Let's Talk Yoga Medicine

More and more, the worlds of science and natural remedies and practices continue to work in tandem with one one another. We took some time to chat with Valerie Knopik who works with Tiffany Cruikshank, the founder of Yoga Medicine that blends these principals together.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Tell us about your background and how you came to work with Yoga Medicine.

VALERIE KNOPIK: I have a PhD in Psychology and I am currently an academic researcher/scientist mentoring postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty at Brown University and will be moving into an endowed professorship in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Purdue University this summer. In addition to this career in science, I also teach yoga and have been a student in advanced training with Yoga Medicine since 2014.  In late 2016 at a module in Sedona, Tiffany Cruikshank (founder of Yoga Medicine) and I started talking about the possibility of a research project and that was the exciting beginning of the Yoga Medicine Research Institute and my role as the Director of Research for Yoga Medicine.    

AM: What is Yoga Medicine and why is this a way to blend science and nature together?

VK: Yoga Medicine is a thorough, anatomically-based training system that trains teachers across the globe to work more powerfully with their students. Yoga Medicine teachers are trained in the fusion of East and West to blend the best of anatomy and physiology with the traditional practice of yoga, including pranayama, mindfulness and meditation. It is this foundation that makes Yoga Medicine the perfect venue for building a research program that focused on the combined application of yoga, meditation, and mindfulness to improve health and the human condition. Our vision is to educate and empower our global communities to use yoga therapeutically based on a deeper understanding through purposeful and well-designed research. Through this effort, I have the honor of mentoring and training our Yoga Medicine community of teachers in the nuances of conducting research and to deliver purpose-driven yoga, meditation and mindfulness instruction as a way to robustly examine its effects on various health outcomes.  In my view, this continues the push, already started by Yoga Medicine, to raise the bar on what it means to be yoga teacher.  Education.  Experience.  Results. 

AM: How can one access Yoga Medicine?

VK:  To learn about all things Yoga Medicine, you can start by visiting the website. On this site, you can find information about our mission, the Research Institute, the Seva (or service) arm of Yoga Medicine, trainings, articles written by our teachers and contributors and so much more.  Our Find a Teacher platform is also available via the website or directly. This is a free service that Yoga Medicine provides to connect you directly with a Yoga Medicine trained teacher in your area. Through this service, you can find all teachers in your area and you can see what trainings they have completed with Yoga Medicine so that you can find a teacher that meets your needs.   

AM: With Spring being upon us, what is a detox that one can do to get their summer body prepped? 

VK: A detox is a process where one abstains from or rids the body of toxic or unhealthy substances.  Spring is synonymous with the idea of spring cleaning and that doesn’t have to mean strictly of the house or closet variety of spring cleaning.  There are simple ways to participate in a detox or cleanse (for more details, check out Tiffany Cruikshank’s book:  Optimal Health for a Vibrant Life).  Here are some simple strategies that you can do to get a jump start. If you can stay on this detox for about three weeks (the amount of time they say it takes to break a habit), you will notice some significant changes in how you look and feel!

• Eliminate coffee and alcohol. If possible, eliminate all caffeine, but if you must keep a small amount of caffeine in your routine, consider substituting green tea for coffee – the caffeine in tea is gentler on your system

• Eliminate added sugar – become an avid label reader – sugar hides everywhere

• Eat fresh and organic vegetables and foods  

• Start your day with a large glass of water with the juice of one half of a lemon.  Drink a lot of water throughout the day.

• Drink herbal, decaffeinated tea – not only will this increase your fluid intake and hydration, but the antioxidants in tea are beneficial as well

• Be aware of allergens and pollutants in your environment and add skin brushing and the neti pot to your daily routine.

• Consider eliminating dairy and wheat for the three-week period

• If you eat meat, try eating only local, free-range, organic, and grass-fed offerings. Find a local farm so that you are aware of where you are getting your meats from and (bonus!) you are supporting local businesses

• If you eat fish, try to find wild caught offerings

• Move your body!  Yoga, exercise, whatever it is will increase circulation to all systems to help move toxins out

• Sweat – though exercise or the sauna – regularly!
 

AM: For those that have kicked into their workout methods of choice, how can we keep our bodies injury-free and what can we do when we have strained muscles in our arms, butts and legs when we start a new workout routine?

VK: To keep your body injury-free, it is important to make the time to restore the muscles that you challenge during your workout of choice. This can be something as simple as taking the time to stretch before and after physical activity. Other ways to make sure you restore your system include myofascial release, massage, mindfulness, water intake, sleep, and nutrition. A muscle strain implies damage to the muscle and can be a result of fatigue, overuse, or improper use. The most important strategy for muscle strain is a period of rest, followed by light stretching or myofascial release to encourage circulation to the area. 

AM:  Stress tends to creep in from time to time - what are three things that we can do in terms of breathing techniques and movements to manage it? 

VK: Here are three techniques: 

1. Basic Breath Awareness

Lay on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor and at least hip-distance apart.  Once comfortable, place a hand on your abdomen. Begin to just notice your breath. Does your breath feel strained or smooth? Just observe your breath without judging whether or not you’re doing it right or wrong. Gradually begin to make your breath as relaxed as possible. Introduce a slight pause after each inhale and after each exhale. Now begin to bring your awareness to your hand on your abdomen. Notice that with each inhale, your abdomen rises, and with each exhale, your abdomen contracts.

Without being forceful, just begin to gently try to expand the abdomen on the inhale and contract the abdomen on the exhale to support the natural movement of your diaphragm. Continue for 6-12 breaths.

2. Long Exhale

The long exhale is a 1:2 breathing practice that involves gradually increasing the length of your exhale until it is twice the length of your inhale.  Start with basic breath awareness as outlined above.  With a hand on your abdomen, mentally count the length of both your inhale and your exhale for several breaths. Start to gradually make the inhale and exhale the same length. Once your inhale and exhale are of equal length, then gradually increase the length of your exhale until it is up to twice the length of your inhale.  If you start to feel stressed, back off to a ratio that is more comfortable for you. It’s important to note that an exhale that is even slightly longer than your inhale can have profound relaxing effects on the nervous system. Continue for 6-12 breaths. 

3. Chandra Bheda – Lunar/Moon Breath

In this breath practice, you inhale only through the left nostril and exhale only through the right nostril. In Eastern traditions, the left side of the body represents the moon, or more yin and calming energy, while the right side of the body represents the sun, or more yang fiery energy. Therefore, in Chandra Bheda, we encourage the lunar, calming energy to enter the body, and we encourage the fiery yang energy to decrease – which will help bring the body back into balance. To try this breath: Sit in a comfortable position. 

Allow your left hand to rest in your lap. Look at your right hand. Fold the index finger and middle finger into the palm. For this breath practice, you will only use the right thumb and the right ring finger. With your thumb on your right hand, close off the right nostril and inhale through the left side of the nose. Then use the ring finger to close off the left nostril, release the thumb and exhale though the right nostril.  Start with an inhale and exhale that are about a count of 5-10 and are equal in length. Repeat for 3-9 rounds.

AM: What are 3 stretches that we can do when a short travel experience becomes a longer one due to flight delays, missed connections etc?

VK: One of the most important things you can do is to make sure you move around during these delays.  We have a tendency to just sit and wait, but adding some gentle movement can have significant effects on mood, anxiety, and just the feeling of tension that accumulates in the body.  Even just a walk around the terminal can help.  Here are a few specific stretches that you can do to ease travel tension and anxiety: 

1. Neck Release – Sit in a comfortable position with a tall spine. Allow the right ear to drop down toward the top of the right shoulder. Keeping the head in this position, try to send the top of the left shoulder away from the left ear so that you create a lot of space on the left side of the neck.  From here, think of your chin like the rutter of a boat and gently shift the chin toward the right shoulder (keep sending the left shoulder away from the left ear as you do this). Move the chin slowly to find additional areas of neck tension. Stay for 5-10 breaths. To bring your head back to neutral, place the right palm on the right cheek and gently assist the head back to center.  Repeat on the left side. 

2. Standing (Or Seated) Side Stretch – reach the arms high toward the ceiling. If possible, clasp the hands over head. Imagine that you can lift and lengthen the torso out of the pelvis. Find this by reaching up towards the ceiling, then side bend to the right.  Think about wrapping the right armpit toward the wall that you are facing so that you are less likely to collapse in the chest. Stay for 2-4 breaths. On an inhale come back to center and then side bend to the left. 

3. Legs Up the Wall – Find a deserted or less busy part of the airport with a bit of wall space. Lay down on your back and send your legs up the wall – trying to scoot your sitting bones as close the wall as possible. Allow the back of the skull and the entire spine to rest on the floor. Allow the legs to rest on the wall. Find a comfortable position for your arms. Stay anywhere from 5-30 minutes.

4. Forward Fold (Seated in a Chair, Standing, or on the Floor) - Getting the head below the heart can be an excellent and accessible way to reduce anxiety and stretch the lower back muscles that tend to get tight when we sit for too long. 

AM: Do you think that more doctors and practitioners are realizing that it is essential for new and old medicines to come together and where do you see that in the next few years?

VK: I do believe that there is a movement toward a more collaborative and blended approach to health and self-care. For example, I work with a client who has been experiencing chronic low back pain and, with his permission, I have worked alongside his acupuncturist and chiropractor to develop a plan for him. I think that both doctors and practitioners are open to this blended approach, but at this point, I believe it is still primarily on the shoulders of the practitioners/patients/clients to seek out ways to bring together Eastern and Western modalities for relief from anything as simple as the common cold to more complex situations such as low back pain.  However, there are more and more initiatives for bringing mindfulness into the traditional Western medical settings, such as hospitals and doctor’s offices. These efforts lead me to believe that, in the near future, we will see more of the traditional Eastern modalities of Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, pranayama, and mindfulness being more formally incorporated into approaches to health care and self-care. With information and education comes the possibility for more comprehensive approaches to health.

Valerie Knopik, PhD, is a Yoga Medicine instructor, Director of Research for the Yoga Medicine Research Institute, a Senior Research Scientist & Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University, and a yoga teacher in Providence, Rhode Island. 
 

Read more from the April Issue and see Let's Talk Yoga Medicine in mag.

IN THE RING, LOVE NATTIE

Over the past few decades, we have been a big fan of the WWE - you get it all! There's the athleticism of the sport, the dynamic personalities, the drama of the storylines, the costumes and all of the backstories. Throughout the year, the members of the WWE travel to a number of cities domestically and internationally to perform, while also doing a number of acts of philanthropy to make the world a better place and spending time with their community to engage with fans!

This electrifying experience is fostered by the brands' athletes who put their own fingerprint on what it means to be a part of the WWE Universe! Last summer we worked out with some of the ladies of WWE Divas at TapOut Fitness on the UES to go through workouts that these women do. Included in this group was Alexa Bliss, Alicia Fox, Lana, Maria Menounos, Naomi, Renee Young, Summer Rae (our Feb covergirl) and this month's cover girl - Natalya - also known as Nattie! A few weeks ago, right before her match at MSG, our team shot a gorgeous fashion editorial of this 3rd generation wrestler at Monarch's rooftop and then chatted with her about wrestling, being a member of wrestling's legacy family and her role on E! Total Divas which is back from their midseason break on April 5th and more!

ATHLEISURE MAG: You come from an iconic wrestling family - tell us about them and the impact that they made on the sport.

NATALYA NEIDHART: My family has been the biggest influence on me. Starting with my grandpa, Stu Hart, who built an empire by the name of Stampede Wrestling in the 1950's. I'm a third generation superstar and I come from Wrestling royalty. My grandfather is WWE Hall Of Famer, Stu Hart and my uncles Bret and Owen Hart and the British Bulldog have paved the way for me. My father is a two time WWE Tag Team Champion himself and formed half of one of the greatest tag teams of all time. My family's contributions to WWE have been huge and I'm deeply proud of them. 

AM: When did you know that you wanted to continue the legacy by being a wrestler?

NN: When I was 18 years old, I first started training in the dungeon… And from that moment on, I remember it crystal clear… I was hooked on wrestling. I knew it was what I wanted to do as my career. Wrestling is part of my heart... it's part of who I am... what makes me tick. I'm fortunate beyond words that I was able to discover my passion and touch my dreams.

AM: What was your journey to get to the WWE?

NN: I trained in one of the most notoriously hard wrestling schools in the world: the Dungeon, where only men trained. I was one of the only girls to ever train there under my family. I also had a world class Japanese coach by the name of Tokyo Joe, who helped train me for my first tour of Japan where I wrestled some of the very best Japanese female wrestlers in the world. I lived over in Japan for a while honing my craft and trying to be the absolute best I could be. I spent nearly 5 years sending in tapes and resumes and letters and pictures to WWE… Trying to get them to see that I was special. I went to Japan and England and all over the US to try to gain enough experience to get my big break. I was rejected for five years! It was so hard to get hired, but so worth it when I finally got my dream job in the WWE. Finally.... in 2007, I got the call and then the really hard work began!!!
 
AM: Your job allows you to do a lot from participating in the sport, philanthropy and even filming for E! Total Divas - what's that like?

NN: I am so lucky that I get to do so many different things! Giving back to the community is one of the most rewarding parts about my job… I never take that for granted. It just makes me feel good giving back! I love filming Total Divas, it's a great way for us to show that we're human… And it's OK to fall down, get back up. Working in the WWE allows you to wear many hats and be very diverse in so many ways other than wrestling. My job in the WWE has prepared me for anything in life it seems!

AM: What's a typical day like from working out/training, filming for Total Divas, taking time with TJ (Tyson Kidd)  etc?

NN: I am usually very busy. When I'm working on the road, doing live events and Smackdown Live, it's a grind of working out and eating healthy and driving and flying hundreds if not thousands of miles to make it to our shows. It's a whirlwind, but so fun. When I'm home, I run errands, relax with my husband TJ and decompress and enjoy my family. I also work on my weekly columns for the Calgary Sun and OK Magazine.com. I love to write.

AM: You spend a lot of time traveling, how do you bring a piece of home with you? 

NN: When I go away from home, which is a lot. I bring little love letters my husband has written to me. I keep them in the bag where I put all of my wrestling gear. I read them when I get lonely and it truly lifts me up! 
 
AM: Tell us about 2Paws as we're obsessed!

NN: 2Pawz is rich. He's famous. He's a rap guru. Named after the illustrious Tupac Shakur.... he's all about working to OWN... not to rent, lease or refinance! Lol. He's a Lilac Persian and basically the most intense, but sweetest cat I've ever had. I love him more than words can say. 

AM: We loved hanging out with you  during the photoshoot and saw that you're a serious multi-tasker as you had a match right after - how do you keep so many things going at one time?

NN: I just take everything one moment at a time and try to be efficient. In WWE, we are always busy.... we only have time for "one take," so we make everything the best we can possibly make it the first time! It's a lot of hustling at times, though!!!! Sometimes I go "hey... i need to use the washroom!!!! Everything else can wait!" LOL
 
AM: What's a day off look like for you?

NN: A perfect day off is relaxing at my home with my husband and having NO game plan at all!
 
AM: What's on your playlist right now as we know you're a fan of Lana Del Rey. 

NN: I love Tom Petty, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Kings of Leon, George Strait, Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson and anything Lana Del Rey! Love her!!!!!! 
 
AM: What is your personal style when you're outside of the ring if you're running errands versus a night out. 

NN: I love being comfortable. When I'm running errands or working out, I like a pair of great leggings, a cozy hoodie and tank top I can rock if I need to grab a quick workout. Lately I'm obsessed with Adidas, Goldsheep and Lululemon! So comfy and cool! I also love Roots of Fight! They make my favorite Tess with vintage boxers and athletes like Mike Tyson and The Gracie's. Soon they're making shirts with Andre the Giant! Eeeek!
 
AM: You're always busy - what are your go to's meals or snacks for energy and what do you splurge on?

NN: I always carry snacks with me. Protein powder is a go to -- ESP for hotel life! First thing I have when I wake up! And I am obsessed with Lenny and Larry's cookies the Snickerdoodle flavor. I also love to splurge on sushi. Like the fattening stuff with tempura and mayonnaise and avocado in it! I love sushi!!!!! 

