Go behind-the-scenes of the 2024 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, coming to Columbus in January of 2024. Linda Logan, CEO and President of the Greater Columbus Sports Commission, shares the history and behind-the-scenes work to secure the Championships for Columbus and to make them an unforgettable experience. And hear from Austin Tootle, fashion designer and CCAD grad, about his career and how he became the costume designer for a competitor in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
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Live Fun of Experienced Columbuses. LiveForward Live podcast introduces you to a new
frontier of undiscovered possibility. Columbus isa city with an energy of its own.
Joined boxer Kelsey and their guests foran insider's look at a destination that
(00:25):
invites visitors and locals alike to shareand explore. We'll go behind the scenes
of popular attractions, uncover best keptsecrets for things to see and do,
and meet people who embody what itmeans to live forward. Welcome back to
another exciting episode of Live Forward,Live and Experience Columbus podcast. I'm one
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of your host Boxer along with Kelsey'sjoining us today. Hello, look at
you. You already look like afigure skater today with your wardrobe. Well
talking about maybe it's the red,Maybe it's the red, Maybe it's the
red. Well, I'm ready forthe holidays. I know that Austin is
here, so I'm ready to getsome tips more. Oh so you wore
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this? You wore this to getAustin's opinion. No, I want to
suck up to him like I wantedto like me. I wanted to think
I'm fun. Of course he thinksyour fun. Kelsey, come on Well,
we want to welcome our guests thisweek on the show, Austin Toodle,
fashion designer and Cca d Grad,a costume designer. What I think
this is exciting for the US figureskating costume one Austin or a few?
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How many are you doing? I'mdoing one right now? Just do a
one. Well, we're gonna getinto that just a sec. And someone
I've known for a long time,someone you She's one of those people you
do not want to upset because you'llnever see yourself again. No, I'm
only kidding, just kidding. LindaLogan, who's the CEO and President of
the Greater Columbus Sports Commission. Andan exciting position you have, Linda,
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because of all the great things thathave come to town and are coming to
town. Absolutely so lucky to behere today with all of you to talk
figure skating and Columbus. That's right, And Linda, I can't wait to
dive into some of this that we'regoing to get into, especially with the
US Figure Skating Championships. Why don'twe start there first, Linda, if
you don't mind, let's start withyou on your involvement and how the heck
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did Columbus Land this event. Soto set the stage, I think this
is one of those marquee events that'snever been held in Columbus before. It's
been on our radar for our twentyone year history, on our wish list,
if you will, and probably it'sbeen a dozen years or more that
we've been courting US Figure Skating tobring the event to Columbus, and I
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think a lot went into it.We had several stakeholders that we needed to
engage, whether it was nationwide arena, the Blue Jackets, of course they
need to go on the road forus to host this big event, representatives
from the hospitality community, the city, of the county, of the state
of Ohio. So really, ifyou think about it, we've probably been
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trying for this event for a verylong time. We have hosted two US
Figure Skating Board meetings, if youwill. They're governing council meetings were here
back in two thousand and five andthen again maybe ten years ago. So
that was the best in the brightestand their leadership was here. About a
thousand of their board members came toColumbus got to see, hey, maybe
this footprint could work. They stayedat our local hotels. They stayed at
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our convention center. They got towalk to see nationwide arena. We showed
them the Shottenstein Center. So againthey thought, oh, Columbus, we
were planting that seed several years agojust to hopefully come up with the opportunity
to bid on the event. Intwenty eighteen, we took a bus of
people to Detroit to see the event. We left at eight in the morning,
we got back by five o'clock,but we were able to walk around.
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We got to be a part ofthe Kiss and Cry room. We
got to show people. They gotto see it up close and personal to
say, this is an event wewant in Columbus. And finally all the
stars aligned and yeah, here they'llbe in twenty twenty four. That's incredible.
