthouse at 1,500 sq ft. All rooms include DS & Durga bath products, Kassatex bedding and towels, custom furniture from House of CODA and minifridges/coffee makers upon request.

AM: Tell us about the House of CODA.

AH: House of CODA is a California-based furniture designer that’s been around for over 30 years. They specialize in made-to-order pieces, and every room and public area at the hotel features their work. It gives the property a really cohesive, custom feel.

AM: What can you tell us about the neighborhood, and what are 3 things that we should do, check out, or eat?

AH: Williamsburg should definitely be your second stop after Manhattan. It has everything the city offers but with more of a local, community vibe and a slower pace. My go-to spots: Café Collette on Berry for breakfast or lunch, Amber Steakhouse in Greenpoint for dinner, and Peter Pan Donuts for a great flagel. For nightlife, Superior Ingredients is just a block away and always has top DJs.

AM: What makes CODA Hotel Williamsburg a great option for guests?

AH: The human connection we offer. Our team genuinely enjoys making a difference and creating great experiences for our guests. The reviews speak for themselves — people can feel that authenticity.

AM: Is there anything we should know about as we look ahead to spring or summer?

AH: We’re planning several activations for the 2026 Beach Club season and will be launching the Coda Creatives Speaker Series in Q2. The series will bring together NYC locals and creatives to share their stories and inspire the community.

IG @coda.hotels

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | PG 42 - 47 Coda Williamsburg

Of course, we had an epic time at the Food Network NYCWFF and ate so many bites from our favorite restaurants and chefs! With 5 days of coverage, we found ourselves with a day off and made our way to INDN to enjoy Indian cuisine and phenomenal cocktails. The vibe of this midtown restaurant, the attention to detail, and of course the sweet and savory options are definitely going to live in our tastebuds until we come back again. We had the pleasure of meeting Owner and Beverage Dir. Simran Bakshi to talk more about this restaurant!

ATHLEISURE MAG: Before we delve into INDN, tell us about the Co-Founders of INDN in terms of their backgrounds and how they came to the culinary industry.

SIMRAN BAKSHI: I’ve been in hospitality for over a decade, building restaurants from the ground up. My focus has always been on creating concepts that balance originality with operational excellence — designing guest journeys, developing menus that tell a story, and ensuring every sensory detail aligns with the vision.

Kanika Vij Bakshi is the creative force behind our design and brand aesthetic. She translates emotion into space — from lighting and scent to flow and materials — shaping how the guest feels from the moment they walk in.

Vicky Vij, Kanika’s father, is one of the pioneers of Indian dining in NYC, best known for founding Bukhara Grill. His decades of experience anchor INDN in real hospitality wisdom.

Together, we represent three generations of Indian dining — tradition, creativity, and strategy — coming together to redefine how Indian cuisine is experienced in New York.

AM: What is the concept of INDN kitchen, and why did you want to open this restaurant?

SB: We wanted to create something New York hadn’t seen yet — a cocktail-driven Indian restaurant where food is designed to pair with drinks, not the other way around. INDN focuses on North Indian flavours presented through a small-plates format.

Most Indian restaurants in the city are built around full meals and family-style dining. We saw the opportunity to present Indian food in a more social, bar-forward setting — bold, fun, and unapologetically Indian, but elevated for a modern audience.

The goal was simple: drinks first, food second — but both world-class.

AM: Tell us about the interior design and what diners can expect from an aesthetic standpoint.

SB: The space is intentionally minimal but expressive — a reflection of Kanika’s design philosophy. We focused on warm lighting, tactile textures, and a layout that draws people toward the bar.

There are no stereotypical “Indian theme” elements. Instead, it’s a New York bar with an Indian soul — subtle details, natural materials, and curated playlists that evolve through the night.

We wanted INDN to feel like an adult playground — refined, energetic, and distinctly ours. The kind of place where you can grab a cocktail, share plates, and stay late.

AM: We truly enjoyed our meal and love how the cocktails, as well as the dishes, are a delicate balancing act! Tell us about the approach you took to the menu.

SB: The entire menu is structured around balance — between spice, acid, and richness; between boldness and restraint.

We start with cocktails, not the kitchen. Every drink informs the food — the spice profiles, the acidity, the texture of each dish.We keep our flavours authentic to India, but our presentation and pairings are contemporary. No fusion. No gimmicks. Just honest flavours built with modern precision.

Every dish is meant to be shared — not to fill you up, but to keep you engaged through your drinks and conversation.

AM: As a small-plates approach, only dinner and brunch on Sundays is offered here. Do you envision adding lunch to the offerings?

SB: Not for now. Our rhythm works best in the evenings — the space, lighting, and energy are built around that. Sunday brunch already offers a different mood with Chai Nashta, so we’re happy with that balance.

That said, we’ll always adapt to guest demand. If the right moment comes, we’ll explore lunch in the future.

AM: We love the bar — it has an opulent vibe while being approachable. For those who opt to be there, is there a special menu?

SB: The bar is the heartbeat of INDN. While there isn’t a separate “bar-only” menu, the experience is different when you sit there.

Guests at the bar get first access to new cocktails, quick-fire small plates, and one-on-one interaction with the bartenders. It’s designed for spontaneity — grab a drink, share a few plates, meet people.

That’s the spirit of INDN — it’s social, not scripted.

AM: Focusing on dinner, what does Chakhna mean, and what are 3 dishes you suggest ordering from this portion?

SB: Chakhna means small, snackable plates traditionally eaten with alcohol in India — the kind of food meant to keep the conversation and drinks flowing.

Three must-try Chakhna dishes are:

Amritsari Fish – 10-spice battered fish fried crisp.

Keema Pao – Slow-cooked minced lamb served with buttered pao.

Paneer Tikka – Tandoor-charred paneer with mint marinade.

They represent the full flavour range — seafood, lamb, vegetarian — all bold, shareable, and built to pair perfectly with cocktails.

AM: What does Daru Ke Baad … Ya Saath mean, and what 3 items complement those small plates?

SB: The phrase translates to “after the drinks… or with them.” It’s our section of larger, heartier plates — for when you’re ready to transition from bar bites to a full meal.

Three dishes to try:

Yakhni Pulao – Aromatic mutton broth rice.

Traditional Butter Chicken – Charred chicken in creamy tomato gravy.

Pudina Lachha Parantha – Flaky mint-layered bread.

They complement the small plates beautifully and close out the savoury journey with warmth and comfort.

AM: To end our meal, what are 3 desserts that we should have in mind?

SB: Shahi Tukda – A rich bread pudding soaked in saffron milk.

Jalebi with Rabri – Crispy spirals with sweetened condensed milk.

Dessert of the Day – Our chefs rotate creative sweets based on the season.

They’re indulgent, nostalgic, and distinctly Indian — a perfect finale to an evening that started with spice and smoke.

AM: Tell us about your beverage program — the cocktails are incredible.

SB: Our cocktail program defines INDN. It’s what sets us apart.

