Female Sneaker Fiend Q&A
June 13th, 2011
Here is a Q&A that the wonderful women at femalsneakerfiends.com did with me. They cater to women who appreciate the smell of new kicks and love high-end athletic shoes. My love for the site was natural. Glad, I found them. Check it out
Helping put the W in espnW…
by Lori Lobenstine What’s it like working for espnW right from its inception? (Adena covers the NBA, WNBA, college hoops and more. Her work can be found here.) It is a wild ride! Everything is game at a startup. Ideas are flowing all over the place and everyone is electric. When you have the power of the four letters behind your ideas [espn], the sky is the limit. I’m happy to be a founding member. Adena and her “lime greens” What do professional basketball players say about your kicks when you interview them? I walk into locker rooms and the guys be like, “I see you with the lime green kicks!” Or they will say, “What you know about them Dunks girl?” Sneakers get me respect in the NBA world. My favorite sneaker head moment was when I was rocking some black and white Converse designed by John Varvatos that I had got for free from the Converse gifting suite during All-Star Weekend. I waited in a lobby for two hours for these and they were free, so you know they felt good on my feet. Free always feels better. Anyway, I walked past Dr. J (yes, that Dr. J!) at an Orlando Magic game in Orlando. I had interviewed him earlier that day, so he recognized me. When I walked by he said, “Nice sneakers.” I almost could have died! Dr. J. Mr. Converse. The first ever dunk contest winner. The man whose picture was on my wall as a little girl, complimented MY SNEAKERS! At that point, I could have died a happy woman. I will tell my children that story. “Nice sneakers,” said Dr. J! Speaking of basketball, I heard you were quite a player back in the day. How does your hoops background influence your footwear selection?
Going even further back, what was the first sneaker you fell in love with? I fell in love with Chucks first actually. There was this AIDS Walk commercial that used to come on television in New York and there were little cartoon characters wearing Chuck Taylor type sneakers. I might have been 12. I kept telling my mom “I want those sneakers. You know from the commercial.” I didn’t know the name of them though. But one day I found them and fell in love. What’s do your friends or family say about you being a female sneaker fiend? At first your friends and family don’t understand your love for sneakers. My friends would always call me a tomboy and say, “Your feet are going to get big if you keep wearing sneakers.” (I have a size 10 foot, so maybe they were right.) Now my friends love it. They are like “I see you with the new news! Get ‘em.” My one guy friend, who I kind of have a crush on, he may not want to share his emotions with me but he always shares hot sneakers with me. When I was really upset and not speaking to him, he sent me a picture of his Spizike Jordans and said, “I know you’re not talking to me but, I knew only you would appreciate these”. I almost melted. We are cool now. Adena posing with NBA legend Dominique Wilkins. Yes, espnW has its perks! What else would you like to tell other female sneaker fiends? Embrace your love for sneakers. They will open up doors for you. They make you unique. Not every chick can carry herself in a womanly fashion in a pair of Dunks. It takes a special girl to do that and you are that girl. |
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