Austin Tootle, what about you,we kind of touched on a little
bit. You were involved with theUS Figure Skating Championships. It's about fashion,
It's about the costume. It's aboutthe costumes. Yeah. So I
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graduated last year from Columbus College ofArt and Design and they reached out and
they were like, they want someoneto make costumes, and they immediately thought
of me. So that's kind oflike how it came about? But how
does that happen? Like, howdo they have no idea? I could
probably shed a little light and Okay, so knowing that we wanted to make
the championships special to Columbus, whatare we known for? There's so many
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great things, our great footprint,the fact that everything is going to be
so close together, but also ourfashion scene, our arts scene, and
how can we tie all of thattogether? So several conversations happening to what
makes us so unique? And ofcourse the College of Art and Design was
right front and center, had someamazing conversations about how could we do this
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with these amazing athletes? This issuch an artistic sport. So from there
we let the experts take hold ofit. Many of the key leadership at
the schools said, why don't wepair an alumni with a student or a
class and come up with a wayto make this very special. So that's
just the background story. So Iguess Austin you could take it from there.
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Yeah, for sure. So whenthey reached out to me, they
really wanted to do like a classroomlike work with the students being at CCAD.
The biggest thing that you can dois your portfolio so that when you
go out for a job, youare able to you know, get jobs
essentially. And so having real lifeexperiences I think makes it more personable for
the student to basically drive themselves todo the best that they can. And
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so what we're doing is there's goingto be groups of two and they kind
of have the same when I gointo the class, they'll have the same
like criteria that I got when talkingwith the skater, and then it'll kind
of give them a chance to takethat knowledge and then make it themselves.
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So they're not actually making garments asmuch as they are just doing the sketches
and the overall concepting, so everythingthat leads into it before you actually go
and design it. I just feelthis is so Columbus. This is what
we do. You know, wehave this event and then we find ways
to just make the team effort tobring in all of the you know,
all of the things that make usso vibrant and special and like to have
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you hit sitting here Austin and Iwouldn't even have thought of that, you
know, reaching out to our localcommunity because we have this amazing fashion scene
and now you get to be apart of it. Yeah, could you
tell us a little bit about whoyou designed for and what you designed?
Yeah. So the skater that I'mdesigning for is Isabeau Levedo, and she
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is sixteen years old and she's likewhen I first met her, I think,
if you know, I think shewas top three in like the USA,
and then as we started designing andtalking more, she moved up to
number one. And so back inAugust, I got to go to Vegas
to meet her. They were doinglike a little like sports camp, and
I was kind of going into thisvery blindly, just not really knowing what
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to expect. Which I think that'sbetter because I feel like it made me
more into it in the moment,and it is way more in depth than
I ever thought. And I thinkuntil you're in it, you can't wrap
your brain around it. Cause thisgirl is one week in Japan and then
she's home for two days. Nextweek she's in Germany, And so when
we would have to go do fittings, I was just in New York.
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It was like we have one hour, and it's like you have one hour
to do this fitting. Next thingwe know, she's gone. So it
was a really unique experience to seethat. And it also, like when
I mentioned you can't prep yourself forit until you're in it. It's like
you have to hound in in thatmoment to be able to get all your
measurements, all your questions asked.And because she's gone, she's kind of
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like a magician exactly. So Austin, I have to assume that you are
prepping it down to the tee,down to the second what you're gonna do
when you're with her, right likeyou you've got it all mapped out.
Yeah, I mean it's very muchlike wake up three am, go to
the airport, like make sure youknow, hopefully nothing's delayed. If something's
delayed, there's no changing it.So wow, all your questions, you
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know, if I have a specificmeasurement, I need to make sure that
I get that, you know,any questions with her? I mean I
think so designing for like you know, my normal brand or my collection,
they're on the runway for thirty secondsto forty five seconds and they're standing in
your signature model pose I have totake in consideration she's moving and so seams
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have to be stronger, it hasto be stretchier. You know, when
you rhinestone something, it shrinks becauseof the glue. So it's all these
things come into it. And thenwe have to look at the whole picture.
How's the hair gonna look, how'sthe color gonna look under the lights
versus how it looks and you know, normal lighting, what color skates is
she having? Well does that clashwith this? You know? So there's
everything that goes into it. Solike even when you take measurements, you
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have to see like if she's gonnaabout to go do a spin, she
has to get prepped for right beforeshe does it when we measure her,
so it doesn't bust a seem when. So there's just so much that goes
into so many elements. I neverthought about before. Is does it have
a lot of sparkles? It hasa lot. I am hand sparkling hands
studying crystals onto the Yeah, isit finished, by the way, is
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it not? It's not. Sowe essentially had a deadline to have it
done about the middle of October,and when we met the first week of
October, it was me and Isabekind of looking at it and we were
just like, we can do better, Like you know, we want to
make Columbus proud, and I don'twant to play it safe. In the
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realm of like doing an easy design, I want to kind of wear something
or I want her to wear somethingto wear while I wanted to be a
wow but also you know, thiscould not only benefit Columbus but also myself.
