Read the MAY ISSUE #125 of Athleisure Mag and see CHOCOLATE BEAUTY in mag.
The World Surf League’s Tour kicks off the season on Apr 1st for the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach and we can’t wait to see some phenomenal surfing. One of the competitors that we will have our eye on is Caroline Marks WSL Champion for 2023, Olympic Gold Medalist from Paris 2024 and is currently ranked World #2 for the 2025 season.
We wanted to know more about her love for surfing, how she came to it, and how she stays in shape when she is hitting those barrels! We also wanted to know more about her soon to be released Red Bull film, Now Days, her brand Pro Balance Brands, and her recent ambassadorship with Lexus!
ATHLEISURE MAG: It’s so great to connect with you!
CAROLINE MARKS: Hello! I’m currently over in Australia. I’m starting my season, actually the first day of the waiting period is tomorrow!
AM: It’s great to have you as this month’s cover!
CM: I’m really excited. You’ve had a couple people I know on the cover, so that’s pretty cool. I just surfed this morning, now I am talking with you, and then I will be back out surfing!
AM: We assumed!
What is your first memory of surfing and when did you fall in love with it?
CM: My first memory is pretty funny, because there’s actually a photo of it. I was in Costa Rica with my dad and I was on the front of his longboard. I was super young, maybe 3 years old. Then there’s another photo of me and I’m literally standing parallel and my borther’s like in the ackground and he’s kind of making that, “oh my gosh face.” I have a little bow in my hair and it’s pretty cute. I remember falling in love with it. It’s pretty funny because I surfed when I was little and then I actually got into horseback riding while growing up. I loved animals and stuff so I actually wanted to be a veterinarian when I was younger and then started barrel racing competitively, and did that until I was 10 and then didn’t really surf much then.
My oldest brother Luke was a competitive surfer so I kind of just thought surfing was his thing and I just kind of let him do his thing and I rode horses, and then I pretty much just wanted to impress my brothers really bad, and that’s why I started surfing. Then I remember when I was 11 years old, I was at the U12s Girls. There’s this event called USA Championships at Lower Trestles and it’s the biggest amateur event as a kid. All the best kids from Hawaii, all the east coast kids, and all the west coast kids come out and compete at Lowers and I ended up entering the event just because my brother was in it and I ended up winning. I was like, “whoa, I must be all right at this!” I just remember getting this big trophy and surfing all day and just having so much fun. I couldn’t believe this is a thing you can do you know? So, I remember from that moment forward, that I want to do this. This is so fun. So that’s where I really was like, I want to be a professional surfer. Wherever it takes me, I’m having so much fun.
AM: Not to say that there is, but is there a similarity or some kind of crossover between barrel racing and surfing for you?
CM: I mean, yeah, if you think about it, I was actually talking about this the other day in an interview, which is funny. I never thought of it like this, but you are on something that’s very out of your control. The ocean’s very, very out of your control. You’re on an animal and you don’t really know what it’s going to do. You can try to control it, but you really can’t. You know, they have a mind of their own.
I guess trying to go fast, like in surfing, going fast is a good thing. It’s like riding horses, that’s kind of like an art. And so certainly, you’re swerving around the barrels and in surfing, you’re riding the waves. I guess there is a little bit of crossover, more than I realized. So it’s pretty funny.
I’ve got some funny photos when I was like little. It was pretty classic.
AM: Obviously surfing on its own is a great sport, you know, for the total body to stay in shape. But what are work3outs that you do to optimize yourself in the sport?
CM: I love Pilates! Core and surfing is really important. I do a lot of lower leg work in surfing. Definitely having strong legs is really important because obviously you’re on the board a lot. I also love swimming because it’s just really good for your paddling and really good for your lungs and breathing and stuff. So those 3 things I do as well as cycle in between. Biking and swimming are kind of the things that I go back and forth between, but I mostly do Pilates and then just typical stuff in the gym with my trainers.
AM: What is your favorite maneuver when you’re surfing?
CM: This isn’t really a maneuver, but getting barreled is probably the ultimate feeling as a surfer!
AM: Oh wow!
CM: Oh yeah! You’re obviously in the tunnel of the waves.
AM: It looks so beautiful, but it looks so scary at the same time!
CM: Oh yeah, it is a bit of both for sure, but definitely getting barreled is something that’s just such an amazing feeling and then just doing a big frontside carve obviously just like laying into a big turn that always feels really good going really fast and just like laying into it. So those two things I like!
AM: You are a 2X Olympian who won a Gold medal in Paris. What has that meant to you to surf on such a global stage – you have had many stages, but what does it mean to do it for the Olympics?
CM: The Olympics, it doesn’t really get any bigger than that you know? It’s obviously a very global thing. It’s one of the only things that brings the whole world together. Not everyone knows about surfing, but everyone knows about the Olympics.
AM: Right.
CM: I was really proud to represent my country on that big of a stage and obviously to win. I mean, it’s just so incredible. It’s definitely the proudest moment in my career. I mean, it’s obviously about the world title. It’s hard to say one win for a WSL Championship versus the Olympics as both were the biggest dreams of mine as a little girl and the fact that I did both of them at 22 is pretty crazy! I am super grateful. It was amazing and it’s pretty hard to describe the feeling of being able to represent your country, but I’m really proud.
AM: Are you thinking about LA28?
CM: Of course! I want to be in as many Olympics as possible, but obviously, you know, LA28, it’s at a wave that’s like Lower Trestles. It’s 5 minutes from my house and obviously to be the hosting nation is just extra motivation because, it’s at home, which is pretty incredible. So I’m definitely thinking about it for sure.
AM: We can see you there! Anytime we’ve seen you surf, we can see you’re in your element and are just happy to be one with the water, it’s all zen and then we see you owning that barrel!
CM: Surfing has brought me everything really - a lot of the best moments of my life. I’ve met some of my best friends through surfing. The ocean is such a healing place for me, which is pretty cool to be able to say that about my job.
AM: Yeah.
CM: My career is - I just go in the ocean. Your day is instantly better, which is pretty amazing.
AM: You just mentioned at the top that the World Surf League Championship Tour kicks off its 50th season starting tomorrow for the first on-call day in Australia for the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach at Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia from Apr 1 – Apr 11th. What are you looking forward to as it kicks off?
CM: Yeah. I mean, first off, we’ve had our longest off-season of our career.
AM: Yeah.
CM: Just with them changing it around the schedule. It used to be - well way back, before it was my first couple years on tour it was April - December and then they switched it to January – September. It’s been that way for 5 years and now it’s back to April so in order for them to do that, we ended up having a 7 month long off season which for us, that’s a very long time. So usually our off season is pretty short compared to other sports. I think everyone’s just very excited because you haven’t really seen us in jerseys in a while! We also have some of the goats coming back like Carissa Moore and Stephanie Gilmore, which is amazing and they also extended the Women’s Tour, so there’s a lot of like milestones that have been broken this year already! I think everyone’s just really excited to see what happens. I have no doubt it’s just going to be a firework of a year. So I’m pretty excited.
AM: What’s your favorite one on the WSL Tour?
CM: Well, that’s a hard one. I know.
AM: We ask the tough questions!
CM: It’s a hard one. I mean, Cloudbreak’s pretty incredible. It’s such an incredible wave. Jeffreys Bay, which actually is not on tour this year, but it’s in South Africa, that’s another iconic one. Tahiti, obviously, just from winning the Gold there. I just have a lot of great memories there. And then Lower Trestles, of course. Lowers and Tahiti are probably my favorites, just with Lowers being in my backyard. It’s just such a fun wave. But it’s hard because everywhere has such beautiful things about it. But I’d say Lowers is probably my favorite wave on tour.
AM: Clearly you travel around the world to different places quite frequently. Are there 3 items that you tend to take with you to make any city or stop kind of feel like home?
CM: I mean, definitely. I’m not really one to bring a pillow. We just have so much stuff. We have our board bag, all of our clothes, and stuff like that. But I think just like a shirt from home, something I sleep in at home, just bringing it on the road. It’s the little things like that which kind of make me feel more at home or your favorite coffee cup or whatever things just make you feel more homey. But I feel like I’ve gotten so used to traveling that I’m able to adapt to it pretty quickly. I do travel with an eye mask. That’s something I do travel with to sleep on the planes with. That’s important. But nothing too crazy. Actually, this year my sister-in-law packed me a good luck charm in my bag so I just leave it in my luggage and it goes everywhere I go which is pretty cool!
AM: You definitely know it’s always there because it’s just in the luggage waiting to go.
CM: Exactly! i just leave it in there and it’s a little good luck charm which is kind of cool. I’m not too much of a creature of habit in that sense. I kind of just go with the flow.
AM: We had the pleasure of watching the screener for Now Days right before chatting with you. This is such a great film and so enjoyable to watch. It’s shot beautifully and it’s really great to see the 6 of you being able to navigate the waves and to tell your story. You recently had an event for this here in NY even though the film debuts in May. Why did you love being part of this film and what can you tell us about this?
CM: Thank you so much. I’m stoked you got to watch it. First off, there hasn’t been an all female surf film since 2011 and that was Leave a Message. That film left such an impact on me and I know it has for many other girls. It was so cool to see that. As much as it sounds simple to do, an all-female star film, it’s so difficult to get everyone together. We all have crazy schedules from different countries. We’re also each other’s biggest rivals.
AM: Right.
CM: That’s another thing that’s pretty funny, but I’m just really proud of it. I think, you know, obviously hopefully it inspires the next generation. And I feel like... that’s kind of our job in this generation is to inspire the next one and to push this forward and grow this forward and that’s what the generations did before us! That’s why we have equal pay. The girls in this film and this generation, I feel like we just had very good timing. All the girls before us that fought for this and for us and so now this film hopefully inspires the next generation to go harder and to push more. I’m really confident in that and I’m just really proud of it you know? It’s like two and a half years in the making coming to Red Bull and anything they put their hands on is pretty special. I knew the surfing was going to be amazing, but I also love how it tells a story of “hey, we all obviously want to win.
Surfing is a very cutthroat individual sport, but we also like pushing each other in a healthy environment and we are all good friends.” You know, I see these girls more than my family most of the year.
AM: Yeah.
CM: I’m with them so much. So, it really shows that. And we’re all able to relate to each other in a way that we probably won’t with our other friends, because we live this exact same life. So, yeah, I’m super proud of it and I just hope that the young girls, young guys, whoever watches it is just really inspired and wants to go surfing. It’s pretty cool to see the fruits of the labor because it definitely was a lot of work, but it was worth it!
AM: 100%! One of the things we like most about Red Bull films is when they have a number of individuals within the same sport, like Mark McMorris who was our cover this past December, he had just debuted PAVED.
CM: Yeah.
AM: It’s incredible to see people in a sport, but to see the individuality as well as the things that bind them together, it’s just so cool. We don’t surf; however, living in NY we love the surfing culture in Rockaway and Long Beach. It’s so cool to see how surfers show drive, grace, and flow which is what is evident in this film. People are going to enjoy it once it premieres.
CM: Thanks so much! I hope so. There’s definitely been even for this event, there’s been a lot of people asking about it, which has been really cool to see the hype around it. You know, it was something that was out of my comfort zone. Like I’ve always been so just hyper focused on competing and winning. That’s really what it takes in order to win. So this was cool because it was something that was new to me and different. I’ve never done a film like this before. So I was really proud of that.
AM: Well, you also just became a surf ambassador for Lexus, which is awesome. Why are you excited about this partnership? And why did you feel it was synergistic to your brand?
CM: Yeah, I mean, first off, Lexus makes such cool cars. And one of my friends, Griffin Colapinto, he got signed a year prior to me.
AM: Another cover of ours.
CM: Yeah! So I think just seeing the car and seeing how it fits my lifestyle, it’s a great combination between, sporty and luxury - I really like that. I like how they celebrate that. Also just getting to know everyone behind Lexus, everyone’s really cool. It’s a very family-oriented vibe, and I come from a big family, so I really love that. And so... I feel like it was a great partnership. I got one here in Australia with me and everyone’s like, nice car, nice wheels. I’m getting all the compliments on it.
AM: Wow.
CM: It’s pretty cool. I got to roll to the first event in style, it looks so cool.
AM: We have a Lexus SUV which is great because sometimes for the magazine between photography gear, styling items, transporting the team to shoots or even doing an event with goodie bags, you need to be able to carry everything – it needs to be fashionable, but you want to be able to get to where you have to go with everything in one piece.
CM: Absolutely. I feel like it fits all my boards. It fits wetsuits, everything I need. And also like it’s comfortable and it’s safe and it’s sturdy. And I also just love it aesthetically. I love and have the GX 550. I love the way it looks. So that’s also a bonus. I’m proud to drive the car. So yeah, it’s awesome.
AM: Well, what does the partnership look like in terms of what can we expect to see you doing with them and with the car? What will that look like from a consumer side?
CM: So Griffin and I, we’re going to do some collab videos here. We’re both in Australia, which will be pretty fun. So there’s a lot of beautiful beaches here, a lot of great scenery. So stay tuned for a cool video with that. And obviously, you know, I’m going to be traveling a lot this year. But wherever they provide me a car, we’re going to be providing content. Lexus sponsors the U.S. Open, so I look forward to seeing what they have in store for this year’s event. I think I’m doing a signing with them. We have great things coming up. And yeah, I’m really excited about it.
AM: Clearly you’re a business person as an athlete and someone who has a number of sponsors, and you have added to your portfolio by creating your own brand, Pro Balance Bands. Tell us about this and why did you want to launch it?
CM: Thanks for asking. It’s cool. My dad, he’s very business-minded. He comes from that background. He taught me a lot about that side of the world, which is really cool. I really trust his opinion. I think after the Gold medal, we kind of thought, how do we capitalize on this? The bands felt so natural to me and and my main thing was, I travel a lot and I don’t want to put a product out that I can’t travel with because most of my life is on the road, So the bands feels so perfect. I’ve also been training with them since I started working out way more consistently in 2019, my second year on tour and that was the year I made the first Olympics. I just use bands everywhere and I bring them everywhere I go. They come in like a little pouch. It’s great and you can do a lot with bands so it felt so natural and it’s been really fun.
It’s my first time starting a company and obviously I have a lot of help doing it, but, it’s been really cool and all the bands are really good material. I use them every single day. So it’s great. You’ll see me if you watch the webcast warming up with them. So I’m really proud of it and it’s been going good so far. I think we’re going to come out with some new products as well.
AM: Nice.
CM: We started with the bands, but we’re going to keep adding more things in. We also have weekly videos of myself, my brother, our other ambassadors doing videos as well. My trainer too, he does videos, which is cool. So if you want to know how I train, you just go on the website Pro Balance Bands or on our YouTube. It’s exciting and I’m enjoying it. It’s been fun.
AM: Well, when you’re not on tour or shooting campaigns or doing all these different things, how do you take time for yourself just to have a moment to yourself?
CM: Honestly, I’m a pretty simple girl. I love just being with my friends whether it’s as simple as, you know, going to get a coffee or going out for dinner or watching the sunset. Things like that bring me a lot of joy. I think just kind of being in one place and being with good people - I call it my “feel good people.” When you’re around people you really know, there’s no effort.
AM: Exactly.
CM: You end up leaving hanging out with them with more in your battery - it becomes more full. It’s how I recharge. And I also do love my own alone time as well. I just love whether that’s just sitting on my couch at home or just going for a drive, that’s also really therapeutic to me as well or going on a beach walk or whatever. Things like that sound really silly, but that’s kind of how, what helps me unwind and I love that.
AM: Being that you’re in that next generation of surfers, you’re trailblazing, you’ve gotten all these different awards and accolades. What do you want your legacy to be seen as in this sport or even in life?