We build drinks like dishes — layering spice, acidity, fat, and aromatics. The base spirits come alive with Indian ingredients like turmeric, fenugreek, saag, tamarind, and ghee, but without being kitschy or overpowering.

Every cocktail is built for depth and drinkability. Our team spent months clarifying, infusing, and balancing to make sure the end result feels familiar yet completely new.

This isn’t just “Indian-inspired mixology” — it’s culinary bartending rooted in Indian sensibility.

AM: What are 3 cocktails we should have in mind?

SB: Butterface – Mezcal, fenugreek, garam masala, and lemon.

Paneer Panic – Gin, cilantro, turmeric, and lime — inspired by saag paneer.

Pink City, Red Flags – Vodka, St-Germain, Bianco, and Indian tonic.

Each one is a playful nod to regional India — smoky, green, and floral — and designed to tell a story through flavour.

AM: As we look at brunch, what are 3 dishes perfect for the weekend?

SB: Pao Bhaji – Comfort food at its best; buttery, spicy, and soulful.

Samosa Chaat – Crunchy, tangy, and perfect with chai or a cocktail.

Stuffed Parantha Trio – Classic North Indian breakfast in refined form.

Our brunch is casual but still elevated — meant to feel nostalgic and social at the same time.

AM: What is Chai Nashta?

SB: Chai Nashta translates to tea and snacks — a cherished Indian ritual that bridges breakfast and lunch.

At INDN, it’s our take on the Sunday ritual: comfort food, shared over chai or cocktails, set to music that feels like a lazy weekend morning turned into a lively afternoon.

AM: What are 3 dishes within Chai Nashta we should consider?

SB: Poha – Flattened rice with curry leaves and peanuts.

Anda Curry with Parantha – Spiced egg curry with flaky layered bread.

Vada Pao – The Mumbai street-food staple: spicy potato fritter in a buttered bun.

It’s India’s brunch culture reimagined for New York.

AM: As someone who loves chai, tell us more about High Chai.

SB: High Chai is our elevated tea ritual — masala chai served with a spread of savoury and sweet nibbles like khari biscuits, cocktail samosas, and cookies.

It’s indulgent yet comforting — a pause in the day that celebrates India’s tea culture with the refinement of a New York bar.

AM: What are 3 brunch cocktails that we should have our eye on?

SB: Bloody Mary Marlo – Butter-washed vodka with curry leaf and mustard seed.

Espresso Martini – Mezcal, fennel, chili, and chocolate bitters.

Garibaldi – Campari, Japanese strawberry, vanilla, and orange.

They’re playful, layered, and refreshingly different — a reminder that brunch drinks don’t have to be predictable.

AM: From a seasonality perspective, will your menu reflect that?

SB: Always. We source fresh produce and adjust marinades, spices, and cooking styles to reflect the season.

In the fall and winter, expect deeper spice profiles and slow-cooked dishes; in spring and summer, fresher herbs, lighter curries, and brighter drinks.

It keeps the menu evolving and the team inspired.

AM: Are there any upcoming events for the Fall and holiday season?

SB: We’re introducing a holiday cocktail series — reimagining winter spices and Indian warmth through drinks.

There will also be special Chai Nashta takeovers during December weekends with festive sweets and DJ brunches.

We’ll close the year with a New Year’s Eve celebration that connects INDN upstairs with our lounge 16 Sola downstairs — two worlds, one night.

IG @indn.nyc

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | INDN

Read the OCT ISSUE #118 of Athleisure Mag and see FOOD NETWORK NYCWFF 2025 in mag.

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME | MEGAN EUGENIO

This month we caught up with Overtime Sportsbroadcaster, Influencer, and Content Creator Megan Eugenio! For the past few years, Overtime Megan has brought her passion for sports as a fan of NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLB to the digital platform. We wanted to know more about how she got into the industry and how she turned her love for an array of games as a fan to talking with our favorite athletes and giving her insights on the games. We also talked about stories that she is focused on this season, upcoming projects, and being a fan of Tate Mcrae.

In addition to talking with her about this and more, we also did an inbook editorial photoshoot with her at Magaritaville Resort Times Square showcasing 5 looks that you can incorporate into your Fall style wherever your travels take you!

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you first fall in love with sports?

MEGAN EUGENIO: I first fell in love with sports when I was 12 years old. This is a funny story. I had a crush on a boy and he loves Dwyane Wade and at the time, he was on the winning Miami Heat team - the big 3 with LeBron James and Chris Bosh. I decided at the ripe age, I think I was in like 5th or 6th grade, I was like, “I’m going to also become a Dwyane Wade fan. I’m gonna watch the NBA.” Then from there just by doing that and making that decision, because my family was not a big sports family, and I grew up in Boston as well, which is a big sports city. I both had the boss is pretty big, big sports.

AM: Boston is a pretty big sports town – you know they don’t play about their sports!

ME: From there, I just realized that this is pretty cool. I love the culture. I love the atmosphere. I love, just like the glitz and glamor of the NBA specifically as well. I didn’t know that I wanted to work in it. Around the age of 18, when I moved to NYC, I realized the sport scene here was so immersive and so welcoming, because at the time, the NYC teams were not doing too good. You know, the Knicks were definitely at their downfall. But it made me realize that I wanted to be a part of something. So I fell in love with the idea of being part of something.

When it comes to me, I was and am terrible at sports! I was not good!

AM: You’re like, “I am a fan – period!”

ME: Period!

I did not make the 5th grade basketball team. I was at the bottom of the batting list on my softball team. But I did cheer, and I did pageants. I love being girly, but I love being girly in this space, so I first fell in love with realizing like this is something I could be a part of. I can join it in this way. Here’s a family. Here’s a group of people, and we all have the same interest. I think that’s also true when you’re younger, you’re kind of finding things like that. It’s like finding a club or a hobby –

AM: Right!

ME: So, for me, joining and being part of these Sports fandoms was something of that nature.

AM: And what’s your first memory of being at a professional game?

ME: It’s funny, so growing up in Boston, it’s a big sports city, I was never a Boston fan because I never went to games! So when I moved to NYC, that’s when I got my first taste of it, and this is before I was even working at Overtime because I only had a month and a half of not working at Overtime into my freshman year. In that month and a half, I had very little money, but I used that money to take myself to a pre-season game at Madison Square Garden - Knicks versus Nets. I remember sitting by myself and posting an Instagram photo - my feet were up on the seat because it was preseason, it was empty and I wrote, “I could get used to this!”

AM: Oh wow!

ME: I thought it was just so casual. I was like, you know what I’m by myself, I’m gonna enjoy this.

AM: Yeah!

ME: My first NBA game ever, I went by myself pre-season, and that was my first memory of like seeing all the guys on the court and I knew I needed to do something with this. I didn’t know what I was going to do because I didn’t have it in my mind like that. I didn’t see influencing as a thing in 2018, I would say it was more YouTubers, and I had a more normal Instagram, so I didn’t know that I was going to work in it, but all I knew was that I felt some sort of connection. Maybe it was the Invisible String Theory (Editor’s Note: This theory is a metaphorical concept suggesting that people destined to meet are connected by an unseen bond, a belief rooted in fate, spirituality, and folklore. It is not a scientific theory and proposes that the universe will eventually bring these connected individuals together, regardless of distance or time)?