So it's like, I don't wantto play it easy. I've never
been someone to play it easy.I remember at CCAD my senior year,
I did a whole rhein stoned catsuit and my teachers were like, have
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fun doing that, and she actuallytold me after the fact that she had
full doubts in me. She's like, I don't think you could finish it,
and she was like you just keptgoing and going and going and it
got done. And then you know, it kind of brings me to where
I am today, is to like, you know, taking those risks get
you where you need to go,even though if it's not in your thought
process or even in your realm.At that moment where with Linda Logan,
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CEO and president of the Greater ColumbusSports Commission, and Austin Tootle, who
you were just listening to fashion designerand of course talking about CCAD, a
grad from there, costume designer fora US figure skating costume. This all
started before we started taping Austin.You were saying, did I hear you
right? A lot of this startedduring the pandemic, Is that right?
(10:58):
Yeah? So I graduated high schoolin twenty fifteen and had no idea what
I wanted to do with my life, and so I decided to pursue modeling
and acting and I hated it.It just wasn't for me. I wanted
to be able to make clothes onthe runway rather than wear clothes on the
runway, okay, And so thatkind of got me to go to CCAD,
and you know, freshman year andthe beginning of sophomore year were great.
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Then COVID happened, and so inmy living room I learned the fundamentals
of fashion, sewing, patterning,draping, everything that you need to be
able to make a garment. Andso when COVID kind of loosened up,
it was the beginning of my senioryear in twenty twenty one, and it
was like make a collection. Andso I am not one to like do
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like normal types of like everyday clothing. So I was always in the realm
of performance where wanting to make clothesfor Beyonce or Taylor Swift. I just
love that key detailing of everything,and never even thought of the glitz and
the glam of figure skin and souh. Once graduating, I did Columbus
Fashion Week, which then got menoticed for New York. So I just
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got down with New York and thenbrought the collection back for Columbus and then
on top of all that, I'mdoing this as well. So so while
we were doing our shows or radioshows in our closets and yelling at our
kids to just shut up during thepandemic, you were just blossoming into this.
Oh no, I was crying onthe Oh my gosh, because it
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was in the moment. You know. As a student, I don't think
people understood that it wasn't just aphone call away if I have a question,
it was you're going to figure itout, or you're going to get
a lower grade. And that's notnecessarily anything bad on the school, but
it's like, I don't like wondering. I would rather figure it out myself.
And if it's the wrong way,I learned the right way and if
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it's the right way the first time. Great, you know, great.
So I'm kind of bursting with pridejust hearing your story. I think that
because we've gotten to watch the Olympicsand see the figure skating. I remember
myself being so touched by dating myselfhere about Peggy Fleming skated in this chartruse
costume, and I later read herbiography where so much went into that costume
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with her mother. They were inFrance, and her mother wanted her to
resemble the liqueur from that region,and just just knowing how special and how
much thought goes behind it. Howwas that talking to Isabelle about her vision.
Sorry, I'm asking you the question. Oh that's a great question,
but I just was curious to knowhow you learned about her personality and what
was important to her. Yeah.So, how it essentially started was we
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just did zoom calls, and sowhen we were on the zoom call,
we first of all got to meether for the first time, and she
was just like any other, youknow, fifteen sixteen year old girl.
And then our next zoom meeting waswhen we actually hounded on the questions I
had. You know, it goesinto way more also about what music you're
doing, you know, like everything. I can't say the music, but
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she would tell me the music andkind of like her vision for it.
She actually left the reins open tome, which as a designer people might
say, oh, that's great.It's not a good thing in my realm
because my brain just travels. Andso I am someone that doesn't want to
have anything repeated. I want tobe like the first person to do something.
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And so for about a week anda half, it was just me
researching and researching and you know,what cuts in the fabric did we like?
What color Ryan stones? And sothe only thing I asked her is
what don't you like? And thatlets me kind of push myself from a
starting point as to what not todo. And then we got to about
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five designs and we changed it.And I think as a designer you have
to pick the brain of the personyou're doing. So they might explain something
one way, but they don't meanin that same way. And so we
did a little mock up, whichis where you do it in the same
fabric, but you don't have itfully rhinestone yet, just to make sure
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it fits right, the cuts areright. Yeah, and we hated it.