CM: I mean, I just really want girls and people in general to be inspired. I love surfing. It’s really fun to me and I hope I kind of give off that persona. I just want to leave a legacy of being hardworking, but also enjoying your life too. You know, it can’t always just be like work, work, work like this. We live such an amazing life and we should enjoy it. And there’s more to it than surfing too. We’re in these different countries. We’re in different cultures. It’s really cool. Obviously surfing is what brought me here. But there’s so much more than that. And I think hopefully I can leave a legacy of just a really positive outlook on life, surfing, and fun. I hope that makes sense.
AM: It does. We always think about that when you’re doing stuff, especially now that obviously we live in an age where people can see stuff socially, you’re touching corners of the world that someone who grew up that isn’t living your life or experiences personally, they can envision that for themselves. Maybe if it’s not that same thing, but something similar and it just creates a spark and wonder. So that’s really cool.
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | FRONT COVER. PG 16 ,PD 24, PG 26 Ed Sloane/World Surf League | PG 19 Tony Heff/World Surf League | PG 20, PG 29 Brent Bielmann/World Surf League | PG 22 ROXY | PG 30 Ryan Miller/Red Bull Content Pool | PG 33 USA Surfing | PG 34 Domenic Mosqueira/Red Bull Content Pool | PG 36 Nathan Adams/ Red Bull Content Pool | PG 38 Marcelo Marafni | BACK COVER CHAMPION |
Read the MAR ISSUE #123 of Athleisure Mag and see SURFING THE DREAM | Caroline Marks in mag.
Gym style in 2026 is less uniform than it looked two years ago. A January 9, 2026, trend report from Who What Wear pointed to layering tops, do-it-all separates, and sharper trainer choices, while Nike’s current NikeSKIMS page splits the offer into Matte, Shine, Airy, and Weightless instead of pushing one flat set formula. That tells the story early: people still want performance, but they also want pieces that survive the commute, the coffee stop, and the 6 p.m. grocery run.
PHOTO CREDIT | Pexels/Cottonbro Studio
The old head-to-toe set has not disappeared, but it no longer controls the room. Spring dressing now leans on a bra top under a light zip layer, a cropped shell over leggings, or a fitted tank that can sit under a blazer after a 7 a.m. session. Vogue’s late-2025 styling note on hoodies, windbreakers, sweatpants, and black leggings still reads correctly in April 2026 because the practical pieces are the ones people keep reaching for when the weather moves from 11°C in the morning to a warmer afternoon.
Layering is not decoration; it is function. The strongest spring looks use one breathable base, one easy top layer, and a shoe that does not look stranded outside the gym, which is why light anoraks and half-zips are holding ground in city wardrobes from New York to London. A small detail matters here: the best outfits keep the hem clean and the neckline simple, because once drawstrings, oversized logos, and contrast piping pile up, the outfit starts reading as kit rather than clothing.
Footwear is doing more of the work once handled by loud leggings. Reuters reported on March 3, 2026, that On posted a 23% rise in annual sales and expected its gross profit margin to reach 63%, which helps explain why performance-running silhouettes are still driving the conversation. At the same time, Who What Wear’s February 21, 2026, trainer report tracked retro shapes, gum soles, cobalt blue, and patent finishes around Dakota Johnson’s off-duty rotation. Trainers carry the look now.
The gym outfit no longer lives only in the locker room mirror. It is chosen on a 6.1-inch phone screen, judged in motion on a train platform, and compared against ten other looks between a score alert and a grocery order. In that same phone-first routine, online betting sits beside live scores, fitness apps, and retail checkouts as another short-burst behavior built around speed, visibility, and frictionless taps. The brands that understand this are building wardrobes for people who move between a reformer class, a Champions League highlight clip, and an evening walk without wanting a full change in between.
Autumn is when silhouettes start to separate the good wardrobes from the lazy ones. Who What Wear’s December 27, 2025, roundup put bootcut, chocolate brown, stirrup, and split-hem leggings on the 2026 map, and those shapes make sense because they sit better with trench coats, bombers, and longer knits than the old ankle-hugging default. Another clue arrived on February 26, 2026, when adidas announced its first collaboration with Simone Rocha in London: track jackets and sporty separates were no longer being framed as pure performance gear, but as pieces with enough structure to leave the studio and keep going.
Fit errors are punished more quickly now because buyers zoom in, scroll, and compare before they ever touch the fabric. Reuters reported on January 22, 2026, that Lululemon resumed online sales of its Get Low workout line after complaints that the leggings turned see-through when bending or squatting, and that the company changed its sizing guidance rather than the $108 tights themselves. That is why MelBet bd apk belongs in the same broader mobile conversation as interval timers, live-score alerts, and shopping apps: users judge all of them by speed, clarity, and how few dead taps stand between intent and action. Fabric matters.
Cold-weather gym dressing is still won by the boring items that do their job. A straight black legging, a decent crew sock, a clean fleece, and an outer shell that can handle wind at 8 a.m. still beat novelty once the temperature drops and daylight disappears before the return walk home. Fit decides. The pieces that keep earning wear from February into October are usually the ones that do not ask for attention, only repetition.
PHOTO CREDIT | Freepik
Hair fall is one of those problems that creeps up quietly. You notice a few extra strands on your pillow, then more in the shower drain, and before long you're standing in a shampoo aisle completely overwhelmed. With hundreds of options promising "instant results" and "clinically proven formulas," it's hard to know what actually works — and what's just clever packaging.
Here's the truth: no shampoo alone will stop hair fall. But the right one, used consistently and chosen wisely, can make a real difference when it's part of a broader approach.
Why Most Shampoos Don't Actually Help
The biggest misconception about anti-hair fall shampoos is that they work like a treatment. They don't. A shampoo sits on your scalp for two to three minutes before being rinsed off. That's not enough time to penetrate the follicle, fix a hormonal imbalance, or correct a nutritional deficiency.
What shampoos can do is clean the scalp properly, reduce inflammation, strengthen the hair shaft, and create a better environment for hair to grow. That's not nothing — a congested, irritated scalp is a real barrier to healthy hair. But it means you need to pick a shampoo based on what your scalp actually needs, not just what sounds impressive on the label.
Ingredients That Dermatologists Actually Recommend
When experts suggest shampoos for hair fall, they're usually looking for a specific set of ingredients that are backed by evidence. Here's what to look for:
● Biotin: Supports keratin production and strengthens hair from the inside of the strand. Often added to shampoos to reduce breakage.
● Ketoconazole: An antifungal agent that also has mild DHT-blocking properties, making it useful for androgenic hair loss.
● Caffeine: Has been shown in studies to stimulate hair follicles and counteract the effect of DHT at the scalp level.
● Saw Palmetto: A plant-based DHT blocker that's gentler than pharmaceutical options and increasingly common in hair care formulas.
● Salicylic acid or zinc pyrithione: Help manage scalp buildup, dandruff, and seborrheic dermatitis — all of which can contribute to hair fall if left untreated.
Understanding what role each ingredient plays helps you choose more intelligently rather than chasing the most buzzworthy label.
The Role of Biotin in Shampoo Formulas
Biotin has become one of the most talked-about ingredients in hair care, and for good reason. It's a B-vitamin that plays a key role in the health of your hair, skin, and nails. When applied topically through shampoo, it coats the hair shaft and helps reduce breakage and brittleness — which is often mistaken for actual hair fall.
That said, biotin in a shampoo is not the same as addressing a biotin deficiency internally. If you're curious about how biotin works at a deeper level and whether it can genuinely help with shedding, it's worth reading up on biotin for hair fall to get a clearer picture. Most people who benefit from biotin-enriched shampoos are those with fine, fragile hair or heat-damaged strands — not those experiencing hormonal or stress-related shedding.
How to Use a Shampoo Correctly for Best Results
Even the best shampoo won't help if you're using it wrong. A few habits that genuinely matter:
● Massage the shampoo into your scalp using your fingertips, not your nails. This boosts circulation and helps the formula reach the follicle.
● Leave it on for at least two to three minutes before rinsing — most people wash it off too quickly.
● Don't shampoo every day unless you have an oily scalp. Over-washing strips natural oils and can worsen shedding.
● Use lukewarm water, not hot. Hot water dries out the scalp and weakens hair roots over time.
● Follow up with a conditioner applied only to the mid-lengths and ends, not the scalp.
What a Root-Cause Approach Actually Looks Like
A shampoo is one piece of a larger puzzle. Persistent hair fall usually has an underlying cause — it could be low ferritin levels, thyroid dysfunction, scalp inflammation, chronic stress, or DHT sensitivity. Washing your hair with the right product helps, but it won't fix what's happening internally.
Some treatment approaches, like Traya Shampoo For Hair Fall, are designed to work as part of a holistic system that looks at diet, lifestyle, and internal health alongside topical care. That kind of layered thinking is what tends to produce lasting results rather than temporary improvement.
Final Thoughts
The right shampoo does matter — but not in isolation. Think of it as one supportive layer in a system that also includes nutrition, stress management, and understanding the specific reason your hair is falling in the first place. Before you invest in yet another bottle with bold claims, take a step back and ask what your scalp actually needs. That question, more than any ingredient, is where the real answer lives.
We spent an afternoon with Deborah Czeresko at Brooklyn Glass making three of her acclaimed and well-sought after Forgotten Potatoes with her, and her assistant Em. An acclaimed NYC-based artist and designer, Deborah is best known for her work with glass. She won the inaugural season of Netflix’s Blown Away glass competition show in 2019, where contestants compete in glassblowing challenges for prizes and the title of champion. Her work challenges societal norms with elegant, sophisticated and often whimsical themes rooted in gender and feminism. Her work has been shown in Corning Museum of Glass and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
We love how she is such a deep thinker and super creative in speaking is art and metaphor. An extremely thoughtful and determined creative, we were honored to spend working time together to truly embrace the elegant fierce fragility that glass blowing presents at this top level. It was truly exciting to see her in action and hear her stories about past, present and future projects.
We first met her and her lovely partner, Three, on the eve of our January Cover drop, where we enjoyed Diageo’s legendary Burn’s Supper Night in NYC together, complete with Haggis, Poetry & Song, Bagpipes, and a medley of favorite Scottish Whiskey’s Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Oban Single Malt, Buchanan’s Blended Scotch Whiskey, and more.
ATHLEISURE MAG: You said glass was your first love, what were those first moments for you?
DEBORAH CZERESKO: It felt like a real true love. Like when you just are instantly attracted to something. It’s sort of fourth dimensional on some undefinable plane what you’re feeling, this kind of attraction, because it combines all the things you don’t know about yourself necessarily at that time. Like when I was younger and why was this material for me? It seemed kind of mystical and magical [and] what I didn’t know is the intelligence that I had in connecting to it in a physical way and in a conceptual way. I mean, now I can intellectualize it, but then I was just instinct-driven.
AM: And you knew it off the bat or within, say the first month - or looking back now, you’re saying that?
DC: Oh no. The moment I saw the glass, hot glass, I knew this was for me. So, first of all, you’re sculpting a fluid. That’s not like sculpting any other material. The stuff is flowing… [i]t’s a weird way to think that you’re actually sculpting a liquid. It’s the weirdness of how you sculpt this and the weirdness of the material itself. The material seems otherworldly when it’s hot, so it’s like lava. I was really attracted to the fact that this stuff seems so atypical and not stereotypical as a medium, really. So it definitely feels magical.
AM: So what does glass allow you to say that other materials wouldn’t let you do?
DC: Well, I touched on the fluidity, and also it’s transparency. So that’s something you can’t find in that many materials. So anything having to do with transparency and fluidity and this moving from different states in this particular way, in the middle of kind of a binary - it’s not soft and it’s not hard - it’s a fluid. So it’s constantly moving and even in its perceived state, when it’s cold it’s called a super cooled liquid, so I think you can say anything with glass they can say with any other material, but with glass I think the fluidity, and it inherently brings fragility on one side and then fierceness on the other.
And then at some point it becomes permanent. So when you’re working on it you’re able to go from A to B, and then a number of stops, and then you’re in control and you’re changing things. But at some point you lose control, right? At some point it’s beyond adapting, like after placing it in the annealer. The minute it’s in the annealer, you can’t then take the glasswork and put it back in the fire and remold it again right, so at some point you lose control.
I would say if we were having a dialogue with this material, it’s more like speaking this material’s language. It’s not going to speak our language, it’s not human, and when you can’t be receptive enough to learn about this material as it is [ultimately] going to take control. It’s going to dominate as dominant material, and that’s one thing about it in its property. It doesn’t look that way, it’s so demure in a way when you just look at a glass thing like a huge hunk of 100 pound glass could look like an enormous ghost, but it’s this massive thing that has these strengths you can’t even see and it’s just demanding that you sort it in a soft way to to be at one with it, rather than collaborate withn it.
AM: So how do you approach a project? What are some of the steps you take initially? Generally what do major project timelines look like?
DC: For my own artwork project or one initiated by a prompt of some sort, like as in the case of the large piece I did for the public school called “Everybody’s Gotta Eat,” in that case, I was told where the piece would be going. So it’s going to a public school for grades 1-6 outside of the school cafeteria. And so, the other criterion was to be significant and relevant for 100 years, and immediately that’s very intimidating. How could anything I say or do be relevant for 100 years, when the world is changing so rapidly at this point? I don’t know what demographic of person is going to be there, or even if the school is going to be a public school for that long. Let’s assume it is, so then I have to fit within those boundaries, but that’s a pretty open criteria. So I start thinking about the dialogue and the vernacular. I’ve started to create with my own work and how that can fit into that parameter. In that case, I submitted an initial idea and was asked to modify that idea because they really wanted the idea to be primarily glass. I submitted an idea that had a lot of metal in it because the project was so large and had to take up so much space. And glass is rather expensive, well so is metal, but I tried to occupy the space in other ways than just glass objects. So I started to think in terms of those limitations, and also financial in that situation. So that’s a commissioned piece.
Now, in the case of my own imagination, without any limits, I’m thinking about what I’m going to make all the time. I never am not thinking about those ideas and how what I want to put forward conceptually can be connected to some kind of form. And in recent years, I’ve been doing realistic forms, like eggs, for example, I’ve become synonymous with the egg. What kind of symbolism does that have? Is it enough to just put that egg out there? Do I have to do some kind of action to the egg? And so, as I’m going through the world, that’s how I get my creative ideas. That’s when I’m in the most, I think, creative mindset. I’m just influenced by New York. I’m in New York. It’s so beautiful and filled with art, like we walk down the street and we see graffiti and we see shoppers putting their potato chips in designer ways in their windows and entire shops making beautiful installations with their tires and hubcaps. I just feel like that’s part of me too, like my how I live in New York as that’s my world. So I try to do the similar things with the glass, like as if I were a storefront in New York with food. I try to tell my story here or what I think is relevant. I’m more like a miner. I’m mining for things constantly around me.
So you kind of have that page open, and it’s kind of like a piece of your personality where you’re thinking of ways for storytelling and expression that can always happen through this medium.
It just feels good so like being in that zone, I mean when I really connect, I really feel like I have an idea that is meaningful and just running on all cylinders, that’s when I feel the best, honestly.
AM: Oh, that’s cool. How often would you say that has happened?
DC: I don’t know. That’s more rare. It’s like to really nail it. I think the piece that would be the most iconic piece for me would be the Meat Chandelier that’s in the Corning Museum of Glass. I feel like I nailed it there. Sometimes that gets in the way of finishing a piece though, because once I already feel like I did it, then the assemblage becomes the hardest part, because then the most fun part of thinking I nailed it is over. So now it’s an aesthetic and a construction problem, rather than a conceptual problem. And that’s a different energy process. And it’s more like vacuuming. You have to make sure we’re cleaning the dishes. You have to make sure how to build something. It’s a different kind of energy than creative energy, I think with the installations because there’s a lot of other problems to solve, which aren’t right. The fun icing on the cake part.
