CHAPTER 15 KAYLEE
“I know it’s only mid-July, but I want to get a jump start on a few planning items for both Q-four and next year’s Q-one,” Carla begins at our Friday afternoon team meeting.
This is my first one, but she gets everyone in the office together for a weekly meeting on Fridays at lunchtime, she treats for lunch, and we talk through what we’re going to accomplish the next week.
Cooper and I have worked hard this week as we took a look at the current curriculum to modify and update it.
It’s a great program that we can both stand behind, and I think Carla’s idea in hiring us was to choose two people related to the world of athletics who also have a background in designing curriculum.
Cooper told me that because of the farm system baseball uses to groom its youngest players, many baseball stars have a hard time finishing college degrees.
He worked hard to earn a degree in elementary education, largely completing his classwork in the off-season over several years.
While those around him were getting degrees in business and marketing to build a foundation they could use for future sports management careers like Luke did, Cooper knew he wanted to work with kids after he retired.
And even though I’m not a professional athlete, I’ve been around the world of athletics long enough to know plenty about it.
Since my stock has risen given my recent stint in the media, Carla liked the idea of having a pseudo-celebrity woman closely connected to the very masculine world of pro football.
So here we are, eating a lunch catered by a local Tex-Mex restaurant while she tells us about her upcoming plans for StrongFitKids.
“The Halloween bash is our biggest annual charity event, and Jamie started planning that in November of last year,” she says, nodding toward the marketing director who I’ve already gotten friendly with.
It’s a small office with only ten employees, and Carla has it well organized. Everyone seems to know their role, but they seem to know everybody else’s role, too. It’s a great system of support.
“Cooper and Kaylee, I have big plans for you at the bash, so I’d like to meet with the two of you and Jamie to discuss that early next week.
I also have a few smaller events I need your hand in, including the back-to-school Jump-A-Thon in late August, which is our second biggest event.
We also need to take a look at how we want this program to evolve over the next few years.
We’re exclusive to SDUSD right now, but my plan with this company has always been to expand beyond just one school district.
We have two brand new celebrity faces who are working with us, and Los Angeles isn’t far away. ”
Cooper draws in a sharp breath and I glance over at him. He came here to escape LA. I’m not so sure he wants to go back. Nobody else catches it, but our eyes meet for a second, and I spot the anxiety there in his.
“It’s also been my goal to take this program national,” Carla continues.
“We’ve already designed a curriculum that’s fun and engaging, but right now we’ve only got our spokespeople stopping by each school once per quarter for a special assembly.
I’m in negotiations with SDUSD to expand that.
Some of our options are monthly assemblies, after school programs, or even recess programs for kids who want to participate.
We’d obviously need incentives for something like that, so Jamie and Haley, I’d like you two to brainstorm on that. ”
She issues some other tasks, and we all get to work for our Friday afternoon.
It’s later that night when we’re sitting on the couch watching one of the Housewives shows on Bravo (his selection, not mine, though I can’t seem to look away) that he brings up Carla’s words—during a commercial break, of course, while he’s munching on one of his beef sticks and I’m enjoying a small bag of Cheetos.
“The Halloween bash I can get on board with, but going back to LA?” He shakes his head. “I don’t know.”
“I’m just glad she didn’t say Vegas,” I admit.
He chuckles. “It’ll be next. San Francisco, Seattle, and then moving east. She wouldn’t have grabbed a woman related to two Aces players if she wasn’t interested in expanding there.”
“You think that’s why she hired us? To get the company into LA and Vegas?” I ask, narrowing my gaze at him. I never thought about that. Carla is friendly, accommodating, and so far, she’s been wonderful to work with. But she’s incredibly business-minded and savvy, so his insinuation makes sense.
“I wouldn’t doubt it. She’s smart, and it makes good business sense if she wants to expand.”
“What did you think of the Halloween bash?” I ask.
Jamie filled us in on the basics after the meeting, and next week we’ll learn more about it.
It sounds like it’s a huge, local event, and since Cooper and I are the new spokespeople, they basically want us running the entire show—including having a hand in planning the final details since we are the co-programming directors.
He shrugs. “Sounds like it’ll be fun.”
“I don’t mind speaking in front of a gym filled with kids, but leading workouts at an amphitheater for kids and their parents?” I shake my head. “I should’ve read the fine print. Plus I’ll be showing by then. I can’t just show up in my cute leggings and sports bra and show off my high kicks.”
He shrugs. “Why not? It’ll show them that this program is safe for any body type.”
“I guess,” I murmur doubtfully. “Nobody’s going to want to see my pregnant belly sticking out the top of my leggings, though.”
“You’d be surprised,” he mutters, and I’m about to dissect that little comment when the show comes back on.
So now I’m just sitting here thinking about Halloween in July and what costume I could possibly wear to hide my bump and why Cooper made it sound like he might like seeing a baby bump.
We haven’t gotten into the nitty gritty of why he and his ex broke up other than what he told me on that first day…that they wanted different things out of their future. I’m starting to wonder if Cooper’s ex might be Ben’s perfect match…and if Cooper and I might be more alike than I first realized.