We didn't like how it was cut. It looked very sinister versus the
music's not very sinister. Actually it'snot sinister at all. And so we
went back to the drawing board andso that was when we decided she was
supposed to skate with the outfit onfor Skate America. And when we were
in New York, I had tohave it done in a week, and
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thank god, she was like,let's push it back and present the look
in Columbus rather than having it alreadypresented out there. And so I'm very
grateful for that because I feel likethat'll lead to a lot more build up,
not only for myself but for Columbus, kind of like debuting something.
So, yeah, this is abig deal, man, I know,
I know. I want to knowLinda. So we got to interview Brian
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Boitano as part of this entire youknow, preparing for this huge event here
in Columbus. What was it likefor you to meet him after you know,
trying to get this event here andthen here he is in Columbus and
he's bringing his like cafe experience here. Pretty cool, I know what's like
And talk about an athlete that givesback to their sport. Yeah, someone
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that so humble and just personable andwill just do anything for a sport.
Though. He and Jason Brown bothwere here, and Jason is the bronze
medalist and of course going to becompeting for the championship here, and I,
you know, I've been doing thisa long time and I get to
meet a lot of athletes, butI was so impressed with Brian and Jason
and the fact that they are justThey're willing to do whatever it takes to
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make the championship successful in Columbus,and I think they had no idea what
goes into it behind the scenes.So I was really proud of the fact
that we were able to get himhere a few months early. They got
to meet a lot of the keystakeholders, people from the arena, people
from our team, people from youknow, experienced Columbus, and I think
they really have a different impression ofthe community because of that. You've talked
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about our collaborative efforts, you know, all of a sudden, we had
Jason Brown, that bronze medalists talkingto somebody from the Columbus Symphony and just
off the Cuffee says, I couldskate live to the symphony and if you'd
want on that Sunday. So nowall of a sudden, we've got the
Columbus Symphony that's going to be youknow, live. At first I thought
they meant a recording, but they'relike, He's like, no, I
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could skate live. So then wehad our Mike Ghetto from Nation wad Arena
happened to be in the room,so we got him right over there.
Can we make this happen? Andso all of a sudden, within twenty
minutes of this brainstorm, it's comingto life. Much like what Austin is
doing. We're again trying to tiein different parts of what makes Columbus special.
So it just makes you very proudof the community. And this is
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such a beautiful sport, so artistic, so and we are an amazing arts
community. So why not pair themhaha intended, But it's so true that
we're trying to do these special things. Linda, no doubt all eyes will
be on Columbus Nationwide Arena in Januaryfor this event. How important is this
event with knowing how aggressive you areand your goals of what you want next?
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For Columbus and other events to landhere. We are very proud of
the fact that Columbus shows up.So by that, I mean people are
going to buy tickets here, andit is important to skate with a full
house, if you will. Wewant that lower Bowl to be just rocking,
so that these these athletes have anamazing experience that looks great on television.
We're also a community that watches television. We're always in the top five
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in viewership for the Olympics, theWorld Cup, the Super Bowl. So
again we know that Columbus is goingto show up in all different forms of
fashion, and so it'll be importantto buy those tickets. You know,
come as a family, come seethe best in the brightest of a sport.
And that's what makes our job sospecial is that we know that we're
going to touch families. One ofthe proudest moments I think for me was
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when we hosted the Women's Final four. To see all those little children here
and maybe that never saw the sportbefore. I know. Merri Ginther tells
the story about his daughter had neverreally been a sports person, but she
was eight years old at the Women'sFinal four and saw those buzzer beater events,
and next thing you know, she'spicking up a basketball and he's coaching
her team. So I think theold saying, if you see it,
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you can be it, And Ithink hopefully we're going to inspire a lot
of young people in Columbus. Andwe want everyone to buy tickets for the
holidays, for your family and yourfriends, and make sure that we get
out and experience this beautiful event herein Columbus. Right absolutely, tickets are
on sale now. There's all kindsof packages, all kinds of price points,
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and there's just so many ways thatyou can get involved. And yeah,
I'm just very proud of that nation. Why to read it? Dot
Com has a nice page setup forthis if you're looking for tickets Austin.