AM: So what part would you say is the most fun? Is it thinking of it, making it, or having it up where people can enjoy it?
DC: I think on both ends of the spectrum here, like having it up and having people enjoy it is really satisfying to know that it’s done. And if I get to the point where I’ve actually thought of something, I think I like to have nailed it. That’s the most satisfying. The making part, it’s not as satisfying as those two things, honestly.
AM: Let’s talk about making it. So there, I was with you and your assistant Em making three Forgotten Potatoes at Brooklyn Glass, and there’s a lot to it in setting it up, making it, and constantly working and re-working it. There’s a lot of physical movement. So do you stretch before you start and do you work out certain areas to be more inclined to doing that? Tell me about the athleticism behind it, and also you started out wanting to be an athlete?
DC: I think that was one of the things that clicked for me in being attracted to glass. I wanted to be in a physical medium and I wanted to be in a creative medium. I wanted to express myself through my body, but not as a dancer. So, because that is something that was very intimidating to me, like rhythm and dancing, but I knew I was very physical. What material is going to incorporate that aspect of me is something I was asking without asking. I would say I wasn’t as conscious of it as I am now, but it’s obvious now why I was really attracted to this material. So challenging! It’s just like a feeling that you can’t get anywhere else really to work with glass in a variety of ways.
So [about] the athleticism, I was in high school sports and college sports, and it’s interesting to have an equal part athleticism and creativity with what you are going to do with that and how it is going to manifest. What is that going to make you in your life, and so I guess I found it by mistake. So I do prep and I make sure my body is in condition to work. So I work out in a gym doing strength training. Strength training is the best thing for prepping for this type of activity. I mean, glass can be easy physically, but it depends what you’re really going for here. If you’re doing a large production and making a thousand pieces in a day, that’s going to be physical in one way, versus a really large piece that weighs like 50 pounds. It’s going to be physical in a different way. Or you could just be a hobbyist and just make one thing a day and not really need to prep your body at all. But I don’t work every day. So I don’t want to go in there after not working and not be conditioned or ready to go. So it involves a lot, especially in the heat.
AM: So what gym do you workout in?
DC: I just recently moved to Crunch South Slope. It’s in Brooklyn, two blocks from the studio I’ve been training with a friend of mine, one of my people I work with to make glass. His name’s Alex Kruger. He’s a trainer at Crunch. It’s really cool because how often you get a trainer that’s also a glassblower, so it’s a pretty special situation right - he knows exactly what touch points help you and how I can do the workout and still be functional the next day. We’re doing a lot of higher reps.
AM: What kind of music do you listen to in the studio? Today we heard a lot of Buena Vista Social Club, which we absolutely love! So I was very happy. So what kind of music?
DC: I do like dance disco. I like Purple Disco Machine. They’re good. Groovy. Anything that goes well in hot weather actually does work well in the hot shop. Something with good vibes, something just open. Having good music, I think, is important doing art. I’m also influenced by my studio mate who’s over there. He’s Colombian, and so he does a lot of Latin beats and I like Celia Cruz, that came with that. I think it’s just such a lovely rhythm to work in glass with like and some people come in and try to play things like heavy metal and what not, but it doesn’t really go. It makes the time pass much slower, when you don’t have a good rhythm going.
AM: So what are some of the works you would say you’re most well known for?
DC: I would say there’s three. The one that sort of put me on the map, I think, as an artist was the Meat Chandelier, which is in the Corning Museum Collection. And that started my dialogue with using food and consumables and everyday objects as kind of a vernacular that I talk in with these objects. And that one was specifically sort of a critique of the hot shop that we work in and the patriarchy in general, and this patriarchal world of trying to enter in as somebody other than someone of the patriarchy. So it was a play [on that]. I always like to put a little humor in my work. So I see both sides of this coin on this. Like so many people have helped me of all genders, and so many people have hated me of all genders. So I’m kind of in the middle, but it’s a place where physicality matters and typically people working larger pieces are guys, so it by it’s very nature and we’re talking here specifically, about sculpting glass, not in factories and production in those situations, it’s almost all men.
So, like when I went to Italy, there are no women working on the pipe. By pipe, I mean blowpipe. There’s maybe an assistant helping somebody, but that is really still separated as far as genders go and glass making, outside of the studio glass movement of America and other countries. So this is an art scene, which is different, but it still has that aspect to it. Who gets the jobs? It tends to be the guys, whatever. It’s better in my world because I’m an artist and it’s an art world, but I’m also speaking about the world in general in my work. So that is real.
AM: So what are a couple of the other pieces you would say you’re most well-known for?
DC: Another piece would be the piece I just recently finished last year, which was “Everybody’s Got To Eat,” that is in the public school. It’s one of my bigger works. And I feel like it was sort of a sweet and delicate piece in a way where it’s made for children, and also in a way it’s made for everybody because more than just children go through a public school. People love to eat, as do I, [but] maybe not at the school cafeteria, but it’s 24 fruits and vegetables from around the world representing different worldly cultures. There was a limit and how many I could make due to the financial scope of the project, but I tried to get different regions of the world represented through their fruits and vegetables, including things like New York, an apple, and that represents school and an apple. Then there’s things like an avocado, which represents South America, but also hipsterdom. So these vegetables and fruits have dual meanings sometimes, and who can see themselves in there because they gave another task requirement of being relevant for a hundred years. I mean, it’s a tough one.
AM: I see it. I’m looking at it online now. Wow.. That’s beautiful.
DC: And then it’s really kind of touching to see - you can tell they’re handmade and supposed to be inspiring to people to see that you can make these things with your own two hands in the world of AI and Technology, and have these handmade things in front of students. I think it’s really meaningful to connect them to the planet in some way, in their own bodies. So all that’s in there. And make them feel special that it’s there for them, right?
AM: So it seems like there’s a realistic meets artistic formula that I’m looking at through this project where there’s some surrealism, right? But then some practical vision of what it would look like. And you’re balancing that in the piece.
DC: Yeah, I think that this idea of creating a vernacular is really important to me as an artist - like what is this piece and who are you just putting a dragon fruit out there?
AM: I like that one! Looks very challenging, with all the green around it. Now that I got to see all the intensity it took for the sprouts of the Forgotten Potatoes. Wow, I really like the corn too.
DC: Yeah, that was another challenging one. See, this is a public school project, so the budget wasn’t huge, but it was a decent budget. But I really needed four or five people per piece. That’s a 50-pound corn, and I had a team of three. So for glass, that’s a reasonable-sized team. But for that piece, each corn kernel was brought in a wrap. So one person had to bring all those wraps, whereas I formed all the reps. So we divide into teams, where one person’s bringing the wraps; one person’s on the main blow pipe reheating keeping the piece hot doing all the forming; so if we had another person at least, that would have been helpful. But it really wasn’t in the cards for that project.
AM: See, it’s good you said it was 50 pounds because from looking at the image hung up, I don’t know if it gives the sense someone would know.
DC: Well, to get the texture of getting the corn kernels… I have to solve some technical problems about how I’m going to get all those kernels on there without applying each one individually. So we put on glass wraps that are vertical wraps that are rolled in powder color I divide out with a tool. I then crimp the kernels into it and it creates a personal style I think you can identify that piece kind of as something I made because I choose to work in this style and this level of detail a lot. I could spend the entire day putting every kernel on individually, but I do not need to do I so. One of the maestros I studied with would do that. His demos were excruciatingly long. His name was Pino Signoretto. He was my most influential maestro that I studied with. And he’s so detail-oriented and could work on all different scales. I think he was just an amazing, like, approaching God of Glass, honestly. He could make things other people couldn’t make at the furnace, that is.
AM: So to get the corn, for example, looking that way, did you study corn for a while to look at kernels? And how long would you do that for? Or is this something you would look at really quickly and then put your spin on it?
DC: Oh, I pull up images of corn. I mean, they’re all over my desktop. Like when I’m making a corn, I print them out. I bring in corn to work from. I eat a lot of corn. I just want to know about corn. You live your work. I grew corn in my garden…
AM: So when you see corn now, do you think of corn and that project?
DC: Oh yeah. That’s in my garden. I love corn though. Bi-colored is harder to make as the two colors for each kernel are applied separately.
AM: So tell me about how the Egg series you started. And being in your studio, I saw a whole bunch of Eggs dripping all over. So tell me about the Eggs!
DC: So the Egg pieces, I would say this is the third piece that really defines me as an artist’s third installation. But that happened on TV. That happened on the finale of the Netflix competition show Blown Away. So the prompt there was to make your ultimate art exhibit or something really high there, like something amazing, fantastic, unduplicatable, like just your most amazing piece of art ever! So, with these parameters where we had to fit into that space and you only get so much time to make it, I start to think about some of the pieces I had previously made and what aspects of those concepts I wanted to focus on. So within that, the egg came about because I had the Meat Chandelier in the back of my mind - I knew it couldn’t make a chandelier, but I could use the egg as a metaphor for a female and aspects of what it means to be a female in the world of art into my final finale of the show. This gender inequality, like my feminist side in art, because I’m an artist and a feminist, and I like to make food and glass - so I’m like, how can I make this a meaningful statement? So I started to think of a classic art pedestal, so saying it’s good finally taking over the art world starting to become equal, or the egg not aggressively, but oozing over and in a different way creating a stand in the art world that’s equal to males. Then i also wanted to play on queerness and gender bending and that’s where the frying pan comes in. It’s obviously everything’s glass, but the frying pan is cast iron as very male. But the egg, it was the primary character. Without the egg, there would be no installation.
AM: So what brought you to that show? So you applied or you were asked to join the competition show? What was it like to be on the show and win Blown Away S1 on Netflix?
DC: It was intense to be on it and intense to win it. The structure was where we had to create a new project every three days and it was from a prompt, like creating a floral, or a biological with the human body and moving through space. So they would give us a prompt and then we would have a little bit of time to come up with an answer for that, and we would be in our own hotel rooms doing this. It’s a lot of pressure to have to get on camera the next day and produce. First of all, come up with the idea before you go to bed that night, and then present it the next day in drawings on camera. So it was 10 episodes of forced creativity in a way, but what I learned about myself from that is to actually function really well in that regard when I have a deadline and I have to produce.
AM: Yep. I know what you’re saying. Urgency to Deliver - I’m going to deliver. It’s like a diamond, right? Under pressure, you’re going to produce and maybe not the same every time, but often you’re going to nail it really way and often win!
DC: Yeah. When we first got on there, I had [to look at] space to organize or deal with, like space is a luxury. Time is a luxury and I have it, and I’m like, Oh My God, why am I not more productive when I have all this time to get my Corning residency together? Why am I not doing this in a way that I’ll just get it over with? It lingers. But if you told me tomorrow I’d have to get in there and tell them exactly what to do, I would be up all night figuring it out.
AM: Did you know of anyone else on the show? Were you familiar with any other competitor?
DC: Actually, I only knew one other person, which surprised me.
AM: What was your experience on the show as far as winning? Did your career change after that? What were the effects after being announced the winner?
DC: It was remarkable. Like the effect was kind of like a wave. I got on the top of a wave and it just took me. I wasn’t doing anything. Part of the prize of winning this was that the Corning Museum Store would buy $10,000 worth of my work. But it wasn’t necessarily art. The store sells collectibles. So for the first time in my life, I came up with a line of objects that I could sell. People just kept writing me and asking me. I couldn’t keep up. I couldn’t catch up. I couldn’t make enough posts on Instagram. It was a lot! It was life-changing in that I wasn’t able to consistently sell my work like that beforehand. And it changed the work I did to make a living from that point on. So a lot of the work I did prior to that was fabrication for other artists, which I find that extremely demanding psychologically and physically to do. You put a lot of yourself into other people’s work as opposed to your own work. And it could be draining to you making your own work in multiple ways. And then, I also had a lighting line I did with a rep that was called site-specific art, and we would do custom high-end projects.
The show kind of launched during COVID too, and that was an interesting time to have this launch. Then I got opportunities to show in galleries and asked to do things I think I normally wouldn’t have had as a result. It’s not magic, you win a reality tv program and still have to work really hard and try to control my own life in some way in a direction that I want it to go, but there’s a magic to life, right - and what door is going to open next I don’t necessarily know!
I could do that like the project for Mortlock whiskey through Diageo, that was just out of the blue in designing a whiskey pipette. So the brand was Mortlock, and they specifically have design projects going every year. This was the fifth year. So it’s part of their marketing and bringing people together. They found me and asked me if I could make something for their design line and I’m thinking.. oh a glass or something - sure I’d love to make a glass, but they’re like it’s a pipette, [which is] basically an eyedropper. I can make anything in glass, but you want me to make this tiny thing? So I suggested that they had me make the pipette holder too to hold the water as well as a set. It was inspired by the the stills using copper embedding copper in glass, and in the case of the finished product I rolled the hot glass in copper foil and had a violent reaction under the glass that bubbled and turned blue. When it was hot, the copper looked black, but the finished glass ended up being blue. Yeah, it looked very pretty, very elegant 120 sets.
AM: So one of the things you made on this show were Forgotten Potatoes on one of the episodes.. So tell me about the episode. How did you came up with that? And they’re continuing in your studio and people are excited to order and get them?
DC: So that was a botanical-themed challenge. They came up with that challenge because one of the first things you make in glass when you touch it for the first time ever is this thing called a flower. It teaches you how to use the pincers and pull the glass out and it ends up looking something like a very rudimentary flower. I was like thinking about potatoes that sprout, and I really like them because they represent to me, these like unsung powerhouses. It’s not something that’s typically considered beautiful as a potato, yet here it is being this amazing powerhouse! Like, yeah you got your typical beauty which is a flower with its color and all its proportions, but I see the world in a different way - so many other things that could be beautiful and are beautiful and powerful and to me it represented marginalized people as very super powerful people that get disregarded and overlooked. They were represented in the Forgotten Potato and they are often forgotten or overlooked or pushed down and not allowed to shine, but the potato comes through no matter what!
AM: We made three of those together, which was awesome and I saw that you put a lot of effort into getting the exact hues and colors you wanted for the potato. So what’s involved with trying to recreate something that you created before and trying to stay true to the system, rather than creating a new thing as an artist?
DC: Well, the good thing about potatoes and sprouting, they’re endlessly variable - like consistently fascinating - they’re not boring, so it’s not like making a production line in that everyone’s the same. Each one has a little personality and people relate to them in different ways like and people really do relate to the Forgotten Potato or they relate to the metaphor behind the piece heavily. It really gave me a lot of faith in people in a way.
AM: And the sprouts were super cool. It was noted that the sophistication and quality of the sprouts is similar to fine stemware. So it really gets to show off both some of your superb skills and it also gets to relate to and maybe be something the owner gets to flaunt in a way.
DC: That they’re an art piece and has something as fine as stemware, there’s some people that might look to use it as a conversation piece with their guests. It’s challenging to make when you’re opening that up and trying to get it hot as it’s flopping all over the place in the hot box. The hot box is called what we have for our furnaces, and then reheat the glass in glory holes, many are now calling reheating chambers. A challenging part of it with young glass is timing that is really huge here… so you got to know your glass and and what temperature it’s it’s at because it will self-destruct if it gets too cold, and if it’s cold and then goes back into the glory hole which is super hot, it can shatter! In order to become a maestro at this, you have to make a lot of mistakes and work on a lot of different projects to get really good as a sculptor in glass.
AM: How do you generally decide what to make if you’re selling glass pieces?
DC: It’s not just selling, but having a place to put it, because I don’t have enough space in New York to just make stuff. So we thought about that as if I had a beautiful studio in upstate New York that I could bring my work and work on it, I would be creating worlds. I think worlds with these, I would probably make my garden like that. [Presently] there’s a practicality in that there’s the limit of space, and glass is expensive, and part of it is time making it.