AM: Interesting.

ME: Even though I was not an athletic girl myself, I’m like, there’s something here as I’m eating my pretzel with mustard and I can feel it!

AM: So, how did you get that start? Admittedly not being an athlete yourself and being a fan and knowing that there was an interest and something that – how did it synergize?

ME: It started to synergize when I met someone that worked for Overtime. He was also one of their interns I believe that was around my age, and we started striking up a conversation just through social media. I was going through Instagram and I was trying to find a bunch of friends in the city. My idea of making friends within school and in the city was just like cast the widest net you can and whoever reels in.

AM: Sure.

ME: So we struck up a conversation about sports, and I asked him, “would you be able to get me a job? I’ll do anything. I’ll make copies. I’ll take out the trash. I will literally do whatever you want. I will literally just like print papers all day long.” He was young and was like, “let me ask my manager.” I had no experience whatsoever. He sent me his manager’s phone number. I gave her a call. She called me back about a week later, and she’s like, “you should come on in for an interview. Overtime at the time, had I think 880,000 followers if I remember correctly. I only had 2,000 followers. I grew up and I knew about Overtime, in high school because they became a thing around 2016/17 so I knew of Overtime, but I didn’t know what this was going to entail.

I went in for an interview, and these 2 guys who were also, you know, early 20s, it’s a very Gen Z company, 45 employees at the time running the whole operation. They let me know that they could use a little extra hand around here. And little did I know that extra hand would turn into a year later of what now influencing is for me – what content creation is for me. It really started to synergize for me by just asking! Closed mouths, don’t get fed.

AM: Facts!

ME: That’s been a huge motto of my career because you never know who’s going to say yes. This was pretty early in 2018, I had my 19th birthday in the office. It was pretty awesome, but realizing what Overtime had given me once they said yes It was pretty awesome, but realizing what Overtime had given me once they said yes - that was when my love for the sport and this opportunity actually arose where it synergized. So thank you Overtime! They were my foundation, they were my first step, and they still are!

AM: It’s amazing that you’ve been able to merge sports and your digital presence together which is phenomenal and to do it in such an organic way, that’s just what it is!

ME: Yes, and I had to learn as I went too because I didn’t know I wanted to be an influencer. I didn’t even know that was a word at the time. I didn’t know what a content creator was at the time. I fell into it, and this was a year into my job as I started in October 2018. I got introduced to TikTok through Overtime, which is a funny story in August of 2019.

AM: But still, the early days! I’m sure at the time you were like, “but is this even worth it, is this gonna be the next wave?”. And then, it’s like, yeah.

ME: Well, that was the whole thing. My CEO Dan Porter and then our Head of Social Thomas Weingarten, Tommy sat me down. They told me that there was a new app and that it was taking over. Now obviously growing up, like there had been millions – well maybe not millions.

AM: True but there were so many apps that everyone was on and then they weren’t like Vine.

ME: Oh yeah multiple apps – Kick, Keek, so many and a lot of them had not lasted the test of time.

AM: Exactly.

ME: I’m like, “what do you mean?” Like, there’s our big 4 - there’s Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram. Those are the big 4, that’s all you get, and those are the big apps that we’re going to get. They’re like, no, this is a thing - it’s going to be huge. You better get on it, and I was like, that’s for children. And they’re like, just do it. So I go on. They send me 2 TikToks. I think one of them was, like, the Obsessed Dance by Mariah Carey.

AM: Right.

ME: I was, like, dancing not my thing.

AM: You’re like, no.

ME: Yeah, but I’m like, I’m not gonna do that. I’m just gonna put text bubbles on the screen and point to them of my favorite NBA players to see if there’s a community there that’s gonna like that. I think, because I got on in 2019, the pre-COVID boom, I got lucky kind of solidifying my foot as a content creator, as a girl who likes sports in the space in August 2019. Within my first month, I think I got 150,000, which was crazy to say!

Then I realized that people were watching me

AM: You didn’t have to dance.

ME: You know, I can’t dance. But I can tell you that I really like the Milwaukee Bucks and the New York Knicks for some odd reason, and I was very much a casual sports fan, but I think also like, at the time, my audience was either my age or a little younger. It was just something you know, it’s like, who’s this, girl, and she’s so young, and she’s working for the sports company that we watch online – how did she get this job, and so I think that’s how it started it as well.

AM: As a sports broadcaster at Overtime, tell me about the network and the sports that you cover. You seem to cover a number of them.

ME: Yeah, so we we’re primarily a Gen Z Sports digital platform. We primarily cover basketball, and that was, I would say the first five years of the company was primarily basketball. Soon, we expanded to football, and now we have a Boxing League. Now we have our own Football League. We have our own Basketball League itself, so it really started with the NBA, and then I would say post COVID really transitioned into a lot of NFL. I do hockey on the side myself because we don’t really have a hockey section at Overtime.

The network is now just so fast it can go to, you know, tennis, the US Open is quite large. It can go to golf - The Masters. It can go to quite literally anything you can think of. Or, I would say, you know, the non-athletic sector like sports trading cards.

The network is so vast, a lot of it is a healthy mix of what Overtime does which is their leagues and their coverage and then what I do on the side, which is like hockey, trading cards and all that grand stuff. It’s been very diverse, which is fun, but I, I do have to say basketball was my first love and it still is obviously one of the biggest sports, and we still have so many amazing players in the league, but you know, it is fun combining different audiences.

AM: Oh yeah.

ME: The NFL and also doing the NHL, like me personally, different sports myself that aren’t really conventional, like skiing and snowboarding and opening up to those audiences, which has been a lot of fun, kind of unlocking, especially even like Olympic sports. I’ve been loving that!

AM: What’s an average week like for you? Whether it’s you being a commentator or doing a live event, hosting or content creating - what’s going on in Megan’s week?

ME: It’s so funny, because I think I used to do so much travel to the point where I couldn’t even buy groceries that I was never home, and that was when I was younger. I was hitting up every single event and it was really fun. I would say 21/22, we were all over the place, and now lately it’s been a lot of NY based things I’m right in the city where there’s a lot of great opportunities here. A week in the life looks pretty much like finding all the events that are going on in the city that are sports related.

So, we have home openers, which around this time, we have NFL games, we had MLB playoffs for the Yankees and in the Summer we had Mets games. So it’s a healthy mix of attending events and activations, which can be put on by companies or by athletes. There are lots of collaborations, which those are great for content because they are very laid back sorts of settings for getting content and interviews. It’s also very accessible! You can take the subway downtown and hit 3 events - very simple. If we’re traveling, we’re going to a game, we’re going to Super Bowls, we’re going to the Olympics, we’re going to home openers, We’re going to practices of other teams – that is something that is more the atypical weeks.

AM: Right.