You know, are you a lifelongresident by the way of Columbus. I
grew up in Leiccaster. Oh okay, so look at you look at a
small town I okay, that's thatjust makes it even more amazing, though,
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you know, a small town guycomes to Columbus, Cca d and
and I just think about your experienceswith Columbus Fashion Week New York Fashion Week,
which, by the way, everyonetalks about New York Fashion Week.
Was it ass amazing as what youalways hear about. So it was the
most magical experience that I've ever done. Yeah, I also had to learn
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to live in the moment because weblinked it was over. Okay, it
was a whole. I actually broughtColumbus models. I flew them in and
housed them because I wanted them tobe able to get the experience like finding
someone, so a signature thing thatNew York told me when they reached out
to me. Well, actually,let me backtrack just a tiny piece.
Yeah, when you do fashion weeks, you normally apply for them and then
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once you apply, they go throughthe process of like do you have you
know what we're looking for this yearor do you not? And so they
actually reached out to me, whichI thought was a scam. So I
didn't react to them when they reachedout to me. And then they reached
out again and they're like, wewant you, Like there's no one doing
the things that you're doing. Sowhen they reached out, I actually wasn't
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going to do any fashion weeks thisyear. I was I wanted to kind
of lay low. I had justgraduated, and so they were like,
we will waive you know, yourfees, so all you have to pay
is a minute, like a veryminimal production fee. And I was like,
okay, let's do it. Andso that kind of jump started me
being able to say like, okay, people are seeing me it, let
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me know. And I think alsofellow designers in Columbus, because Columbus is
number three for fashion in the UnitedStates, that the big cities are watching
us. They're watching up and comingdesigners and so you never know, you
know, something post on social mediawhere it'll get you. Yeah, by
the way, is it New YorkLa Columbus? Is that New York La
Columbus? Yeah, so like noteven you know, there's still really big
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fashion cities such as Chicago or Miamithat are still behind us. So it's
definitely very unique to be able tosay that I was approached to do New
York. I didn't have to askfor it, but right from the start
they were like, we want yoursix to tenant shields. We don't want
you know, that is so signaturebecause no one does that on the runway
and so I was like okay,and I was like, well, when
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do I get to pick the models? And They're like, you'll get to
pick them the day of the show, and I said, there's no way
that I can trust a girl towalk in six to eight ten in shields.
I think I ended up deciding oneight inch that, you know,
cause it makes me might look bad, you know, if they fall,
it's like, oh, I putthem in danger. And so I reached
out to fellow CCAD models that Ihad used back when I did my senior
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thesis, and then I just hadsome friends that I was like, hey,
like, you guys want to walkin New York Fashion Week. I
think they thought I was kidding andthen I was like, Okay, we're
doing it. They kind of justmade my dream a reality, and so
it was so nice to be ableto experience that with like all my friends
flew in, my family flew in, so it was like this amazing experience
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to have them but also my friendsmodeling my clothes. And then we got
to come back a month later anddo it in Columbus with the same models.
So it was kind of like wewere on our own little like tour
around the East Coast doing like showsand stuff. But from there it got
me kind of noticed to do showsin Paris and Milan. So yeah,
that's you know, that's just wow. And to what you just said about
(23:40):
relationships, I think of actors,directors, producers that like to continue to
work with that certain circle of people. I think of musicians that either like
to do duets with certain people orthey have certain members of their band.
Is it the same way in fashionas a designer with models? So are
there certain models you're like, Oh, I click with this one, I
(24:03):
click with this one, Let's keeprocking it. Yeah. I think it
makes it more personable, like theyknow me from a friendship standpoint, which
I think, you know, Ithink when people have that or hear that,
they're like, oh, well,like they could, you know,
know how to bend and twist tonot get what they want to do.
But they the collection that I didfor New York, I really I didn't
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have never done men's wear, soI wanted to include men'swear in that and
the collection. I like to notcause a stir, but I don't want
anyone to ever expect anything from me, because I think once you expect something,
you get bored. And I thinkthat's why studying pop culture, you
had mentioned musicians like Lady Gaga.Back when I was little, I went
to a little private Christian school.My parents are like, you are not
(24:47):
you are not allowed to listen toher or whatnot. And it's funny because
I never knew that she would cometo be an amazing actress and basically what
my parents are saying be normal now. But I think that is something where
I had to sit down with themodels and say, you know what,
as a designer, I want tohave my vision come to life, but
I also at the same time wantto make sure you're comfortable. So doing
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performance where or lingerie, I hadto sit down with each model and say
what are you comfortable with? Whataren't you comfortable with? And I think
that also allows the models to beconfident in themselves. There's so many shows
that I see, even in Columbus, where it's like you can tell the
model doesn't like what they're wearing,and it portrays in the photos and the
videos and it's it's not you know, it doesn't get my point across.
