Run Kristin Run!

Now this is an interesting blog by our new intern Kristin Ferrell who is becoming a long-distance runner, training for her first half-marathon!

Follow her trials and tribulations, plus she is quickly becoming the Reigning Queen of Energy Drinks. She's trying them all and gives you the lowdown on each.

Plus she wears cute running clothes and I'm hopeful she can help me update my own running fashions. Now that I have one less daughter to buy athletic gear and clothing for, perhaps I can buy myself some new tops and jogbras!

http://runblogrun.drupalgardens.com/content/i-dont-feel-running

Weird Resume is Right

The path to entrepreneurship often covers exactly the right ground, in ways we could never predict. Interests and experience that seem to be unrelated eventually turn out to be precisely the preparation a specific new venture requires.

Marilou McFarlane, for example, has recently launched Vivo Girls Sports, an online community for athletic girls aged 13-22. If she had known when she was a kid that this was the company she’d start at age 48, she could not have plotted a more useful resume of stepping stones to this moment.

Sure, Marilou played sports as a girl. Soccer and track and tennis and more. She also grew up around college sports, since her father, Jim Heavner, announced many of the Tarheel games forWCHL, the radio station he started in Chapel Hill. (Being the daughter of an entrepreneur also helps pave the way for starting your own gig later.) After college, she worked for Turner, back when Ted still owned it all, so that gave her some good experience in media, as well as a chance to work for another entrepreneur who thinks big. Later, in San Francisco, she was a media rep for KCBS for many years, before she started her own company, McFarlane Marketing. She had two daughters, both athletic, and was involved in season after season of their sports. For two years, she served as president of their soccer league, a full-time volunteer position she handled while continuing to build her marketing company. She also started an offshoot of her marketing company that targeted colleges specifically. And now her oldest daughter, Kelly, will be playing for the Tarheels in Chapel Hill starting next year — on their very impressive women’s soccer team.

Marilou knows sports and she knows marketing. She understands teenagers and college students. She has a deep affinity for the issues that girls in those age brackets are facing. She’s savvy to the incredible buying power of this group and its appeal to marketers. And she’s not afraid to start something new.

Starting a company is not just a way to make a living. Sometimes it’s how we reconcile and integrate everything we are.

(Photo of Marilou running hurdles for Chapel Hill High School)

Blog post by Elizabeth Baskin, renowned author and creative director. This woman knows great ideas and I'm happy she likes mine!

http://www.life-sizedbusiness.com/2009/11/09/the-weird-resumes-that-lead-to-successful-entrepreneurs/

So many of them are leaving for college...

I ran with my goddaughter Jamie last weekend. She texted me at the Danville Mustang Stampede soccer tournament, where goddaughter Galen and I were watching my Darcy and her Marin FC team tear it up. She asked if I could run the Dipsea trail with her to discuss her impending journey to UPenn to join their cross-country and track program. So many miles, too many miles, these young women think they need to run to be successful.

Truth is, Jamie's mile times rock and she is going to be competitive if she stays healthy, sharp, and doesn't burn out. We talked a lot about the pure joy of running. Run for that and you'll be fine. Yes, eat right, get your sleep, listen to your body, push hard, dig to another level, but remember the pure joy you felt when you ran your first mile.

Just asked the girls on our Facebook fan page how they feel when they play their favorite sport, in 3 words. Here are a few highlights, just now in the last 23 minutes with 28 comments and 10 likes:

I am unstoppable

I LOOOOOVE IT!

Invincible, proud, myself

Happy as hekk !

BEAST, invincible, free

powerful, happy, concentrated

Unbreakable, amazing, sooooooooooooo HAPPY!! I looooove soccer!

Relaxed. Happy. Free.

Myself. Amazing. Unstoppable.

Aggressive. Ready. Focused.

Can Accomplish Anything

YES INDEED.

Being a teenager is stressful enough without your sport adding to it. Your sport is what grounds you and helps you keep in perspective all the crap that goes with the transition from middle school to high school to college to life beyond. Your sport will be the common denominator. Your teammates will be your friends for life. Keep playing.

Maddie goes to USC next week, entering their music program where songwriters and performers like her will have the coaching and the exposure they need to grow to the next level. She's the next Sheryl Crow, mark my words.

(And keep running, Maddie! Our run on the beach over spring break in Hilton Head was memorable and I am sure that you will handle all the pressures of college with this time you give your head to clear, letting new thoughts in. New songs and melodies. New ways of looking at life.)

The girls who inspire vivoGS are like solar power. I'm so proud of all of them.

My Big Girl goes to College

So, last weekend was the big weekend. You always think about the day your kid leaves for college, and you actually leave her there, and this was it.

Craig and I left her with her new freshmen teammates at the University of North Carolina in the soccer team locker room to sleep on air mattresses for two weeks, until the dorms open. Apparently, this is the tradition since the first freshman class that did this won 3 out of 4 national championships. Hey, I'm in full support of good luck and good juju.

I managed to keep it together until the car door closed. She had that same smile on her face that she did the first day I left her in her new kindergarten class in Mill Valley.

Bravery, courage, commitment.

She inspires me now, as I channel these same qualities to usher vivoGS to its higher level.

New York, Astia + girl athletes

This Astia conference here in NYC is unbelievable. The business we are building will benefit enormously from the wealth of knowledge and experience being bestowed upon Kathy and me.

Steve Blose, team photographer and dad on Kelly's semi-pro soccer team, the North Bay Wave, took fantastic photos of the team on Sunday and left me a voicemail today that we could surely use his photos on our site and in our marketing materials. More importantly, he said and I quote, "I didn't know a site like this existed and it is a dream come true." Kathy and I just got so fired up hearing that. His daughter, Alicia, is a rock star on the BC soccer team and I'm a huge fan of hers. They are good people so his compliment about vivoGS makes me happy.