ME: A lot of time when we’re here, we go in the studio, and we film at Overtime. I hit up a lot of games, and I make content there. I go to some practices sometimes. So, it’s just a lot of reaching out and seeing what we have in the city, which is quite a lot of events that we have going on. Even in my daily life doing what I do, even going to like a Tate McRae concert - there’s a New York Rangers legend goalie there, and even just taking a photo of him and posting it all these things all kind of circle into the orbit of sports content.

Whether it’s personal or not personal, whether it’s paid or unpaid. So it’s just a lot of fun events, a lot of sports games, and a lot of showing my daily life as well is part of my content.

AM: Absolutely!

ME: I’m very blessed that everything I do and everything I enjoy. It doesn’t even feel like work I should say.

AM: Why is it important to you to have your hands in all these areas as the commentator, the event host, and the content creator? It’s always great to have such a diverse portfolio. But what does it mean to you?

ME: So everything that I do has a special place in my heart. So, as a content creator, I’ve always been someone that doesn’t believe in, like fitting in the one hat. So you have to have multiple hats, multiple positions. You have to have your hands dipped in many places because having all those under your belt - it just shows that you’re a multifaceted person. I think a lot of times when I was viewing people online as well, I always felt like there’s one thing, and that’s their thing.

AM: True.

ME: I don’t love that idea! I love discovering new things about different people, like it’s so cool to see. Like, oh my God, she snowboards – never knew that. For me, it’s so amazing, to showcase those different parts of yourself and show that you’re human. We are human and behind the screen, there’s so much more to discover.

I’m someone that likes to throw it all out there. I don’t believe in putting yourself in a box and only having 3 things for people to remember about you. I’m like, no, here’s all of it. Put it on the platter, and I’m not going to knock one of these things off the plate. They’re all on the plate. This is for you guys to digest because there’s an audience for everything, and there’s so many untapped presences and content opportunities in different areas that if you actually think of it - like skiing and snowboarding in winter sports. I’ve been doing that my whole life and I didn’t think about posting it for my content until last season. I was like, I can’t believe I never shared this part of myself. It’s a very popular sport, and also I feel like there’s this notion that everyone hates the cold and hates Winter, and I’m like, well, that’s because you gotta try. You gotta find your place! This Summer I started sailing, and that’s a whole untapped area! There’s the Grand Prix and there’s a whole sports area of that. Even DJ Khaled was hosting that. So there are different areas that people aren’t used to seeing outside of the big 4 main sports in America that I like to showcase because I’m equally as interested in them.

Someone, also seeing another Creator doing that. They’ll be like, wait, I like this. They like this. This is cool, it’s becoming mainstream - same with golf - same with pickleball. There’s always people that want representation of those sports.

AM: A 100%!

You touched on this before as we have been talking about the big 4 throughout this interview. This time of year is just crazy because we do have the World Series, so MLB is ending. But then, we’re in the midpoint of the NFL and literally today as we have been talking, preseason of the NBA started! Of course, you have, the NHL which also just started. So, are there any stories and teams that you have your eye on that we should be thinking about as we start navigating this awesome schedule?

ME: Yes,, for sure!

Obviously, I’m a big Knicks girly! We just hired a new Head Coach, Mike Brown so I’m really excited to see what he’s been doing. I haven’t been to any pre-season games yet, but their Home Opener Is tomorrow, Oct 22nd against the Cleveland Cavaliers and then the next night, is against the Boston Celtics. So those are two, I would say really high stakes games. They both have really great players on opposing teams. So, it’s going to be really good to see how the Knicks hold themselves up against those teams with a new coach. The Knicks have gotten better since I’ve started being a fan, so I really do think that the Knicks have an even better opportunity than last year to be in the playoffs. But, new coach. We’ll see how it goes, but I think he’s got the charisma and the stamina to really last throughout the season with this team, with all of the pressure.

Hockey. My tried and true! I love hockey so much! I love Winter. I’m a Winter girl. I love the ice! I love the snow! There’s a huge Canadian aspect of it. I just love hockey, so I’m excited to hit a few games. I think I’m going to a game in November with one of my friends. I have that planned, but it’s so funny, because a lot of the times that I go to Madison Square Garden for Knicks or Rangers or whatever, maybe concerts. I always kind of find out last minute. So, I really don’t plan out what games I’m gonna go to.

Speaking of Canada, the Toronto Blue Jays are in the World Series for the first time in a long time! I’m super excited! I love Canada. Toronto is one of my favorite cities to visit, and so that’s going to be amazing as well.

My Jets are not doing their best. They have some improvements to be made, and I still love them, and I’ll still be rooting them on because the day that they win the Super Bowl. I can say I was there from the beginning. I’m still excited to see what they do and then see if they can turn it around a little bit!

AM: I love it.

You know, we’re always excited about hearing about people’s fitness routines, because we’re always like, what should we be putting into ours? So when you’re not doing all the things that you’re doing, how do you stay in shape?

ME: Oh my goodness! Every single day - the gym - every single day. I live two blocks from my gym, so I don’t give myself an excuse!

AM: Nice.

ME: In the morning, I wake up and I have to fit in at least an hour of workout in a day, and I really believe in the cardio aspect. I love the cardiovascular health, part of it. I’m a little bit into my weights and I try to get some strength in there. But I just believe getting your heart rate up every single day, it’s so good for your blood flow. It’s so good for anti-aging, it’s good for your endorphins. There’s so many things to it that are beneficial, and I think a lot of people in America live a very sedentary lifestyle and can’t find the time. So I’m like, even if I can only find 30 minutes – I have to do it. I think it’s very important just for you to destress. And I mean, if you really want to, you can even get work done on your treadmill.

But it’s so important! I don’t care what hour of the day I workout - I’m not super strict on that. I typically try to go in the morning. I get a smoothie after or I make one at home. Maybe I’ll go at night. I wish my gym was 24 hours, because then I’d probably go at 1am.

AM: Yes! Nobody’s here!

ME: You’ve gotta fit it in somewhere! I have a vice and I like to indulge in fast food sometimes. So it’s about discipline. If I am going to eat whatever I want on cheat days, you better be working out! I allow myself, I would say 1 or 2 cheat days. And those are typically on the weekends for obvious reasons.

It’s nice to have a rest and you know, walking around NYC itself is, you know, it’s a very active city.

AM: Oh yeah.

ME: Up the subway stairs, down the subway stairs. You’re walking to all your errands because you’re not driving to any of it. So on average, it’s very easy to get 20,000 steps a day here or more. I think I’ve hit like 45,000 one day, which is absurd.

AM: Totally, on some of those days where there are a lot of previews, stacked events, meetings etc, you will hit those large numbers. A normal day could be 18,000 easily but when it goes to 35,000 or more – that’s when I know I was really doing a lot!

ME: I know right? It’s crazy! So many people are like 10K and I’m like, live in NYC and you’ll see! Especially if you have the time to walk!

Oh my goodness, it’s crazy. I used to live at the bottom of the island in Battery Park. I’m on the UES now, and my sister also lives near me. If I had the whole day on a Sunday, I’d walk to her and that was part of my workout. Getting your steps in - you really can’t do any wrong there, but it is definitely important to fit in. You also need to focus on you cardiovascular health, a sauna here and there, a cold plunge.