(25:34):
So that I've definitely took that overwith Isabe to make sure, you know
what, can we push the boundaryof but still make you comfortable in So
that you can do the best ofthe best, so kind of like,
what was your question again? Sorry, no, no, no, you
you answered it. You answered it. It was about if you had you
have the same favorite models that youlike to work. Oh yeah, I've
(25:56):
already asked almost all of them toif you know. I was like,
hey, like, if I payyour fees for Paris and Milan, will
you pay for your plane tick?And they're like yes, of course,
so you know it. Also,I think gives Columbus an opportunity to have
I mean, the models in NewYork is probably one hundred thousand during fashion
week and a lot of them willfly in from all over the world to
(26:19):
audition, to never get chosen.And so for me to be able to
say I have my models, Iknow the closes fit already right off the
bat like cover the charge for meto relieve anxiety and stress, especially with
the heels. That the stage waseight feet in the air, so one
stumble they are they're down for thecount. Can you imagine eight inch heels
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marveling at it? Myself? Ilove me some flats. What are your
students responding to this class assignment too? Oh yeah, so they can watch
her skate r get inspiration. Sowe're kind of switching it up a tiny
bit because when we essentially were goingto do the program with them, the
costume is going to be done,and so we're since I'm still working on
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it, we've kind of critiqued somethings, so like, you know,
they are starting it next next week, but I think that they don't know
how big this is not only forColumbus but for Cca D And so when
I was in CCAD, I alwaysloved doing the more like real life projects
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that could get you know, yousomewhere. And so you know, I
was telling the teachers and stuff like, we have to push them to be
able to be the best versions ofthemselves. So a lot of them are
juniors, so I think this willalso prep them for you know, it's
not about what you like when you'reworking for a client, it's about what
they want. And so that issomething that I had to learn through this
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process myself, because I had tobasically differentiate my brand that I show in
New York from what I'm working onwith Isaboe. And so my brand is
called two Tell, So I feellike it's just a little bit more boogy
than Tootle. So it's called totell and that is your performance where lingerie
aspect. And then with Isabelle,she's working with Austin Tootle. So there's
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how I can kind of differentiate that. But they, I think will definitely
get a different type. I hopethey get the same thing out of it
as I did. Is that noteverything you're gonna do is you're gonna be
comfortable with, especially in fashion,and that you have to sometimes push your
(28:34):
own self in this element to beable to be the best designer, you
know, the best business person.And so we I can give you more
information when we kind of like startthe project. But I'm really excited for
them, and I kind of wishI was in their shoes because I definitely
I don't I can't tell you whatI think their mindset is going into it.
Yeah, so well, look,we realized that the skating Championships the
(28:57):
US figure Skating is after the holidays. But I was curious with you guys
being a part of the columb fabricof Columbus for a while, do you
do you have some favorite things youenjoy about the holidays in Columbus. Linda
will start with you, Well,Columbus all year round is amazing, right,
but there's something very special about justbeing home for the holidays and just
(29:18):
seeing how the decor. You know, there's different neighborhoods that do different things.
Obviously figure skating or ice skating thatwe might do like as a family
is always fun to do. Somaybe this year it has a little bit
more meaning. So maybe organizing yourown little private skate if you will,
So I'm looking forward to that.It's also holidays are all about the food
(29:40):
too, so anyway that you cansupport our local restaurants, even our specific
our piemakers who all you know,pastries, all the things. So I
just love maybe just the environment andjust a very visual person. So even
how we might celebrate New Years withthe blue jackets, you know, that's
become a tradition too, really someof the special things that happen around the
(30:02):
community. Austin. Sure you mentionedvision. So I used to live downtown
and having like snow covered streets aroundChristmas with like the lights in the short
and north. It's just a verylike visual representation of like how beautiful Columbus
is. And then also I justI used to work at Easton so I
love Easton at night when they haveall the lights up and stuff. So
(30:23):
and of course the zoo. TheZoo's always something fun to do with the
family lights. Yeah, you don'treally have to be any certain age to
go or you're too old for it. It's always super cool to do that.
