FOOD NETWORK NEW YORK CITY WINE FOOD FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY CAPITAL ONE

The Food Network New York City Wine and Food Festival presented by Capital One takes place starting today on Oct 12th - Oct 15th! During these days, there will be a number of signature events, Walk Around Tastings, Intimate Dinners, Demo & Dine, Master Classes, Cocktail Parties, and more! Events will include some of your favorite chefs and Food Network Stars such as Michael Voltaggio, Marcus Samuelsson, Duff Goldman, Eric Adjepong, and Brooke Williamson, who we have included in previous issues of Athleisure Mag!

You'll also find a number of our favorite restaurants and chefs that are involved this year from Rosa Mexicano, The Standard Grill, Buddakan, STK Steakhouse, Pig Beach, Shake Shack, Archer & Goat, 5 Napkin Burger, Little Owl, Serendipity3, Boulud Sud, Fig & Olive, and Lamia's Fish Market to name a few!

Be on the lookout to meet your favorite chef, to taste a dish that will be next level or to be at an event such as Bacardi presents JJ Johnson's The Cookout: Hip Hop 50th Anniversary Celebration featuring DJ CASSIDY, Rev Run, Ice-T, DJ Mick, Tamron Hall, and Angela Yee. We also have our eye out on Brunch at the Blue Box Cafe hosted by Daniel Boulud and Martha Stewart which is at the iconic Tiffany & Co. store on 5th Avenue. There are also a number of intimate dinners with some of your favorite chefs that are presented by Air France. As there are a number of events taking place over these 4 days, make sure to go to the website to see if tickets are still available as some events are sold out.

As you know, Athleisure Mag always enjoys sharing our favorites in food through our indepth articles, our monthly feature The Art of the Snack, Athleisure List, and our podcast Athleisure Kitchen. We're looking forward to this year's festival and in the OCT ISSUE #94, we'll tell you about the events we attended as well as interviews with those that we have covered previously and those that have yet to be included in our issues. Make sure you follow @AthleisureMag across social handles so that you can also see what we're tasting, watching, and attending during that weekend!

To get ready for this year's event, here are some of our favorite moments from last year's festival. Without a doubt, this is definitely a series of events that are not to be missed whether it's enjoying dishes and restaurants that have always been on our list or those that are new to you! Grab your culinary bestie and be prepared for numerous satisfying bites!

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PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Food Network New York Wine Food Festival

Read the SEP ISSUE #93 of Athleisure Mag and see FOOD NETWORK NEW YORK CITY WINE FOOD FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY CAPITAL ONE in mag.

A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY WITH NYESHA ARRINGTON

Storytelling comes in many forms that take place with food as a medium. It especially resonates with us as you get to know something about the chef, share an experience with others and even learn about the culture that it is derived from. We took some time to talk with Chef Nyesha Arrington about her culinary journey as well as cheffing in a TV landscape. We were first introduced to her on BRAVO's Top Chef Season 9 Cheftestant and since then, she has appeared on a number of shows from Food Network's Tournament of Champions and Guy's Grocery Games to name a few. This fall on FOX, she will be on Next Level Chef alongside Gordon Ramsay and Gino D'Acampo as each of them mentors a recruited group of talented chefs. We talk about her culinary journey, the power of identity, her health journey and being her authentic self wherever she goes.

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

CHEF NYESHA ARRINGTON: Well, I honestly feel like being a chef and being in the food space is really something that was always part of my life journey and it was definitely written in the stars before I was born. It’s something that has always been a passion of mine and it’s not something that I had to learn how to love, it comes very naturally to me. Sharing, the idea of nurturing and celebrating people and artists and Mother Nature as a whole, is kind of what is my grounding force in terms of craft and career.

AM: What was your culinary journey in terms of where you trained and kitchens that you worked in?

