Ivanka Trump is Running (Her Own Show)
By Lisa Elaine Held for Well+Good
Ivanka Trump is hustling.
I’m waiting for her in Central Park in front of Tavern on the Green with a handful of her employees when she jogs up waving, her platinum blonde braid swinging, and two colleagues running alongside her.
“She made us have a meeting while we were running over here!” one of them says, out of breath, as they all laugh in a way that implies they’re not at all surprised. For those who thought the Wharton grad was more likely to rest on her famous name than her work ethic, though, there might be an element of shock.
On the contrary, Trump’s new lifestyle website, IvankaTrump.com, launched a campaign celebrating “Women Who Work,” and lately she’s been living it in both her office and workout routines.
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The 33-year-old is a hands-on mom of two, juggles multiple high-level roles at her father’s real estate company, runs the team behind her namesake brand of apparel and accessories, and is currently building up her site, which focuses on helping working women manage everything from negotiating a raise to starting a business with style.
Oh, and in all her free time, she’s training for her first half marathon (hence the run in Central Park). On April 19, she’ll take on the More/Fitness/Shape Women’s Half-Marathon with almost everyone on staff at her website—and they invited me along on a team training run to hear all the details.
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“As women with a lot of priorities, our own health and wellness usually falls to the bottom of the list. Ironically, feeling good really is the key to being able to get everything else done,” she says. “I realized I need to treat fitness like I treat my work—I have to set a goal and make a plan to get there.”
Running the race as a team wasn’t her idea, she says. When the site launched in the fall, her team went out to celebrate and decided to do it as a group. They pitched the idea to her and she agreed, even though at the time, she says, she couldn’t run more than half a mile without stopping.
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“I live a pretty active lifestyle—I love yoga, golf, and tennis and I work out with a trainer weekly in the gym. That said, the running plan John Henwood put together for our team is kicking my butt,” she says. “It’s hard, but really fulfilling.”
Henwood is a former Olympic runner by way of New Zealand, who coaches superstars like Mary Cain, and is behind the soon-to-open New York City treadmill training studio TheRun. Trump and her team do group sessions with him every few weeks, logging the rest of their miles individually, for the most part.
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Their goal—besides just finishing a half marathon—is refreshingly simple. “We’re hoping to jump-start our fitness routines as well as inspire other women to set personal fitness goals, too,” she says. “We created IvankaTrump.com as a resource for women who work—at all aspects of their lives—and that includes supporting women in being their best selves.”
And while she’s used to winning in business, she’s not expecting to break the ribbon for her first 13.1. “I can’t wait to see my entire team complete the race,” she says. “I am determined to join them, even if I need to crawl over that finish line.”
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For more information, visit www.ivankatrump.com or www.morefitnesshalf.com
(Photo: Nathan Kraxberger)