AM: Summer is around the corner, what are some moves that you suggest for toned abs, arms, legs, and butt?

NN: Lunges, squats, deadlifts, and clean and jerks. I love Olympic lifting so much because it always gives me a total body workout! And it makes me feel strong and powerful. Keeps my body toned everywhere. I also love running. With the right running partner I can run for hours!

AM: As you're always busy, will you be adding anything new to what you already do in terms of business ventures, charity etc?

NN: I have been writing a fun column as I mentioned before for the Calgary Sun, I am also working on an advice column for OK Magazine.com. My husband and I have dreams to one day open up our own wrestling school since we both share a passion for wrestling .... but it would also be cool to continue to film reality TV too. I've loved the whole process of being on a reality show - SO fun!
 
AM: What's it like to be on the road with the WWE and who are your faves to hang out with?

NN: It's fun being on the road, but it's also a lot of time away from home. So you have to make friends because strangers become family! And sometimes family become strangers. I love Renee Young. I can turn to Dolph Ziggler about anything. I adore our girls in the Smackdown Locker room. I share a strong bond with the Bella twins because we started in the WWE together and have been through so much. Naomi is my girl.... and one of my husband's favorite in the ring. I always get jealous when he says "she's the best!" LOL!!!!! 

AM: Do you mentor other wrestlers in the WWE?

NN: I try to be there for all the girls. I love being able to pass on the knowledge I've acquired over the last 15 years to them. I definitely try to help the girls in any way that I can!!!! It's the best when our work comes together and ALL of us shine! 
 
AM: Tell us about Summer Slam and what we need to know! 

NN: SummerSlam is the biggest event of the summer. It's taking place in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center and you know that the females in WWE will be front and center ... stealing the show! 
 
AM: Why do you enjoy being in the WWE so much?

NN: Because I get to live my dreams! I get to travel the world and I get to impact people's lives in such a positive way through the global platform we have in WWE. And I get to bodyslam my arch enemies and not get in trouble! LOL!
 

Read more from the April Issue here and to see WWE Divas/E! Total Divas Natalya, our April celebrity cover girl in mag!

WELLNESS - SNEAKERS & CANDLES UNITE

We couldn't believe it until it was in a number of our feeds but Air Jordans being turned into mini candles and soaps were everywhere! From red, white, black, metallics and more! Currently available at Paris' Colette, these little odes to sneaker culture can be picked up for around $21! What The Shape, the creators of this wellness meets athletic inspiration has an Instagram page which has even more images available. 

Now we're just waiting for our next candle lit yoga with these babies in the room!

A FIT MOMENT WITH SEJO

We took a moment to chat with a fresh italian pop artist, Sejo whose debut single, "Too Young" has been playing on repeat in our studios whether we're traveling, trying new fitness methods and styling our celebs - we feel it's a song of the summer without a doubt! With such a catchy beat, we wanted to find out more about this new artist, her song and how she stays in shape as she is also a dancer! She also shared an exclusive video with us on some great ways that she keeps her physique to the tune of her new song of course! 

ATHLEISURE MAG: Tell us about your music and when you knew that you wanted to be a performer/entertainer as I know that you are a singer as well as a dancer.

SEJO: As a little girl I was always fascinated by the artistic World. I started dancing at the age of 5 and singing when I was 16. However, it was when I turned 19 that I decided it would be my life and future.

AM: Tell us about your single, "Too Young".

SEJO: When I read the lyrics and heard the track I decided it was for me because it inspires a carefree happiness that you only have when you are young and happy, like dancing in the middle of the road and just enjoying yourself.

AM: How are the areas of health, fitness, and exercise important to your career?

SEJO: Sports and Fitness is important for everybody in any line of work and the best and easiest way to keep fit is to jog.

PHOTO COURTESY | Luca Pozzaglio

AM: How does doing this work into your music?

SEJO: Being a dancer (ballerina) and a singer, I am always on the move but with music and to music, so I enjoy every minute of my workouts and just love dedicating myself to a body and mind fusion which is absolutely invincible.

AM: Tell us about exercises that you do for strong arms, legs and abs that are perfect to stay toned.

SEJO: First of all, you must remember that muscle build-up and strengthening for a ballerina is always not just a dynamic, but an emotional situation, it is never just a repeat kind of workout. Talking of which exercises that just everybody can do for your arms, bending and stretching; for abdominal exercises, I prefer sit-ups and for the lower abdominals, leg lift-ups while lying down. For your legs, I just love doing squats, with or without weights.

AM: As a dancer, what are 3 energy foods that are a must that we should have on our list to stay healthy?

SEJO: During workouts, Ballerinas and athletes must never eat foods that would give them a sense of heaviness, while training, they must eat nourishing food such as dried fruit, especially almonds, apples and one or two squares of chocolate.

SEJO TALKS HEALTH AND FITNESS WITH "TOO YOUNG" Add to your collection: https://EgoMusic.lnk.to/tooyoung Listen to more songs like this with our "Pop Dance" playlist! Spotify: https://EgoMusic.lnk.to/PopDance Follow Ego on Facebook: http://www.fb.com/EgoItaly Subscribe to EgoTV NOW: http://bit.ly/1hzlXkS Sejo is a beautiful 23-year-old Italian singer and dancer.

Listen to the acoustic version of "Too Young" here.

#TRIBEGOALS

| NEW BALANCE X J. CREW Tank Top, Leggings and Sports Bra | SKLZ Slidez | DYLN Alkaline Waterbottle | LOROX Foam Roller Full and Travel Size |
 

Read more from the March Issue and read #TribeGoals in mag.

BINGELY BOOKS

HOW TO MURDER YOUR LIFE
Cat Marnell
Simon and Schuster

Life is what you make of it - but then again it's about the lessons that you learn along the way as you create your world. Set in the world of the publishing industry, How to Murder Your Life is a candid memoir of Sex, Drugs, and climbing the ladder of the beauty industry within the coveted halls of some of the most iconic magazines. 

We follow Cat from her early days of creating zines and falling in love with magazines, rockers and more. In addition, she unabashadly shares her early spiral which led to boarding schools, medication, her determination to focus and eventually leaving school to come to NYC.

Cat continued to balance her wild lifestyle while also being committed to being a Beauty Editor. Throughout the novel, Cat's world comes into contact with Nev from Catfish, some of the most prominant beauty and editors in chief and more! 

Publishing history is woven throughout her memoir as it follows the rise of online, the need to maintain traditional magazines and the realization of the merger of old and new media together. Whether we follow Cat in the crazy nightlife scene, through the halls of Glamour, Lucky, Vice, xo Jane, or at her lowest points battling her addictions - we realize that Cat is a fighter who owns who she is and her desire to make a better place for herself. 

VERA BRADLEY FLORAL PATTERNS COLORING BOOK
Design Originals

You need a moment to collect your thoughts or simply to enjoy a mental vacation! Coloring is one of the perfect ways to escape! Vera Bradley, who is known for their print filled accessories and lifestyle wear has the perfect compliment for your coloring pencils. 

With a collection of books that offer an array of patterns, you will have a plenty of options for escapism. We suggest having a few at the ready on your coffee table, night stand or bookshelf for ongoing inspiration.

SQUEEZE LIFE
Karliin Brooks
Skyhorse Publishing

Spring is the perfect time to look back at what you've been doing to get summer ready! Squeeze Life, with a foreword by Russell Simmons, includes an  array of food, smoothie and juice recipes. With 150 available in this book, there are plenty of option to bring in positive nutrients into your body! There are even recipes for 3 Day Cleanses which is another great way to detox your body and to get it to where you want it to be.

Karliin Brooks' book is not only colorful but ensures that you are able to look your best at any age! 

WE ARE SPORTSCENTER

We grew up watching ESPN to catch highlights of our favorite games and to see what was going on in the world of sports. Without a doubt, SportsCenter is the essential destination to stay in the loop on whatever games are taking place in the world. Regardless of the time slot that you're viewing it on, it's the anchors that become extensions of your sports action, friends and family. 

There's always something amazing going on in the world of sports; however, we were pumped to head to the headquarters of ESPN during the NFL's Free Agency and right before Selection Sunday of March Madness! Being in the midst of the energy, history, bumping into sports analysts, former coaches and more was definitely exhilarating and a lot of fun!

We are thrilled to profile and share the journey of these anchorwomen of SportsCenter, from what stations they came through, what their timeslot of SportsCenter is like, how they feel the state of women in sports/sports media is and how they balance life. We enjoyed shooting, styling and chatting with them in their world (at work, working out and outside of work) and sharing it with their fans! 

Although we didn't talk to all of the anchorwomen of SportsCenter, we enjoyed walking in the shoes of Sarina Morales, Toni Collins, and Dianna Russini - three women who lead busy lives covering up to the minute stories, prepping before they are on air and living their lives.

ANCHORWOMAN | SARINA MORALES

SPORTSCENTER @ 7AM

ATHLEISURE MAG: We see you on SportsCenter and everyone has a story of how they got to this point, can you tell us where you're from, what college you went to, what stations you came through and whether these jobs were in sports coverage or other areas?

SARINA MORALES: I’m from the Bronx, New York. Woot woot! I went to Syracuse University. Whose house? Newhouse. As for my job path, that’s a good question. I don’t even know how to answer this because mine was definitely the road less traveled. When I started at ESPN someone was like 'Oh, where did you come from?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, I’m from New York City.’ And they were like, ‘No, what station did you work at?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, I came from National Geographic.’  They were just like, ‘Oh … OK.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, what’s the big deal?’ But I had never progressed on the so-called natural track.

A little background: I practically moved to London after graduation because it was 2008, the market crashed and I couldn’t get a job. When I came back to New York, I applied to be Nike's field reporter. It was a new position where I would get to interview all of their Nike athletes. Ethically, traditionally, you didn’t take these jobs as a journalist. But I understood what Nike was trying to achieve, being that they’re pretty innovative and creative with the way that they approach commercials and their technology and whatnot; this was a brand actually allowing a reporter to get inside access and create content.

I worked for Nike for a little over a year. And then after Nike I applied to News Channel 12 in the Bronx thinking. 'All right, here is my moment. I'm going to get a reporting gig and start my career in journalism.' And apparently that Nike job hurt me in a sense. They thought it was branded. They were like, ‘Well, you’ve interviewed all these celebrities, why would you want to work in local television?’ I was like, 'because I want to grow my work as a reporter and I want to start my career in sports.’ They said no and I ended up working at an investment bank to pay the bills.

The path from there was disjointed: Sideline reporter for Verizon Fios on the side, covering high school basketball in Staten Island. Then TruTV as a digital coordinator where I worked on shows like ‘Impractical Jokers,’ which was super fun, but I had limited job growth.

A year after working at TruTV, I came to a crossroads where I had an offer from CNN’s new morning show as a production assistant and an offer from National Geographic Channel as a social media coordinator at the same time. It was a risk for me to turn down the CNN job, because again, since graduating from Syracuse, all I wanted to do was to be a sports reporter, and yet, something in my gut told me to take the job with Nat Geo. So I moved to Washington D.C. 

At the time, the VP who oversaw the marketing department said to me, ‘Listen, I know you want to work in sports, I know you want to be a sports reporter and be on TV, but I think you can find some fulfillment in this position. If you can work in sports in this job, do it. If you can do so some on-camera work and do interviews, then do it.’ So I did just that. I would tweet from the Nat Geo Wild account on Sundays like, ‘All right, the Chicago Bears aren’t playing all that well, but we’ve got real bears playing really well on Nat Geo Wild.’ 

I looked at the job so differently. I was helping grow the social media accounts for their Sunday programming.

In the year and a half I was with them, I was promoted from a temporary, to full-time social media coordinator, and ended up being a manager of the social media accounts at Nat Geo. I worked on the Nat Geo ‘90s special, I grew their Facebook page on Nat Geo Wild from 300,000 followers to 6 million in just over a year that I was there.

I was just so fully involved in the social media job at Nat Geo that people were like, ‘Let’s give Sarina some opportunities to host the talent show. Let’s give Sarina the opportunity to be the face of this ‘Explorers’ contest.’ And it was that contest that caught the eye of Rob King at SportsCenter at ESPN. He brought me in for an interview. He saw that video I did for Nat Geo because I uploaded it to YouTube.

And ESPN, what great timing, kind of saw that I had some value with my background in social media, my background in journalism and my background in sports that that would be a really good combination to come and work at ESPN.

So, no stations, just a lot of random jobs that kind of made me a good fit for ESPN.

AM: Were you an athlete in college and if so - what sport?

SM: So, I never made it to the collegiate level playing softball or baseball or volleyball - I played those throughout highschool. But I did play baseball in the Bronx for 10 years growing up. From age 7 to 17, I played. You know, at first it’s cute, right? There’s a little girl playing and there might be a few sprinkled around the league out of an 8-10 team league. There were fewer and fewer of them as I got older. By the time I was 14 there were two and they were both on the same team – it was me and this other girl. And then 15, 16, 17 I was on my own. I played in a league outside of my highschool.

I thought I was going to play college softball until I popped my hamstring my junior year, which is usually when athletes get recruited to go to college. I practiced with the baseball team at DeWitt Clinton High School my junior and senior years. So I was practicing with the baseball team, playing on the softball team. I came back and I had a really strong senior year playing softball, so I got looked at by other colleges, but no D-1 schools. At that point, I realized that if an injury like this can come pretty easily and take me out for a season, then I really need to focus on academics. So no, I never played college-level softball, but my dream before really focusing on journalism was to become the first female to play for the Yankees. I was going to take Bernie Williams’ spot in centerfield for the Yankees. It didn’t happen, so I went to Newhouse instead.

AM: When did you first realize that you loved sports and how did you know that that would be a career for you?

SM: The first time I realized I loved sports was – I can’t remember the precise day – I guess I was 5- or 6-years old and I was watching Saturday morning cartoons with my father. I was sitting on the couch with him. Usually, my mom would kick me off the couch and have me go play Legos or whatever after Saturday morning cartoons were done because she didn’t want us watching TV all day. My dad would stay though, because on weekends they would have afternoon Yankee games – Saturday or Sunday 1 o’clock games. So one day, I sat next to him and stayed. I was like, ‘I’m not going to move. I’m going to see what’s going on. I’m going to sit on the couch with Pa.' It was good family time, so maybe my mom decided to not kick me off the couch. Once I realized I what I had achieved, I was like, ‘All right. I beat the system. This is good.’ The wise 5-6 year old in me hung out watching baseball with him, and naturally, I just started asking questions. The inquisitive mind wanted to know: ‘What’s that white thing called?’ And he’s like, ‘That’s a base.’ And I was like, ‘What does that do?’ And he was like, ‘Look at this 5-year old child asking random questions.’ I was like, ‘Who is No. 23?’ He goes, ‘Oh, that’s Don Mattingly!'

I asked him enough questions and I beat the system to where on weekends I was always sitting down after cartoons and watching afternoon Yankees games with my dad.  So it was great that after a couple of summers my dad was like, ‘Maybe I should put my daughter on a team.’ 

I caught this one ball that was hit to me one game and I earned my spot in leftfield for the first baseball team I played for. We won the championship my first year playing baseball for the Marlins. It was the best feeling to win and to beat everyone and know we were the best team. The best feeling was the smell of the grass, dirtying my white pants and putting stirrups on and kind of started to learn superstitions. I had to have my stirrups washed with my socks laid out before the game a certain way. My dad would buy me new cleats almost every season and I had to have my batting glove on one hand and not the other. It was the best feeling in the world to have that ball, catch it where the glimpse of sun would hit it as it falls into your leather glove. It’s just the best feeling. And that awesome summer breeze and the ice cream truck music would play and people would be shouting different things. You’d see people peeking through the metal fence to watch at Harris Field in the Bronx. I just fell in love with it. There’s nothing better than the noises and the smells and when that ball connects with that bat and the timing is just right, when you’re using aluminum bats, that clink is both scary and then exciting. Because it's like, OK, you're either running to catch that ball in the outfield and diving to make the best catch ever or you’re the one making that contact and you know it’s going to drop in the perfect spot and you’re going to get to second base. So, I knew by 6- 7-years old that I wanted to be in sports somehow.