CHEF NA: The first kitchen I worked in was a restaurant called Jiraffe which was in Santa Monica. I was an intern there for about a year and I was there while I was going to culinary school in 2001. From there, I went to another restaurant called Melisse a 2-star Michelin. I was there for a long time and after there, I went to a 3-star Michelin restaurant called The Mansion which was helmed by Joël Robuchon and he was the Chef of the Century and has the most Michelin stars. He’s a legend to say the least! I worked for him for a few years and then I moved to the Virgin Islands and I was there for a year and that’s when I had my first Executive Chef job which was an interesting experience to meet people that are not of your same background. It was a challenge and it really taught me a lot of leadership skills and how to motivate people that aren’t of the same background as you. From there, I moved to Hawaii and I was there for about a year in Maui. But that’s when Top Chef called and said, “hey Nyesha, you’ve been on our radar.” So, I did Top Chef and that’s what sparked my venture into TV land and cheffing. That was back in 2012 for Season 9. All the while, prior to that it was about laying down that foundation and groundwork to being a good chef and learning technique. It was about learning how to be a food person I guess you could say.

I did Top Chef and I did a few other shows. One was on Food Network that aired shortly after that and that’s kind of the large brush stroke of the journey!

AM: That journey is amazing. We’re huge fans of Top Chef and have had the pleasure in including their stories in our issues from Chef Brooke Williamson, Gail Simmons and Richard Blaise to name a few. What was it about that community as your Instagram shows how you are involved with so many people from there. What was it about the show that made you want to align your brand with what they have going on?

CHEF NA: I think that at that time, I was seeing people in the food space that were on TV. I think that because I grew up in a sports background and I played soccer in high school soccer, I was playing softball in the very early stages of my life when I was 6 years old until I was 13. My dad was the coach of my softball team and I think that those early stages of my life, playing on a team, being part of a squad so to speak and for sure being competitive, really resonated with me in terms of life skills and brain development. The idea that you can be on a team and win, that’s what drove me to do Top Chef because ultimately I can still hone my craft in this kind of aesthetic. I’ve slowly started to accept the fact that I am a competitive person and not so much against other people, but myself! I like to be a person that is a growth mindset person who loves to put out their best. It’s what drew me to it. I hadn’t actually watched the program – maybe an episode or two but there are some really die hard Top Chef fans out there. I wasn’t one of those people because I was living in real life and cooking in real life. Then I went on the show and did the competitions. It was awesome and a great experience and being part of the Top Chef community is amazing. It definitely helped launch my brand if you will. I remember, this is when I was at my first Executive Chef position at the time and people were coming to the restaurant. Sales were doubling and people recognized who I was as a character and they would come in and say, “you were such a class act, humble and gracious and fun to watch.” You know, it was super cool and an amazing experience to feel that. I had never been recognized before and it was really fun.

AM: Shake Shack is an office favorite in our studio. Tell me about the collaboration that you had as well as your line of sauces that you are releasing separately from this eatery.

CHEF NA: I did a collaboration with Shake Shack earlier this year with a sauce that I have called Aisoon Sauce. We do very limited editions of the sauce and it’s inspired by my grandmother and she’s a Korean ingredient and essentially, it’s a grilling sauce so you can use it on vegetables, meat, a soup base or a vinaigrette base. It’s an all purpose, all around Korean-inspired sauce that was inspired by my grandma.

AM: That’s really interesting and how does your background as an African American and Korean Chef inspire the foods that you create?

CHEF NA: You know, it’s interesting because I come from a French fine dining background in terms of the kitchens that I have worked in and is very influential in how I approach technique. So that’s an interesting way to look at cooking as a whole. It’s either driven by ingredients, where you source them and also technique. So, my background being African American-Korean, I grew up with a lot – let’s say from, 0-6, being influenced by my grandmothers food from the Korean side very traditionally and a lot of foreign flavors. That’s what I saw as that’s what she cooked and it was very traditional. Then, after she passed away, being influenced by the other side of my family was huge! My dad’s side is from Pass Christian, Mississippi, I’m a 3rd generation Angeleno – but on his side, there was a lot of Hot Water Cornbread and delicious Southern style cooking and those are the foods that I grew up eating.

