My favorite brands in one photo.
I have been running consistently for almost eight years. I still remember going to my first run club (shout out to Jennifer Johnson and her Jeff Galloway run club) wearing a drawstring bag containing my car keys and a water bottle. I was truly as green as can be, knowing very little about running and nothing about the impact of clothes and shoes on running. I thought running was just moving my body as fast as I could for a set amount of time. Don’t get me wrong, running can be that simple, but the effort can be eased with a little bit of knowledge as to what works best for you and your running goals.
A lot has changed for me since I started running, mainly that I went from running to set an example of an active lifestyle for my girls to running being a way of life that supports me across all realms of my life. I went from only running 5Ks to running up to 50K. I have welcomed my inner cheerleader and confronted my inner critic. It’s been a journey, to say the least.
Across this journey, I have experimented with what works best for me and with what I like best (forever faithful to Brooks shoes and Garmin watches). I have also had the great opportunity to work with my favorite brands, both in ways I sought out and in ways that found me. I want to take this post as an opportunity to share with you all the ambassadorships that will be supporting me in 2020. I also want to make clear and highlight that I am only an ambassador for brands that had a big presence in my life before being an ambassador, so being an ambassador is me continuing to share my love for these brands, but with the title of “ambassador.” (Note: Brands are listed alphabetically.)
Fitletic
Fitletic is one of the first brands I came across when I began running. Seeing as I went to my first run club wearing a drawstring bag, I was quickly introduced to “hydration belts” by other runners in the group. I had no clue belts like this existed and my running life dramatically changed when I bought and began using my first belt. I’ve upgraded my belt over the years, but it continues to be a steady companion during all my training runs and races. I always appreciate having water on me, I can stuff an insane number of items in the pouch, and I love the ability to wear a bib without needing safety pins. This is an ambassadorship that I sought out.
For more on Fitletic, visit their website HERE.
My welcome to the Fitletic family.
lululemon
The times during the day that I run dependent on my children’s schedule. Back in 2015, my runs all took place after my girls were dropped off at school. Starting a long run at 9:00am with Miami’s brutal sun was rough. Not only was it hot as hell, but I was also getting heat rashes and painful chafing from my sports bras. One of my original running friends introduced me to lululemon and encouraged me to give them a try based on her experience. Their bras, particularly the Energy Bra, solved my chafing problem and helped me get through a long summer of training. There is no application process for being a lululemon ambassador, making the question I get asked most often “How did you become an ambassador?” My response usually covers three points: (1) Be YOU and people will be drawn to that, (2) Be involved in your community, and (3) Go be social and make friends with the people at your local lululemon store. There are days I pinch myself because I can’t believe I’m an ambassador and there are definitely days where I get all “Why me?” and think they made a mistake by asking me to be an ambassador. Mostly though, there are days, especially when I walk into my store (HI Brickell City Centre store!) and catch up with everyone at the store, that I’m like, “Duh. My desire to create community through movement is one of their goals and this place with these people feels like home. Of course they asked me.”
For more on lululemon, visit their website HERE.
Photo by Matt Roy.
Momentum Jewelry
I think I was first introduced to Momentum Jewelry sometime in 2014. Whenever it started, I remember loving that Momentum Jewelry was a female-owned business with the goal of sharing and spreading motivation. The power of words has always been strong for me, so it’s no surprise that Momentum Jewelry’s Motivate Wraps have helped me get through some tough training runs and some devastating racing experiences. There’s nothing like being stuck in my head in an awful thought cycle and having that mental funk shut down by a casual or intentional look down to words like “I am powerful” on my wrist. I don’t remember who reached out to who first, but there was an application process.
For more on Momentum Jewelry, visit their website HERE.
My personal collection of Motivate Wraps.
While it varies from brand to brand, I am expected to post about each brand on social media over the ambassadorship period. As I said earlier, I put careful consideration into the brands I represent and am only an ambassador for brands that I would support and promote regardless of my relationship with each brand.
If you are a brand ambassador, I would love to hear about the brand and your experience with the brand.