The career was going to be, Bernie Williams, see you later: Here comes Morales, starting center field for the Yankees. I still didn’t decide on a walk-up song or anything.

AM: Even in 2017 we still focus on women in media - especially in sports and how we continue to break barriers - where are we in our journey as a collective?

SM: I think we’re in the middle somewhere. The norm is now a woman is allowed to be on TV and talk about sports. And that is something that is becoming more normal. But it's all forward-facing jobs. I’m just seeing at ESPN us getting female producers. It is becoming normal to see two female anchors hosting SportsCenter together. Forget what tweets they’re going to receive and the criticism that they’re getting, it is something at least more normal and accepted. It’s funny, a friend of mine said the other day that we had hyped up a lot having four females on ‘Around the Horn’ for the first time ever this year, in 2017. And we hyped it up. It’s a big deal. And it is. It’s a huge deal to have four females being guests on Around the Horn. But we are in 2017. So we’re definitely not to the point where it’s normal to have that, which is absolutely ridiculous with the amount of females covering sports now. Forward-facing talent, we’re getting there. I don’t think we’re anywhere close to equality in terms of  
we're still going to see all the criticism.
We’re still going to get more comments about our looks than about what we're actually saying an the words that we use. I don’t think you really hear a lot of women doing play-by-play.

The producers, people who are making business decisions and higher up producers making larger content decisions, I don’t think there’s been a lot of opportunity for women there. And until there is someone that breaks that mold, the first person that does it is going to have the most difficult time. I'm so impressed by someone like Linda Cohn or Chris McKendry or Robin Roberts, Hannah Storm and Suzy Kolber - these women were pioneers. It's just so difficult, I can’t even imagine. But they made it so that it is normal for me to be on SportsCenter. Which is crazy. It’s just the generation before. So, I would say we’re in the middle if not lower middle. Low meaning we haven’t gotten anywhere and high meaning this is the best and it’s equal all around. So we’re not there yet. We’ve made improvements, but women in sports media are far from the norm.

AM: Who were your mentors that assisted you in getting to where you are today? 

SM: I would say I have two mentors, now three. But my first was Harold Tamara. I interned for him while I was at Syracuse. Harold did not go to Syracuse, but I worked with him in digital media one summer when I was in school and he was so supportive as a mentor because he pushed me to think critically. He was the one who told me to get on Twitter. He was like, ‘If you want to do storytelling, then here’s another vehicle for you to do storytelling.’ He put me on to do interviews for different digital projects that he was working on and he just took chances on me. He showed me so much respect and taught me to think in unconventional ways. He pushed me to go study abroad. He pushed me to think critically, to think ethically. And so, Harold long term is still a mentor to me today. He’s helped me when I think about stories. He’s helped me when I did an interview with Laurie Hernandez recently. He talked me through the piece that I wrote for The Undefeated.

Another mentor is Hayes Tauber who was one of the people that hired me at National Geographic. He said, ‘Take the job at National Geographic. Be the social media coordinator here and then move up and make the space that you need and make the job that you need it to be so that you feel fulfilled and we can help you grow personally.’ And right now, Adnan Virk who is on ESPN is another mentor to me. He’s the one who has kind of made sure that I’m meeting with the right people at ESPN. He’s being critical of my work and giving me support when he thinks I've done well and talks me through questions that I’ve had being new in the journalism space – or I should say ‘conventional’ journalism space – because I when I look back at my work, I’ve been practicing certain aspects of journalism this whole time. It just wasn’t conventional. He’s been very supportive here at ESPN.

It’s funny that it’s been three men who have made the most impact but I’ve said this many times before, I think women can’t be their own cheerleaders because we’re fighting for our own selves to make space. I can say that Linda Cohn has certainly been a mentor to me in giving me advice here and there, but for long-term purposes it’s been three different men and again, that’s critical because those are the
guys who can speak up for women because they have a voice that women don’t have still.

AM: SportsCenter is such an iconic show - tell us about what you do, your time slot and what's a day like on an off the set?

SM: My job for the last year at ESPN has been co-hosting on SportsCenter A.M. with Kevin Negandhi, Jay Harris, Jaymee Sire and the newest and very valued member, Randy Scott.  So there are five of us on the show. It's been a year now, or just over a year, of being a part of that show and working with great producers like Mark Eiseman; Heath Henry – he’s the CP of the show; Scott Clark helped us launch the show.

It was the first time we ever did such an early SportsCenter. It will be part of SportsCenter and ESPN history and that is such a big deal. So, every day I wake up at 3 o’clock in the morning. I get ready and I’m in to work between 4 and 4:30 in the morning and I’m looking at the rundowns. It’s a three-hour show, so there’s a lot of stuff that needs to get in there, but we get to digest and break down the bigger stories in sports, which is great.

Plus, we’re the first SportsCenter that people are waking up to. We used to just re-air Stan Verrett and Neil Everett overnight until the 9 a.m. SportsCenter, so this is great that we’re starting at 7 a.m. I go through the rundown when I arrive and see all the stories that we’re going to talk about. I’ll write in leads to video. I’ll do some extra research for some of my shot sheets that I’ll use to talk through highlights. If there are things that aren’t in there, this is the time before the show to question it. Like, ‘Hey, overnight I saw X, Y, Z …’ There was a day that Simone Manuel became the First African American female swimmer to win a gold medal in swimming at the Olympics. To me that was a huge deal. Yet her story wasn’t in the top of the show and I felt strongly about her being on the top of the show so that was something that we had a discussion about after she won. Michael Phelps had also won his Xth gold medal, but at the time I thought that was really important, her making history. There was a time when you had segregated pools, now you have this woman, the first black woman to win a gold medal for team U.S.A. in the Olympics. I felt like that was so important and needed to be in the top of the show because, again, as SportsCenter, as the first show in the morning, we set the tone for everyone else in sports that day and to have that understanding  is important. We have to really hold ourselves accountable to set the tone for the rest of the sports day. So, it's a great position to be in. I suggested the story, we got that in. So that is the first part of the day. From 4 a.m. to 10 a.m. it's working on the show and executing all of that on the show. After that, we have a post-show meeting. I might have some meetings that will take me to maybe noon and then I’ll go home and take care of my personal life and naps and start my work day, again, at 6 o’clock, 7 o’clock at night where I regroup with the producers on a big e-mail chain about who is going to be on our show the next day. I put on the TV, I watch SportsCenter or I put on whatever game I want to watch and take some notes. I go on the internet and see what stories are growing. And then whoever is our guest that day, I’ll put together some questions for them. So we start the production process overnight and we have a great overnight crew that also puts in stories. They’re watching games for us if we’re not up to watch them. So the workday is broken into two parts. It’s a long day and it takes a lot of work, but because we have such a great crew and everyone is working and putting into the show, it kind of makes you feel like the work that you do matters.

AM: How do you juggle your personal life against the demands of ever changing news?

SM: It’s super difficult to juggle the two and I’m really bad at juggling, so there’s that. It’s really about the people that you keep around you. So luckily for me, Jaymee Sire being on the show with me is one my first friends that I had at ESPN. ESPN is such a huge company. There’s about 4,000 people just on the Bristol campus alone so being where you’re working, a lot of people just end up being friends with people at work. And at that point, there’s an understanding of, ‘Sarina is getting up to work at 3 in the morning, she can’t go have dinner with us.’ That’s a basic understanding. Dating is very difficult. I think that finding someone who works in sports and understands sports has been extremely valuable to me and also we can talk about everything.

Dating someone who understands my job and the demands has made it a lot easier because if that wasn’t the case, I’d be pretty miserable. My family, my mother has been super supportive. She’ll watch the show from her phone. My boyfriend wakes up every morning to watch the show and watch it with me, almost. As he wakes up, he watches it and gives me feedback on things throughout the three hours. If he sees something that he thinks works for the show, he’ll send it to me overnight. So having someone who knows the workload, who understands the sports world, who understands my job makes it a lot easier to then fit in those personal spots in the rest of my life. It’s so much more clear and easy. And again, having Jaymee, who is one of my closest friends here and at ESPN, to work with her Monday through Friday, to have our dinners on Wednesday nights, once a week we meet up and just kind of hash out and relax and the understanding of, ‘Hey, let’s have dinner at 4 o’clock,’ is not an odd thing to request because we’re both on the same schedule. So it’s really about the people that you keep in your life and those people have been very, very, very supportive. I couldn’t do all of these things without supportive people. That has made my life so much better and made my career and my career growth stronger in a lot of ways because I’ve had people who are strong for me when I can’t be.

AM: Who are your favorite teams?

SM: Oh, easy. The Yankees, Bronx Bombers, let’s go, pinstripes. The Knicks, which has been tough over the years but I always brag about the ‘90s Knicks with Charles Oakley and Anthony Mason (R.I.P. to Anthony Mason) and Ewing and Starks, that team, what the Knicks did for me was just taught me to just be such a hustler and to work hard. Just that mentality of New York. And the Yankees have always been an example of how to win. Being a kid and a Yankees fan, it taught me the winning mentality of you can be down in the ninth inning and win the World Series if you have Mariano Rivera pitching for you. So I learned a winning mentality from the Yankees. The hustler in me is definitely from the New York Knicks.

And the Giants, they’re just a stress factor, but it makes the football season really interesting. And obviously, clearly, probably the most influential team in my later years is the Syracuse basketball team. My eyes were drawn after the 2003 NCAA championship that they won. I applied to Syracuse in 2003 and it was apparently the hardest year to get into Syracuse, the year that I got in, because everyone applied and everyone wanted to go to Syracuse after winning a basketball title. So that was huge for me. Syracuse Basketball, another stress in my life, but for the better and going to the Final Four last year was such a great experience. Syracuse basketball keeps me busy all year round.

AM: March Madness is here - what's that like and how does it affect your normal day to day as you head into the office?

SM: March Madness is the greatest thing that’s ever touched the world of sports, besides the Yankees. I love March. It’s my favorite month. It’s one of those things where you just never know what’s going to happen. The games are exciting. I love watching these Cinderella teams trying to make their way to the second rounds, to the Sweet 16, to the Elite Eight. And it’s one-game elimination. It’s a genius, genius way to get basketball fans excited. The Thursdays and Fridays that they have all the games, that weekend, it’s great to work at ESPN, because I usually would have to take off from work for those days to watch all those games and now everybody has got a TV at their desk. You can just watch these games and it’s been so great to work at ESPN where everyone will have their TVs on. Everyone will watch them around lunchtime in the cafeteria so it’s like a joint force of excitement. People are all watching like, ‘Oh! Put on this one! This game is crazy! Oh, this one is close!’ There’s always a buzzer beater. There’s always one where it’s like, ‘How did this one happen?’ I had Michigan State last year going to the Final Four and with them losing in the first round, it made me feel a lot better about life because even though my bracket was messed up, then Syracuse had a shot of actually making it to the Final Four. So, it’s just so great. It makes my job more interesting and I’m very grateful to have the job because I get to watch sports and this is like the best time of the year to watch sports.

I actually went down to Brooklyn to take over the Syracuse social media accounts for the ACC Tournament. So here’s an example of this time of year making my job a little stressful. I went on SportsCenter that morning at the normal time, so got in at 4-4:30, did the show, left at 10 a.m. and drove over two hours to Brooklyn to watch Syracuse play Miami and I did a Syracuse Athletics Snapchat takeover, being the super fan that I am. I got to take in the game and be a storyteller again and that was a cool perspective, because I was able to panic for my team as well as show what panic looked on other fans’ faces as well. And then after the game, I had an even longer drive back to Connecticut to do the show the next day, I mean, I worked a very, very long 16-hour day to take in college hoops, but it’s so worth it. To be there live, that was a close game Syracuse had against Miami. We lost, but seeing Jim Boeheim at the press conference after the game and hearing typical Jim Boeheim comments, it was all great, it was all worth it. And it was fun to be able to do storytelling again via Snapchat.

AM: For this feature, we included Dianna and Toni - how much, if at all do you cross paths in terms of being on set, working on projects etc?

SM: Dianna works in the evenings, and Toni works on the shows right after I do. So it’s sort of like me and then Toni and then Dianna as far as like the timeslots. So because of that, I don’t have opportunities to work with them directly on any specific projects, but it is nice that we can throw support at each other. I tossed to a great piece that Toni Collins worked on just the other day, with the Dominican Republic World Baseball Classic team and how important that team is to the community and raising money and just the community feeling good about themselves as something that gives the community hope. After the show she walked past me in the hallway and said, ‘Hey, thanks for promoting my piece.’ I was like, ‘Absolutely.’ Again, we don’t get to work on projects necessarily, but we can support each other, because it’s a rolling day. At least we have it spread out. It’s not like they threw all the women together in one time of the day. We’re spread out so we can take the day and support each other throughout a 24-hour period.

AM: During our shoot, we shot you guys working out - tell us about your workout routine and how you stay fit? What are 3 exercises that we should do for tones arms, abs and legs? 

SM: It’s difficult for me to work out with these hours because I used to wake up and work out first thing in the morning. But because the sun isn’t out, I don’t run outside before work. So after work I’ll usually try to get in a run. Especially during spring and summer, I’ll run outside. I did two half marathons last year. I can’t even count anymore, how many half-marathons I’ve run. I ran the New York City Marathon I think four years ago. So, running is my escape and it kind of fills  the competitive void that I have, that I used to satiate playing baseball. Running for me has been a great sport that I’ve found that I can work on individually. I’m trying to pick up golf and I’ve been doing a lot of yoga in the early evenings. So I say a mixture of yoga and running have been my two things that I do to keep in shape and to keep mentally healthy as well. I think those two sports are good for both. I also go to the batting cages, too. You can find me in New Britain hitting 80mph balls on a good day.
 

Three things that I do: For legs, I would start with any squat. I’m big on squats. So, jumping squats or something with a weight, holding a dumbbell and doing a squat. Sitting in a chair position I think is great. Or any kind of jumping in general I’m big on for your legs, because it also exhausts the rest of your body. You’re getting your heart rate up. Another all-body workout is jumping rope. I’ll even do it in front of the TV in my apartment while I’m watching a game.

For abs, I do an elevated crunch. So I just balance myself on either a Bosu ball or a place where I need to keep my balance and then do a crunch that way. I think planks are great for that as well and a lot of workouts that I do for my legs and my arms also I use my core to keep myself balanced. So if I do a squat on a Bosu ball, then I’m also working on my core in that way. So I think a lot of the workouts that I do are core focused, even if I’m not doing a crunch of some sort. I also think yoga is really good for my core as well.

For my arms, I’ll do pushups on a Bosu ball. Those are great. Or with a medicine ball, doing one-handed pushups. They’re awesome. Again, I think they help the core a lot.

AM: Who do you like to listen to when you work out vs when you're out and about?

SM: When I work out, I usually try to listen to – depending on the run I do – it might be something really calm like Coldplay or it might be something really high energy, like we’re going Jay-Z or we’re going home. But it depends on the day and the mood I’m in. If I’m out and about, if I’m driving on a long road trip or something, I usually try to put on a podcast. I know a lot of people listen to podcasts when they work out. I have a hard time doing it because I just want to kind of zone out and hyper focus on my breathing. But I do love to put some really good high-energy music on when I’m using weights. If I go for a long run or in yoga, obviously, I’ll do something that’s a little more mellow so I’ll zone out. There’s been a couple races, like I’ve done four-mile races, where I’ve literally played the same song on repeat the whole time just to help me reset and go back into this zone of hyper focus. Music is very helpful for me when I work out, so if anyone has new music to send me, I’ll gladly accept.

AM: You're always on the move, what do you eat for great energy to keep you going and what do you love to splurge on?