AM: Oh yeah.

ME: All those things –

AM: I’m obsessed with Red Light Therapy.

ME: Yes! Infrared Sauna! Love it! Very important. I love a good sauna. I’m not too much of a stream room fan, but I’m a sauna girly for life, but it’s, it’s just, you know, there’s so many things you can do your body that are bad for it. That’s why you have to use discipline, and you have to, you have to put in the time for those good things in order to enjoy life fully.

AM: What does it mean for you to be a woman in sports? You have an Emmy, you use your platform to share your passion for sports but to also share other aspects as well. You talk about fashion, fitness, beauty and lifestyle. What does all of that mean to you?

ME: What it means to me is showcasing myself through a platform where people can feel is relatable and accessible. I never wanted to feel that I was someone that you couldn’t reach that you couldn’t feel like you’re approaching. When I started all this, like I said, I feel like I just got lucky. And once I realized that I took it by the reigns? This is what you’re going to do, and this is the first thing you are now, but I never lost the sense of just being grateful to be here for all these different opportunities, and I think just by, you know, showing all these parts of myself that are true to me that were here before social media. It definitely encompasses all of it. I’m a casual sports fan. I’m just a girl in New York City. Yep, there’s so many aspects to it that make it enjoyable because you are just presenting yourself in your truest form. It takes a lot of learning for sure. When you get started out with all of that, but what it means to me is, you know, you’re filming moments of yourself that you want to share with people. Whether it be good, bad, real, raw, authentic, or branded.

AM: Right.

ME: As long as you’re doing that and you’re having a good time, I think that’s all that matters. You’re connecting with people from all over the world that you never would have connected with and it means sharing experiences.

It means meeting people on the street that I never thought I would meet. It means all of these doors opening that I never thought I would have had, and I do it internally for like the little Megan inside of me, but outwardly for everyone else. I don’t know if I can put it into words, but it means having this big family out there in the world and having 600,000 followers, but, that’s 600,000 friends that can approach you and that you could have a connection with. I think as someone who grew up who was a little more dorky, who wasn’t into sports, who wasn’t the popular girl - I think that’s really cool. I think it’s even cooler that people feel like they know me through the different areas that I touch and post about.

AM: What advice do you have for women that are looking to enter the field? Yes, sports, but also stepping into the social/digital platform like anything that they should know before embarking on it?

ME: Something that people should know, especially women is that we all know that the easy answer is, you’re going to get critiqued.

AM: Right.

ME: I think, critique when, when delivered healthily, when you know, not in a bullying manner, I think, is a really nice thing for people to actually give their opinion and see how people are receiving what you’re putting out there. I believe in staying true to yourself, but there’s gonna be people who are a little more on the hater side, a little more on the trolling side, and you have to remember anybody that is coming at you for what you’re doing - you’re doing something right. If they’re coming at you in a negative tone, they’re behind their keyboard. They want to be in your position.

AM: Oh yeah.

ME: You know, there are a lot of people out there that don’t want to see women winning, especially in the sports field. They don’t want to see women here. They don’t want to see a woman next to their favorite athlete or even interviewing them. There’s a sense of like, “I must tear this down”. There’s a big problem with that, and it’s something that I have personally experienced on the daily, but all I’m going to say is, you be strong. You go out there, you don’t dim your light.

AM: That’s right.

ME: You don’t try to outshine others. You just try to outshine the person you were yesterday.

AM: Yes.

ME: I think there’s so much strength in appreciating the men around you, appreciating the other women around you. You don’t have to always be this person that comes in and tears everything.

AM: Exactly.

ME: All you have to do is bring yourself, bring it strong, say what you gotta say! I’m a big advocate for women being outspoken in all senses because I definitely am and I’m like, just say what you gotta say, You’re not going to dim your light. Do not put on a hat. Don’t try to be a façade – come in and be unapologetically you. They will love you for it, and you don’t have to fit into these molds, especially in sports. People think you have to fit in and that being a reporter, everyone thinks you have to be buttoned up - no. I know Gen Z slang in my interviews sometimes. You have to do whatever you think is natural to you and not what the world wants of you.

AM: Well, Halloween is around the corner. I know you are a super Tate McRae fan and that you have been her for Halloween. Are you going to be her for Halloween again this year?

ME: I am! I love Tate McRae! I have been her the last 2 years. My costume is actually out on my kitchen table. There’s glue everywhere. It’s all stuck on the table and I have to figure out how to get it off, but I’m doing her white outfit. It’s like a white jersey, a corset and some shorts and some black boots, and it’s all bedazzled. Hers, says T. And an 8 for Tate and mine says OT so I’m excited for that. It’s proving to be quite difficult, and I have a whole new found appreciation for costume designers.

AM: Oh yeah.

ME: In the music industry world, because my goodness, those rhinestones hand placed, every single last one of them!

AM: Yes, it takes hours!

ME: It’s taken me - I think I should have set a timer. I think if I had to guess I spent so far around six hours, and I’ve I’m not even close.

AM: Yeah, you probably have like another eight to go.

ME: Yes! And she noticed me the first year that I was here which was pretty funny!

AM: You have so many things going on. Are there any projects coming up that we should keep an eye out for? Should we just be watching your Instagram to see when you’re popping up next?

ME: We do have something coming out that I am very excited for! I’m having my commercial debut for the NFL which I believe is coming out Week 10. It will be in the NFL shop and I am repping my NY Jets in it. We also filmed a Europe commercial, which I believe is already out. We can’t see because we’re in the United States, but the next one is coming out Week 10, and that’s really cool. I’ve always wanted to be on TV and getting to see myself like in the middle of a game is going to be really cool.

AM: That’s amazing.

ME: Yeah, I’m really excited for that. I’m getting into the sports trading card space and there’s some conversations around possibly doing some things like that within the within the creation of it. You know, it’s called Live Breaks when you open the card packs and so there’s a huge audience there that I’ve been tapping into. So, maybe we’re going to start something there with that, and then, of course, the Winter Olympics, which are in February. We are going to those in Cortina, Italy, which I’m really excited to create content there.

AM: That’s awesome!

ME: So I’m hoping to win our 2nd Emmy.

AM: What did you feel like when you won an Emmy as that’s major!

ME: I didn’t even know at first! Last year, we went to the Olympics. It was a collaboration of the first of its kind. NBC and Peacock were integrating digital content creators and digital platforms and the content that we created for them had such a different outreach, because I feel like a lot of Gen Z people aren’t really watching the Olympics as much as in years past. To be an Olympian, you know, that’s a future accomplishment. So, for them to realize, we’re going to start using the digital Market and start tapping into it there, it was amazing, and it was the best opportunity. We got to go to Paris, and we did a lot of man on the street interviews with fans, and just kind of showed what the energy is in a city hosting the Olympics, and I found out when I was on the StairMaster when I was in LA. I was in LA and I found out I got the email and it was like you’re an Emmy winner and I was like – what and I ordered my trophy right away! I literally brought that trophy with me everywhere that Summer!