AM: What’s the longest time you spent on a project?
DC: Probably one of the ones we mentioned already.. there was also a show I did a couple years ago with the Hannah Traore Gallery that took a couple years to put together. I’m known for it and it was involving mushrooms and their mycelial network that I made in neon so the mushrooms would communicate with trees which I made also in the galaxy called Creatures of Culture That was very popular recently.
AM: Oh, wow, that’s cool.
DC: So I made a tree out of mirrored mosaic, like how it would look like a disco ball. Then I brought in a thousand pounds of glass soil, which was broken up brown chunks of glass from a defunct factory in West Virginia that I brought into the gallery and put on the floor. That also had a queerdelier, it’s like a chandelier, but a queer chandelier because the mushrooms are like non-binary beings - they’re neither plant nor animal, so they have one foot in each category, because they don’t have photosynthesis they get their nutrients through enzymatic digestion.
AM: So if glass could talk back to you, what do you think it would say?
DC: Stop hurting me. That’s when you’re working it too cold. It feels so painful to the glass. You can see it like hates it. Okay. you’re pushing too hard trying to just get every working second out of the heat you just did, and you just go too far it always scars the glass, and it shows you it just went too far! I think it speaks to me most when it’s hot. So when it’s in this molten state. So once the sand and whatnot is heated together. Then it forms an identity, a personality. Yeah.
AM: What would you say the most absurd commission request you ever received was?
DC: Oh, David Letterman, to make glass soap for him. He wanted to use Christmas gifts. Oh I thought this guy is hilarious, because that’s the gift you give somebody when you don’t know what to give them! So he’s creating this glass soap, like when you don’t know what to give someone, you bring a housewarming gift or something, you get soap and candles as two of the biggest things. He was going to use it as a charming novelty to hand out to people saying, I normally would give you soap, but now I’m giving you elevated glass soap. I thought it was hilarious.
He had me make other things too. A tie. OK, then there’s the tie which he still had hanging over there from his son’s prep school tie when he was graduating. So he had me make that - then the tie broke - the tie was broken by someone cleaning the house and he wanted me to do something with the tie’s broken shards to make it into a new sculpture, so I edit those shards into like a big kind of paperweight. He is a fan of glass because he went to an undergraduate school that had glass in Indiana, and he really fell in love with the material. He made a documentary about making that [Editors Note: “Clear Reception” is the Documentary]. Also another thing - so he has a duct tape cell phone holder of different colors on it and it became this big mass of duct tape and plaid and he wanted that reproduced in glass, which I was able to do. He gets very attached to things!
AM: So what’s on your bucket list now?
DC: Well, I’m heading up to the Corning Museum. The next thing is I got asked to be in the show in Venice, so I have to make pieces for that, which I’m calling the project Big Fruit. I’m sticking with fruit. When I was thinking of what to do in Corning, I wanted to turn the fruit project into lighting.
AM: You had won a residency at Corning from the show, right?
DC: That was years ago, but now I applied. So I was two weeks in there, the museum hot shop… they have different hot shops there… I ended up making car parts there, because I was like let’s let me do something that’s not fruits or vegetables... so I made like a car mufflers with big plumes of exhaust coming out of them and hubcaps as the jewelry of the car. So my goal was non-toxic masculinity and that was represented by the car, so glass can transform anything that I thought into something gorgeous and beautiful.
AM: You worked on a cool project with Cake Boss as well?
DC: Oh yeah. That was another TV program. Yeah. Buddy Valastro - Cake versus Glass. His production team found me because he was doing a special for Christmas time or the holidays. It was going to be cake against other materials. And they reached out to me because they wanted to use glass. Glass was one of the mediums. Set design was one of the meat. Legos was one of the mediums. Toys was, I think. So they reached out to me. And they did a four-episode series, which is Buddy versus, and I was the Buddy versus Glass. Okay, I forget the exact prompt now, but it was something about “The Night Before Christmas.” And Buddy did a cake where Santa Claus crashed into a house. He does these huge elaborate installations with armatures underneath -
AM: Yeah they’re crazy! Our jaws were just dropped when we binged a Buddy Versus Duff season recently when we were working around the clock during on a staycation at Coda Williamsburg, ironic no? So much creativity, passion and skill for both of them!
DC: I did a christmas cookie that was out for Santa that got eaten by a mouse. So it was a mouse that ate part of a cookie, and the cookie thought the mouse was in love with it, but the mouse ended up eating the Christmas cookie, so it was not true love. We had two judges. He was on the left side of the stage and I was on the right side of the stage.
AM: So what happened?
DC: I won. He was great [about it].
AM: What are some of your favorite museums and gallery exhibitions?
DC: I like Friedman Benda Gallery. It’s a furniture art gallery. Salon 94. As far as museums go, my preference is the Whitney in New York. The gallery I showed in - Traore gallery. That’s cool. Gotham was doing an ashtray exhibit - they have a gallery in addition to the store where they show some lifestyle things like clothing, and also an art gallery. [Editor’s Note: The Exhibit is called “The Smoking Section.”] It’s a really cool art gallery because they do show things that maybe can’t go anywhere else, like an ashtray show. For that I used a traditional Venetian style goblet that has a dragon in the stem. It’s still there in their store.
AM: What are some of the things you like to do in your downtime when you’re not glass blowing or glass working?
DC: I do yoga okay with Three, because she teaches yoga and I don’t think it would be as fun if she wasn’t teaching. It’s great because that [helps] the flexibility part, especially as you get older, you have to keep limber. And then skiing, we went skiing. I’m a beginning skier, really, but I’m enjoying it. That’s new for me. Then dining and going to movies.
AM: How do you like having a studio office at Brooklyn Glass?
DC: Brooklyn Glass is like a shop that is really devoted to having artists fabricate their work. So there’s two shops near here. One is Urban Glass, which is a non-for-profit artist organization or arts organization. And then there’s this one, which is Brooklyn Glass. I like this one. Well, first of all, I have a studio within this one. And it’s really like a community here that’s a small community that I can rely on to talk ideas over and to help. And so it just feels like more of a community to me than the larger space down the street.
So I like that. And it’s just really focused on professionals here. They have an educational program, but it’s really only at night. So during the day, it’s all professionals working here, which is great. And it’s just a good range of projects coming through that you can see different things being made and different people coming in. They have several departments, including neon, fabrication, hot sculpting or hot blowing, and cold working the finishing area studios where drilling and grinding and cutting of the glass is done. So getting special shapes outside of what you can do in the hot shop. That’s here too. It’s a nice small shop.
AM: It was great making some Forgotten Potatoes together, we look forward to some Eggs & Fruit another time!
IG @dczeey
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT | Paul Farkas shot with Sony Alpha |
Read the MAR ISSUE #123 of Athleisure Mag and see MAESTRO OF MAGIC | Deborah Czeresko in mag.
This month we held our Athleisure Mag Summit Series where we invited a select group of our readers and community together to enjoy a class at SaltDrop in the East Village. It was a great way for them to be introduced to their Heated Sculpt 45 class, to meet the founder Dino Malvone who led us through our session, and they were gifted Sticky Be Socks as well as a 3-piece beauty skincare routine from Aeston West.
Avid readers know that last Winter, we included SaltDrop in our feature Athleisure List in our JAN ISSUE #109, and we wanted to find out more about Dino, how he came to the industry, why he wanted to create his own method, and more!
ATHLEISURE MAG: We had the pleasure of having you in Athleisure Mag last year to kick off the year in our feature Athleisure List and we took this class then which was my first introduction to you! How did you come to the world of fitness and what made you want to put your flag in the fitness industry?
DINO MALVONE: Fitness found me before I was looking for it and honestly that’s the only way I think it actually sticks. I wasn’t chasing a career or a brand. I was a person who kept coming back to movement because it was the only thing that made me feel like myself when everything else felt like noise. And then at some point I realized I was spending all this time in spaces that didn’t fully see me or the people around me and I thought someone should do something about that. So I did. I don’t think I chose fitness as much as I just stopped pretending I wasn’t already in it.
AM: What led to you wanting to create SaltDrop?
DM: My time with Barre3 was genuinely formative. I learned so much there, about how to lead a room, how to lead a team, and what it means to build something that people actually want to come back to. I have real gratitude for that chapter.
But at some point I started feeling the edges of the formula and I wanted to reach beyond them. I wanted to add jumping sequences, choreography that had a little more life to it, more effervescence. Things that didn’t fit inside what Barre3 was built to be and honestly shouldn’t have. That wasn’t the right container for those ideas. So I made a decision that I think a lot of people think about, but not everyone actually does. I decided to put my energy into building my own dream instead of continuing to build someone else’s. SaltDrop was what happened when I finally took that seriously.
AM: I love how you call out and encourage modifications. Why is it important to you to have this as part of your philosophy when you’re leading a class?
DM: Because the fitness industry has a savior complex and I’m not interested in participating in it. The idea that an instructor pushing you past your limits is somehow doing you a favor is something I actively reject. Your body is not a project that I get credit for fixing. When I offer a modification I’m not being easy on you. I’m being honest with you. I’m saying I trust you to know yourself and I’m not going to perform toughness at your expense. That’s a different kind of rigor and I think people feel the difference immediately.
AM: How would you describe SaltDrop as a fitness concept?
DM: It’s the antidote to fitness culture. Which I know sounds like something everyone says, but I actually mean it structurally. We are not optimizing you. We are not tracking your output or gamifying your progress or making you feel like you need to earn your place in the room. We’re just creating conditions for you to actually connect to your body and to the people around you. That’s it. And it turns out that’s pretty rare which says a lot about where the industry is right now.
AM: For those who have not taken your classes in person or virtually, what kinds of classes do you offer?
DM: We have three formats right now. Signature is our OG, the one that started everything and still hits the way it always has. Then we have Sculpt and Sculpt Heated, both are no cardio, and the difference is exactly what it sounds like because Sculpt Heated is at 90 degrees and that room does something to you. We are also currently building out a Flow class and a Strength class which I’m excited about because they expand what SaltDrop can be for people depending on what they need on any given day. And all of it is being developed inside something much bigger because we are in the middle of a major rebrand right now. So everything coming is being built with a lot of intention and a very clear vision of where this is all going. It’s a good time to be paying attention.
AM: How do you go about deciding the kinds of classes you will offer and do you foresee adding something new to the lineup?
DM: I don’t really look at what’s trending, because by the time something is trending it’s already starting to die. I look at what’s missing. What conversation is nobody having yet in this space. What does the person who feels unseen by the wellness industry actually need right now. That’s where I want to be. And yes there is always something new taking shape. I’m not someone who gets comfortable easily and SaltDrop reflects that. We grow when I grow and I’m always growing so.
AM: For those that may not have gone as far in their fitness journey as they wanted, what is something you would say to encourage them to get on the mat?
DM: I’d say stop treating your body like it owes you a different version of itself before you’ll be kind to it. That negotiation you’re having with yourself, the one where you’ll start when you lose the weight or have more time or feel more motivated, that’s not a plan. That’s a way of staying stuck that feels responsible. The mat is not waiting for you to deserve it. It’s just waiting for you. Show up as you are and let the rest figure itself out, because it will.
AM: What do you want people to walk away feeling after taking one of your classes?
DM: Like they remembered something about themselves they had been forgetting. That’s the only way I know how to put it. Not accomplished, not exhausted, not like they checked a box. Like something that had gone a little quiet in them got loud again for a minute. That’s what movement does when it’s done right, and that’s what I’m always chasing in a room.
AM: What can you tell us about the SaltDrop community?
DM: They ruin you for other fitness communities honestly. Once you’ve been around people who actually show up for each other and I mean in real life not just in the comments, you can’t really go back to the transactional version of this. I’ve watched people meet at SaltDrop and become each other’s emergency contacts. I’ve watched people move through genuinely hard seasons of their lives and have this community hold them. That doesn’t come from a good class. That comes from something much harder to manufacture and much more worth protecting.
AM: Recently, you were part of a multi-day event at Canyon Ranch Lennox. What can you tell us about this?
DM: Canyon Ranch Lenox is one of those places that makes you realize how loud your regular life actually is. There’s a stillness there that isn’t forced. It just exists and you settle into it pretty quickly. Being invited to teach in that environment was meaningful to me on a personal level, because the people who come to Canyon Ranch are not there to be seen. They’re there to actually do the work. That kind of room brings out something different in me as a teacher and honestly as a person. I left feeling clearer than I had in a while.
AM: Thankfully, we’re in the Spring and looking forward to Summer. Are there any upcoming projects or things that SaltDrop will be doing that we should know about?
DM: I’m in a very creative season right now personally and professionally and SaltDrop is going to reflect that. There are collaborations coming that I think will surprise people in the best way, and the podcast is taking shape in a way that feels really right. I’m not going to give everything away because I think the element of surprise is underrated. But I’ll say this, if you’ve been paying attention to what SaltDrop is building toward, what comes next is going to make sense in a very satisfying way.
AM: You’re coming up on your 4th year with your studio! What are 3 lessons that you have learned?
DM: One, the community is the whole thing. Not a feature, not a selling point, the actual thing. If you get that right the rest follows. Two, sustainability is not a compromise. I used to think that slowing down or resting was somehow at odds with ambition, and I was wrong about that in a way that cost me. You cannot build something lasting from a place of depletion, full stop. Three, your taste is your business model. Stop trying to appeal to everyone. The more specific and true you are to your actual vision the more powerfully the right people find you. The diluted version of your idea helps nobody.
AM: You launched a podcast, I Hear You Babe. Tell me about it and why you wanted to start it?
DM: It started because I kept having the same conversations over and over with people in my classes. About relationships, about their jobs, about this feeling of living someone else’s life instead of their own. And at some point I thought, what if we just put that in a room together. The format is simple and I think that’s why it works. Every week I give listeners a prompt, something specific enough to actually unlock a real story. Things like tell me the moment you realized you’d been chasing someone else’s version of success. Or tell me about the comment that was small but stayed with you. And people send me emails. Long ones, short ones, funny ones, devastating ones. I read them on air and I respond in real time, not from a script, just the way you would if a friend was telling you something that mattered. And I always go first. I talk about what’s actually going on with me that week, building SaltDrop, navigating New York, whatever is real. Because I think you have to earn the vulnerability before you ask for it from anyone else. That feels important to me. The audience is mostly women, the girliepops as I call them, and they are incredibly engaged. They write back. They send photos. They say hi to my cats. It has genuinely become its own community and I think that’s because the show doesn’t try to fix anything. It just tries to make people feel less alone in whatever they’re going through. That’s the whole job.
AM: You also have a project called I Fear You Babe. Tell us about that.
DM: Most true crime makes the victim the opening act. You get thirty seconds of who they were and then it’s all killer, all investigation, all spectacle. And I sat with that for a long time before I understood why it bothered me so much. If you don’t know who Linda Dewey was, not her case, her Tuesday mornings, her job, the way she probably moved through the world, then the justice part is just plot. It’s entertainment dressed up as something important. I Fear You Babe is built around the opposite idea entirely.
We spend real time with who these people were before everything happened. Because I genuinely believe that is the only way any of it matters.
We do two episodes a week. Thursdays are the deep dives, the full portrait, the story behind the story. Mondays are specifically about what broke that week in active cases, not recaps, not whatever went viral, but things that actually moved. Because the news cycle does not wait and neither do the people still waiting for answers. I built this show because I was tired of true crime that forgets the whole point.
AM: When you are not working on your business or prepping for your podcast, how do you take time for yourself?