SM: The secret to success is overnight oats. It’s awesome and for me is also good because I’m allergic to wheat. So I get gluten-free oats and again, because I’m so tired in the mornings when I wake up, the most I can do is make my coffee. So I don’t really want to think about making anything else or preparing in the morning. So with overnight oats I'll get some gluten-free oatmeal and I’ll pour in either soy milk or coconut milk, rice milk, really any type of milk that you want to use, and pour that in with the oats and put some honey, cinnamon, some nutmeg and some vanilla for taste and I'll let that sit overnight in my fridge, and in the morning if I have some raspberries or blueberries I’ll throw that on top and put it in a mason jar and just put the cap on it and take it with me and eat it when I get to work. So that’s a very easy breakfast. It’s filling, it’s healthy, I’ll put some chia seeds or flax seeds in the overnight oats as well, and it tastes good. I’ll eat that a lot in the morning and that kind of gets me through the show at least. Because I’m up and I forget to eat sometimes. I’m waking up at 3 o’clock in the morning and I’m working until 10. That’s 7-8 hours and you’re eating one meal. So for me, that’s super helpful because it’s filling and I try to start my appetite as soon as possible so I can get into a routine of not eating too late or overeating at one part of the day. So I would say that’s the key.

My splurge? Definitely French fries. I have a major problem with French fries. They’re the best thing that man has created. And I’m not using a hyperbole statement here. French fries are amazing. All of them. You got the steak fries that are great. Curly fries – shoutout to the curly fries that were big in the ‘90s. I love sweet potato fries. Who doesn’t want a sweet potato with a nice garlic aioli? Fries are great. They’re really great. A salted potato? You can’t go wrong.

AM: We see you on air - what would you say your style is on set versus when you're out and about with friends?

SM: Style on air, I try to keep it classy, San Diego. I try and also have my unique spin to my clothing. So I love jumpsuits.  It’s freezing in studio, nobody knows this because people seem so warm on air, but we are freezing in studio. Some of the guys don’t get cold the way women do. So, I try and wear pants a lot, which apparently is very unique for people who watch television and are used to seeing women wearing dresses – just check my @ mentions. So I try to change it up and wear more pants. Pocket Square Fridays are my favorite days, not just because it’s Friday but I get to wear a suit and kind of add my own personal touch with the pocket square which I also don't think you see on TV too much.

But, you know, it’s just as classy as possible. I don’t try to distract the audience by what I’m wearing versus what I’m saying. I wear a lot of black but I know I need to wear more color. And then off camera, the first thing I thought about is my camo T-shirt. There’s this one camo T-shirt that I bought at a London thrift shop when I lived there in 2008 or ’09 and I still have that shirt almost 10 years later. It’s like one of my favorite shirts. But like a camo T-shirt, some jeans and a pair of really cool kicks, that’s like a classic put-together outfit for me. A lot of black but there’s always a splash of color. There’s some pop of color that I’ll add to my outfit. But I try to keep it classic because it’s easy. When you think of the super geniuses of the world, like a Steve Jobs, he always just wore the same T-shirt and jeans. He didn’t really think too hard about what he was wearing. So I think for me that I try to get clothes where I can just take one thing, put it with another thing and they always go together no matter what two things you grab from your closet.

AM: Being able to be on ESPN's campus, we have some favorite places that allow you to truly take in sports history, where or what are your favorite spots? 

SM: I think the newsroom is cool, seeing where stories break. I was sitting in the newsroom when Tom Brady’s Deflategate suspension was upheld and the newsroom went crazy. I think I heard one person scream. So to think about all the news stories that have gone through that newsroom over the years in Building 4, that to me is super cool. ESPN has with its reputation that if a big story breaks, people are putting on ESPN. Just the way that they’ll put on a CNN or an ABC or NBC, ESPN is the place to get breaking news in sports. So I think that’s really cool to walk into the newsroom sometimes and see all the different anchors and knowing that I'm part of this history. That’s a really good, cool feeling.

AM: What's your favorite story that you worked on?

SM: I guess my story with Laurie Hernandez, which is more recent. There’s a couple reasons why that’s my favorite. One, my favorite thing to do is interviewing. I love it. I enjoy being an anchor on the morning shows but I just really love sitting with someone and doing an interview and doing the work behind an interview – the research and trying to think of questions they might not have been asked. Or the way I deliver the question – whether I take a pause or I add a joke, or what’s the question that’s going to get them to be like, ‘Ah, yeah, I never thought about that,’ or to get a different answer. That’s a cool puzzle to solve as a reporter.

I had an opportunity to interview Laurie Hernandez right after her Olympic run down in Brazil and the success that she had. She was a success story out of New Jersey, she was a Latina. I felt like I could relate to. So I got to do a sit-down interview with her and her mom and her dad for a feature for One Nación, the special that we had on ESPN. It was her family story and the pride and the support that was poured into this young woman, this athlete. It really made an impact the way that you see these athletes as singular magical creatures, like superheroes. But the superhero can't be super without the support and I talked about that with her family. Her mom and dad put all their energy towards her because that was what they saw – she had a special gift. And her brother and her sister, the modesty and the lack of jealousy or anything on her family’s part to see how much she wanted to be an Olympian was inspiring. What an impressive thing.

To be an Olympian, to be a great athlete, to be these superheroes that we see in sports, that we idolize, there’s so much happening behind that one person. You can’t be that person without the support group. So for me, that was a really powerful story because that family didn’t come from money, that family’s superpower was the love that they had for Laurie and to see that firsthand was powerful for me because I felt like in some ways me becoming a SportsCenter anchor was the result of all of the love that my family had given to me.

The second part of why this is my favorite thing I’ve worked on is because I got to do a writing component that came to me during the interview and it was based on a question that I had put together from observations that I had made with Gabby Douglas and some of the racist comments and critical comments fans and media made towards Gabby when it came to her being a black female athlete and her hair and the way that she carried herself, or for not smiling. So I asked Laurie about the criticism that Gabby got and her observations there and how that impacted her as a teammate and did she also receive criticism in a similar way being the only Latina that was on that Olympic team. And she said to me that people were critical of her because she didn’t speak Spanish and they said she was a ‘fake’ Puerto Rican. And to me, that again touched something, a personal spot for me because I didn’t grow up speaking Spanish – except with my grandparents. My  dad was made fun of when he moved from Puerto Rico to New York City, because he couldn’t speak English. So the first thing that my dad did was to make sure that I spoke English so that I wouldn’t be made fun of. Which is pretty sad when you think about it, right? Couldn’t we be bilingual? I would probably be way more bilingual had my dad taught me the language that he knew first, but he was made fun of as a kid. 

For me, I still identify as being Latina. I still identify with Colombians and with Puerto Ricans. My family culture and traditions are something that’s really important to me and that make me feel safe. A good plate of Titi Glady’s rice and beans and pasteles is the most comforting meal I could have. So for her to be criticized for being a fake Puerto Rican when I myself am not necessarily fluent, it hurt me. So I was able to pitch this idea as Laurie being a fake Puerto Rican to The Undefeated and I had a writing component to the interview, which I thought was great. So to be able to stretch my skillset a little more and do a longer form writing piece was challenging but something that now I want to do more of because I was able to do that with the Laurie Hernandez interview.

AM: Do you do any charities/philanthropy?

SM: I donate a lot of clothes – except for the camouflage T-shirt that I have – but I donate.  Also, I volunteer myself to speak to students on a regular basis, which I kind of forget that I do because it happens so frequently. Some student will say, ‘Hey, can I send you an e-mail?’ or, ‘Can I call you to ask you questions about your career?’ This probably happens now once a week where I’ll gladly take 30 minutes to an hour out of my day to talk to a student if it's going to help them with their career and give them some insight to the business. I speak to Syracuse students.  I’m going to probably two or three career days in the Bronx this year and I also read to younger students recently for National Reading Day at a local school in Bristol. And then Habitat for Humanity, I volunteered with that group to help Katrina victims when I was a student at Syracuse. So I’ve continued to work with that group. I donate money to Planned Parenthood. Also, the Red Cross, during Hurricane Sandy, that was something I was part of with that group to help people that didn’t have electricity or food nearby, I brought food to those communities in Brooklyn who were hit hard by the hurricane. I’ve continued to work with the Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity since those two tragedies.

AM: Please share anything that you feel you'd like to share!

SM: Sports is life. In sports, it’s a team effort. And if you don’t play on a team, you’re still part of a community. Even when I’m running by myself, I feel like I’m part of a running community. When I run past someone on a trail, I wave to them because I can relate to a community of other people who are running. The real ‘runner’s hi.’ So there’s that. And on teams, you obviously have community. Looking at the way that sports and outside influences like politics have all sort of intersected, it makes you think about the American dream where we’re supposed to have this idea where you make it on your own. I think that if you look at what sports tells us and shows us, clearly the most successful people don’t do anything on their own.

And when you look at women in this industry, you can’t do it on your own. When you look at winning a World Series or an NBA title or anything, you can’t do it on your own and I think that's a really strong lesson that sports has taught me.

As strong as you can be mentally,  the strength that comes to you, whether it’s an opposing team or to fight the institutionalized barriers that are set in place, whether you’re a minority or a woman or whatever it is that keeps you from getting a job or something, if you look at the foundation of sports, it’s about community and being supported, and we need to think about that when we look at other facets of the world.

I also think sports teaches us that while in the outside world we’re supposed to be so good with multi-tasking, if you focused on one thing you would do more justice to that one thing and do better in the bigger picture if you were able to do one thing really great. So, again, hyper focus with sports, you can’t play the field and you can’t hit at the same time. I think that there are a lot of lessons that we can apply in our daily lives and we can learn from any game, whether it be football or baseball or basketball or track or whatever.

The ideas of community, of work ethic, of leadership, of support, of being mentally and physically healthy and challenging yourself to what’s the next thing – setting goals. I think people don’t take sports so seriously, but if you look at the power that sports gives us as something to cheer for, even if you don’t play it, it gives communities hope that they can be supported by this team. There are heroes created. I don’t think athletes think enough about the impact that they create on their communities and how important that is because you give hope to the next generation. I think sports, and covering it, has been a real blessing because the foundation, the fundamentals of what any sport is, Sports are really the fundamentals that we should be applying to our daily lives.

ANCHORWOMAN TONI COLLINS

SPORTSCENTER @ 11AM

AM: We see you on SportsCenter and everyone has a story of how they got to this point, can you tell us where you're from, what college you went to, what stations you came through and whether these jobs were in sports coverage or other areas?

TONI COLLINS: So it's been a quick journey, but a fun one so far and God willing a long one! I went to the University of Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio. I played soccer there, majored in Media Communications with a minor in Sports Management. After college I found it hard to get a job so I interned at Univision in Miami, where I did everything from interning with their special events departments that mainly includes their TV Specials. But it wasn’t fancy haha, it was printing papers, umbrella holding for stars, getting coffee, transcribing interviews. Then I got moved to the networks magazine show Primer Impacto as an intern… and their reality show Nuestra Belleza Latina followed. I was there for about six months because I had applied at a sports radio station in Tampa and got the job! I was a board operator for almost 6 months. I had an opportunity to cover the Superbowl that year in Tampa, as well as the local Pro and college sports.

In the meantime I made a fake demo with several stand ups and sent it to several stations. Mcallen, TX local Univision and Fox station hired me off that! So I packed my bags, not knowing anyone and moved to Mcallen. I was there for 2 ½ years. I couldn’t have asked for a better first market. I covered it all! From Drug busts, murders, immigration stories, daily border stories, weather, sports. I reported for both the local Univision show at 5pm and 10 and the Fox newscast at 9. I also became the anchor for Fox toward the latter part of my time there.  While in Mcallen, an opening for Univisions' local Dallas sports anchor opened. I auditioned and was hired by Martha Katan.

That was by far also the best year of my life. 2011. Dallas Mavericks went to the NBA Finals and won it! In baseball the Rangers went to the World Series, and even though we lost, it was an unforgettable journey to cover the team and the local beat in the DFW area.
 
During that year, Univision Network launched their sports network and allowed local anchors to audition. I did and got that job. We launched the sports network and I was there for about a year. Then ESPN, my dream, called me to audition. I didn’t do so well the first time, but they gave me hope. At my second audition months later, they told me I could have potential in English, mind you my whole career for the most part has been reporting, anchoring and writing in Spanish. It was an opportunity I could not pass up so I said yes and came aboard on the digital side of ESPN. After 2 years I was “called up” as I like to see it hehe to do updates on the TV side. It’s been a year, but every day I keep learning and trying to get better and do well in English with the opportunities that come my way.
 
AM: Were you an athlete in college and if so - what sport?

TC: I was! I played soccer all my life. Had the chance to play for the Mexican Women’s National team U19  and for my college Mount Union.

AM: When did you first realize that you loved sports and how did you know that that would be a career for you?
 

TC: From the first day I played soccer. Probably when I was 10. It’s a feeling I can’t describe when it's you and the soccer ball and you can create opportunities, score, or hear the cheers and especially make my parents proud. Career wise, I knew I wanted it from way way back. I grew up in a newsroom. My mom is an anchor and reporter and my childhood was in a newsroom or in the field with her because she couldn't find a sitter so I tagged along. You know when people say, "Oh I want to be a vet or a doctor or a policeman!" … I never had those thoughts, I have never had any other desire then to be a reporter. I saw how amazing my mom was at telling stories while growing up and what a difference one can make telling a story, it’s all I want to do and get better at that as I continue to grow with ESPN.

AM: Even in 2017 we still focus on women in media - especially in sports and how we continue to break barriers - where are we in our journey as a collective, in your opinion?

TC: I think we are making great strides! And one day, it won’t be a story or a headline. Just normal. Linda Cohn told me once, just look at everything in a positive light. It may not be perfect, it may not be fair, but its up to you to see it in a positive light and focus on that and how one handles the reality and how one can help the journey moving forward in a positive way.

AM: Who were your mentors that assisted you in getting to where you are today?

TC: I have so many in front and behind the camera. ESPN anchor/reporter Claudia Trejos. She became my mentor and friend when we worked at Univision Sports and now we are together again at ESPN…She is amazing! One of the most respected sportscasters in sports TV. Jack Obringer, he’s one of my bosses. The man is honest and bless his heart because he has to deal with me haha, but in all honesty his constant feedback from my segments, shows, and stories here at ESPN help me grow, learn, and put perspective about where I am and where I need to be to succeed.  My mother. No words will describe how much I look up to her as a professional. She is unbelievable. To this day, I don't know how she did it! She was able to raise my sister and I, be a mother, be a  professional, a wife, and a fighter.

AM: SportsCenter is such an iconic show - tell us about what you do, your time slot and what's a day like on and off the set.

TC:  Yeah! I do updates for the SportsCenter show Coast to Coast from 11-Noon. I also am a reporter for both ESPN in English and ESPNDeportes. A typical day starts at 6:30 and ends around 3pm. However, so many things pop up such as meetings or if I’m working on a story and we voice and edit etc. Also I do some of the Voice Overs for the Sports Center out of LA so squeeze recording those during the week. I have so much fun reading those haha “SportsCenter brought to you by…”

AM: How do you juggle your personal life (dating/marriage, friends, family and personal time) against the demands of ever changing news?

TC: Well if we are honest. It’s tough. Dating is non existent haha and its ok! It’s a blessing in disguise right now as I’m trying to grow and learn the most I can. If I'm not at work, I’m with my girlfriends from here at ESPN, Griselda Ramirez and Alexis Nunes or my friend from back in the day in Mcallen, TX who lives in NYC a drive away, Janice Perez. That’s on weekends, but they are the balance I need from work, thank God for them!

Family wise it’s tough, but thankfully my mom being in the same field understands I can’t make it for holidays or birthdays etc. I try to go home every 5 months or she tries to come up, but she’s also so busy!
 

AM: We know you love Barcelona for soccer, who are your other favorite teams?

TC: Barcelona for life because of my father. He was from Cataluña and loved Barcelona, he passed away a couple of years ago so Barca means so much more than just a team. I do love the Steelers, Texas Rangers, Club Leon from Liga MX .. For hockey I’m totally on the band wagon and I’ll admit it, but I’m a Maple Leafs fan! I’m Mexican American and their star rookie Auston Matthews is as well. I find it so freaking awesome he is dominating a sport not really associated with Mexico. It’s so cool to see how all the sacrifices he and his family have gone through are paying off! 

AM: For this feature, we included you, Dianna, and Sarina - how much, if at all do you cross paths in terms of being on set, working on projects etc?

