Elisa Velarde and Laura Willoughby
Everything I Ever Needed to Know, I Learned from Doing Triathlons
It's the fastest growing competitive sport, bringing millions of revenue for retailers and organizers across the nation. Call it a trend already in the making: At some point soon, if you don't already, you will know someone who is either training for or doing a triathlon. Most triathletes will never "place" and will finish solidly in the middle or back of the pack. So what compels people to swim, bike and run, all in the matter of hours; to spend 10 to 20 hours a week practicing three very different events; to submit themselves to pain when the gain is just a finish line? The Transformation of Triathlon.
Training for and competing in triathlons delivers insights that translate into lessons for every day living. Learn from the experiences every triathlete gains as they train and compete for this increasingly popular sport in this "virtual triathlon" presentation. This lively presentation will leave audience members entertained, informed and feeling slightly more enlightened about the purpose and nature of life itself.
About Elisa Velarde and Laura Willoughby:
Elisa Velarde is a technology program management whiz who in her vast career has raised millions of dollars for various technology companies that have soared to great heights, opened a London office for a worldwide tech company, won proposals for dozens of start-up companies, assisted a business incubator in Annapolis grow its program and mitigated tense moments at hundreds of business meetings. All the while she has delivered her unique insights and philosophies on the merging of business and life. In her spare time she not only trains to go better, longer and faster in her chosen sport of triathlon, she also regularly coaches various friends and coworkers through life transitions, providing unique insights on life as we know it. Her humorous approach to the every day challenges we face has enlightened many a triathlete, friend and business owner.
Laura Willoughby has worked as a sailor, a bookstore clerk, a peer counselor, a waitress, a newspaper reporter, a television news producer, a PR firm owner, an event planner, an executive director, a travel courier and a marketing guru. She has, at various times in her storied career, run around with a camera on her head to entertain hundreds (which failed miserably); carried a hidden camera as part of an investigative news story; weathered 9-foot swells and a broken mainsail in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle; created odd events that people actually wanted to attend; and eaten an entire bucket of Royal Farms chicken while running a grand opening event. All of which has somehow, strangely and uniquely, qualified her for this moment on the stage sharing her latest, and longest lasting, passion to date - the sport and training of triathlon.
During the day, they both work in the marketing department of a growing business resiliency company in Annapolis.