DM: I protect my mornings like they are sacred because they are. That quiet before everything starts is the most honest part of my day and I will not negotiate on it. Outside of that, it’s long dinners with people who actually make me laugh, music that I’m a little too emotionally invested in, and coming home to Rocco and Vito who have never once been impressed by anything I’ve accomplished and I genuinely think that’s good for me.
IG @thesaltdrop
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Dino Malvone
Read the MAR ISSUE #123 of Athleisure Mag and see TRAINING TOGETHER | Dino Malvone in mag.
PHOTO CREDIT | Unsplash/Fleur Kaan
Beauty trends move fast, but this year’s favorites do not come out of thin air.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reported 28.2 million minimally invasive procedures in 2024, a sign that beauty interest stays strong even when trends change clothes every six minutes online.
Influencers keep makeup lighter and skin care smarter. You will spot more talk about glow, texture, and tone than about heavy foundation masks.
That shift also explains why treatments such as armpit laser hair removal fit neatly into the same beauty mindset: less daily fuss, more long-term payoff.
Allure’s 2026 skin-care coverage points to stronger but gentler formulas, while Vogue’s 2026 trend report highlights regenerative ingredients and red light therapy as major themes.
A few years ago, LED masks looked like props from a low-budget robot film. Now they sit in creator routines like they pay rent.
Red light therapy is among the major beauty trends for spring 2026, and broader 2026 consumer coverage also points to more interest in science-led, at-home beauty tools. The appeal feels obvious: creators want visible results, easy content, and routines that look high-tech without a medical-office vibe.
That does not mean every glowing mask deserves your trust or your money. The real trend here centers on “show me the science,” not “show me a cute unboxing.” This year’s beauty crowd wants receipts, not just ring lights.
Blush did not leave. It just stopped yelling.
The muted blush is a key look today, often swept beyond the apples of the cheeks for a soft, draped effect. Recent Oscars beauty coverage also showed warm, sun-kissed skin with bronzed, natural-looking color rather than sharp, hyper-sculpted drama.
Influencers love this trend because it flatters almost everyone and asks for very little. A soft peach, rose, or coral shade can wake up the face faster than a full contour routine.
Also, it looks forgiving on camera, which matters. The result feels polished, fresh, and far less try-hard.
The classic bold lip has returned, but this year it comes with softer edges and less ceremony.
We witness the return of brighter lip color, especially pink, while its spring makeup roundup highlights the buffed red lip as a standout look. Instead of a sharp outline that could cut glass, creators now blur the edges and let the color look lived-in.
That style works because it feels glamorous without the old “do not eat, sip, smile, or exist” rules.
Influencers can wear it in daytime content, event videos, or casual get-ready clips without looking overdressed. It says, “I made an effort,” but it also says, “I still plan to drink coffee like a normal person.”
Glass hair and soft brows are major looks for 2026. That pairing makes sense.
When skin looks fresh, and lips or cheeks carry more color, the rest of the face often benefits from restraint. Hair looks smoother, shinier, and more polished. Brows look fuller but less blocky than the old laminated, overdrawn phase that made half the internet look mildly alarmed.
Influencers swear by this balance because it reads well on camera and in real life. Hair catches light. Brows frame the face. Nothing fights for attention. The whole look feels expensive, but not exhausting.
Nails this year seem to live in two very different neighborhoods.
On one side, we see textured, fashion-forward looks such as plaid and tweed-inspired finishes. On the other hand, recent Vogue coverage suggests renewed love for classic red nails after years of more experimental styles.
That split explains a lot about beauty culture right now. Influencers want range.
Some days, they post editorial detail and tiny nail art that likely took the patience of a saint. Other days, they want something timeless, sleek, and impossible to mess up in a mirror selfie.
Both paths work because both feel intentional. Maximalist nails spark attention; classic shades signal confidence. Either way, your nails now count as part beauty move, part personality test.
Hair trends have loosened up. There is more texture, more movement, and a stronger appetite for retro shape.
We are also witnessing the return of side-swept bangs, while the wolf cut still holds power in 2026 because it adapts well across lengths and textures. Vogue’s 2026 consumer trend reporting also flags ’80s-inspired hair as part of the broader mood.
Influencers love hair that looks cool, even when it does not look perfect. That is the secret.
This year’s best hair trends ask for shape, bounce, and a little attitude. In other words, your blowout no longer needs to fear a breeze like it signed a fragile-item waiver.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykruFMC9SkQ
The strongest trends this year share one trait: they make everyday beauty feel easier, smarter, or more personal.
Soft blush, blurred lips, glossy hair, classic nails, smarter skin care, and high-tech tools all fit that rule. They offer payoff without demanding a full-time commitment or the patience of a museum conservator.
That is why influencers keep pushing them.
These looks perform well on camera, but they also fit normal routines. People want beauty that feels fun, not punishing. This year’s trend cycle seems to understand that at last. A miracle, honestly.
Although the Olympics have completed this cycle, for the Winter Games 2026, we enjoyed sitting down with Erin Jackson Team USA Olympic Speedskating Gold Medalist to talk about her love of the sport, how she got into it, competing at Milan-Cortina and more.
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in love with speed skating, and what do you love about this sport?
ERIN JACKSON: I actually loved this sport for as long as I can remember. You know, some of my earliest memories of skating were just up and down my driveway and the little plastic skates. So it started out as just a hobby for me. I didn’t have any dreams of being competitive in the sport. I just started doing it because I loved it. So that was my intro which was through roller skating and then roller skating, led me to inline skating, and then inline skating led me to ice skating. So, yeah, it was just kind, I guess, a very natural progression, but it did just start with the love of the sport and the love of the hobby I guess!
AM: I mean, there are so many things you could have done! Why did you decide that figure skating wasn’t the thing, but speed skating was?
EJ: I actually did go that route first, so I did what’s called artistic skating. And that’s like figure skating, but also on roller skates. Who knows? That that could have been where I ended up, but my coaches in artistic skating they actually moved away to pursue figure skating on ice for their daughters. Their daughters ended up competing in Sochi, I believe.
AM: Wow!
EJ: So who knows? Maybe I could have gone that route, too? But when they moved, I just let that be the end of figure skating.
AM: Well, what does an average week look like when it comes to training for upcoming competitions?
EJ: So we train six days a week, most days, it’s two training sessions. One of those days, we’ll have three training sessions one of those days, we’ll have one training session, but we’re training most the time. It’s kind of like a full-time job, so we’ll have a morning session for probably 3 hours or so, and then rest in the afternoon for lunch and then come back and have another session later in the day.
Normally skating once a day, and then the other session can be, you know, like, bike intervals, or, you know, cardio or weightlifting or something like that.
AM: We were just going to ask about three workouts that you do to optimize for this particular sport? You kind of just answered it. Our minds are still wrapping around six days a week. I mean, clearly, that is what you have to do.
So this past Olympics marks your third, where you were competing in the 500 meter and the 1000 meter? What does it mean to you to be able to compete on such a global stage?
EJ: It’s a really cool honor, I guess, like just being part of the Olympics and just being able to be part of this really large thing where people from all over the world are coming to do the thing that they devote their lives to. We all just come here and do it together. It’s just a really cool community aspect, you know, part of this large community of Olympians and Team USA. And it’s, yeah, I feel like that’s the best feeling of it, just like doing it all together.
AM: What did you love most about your experience this year, and you know, being in the Olympics, and are you thinking ahead to 2030?
EJ: Yeah, I am thinking of 2030, yeah, I couldn’t imagine stopping the train at this point. I definitely want to keep going with all the progress I’ve made this season, and I really want to carry that forward. Some of my best memories from this games were a toss-up between watching my teammates this time around, because for most of them, it was their first Olympics. It’s getting to see all the amazing firsts that they were experiencing and then also watching other Team USA events, like with athletes from those sports. You know, they can give a lot of insight and behind the scenes info about the scoring and sometimes even the drama in the sport. So, yeah, that was a really cool thing too.
AM: Well, you are part of Happiness as The Real Gold Hershey Campaign, which is so fun to see that and to get to see other aspects of you while you’re talking. Why did you want to be involved in it? And what does happiness mean to you?
EJ: Yeah, the Happiness is The Real Gold Campaign, I feel like was a really important thing to get out there in a really important message, because it can just like remind athletes and just people in general that the people in your lives who love you and care about you like, they’re gonna love you, no matter what, because what they really want for you is happiness.
AM: Yeah.
EJ: Your achievements are just kind of a bonus for that. I feel like it was a really great message and one that was really heartfelt and emotional campaign, especially with having our families involved. I was really happy to be a part of it.
IG @speedyj
After chatting with Erin, we caught up with her Team USA Speedskater, Jordan Stolz. We wanted to hear about his passion, a successful Winter Olympics, and more!
ATHLEISURE MAG: How did you come to the sport of speedskating and for those that are not familiar with it, how would you describe it to them?
JORDAN STOLZ: I would describe it as a sport where you are constantly trying to keep progressing and a sport that is very satisfying when you improve. The feeling of being able to go fast on turns is a feeling that I can’t get anywhere else! I can’t get it in a car, I can’t do it on a mountain on a bike – it’s something that is very surreal and I think that people get addicted to it!
I first got into it because of Apolo Ohno (G2, S2, B4) back in 2010, and I was watching him compete and it was the first Olympics that I had ever watched in my life. I was just really into it and it caught my eye with the way that he was passing people. It was like a showman and I asked my parents if I could start skating. and I actually started with my sister on our frozen pond in our backyard. We shoveled a track and ever since then, I have been doing pretty good.
AM: What are workouts that you find beneficial for speedskating?
JS: I would say a lot of cycling. The number 1 thing that changed for me is when I spent a lot more time on a bike. The weight room too – just building up your squats. You have to have power on the ice. You want to combine those two, but you don’t want to go too far with either one. You don’t want to be this cyclist that weighs 130lbs, but you also don’t want to be a body builder and then you would be super slow on the ice – you’d have too much weight. It’s kind of factoring all of that in to work with the mechanics of skating and the technique. I have found that to be the most beneficial for me.
AM: What were the Opening Ceremonies like for you and what does it mean to you to compete on such a global stage?
JS: It means a lot to compete for Team USA on the Olympics as a global stage and to win 3 medals, the highest medal count. That means a lot, not just for me, but for speedskating itself and the whole country. It’s great that I can bring more awareness to speedskating, as it’s such a cool sport and I’m glad to be able to do that.
I didn’t walk the Opening Ceremonies, but I loved watching it on TV when I was in the Village.
AM: When it’s gameday, do anything that gets you into the mindset to compete?
JS: I try to relax a lot and not to think too much about the races. I want to be able to get into the zone before getting into the rink. Before that, I like to chit chat with people, sit in bed and watch some reels, and then I can get out there and be ready!
AM: You had an amazing Winter Games 2026! You won a Gold in the 500 M, and then another one in the 1,000 M - the first American male to do it in the same Olympics since 1980, and you got Silver in the 1,500 - you also made 2 World Records - what does it feel like to leave the Games with those accolades?
JS: It means a lot especially to have my name attached to Eric Heiden (5G) and it means a lot to be thought of as a successful speedskater in Olympic history for the US. I hope that I can continue to progress and do better going into 2030 and this is just one of those stepping stones. When I went to Beijing, I didn’t win any medals there and then 4 years later, I trained a lot and the World Cup had a lot of experiences and then I was able to come here to the Olympics in a very prepared way! Who knows what can happen over the next 4 years? Hopefully something very similar and I am feeling very good about the results that I have had this entire season and not just the ones that took place at the Olympics. I’ve been skating some fast times and had great track records.
AM: In your downtime in Milan, how did you take time for yourself to reset between competitions?
JS: It was just – there wasn’t a lot to do in the Village, so it was about laying in bed and trying to relax and focus.
AM: You partnered with Hershey’s For the Happiness Campaign. Why did you want to partner with them and what does Happiness is the Real Gold mean to you?
JS: I wanted to partner with them because they are a huge household name company. Having that name tied around you at the Winter Olympics is really special. It’s the highest achievement that you can have as a speed skater. First of all going to the Olympics, and then being able to win a Gold medal, with the name Hershey’s behind you – that just means a lot, especially how they support my family in general. It’s authentic and I feel that they really put the truth behind the slogan that Happiness is The Real Gold. They are 100% right about that!
AM: Post Olympics, are there any projects or upcoming competitions we should know about?
JS: I have the World Champions coming up – the World Sprints and the World All Arounds – it’s a combination race. It’s kind of like the 2nd thing to the Olympics if you are considering the Netherlands view. They view it super seriously here. I think it’s really cool and I will compete in both and try to win both of them. It will be fun and really hard! Everyone wants to hear if I will be doing anything in cycling and that’s probably not going to happen because I will be focused on skating.
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT | Hershey’s
Read the MAR ISSUE #123 of Athleisure Mag and see GOLDEN HAPPINESS | Erin Jackson + Jordan Stolz in mag.
PHOTO CREDIT | Pexels/Pavel Danilyuk
Realizing things are out of control can be a frightening moment. It often feels like a heavy weight on your chest, when something that once felt manageable suddenly starts to feel like a trap with no clear way out.
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The value of a safety plan cannot be overstated during the first forty eight hours of total abstinence from betting. This simple document outlines exactly what to do when a powerful urge strikes or a stressful situation arises.
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PHOTO CREDIT | Unsplash/Christopher Jolly
Inadequate sleep has consequences that extend beyond mere morning grogginess. If not treated on time, chronic sleep troubles raise the risk of serious conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure, and depression. Many individuals tend to dismiss restless nights as an unavoidable aspect of life. But when the problem stretches on for weeks or months, it usually points to something that a quick internet search cannot fix. A professional sleep facility offers the kind of testing and medical insight that helps identify what is going wrong.
It’s normal to have a rough night once in a while. It may be due to stress before a big meeting, too many cups of coffee, or jet lag after a long trip. Such sleep disruptions are normal, and they tend to resolve on their own. However, chronic sleep problems are a different story. They linger for weeks, oppose every lifestyle change, and leave a person feeling drained, no matter how early they get to bed. Medical conditions like obstructive sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, and narcolepsy sit behind many of these cases, and each one carries real health consequences, from elevated blood pressure to significant cognitive decline.
When someone deals with constant fatigue, loud snoring, or episodes of gasping at night, a clinical evaluation is the logical next step. A facility like Advent Sleep Center uses overnight monitoring and specialized diagnostic equipment to identify exactly what is disrupting your rest. Board-certified physicians then interpret the results and design a tailored treatment approach based on that data. That level of clinical precision is nearly impossible to achieve through self-diagnosis or a brief visit with a general practitioner.
Here is how the process works:
During a polysomnography session, sensors placed on the scalp, chest, and legs track brain activity, blood oxygen saturation, heart rhythm, and limb movements throughout the night. A trained technician monitors the incoming data from an adjacent room in real time. The testing environment itself is built for comfort, closer to a quiet hotel room than a sterile hospital ward. Most patients fall asleep without much difficulty once they settle in.
For certain patients, portable monitoring devices offer a practical alternative. These compact units record breathing patterns and oxygen saturation from the patient's own bedroom. They work best as a screening tool for straightforward cases of obstructive apnea. Afterward, a sleep specialist reviews the collected data and decides whether your condition needs a more detailed in-lab study.
These facilities identify a wide spectrum of disorders that standard check-ups often miss. Obstructive apnea alone affects approximately 30 million adults across the United States. Central apnea, periodic limb movement disorder, and REM behavior disorder are other conditions that only become visible through clinical observation overnight. Insomnia tied to circadian rhythm misalignment also responds well to expert analysis. Each confirmed diagnosis unlocks a specific treatment path that general remedies simply cannot provide.
These are the two most common treatment options available through specialist care:
Continuous or bilevel airway pressure devices remain the most effective solution for apnea. During a titration study, a specialist fine-tunes the pressure settings to ensure comfortable, unobstructed airflow. Follow-up appointments for mask fitting and pressure adjustments help patients stick with the therapy long term.
Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia is effective and often better than sleep medications. Programs typically include sleep hygiene education, light-exposure scheduling, and stimulus-control techniques. When behavioral methods alone are not enough, physicians may add prescription options like melatonin receptor agonists or low-dose sedatives under careful supervision.
Feeling drowsy during the day despite getting enough sleep at night is one of the clearest warning signs. Persistent morning headaches, trouble focusing at work, and irritability that spills into relationships all point in the same direction. A bed partner who notices pauses in breathing or excessive tossing at night adds another strong reason to seek evaluation. Delaying that appointment allows associated risks, including cardiovascular strain and metabolic issues, to escalate.
Chronic sleep difficulties deserve the same medical attention as any other lasting health issue. A qualified sleep center delivers diagnostic accuracy and personalized care that no amount of online advice or drugstore sleep aids can replace. From overnight studies that reveal hidden disorders to long-term therapy plans built around real data, these facilities treat the actual cause of poor rest. Taking that step often leads to meaningful gains in energy, mental clarity, and overall physical health. Sound sleep is not a luxury; it is a medical necessity worth pursuing. When you feel the need for help, visiting a reputable sleep center to improve your well-being is a good idea.
PHOTO CREDIT | Unsplash/Jason Leung
Not every rough patch in childhood calls for professional help, but some struggles go beyond what a family can handle alone. Kids face pressure from school, friendships, and family changes, and their responses don't always look the way adults expect. Telling the difference between a passing phase and a deeper concern is one of the hardest calls a parent can make. This post breaks down the signs that suggest a child could benefit from working with a therapist and what that process actually looks like.
Young children rarely sit down and say, "I feel anxious." Their distress shows up in other ways. They might refuse to eat, throw themselves on the floor at small frustrations, or complain of headaches that have no medical explanation. A single bad week is one thing. Weeks of mood shifts, disrupted sleep, or sudden clinginess tell a different story.
Families looking for local support can reach out to a child therapist in Machesney Park to get a professional perspective on what they're seeing at home. A qualified clinician can help determine whether a child's reactions fall within the expected range for their age or point to something that calls for structured care. Getting that clarity early keeps smaller issues from quietly growing into bigger ones.
When grades slide without an obvious reason, something emotional is often driving the change. Homework battles, trouble focusing in class, or teacher reports about disruptive behavior can all trace back to anxiety, sadness, or stress the child hasn't been able to put into words.
Friendships offer another window into a child's inner state. A kid who once loved sleepovers and recess but now eats lunch alone or avoids group activities may be carrying feelings they can't sort through on their own. Therapy gives them a safe space to name those emotions and practice expressing them in healthier ways.
Divorce, a cross-country move, the death of a grandparent, a new baby in the house: these shifts rattle a child's sense of security. Some adjustment period is perfectly normal. Prolonged sadness, angry outbursts that seem out of proportion, or sliding backward on skills they had already mastered (like bedwetting after years of dry nights) suggest the weight of the change is too much to carry without help.
Grief looks different at every age. A five-year-old may keep asking when a deceased relative is coming home because the concept of permanence hasn't fully clicked yet. A twelve-year-old might mask deep sadness behind irritability or reckless choices. Therapists trained in childhood bereavement meet each child where they are, offering strategies that respect their developmental stage and emotional pace.
Some worry is healthy; it keeps kids cautious on a busy street or motivated before a test. The concern shifts when fear starts running the schedule. Refusing to attend school, melting down every bedtime, needing constant reassurance, or reporting stomachaches that vanish on weekends all hint at anxiety that has outgrown its useful role.
Cognitive behavioral techniques, often adapted into games or creative exercises for younger kids, teach children to spot anxious thinking patterns and replace them with steadier responses. With practice, the grip of those fears loosens over time.
Tantrums are expected at age three. At age nine, frequent explosive reactions, physical aggression toward siblings, or flat-out defiance that disrupts the whole household deserve a closer look. These patterns sometimes reflect attention challenges, sensory differences, or unprocessed trauma rather than simple willfulness.
Good boundaries still matter, but they have limits. If a family has tried consistent consequences, reward charts, and calm conversations, and still sees no meaningful progress, the behavior likely has a root cause that standard parenting tools can't reach. A therapist can dig into what's actually fueling the pattern and build a plan that targets the source rather than just the symptoms.
The first session usually involves a detailed intake. The clinician asks about developmental history, family dynamics, school performance, and the specific concerns that prompted the visit. That information shapes a treatment plan built around the child's individual needs.
Depending on age and temperament, sessions may involve play, drawing, storytelling, or direct conversation. Caregivers are often looped into parts of the work so they can reinforce new skills at home. Goals get revisited regularly and adjusted as the child makes progress or faces new challenges.
Reaching out to a therapist for a child is not an admission of failure. It is one of the clearest ways a family can say, "We take this seriously." Early support addresses emotional and behavioral concerns before they become deeply rooted habits. Children who learn coping strategies, emotional vocabulary, and self-awareness at a young age carry those tools with them through adolescence and beyond. If something has felt consistently off, that instinct is worth acting on.
We caught up with Salt Hank’s owner, Henry Laporte that is known for his restaurant that serves primarily one dish, the French Dip! We wanted to know how we went to making culinary videos to starting his restaurant and how he keeps it all together as a business owner.
ATHLEISURE MAG: What was the dish that made you fall in love with food?
HENRY LAPORTE: I love it, starting off hot! It’s kind of an easy answer – salami! Pretty much after my first bite of salami nothing else has been the same sense then. I would say that and I would also say that I remember my first rib eye as well. I think that I was about 6 when I had my first bite of salami and it changed the entire trajectory of my life! I mean salami and cured meats!
AM: That’s such a great combo. What is there not to love?
HL: It’s the salt, fat, all the nitrates – it’s all there!
AM: How did you take your love for food and decide that you were going to take it beyond a passion, but to make it into a business?
HL: Honestly, I think that once I had those moments of clarity and the fact that it was all I actually cared about, and it’s the thing that made me the happiest in my entire world, when I was eating these insanely delicious bites of food, I don’t know if there was ever an other path for me. It never really struck me to go and explore another business or real estate – it was just food! I didn’t care about anything else. I knew that I would be in the food space.
AM: Once you realized that this would be your business. How did you go about growing it and then using TurboTax Business as a means to streamline that?
HL: In the beginning, it was me and I was a broadcast/journalism student in college. I would borrow the equipment from the equipment room and film myself making food videos. That quickly when TikTok blew up, turned into an actual thing that was gaining some traction. Once I started getting offered money, brand deals and things like that, it turned into a thing where I needed an LLC and I needed to file for taxes which is something that I had no clue how to do at the time! Thankfully, TurboTax made it incredibly easy at that time. I was still doing it on my own, I didn’t have a bookkeeper at that time, but once things snowballed at that time to a bigger situation, I hired somebody who was an absolute genius at those sorts of things. They are great and are integral to the entire operation of what I’m doing and I think there is a lot to be said to how TurboTax Experts for Business can help young entrepreneurs to pave their way through that entire complicated field of taxes.
AM: What have you learned in terms of someone who is thinking of taking their idea or passion and making it into their business as you have done?
HL: Make sure you truly love it and are doing it for the right reasons. Don’t just take something that looks shiny and chase it because you are comparing your life to somebody else’s. Don’t do it for the transactional residual effect. Do it because you viscerally care about it.
AM: You’re known for your French Dip Sandwich. Why did this inspire you to create a restaurant where it is the primary item on the menu?
HL: This version of the French Dip that we are doing now is one that I have been in love with for 6 or 7 years now. It’s a recipe that I have been developing for that entire time. It’s also a very prep heavy recipe. We’re basically making French Onion Soup in the back with the house made jus and the house made carmelized onions and all of that. Then that is all added to the traditional French Dip. So it is very prep heavy and once we realized – I mean, we always wanted a limited menu. People really fell in love with the French Dip. What was the point to do anything else and it was about just mastering this! We wanted to make it as good as we possibly could and to keep the quality as high as we could as well. We do not want to stray from that!
AM: What about some food hot takes or trends? Do you have any that you want to share or that we should keep an eye out for?
HL: Honestly, I’m somewhat scared to give my hot takes as I hate to get in trouble! If you don’t have sharp knives, then you actually don’t care about cooking!
AM: Agreed!
HL: I don’t like beets!
AM: Oh we love beets!
HL: I know, that’s why it’s a hot take! Everyone loves them and I really get the looks from people when I say I don’t!
AM: We can agree on the knives though!
IG @salt_hank
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | PG 215 Ed Anderson | PG 216 Hector Gomez
Read the MAR ISSUE #123 of Athleisure Mag and see SALTY RETURNS | Henry Laporte/Salt Hank’s in mag.
When March hits our calendars, our minds turn to March Madness and seeing who will take it all for Men’s and Women’s basketball in the NCAA. It means that we have a month of basketball, colleges that we root for and those that we are not as familiar with. There are so many stories, and don’t even get us started on our brackets as we attempt to guess the journey. Whether it’s backed by stats, favorite colors, or teams, it’s a great time had by all. We made our way to Reese’s Bracket Summit to hear from NY Liberty’s Breanna Stewart and analysts Andraya Carter and Richard Jefferson on how we can make them and how Reese’s rewards or losses as well!
ATHLEISURE MAG: We’ve enjoyed hearing your commentary on various games. What made you want to be an analyst?
ANDRAYA CARTER: Oh wow! I think that the opportunity came before my interests came and I remember when we were in the tournament and this is when I was a player. I don’t remember what analyst was talking about me, but I was a role player at Tennessee. I was a defensive player and I didn’t score that many points. Whoever the analyst was saw some value in what I brought and they were running some of my defensive highlights, and this was in the Selection show, and there is a picture of my teammate, Meighan Simmons and she’s shaking my shoulders because I was so shocked that they were talking about me!
I think about that a lot when I first started my career. I remember that moment being so cool and I remember thinking I could be an analyst that points out the things that makes this game hard and contributes to the success. I love the game of basketball so much and being able to break it down and so I think that once I had the opportunity to be an analyst and that it is something that you can get better at, it almost became my new sport. How much better can I get at being an analyst? I watch film on it, I practiced it, I broke it down, it was almost like even though my career as a player ended, I had something that I was able to work towards. It was something that I could improve on and it was something that I could chase, and once those 2 things clicked for me, I knew I could do this. It was a long journey for me from the time of realizing that it clicked up to now – but that’s a story!
AM: It’s always enjoyable to hear from you because you played the game and you know first hand everything that is involved in that.
What do you love about the game?
AC: Ugh, I love how so many little things work together to make it happen. There are so many ways to run a play, so many ways to defend a play, and so many roles that a player can have. When you look at different teams from season to season and even looking at a team during the season, there are so many ways to look at this puzzle and to see how all the pieces fit together! That’s within a season, that’s within a team, that’s within the players, and that’s even to the game. There are so many things to break down as these teams chase championships. It’s different every year and it is different game to game! Sometimes there are those 2 teams that play and when they do it again, there are other things to evaluate.
To me, the way that the game just builds and the way there are games within a game, I love it so much! Being able to grow up playing it and also I think that the way it brings people together and how sport is a universal language, you get to meet so many people along the way. Basketball changed my life and I love being able to watch how the game changes the lives of others – it’s really special to me.
AM: We really love this time of year, March Madness and everything that is involved in that! What do you love about this time of year?
AC: I just love the intensity of it and being win or go home! Obviously, it’s heartbreaking when a team loses, and to watch teams have success and to continue to be able to play and to keep their season alive, for me the intensity of win or go home is everything! Everything just levels up in March for basketball and I think that also watching players rise to the occasion and having a player put their team on their back and step up, you see something click for them – that is amazing to see!
AM: You were giving tips earlier about how one can set up their brackets. But for first timers that may not know about checking for stats or other things. How can they go about putting their brackets together?
AC: For anyone that is setting up their brackets for the first time this season, the Every Bracket Busts For A Reese’s Sweepstakes is perfect for them! You’re bracket busts, you win some Reese’s and the chance to go to the Men’s and Women’s Final Four and Championships. Being at the Final Four as well as the Championship game in that environment is so special! Shout out to anybody that is doing their brackets for the first time! Thanks to Reece’s you could get a chance to go!
I do think that filling out your bracket is hard. How much research do you want to do? How much time do you have? I am just thinking about this off the top of my head, if you don’t know much about a team and you pull up their stats and see their leading scorer and watch some highlights of them or see what their game is like, and what they are capable of. Watch the other teams and see their leading scorer. See which team gets you the most excited and that is who you pick. I think that whatever method you have, use that for your whole bracket, trust it, and go with it. Sometimes when I fill out my bracket, I like because teams that have good defense because when the lights are the brightest and the emotion is really big, sometimes your shots don’t go in. There is so much excitement and energy but defense travels and I think as a player, you can control that a little bit more. I could shoot my same shot and it may not go in, but I can control my defensive energy. Teams that are good defensively, if I can’t pick between the 2 teams, then I look at who has the better defense because defense travels.
AM: That’s a great tip!
Who are 3 teams that you are looking at this year, that we should be focused on?
AC: That’s tough! Men’s or Women’s?
AM: You choose!
AC: Well, Tennessee Women’s is interesting given everything that they have been through. Obviously, it’s a really rough end of the season. I’m particularly as a former Lady Vols and as an analyst, I’m interested in if any team had a rough end to their season like that – how does that kick them forward? Does it kick them forward, does it give them a fresh start? Are they able to use everything that they went through as motivation to turn it around? Or on the opposite side as a former Lady Vols, it wouldn’t be something that I would enjoy – but is it too little too late to try and correct things?
AM: Yeah!
AC: This is the time where you want to be peaking and playing your best basketball going into March. Is it too late this time around? So Tennessee is a very interesting team on the Women’s side.
I’m very interested in UConn obviously, the opportunity to go back-to-back it’s something special and not something that many teams get the opportunity to do. I am a very big fan of a few of the players on the team as well as the system that they play. Obviously here with Reece’s, Breanna Stewart was hanging out with us. She spoke to what Geno Auriemma puts his players through in terms of testing them throughout the year! They don’t have the strongest strength of schedule, but their biggest battle is their head coach! So, UConn – will they repeat as Champions?
I’m also interested in UCLA! That’s a team that added new pieces, it’s a team that lost to UConn last season in a way that I know that they are not proud of, and in a way that taught them a lot for Cori Close and her players. They could have another opportunity to make a deep run.
So those are teams that I have my eye on of course there is South Carolina with Dawn Staley – they are always a good team to have my eye on as well!
AM: This is so great to hear!
Who do you think will win it all?
AC: I have UConn winning it all for the women!
AM: Same!
AC: I think that on top of what I said, I think Sarah Strong is a really hard player to game plan against. You can put her on so many places on the court and use her in so many different actions on the floor that I think that they are just a tough game plan. We talk a lot about UConn’s offense – Azzi Fudd is such a sharp shooter and Sarah Strong is just so versatile, and UConn is a very difficult team to score against. None of their opponents in the tournament scored 65 points last season. I just talked about defense, but as good as their offense is, their defense and their ability to make teams go east to west instead of north to south, is something that I find very tough among other things for Connecticut.
After speaking with Andraya, we sat down with NBA Champion Richard Jefferson to talk about his love of the game, why he enjoys being an analyst and also how he feels about Arizona!
ATHLEISURE MAG: We have been fans of yours since you played in the NBA and it’s very cool to be hanging out with you right now.
Why did you want to be an analyst once you retired from the game?