TC: I get to see Sarina more because we cross paths when I go in for makeup. She is typically done with her show and I’m just heading in. Dianna, I  always catch her doing her thing on SportsCenter! I wish we got to spend more time together, but given our schedules its so hard! So when we do have the time it’s always a blast! Like this one! It was so much fun to spend time, laugh and catch up!
 
AM: During our shoot, we shot you guys working out - tell us about your workout routine and how you stay fit? What are 3 exercises that we should do for toned arms, abs and legs?

TC: Oh man I’m so bad on my own I have help form a trainer. Nate Pagan. Bless his heart too because he’s got quite the task! Hahaha For legs, squats and deadlifts are a must. For abs, we religiously do hollow holds and planks, and for arms, simple and to the point…. bicep curls and tricep extensions.
 
AM: What do you like to listen to when you work out vs when you're out and about?

TC: When I work out, I love to listen to fun, fast paced music. When I’m out believe it or not. Spanish and country music is a must! I’m a Latina country girl for sure! haha

AM: You're always on the move, what do you eat for great energy to keep you going and what do you love to splurge on?

TC: I always have a Quest Bar or a bag 

AM: You're always on the move, what do you eat for great energy to keep you going and what do you love to splurge on?

TC: I always have a Quest Bar or a bag of almonds on me. I tend to go to the cafeteria too to see if they have snacks or a piece of fruit. I am Latina therefore I love carbs haha, love love love bread, so combine that with my love for Italian food and I splurge on pizza! Give me pizza and I will love you forever!
 
AM: We see you on air - what would you say your style is on set versus when you're out and about with friends?

TC: Off camera I’m very chill. Steelers/Rangers/Mavs/Barcelona cute shirts and jeans. Love my Adidas sneakers too. When I'm on air, I tend to do a ton of dresses. It’s really hard for me with style because I’m such a tomboy. I really count on my mom still to help me out. She has such style! Its amazing and love what she picks out for me. But yeah I live in dresses and heels on tv and off tv sneakers tshirts and jeans.
 
AM: What's your favorite story that you worked on?

TC: So far it has to be the one I just finished in the Dominican Republic called Striking Out Poverty. Water is the primary need of the poorest communities in the most rural areas of the Dominican Republic. Growing up in the small modest town of Villa Mella, Pittsburgh Pirates’ Gregory Polanco is well aware of what the needs are in his home country. Polanco is one of 40 Major League Baseball players who have partnered with “Striking Out Poverty,” a campaign launched by the organization “Food for the Hungry” to raise nearly a million dollars to help nine of the poorest communities in the Dominican.
 

ANCHORWOMAN DIANNA RUSSINI

SPORTSCENTER @ 7pm or 9pm

AM: We see you on SportsCenter and everyone has a story of how they got to this point, can you tell us where you're from, what college you went to, what stations you came through and whether these jobs were in sports coverage or other areas?

DIANNA RUSSINI: I was born in the Bronx, New York, but eventually moved to New Jersey. I attended Northern Valley Regional at Old Tappan. I was a 4 sport athlete in high school, a decent one. I played soccer, basketball, softball and eventually ran track. My goal was to play Division One soccer. Not one school was interested. So I had a coach reach out to George Mason University to get me a tryout.  They agreed because I think they felt bad. I walked on and made the team, barely. The head coach kept me, but at the end of the season he said, "I’m just going to let you know that I am going to cut you in the fall. You’re not good, you’re too little, too skinny – you don’t have enough muscle or skills.” So I said, coach give me one more spring season before the fall season and let me try out again. That spring I gained thirty pounds of muscle and was the leading scorer on our team. That fall, I made the team and eventually earned a scholarship. It was an incredible experience. I really had no business being on that field playing with some of the most elite players that I have ever played with in my life! They’re all still my friends to this day and we all joke about how bad I was, but they were the reason I was able to rise above and push myself.  They all believed in me.

While I was in college, 9/11 happened. I was a freshman and I had only been at George Mason University, which is in Fairfax, Virginia, for about a month. My father was in Tower 1 that morning. He got out – which was a blessing. But, he drove down to Virginia to take me out of school immediately. Because at that point he was going through a lot of different emotions and I’m sure that one of them was,  let me get my family all together. So he took me out of school and we sat and watched the news for hours and hours and hours – just like many New Yorkers did. 

Everyone has stories from that day. My University  was 5 miles from the Pentagon – which was another target. It was just bad timing. I still reflect on that day and it was the worst day of my life. But I feel blessed that the people who I love were able to get out. It was a moment that I realized when I was watching the news that I had had an interest in being a journalist. I knew I liked something about reporting, but I didn’t know what it was. At that time, I was 18 or 19 and I wasn’t too sure. Then after 9/11, I knew that that was exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a local news reporter and to be like those brave reporters who were down there reporting and being a messenger to the people. Those men and women were so important that day!

The next summer, my father suggested I get an internship at Channel Seven Eyewitness New in Manhatttan. Well, I put in for an internship and you know how it goes in NYC. Everyone applies to them because here are 1,000 schools. I drove up from school after practice and I was the last one to get an interview. The assistant news director Bill McFarland who wound up giving me the internship, told me that it was because I asked great questions. I’ll never forget when they called me to tell that I got it. I knew that once I got the internship at Channel 7, because we know how good of a station that is, that everything was going to come together. They supplied me with everything I needed to become a journalist.

come together. They supplied me with everything I needed to become a journalist.

From there, I did sideline reporting in college and I had to put together a tape. Mine was awful, but this little station called News 12 hired me in Westchester County, New York. I worked there and broke a couple of crime stories. The News Director at WNBC in New York heard about me through the grapevine and inquired. I met him for dinner, we talked about my process, and my goals to be a NYC local news reporter and he said, "how would you feel if I could make your dreams come true right now?" So at the age of 24, he hired me as the youngest General Assignment Reporter in NYC – which was so cool!  A few months later, he was let go as the news director as were many of the people he hired. That’s when our sports anchor Bruce Beck suggested I get into sports. So I packed my bags and moved to Seattle, Washington and got a job there. From there I moved back to the East Coast and I went to the NBC affiliate in Connecticut and was a Sports Anchor and news reporter. While I was there the News Director from the Washington D.C.’s NBC affiliate was driving through CT, got tired, got a hotel room, flipped the news on and I was anchoring. The next day, he called my boss and said, can we hire her as a sports anchor in DC. It was good timing. WRC NBC Washington is one of the most respected local news stations in the country. I went there and a few years later, ESPN approached me about working as a SportsCenter anchor and I took the job!

AM: Even in 2017 we still focus on women in media - especially in sports and how we continue to break barriers - where are we in our journey in your opinion?

DR: We’re a little better – not great. I think the thought is, there are so many women on television or writing for newspapers/blogs in sports, it must be an even playing field now. It's not.

The respect that women receive in sports has improved in some areas, but we still have a long way to go. Here’s a concrete example. 

Two weeks ago I was in Indianapolis at the NFL combine (a place where future NFL players work out in front of coaches, owners etc). Reporters have the opportunity to get out there as well to meet with all the people that  are in the league. It’s an invaluable environment to get quality facetime with decision makers. There’s one or two steakhouses everyone hangs out in after dinner. It’s incredible, you can be standing next to Jerry Jones and Bill Belichick at the same time if you are there at the right time. One morning, I ran into a NFL head coach walking by Starbucks.  He said, "I heard you were at the steakhouse last night until 1am." I said, "yes I was, why is that an issue?" He said, "you know as a woman, it looks really bad to be out past midnight with men in the NFL." I responded with “What do you mean. Everybody is out – what are you talking about there were 100 people in there.” He said “you don’t want people assuming that you’re doing anything unprofessional. Being out late could be dangerous.” 

I could feel my face turning bright red, I was infuriated. What does staying out late have to do with being unprofessional? Dangerous? Is there a rule that networking has a curfew? I quipped back at him “because I’m a woman, I have to go home while my male competitors get the opportunity to hang out and network because they are men? Why don’t they go home! They get a few more hours in front of the coaches because they’re men? That makes zero sense to me.”

He felt bad and apologized while adding, "you always want people to respect your credibility and you never want them to think that you're getting stories any other way." Which I said, "if that is what people want to believe, that’s their problem – not mine!" Here we are in March 2017 and there are still these issues for women. I don’t blame him – it’s just part of the culture. When Adam Schefter or Chris Mortensen break a story nobody questions how they collected the information, but every time a women breaks news in sports, it’s always “what did she do to get that” and it’s unfair to women who are doing it the right way. So when you ask me to reflect on the barriers, my response is there’s still a thick one between men and women.
 
AM: Who were your mentors that assisted you in getting you to where you are today?

DR: That is probably the most important part of my journey! You are not able to be successful in this industry without great people around you. I’m really lucky because because I have many mentors for different reasons, but my family is the reason I have been
able accomplish many of my goals. I have two very different parents. My father is very cerebral, thinks things through. I then have my mother, who is a spitfire, competitive, and filled with love and personality. They have kept me grounded and focused every single
time I take another jump to another station or another level in this business. My brother and sister are both married and I have in-laws and my entire family is all-in on my career. They don't miss a SportsCenter, they watch every single show. My brother in-law follows me on Twitter to see what I am talking about and they call and text me. In terms of me, where I’m at in my career, I keep pushing it harder because if I don’t reach the goal or get to where I want to go to – I have these amazing people that I can fall back on – my family. 

AM: SportsCenter is such an iconic show - tell us about what you do, your time slot and what's a day like on and off the set?

DR: I anchor SportsCenter during the evening hours. Sometimes the 7 pm SportsCenter or the 9 pm. Those shows have tons of highlights and most games are going on during those hours. It’s our job to update the viewer when they come over to us. Most of the time, my highlights aren’t even done yet because the game isn’t done yet! So I will just give you an update on here what’s happening in the 3rd quarter for Knicks/Bucks – here’s the score and here’s what happened. So it moves – it’s the fastest moving show at ESPN. This requires you to be organized, prepared and requires you to have a free spirit. You have to be ok that it’s not going to be perfect.

Off the air, I get in hours before and I start researching the game and thinking about what the storylines are for the games going on. I work with an amazing team on how to best prepare and give the best information to the viewer for when they tune in. I'm usually on for a minimum of 2 hours and for a maximum of 4. It's a lot of live television. It kicks your butt and it makes you really good!

AM: How do you juggle your personal life (dating/marriage, friends, family and personal time) against the demands of ever changing news?

DR: Ah that’s so cute, you think I have a personal life. Just kidding. It’s a work in progress for me. My family is all in New Jersey still so I try to see them once every two weeks. I also have a great group of friends back home that keep me sane. They keep my life balanced and healthy. Also when I started at ESPN, I was introduced to another ESPN host, Cassidy Hubbarth and we became really good friends immediately. When we hang out, we talk work for 30 minutes and we’ll say, “hey I caught you last night you need to do this” or “hey I saw you last night on the sidelines at the Rockets game – I loved your interview.” It’s great to get feedback from someone I respect, but also trust. We do everything we possibly can to keep things positive and to not talk negatively about anything at ESPN. That’s really important to our friendship, being positive.

From there, we’re just Cassidy and Dianna. We text all day and both worship Jennifer Lopez. For us she embodies what we want to be: classy, powerful, successful, and cool.  When we are actually in the same city at the same time, we go out to dinner or just walk around Manhattan. I’m a better sports anchor because I met Cassidy. She also reminds me that I’m not defined by this business. It’s ok to love it and be passionate about my work – but there is also more to life. She’s a big reason why I am so happy at ESPN.

AM: Who are your favorite teams?

DR: Ok this is the worst part! I’m a die hard NY Jets fan, I'm proud to be a New York Yankees fan, I'm a Knicks Fan, and Islanders fan. I'm a new Portland Timbers fan and I'd say for women's basketball I’m a Seattle Storm fan because I love Sue Bird.  

I anchor SportsCenter during the evening hours. Sometimes the 7pm SportsCenter or the 9pm. It's our job to update the viewer when they come over to us - it's the fastest moving show at ESPN.

AM: March Madness is here - what's that like and how does it affect your normal day to day as you head into the office?

DR: This time of year makes all the hard times being a sports anchor worth it. The environment in the newsroom, on set – the energy at this time of year is at the highest! Mostly because every one has a school that has a hand in the game and you want to cheer for it. It’s a great way to show that sports is a great way to unite people. I get more excited to go to work and sometimes I don’t want to anchor because I want to watch the games! That’s always a hard thing for me, but it’s so much fun and it never gets old. It’s something you look forward to every year. I can’t wait for it to start!
 

AM: For this feature, we included you, Toni, and Sarina - how much, if at all do you cross paths in terms of being on set, working on projects etc?

DR: Not at all. That was the first time that I had seen Toni in months. Toni and Sarina are morning people and I’m a night time anchor. When Toni is getting ready for bed I’m on TV so we don’t get to see each other and so I have to make an effort when I want to see the morning people and so do they. We all get along really well and I have to say that as much as it is competitive and we want to be the best and do whatever it takes, the women of ESPN do a really good job of supporting each other and understanding that there is room for everybody. 

There is an understanding where we need to stick together as we’re not where we need to be. 

AM: During our shoot, we shot you guys working out - tell us about how you stay fit? What exercises should we do for toned arms, abs and legs?

DR: I am a big body sculpting person! I hate running – if you told me I had to run for 5 mins, I would leave the shoot – that’s how much I hate cardio! I have figured out for my body type that I have a lot of energy and I’m intense. So body sculpting is the best avenue for me. When I was in Washington DC, I did pilates reformer every single day – 7 days a week for 3 months and then it was 2-3 times a week for the rest of the year. It changed my body completely and ended up toning my body. It elongated my body, I felt taller and leaner. If there was one workout that works for me that I would share with your readers, it's Pilates Reformer – you should try and it’s addictive.

I try, because I’m so busy, to take opportunities to work in little things during my day. For example, I have to walk from the newsroom to the cafeteria – there are these long hallways and I look crazy and I don’t care sometimes – I will do lunges there, when I walk to the car in the grocery store because I won’t get a  chance to go. For me my lower body is something that I am always working on and it’s the weaker part of my body. For my upper body, my favorite workout is to row.  My back is so much stronger. As for butt workout, besides the lunges – my go to is to get down on all fours and to do the raises.

AM: I do them all the time!

DR: They’re great right? Do you want to know who taught me to work out?  My mom as she would do the raises in the kitchen when she cooked! She'd lift her leg when she was flipping pancakes.

AM: As soon as I saw you do the lifts in our shoot, it brought me back to when I was little, when I would “workout” with her and she did those! I knew your mom taught you that retro move!

DR: It’s SO retro and I’m so glad you called me out on that!

AM: What is on your playlist? 

DR: I love Beyonce – you can put any song on and I feel like I’m going to take on the world. I don’t know what it is about her music but it gets me all the time. I love The Weekend. Anything poppy will get me going. Sia songs - “The Greatest.” I listen to this as I drive into work and I’m like, “I’m going to rule the world,” anything that fires me up, high energy with great beats. I’m a big podcast person. When I’m really zoned in at work, I’m a firm believer in keeping the process going during my day. This means, I anchor at night, I wake up, get coffee, and I go to the gym and I keep the process going by listening to sports in my ear while I work out. To add balance to my life. I listen to podcasts that are not sport specific too so I know what's going on in the arts, the economy, politics, pop culture etc.

AM: You're always on the move, what do you eat for great energy?

DR: Oh wow, you’re right food is really important and I am really lucky that ESPN has a great cafeteria. I’m a big grilled vegetable/grilled salmon person. When I first started, I ate a hamburger every single day. One day, the chef said to me, young lady have you ever thought about grilled salmon? I was like why and he said, I don’t know all this beef it may not be very good for you. I had never had it before but he said I bet you’re going to love this and I did. He changed my whole diet and so now I do grilled salmon and broccoli everyday and it’s delicious. I’m a big coffee person and I have learned through friends and my mom that if there’s one key to success when it comes to diet and exercise, it’s water! Water changes your life. If there is any take away from talking to me its this DRINK WATER! I see a difference in my skin, my body, my mind - everything changes. 

AM: What would you say your style is on air versus when you're out with friends?