Life is a journey and it’s all about learning. Right before the pandemic, I did this dinner and it was the first time that I explored a menu that I felt was truly a form of self-expression. It was a very Afro-Korean inspired menu and that was super cool. My style is very global. I draw from an inspiration of Los Angelos being my terroir – I cook very seasonally and I try to cook what Mother Nature is celebrating at that time so right now it’s stone fruit, corn, chilis and eggplants which are things that are eating very well and I think that that’s important to be in this sort of idea of a circadian rhythm and our planet has a pulse and there’s a time when she’s giving us things based on a temperature and climate that is going on. That ethos is based in my cooking and I don’t know if that is even being rooted in my race. I think it’s about celebrating the human race and that’s what drives my cooking which is so very unconventional because what you see is chefs that are Mexican are making Mexican food and those from China are making Chinese food and that’s not how I am approaching food and it’s so interesting and something that I have a lot of conversations with internally because the idea of identity and how the world sees you and how you receive and perceive the world! Anyone can be their own individual and it’s like for me, my inspiration in cooking is that it transcends the idea of ethnicity and it’s really about human connection and that is my favorite ingredient and that’s what draws and drives my passion for connectivity. Food happens to be that media for me and food is that form of self-expression. It’s also a form of nurturing and for me that’s what drives me and that it is an art. It’s not art on the wall but it is a craft and it can be applied to anything. The idea of something being someone’s craft, it’s a lifelong journey of discovery. I love to share that with people and my food from that lens. I know it’s long winded, but I wanted to be able to articulate that.

AM: I like this answer. As a Black Co-Founder of this magazine and as a fashion stylist, when you’re talking about fashion, I don’t style from a Black background, I have a luxury meets high/low meets Boho aesthetic which is also vibing off of the person and the project that I am working on. I love if you have a pair of sneakers and pair it with an exotic top and making this visual texture experience. That’s not me necessarily being Black, it’s just me loving what I love and mixing it together to tell that particular story.

You’re probably the first person that I have spoken with that in talking about how they approach their food, it’s not based on the background that you’re perceived to come from per se. I love that food storytelling much like in style which has visual texture and storytelling can have those same roots and thought processes. People do need to understand that the experience you are giving others doesn’t always have to come from a prescribed place of an actual experience that you have grown up in and that one can assume that your dishes are going to be collard greens and ham when you want to share another experience entirely.

CHEF NA: I’m telling you man! It’s so nice to have this open and honest conversation about this. I have to tell you that it has been a real reckoning of learning how to explain that because that is how I feel and I have to assume that not everyone knows where I am coming from and so I have to say the words and to hear from yourself as a POC to explain that theory behind art and the vibe – that is the true art of the craft. The whole collard greens and things like that, the thing is that’s such an interesting dialogue because I don’t think that I’m doing a disservice by not cooking the ancestral food, I’m Black everyday – you know? It’s about the lens of an artist! It’s also, I’m a woman so those two things, I have to be frank because when people ask me in interviews all the time – “what’s it like to be a woman in the kitchen, tell me about your Korean background,” – that specifically because in 2008, that’s when my first PR piece came out for me as a brand and as a chef. They talked so much and it stuck in the media and I’ve been seeing it for the last 17 years that the conversation is, “Nyesha Arrington Korean and Black,” and I’m like, ok yeah but I don’t know. It’s interesting to see what sticks and now after all of these talks about inclusion and I’m like, “wow, what’s really going on?” I’m an artist at the core of my being and that comes from my father who is my best friend. He is the best human that I know who happens to be my dad. He’s just an amazing person who has such a universal perspective about life, well read person, he puts himself in other people’s shoes all the time and he would give an ant a piece of food. The guy is an angel and I’m just so grateful for him and I just try to make my family proud with my cooking and things. So this whole Next Level Chef, it’s going to be a huge pillar in my life and I think it just puts a different outlook on cooking, sharing that in the media space and it’s going to be so powerful you know?

AM: I have to say that your scope on identity is a conversation that everyone needs to have with themselves and others especially when it comes to those that have management and people so that they can understand understand how you want to be presented and they’re in step with your vibe. Because if it can’t be articulated to them and they can’t embrace that this is who you are, what it means, etc it’s tough because you will continue to see that disconnect from them and those that reach out to you as the message isn’t being properly placed.

CHEF NA: It’s becoming –

AM: A fight.