AM: I mean, as you do.

ME: I love her. It’s the coolest thing I put it out. It’s in my living room. It’s on my table when you first walk on.

AM: I would do the same thing! I’d have my tea by it and might high five it every now and again when I leave!

ME: Absolutely, absolutely. I think I wax that thing down with Windex 24/7 in the case. I love checking on her!

IG @overtimemegan

We enjoyed our shoot which showcased Fall looks that you can incorporate into your style whether you’re in NYC or traveling to other destinations. Megan wore looks in Fitness, WFH, Lounge, Out + About, Swim, as well as for a Night Out.

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME | TEAM CREDITS

PHOTOGRAPHER Paul Farkas | FASHION STYLIST Kimmie Smith | MUA Felicia Graham | HAIR STYLIST Lea DeLoy |

IG @pvfarkas

@shes.kimmie

@feliciagrahambeauty_

@hairbyleadeloy

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME | STYLE CREDITS

FITNESS LOOK | TRACKSMITH Run Cannon Ball Run Sport Bra + Run Surf Run Shorts | KIMMIE VINCENT Moira Necklace, Sienna Necklace, Ashlynn Bracelet + Drea Bracelet | LAGOS Silver Link Bracelet | WHOOP One | NIKE Vomero 18 |

WFH/OUT + ABOUT LOOK | THE NORTH FACE Valley Flannel Shirt | KIRA GRACE Sleeveless Turtleneck | MAVI Audrey | WHOOP One | PARKER THATCH Charlie Suede | ECHO Scarf |

LOUNGE LOOK | HANRO Tank | NIKE SPORTWEAR COLLECTION Mid-Rise Pleated Track Pants | SEQUIN Super Gem Evil Eye Convertible Talisman Necklace | SPLITS59 Loren Seamless Bra | WHOOP One |

SWIM LOOK | CIA MARITIMA Bikini | CAMILLA Oversized Hooded Kaftan | WHOOP One |

NIGHT OUT LOOK | DORIN NEGRAU Beaded Corset | MAVI Audrey | NAGICIA Necklace, Bangle Bracelet, Dragon Bracelet + Ring |

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME | PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS

SONY 7R IV, FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM Full Frame Standard Zoom G Master Lens, FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS Full Frame Telephoto Zoom G Master Lens with Optical Steadyshot + FE 50mm F1.2 GM Full Frame Standard Prime G Master Lens

Our inbook editorial with Megan took place at Margaritaville Resort Times Square which is known for their beachy vibes, an array of restaurants and bars, as well as a heated rooftop pool that is year around! We wanted to know more about this property, neighborhood, NYE, and more. Director of Marketing Blaine McCurry shares this and more with us.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Before we delve into this particular property, can you give our readers a bit of backstory on the Margaritaville brand as many may know it from the song, drinks, blender etc. They may not be as familiar of it from the hospitality end.

BLAINE MCCURRY: Margaritaville, a state of mind since 1977, is a global lifestyle brand inspired by Jimmy Buffett, whose songs evoke a passion for tropical escape and relaxation. Margaritaville’s portfolio includes over 40 lodging locations and over 20 additional projects in the pipeline positioned across a variety of full-service and boutique hotel and resort brands, branded real estate, and gaming properties, all complemented by an extensive suite of food and beverage concepts, including Margaritaville Restaurant, award-winning JWB Prime Steak and Seafood, 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar & Grill, and LandShark Bar & Grill.

AM: What would you say is the ethos of the Margaritaville hotels that guests can expect regardless of the location that they are at?

BM: Margaritaville Resort Times Square brings a vibrant energy and relaxed sophistication to the iconic Times Square. Inspired by the carefree spirit of Margaritaville, the resort reimagines the tropical lifestyle to match Manhattan. Guests are welcomed by thoughtfully designed spaces that blend laid-back luxury with bold city style, from lively dining venues and a year-round outdoor heated pool to elegant guest rooms with skyline views. The escapist charm of Margaritaville and electric rhythm of Times Square allow the resort to offer an oasis where island time meets urban adventure.

AM: Looking at Margaritaville Resort Times Square, when did it open and what sets this particular property apart from the other ones that guests may have gone too?

BM: Opened in 2021, Margaritaville Resort Times Square brought a special element to Midtown Manhattan with its island-inspired design and relaxed luxury. The 32-story resort features 234 guest rooms, an outdoor heated pool, and signature dining like the 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar and LandShark Bar & Grill. An alternative from classic Times Square hotels, Margaritaville Resort Times Square offers a playful escape, embracing the iconic laid-back legacy.

AM: Tell us about the design aesthetic of the property as you literally feel like you have walked into a beach especially since there is a massive flip flop as soon as you walk in!

BM: Margaritaville Resort Times Square blends tropical ease with urban sophistication through a playful yet polished design. Created by Stonehill Taylor and The McBride Company, the interiors channel a breezy, coastal aesthetic, with nods to Margaritaville’s iconic lifestyle.

From the tiki bar and vibrant murals to the rooftop oasis with skyline views, every space transports guests to an island state of mind, all while embracing the energy and edge of Times Square.

AM: Whether you are a guest or you are in the neighborhood, tell us about each of the restaurants/bars that are on property that we can enjoy as there are 5! Can you also share 3 dishes you would suggest at each one?

BM: The property features two on-site restaurants and four bars.

Margaritaville Restaurant & Tiki Bar is the vibrant centerpiece of the resort. This two-story restaurant captures the lively spirit of Margaritaville with island-inspired cuisine and one of New York’s largest tiki bars. The playful décor, including a 30-foot-tall Statue of Liberty replica holding a margarita glass, and energetic atmosphere make it a necessary stop for both guests and locals.

Recommended Dishes: Cheeseburger in Paradise, Volcano Nachos, Cuban Flatbread (new lunch favorite)

LandShark Bar & Grill is located poolside. It offers casual dining with a tropical twist. Guests can enjoy refreshing drinks and fresh, flavorful bites while soaking up the sun or unwinding by the year-round heated outdoor pool.

Recommended Dishes: Buffalo Chicken Dip, Homemade Banana Pudding, Seafood Steam Pot

5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar is perched atop the 31st and 32nd floors of the hotel. This rooftop bar delivers stunning views of the Manhattan skyline paired with delicious cocktails, elevated light bites including the Chef’s specially selected charcuterie board, and a laid-back island vibe.

Recommended Dishes: Wagyu Sliders, Charcuterie Board, Teriyaki Chicken Tacos

License to Chill Bar can be found in the lobby area. Guests can relax by cozy fire pits while sipping signature margaritas and craft beverages. The warm, inviting space balances casual comfort with stylish design.

Margaritaville Coffee Shop is a convenient spot located on the seventh floor that serves coffee, quick bites, and grab-and-go essentials. This spot is ideal for busy travelers looking for a pick-me-up before exploring the city or heading to meetings.

AM: If you’re at Margaritaville, you have to have a margarita! What are 3 that we should have out eye on?