DR: SO my style on set is categorized as sassy fun professional sporty. I don’t want to ever distract from what I am discussing so I keep it very plain. You’re dressing yourself 5 times a week and its hard to get it right all the time! The key to TV is to wear something that doesn’t distract. Simple solid colors, dresses are always a go to for me.

AM: Being able to be on ESPN's campus, we have some favorite places! Where or what are your favorite spots?

DR: My favorite places – the makeup room, because the women we have on our staff are incredible. They are so talented and supportive and sometimes you just need a second to breathe! That room is just the place. Those women who I now call friends should charge for therapy! It's where most women feel comfortable and you can let your hair down. I love my coffee so Starbucks is my place and the baristas are my best friends at ESPN. I'm always rushing and on the phone and they know what I like! In the summer time, especially in CT, one of my favorite things to do is to walk from the newsroom to the cafeteria when the sun is starting to set and I love to look around and remind myself that I work at the worldwide leader. It’s the best way to recharge myself and to remind myself that this is a lucky break that I got and it’s up to me to make it into something. 

AM: What's your favorite story that you worked on?

DR: My favorite interview that I have been able to be a part of – Kelsey Plum, a women’s college basketball player. She broke the record for most points scored in a career. I got to interview her after she did it! Her grace, humility and awareness of the moment inspired me. I also had the chance to have lunch/dinner with Josh Norman and D'Angelo Hall from the Redskins on camera. They were so open and honest.

AM: Do you give you time to charities?

DR: Yes! So it’s not really charity but giving of time - I really enjoy speaking to students and to women in the work-
force, sports or not. I make a point to volunteer my time to schools in NJ. I visit my little sister’s classroom twice a year. It's the most rewarding and fulfilling that that I have participated in my life. Every one always thanks me so much when I come to their classroom or convention, and I’m always like no, no thank you! I do feel tht you have to pay it forward and share the message.  I like to share the message of mistakes that I have made and I’m comfortable with that. I'm saying that I'm a mess, but a mess on a mission.

Read more from the March Issue and read We Are SportsCenter in mag

ATHLEISURE LIST | HUMMING PUPPY; SYDNEY + MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

When taking a class at Humming Puppy, one of the first things you will notice is that the room quite literally 'Hum's'... and this is by no means an accident! The yoga space or ‘shala’ is injected with a combination of frequencies to enhance and deepen your experience. More specifically they use a combination of 7.83hz and 40hz. Being submerged in these frequencies helps you to naturally produce matching frequencies through a process of entrainment. At 7.83hz, otherwise known as the Schumann Resonance, the frequency of the earth itself and helps to 'ground' you through your practice. 40hz is specifically associated with ‘Gamma’ brainwave activity, integral for achieving states of peak performance.

Humming Puppy's founders are Jackie Alexander and Chris Koch, partners in both life and business.

Jackie managed dental practices and was led by her passion for yoga. She enrolled in yoga teacher training with the goal to open her own studio. 

In Jan 2014, Chris' company, 1Form.com which was formed with his best mate was bought by the ASX listed REA group. 1Form was launched in their living room and became Australia’s leading online tenancy application platform serving over 3 million tenants (and still growing) - more than  85% of the Australian real estate market. 

The pair conceived Humming Puppy over a Valentines Day dinner in 2013 and are passionate about sharing the gifts of yoga globally.

Humming Puppy has two studios, one in Melbourne and one in Sydney.

Melbourne is the original Humming Puppy and opened just over two years ago in Prahran, this area is the most populated area for yoga studios in the world with 40 studios located in a 4km radius!

The second Humming Puppy was opened in April 2016 and is located in Redfern in Sydney. It has always been their vision to open a third studio in New York!

At Humming Puppy, it is preferred for students to travel light and leave feeling even lighter. All yoga equipment is provided and bathrooms are fully stocked with everything you need: shampoo, conditioner, bodywash, hair dryers, straighteners, shower caps, hair ties and shower towels. Complimentary tea, coconut water and filtered water is provided in lounge areas for students.

There are five different styles of classes. Mellow Hum is a super chill class that includes gentle slow flows, restorative or Yin inspired postures dependent on the time of day. It's a slow paced, low intensity class that allows space and time to cultivate awareness and reflection. This is great for beginners to start their journey or students wanting to create inner stillness and a calm meditative state of mind.

Unified Hum is a medium intensity class that allows students to link breath to movement to calm the mind and strengthen the body. It's great for beginners wanting to mindfully progress their practice with a focus on alignment and for advanced students wanting to move at a steady pace.
 
Dynamic Hum is a high intensity class that can include stronger, longer holds, Vinyasa flows and advanced postures that will energize and challenge your practice. It is recommended that you feel competent  in a Unified Hum class prior to attending a Dynamic Hum.

Advanced Dynamic Hum is a high intensity class that is challenging but is delivered in a fun and interactive way as you build towards a peak pose. These classes have an emphasis on building physical strength and endurance and incorporates arm balances and inversions. 

It is recommended to practice regularly for at least 6 months in a Dynamic Hum class prior to attending.

Deepen your Hum is the studio's version of a workshop. Classes can be low, medium to high intensity dependent on the theme of the class and are open to all levels of students from beginners to advanced practitioners. Each month, the theme of our Deepen class changes with each week progressing from the previous. Classes are designed for those students wanting to deepen their yoga experience and knowledge and allow for interaction and engagement between the teacher and the student. Please refer to our timetable for monthly themes.

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HUMMING PUPPY
 

2/22 Cecil Place Prahran Victoria  3181 Melbourne, Australia

Levels 1 & 2/146 Abercrombie St Redfern New South Wales 2016 Sydney, Australia

Read more from the March Issue of Athleisure Mag and Humming Puppy in Athleisure List in mag.

ATHLEISURE LIST | THE YOGA COLLECTIVE

The Yoga Collective is a group of teachers who are setting out to change the world by teaching a creative arts class, be it yoga, pilates, dance or other forms of exercise as well as workshops, meditations and health and wellness classes. They come to the Yoga Collective so they can teach in a relaxing atmosphere and exercise their creativity.

Jen Whinnen, Director and Founder of Three Sisters Yoga School created the space with her business partner in 2011. Jen teaches yoga all over the country and helps yogis become yoga teachers. She created the space to give teachers in NYC a studio so they can begin their classes without needing to be hired by a studio. Jen handed the studio over to some of her students. 

Nicole D'Angelo registered for Three Sisters Teacher Training in the summer of 2014, took over the studio in 2015 with fellow yogis, and is now the sole owner. 

The Yoga Collective NYC is currently in Chelsea, Manhattan at 135 W 29th St Rm 603 10001. 
 

The studio is fully stocked so someone brand new to yoga can enjoy the mats and all yoga props free of charge. Filtered water is provided and they ask for a small donation. The Yoga Collective NYC is free of plastic in the studio so people fill up their water bottles. Plant-based snacks are provided for some of the bigger classes and workshops and kale chips, energy bars and refreshing drinks. For summer classes, there is an air conditioner as well as a ceiling fan and various lighting.  

Keep an eye out, as TYC bags recently sold out; however, they are looking to expand their assortment later this year.

There are many kinds of classes at TYC.

The teachers teach everything from power to restorative yoga, martial arts and fitness classes and yoga nidra meditations. Some of our yoga classes are on-going and others are one or two time classes. Many of the classes can help you get in shape while also helping you to calm down and find inner peace. 

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THE YOGA COLLECTIVE

135 W 29th St Rm #603 NY, NY 10001
 

Read more from the March Issue and read The Yoga Collective in Athleisure List in mag

WHEN STARS ALIGN

The Spring issue is here, and with that comes the Spring Equinox, warmer temperatures and the next season of ABC's Dancing With the Stars! This star studded show includes our cover girl dancer/choreographer Lindsay Arnold who is paired with 2 time World Series winner, MLB Cubs' catcher - David Ross! Of course, we talked with her in the days leading up to season 24 to talk about what we can expect, her background as a dancer and how she keeps it all balanced!

ATHLEISURE MAG: We have seen you on  DWTS and are excited to see you on the upcoming season this month! Tell us about your journey in dance and how it led to being on DWTS?

LINDSAY ARNOLD: My mom put me in dance class when I was 5 years old and I immediately fell in love! I started competing when I was about 8 years old and that's when my parents and my coaches realized that this was something I should really pursue. 

Ever since I can remember, dance has been a part of my life and it has been such a family building activity! I am the oldest of 4 girls and we all dance. My parents who are not dancers opened a dance studio for us to train at, so that we could have a very family inclusive environment. Right after I graduated high school I auditioned for So You Think You Can Dance and made it to the top 20. Competing on that show and making it to the top 8 really boosted my confidence as a dancer and made me realize that I could truly do anything I set my mind to! Not long after I finished SYTYCD I got a call from DWTS asking to be a professional on their show which was an easy yes for me!! I had watched DWTS since season 1 and had always dreamed to be on the show so I was extremely grateful and felt so blessed to have been given the opportunity. 

AM: Last year, we interviewed fellow DWTS dancer, Kym Johnson, about how she stays in great shape. What are your workouts like outside of dancing and what dances do you do to stay in shape? How is this different when you're working on DWTS?

LA: My favorite workout to do outside of dance is pilates. I have been doing pilates since high school and have found that it helps so much with not just strengthening muscles, but lengthening them as well, which is important as a dancer! The best dances to stay in shape are the faster paced upbeat ones. Jive is always a dance that gets me sweating and my heart rate pumping! 
 

AM: Who have been some of your favorite partners that you have danced with on the show?

LA: I honestly do not have a favorite partner because each one of them has been a completely different and amazing experience. Alek Skarlatos had zero dance experience and also had zero experience in the celebrity world. He was someone who was basically thrown into the spotlight and had a lot of things happening around him that he was not used to! It was a great learning experience for me to not only teach him how to dance, but help him cope with and learn how to handle the different social and business situations that would come his way. Wanyá Morris was one of my faves because he was so much fun and was an extremely great dancer! When I danced with him there were times when I felt like I was dancing with another professional dancer, which is exciting as a pro because it means you have done a great job at teaching. Calvin Johnson was my favorite because it was so rewarding as a teacher to watch him progress every single time and see the hard work pay off. Not only did he improve and become a great dancer, but he truly is one of the nicest, most humble, and all around incredible people I have ever met. 
 
AM: What is currently on your playlist when you're hitting the studio to dance?

LA: I love country music and find myself rocking out to Maren Morris lately. She has such a sass to her and I love listening to her lyrics, they have such a good story to them. 

AM: What athleisure wear brands do you enjoy wearing?
 
LA: Lululemon, Body Love Athletica and Fabletics 

AM: What style of dance would you say is your favorite?

LA: This answer changes daily.. honestly depends on my mood! If I am feeling happy and energetic, then jive or cha cha. If I am feeling a little feisty or upset paso doble or tango. That's the best thing about dance, it is that you truly can express your feelings through movement and it's such a great release! 
 
AM: Tell us about this season's DWTS' partner - David Ross - what's he like to work with and how is he different from other partners that you had on the show?

LA: David and I have only been working together for a couple weeks now, but it's crazy how quickly we established such an amazing friendship. He is such a down to earth and genuine guy and we get along so well! He works so hard and truly wants to do well in this competition, which is all I could ask for as a teacher. It's funny and I tell him this all the time, but he reminds me of my dad in so many ways they have very similar personalities and I love that about him makes me feel like I'm with family.

AM: If you could choose your next DWTS partner, who would you like to be paired with?
 
LA: I have always wanted Channing Tatum to be on the show. Step Up was one of my favorite dance movies growing up and he has some serious moves in that movie! Not to mention that he is extremely attractive, that always helps ;) 

AM: What's an average week like when you're on DWTS as there is so much going on with choreography, dancing, planning costumes and more!

LA: The weeks can get pretty crazy as there is so much going on and so many things that need to get done! I'm gonna give you a little schedule of what a week looks like starting with Tuesday because that's the first day of rehearsal for the week. 

Tuesday: I will get my music and dance style for the week and start to choreograph the routine on my own. David and I will rehearse 4-6 hours and I will teach him most of the choreography (typically 75 percent of routine). 

Wednesday: I will continue to finish choreographing dance on my time and also talk to our wardrobe department and production designer to discuss costuming and also staging (props, lighting, stage orientation, etc). David and I will rehearse 4-6 hours and I will try to finish teaching him the rest of the choreography. 

Thursday, Friday, Saturday: David will do rehearsal 4-6 hours on each of these days working on finishing up any choreography, and then perfecting the dance and working on details. 

Sunday: David and I will go to the set at CBS studios and have our camera blocking. This is the time where they will work out all of the camera angles that will be used to shoot our performance and also give David and I time on stage to practice. Each couple usually gets 25 minutes on stage for camera blocking and then we will have a wardrobe fitting. We will rehearse 3-4 hours after camera blocking then go to bed to get ready for show day! 

Monday: SHOW DAY. Call time is 7 am and i go straight to hair and makeup for about 3 hours then I have a short 15 minute practice on stage with David then we have a full dress rehearsal 1:30-3:30 and live show 5-7. 
 

AM: What are your power foods when you need a lot of energy?
 
LA: I try to always have healthy snacks with me during rehearsal because I definitely need to be eating throughout or else I lose energy. I love bananas, almonds, avocados, and if I have time to prepare before I leave for work, grilled chicken is always something that will give me some energy. 

AM: What's next for you or where should we keep our eyes out for you?

LA:  I am enjoying my time on DWTS right now but I am extremely excited to see what the future holds for me. I have danced my entire life and absolutely love it, but am definitely interested in venturing out to other areas of the entertainment industry. Modeling, acting, singing are all areas I am interested in and hopefully you will see me involved in those things very soon. 

AM: What are you excited about for this season of DWTS?

LA: I am so excited to see the improvement in my partner David. He definitely came in to this competition with no dance experience It's only been a couple of weeks and I have already seen him improve so much. My favorite part about this job is watching someone step out of their comfort zone and succeed in something they never thought they could do! I don't care if they are the best dancer in the world I just want to see them gaining confidence in themselves and trying something new. 

AM: When you're in the midst of the madness of DWTS, how do you take some downtime to check in with yourself and after the season has ended, what do you do for me time?

LA: The biggest support in my life that helps me stay grounded and stay true to who I am is my husband Sam. He is the best remedy for a stressful day and always knows how to help me relax. Family time is truly the best thing in my life and is something that I am so grateful for. After the season has ended I love to go back to my hometown, Provo Utah, and get up into the mountains somewhere where it's quiet and peaceful and spend time with my husband. We love camping, hiking, fishing, anything outdoors.

Read more from the March Issue and see When Stars Align in mag.

SPRING MUST HAVES

Spring 2017 is underway which means we have a few items that we suggest for you to pop into your wardrobe, beauty routine, devices and of course for your nutrition!

| NUDWEAR  Olivia Backless Bra | REVABLEND Non-Electric Portable Blender | JIMMY CHOO L'eau | WELL - KEPT Screen Cleansing Towelettes|  NUGG BEAUTY Lip Mask | GOOD ZEBRA Spirit Animal Cookies in Chai, Lemon and Vanilla | L'OREAL Hydra Genius Liquid Care | MADALYNNE Nina Halter Bralette in Black |    

Read miore from the March Issue and see Spring Must Haves in mag.

HIS SPRING EQUINOX

Obviously, the Spring has us all feeling a certain kind of way with changing temperatures, longer days and more. That's more time to take your workouts outside, run errands without worrying about the weather and eating outdoors. We sat down with menswear designer, Stan Cheung to talk about his line EYSOM, how he became a designer and how he will enjoy the upcoming Spring Equinox.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Tell us about your background and how you came to being a designer.

STAN CHEUNG: It wasn’t a conventional route. I began my career in Los Angeles, working in the executive buying program for May Department Store. Up till then, the experiences I had at the entertainment studios didn’t ignite my passions, so my mentor – who was the Dean of the Business School at USC – recommended that I pursue retail. He was right. It clicked. I fell in love with buying menswear. Back then there was a lot of autonomy in this role. You could take risks. You could be creative with buying assortments. But my experiences were cut short when Federated merged with May, and so my life took a turn and I moved to New York to work on private brands for Macys. 