RICHARD JEFFERSON: The reason why I wanted to be an analyst is because I love the game of basketball very deeply! You look at how you can continue to express your love to the game that has given so much to me. So there is coaching, there is player development, there are levels of coaching from high school and college. For me, I just loved talking about the game of basketball. I started a podcast 10 years ago because I love hearing the stories about basketball and also everybody has strengths and areas of improvement. For me, talking about the game of basketball and giving knowledge because I was a nerdy kid at 12 and 13 years old reading basketball cards and sitting and watching NBC and Marv Albert in the Jordan era! I just studied it and loved it as a kid! Then I grew into it as a basketball player and then I played in the NBA so I got to live it, and I always felt that I was the lucky little kid that got to live his dream! Now, I get to sit here and talk about it, but I feel fortunate because I have reference points all the way back to the mid 80’s because I grew up loving the game and being able to study it!
AM: Same!
What do you love about basketball and what personally draws you to it?
RJ: What draws me to it is that it is such a beautiful game. You have to be a complete player for the most part. You have to be able to play offense and you have to be able to play defense! You look at football, I love it, it’s awesome, but you have guys on one side of the ball and one side on the other. In baseball, there is a similarity to it. In basketball, it is – if you are in a weak spot on offense, you will be exposed! If you are on a weak spot on defense, you will be exposed! Just like in life, your goal is to be a complete person and a well rounded person, it doesn’t mean that you are great at everything, but you are well rounded. That is what the game of basketball is. In order to be a good or great basketball player, in a prideful way, you have to be a well rounded individual and I think that there is something beautiful about that in life in general.
AM: I love this time of year! When Selection Sunday hits, you know you have some great weeks of basketball that are taking place – not my team this year, IU –
RJ: Congratulations on the football win!
AM: Thank you! That is like 5 Super Bowls!
RJ: Congratulations!
AM: What do you love about March Madness, The Final Four, the Championship game?
RJ: What I love about it – both sides men’s and women’s is that I think that the Summer Olympics is something that here in America, everybody roots for and it is every 4 years. I don’t think that there is a single thing in America that everyone comes together – it’s university pride, it’s college pride, it’s where your family is associated, it’s rivalries - it’s all of these things. You can be 60 years old and you’re a North Carolina fan and you still fucking hate Duke! Now, all of a sudden, all of these old things that you had gets turned up for 1 month. Grandma knows it, your 5 year old son knows it, people that don’t basketball are like, “I’m just going to pick my favorite colors!” That’s what sports does and I don’t think that there is a single greater event than the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Tournament that brings together everybody in our country like that!
AM: Couldn’t agree more!
For 1st timers that are filling out those brackets, what should they do?
RJ: Oh man, for 1st timers, let me show you how to do it! Shout out Reese’s, that’s why we’re here. If you are a 1st Timer, this is what I would do. I start with Arizona because they are going to win the National Championship and I do this every single year, because Arizona is going to win. So I have them in the winning spot and then I go backwards. It’s a little unorthodox.
AM: Yeah it is.
RJ: That’s fine! This is where I think that Reese’s has really cracked the code! I have Duke losing in the 1st Round. People are like, that’s a little crazy!
AM + RJ: Is it though?
RJ: If Siena wins, I look like a genius! If Siena loses, I turn in my bracket and I win free Reese’s Cups! I still look like a genius! So, I just don’t see that there is a lose/lose situation. Why would I root for a team that I cannot stand? Why because I want a perfect bracket? I’d rather them lose and look like a genius, then have them win and I get some cups! If they win, I’m pissed off anyway so give me my prize.
AM: Love this and you are very proud of this bracket!
RJ: I’m very, very proud and I have the Women’s one also! I am very proud of it and I will say this, across the board, I have South Carolina - Dawn Staley was my favorite Women’s player growing up and she is my favorite coach. Across the board, we had Stewie here, there was no shade given to UConn – such respect and I have nothing but positivity for them. They are probably of all the schools Men and Women aside, when we started talking about them, they had the ultimate level of respect, but we’re not talking about them right now, we’re talking about the University of Arizona and how we won the Big 12, we won the Big 12 Tournament, we have the Big 12 Player of the Year, and we have done all of the things that are needed for us to win a Championship – so this bracket is going to be perfect! There is on thing that I have put out and I don’t mind that you have Duke blue hair – it’s fine!
AM: Wait a minute, I am IU through and through!
RJ: So right, we get through there as well – Siena that’s who I am rooting for, they are my sleeper pick mainly because I want Reese’s Cups!
AM: So what are 3 teams that you’re looking at that we should be thinking about?
RJ: You should be thinking about Siena because they have a really good match up in the 1st Round, but I think that they are going to win against Duke.
Arizona, I talk about Arizona, but I think with Arkansas, there is a big battle there by the kid Darius Acuff Jr. who is very, very good. I’m actually glad that we could potentially play them in the Sweet 16. What does that mean? It means that you get your first 2 games in and then you have a couple of days to prepare before you go to the next game. Those preparation days are the days where you say, “ok, we could be going up agaunst an amazing player” and you want some more prep against that, because we do have an amazing team.
AM: Ok, so my last question was going to be who do you think will win, but we know that clearly you feel that Arizona will win it all!
RJ: You’re damn right!
AM: So what does gameday look like for you?
RJ: Ok, I am pretty much immune to any sport or any sport team. Arizona is one that I am emotionally connected to. I turn on the game. When they are winning, I watch. They start losing, I turn it off. That is a real thing because again, it is the emotional connection. Oftentimes, I will tune in and out. I can’t sit and turn on an Arizona game and just relax. That’s not possible so I avoid the anxiety.
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT | Hershey’s
Read the MAR ISSUE #123 of Athleisure Mag and see BUST A BRACKET REESE’S | Points or Cups It’s A Win Win in mag.
On April 19th, The 5th Annual Orange Glou Wine Fair at Gallery Space LES 155 Suffolk Street will showcase 100 orange wines to taste from around the world, highlighting up and coming wine regions like Japan, Mexico, and China, along with Spain and the US this year. Launched by leading orange wine expert Doreen Winkler, a natural wine sommelier and founder of Orange Glou wine club, it is America’s only wine fair dedicated exclusively to orange wines. A one-of-a-kind event for orange wine enthusiasts, those new to the style or anyone looking for a unique NYC event this spring, the Orange Glou Wine Fair is the ultimate place to enjoy the full spectrum of orange wines), meet winemakers to learn more about this ancient style of wine that has recently become so popular.
This year’s event will expand to 4 sessions throughout the day (11am-1pm, 1pm-3pm, 3pm-5pm, and 5pm-7pm). Guests can explore the world of orange wines, which are made using centuries-old techniques where the juice pressed from white grapes remains in contact with the skins during the fermentation process to create unique, versatile and delicious wines that range in color from pale gold to orange to amber. All guests will take home a signature Orange Glou wine glass (value $15), included in the $45 tickets.
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT | Nina Scholl
Read the MAR ISSUE #123 of Athleisure Mag and see ORANGE GLOU PRE-COVERAGE in mag.
We love when we’re in the midst of tennis season and we see great matches on the court, but the fashion and beauty that WAGS bring is always worth watching! Morgan Riddle is one that we are always watching while she cheers on Taylor Fritz. We took a few moments to find out about her beauty musts, her partnership with ISDIN to highlight the Get It On Campaign, and how we can incorporate our SPF into our routine.
ATHLEISURE MAG: What was your first beauty product that you fell in love with and is it still part of your routines?
MORGAN RIDDLE: My first beauty product that I fell in love with, I would say the Dior Face and Body Foundation. I have been using that for about 6 years now. So that’s been an OG staple.
ATHLEISURE MAG: Who would you say are your 3 beauty icons and what have they taught you about caring for your skin?
MR: I wouldn’t say that I have any famous beauty icons, but I would say that I follow a number of skinfluencers on TikTok, mostly more mature or older women that are in their 40s/50s. They have tried all the treatments and all of the products and I feel that they have all of the best recommendations.
AM: We know that you’re constantly on the go especially when you’re at tennis tournaments. What beauty trends do you love and how do you make them your own for your lifestyle?
MR: I always have SPF and so that is obviously a must. So the ISDIN Fusion Water Magic is great, especially with many of the tennis tournaments and because I am in the Players Box, I am constantly in the sun! If I don’t have SPF on that just wouldn’t work as I am always getting fried! My chest and my scalp - it can be a lot! So I always make sure that I have that. My skin is more dry so I always have one of those Hyaluronic sprays throughout the flight to just try and to prevent breakouts. I used to always breakout when I was traveling on planes a lot.
AM: Tell me about your partnership with ISDIN, how it came about, and why it is synergistic with you?
MR: I have actually known about this brand for awhile. They are really popular in Europe and they actually work a lot on the tennis tour. They are the biggest suncare brand in Spain. Then, they just launched in the US and since I had known about them for awhile as well as using European skincare for years ever since I first started traveling on tour, I think I was already a fan of the brand and then when I tried this product, it sits so well under makeup and I feel that I am always having issues with face sunscreens and pilling. As I said, I run more dry so sometimes it feels a bit more patchy, but this one has hyaluronic acid in it so it makes my skin really, really glowy under the makeup!
AM: Clearly we know that safe sun is important. For those that have yet to include it in their routines, how can they make sure to incorporate it in there?
MR: I always do habit stacking now because I read that book Atomic Habits. So as soon as I get up in the morning and brush my teeth, I just put sunscreen before I even go on my morning walks. I think that just adding it into something that you do in your routine so that it is synergistic. To reapply, I always have an extra one in my bag that every time I open my bag, I can see it and remind myself to put it back on.
IG @moorrgs
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Morgan Riddle
Read the MAR ISSUE #123 of Athleisure Mag and see IN THE PLAYER BOX | Morgan Riddle in mag.
PHOTO CREDIT | Pexels/Andrew Patrick Photo
When it comes to taking care of your health, you need to be sure that you are getting the right guidance and support. You cannot trust just anyone or any app with your health and well-being. Fitness apps are numerous these days, and it’s hard to know which ones are worth using. You need to know what to look for so that you end up accessing the right fitness app for your specific goals.
The right fitness app will help you track things like your calories and your workouts, and it might also suggest workout types and strategies for you to utilize. You need to be sure that all the right factors are present in each app that you are considering using so that you don’t end up disappointed or, even worse, taking bad advice about your health and wellness goals.
One of the most critical functions of a quality fitness app is the ability to set goals and milestones for yourself. You want to be motivated to keep going with your fitness plans, and having goals to meet can make all the difference. There are fitness apps that simply track your data, but this is not always motivational enough to keep you on target.
Quality apps will also suggest moving your goals forward by taking a look at the data from your previous workout history and creating new plans for you to follow. This is where fitness apps can replace coaching hours if you do not have access to an in-person coach. If you want to be sure that you are pushing yourself hard enough as you are reaching for new wellness goals, you need to have a goal-setting function in your fitness app of choice.
Fitness apps should never be one-size-fits-all. This is one of the common issues with cheaper apps that can lead to burnout or frustration. You need to be able to set custom goals, track custom metrics, and be able to see how your health and fitness is progressing at a glance, or your fitness app isn’t going to cut it.
Custom options are a key sign that an app is worth investing in. This is one of the first things that you should look for when you are shopping around. Unless you only want to track the most basic data points, customization will be essential on your fitness journey with the help of any fitness app.
PHOTO CREDIT | Pexels/Kampus Productions
Lower-quality workout apps will often exclude the essentials to save money. This might mean that you cannot customize your workout plans or data tracking, and it can also mean that you are not provided with guided workout tips and routines. Unless you are very experienced in the gym, it can be hard to create your own workout plans and exercise routines.
A well-made fitness app will have demonstrations and explanations of the activities that are included in each workout plan as well. This will help you prevent injury and ensure that you are getting the most out of your workout time each day.
There are going to be times when you need more help than the basic app functions can provide. A quality app will be backed up by access to skilled coaching or additional insights if you need them. You should never be left hanging, hoping to figure out what’s next on your own. Make sure that any fitness app that you are thinking of utilizing offers another layer of support that you can use to figure out what’s next, clear up confusion about specific workout types or movements, and more.
These days, it’s pretty hard to have success with a fitness app if you cannot integrate your wearables with the app. You need to be able to use your smartwatch and other devices so that you can track health metrics, fitness data, and more. You will be able to see right away which devices are able to be synced with the app, so this should be a simple way to rule out some of the apps that you might have been thinking about using.
No one has time to mess around with complex, cluttered, difficult user interfaces these days. A quality fitness app will offer a smooth and seamless UI that is easy to interpret, even at a glance. Imagine trying to work out effectively and being forced to stop over and over to try to figure out what you are seeing on the interface or to clear notifications that don’t need to be sent to you. You don’t want that, and you can avoid this issue by doing some research about the UI for each of the fitness apps that you are considering.
PHOTO CREDIT | Pexels/Ketut Subiyanto
There are lots of fitness apps out there these days, but not all of them are created equal. You need to be able to check on the data that matters most to you as you work out, and you need to be able to customize your use of the app as needed. Having another layer of support associated with any fitness app that you want to utilize is another important factor, and being sure that you can link wearables with the app is also key.
These tips and tricks will help you to sort out which fitness apps are worth using and which ones are going to fall short. Some apps will not be right for serious users because they don’t include enough functionality or enough custom options. Be sure to do your research before you commit to a fitness app to help you meet your wellness goals. This is one of the most important parts of working out effectively, so investing in the right fitness app is critical.
We always enjoy when the tennis season starts as we see our favorite starts hitting global courts. We also know that it’s a great sport that we can enjoy with family, colleagues, and friends old and new! We sat down with Kimberly Selden, Founder of Black Girls Tennis Club to know more about how why she created this organization, how she is making sure that youth and adults can into the sport and an upcoming event that will take place at Roland Garros.
ATHLEISURE MAG: Before we delve into BGTC, I’d like to know more about your background.
KIMBERLY SELDEN: My background is an interesting path. I sit at the intersection of a lot of different industries. I started my career in fashion. I studied mass communications with a concentration in PR a minor in fashion merchandising. I moved to NY right after college worked for Custo Barcelona in PR.
I ended up working in production on the management side. I worked on NBA All-Star, and then went to creative, so I did the whole freelancer circuit for different award shows and live events. Starting in production management and landing on the creative side, working my way up from executive producers, assistant production, assistant production coordinator, associate producer, segment producer, and producer. I’ve played every single role, and I started to transition from there into the story side, and so I worked on a Food Network show as a story producer. I worked on Oprah behind the scenes as a story producer.
During that time, I randomly was asked to come to Niger in West Africa, about two of my friends were there schooling mission work – it was really random. So they met someone who got a license for a radio and television station. They naturally reached out to me because I was the closest one to that production world, so we had a break for the show. I moved to Niger for three months to start this radio station, which led to a television station. I ended up meeting the U.S ambassador and I came back - was in graduate school while on our second season of the show and my thesis became a real project, and I went back to Niger with a grant from the US Embassy. I got to speak at the US Embassy! We distributed solar power radios to villages. It was life changing to say the least. I’ll say that was a huge turning point for me where I started to use this term, social impact, and just realized the power of change.
I was doing a whole lot and in different countries in Africa. One of my friends had an Africa travel company, so I was traveling with her. I have worked on a number of campaigns and projects over the years!
I was living in NY this whole time and I moved to Virginia right before COVID. In Virginia, there were courts in my neighborhood and when I lived in BK the whole 10 years I was there, there were tennis courts in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill. I always wanted to play tennis but didn’t know how to get involved. The Fort Greene tennis courts were kind of intimidating when I was in my hometown in Virgina Beach, that’s how BGTC got started. I walked past tennis courts everyday walking my down and I thought, we should start a Black Girls Tennis Club and that’s how it started. So, my career and my background have nothing to do with tennis, but everything to do with making a difference.
AM: And community!
