Cindy Yim's Blog

Health & Wellness Education - Russ Marchewka

2009-11-23T11:54:00.000-08:00

I wanted to give everyone a heads up on a new blog and Facebook group on Health & Wellness by one of our excellent athletes. In his blog and group, Russ Marchewka provides information about nutrition, exercise and staying healthy. He will be giving you the latest news on health trends, and special promotions for sports nutritional supplements and other products.

Russ is a professional beach volleyball player from San Diego, California. He made a splash when he entered the AVP Beach Volleyball Tour in 2007. With his energy and knowledge, he is bound to offer an insightful perspective on proper nutrition, training and maintaining peak fitness as a pro athlete who competes in major volleyball tournaments and hopes to qualify for the Olympics. Russ will keep it fun by posting his favorite recipes and a shopping list of the foods he purchases.

Here is a cool promotion that Russ has arranged for group members:

"Nordic Naturals is a long time supporter dedicated to research and science through training and education. They are very excited to be a part of my “Nutritional Challenge” and have graciously offered to extend to us an ongoing 15% discount! This discount applies to their complete line of essential fatty acids from fish oil. In order to be a part of this fantastic opportunity you must enroll as a member. How do you enroll: A members only e-mail will be emailed out on 12/1/09 with the promotional discount code! The codes will be good for one month."

Check it out: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=98889610299

Facebook Group: Health & Wellness Education

Information:

"This group will be the initial phase of my website launch. Many of you know that I am in the process of developing a website for health and wellness education. The site will feature educational information to provide users with a solid foundation of education about the body, nutrition and how they interact. I also want to provide a platform for an eco-conscious community to grow, flourish and be able to influence big companies to be more green.

I will be bringing in sponsor companies to provide discounts or free product. These will consist of companies who are actively using organic ingredients and showing a concern for the environment by taking an active role in reducing carbon footprint. I think it is important that we know what companies are making an effort to use healthier ingredients and be greener."

Organizing the Olympic Games

2009-07-31T19:24:00.000-07:00

The Olympics! A favorite topic of mine. It is one of the most exciting events in the world and brings together people from all countries for the celebration of the human spirit.

We like to watch the Olympics on television, but most of us aren't quite sure how the Olympic Games are organized and about the details into the lengthy planning process that spans many years. In May, I attended a conference in Switzerland and had the opportunity to gain some insight into the complexities of staging an Olympics from International Olympic Committee (IOC) members and organizers of the Olympic Games.

The most striking aspect of the organization of an Olympic Games is the extremely long period that it takes from a city's bid campaign to hosting the Games to the culmination of the event with the Closing Ceremony. To be involved in one Olympics could take up 1/4 of your life. Seriously, it can require two decades of devotion to making it all happen.

The Dutch are already making preparations for their Olympic Bid in 2028. Take into consideration that it is only the year 2009. Just an incredible amount of dedication and resources that goes into the process. You can imagine the distinction and benefits that a host city receives for it would have only pursued the opportunity if the perceived rewards are significant enough.

With the involvement of so many different global players, the hosting of an Olympics requires a clear delineation of each organization's role. The IOC is the owner of the Olympic Games. It partners with the Organizing Committee of the host city to monitor the preparation process and provide assistance with operations. Local partners are assigned projects that focus on delivery. The key is for these three main groups to balance all of their interests to function cohesively and smooth out any wrinkles that may come up.

Members of the Organizing Committees of the Olympics tell stories of the pressure-packed times when IOC members appointed to oversee the process will come by to check up on the progress.

A difficulty for organizers is to stay within budget as projects can get delayed, and any change in a country's economic and political situation during the 6 years of planning could affect the Organizing Committee's financing options. The 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles (my lovely hometown) was able to drastically reduce expenses by using a network of nearby sporting facilities such as those of UCLA. Fewer stadiums needed to be built from scratch and any facilities that were built had a plan for future use.

After the selection of the host city is made, the first two years is devoted to strategic planning and the next four years is spent on delivery. I believe that aspects such as transportation and security start entering the picture in the delivery planning phase.

So there it is. A brief glimpse into the many years that go into staging a global event that lasts for 2 weeks. What we get to enjoy when we watch the Olympics is amazing, and despite any delays and issues that may arise among the different committees and stakeholders in the process, it all works out well in the end. The Olympic legacy continues.

What about college?

2009-06-22T23:01:00.000-07:00

When I looked at my previous post, I was like "Oh my gosh...why is it so formal?!!" A blog is supposed to be fun to read. I don't know why my writing can be boring by default and my thinking is that it must have been from the courses that I took in college.

I find that listening to good music makes my writing more lively...so I have turned up the volume as I write this piece. Thank goodness for Lady Gaga.

Now, on to an issue that comes up quite a bit in my interactions with upcoming professional athletes. Some athletes face the choice of whether to go to college or turn pro directly. For some sports, it can be better to play on a college team because it gives you exposure to a major league team's manager or accelerates your pace of improvement. But for a lot of individual sports, skipping college to play on the pro tour is common.

I think the decision to not attend college may restrict your career options down the road. So any athletes who make this choice should please try to think this a million times over. It has got to be athletes who have reached the top of their sport at the junior level. Athletes need to feel that their chances of doing well are very good.

The life of a professional athlete can be tough. It can be difficult balancing constant travel, maintaining peak fitness, training intensely, winning competitions and earning enough money to last you awhile. At the same time, being a professional athlete can be incredibly exciting and one of those unique life experiences. It is just a hard decision for those who have excelled and feel that this is their chance to give it a shot.

At the SAP Open, I met a pro tennis player from a town near Lake Como in northern Italy who left the university in his second year of studies to compete on the pro tour. He was the nicest guy when we were chatting in the cafeteria/lounge area despite the fact that he lost in the qualifying rounds earlier that day. I really hope that he does well and has a breakthrough.

But he is not the only one who abandoned the university path. A great skier told of how she had mulled over the opportunity to go to college before ultimately telling her parents that skiing professionally is what she wanted to do. She comes from a more academic-oriented family and there was hesitation from her parents initially, but things have worked out well. The parents of a pro tennis player also weighed the choice heavily and decided that being professional is what her daughter had been wanting for such a long time. It's why she trained hard and dedicated herself to the sport for years.

The thing is, there was a slight sigh among all these athletes and parents when the univesity issue came up. It is a big decision for these young athletes because it plays such an important part in affecting their future. It seems that the choice will depend on each individual athlete's preferences and situation. A hard choice indeed.

The Blog Begins

2009-06-20T00:36:00.000-07:00

Earlier this evening, I had dinner with a few friends whom I used to work with at Deutsche Bank. One of them mentioned that he thought my stories from building this company and working with professional athletes were rather interesting. Over the past several months, others have told me this as well.

It is at this point, after 1.5 years since the company was founded, that I will be embarking on a new path as a blogger in sharing any interesting developments, fascinating stories and random thoughts. I have met so many different people from around the world in the process of developing and implementing a stock market of people. Perhaps you will enjoy hearing about these people and their experiences as much as I have.

Do I have anything of value to say? This is a good question. I tend to talk a lot, but I wonder if the things that I talk about are at all useful or entertaining (my preference is for the latter). Ultimately, this will be determined by whether you choose to follow my blog. If you choose to read another post on my blog, then I will know that you do not value your time :)

Cindy Yim
Founder & CEO
Little Yim Corp.