New York City is where I really learned about the design world. My buying experiences in L.A. were a good fit for brand strategies in my new role. I quickly transitioned into product development after Macys saw my talent in this area. 

Working on multiple Macys’ brands led me to source factories all over the world, collaborate with them to create collections that resonated across Men’s, RTW and Children’s. I became fascinated in thinking, not only about fashion, but also about the white space and what would appeal to each brand’s end consumer.

Everyone knows New York is fast paced, which I loved. What I loved less were the long and weary winters. I longed for the L.A. sun. I came back to So Cal to take a role as creative director in the fast-fashion business. I led a design team that created collections for many of the largest U.S. retailers. In the business world of Juniors, you’re bound to create collections non-stop, and at some point you eventually burn out. That’s what happened to me. 

I took a short sabbatical to re-center. I spent a lot of time working on myself, both spiritually and physically, lots of meditation and workouts. Unable to find the right gym clothes, I decided to make them myself. With luck and good timing, I got a push through the Axe/Esquire Mentorship, and so EYSOM was born. 

AM: Tell us about EYSOM.

SC: EYSOM is truly a concept and collection that’s been brewing in my thoughts for over a decade. I’ve always been a workout fanatic. I take as much pride in my workout clothes as my “work” clothes. I found it so perplexing why it’s always so difficult to find great gym shorts. Men can find great jeans, fitted blazers, and the best dress shirts with much less effort. Why don’t the same rules apply to workout clothes?

EYSOM stands for “Exercise Your State of Mind”. The name itself is really about the journey to find balance between the body and the brain. In the logo, we used the M for Mind to reflect the sign of the heartbeat to show this connection as a symbol of feeling good — inside and out. Wellness today includes physical and spiritual wellness — we are much more conscious today of this wholeness feeling. We want integrity and totality in all that we do. 

The company really started from this emotion of wanting to offer men some thing better and different. I wanted to use really beautiful, yet technically functional fabrics. I wanted to create a line that was tailored, sporty and elegant at the same time. EYSOM is all about effortless designs that make you feel good when you put them on.
 

AM: How did it feel to have John Legend pick your brand to be included in the Axe Collective and what is the nature of this partnership?

SC: I was so honored. He’s such an amazing talent. In addition to being a style icon, he’s just an overall good guy. It was fantastic to have him be so into the brand. This encouragement gave me the extra energy to go after my vision. Had it not been for the Axe Collective, ESYOM would not have started when it did, and be where it is today.

AM: Presenting at NYFW Men’s must have been a great experience, tell us what it was like.

SC: It was such an amazing experience – it was so fast, but at that point in time, it was incredible to see the collection all come together. Now onto my third collection, it’s nice to see how the brand has evolved, but stayed true to that initial concept.

AM: You currently sell at Equinox, what's next for EYSOM?

SC: Equinox has been such a natural and organic fit. They’ve been hugely supportive of EYSOM. It has been an amazing way to expose their clients to the brand. Next for EYSOM, we are looking to organically expand in markets where there’s most interest – Europe and Asia. 

Also, I am starting to explore categories that people have been asking for. We have been asked since day one to add swimwear, including by Esquire Fashion Director Nick Sullivan. During the time the product has been in Equinox, we’ve also had a lot of requests to create a women’s line.

AM: What are the trends in menswear for this spring/summer that we can find in your line?

SC: EYSOM is always about being effortless and stylish all day, and year-round. You’ll notice our introduction into camouflage, which is a trend across all activewear, but we’ve taken a much more designer approach by playing with our signature print in a range of more sophisticated colors including sage green, brilliant navy, and red.

With the activewear trend, we also have our assortment of joggers and sweatshirts. 

AM: What are your favorite pieces in the EYSOM collection and where would we find you wearing them?

SC: Living in LA, you’ll find me wearing EYSOM about 90% of my life! I love the training shorts, because they have a tailored elegant feel that allows me to wear them in and out of the gym. I’m obsessed with the tops – usually in black, because the fabric is amazingly soft and you kind of don’t want to ever take it off.

AM: Where do you workout and what are your three favorite places to eat in NYC?

SC: I work out at Equinox obviously, but I’m also a regular at Barry’s Bootcamp because I love running. When I’m in NYC, I prefer running outdoors on the WSH or Central Park and just zoning out for miles at a time. 

I am a big food lover, especially in NYC. I think the right balance of a great workout is that you can enjoy and indulge in some great meals. My consistent go-to places would be Morimoto for sushi and Balthazar after working out in Soho. Indochine is my classic staple.

AM: With the Spring Equinox and having 12 hours of sun, how are you going to take advantage of the day?

SC: I’m obsessed with being outdoors, so I always take advantage of the LA sunshine. Hiking Runyon Canyon in the morning, enjoying the beaches of Malibu and Laguna, and of course, dining al fresco whenever I can. My favorite is The Beverly Hills Hotel or the garden at Pailhouse.

AM: What Axe Collection items are a part of your rotation?

SC: The Axe Gold Signature dry spray and skin hydrator body wash. 

Axe Gold Signature Dry Spray

Axe Gold Skin Hydrator Body Wash

Read more from the March Issue and read His Spring Equinox in mag.

MASERATI 2017 GLOBAL POLO TOUR

The second leg of the Maserati 2017 global Polo Tour, held at the Desert Palm Polo Club from 11 - 17 March 2017,  concluded with Team Abu Dhabi winning the Maserati Dubai Polo Trophy by an outstanding score of 7 to 4 over Team AES International.

Six polo teams, featuring talented professional and amateur players from United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom and Argentina produced competitive yet entertaining polo. Ali Saeed Juma Albwardy, UAE President of the Polo Association and Founder of Desert Palm Polo Club was among the celebrities, VIPs and special guests that enjoyed the special finale.

Team Abu Dhabi with Captain Faris Al Yabhouni (UAE, Handicap 0), Kian Hall (UK, Handicap 2), Yousef Bin Desmal (UAE, Handicap 0) and Alfredo Capella (Argentina, Handicap 8) won the tournament in a thrilling finale against Team AES International with the end result of 7 to 4. Team Ghantoot won the Subsidiary Trophy.

In addition to the horsepower on the field, guests enjoyed Maserati horsepower from the entire model range that was on display, which included the latest addition to the Maserati family, the Levante SUV, as well as the flagship Quattroporte, the executive sedan Ghibli and the sporty GranTurismo and GranCabrio models.

Enrico Roselli, CEO of La Martina Europe, said: "As for every leg of the tournament, we are thrilled to take part to a one of a kind sports event that celebrates our roots and enhances every time our partnership with Maserati.”

The official polo shirt worn by the Maserati Team on the field is a product of the partnership between La Martina and Maserati.
 

The Dubai leg of the Maserati Polo Tour saw the official launch of the first of the four “Maserati Polo Tour Special Edition” polo shirts created by La Martina for Maserati as a tribute to each tournament. The “Maserati Dubai Polo Trophy Special Edition Polo Shirt” is made of pure cotton and featuring exclusive detail of the shiny metallic Dubai map print on the back, the shirt comes in black with contrasting details in silver and bright blue. The shirt is now available in La Martina stores across the UAE and on the La Martina online store.

Following St. Moritz and Dubai, the third installment of the Maserati Polo Tour 2017 will take place in the UK in June.

#TribeGoals

Read more from the Feb Issue as well as see #TribeGoals in mag

ATHLEISURE LIST | ICE NYC

For the past couple of years, we have had a number of friends who have embraced CrossFit, a high-intensity fitness program incorporating elements from several sports and types of exercise within a period of time. This allows you to through various intervals of training to keep your body in motion and to hit a greater range of items across your body! 

Home of Camille LeBlanc-Bazinet, "The Fittest Woman on Earth", ICE NYC infuses music, dedicated coaches and challenging workouts that are scalable based on the participant's skill level. Classes that one can select range from CrossFit, HIIT, Yoga, Row and Cycling. Each class utilizes body weight movements, kettle bells, medicine balls, bands, sandbags, rowing machines, bikes and more depending on the theme of the class. Throughout the class, you hear your progress and it is adjusted as needed to fit your goals. 

Prior to and after class, you can enjoy amenities including locker rooms, showers, towel and laundry service. Private label juices and freshly prepared health-conscious foods are available as a way to nourish the body.

ICE NYC is the newest luxury group fitness studio to hit TriBeCa with another location on the UES as well as a fitness partnership in Antigua and Barbuda.

ICE NYC

• 330 E. 59th St NY, NY 10010
• 93 Worth St NY, NY 10013
• Jumby Jay at Rosewood Resort on Jumby Bay Island, Antigua + Barbuda

Read more from the Feb Issue and this month's Athleisure List in mag.

FIND YOUR SHIBUMI

As we grow up, many of us begin working on our life plan that consists of what is expected of us by friends and family, and influences from interactions and our informed opinions. Whether these are our actual passions or not can only be told in time. Sometimes, after following this plan, you wake up and realize that you need to hit the reset button and start from the beginning to reintroduce yourself to yourself. UNBOUND looks at this journey in understanding the ultimate self, honoring the past lessons and growing the seeds of a new life that can be truly embraced. We chatted with Steph Jagger, who found this connection through hitting the pause button and hitting the slopes, and shared her novel of self-discovery with us.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Steph, it's so good to connect with you as your book is the perfect blend of goal setting, humor, self-discovery, honesty, and weighted reflection - what are your 3 biggest takeaways from the Vertical Feat experience?

STEPH JAGGER: My three biggest take aways from my journey are:

• Moving from fear based motivation, which came with truck loads of ego, to what I call “love based motivation” – asking myself if this is going to help me grow and expand and transform versus asking myself what this will help me prove.

• I also learned so much about the feminine and what strength means for women. I used to have a masculine ideal, one that came with an “armor up and go into battle” mentality and know I see strength very differently. I see it as putting all the armor down, as being authentic and vulnerable with yourself as well as others.

• Last but not least…huge take away about the quality of red meat in Argentina. And chocolate, and wine!

AM: We fell in love with many of the people that you mentioned in the book
- do you still talk to or visit some of our faves, Tree, Joseph and the group that you met in Chile?

SJ: Of course! I just saw Tree this week. She’s still a close friend and Joseph is still very much my yoda…in fact, I call him my wizard. I wrote a fair chunk of the book at his estate in Tel Aviv and I plan on seeing him later this year. I’m still in touch with MANY of the others and of course, spoiler alert, Chris and I  are still sharing a bed!

AM: Going into the Vertical Feat you were set on check marking this goal, but did you have other matters you were wrestling with in order to find yourself besides realizing that you had been a goat who was really a Tiger?

SJ: Ultimately I wrestled with a lot of things – goat to tiger and also masculine ideal as my predominant belief system to a balanced masculine and feminine ideal. I didn’t have a clue that would be part of my journey, but that’s how the Universe works. It’s very smart. It baits you into adventures using something that will snag your ego just enough to pull you in – “Hey, over here!!! How about 4,000,000 feet???” – and once you’re on the journey the truth and the battles and the learning all unfold.

AM: What lessons can we take from Unbound when people are in a transitional experience?

SJ: I think that is the truth of transition. What you think you’re getting into is probably not what you’re getting into. I also think we need to look at transition (even positive ones) as part of the grief process. Becoming a mother means letting go of and grieving the woman you were in your teens and twenties. Becoming a person who values feminine ideals means potentially letting go of and grieving the people in your life that are still operating under a masculine-only ideal. If you’re looking to transition to the monkey bar in front of you, you HAVE TO let go of the one you’re holding on behind you.

AM: We were so happy to see that you and Chris got married and that you did embark on a different journey, what is your life like now in terms of career, where you live?

SJ: My life right now is very much based around the principal of having two things and two things only on my bucket list: Am I listening to what I am called to do…AND, when I hear it, do I have the courage to do it. That’s how I decide what projects to work on, where to travel, etc. To get technical, Chris and I currently live on the edge of a canyon on southern California with our giant black dog, Auggie. I run my coaching company from home and split time between that and writing.  Our plan…because we’ve felt the call…is to return to the mountains in the coming months. Our hope would be to move to Colorado or BC by the summer-time.

AM: Do you see yourself taking on other challenges of this nature?

SJ: Yes and no. I’ll refer back to question five…if I’m called to go on another adventure of this nature, I hope I’ll heed the call. That said, I just don’t feel it…I feel other adventures rolling towards me. More books, perhaps a career in speaking, MORE travelling for sure but perhaps with less of an agenda. So yes and no.

AM: We loved that you came to terms with being someone who could accept their femininity while also embracing an aggressive nature and that you could be both - why do you think that some women find that to be difficult?

SJ: I think a lot of women find that to be difficult. The idea of having it all. The concept of balance. The desire to be aggressive, persistent, ambitious, etc. with a career, at the same time as being a friend, a mother, a daughter, a sister…roles that often require a fair bit of nurturing, slowing down, etc. I think that’s the question of our generation – how do we first choose what it is we want (with consciousness and a lack of guilt) and then how do we actually make that happen in the real world…hint hint…this might be a theme of my second book.

The why behind it all feeling difficult has everything to do with the way our society is structured. The expectations placed on women (and men for that matter) to play certain roles, the patriarchical ideal. I could go on about this but I think it’s built into our collective thought process.

AM: If you were able to do this trip all over again, what would you change?

SJ: Nothing. Not a thing. It all lead me to where I am and who I am today and I’m very proud of that. From a technical standpoint I probably wouldn’t have planned as much so I could have responded better to the weather as it happened. Other than that…nothing.

AM: What mementos did you keep from your trip as a means to remember the experience?

SJ: What do I have to remember the trip…um, well, a book for starters! Ha! I don’t tend to lug mementos around, but I do have some gorgeous photos, a husband, and a small Japanese change purse that help me remember it all.

AM: What was your favorite mountain/resort to ski at during the Vertical Feat and what was your favorite place/experience that you went to unwind while you were on this journey?
 

SJ: Favorite resort – SO HARD. I still LOVE Whistler/Blackcomb, but Jackson Hole, and Alta are also standouts. I’ll always remember Cerro Catedral in Argentina, because it’s where I met Chris and Happo One in Japan is out of this world – in fact, the whole Hakuba Valley in Japan is out of this world. I’ll also make the latter the fav place to relax. A ski and then an onsen (Japanese hot baths) at the end of the day?!? You can’t get much better than that. Unless of course, you’re at the Scandinave Spa up in Whistler – that place is also to die for when it comes to pampering and relaxation.

AM: We love the concept of Shibumi and how you found it at various times, what is your Shibumi moment now?

SJ: My Shibumi moment now is the book tour. It can’t be perfect, travel plans get messed up, I’ve got a bit of a sore throat going at the moment, I lost my ski socks somewhere...BUT, I feel like my energy is aligned with the book and that when I go out and connect with people at event and local bookstores there’s an effortless perfection to the interaction and exchanges that are happening. That makes me very happy. It’s total Shibumi!

AM: What was the process like in writing this book and how is your book tour going?

SJ: Well, I just told you a little about the book tour and I think I would say similar things about the writing process. It’s utter shibumi – it’s a glorious mess, it's throwing words around and cutting and chopping and praying and surrender and faith that it will all work out in the end. It's discipline but also freedom. 

I loved the writing process, the concept of learning and honing my very rough skills as a writer. I hope I get to keep doing it. What a gift of an opportunity I’ve had to unravel my own narrative and sew it back up together again. If that’s not Shibumi, I don’t know what is!
 

AM: What's next for you?

SJ: What’s next for me is a question  I get a lot – most times it comes in the form of  “What’s on your bucket list” – there are two things – One, am I listening for the call to adventure. Two, do I have the courage to say yes when I hear it. I really do feel a second book coming to the surface and as I mentioned before, Chris and I would love to find the perfect home in the mountains. And a vacation! Maybe a visit to Greece to see my dearest Joseph! He just built a new home there and we’ve been dying to see it. Just thinking of the sun and calamari makes me drool.

AM: What would you tell someone who decided to go on a path of self-discovery (not necessarily in the same manner that you did) so that they could expect many of the feelings that you came to grasp with?