CHEF NA: Yeah man and I’m just leaning into it. I think before, I didn’t know and as life happens, you just collect the data and as humans that is who we are. We are literal expressions of what is happening to us. Our duty is to celebrate the past, have the life experience and then carry that into the future because at the end of the day, we’re all storytellers – what else do we have? We’re telling stories and we’re trying to continue and share that. It’s interesting with the integration of tech – it’s fascinating!

AM: For sure!

From what we've been reading, your show Next Level Chef is an interesting concept and has a range of dynamics that make it unique in the food genre. Tell us more about this!

CHEF NA: Basically, probably 6 months ago, I went to guest chef on Gordon’s MasterChef. I went in and I did a dish and this dish which is so ironic because Gordon worked for Joël Robuchon. I did too. I made the classic Robuchon potato and he was – I can’t even tell you. He was standing off to my right and I was cooking and doing the potato and demoing it for the 4 cooks in front of me. The task was for them to recreate it. As I’m doing it, I can feel Gordon’s energy emanating off of him and vibes are real. What words couldn’t tell me, he pictured himself in me on the line and that was the energy that I was receiving and it fed me and I was like, wow this is so cool! Someone who worked for the same chef as me, who’s doing the TV life and is the #1 chef monetarily.

As a 17 year old girl on the line, I found this very early on when I was at a 2-star Michelin restaurant and it’s challenging to say the least. I remember saying to myself, “Nyesha, you need to push and work your ass off to eventually get out from behind the stove.” Because, I saw very quickly that if you don’t create options for yourself for growth, you get stuck and I never wanted to be that. I always had a big dream. I say that because when I did some research, Gordon Ramsay was always one of those people that’s doing it right and scaling properly in terms of brand building and all the things. In that moment when I was cooking the dish, it was just so cool to see a set and by that time, I had been on many sets – but to see a set driven by a chef was just a whole new world. It’s not a random producer who’s like painting this dream for the crew to recreate. It’s a kitchen and it felt like I was on a real kitchen again.

I did the dish, was on the show, left the set and Gordon basically came running out and was like, ”hey, who are you?” and shook my hand. My heart was pounding and he hugged me and tears just fell out of my eyes. It was a beautiful moment because I felt safe and I knew that this guy sees me. We shared that moment, his assistant was there and he was like reach out to her and they actually did! So how it came about was the Executive Producer who was there that day, we started talking and he asked me what a show would look like for me. It’s just like what I said to you, celebrating people, storytelling and I’m saying this more and more and leaning into it – I am not a conventional chef and I shouldn’t try to shove my circle into a square peg, let me be a circle and that’s ok! It’s pretty cool and empowering. They saw my authentic self and they asked what spoke to me and I said, the idea of mentorship, coloring outside of the lines – knowing the rules for sure, but being an artist. We had a few chats and then he reached out and said, we have a show called Next Level Chef, he gave me the premise and let me know that it would work well for me as it would be mentor based. I would have a small team of 5 and Gordon would have a team of 5 and we would mentor these chefs to win $250,000 – life changing! I am so freaking excited to say the least! I am so stoked and I can truly make an impact on people with just sharing. We’re looking for a 3rd judge and it’s going to be so cool.

AM: Before we let you go, in prepping for this interview, when looking at your IG, which is a great way to get some insights, we know that fitness is important to you. We noticed that you have worked out with Lacey Stone and we have featured her a few times here at Athleisure Mag and we love her vibes! She just has an authenticity and when I talked with her in person, I connected with her in so many ways and found myself just opening up and being vulnerable with her. She truly cares about her craft and just has a love for people.

CHEF NA: Um you freaking should be, I just had dinner with her a couple of days ago and it was the first time that we had actually hung out without working out. I have to be honest. She really changed my life and I want to pay her mad respect right now. In 2019, I joined her squad camp. Girl, this is real facts right now and it was a real epiphany for me. I was surrounded by strong, badass, kind, vulnerable, authentic humans and it literally changed my life and the idea of strength. Strength shouldn’t only be associated with masculinity and I had never been led by a strong female. The way she conducted her program, her professionalism, her classes, she’s a very present human – it changed my freaking life. I had only been led by European males so I think that in the background, I had only associated strength and ego from that perspective because how else is a European male supposed to lead me other than by what they know, you know? It’s toxic actually because there is a lot of that in my field. So to be lead by that and quite frankly, I have lead like that early on because that is what I was taught. So it has been a process of unlearning.