BM: At the Margaritaville restaurant, we recommend the Perfect Margarita, the Last Mango in Paris or the Seaside Hacienda.

AM: Tell us about the room options for those that are staying at the hotel, as well as the design approach, and the in-room amenities that are offered.

BM: The Margaritaville Resort Times Square provides island-style luxury accommodations in the heart of Manhattan with room options including Standard, Deluxe, and Premium rooms, each available with one King, one Queen, or two Double beds, as well as luxury suites, all featuring accessible options. The design approach creates a tropical escape through contemporary furnishings and a paradise-inspired color palette, complemented by premium bedding and spa-like bathrooms. The suites also feature luxury with walk-in rain showers and plush bathrobes, and Premium rooms include soundproof windows.

AM: For guests staying at the hotel, tell us about the common areas and what they have access to.

BM: The common areas include the Margaritaville Pool, restaurants, the Fins Up Fitness Center, the Margaritaville Retail Store and more. Dining and drinks are central to the resort experience, with options including the Margaritaville Restaurant & Tiki Bar, LandShark Bar & Grill, the 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar, the License to Chill Bar, and the ground-level Margaritaville Coffee Shop. For guests focused on wellness, the lower-level Fins Up Fitness Center is fully equipped. Additionally, guests can enjoy daily room service offering island-inspired bites and cocktails.

AM: The rooftop pool is such a fun amenity, and it is heated year around! Tell us more about this.

BM: Located on the 6th floor of the resort, the rooftop pool and sun deck boast an outdoor heated pool, open year-round. The spacious wooden sundeck includes loungers, umbrellas, complimentary towels, and more. The deck also features LandShark Bar & Grill, where guests can get snacks, drinks, and more. Open from 8AM to 8PM, the space is family-friendly, delivering a tropical retreat to those who need a break from the city.

AM: Although the pool is available for guests, you also have day passes for those that would like to use this. Can you tell us more about this and do you offer that package year around?

BM: Yes, year-round, there is a limited number of day passes available for non-guests on select dates. Cabana reservations and availability inquiries can be made directly with the front desk.

AM: When it comes to being a guest at a hotel, you could be traveling for vacation, a staycation, business, or live in the neighborhood and just want to come in to enjoy - why is this hotel such a great option for these kinds of guests?

BM: Guests are welcomed by thoughtfully designed spaces that blend laid-back luxury with bold city style, from lively dining venues and a year-round outdoor heated pool to elegant guest rooms with skyline views. The escapist charm of Margaritaville and electric rhythm of Times Square allow the resort to offer an oasis where island time meets urban adventure. The Nautical Wheeler Boardroom at Margaritaville Resort Times Square offers a refreshing departure from the ordinary, infused with the brand’s signature laid-back style while delivering the functionality needed for modern gatherings.

AM: The location of the hotel is in Times Square which makes it so central and accessible. Can you tell us about partnerships that you have with surrounding businesses that allows guests to get even more at their stay whether it was with the Edge in Hudson Yards, Shopping, Museums, etc?

BM: Margaritaville Resort Times Square features a mix of wellness and food and beverage experiences for guests to enjoy during their stay. The property partners with Sputnik Yoga to host rooftop yoga classes every Thursday and Saturday, allowing guests to start their day strong while enjoying the skyline views. The property also hosts SURFSET classes on Sundays, where guests can try a surfing simulation, allowing for a full-body workout with a twist. Classes are offered seasonally during the warmer months of the year.

The property also has a unique partnership with Edge NYC, where guests can book the Golden Hour Getaway, with 15% off their stay, a $50 dining credit at 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar, and two tickets to Edge NYC.

AM: As we’re in the Fall, are there any promotions or packages that you would like for our community to know about?

BM: Margaritaville Resort Times Square will be offering a Cyber Week promotion starting on November 18 and running through December 5. Stays can take place between November 20, 2025 and December 31, 2026. Guests will be able to get 40% off their stay. They can find more information in the Margaritaville Times Square newsletters.

AM: In terms of the Holiday season, especially with NYE, tell us what you have going on during this time of year!

BM: Ring in 2026 from Margaritaville’s rooftop, with gorgeous views of Times Square as the crowd’s countdown. Attendees can head to the property’s spacious terrace to celebrate in style while enjoying a front row view of the ball dropping. Margaritaville Times Square will also be hosting the Gala in Paradise, the ultimate New Year’s Eve celebration, where tropical vibes meet Times Square energy. For a more intimate and VIP experience, Margaritaville has 7 Ball Drop View Suites that offer a rare chance to watch the ball drop from the comfort of a private room. Sip champagne, enjoy tasty bites with warm slippers, and the best view in town.

AM: Are there any upcoming events taking place that you would like for us to know about that you are involved!

BM: Pickle Cocktail Class – Saturday, November 22, 2025 | 2–4 PM

Guests will toast with Ole Smoky Moonshine Pickles before learning to make a Classic Pickletini and a Spicy Pickle Margarita. Participants remake their favorite cocktail, take home a recipe card, and earn a “Mixology Degree.” Tickets: $20.

Holiday Mixology Class – Saturday, December 20, 2025 | 6–8 PM

This festive edition brings holiday cheer Margaritaville-style, complete with a Christmas Island Pop-Up cocktail, a collectible holiday cup, and a surprise holiday gift. Tickets: $50.

IG @margaritavilletimessquare

Read the OCT ISSUE #118 of Athleisure Mag and see FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME | Megan Eugenio 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.

NEW YORK COMIC CON '25

Earlier this month, we made our way to NY Comic Con to hit the showfloor, sit in on press conferences, and to watch panels where we got to see clips from these shows!

Apple+’s Slow Horses press conference gave us insight to what we can expect from S5 of the show. Director Saul Metzstein (Doctor Who, The Musketeers series, Brassic) as well as castmembers Christopher Chung (Waterloo Road, Doctor Who, Blitz), James Callis (Castlevania: Nocturne, Star Trek: Picard, Bridget Jones: Mad About a Boy), Ruth Bradley (Ted Lasso, Doctor Who: Dark Eyes, Humans), and Nick Mohammed (Deep Cover, Ted Lasso, Christopher Robin) talked about the series as well as the story arcs that are taking place in this spy thriller series.

We enjoyed catching up with the cast of Prime Video’s Cross from James Patterson’s series! We started the day with a press conference from Executive Producer, Show Runner and Creator Ben Watkins (Burn Notice, Truth Be Told, Wu Tang: An American Saga) as well as Aldis Hodge (Black Adam, City on A Hill, Leverage: Redemption), Matthew Lillard (Scream franchise, Barkskins, Bosch), Isaiah Mustafa (It: Chapter Two, Murder at Yellowstone City, I Know What You Did Last Summer), Alona Tal (Veronica Mars, Seal Team, Truth Be Told), Samantha Walkes (The Kings of Napa, The Changeling, Murdoch Mysteries), and Wes Chatham (The Help, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay 1 & 2, Tenet). Following the press conference, we also attended the panel on the Main Stage.