SJ: This is such a huge question. First I would ask them if they had three or four hours and a good bottle of wine or two. Then I would sit down with them and I would read them Joseph Campbell quotes for hours. I would tell them “you must let go of the life you have planned, as to accept the one that is waiting for you” and I would also go all Sue Monk Kidd on them and tell them that “the truth may set you free, but first it will shatter the safe, sweet way you live.” Then I would tell them to leave the rest of the wine with me. After that, I’d hand them my phone number and tell them they’ve got an open line and to call when ever they want, I would say, “Search for the best, most wildest version of you and when you find it grab it and don’t let go. Oh…and you know that when you’re on the monkey bars of life, you MUST let go of the one behind you in order to grasp the one in front of you…you know that right???” That’s what I’d say.

Pictures courtesy of Steph Jagger and book cover by Harper Wave/Harper Collins

Read more from the Feb issue as well as Find Your Shibumi in mag.

ETERNALLY TIMELESS, JON BON JOVI

Bon Jovi, the Grammy Award®-winning band who came together in Sayerville, NJ is currently on This House is Not For Sale Tour which includes songs from their 14th album (of the same name). Vocal leader, Co-Founder and front-man, Jon Bon Jovi is a triple threat as an entertainer, actor and designer of apparel and accessory line, Hart n' Dagger. We took time between rehearsals and his show schedule to talk about the clothing label, his music and why it's essential to support local talent.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Before we talk music, tell us about Hart n' Dagger and how you came up with this line, we feel that it is an extension of your personal style!

JON BON JOVI: If you consider that the style, it is simply what makes me comfortable. It needs to be timeless and classic.
 
AM: We love the denim in the line, but you have accessories as well which is great for men and women - why did you add this and will there be additional products in this category?

JBJ: I’m not big on accessories, so they better have a meaning. We will continue to look at these items and perhaps look at watches and sunglasses, but those are long-term goals.
 

AM: Who is the Hart n' Dagger guy and will you bring women's apparel into this line in the future?

JBJ: The HnD man doesn’t buy into fads or fashions. We believe that torn jeans better have been torn on the playing field or because they’ve been worn out – not torn by some fashionista. If you’re looking for timeless and classic jeans for any situation, from work to play, HnD are for you.

AM: As an iconic band with worldwide fame, how do you stay grounded and connected to your roots to continue releasing songs that resonate with fans?

JBJ: Well, you still are who you are. You can never get away from where you grew up and where your roots are. So, that’s who we are… We’re a bunch of guys from Jersey that made it. 

We’ve worked our tails off. And we got lucky through the hard work, and we’re proud of it, and that's reflected in our songs and our attitude.

AM: You're in great shape and are currently on tour, what's your favorite workout? 

JBJ: I've been a runner for 40 years. When I do it, it gives me an hour to think. Fresh air, blood flow, and clear thoughts.”

AM: This House is Not For Sale Tour is offering bands the opportunity to open in their city - which is an amazing opportunity and such a great way to show local support. This is the third tour  (2006’s Have A Nice Day Tour and 2010’s The Circle Tour) where you have invited local and regional artists to share the stage with you for the Live Nation - promoted concerts. Why do you think it's important to have them open an arena show? 

JBJ: Every great band starts small and builds their rep one show at a time. That’s the opportunity we were given and now we want to pay it forward. If you’re ready for the arena stage, submit your audition tapes and join us in playing for the best audiences in rock music.”

Stay connected to Bon Jovi, their new talent and the This House is Not For Sale Tour by visiting the band's website.

Read more from the Feb issue as well as see the in mag story of Eternally Timeless, Jon Bon Jovi.

ATHLEISURE LIST | SOULCYCLE: VARIOUS US CITIES + CANADA

When you think of fitness studios that you have heard of from a number of friends and co-workers, SoulCycle is always in the conversation with it's mind, body, soul focus and music that makes cycling here an experience. We chatted with SoulCycle and Senior Instructor, Sydney Miller to find out more!

ATHLEISURE MAG: How long has SoulCycle been around?

SOULCYCLE: SoulCycle has been around since April 2006 -- it started as one studio on New York City's Upper West Side and has since grown to 72 studios and counting! 

AM: We know that you recently opened a location in Austin and Bellevue - what are the next ones that we should keep an eye out for?

SC: We always look for active and dynamic communities to be a part of so we are very excited to now be in Austin and Bellevue. We are opening our first international studio in Toronto on March 2nd and have more Canadian studios opening soon as well.

AM: You guys have a great series of amenities available - what are some of the brands that one can find in your bathrooms?

SC: We always seek to provide a seamless experience for our riders and provide everything they need so our locker rooms are stocked with every amenity a rider could need, our front desks have hair ties, ear plugs, gum and more. We have also teamed up with local skin care companies in new markets to offer their products to our riders. In Bellevue, we have Herbivore Botanicals' incredible products in both of women's and men's locker rooms. Similarly, we have milk + honey in our downtown Austin studio and look forward to providing Saje products in our first Toronto location.

AM: There are so many choices for SoulCycle gear - are these all internal brands and do you also have collaborative brands as well - are there upcoming collabs we should be looking out for?

SC: SoulCycle produces 14 collections each year with 60+ pieces in each one. For the month of March, we are celebrating acceptance, collaboration and love as our collection is themed around the Army of Love. During a time of polarizing views and alienating sentiments, SoulCycle continues to be a sanctuary and a community of acceptance. SoulCycle is a workout to some, a community to most, and a safe harbor to all. We stand for acceptance, collaboration, and love. As team members and riders, we're a coalition of conscience - respect and compassion are practices we cultivate daily. We not only embrace each other's differences, we celebrate them.

Our studios are sanctuaries of unity, where we all ride together as a pack. We take that energy into the world, where we lift each other up. We are an Army of Love. 

AM: When people are not in the midst of a class at SoulCycle - how can they still stay connected as a community?

SYDNEY MILLER: SoulCycle naturally lends itself to a community experience through the entire studio. Riders often become friends by going to the same classes week to week and building connection from the locker room to the studio. From juices after class, brunch, or trying a new fitness experience, riders can take the SoulCycle experience to other areas of their active lifestyle.

AM: What is the ethos of SoulCycle?

SM: SoulCycle is all about connecting mind and body to the music. We ride as a pack because we know there is strength in numbers. We support each other and get stronger together.

AM: We liked how you went about selecting a great class for us by asking what music we liked (our Kaskade x Swedish House Mafia theme ride was epic) - is this the suggested method that someone new to this ecosystem should follow?

SM: The music is what makes the entire experience, so it's important to go with an instructor who plays the kind of music you're into. There's really an instructor for everyone and each of us brings a different perspective to the table. On the website, you can see on each instructors' profile what kind of music they play and a little bit about them. It's fun to try different classes and then figure out what lights you up the most.
 
 SOULCYCLE

• Check for current and upcoming studios in the US and Canada here. 

Read more from the Feb issue and see the entire Athleisure List article in the magazine.

IN AND OUT OF THE RING DANIELLE MOINET X SUMMER RAE

Our readers are STRONG, SEXY & SPOILED and of course, that means those that grace our covers and are featured in our pages embody this spirit as well! The world of the WWE includes some of the toughest athletes with dynamic personas and ever changing storylines that keep their fans waiting to see more every week! 

The ladies of the WWE are an elite powerhouse that represents vixens and villains. For those that need an extra dose (know and love this world) of the ladies, E! Networks' Total Divas - allowed viewers to see their lives in and out of the ring. Episodes showcase the ladies in the relationships, training, their personality, their personas and more. Our initial introduction to Summer Rae came during the second season of this show.

Summer Rae is a WWE athlete who fights in the RAW brand. Playing a villain role, she has won a number of single and tag team matches which keeps the crowds wanting more. Outside of the ring, Danielle Moinet is the complete opposite of her character; but, she shares the athletic sensibility as her career includes being a former professional football player as a cornerback for Lingerie Football League's Chicago Bliss (in addition to being a professional wrestler and wrestling manager). This Manhasset, LI native is also a model and actress who took the time to chat with us about her athletic career; what it's like to be a part of the WWE; the importance of giving back and insight into who Danielle is!

|  PHOTO COURTESY WWE |  

ATHLEISURE MAG: We love seeing you in the ring and being on E!'s Total Divas. Tell us about your career leading up to the WWE, as we know you played football, were the face of the Lingerie Football League, and you were an ambassador for Nascar's Bobby Labonte's team - how did this all come together with your love of sports?

DANIELLE MOINET: I have always been a fan of sports, both watching sports and playing sports. Growing up, I danced for many years and then I also ran track, jumped hurdles and played tennis. I’ve always had an athletic background and spent a lot of time in the gym in college. Playing football was definitely very fun. It was full contact seven on seven football. The ladies of the LFL hit hard. It’s not a gimmick. I’ve always had a passion for wrestling and loved watching it. I went to Monday Night Raw and watched it in the audience and thought, “Wow I can do that and I think I can do it well.” I decided to try out for WWE.

AM: We grew up in the 80's watching the WWE, when did you realize this was what you wanted to do and what was the process like to get to the ring?

DM: The thing that I love about WWE is everyone has a story. Everyone has someone they watched growing up. With me, my dad has no sons, only daughters, and I’m the oldest. I watched with my dad on Saturday mornings and when I was an adult I would sit at home and watch Monday Night Raw. I loved the soap opera! I became a fan again after college and that’s when I realized I wanted to submit. Now with NXT, Triple H has given people a great outlet to submit their resume and portfolio and be able to try to become a WWE Superstar. 

AM: We see the physicality that is needed to be a Diva, while also being able to be a total boss by being glam. It's such a unique sport that allows both - how is Danielle Moinet similar and different to Summer Rae?

DM: Very good question! Some people like to form their WWE persona based on an extension of themselves. For me it’s the total opposite. Summer Rae is everyone I wanted to be growing up: all of the girls I wasn’t and all of the things I wanted to say to people that I couldn't because I was too nice. Summer Rae is a conniving egotistical villain who will do whatever she needs to do to get what she wants. That’s why it’s so much fun to play her! I have never once been a good guy in WWE and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

|  PHOTOGRAPHY Vince Trupsin | MUAH Stella Kae | 

AM: This summer, we worked out with you and additional Divas during Summer Slam at Tapout here in NYC - between matches and doing PR events what is the schedule like when you're traveling and how are you able to balance your day to day life with that?
 
DM: Wow! That’s so cool that you came and worked out with us! That was the first time we had tried anything like that and my first time teaching an exercise class! It was inspiring to talk to different women. It was a special event for me. It's hard to find balance and in 2017 that is what I am going after. Balance. It is hard being a Superstar, being on the road 300 days a year filming and working events on your off days. Traveling and everything that comes with it is really hard. Having a group of people, whether they are family or friends that ground you when you’re home, it's important on those off days to step away from work. Otherwise, you will lose who you are. It’s something I’ve struggled with in the past and its something I am really working towards in 2017.

AM: As an athlete, the physicality of the sport is demanding, what does your workout day look like when you're preparing to be in the ring versus when you have down time?

DM: Very good question! I've never had someone ask me this in an interview! I train very differently on days when I have a match versus days I don't. I don’t do my legs as much on days I have a match. I save my cardio days for TV. Sleep is the most important thing in this business. I like to do circuit training so I don’t overstimulate one body part. When you bump and have five matches in a week you’re going to be sore.

AM: Recovery is always essential when you're working out - we're fans of foam rollers, KT Therapy ice packs etc, what do you have on hand for a little TLC for your body?

DM: Recovery is very important. The number one thing I find that helps is sleep and I am the first person to say I don’t sleep nearly enough. On the off days I will force myself to sleep. Massage is something really great. I live by a great chiropractor and physical therapist. In Los Angeles, I have gone to PEAK Wellness and I have absolutely loved the practice. The people there have been so amazing to me. Dennis at PEAK is so amazing and I’ve loved working with them.

|  PHOTOGRAPHY Vince Trupsin | MUAH Stella Kae | 

AM: What is your favorite moment in the ring and who has been your favorite partner?

DM: My favorite moment in the ring is actually not a wrestling match. It was when I got to write my own promo and do it for everyone. It was in Chicago where I was living at the time. I got to break up with Rusev on screen. I really felt it and felt so fortunate that they let me write it. It was so amazing and the crowd was so behind me. It gives me chills to think about.

My favorite person to wrestle is Nattie. I always loved wrestling her. She’s someone who challenges me and made me try to be better every time I stepped in the ring with her. I also love Sasha Banks. The chemistry we have is amazing!
 
AM: Besides your life as an athlete, what other passions do you have as we know you have acted?

DM: Being in the Marine 4 was an amazing opportunity. I loved being on set and learning the way that works! Being in more films and being able to act is a goal. I love the idea of having an amazing day and channel different emotions into my work. It is such a talent to be able to do that and of course that is something I would love to do and love to study more. Being able to publicly speak and host as well and spread positivity.
 
AM: When you have personal time how do you take time for you to center yourself?
 
DM: Personal time is something that I am trying to work on more and have more of, and give myself. Being able to center myself is having a good support system. I center myself by going into the gym and having a great workout and catching up on some of my favorite shows. Taking time for me. Our personal time is so few and far between, that it’s something I really have to cherish when I have it.  

|  PHOTO COURTESY WWE |  

AM:  What is your personal style from what you wear when you workout, when you're going out to brunch and for a night out with your friends? 

DM: My personal style ranges. I live in workout clothes and I can be a tomboy. The word ATHLEISURE definitely suits me. I’m always in my hat on my day off, because I hate wearing makeup.  I have to let my skin breathe. Workout clothes all day! Whatever fits and is comfy. I love the girly side too and get styled. My style is very diverse.
 
AM: Clearly, you have a great body! What are 3 exercises that we can incorporate for great legs, arms and abs?

DM: For me, something that I started in the Fall that I had never tried before was Pilates. I had a lot of restrictions from wrestling as far as my mobility and neck. The thing I love about Pilates is that it's 50 minutes and it's full body, but you also use weights. I’ve tried a lot of different exercises. Pilates really helps shape my arms legs and abs. I had never done a plank until Pilates and now I see it in my shoulders and abs. It's long and lengthening. Pilates gives me the flexibility and is so safe on the joints and knees. It’s something I really have to think about. You can find all three in Pilates.
 
AM: When it comes to getting energy before a workout what do you suggest we should eat?

DM: Some people are very different when it comes to eating before working out. Some people like to eat and some people like to be empty. I like to be full. I don’t like my stomach growling. I like to eat a high protein meal. I prefer fats and carbs in each meal I eat. Having a good piece of chicken or turkey meat, a good 25/35 gms of protein. You don’t have to get fancy when it comes to caffeine pre workout. Black coffee is great. You can’t beat a double shot of espresso or a black coffee before you work out. I always have a shake right after I work out to get my protein in.

|  PHOTO COURTESY WWE |  

AM: When you're having a bit of a splurge, what is a treat that we can enjoy that tastes decadent, but isn't really that bad for you?

DM: I have a sweet tooth. Something for me that I crave is ice cream like crazy and want it all the time. Instead, I buy the fat - free Cool Whip from the market and freeze it. Then it’s like fake ice cream. I just need a little bit. It’s no fat or carbs and not nearly as bad as ice cream. I find myself only having one or two spoonfuls. It gives me that satisfaction. 

AM: What charities or foundations do you work with and tell us about them.

DM: I work with the DTM Foundation which was started and by my sister Nicolette Moinet. They work with medically fragile children at UNC and Duke hospital. Anytime I’m back home in North Carolina I love to help them in any way I can whether it be hospital visits or the comfort cooks program. We make food for the families that are basically living at the hospital with their children. With WWE, we are so fortunate to work with so many other great initiatives include our anti-bullying program Be a STAR, Special Olympics, Make a Wish, Susan G. Komen and so many others. 

Read more from the Feb Issue and the In and Out of the Ring Danielle Moinet X Summer Rae feature specifically here.

ATHLEISURE MAG | FEB 2017

We're excited to share the release of our Feb issue with Danielle Moinet aka WWE's Summer Rae on the cover as we chat about her athletic career, her workouts, and more. This month's issue focusing on the love of a number of things also includes a number of food editorials including Cochon555 as well as another Athleisure Kitchen at Dos Caminos (just in time for taco Tues).

See the full issue here!