We're building a consumer brand for this demographic that heretofore hasn't existed. Yes, there are sports brands, and girl brands, and women fitness brands, but no environment to acknowledge teenage and college girls for the "athletes" they are too. I put that in quotes b/c many girls tend to not think of themselves as "athletes" b/c the notion hasn't been very rewarded by society to date.

You can be feminine and attractive and get sweaty and strong too!

We're overwhelmed, having tons of fun and can't wait to see where it takes us.

Onward and upward.

Big Week in Sports and in vivoLand

So, I'm out of my mind thrilled about the Spain-Netherlands game tomorrow, as is the whole world, except maybe the US. Going to the farmer's market early tomorrow to get some good eats for friends coming over to help us cheer, analyze, cheer, analyze. I have to keep both of those activities to a minimum with Kelly and Darcy around which is understandable since they both know the intricacies of the sport better than I ever will. I wish they would provide me their own analysis of the plays more often!

Then you've got Lance still drumming up drama in the Tour de France, although he doesn't seem likely to win it this year. The Station des Rousses looked both beautiful and grueling today. I just love the polka dot jersey.

These are real men. Gorgeous athletes. Both the soccer players and the cyclists wear the most wonderfully bright, metrosexual uniforms to compete. I'm thinking our American men for the most part might find all the flair "sissified". Which speaks to their insecurity? What does my Canadian husband say about that, I wonder?

Watched with excitement to see what The Decision would be for LeBron. Yes, there was a lot of hype around his big moment, but it all became even bigger by Dan Gilbert's hate rant. How ironic...he should look up narcissism in the dictionary to see his own mug! http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/gilbert_letter_100708.html What do ya'll think of that tirade?

My own day included a 10-12-ish mile run with my friend Jonnie this morning, up the Railroad Grade to Summit to Sun Trail, back down the Dipsea steps. Felt so good to be in the fog, above the fog, back in the fog, and back to sun at home. Just spectacular. When I hear of my friend Mary Dean sweltering in the humid heat of Austin, TX, I am grateful for our natural AC here.

Everyone should read Predictably Irrational. It motivated me and Jonnie today to not do the routine run today. We all get into habits of behavior that aren't ever consciously or rationally decided, like going on the same route on your run each time. This conscious and rational decision to explore one of the million other awesome runs on Mt. Tam proved to be the highlight of my day.

I'm reconsidering many of my habits and working towards conscious decisions to refresh my brain each day. Our new home page launched today, which actually now that I think about it, tied for my favorite thing of the day. Hoorah for vivoGS! Onward and upward. Look for changes every week based on what the girls tell us they want, how they want it. Nearly 60,000 visitors to date from 50 states and 98 countries since the beta launched, and over 33,000 Facebook fans whose passion blows me away. Not going to celebrate until we hit our first major milestone of 100,000 monthly uniques.

I love sports and I love teenage and college girls. The girls are like solar power and they need a brand of their own.

Talk about breath of fresh air.

Ryanne's Riff

This summer our vivoGS interns are writing some incredible stuff. Thought I'd feature some of their articles that inspire me here. Is it weird that I feel that "game-day hunger" nearly every day? Constantly updating ourselves and challenging ourselves is what makes us alive. Don't ever get complacent or lose that youthful hunger for challenge. Thanks, Ryanne, for putting into words what college graduates everywhere are also going through.

As a recent college graduate, I have been spending my time soul-searching. Almost all my thoughts are devoted to the quest to find my passion in life. With my degree in hand, I feel lost and unsure of which direction to turn next. Nothing is pulling me like I had always assumed and expected it would.

These pressing thoughts and questions about my future have my brain working overtime and with little interruption—well, that is, other than from what I like to call “the side effects” of the rent-free living at home experience. Yes, that’s right, your mom can still make you clean your room at age 22.

In fact, cleaning my room seemed to be one of the most enlightening experiences that I have had during this post-grad era. As I cleared shelves and said a few tearful goodbyes to old rec-league trophies and medals, I came across a shoebox full of tattered papers. Having no recollection of ever putting or even seeing the box in my closet, I sat down on my bed to skim through the old papers.

Inside was a collection of letters that I used to write and pass out on game day to every member of the high school basketball team I captained. The letters were different every game but each one was meant to pump up the team and get the girls focused on the upcoming game. Always, the letters were signed with a heart and a #32.

As I read through the long letters—each emblazoned with a desperate fire to win, I realized that it wasn’t the writing style or even the nostalgia that had kept me seated and reading on the bed an hour later. It was the unedited and untainted passion that those words were written with.

In one bittersweet and fleeting moment, I realized that I was admiring that passion the way a 40 year-old woman admires the size of the jeans she wore in high school—with a longing for what once was.

I was passionate about my goals and ambitions. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind about what I wanted. I spent my time playing basketball and not only did I want to win but I needed to. It was the entirety of my livelihood.

In a way, that desperate passion is something that time has taken away from me. Life has become convoluted and clouded by uncertainty, experiences, new sets of ideals and principles and a 100x broader horizon of opportunity.

I am not the same as I was four years ago. I have grown up, learned new things and am constantly coming up with updated versions of myself.

Looking through that box of letters reminded me that while I can change and find new interests, I must find the passion that I once had. Playing basketball allowed me to experience the awesome power of passion and for that I am forever grateful to the sport.

And, while I may not be any closer to finding my niche now than I was before my sprint down memory lane, I have a new sense of direction since I was reminded of the passion that I am capable of feeling. Now I know that I must find something that makes me feel that game-day hunger again.

I’m determined to not stop until I do.