This year we also made our way to the press conferences for 2 of Anne Rice’s shows that are on AMC that are within the Interview with the Vampire universe. The Vampire’s Lestat brought us to Executive Producer Mark Johnson (Talamasca The Secret Order, Better Call Saul, The Holdovers), Showrunner/Executive Producer Rolin Jones (Weeds, Boardwalk Empire, Perry Mason), Sam Reid (The Astronaut Wives Club, The Legend of Molly Johnson, The Newsreader), Jacob Anderson (Broadchurch, Doctor Who, Game of Thrones), Eric Bogosian (Uncut Gems, Succession, Billions), Delainey Hayles (Carrie, Too Close, Holby City), and Assad Zaman (Hotel Portofino, Apple Tree Yard, Vera).

We also attended the press conference for Anne Rice’s Talamasca: The Secret Order of Mark Johnson, Executive Producer/Director/Writer John Lee Hancock (Snow White and the Huntsman, The Blind Side, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil), and Nicholas Denton (Eden, Foe, Dangerous Liasons series), and William Fichtner (Heat, Armageddon, Prison Break).

IG @newyorkcomiccon

@appletv

@crossonprime

@amcsannerice

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | PG 166 Prime Video/Cross | PG 168 AMC/Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe |

Read the OCT ISSUE #118 of Athleisure Mag and see NEW YORK COMIC CON ‘25 in mag.

THE GOLDEN BACHELOR S2. E9. | AND NOW THE FINALE

PHOTO CREDIT | Disney/Maarten de Boer

This week on The Golden Bachelor, we’ve made it to the finale and it is down to Cindy and Peg! We can tell that both women feel that he is hard to read and they don’t know where they stand. Mel has always said that he doesn’t want to say things to multiple women. We start tonight getting a recap of both of Mel’s dates, We also check in with Jesse Palmer in studio to see what we need to know about what has taken place in Mel’s journey.

Jesse introduces an array of Bachelor Nation couples that are in the audience as well as those that are single from The Golden Bachelor and The Golden Bachelorette cast as well. He also lets us know that he has a chat with the upcoming season of The Bachelorette, Taylor Frankie Paul (The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives - S3 is streaming now) to see what she has been up to.

Back on Cindy’s date, she tries to get answers and realizes that she is not his person. She wants her person to be sure and not to say that maybe in 2 years he could marry her. She asks him to walk her out and now we know that he only has Peg. You can see her emotions as she knows she is a great match for him, but his lack of commenting was really the last straw for her.

As Mel is still sitting at their dinner table and the fireworks go off overhead, he is shocked that she left - although he calls it quitting. As he contemplates what has transpired, Jesse arrives to talk with him. Jesse reminds him that the women come with the hopes of being engaged - Mel doesn’t agree and likes to make decisions in his own timeline as opposed to the parameters that the show is based on. Jesse reminds him that Cindy is trying to protect her heart. It seems like Cindy hasn’t officially left but he definitely has thoughts and more confusion - Jesse says that she is still here and available to talk with.

Ultimately, when we come back from the commercial break, we see Cindy walk on the stage to talk to Jesse. She says that she just watched the clip that we saw and she was able to see how it all went down and what she thought happened - did happen. Jesse asks her if Mel went to go find here. He didn’t and she also adds that she didn’t want him to come find her. She believes that everyone should have the kind of love and partner that works for them - she realized that what he was giving her wasn’t enough. The lack of specifics of how she could fit into his life wasn’t there and she just heard compliments but now the why and explanations behind it. She was in it until he wasn’t willing to dig deeper. His lack of commitment was their undoing and she had no regrets leaving.

Mel is on the stage with Cindy to talk about their relationship. She lets him know that she didn’t feel that he was ready for a commitment and wanted to know when he realized that. He feels that because she left early from their date and didn’t do the Fantasy Suites, then he feels that she left the game early. She tells him that he said more to Jesse then he did with her. He feels that they needed to talk without the cameras being there so that they could really talk. She hears him out and says that she gets where he is coming from and that they are not aligned. She tells him that she felt that she learned enough and didn’t need to talk further and that she realized he wasn’t going to take a leap of faith. Jesse interjects as he sees that they will continue to go in circles.

Coming back from the commercial break, only Peg is left and we see her getting ready to meet Mel’s sons. She doesn’t know that Cindy has left and they didn’t even make it to Fantasy Suites! Mel comes to her room and she knows something has happened. He shares his feelings with her about how he likes her and he explains that he had his date with Cindy and he wants to be transparent about what took place. He lets her know that she left before the overnight. You can see Peg’s mind racing as she realizes that Cindy was asking questions that he wouldn’t answer and she sees that she is in the same boat with him. He lets her know that he wants to get to the end with her and in his confessional, he says that he feels that she is one of a kind. He’s worried that because of the situation, that she may feel like a leftover.

We see Mel with his 2 sons and friend Diane from college. He lets them know that Cindy left and that Peg is the only one that is left. His friend shares that as much as she thinks that what happened is unfortunate, she can appreciate that she didn’t feel it was right for her and that she removed herself. This is the first time that his sons have met someone since his divorce. It seems like everyone is getting along and that she fits in.

Peg enjoyed meeting his college friend and his sons. She got to see more about him and feels that their connection is real. She hopes that this will help him commit. He knows he needs to make a decision and that he needs to get out of his head and to use his heart and gut.

It’s the day after Peg meeting Mel’s friend and sons. She still has questions but a decision needs to be made after they have navigated this journey. She knows that she can fall in love again, she feels their bond, and she knows that they could be great together. She has let her walls down and has been vulnerable. She hopes that he is the one that she has been waiting for.

Of course, we know that Mel is getting a bit nervous as the time to decide is now. He lets us know that he has let his walls down to listen to his heart - because of Peg. He gives Peg a commitment ring as well as a Golden Rose.

As the After the Rose portion of the episode takes place, we finally see Peg and Mel together. They talk about the fact that they can now be public, they talk about how they get to decide how to navigate their relationship, and they get feedback and well wishes from previous Goldens!

We also get to hear from the upcoming The Bachelorette which is an interesting sneak peek,

Each night during this season, we will tweet about The Golden Bachelor and you can chat along with us (@AthleisureMag + with our Co-Founder/Creative + Style Director, Kimmie Smith @ShesKimmie) to see what’s taking place!

Each week, we will let you know who our faves were from the last episode and if we’ve changed up since then as it pertains to who we think should go to Hometowns.

We also suggest a podcast that we’ve become obsessed with over the past few seasons, Wondery’s Bachelor Happy Hour to get their feedback!

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

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THE FINAL GOLDEN ROSE GOES TO…

PEG

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THE GOLDEN BACHELOR CONTESTANTS

AMY

ANDRA

ALEXANDRA

CAROL

CARLA

CHERYL

CINDY

DEBBIE

DIANE

GERRI

LILY

LISA

MAIA

MONICA B

MONICA P

MYLENE

NICOLLE

PEG

ROBIN

ROXANNE

SUSIE

TERRI

TRACY