Monday morning I had the opportunity to visit Gatorade Headquarters with some fellow SportsMoms. The group included Lori Falcon from My Wooden Spoon, Carmen Staicer from Mom to the Screaming Masses, Char Polanosky from Sports Girls Play, Lisa Douglas from Crazy Adventures in Parenting, Kimberly Kauer from Tippy Toes and Tantrums, Alyssa Banko from Mommy Warriors, Lorraine Williams from Track Mom, and myself.
The office were as cool as one might expect for a company like Gatorade and the people behind the brand were terrific too. Our Sports Moms agenda for the day was a full one. I met and spoke with several people including Sarah Robb O’Hagan (President of Gatorade North America), Morgan Flatley (Senior Director, Marketing Communications), Jill Seibert (Marketing Manager, Advertising & Media), William Morris (Director of Mission Control), Jeff Kearney (Director of Marketing, Performance), Lisa Esposito (Scientist and Registered Dietician - GSSI), Lindsay Baker (Senior Scientist for GSSI), Nirvana Chapman (Scientist, Research & Development), and several folks from Gatorade's PR team including Jen Schmit and Katie Montiel.
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| Mission Control @ Gatorade |
I learned a lot during the course of the day. We discussed everything from basic Gatorade history to the science behind Gatorade products to Teen Athletic Insights. We also had the chance to try virtually every Gatorade product currently on the market. I'll have much info to share with readers and friends in the coming weeks, but the main thing I took away from Monday was simply that Gatorade gets it. They realize the role us Moms play in an athletes life. Gatorade knows that they wouldn't exist without athletes that could benefit from what their product can do and that many of those athletes wouldn't be participating in any sport without the support of someone like a Sports Mom behind them. In fact, it seemed like the majority of those people I listed above are SportsMoms (or Dads) too.
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| Wanda Pratt is the tallest woman in the middle. |
The special treat of the day was meeting the ultimate SportsMom, Wanda Pratt. Wanda is mother of NBA All-Star, Kevin Durant. What a lucky young man Kevin Durant is to have a woman like Wanda behind him! Wanda swelled up in motherly tears of pride a few times as she spoke of both of her athletic sons. While the Chicago Bulls will always be my favorite NBA team, my favorite player in the NBA just might have to be Kevin Durant. How can one not cheer for him after hearing directly from her how hard his mom worked to help him get there? Kevin, you be sure to get Mom a nice Mother's Day gift. She deserves it. See Wanda's SportsMoms video here for more of her inspirational tale.
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| "Borrowed" Jacket |
* Much thanks to Gatorade for providing me with this experience and information to share with readers including the transportation to Chicago, peaceful night's sleep at The Wit, and a few SportsMoms goodies to bring home. Note, I should make my 16 year old son write a separate thank you for the Gatorade track jacket he promptly "borrowed" from me for his meet within moments of my return. Thanks again!