KS: Our communities, and Black people. Like I said before, to me, it all comes together in a very unique and unplanned way. In fact, we’re going to Ghana in November, so even my passion for Africa is coming into the mix.
AM: Now that you have been running BGTC for a few years, did you think it was going to be what we’re seeing now from it?
KS: Absolutely not. In fact, I was really hesitant because we’re a non-profit and when BGTC started, I really was in a space where I wanted to build wealth. I didn’t see a pathway to that, and I actually wanted to build a boutique hotel like I was ready for the next chapter of my life either way, where I would be a little more behind the scenes. But this is essentially pushing me to the forefront. I’m a Founder and I had no idea at all. Now, I’m aware of the potential, but every day, I’m still shocked that I’m in this seat and that it has completely taken over right. I’m trying to do other things and I’m still getting pulled to really just focus on this, but I will say, you know, even though I want these other things, I I feel that my other wants and desires are being met through BGTC.
AM: What is BGTC because there is an adult track and then a younger track. And what is the goal of the organization overall?
KS: We are a 501c3. I like to call us a Social Enterprise. We have, free and low cost youth programming and adult programming and our mission is to liberate Black women and girls through play, and I say that because we really focus on joy, wellness, and community. Looking at my past and my whole time living in New York, if you asked me what my hobbies were, I would have said - going out to eat or shopping. I’m a recovering workaholic and I know from life experience that having a hobby is a luxury. I just know how important liberation is. Playing sports is a pathway to that, and I could go on and on about the benefits of girls playing sports economically just for their own wellness and joy. I just see this as a catalyst to joy, community, economic growth, and health. I don’t want us to be a non-profit that is viewed as they’re serving underserved people only. You know, our youth is expansive. Some are underserved, of course and some aren’t. We have kids that could go pro. We have kids that never touched a racket.
AM: What is your role like? I always say that the role of a Founder is one that is growing and it doesn’t really have a start or stop to it. What is your role and what is a day-to-day or week to week look like, for you?
KS: I see myself as the key vision holder strategist and leading Partnerships, and we’re figuring that out as an organization. I’m technically Founder and CEO. A lot of this, we’re figuring it out as we go. We have tried things that have worked and have tried things that haven’t worked. My goal is to raise enough money so that we can have someone in place. Whether that’s an executive director or whatever that title is that can lead the organization operationally, I know what my strengths are.
I am an executor and I am a visionary.
My day-to-day I have a lot of calls. I’m talking to a lot of brand partners. I’m talking to our board members. Tennis season has started and I went to Palm Springs twice. My day. It’s a lot of emails. I don’t even know the amount of emails that I send per day. We have a we use Monday, which is like a project management tool. I’m always approving. Between social media like I’m approving Graphics, I’m getting and I’m sending decks to people. I’m giving direction, I’m delegating.
I might be going to Indian Wells. I have a call later today about an Arthur Ashe documentary project, so it’s a lot of exciting things. It’s a lot of things that I’ve never done before.
AM: I know you have a few chapters. You have the one here in New York, and there’s others. Can you tell us about these chapters?
KS: We launched in Virginia, and so in Virginia, every year we do a free summer camp and we have some adult programming. We were actually pushed to launch in New York because of our Challengers event with Zendaya (Dune franchise, The Drama, Euphoria). It’s really exciting for New York, so we have yearround programming in New York, because we have indoor courts right, too. We’ve had some programming in DC. We do Citi Open every year in DC. DC is a great meeting point because that’s a middle ground for all our board members to come together. Last year, we had an in-person board meeting there.
I’m actually in La, so we had fun LA event. We’re gearing up for La. I’ve been meeting with, YMCA Crenshaw and Compton United School District, so LA’s been on us. I think I feel a lot of pressure from every part of the country, as well as outside of the country to launch. There’s a whole back end that goes into it. If I look at our pillars which are care, access, representation, and exposure, there’s different reasons to be different places.
Logistically and operationally, I just have to move with care as well, and make sure that we have what we need in place so that our team you know isn’t overwhelmed. And I want people to be connected and be able to find people to play with, because if I’m being honest, I still didn’t solve my original problem which was I wanted to play tennis more. So that’s where technology comes in, and we’re working on that as well.
AM: Well, for the New York chapter, what are some upcoming events that are taking place here that you can share?
JS: We have Pop Up and Play. We just had one in February. We have another one at the end of the month of at our indoor ports at Sun East which is in Manhattan. We’re up in the Bronx at Stadium Tennis for Cardio Tennis. We have our Foundations Clinic coming up, which is 4 consecutive sessions that cover the basics of tennis at Brooklyn College. We have 2 courts of that. That will be announced in the next 2 weeks. We have Cardio Tennis Pop Up and Play Foundations. We’re going to have Sunset Saturdays coming up. That’s going to be from May through the end of August. I don’t know what we’re doing for US Open, but we’ll of course have activations during US Open. So, we’ll have weekly programming almost twice a week in New York. It’s been growing every single year, and we’re going to do a Big Girls Day of Play in Brooklyn, May 31st. We’ve been wanting to do more youth programming with our partners and we always do Juneteenth at Fort Green with The Layout.
AM: The French Open is coming up and you guys are actually going to be at Roland Garros, tell us more about that.
KS: We are working with a tennis travel company, and so this is a trip that opened up that people paid to go on. It sold out within 2 weeks. At first, we wanted to start small, so we had 10 spots, but we had to open it up, so we have 20 Black women and girls going to the French Open. May 23rd, through the 26, and this year is actually the 70th anniversary of Althea Gibson’s historic win at Roland Garros.
A lot of people going on the trip, they’ve never been. It’s a bucket list item. It’s our first trip and we’ll see how it goes. I’m thrilled, and I, I know, it’s going to be an amazing time, and I can’t wait to like be in community with everybody.
AM: So they’re going and they’re also having tickets to go to the French Open as well?
KS: Exactly! It’s gonna be epic, so that’s a pretty big deal.
AM: Well, are there other things that you haven’t talked about that you want to share?
KS: Something that I’m really passionate about is what we do on Martha’s Vineyard. This year will be our third year on The Vineyard. Oak Bluffs is this historic Black neighborhood on Martha’s Vineyard. We’ve been working on a short documentary project about Black tennis history, and it’s such an epic story and the story. Is it really documented in a significant way, and so it all started because my friends actually posted it in a Facebook group because we were looking for our house and people in the group saw BGTC, and they all started chiming in, like, “oh my God,” my mom used to play in the Mary Tucker Invitational. Oh wow, my dad was in Oak Bluffs.
Naturally, as a producer, my wheels are turning. I’m like, we need to capture this. I just started doing more research. Martha’s Vineyard is beautiful, being like the month of August is just amazing. You know, a lot of the Black sororities and fraternities, all HBCU’s have events. It’s just a sight to see. Obviously, Ralph Lauren did their Oak Bluffs collection, and so there’s been a lot of attention drawn to this historic island.
My first time going was just a couple of years before we went as an organization. It’s such a fun trip and so we do activations we do about 3 events. This year, I think we’re doing 3 or 4 events now and I hope that we’re gonna be finishing our documentary this year, and my plan is to enter it into the film festival that happens on the vineyard. So, we’re planting roots there. This year, we’re actually working with a group in Boston to bring a group of girls down, for a day trip, and so that’s something that there’s certain things that I know will do every single year U.S Open, of course. Martha’s Vineyard, Citi Open is a big one for us that I mentioned in DC. We’re also doing Ghana which I hinted towards earlier this will be in November and we will take Taylor Townsend, who’s one of our honorary board members. There’s a new tennis club called the Accra Backyard Club. That amazing architecture was built by our artists, who has this incredible tennis story that is just so inspiring, so we all want to see it. And as you know, my ties to the continent, I’ve been trying to find a reason to get us out there.
We’ve partnered with other orgs out there. They just had a woman’s tennis tournament that we’re gonna be covering. We’re going global, and I see us as a global organization.
Martha’s Vineyard, I’m really passionate about and want to tell those stories and I don’t want them to get lost. It’s really cool because one of the tournaments that went away the Oak Bluffs Tennis Club and Tournament, my now friend Gatsby Karam is bringing that tournament back this year.
AM: Wow!
KS: It hasn’t happened in over 10 years. He got permission from the family to bring it back and the first person, they told him to contact was me. So you know, we’re in cahoots together to be in support of each other, so I’ll be covering that. And to me, that’s the perfect ending to the documentary.
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Kimberly Selden
Read the MAR ISSUE #123 of Athleisure Mag and see TENNIS FOR ALL | Black Girls Tennis Club + Kimberly Selden in mag.
Joshua Jackson has been on a radar since we fist saw him on The Mighty Ducks and of course, when Dawson’s Creek came out, we knew he would be an actor that we would want to see in various series, films, etc. Whether we see him in The Affair, the reeboot of Fatal Attraction, and Karate Kid: Legends. We wanted to talk with him about his love for hockey, why he partnered with AstraZeneca for their intitiative to bring cancer awareness with the NHL, and upcoming projects that he is working on and where we can see him on screen.
ATHLEISURE MAG: We’ve been fans of yours since Mighty Ducks. In thinking about hockey, our current cover is Jack Hughes, which we’re super excited about! People are loving Heated Rivalry, and everyone’s talking about the Olympics and the Golden Goal. What do you love about this game as we know you’re a hockey fan as well!
JOSHUA JACKSON: I mean, I’m a Canadian, so it’s a sort of in our DNA. We’re raised with it. The whole culture of Canada is steeped in the game. I’ve loved it since I was a little kid. I love the sort of balletic violence of it. I love the grace that these men find on the ice. Somebody’s trying to take your head off, it is incredibly fast-paced. It is incredibly athletic and in a way that maybe, European soccer fans get and American hockey fans get in this moment - the passion for hockey is the joy of hockey. So, like when it gets to playoff time when it gets to Olympic time and the whole nation, just like stops what it’s doing. It’s so much fun to be a fan.
AM: You’ve partnered with AstraZeneca for their Get Body Checked Against Cancer, which is a part of their Hockey Fights Cancer Initiative. What do you like being about being a part of this campaign? Why did you want to join it? And can you tell us a bit about it?
JJ: Well, first, there’s the hockey connection, right? This is a campaign that AstraZeneca has already been a part of before I was able to join them. I find myself at this age now, where my family has been touched by cancer, colleagues of mine - their families have been touched by cancer. I was shocked to find out that 65% of men and I think in general, in my cohort, have not actually been screened for cancers. I thought it was a great thing to be a part of. I also love what they’ve done with that getbodycheck.com website that you can not only find providers, not only find suggested testing, but also a list of questions to get you into the conversation with your doctor, which I think is really helpful, because I think it’s a hard and scary conversation to start. Nobody wants to talk about the Big C and no one wants to imagine that it could be part of their life. I think that it is just a great way to get that conversation started because we have come a long way and the earlier that you detect something, the better off your chances are.
AM: What does your involvement in the campaign look like in terms of what we’ll see from a consumer aspect?
JJ: I mean, from the consumer side, you’ll see me and Gritty in a TV ad. You’ll see just a variety of different outreach of things that we’ll be doing here over the course of the next couple months just to spread awareness about the specific website and the people involved, but just generally to spread awareness right? To hope to inspire people like myself as I, you know, you get a little bit older –
AM: Right!
JJ: You get a little older and you’re like, “no I’m this kid!” And then you’re like, wait, they’re talking about me!
AM: Yeah when you start talking with people about things to look out for when you’re in older ages, but you don’t see yourself that way – it reminds you that you are getting older and they are talking about you!
JJ: Right, and so we all have that. I think most people feel that way. Like our brains don’t keep up with our body after a certain point. So for important things like this right for women’s health things for men’s health things for cancer screenings, it is just important to not be embarrassed to be in this conversation and to be proactive in the places that you can be and specifically for cancer with the screening that is available to us. Now you can, you can find things way earlier than in our parents’ generation. So, this is all just outreach to say, just be in the conversation. Hopefully, it’s nothing, but it’s better to know, than to not know.
AM: Our college nights were filled with watching Dawson’s Creek, because that’s when it, aired originally. We’d be running back from the Psych Department back to our dorms trying to get in and you could hear the episodes throughout the halls. We’ve enjoyed you in The Affair, Dr Death, Dr Odyssey, and more. What is it that you love about acting?
JJ: I love the opportunity to be in a scene with somebody and to be surprised. It’s a wonderful silly thing to do with your life. I bumped in today to like two actors that I absolutely love and was really kind of star struck in a way.
You said that you were a Psych Major or that you just took a Psych class?
AM: We just took a psych course as one of our majors was Sociology and that professor knew that his class was right before Dawson’s Creek and he would stretch it out as long as possible and you could hear it and since I would watch it on VHS – I didn’t want spoilers!
JJ: Back in the good old days!
There is a psychology and maybe even a sociology component, but there is something fun for me to be able to pretend. To use pretending in order to be somebody else to try to examine what it means to be a human being. When you’re in a scene with another person or a bunch of other people, to see another person’s interpretation and be genuinely surprised - I don’t know you, you just kind of lose yourself in those interactions. That’s what really keeps me coming back. I have been doing this a long time!
AM: You have had such a longevity. When we see your name attached to it, regardless of the subject or genre, we know it’s going to be good because you really do in many ways transform where you forget what we may have liked about you, like in The Affair versus how you present in Dr Odyssey.
JJ: Oh come on, you’re going to make me blush!
AM: You do have two projects coming up, Happy Hours, and How to Survive Without Me. Tell us about them.
JJ: Well, they weirdly share a connection with Dawson’s Creek, so Happy Hours is with Katie Holmes (Ray Donovan, Poker Face, The Wanderers). She produced it, she wrote it, she directed it, and she stars in it. She wrote this story for the two of us to be able to tell a love story after all these years, having not worked together since we were kids on Dawson’s Creek. We got to do that last Summer, and I was a little - I think we both were a little bit nervous after all these years to, like, see if that thing was still there. But that thing is still there, and it was so nice. I’m so thankful to her as my friend, and in that - my boss, right, for her to have created the space for us to do that. I hope the movie comes out well, and I hope everybody enjoys it. But more than anything, it was such a joy to get to do that, and also to be, you know, to, to be impressed and supportive of my friend. You know, we’re not just doing the scenes together, directing, producing, and she’s writing. She’s just a wonderful, powerful woman.
How to Survive Without Me – well not oddly, is written by one of the Executive Producers of Dawson’s Creek. So, Greg Berlanti (The Flash, Arrow, YOU), way back in the day, one of his first jobs was on Dawson’s Creek before he went on to become that I think is the single most prolific producer in the history of television, so he’s done all right for himself. This just came back around that he has the show and it shoots in LA, which is very important for me right now, so I could be with my daughters and take them to school. It’s a beautiful, sad story about family - adult family, right? That story starts six months after the matriarch of the family has passed away and it’s her trying to sort of reach from beyond the grave to make sure that her family stays bound together. She’s not sure that they have the ability to do it without her!
AM: Can you share 3 workouts or modalities that you like to do?
JJ: It depends. The most consistent piece of my life, is boxing. As I’ve gotten older, I started doing Pilates, which has been amazing because as it turns out, I’m like, stiff, as shit, and not very flexible. It just doesn’t work for you as you get older! Then it’s really character dependent, right? The difference between say doing something like Dr Death, where I had to go from being very underweight to play the younger version of that character and the to progressively put on weight and to wear a prosthetic by the end of that show – to something like, say, Fatal Attraction, where you’re dealing with a man who’s kind of a little bit past it, and dealing with the end of his masculinity – a little paunchy or a little softer. It just really depends!
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Matrie Lombardo
Read the MAR ISSUE #123 of Athleisure Mag and see CHECK YOUR HEALTH | Joshua Jackson in mag.
