One day I asked Christy Turlington on a run...the unlikely story of what happened next
As a company with a weird French name, I like to think Bastille Day had something to do with it. But in fact, it was just a typical Saturday…a bit of sleeping in, followed by relax time with the family, the newspaper, and my coffee cup. Scanning my Twitter feed, one from Christy Turlington (@CTurlington) caught my eye:
Awesome message. I promptly re-tweeted it. And then I looked at her feed. Wait, what? She was in Seattle for the weekend. She was attending an event at the Gates Foundation, representing Every Mother Counts (EMC), an advocacy group she founded to reduce maternal mortality in childbirth, worldwide. I knew she had run the NYC Marathon to raise funds for EMC last year, so being all kinds of forward, I invited her and Erin Thornton (@ETThornton), EMC’s Director, to join us on our long run the next day. She kindly replied that they were flying out that evening, and wouldn’t be able to, but “thanks.” After an OMG-I-just-tweeted-with-a-celebrity moment, I asked her about training, and whether EMC had an apparel sponsor. Several DMs later, I was – unbelievably – driving to her hotel to discuss NYC and a potential partnership.
(For the 2% of you who haven’t heard of Christy Turlington, be good peeps and Google her. Hello? Iconic beauty, super model, actress, philanthropist, marathoner…she is a legit hero, having dedicated herself to a cause that is way bigger than any of us, and in which she has been able to effect real change.)
Fast forward two short months, and we are extremely happy (superlatives fall short) to announce that Oiselle is the official athletic apparel sponsor of Every Mother Counts, and the EMC Team of 50 men and women who are all running the NYC Marathon to raise funds for EMC.
As a women’s apparel company, we’re thrilled to be getting on board. What we’ve learned is that 90% of maternal deaths during childbirth can be prevented, and there is so much progress to be made. In fact, it was her own experience that led Christy to create the documentary, “No Woman, No Cry,” which includes stories from Tanzania, Bangladesh, Guatemala and the U.S. “No Woman, No Cry” premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2010 and since then, has been screened around the world at global health conferences, film festivals, universities and televised on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network and several other international networks. It is a powerful film…I highly recommend it!
Oiselle + EMC. As EMC’s official apparel sponsor, we will be supporting the cause in two ways:
1) Donating 40% of the net proceeds of our EMC Collection to Christy’s charity. The EMC collection, available exclusively on oiselle.com and available at the end of September, includes men’s and women’s tees, sweatshirt, draw cord backpack, and arm warmers. Quantities are limited, so be sure to subscribe to our email list to be the first to find out about availability!
2) By running in select events and fundraising. Despite having written off marathons this Spring, I will be running the NYC Marathon this November, and our Seattle crew at HQ will be running the Seattle Half Marathon during Thanksgiving weekend. I have started a Crowdrise page (Yo, “Five Boroughs or Bust”) to raise funds – and if you are interested in donating, I would be honored for any support that helps me get to my goal of $2,500.
The Oiselle office (Kate, JJ, Mac, me and KMet) model the new Oiselle/EMC Singlet…watch for it in NYC!
Christy and the EMC crew open their first box of Oiselle-made goodies. Yes peeps, that’s a “Run EMC” shirt. You know you want it!
Thank you Christy, Erin, Clancy, Kathy and all the fabulous women of EMC…for doing what you do, and joining forces with us.
Thank you also to the Oiselle friends and family community…who continue to believe not only in us, but what women do together – in support of many causes, and bonded by our love of the sport.
Thanks for reading, and hope to see you out on the roads!