So when I went to her bootcamp girl, it changed my life! I was the most fit – that was pre-pandemic and now I’m the strongest that I have been in my whole life. I did her class yes and I started out with her 2019 and I lost 22lbs and gained a ton of muscle and it really kickstarted my healthy lifestyle. She’s doing these outdoor workouts on this cool tennis court and she was like, “girl, you’re strong AF and I want to come out and workout with you now!” So, she’s going to come out to my gym which I am going to mention in my ROUTIN3S because it is my favorite!

IG @NyeshaJoyce

PHOTOS COURTESY | Nyesha Arrington

Read the JUL ISSUE #64 of Athleisure Mag and see A Journey of Discovery with Nyesha Arrington in mag.

COURSE BOUND WITH JULIE TYSON

On Aug 16th - 22nd, THE NORTHERN TRUST golf tournament will be back at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, NJ. We attended back in 2019 and in anticipation of the upcoming event, we wanted to find out more about this tournament, its importance in the golf season and how it benefits its communities. Julie Tyson is the Executive Director of the PGA TOUR of THE NORTHERN TRUST. She shared her career journey, how she came to working in the golf industry, her approach to putting on one of golf's biggest tournaments as well as how she balances a myriad of schedules.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Back in 2019, we had the opportunity to go to THE NORTHERN TRUST and had an amazing time there so it’s so great to find out more about this tournament and your role in it. I’m also excited to chat with you as we are fellow alumnae at Indiana University so it’s always nice to connect with people from there!

JULIE TYSON: You are! You’re a Hoosier?

AM: I am and I was impressed that you were a founding member of the IU Dance Marathon on campus as I enjoyed going to that and raising awareness!

JT: That’s amazing and so cool! I’m on this sports board that they have now at IU and we had a board call last week and it’s like a who’s who of sports. I was listening on the call and I thought, “gosh Indiana turns out some really talented people!”

AM: Without a doubt!

JT: Well you included!

AM: Well thank you!

JT: You have quite a business!

AM: Thank you for saying that! It’s been an incredible journey and even in this time of the pandemic, we were really able to take stock to optimize what we’re doing while working on some really amazing things that will be launching soon! You know, in doing this magazine, we talk to so many people across a number of verticals and a number of them have come from IU and it always makes me think of just how phenomenal of a school it is and how far their arms reach! I’m from Indiana originally so I always wanted to go there, but looking at it from where I am now, seeing all the people that come through there it truly is incredible.

JT: I have 2 older brothers and I’m from Chicago originally and they went to school there during the Bobby Knight era.

AM: Same!

JT: And just like you, but for a different reason, we really wanted to go to Indiana University badly. I remember my first foot steps onto the campus, I had a couple of those pinch me moments like, “I can’t even believe that I’m here!” It’s such a cool experience.

AM: I loved it so much that after my freshman year, I became an Orientation Leader there every summer for the incoming students that were coming in! I’m still friends with a number of the people from those teams as well as students that I oriented. Bobby’s last year was my senior year, but my memories there were truly incredible and anytime I get to talk to others that went there, I know that it’s good people.

JT: Awww me too. I agree completely.

AM: Exactly. You have worked in this industry for a number of years. What is your background and what led you to working in sports and specifically to the golf industry?

JT: I was in media sales for a long time out of Chicago and I remember very distinctly boarding a plane and it was one of those really small 19 seat planes and I was in Michigan and it was in Feb. and I thought that it was freezing cold and dark and I need to do something different. I started to think about what would be next for me and I thought that being an agent would be interesting and fun. So my easiest path in I thought would be women’s sports to become an agent. I thought that I didn’t want to travel all over the globe at that stage in my life so that eliminated tennis because they were playing a lot of their events globally and I thought that golf would be an interesting thing because it was very well established and sort of fit with the lifestyle of not being in freezing cold Michigan weather.

So I reached out to the Vice President of Business Affairs at that time and said, “If you ever need help with your television, I’d love to help.” We got through a bunch of conversations and lo and behold he became the Commissioner of the LPGA, a guy named Ty Votaw. So I went to go work with the LPGA initially and worked there for a long time. It’s a very entrepreneurial setting where if you can dream it, you can do it. I loved my first foray into golf through the LPGA and then my career progressed and I ended up working at the PGA TOUR first in Account Management and then in Global Sales. Then, in 2017, my path led me to a counterpart and a friend that had become the head of our Championship managed event that we own and operate a portfolio of events and he asked if I ever wanted to come and run a tournament within this group of events? That began my event management experience was in 2017. THE NORTHERN TRUST happened to be moving from LA to NY so it was a perfect time for me because I got a new title, we were playing new venues and so everything was new. I didn’t walk into a big legacy really even though this event has been played in and around this area for over 50 years!

AM: That is quite a journey. Before we get into THE NORTHERN TRUST, can you tell me about your role at the PGA and what your day-to-day is like?

JT: So, I’m the Executive Director which means that literally if you think about it like a CEO of a small business, every aspect of the event rolls up through me whether it's client relations, whether it's operations, local relationships with the city or the state – putting on an event like this you have to let everybody know you’re coming to town and make the appropriate accommodations, marketing, HR, everything under the sun. Now the great part about this is that if you think about it like a franchisee, I have the PGA TOUR in the backdrop that we’re owned and operated and I have those resources that I can tap into on a daily basis. But we’re pretty much in NY running our own show up here.

AM: As you mentioned, THE NORTHERN TRUST is over 50 years old, can you tell us about this tournament which is the first of 3 Fed Ex Cup Playoffs events? What makes this such an important event?

JT: This is probably one of the most competitive events in all of golf where players compete throughout the regular season to earn enough points to make it to the Playoffs. We are the first Playoff event as you said. So we only accept the top 125 players in the world. If somebody gets sick or decides that they don’t want to play this particular week, we will play with fewer people. We won’t bring anybody else in. Not only do they compete to get into this event, after this event, we will cut as the Playoffs progress as they go from this event to the second event it will go to 70 players. So for some number of players like 55 players, their season will end at the conclusion of our tournament at THE NORTHERN TRUST because they didn’t earn enough points to make it into the top 70. So that’s 1 and 2, we tend to be one of the largest global platforms first being in and around NYC which is a huge enough platform to begin with. This event is also televised in over 220 countries worldwide so it’s a really big stage that we're putting these guys on. Lastly, over the course of those 3 weeks, these players will pay for over the 3 week run between the bonus pool at the end and the 3 weeks of purses, almost a $100 million in prize money. So that in and of itself, the scale of the stage, the number of hours of television, the platform, the fact that their season could end – there is a lot at stake here that these guys are playing for. So, really competitive environments tend to produce memorable moments on the golf course.

AM: Wow that is very critical in the fact that you could be ending your season after that particular tournament. How far in advance do you begin working on a tournament like this and as we’re a few weeks away, what does your schedule look like leading up to it?

JT: This event typically rotates in and around NY and NJ and in 2020, we played in Boston. We start planning 18 months in advance for where we are going to be in the upcoming year while simultaneously completing the steps towards the current year’s event. We have to be building 2 events simultaneously.

AM: When people think of golf, they think about The Masters, The Players or The Open as opposed to thinking of a tournament that’s minutes away from NYC, what are the intricacies of having a PGA TOUR event in NYC?

JT: Yeah. Interestingly here a local NYer or someone from NJ that is from the area will tell you that convenience is key! You have to have an easy way to get to something no matter how compelling. Unlike some of these other places where you’re in Augusta, GA and it’s convenient and easy to get to once you’re on the grounds of Augusta – you’re pretty local there. Here we battle traffic and all of these other kinds of modes of transportation. I think in 2021 what you will see as fans is that we have made it more convenient to get to the tournament. This being our first time back since 2019, we learned a lot from our fans so parking will be easier, we’ll have our rideshare much closer, our Ferry will drop off at the Liberty National Port instead of at Port Liberté. It will be super easy to get the opening and closing holes. So we have made it more convenient – that’s 1.

2, I think that if you live in the area, you have access to pretty much anything that you could ever dream of from world-class food options to entertainment so we really have to try harder to make this a singular experience that is super memorable. So we have really held ourselves accountable to building something that we think will get people to come back time and time again and hopefully your experience proved that we’re working hard on that front.

AM: I thought it was awesome. We went to the Media Day the day before and took the ferry over that day. I thought it was really cool. Who would have thought that steps away from the city, we have a golf course that we can go to without having to go to other regions in the country. It was really well produced and I’m excited to see what this year will be like. When I think about the music festivals and fashion weeks that we have attended it’s always challenging to do them when you’re talking about doing them here!

JT: I totally agree and we’ve lived through every challenge. COVID being what it is, to have THE NORTHERN TRUST last year in Boston during COVID which I can’t think of anything that is more complicated and we successfully pulled that off so we learned a ton about running events in a COVID environment just like everybody did in running their businesses.

AM: Speaking to that, running any type of event during COVID is problematic. What was your approach last year to tackling it and being in a different locale and keeping in mind all of these other factors that were literally outside of your control?

JT: Well, first we had to determine what was going to be our North Star. Our North Star was always going to be safety. Safety of the players, safety of the fans, safety of the volunteers, of the staff and in every step. We decided that we were going to operate without fans because we didn’t know if we could effectively do it as there were a lot of unknowns about COVID, there were no vaccinations - we just didn't think that we could aggregate people in a safe way. We knew that with the areas with the population of people and volunteer staff and players, that we could control how they could engage, we could control social distancing safety measures. So safety was always going to be our North Star. The second part of this and I think with anything that you’re going through with a crisis, is communication. We over communicated to everybody, the league, we communicated to the state and health officials. We over communicated with people and brought everybody into the process so that they could transparently see what we were planning to do and to advise us if we were going down a bad path. It helped us to be able to play in a time where most sports were unable to. We were really excited to be able to do that and to deliver to fans so that they could at least watch it on TV.

AM: In 2019, we had the best time watching Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka play and walking the course as they played. So for this year’s event, what kind of hospitality features and experiences that fans can enjoy while watching their favorite players.

JT: I think one thing to note is that if you’re a golf fanatic, we’ve got an option for you which is golf with a side of fun, but if you’re not super into golf and you just want to watch a little bit of golf, we’ve got fun with a side of golf. I think that more and more our fans are starting to see that you don’t have to watch 8 hours of golf if you don’t want to. We’ve got hospitality options that range from anywhere from over a little over $100 a ticket to all the way to $7,500 a ticket. It just depends on the level of convenience that you're looking for. So at the high end of that, the $7,500 ticket gives you valet right up to the door of the club. At the lower end of that, you’ve got access that will keep you out of concession and food lines and it gives you a reserved seat which generally is hard to find in golf. We’ve got hospitality options with everything in between and it just becomes things like climate control, shade or location on the golf course if you’re on a finishing hole. Those things come at a premium. We’ve got people and opportunities that can help coach you through any kind of opportunity that you want to experience. I think that the most interesting thing is for our Grounds Patron. We have 6 miles of front row seats for our Grounds Patrons which is unheard of in sports. Also, our amenities bring in local flavor with our food partners that you saw in 2019. So Shake Shack, Luke’s Lobster and Pizza Vita are there. We also brought in Playa Bowls which is a healthy option that was one of the bits of feedback that we got back from our food partners. We’ll have a wine garden that we fashioned after a North Fork vineyard experience with Adirondacks and food for purchase that pairs up nicely with wine as well as other kinds of experiences that people can enjoy. Again, if you’re interested in fun with a side of golf, we’ve got all kinds of space on a 6 mile golf course that is out in fresh air for you to enjoy with your friends.

AM: In addition to watching amazing athletes and having fun on site, there is also a charitable component as I know you’re focused on food scarcity. Can you tell me about where the proceeds will go to this year?

JT: Thank you so much for raising that as it is super important to us. Right now, we’re trying to frame up our relationships with our charitable partners and part of the reason why we’re still working on that is that it is the tournament’s proceeds that go out to that charity. So we have to hit the numbers in order to take the proceeds and provide them out. What we have tried to do is to pick some themes under the umbrella of Community Champions and Community Heroes. We know everyday that there are people going to work to make somebody else’s life better. Wherever we and THE NORTHERN TRUST as our title partner can go to work and help make those folks lives easier, we want to be able to do that. Things we've focused on include food scarcity that is coming out of COVID in NJ. They're focusing on real issues and summer is always tough with kids not going to school and having a guaranteed meal so that was one that we knew we wanted to be able to help. We’re looking at Boys and Girls Club, The First Tee which is our national charity partner with local chapters. We work with Tackle Kids Cancer, so we have a whole host of charities that we’re talking to right now and we want to help them in 2 ways. 1, with proceeds and financial underpinning and 2 is to take the PGA TOUR’s broad spotlight and shine it on those charities so that not only are we giving to them, but others that can afford to give are also supporting them. So you will see a lot of that going into the weeks leading up to and during tournament week.

AM: Going back to the point you were making with safety being a North Star, what can fans expect when it comes to their experience on-site at the tournament this year in terms of protocols and adherences that are taking place?

JT: Happily, NY eclipsed it’s 70% mile marker with vaccinations so that has been a mile marker that we have been waiting on for a long time! That being said, we also know that as people take their first steps back out into society, they’re going to do this in a cautious way and we want to meet them where they are. First, our food service, even when you’re in a shared structure for hospitality, where we used to have a buffet, we’re going to modify those experiences in terms of the way that we serve and produce the food so that we can make sure that everything is done safely, prepared safely and served safely. Second is, we’ve got fresh air that people can enjoy so we will keep things largely open air this year, more than we have in years past. That's due in large part because of COVID, but also because we have all been cooped up and we think that people want to be outside a lot more. Thirdly, we want to remove the judgement from mask wearing so we will be an environment where if you feel that you want to wear a mask, there will be no judgement and we will encourage it, but it will not be required. Generally speaking, we have an army of volunteers that will be wiping down surfaces and making sure that we keep people a reasonable distance apart – all those things that we have come to expect and want at a golf tournament will continue. I think that our 2020 experience made us much more knowledgeable to know how to operate in this environment.

AM: Wow, it seems like you have so much on your plate with so many different types of schedules running, outside of your job at the PGA TOUR, how do you take time for yourself?

JT: You know, I think that work and life sort of blend together and I’m fortunate because I work in golf and golf is a passion point for me. Being outside is a passion point, so I get to do a lot of what I like to do anyway. I have a family and I have a dog and things like that and when they want your attention, you sort of just give into it at those moments. So everything has its place and I’m grateful that I have all of those things because they are welcome distractions.

AM: How do you give back to the community whether it’s golf or philanthropic endeavors that you’re involved in?

JT: I sit on a couple of boards, but I think that really the thing for me is that my job marries to my passion point. Every day I get up and I get to think about the tournament that my team and I, THE NORTHERN TRUST, that operates with us will be able to benefit the communities where we play. I’m really lucky in that regard because I get to do that every day for a lot of hours a day. We all work a lot of hours and part of my mission is to make sure that we’re serving those communities and building deep roots and I’m grateful that we get to do that so that work and life get to blend together in that way.

AM: It’s always great when we get the opportunity to talk to changemakers and I think especially when we talk with women in sports that are dominating their fields and doing such an amazing job. I know our readers will enjoy it and personally, just prepping for this interview and seeing the dynamics of your career, I was really impressed and excited to talk with you and to see this event from another vantage point!

JT: I’m impressed with you! You’ve got this business that you created from the ground up are you kidding me? This is amazing. We love your support in covering this tournament.

AM: We’re always about storytelling and I love bringing awareness to a number of our topics especially when it comes to areas where people may not think of women being involved in. It’s exciting to see what the landscape can be especially for younger women that are coming up that they will have a better footing than what we had when we started on our journey.

JT: Hopefully that is true or we’re not doing our jobs. Someone once told me, “when you get to the top, send the elevator back down for women.” I’m grateful that you’re helping to do that and any way that I can do it, I want to do it!

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PHOTOGRPAHY COURTESY | PGA TOUR/THE NOTHERN TRUST

Read the JUN ISSUE #66 of Athleisure Mag and see Course Bound with Julie Tyson in mag.