All right. Well, we wishyou both the happiest of holidays.
Merry Christmas, and we're really excitedfor January and the US Figure Skating Championships.
By the way, you can gettickets at Nationwide Arena dot com.
(30:45):
Linda Logan and Austin Toodle thank youso much for your time and being a
part of our podcast We Live ForwardLive and Experience Columbus podcast. Take care,
guys, thank you, thank you, good luck, thank you,
Live fun, and thanks for listeningto Experienced Columbuses Live for Live. For
(31:07):
this podcast and others, go toExperiencecolumbus dot com.
Live Fun of Experienced Columbuses. LiveForward Live podcast introduces you to a new
frontier of undiscovered possibility. Columbus isa city with an energy of its own.
Joined boxer Kelsey and their guests foran insider's look at a destination that
(00:25):
invites visitors and locals alike to shareand explore. We'll go behind the scenes
of popular attractions, uncover best keptsecrets for things to see and do,
and meet people who embody what itmeans to live forward. Welcome back to
another exciting episode of Live Forward,Live and Experience Columbus podcast. I'm one
(00:46):
of your host Boxer along with Kelsey'sjoining us today. Hello, look at
you. You already look like afigure skater today with your wardrobe. Well
talking about maybe it's the red,Maybe it's the red, Maybe it's the
red. Well, I'm ready forthe holidays. I know that Austin is
here, so I'm ready to getsome tips more. Oh so you wore
(01:07):
this? You wore this to getAustin's opinion. No, I want to
suck up to him like I wantedto like me. I wanted to think
I'm fun. Of course he thinksyour fun. Kelsey, come on Well,
we want to welcome our guests thisweek on the show, Austin Toodle,
fashion designer and Cca d Grad,a costume designer. What I think
this is exciting for the US figureskating costume one Austin or a few?
(01:32):
How many are you doing? I'mdoing one right now? Just do a
one. Well, we're gonna getinto that just a sec. And someone
I've known for a long time,someone you She's one of those people you
do not want to upset because you'llnever see yourself again. No, I'm
only kidding, just kidding. LindaLogan, who's the CEO and President of
the Greater Columbus Sports Commission. Andan exciting position you have, Linda,
(01:53):
because of all the great things thathave come to town and are coming to
town. Absolutely so lucky to behere today with all of you to talk
figure skating and Columbus. That's right, And Linda, I can't wait to
dive into some of this that we'regoing to get into, especially with the
US Figure Skating Championships. Why don'twe start there first, Linda, if
you don't mind, let's start withyou on your involvement and how the heck
(02:16):
did Columbus Land this event. Soto set the stage, I think this
is one of those marquee events that'snever been held in Columbus before. It's
been on our radar for our twentyone year history, on our wish list,
if you will, and probably it'sbeen a dozen years or more that
we've been courting US Figure Skating tobring the event to Columbus, and I
(02:37):
think a lot went into it.We had several stakeholders that we needed to
engage, whether it was nationwide arena, the Blue Jackets, of course they
need to go on the road forus to host this big event, representatives
from the hospitality community, the city, of the county, of the state
of Ohio. So really, ifyou think about it, we've probably been
(02:58):
trying for this event for a verylong time. We have hosted two US
Figure Skating Board meetings, if youwill. They're governing council meetings were here
back in two thousand and five andthen again maybe ten years ago. So
that was the best in the brightestand their leadership was here. About a
thousand of their board members came toColumbus got to see, hey, maybe
this footprint could work. They stayedat our local hotels. They stayed at
(03:21):
our convention center. They got towalk to see nationwide arena. We showed
them the Shottenstein Center. So againthey thought, oh, Columbus, we
were planting that seed several years agojust to hopefully come up with the opportunity
to bid on the event. Intwenty eighteen, we took a bus of
people to Detroit to see the event. We left at eight in the morning,
we got back by five o'clock,but we were able to walk around.
(03:43):
We got to be a part ofthe Kiss and Cry room. We
got to show people. They gotto see it up close and personal to
say, this is an event wewant in Columbus. And finally all the
stars aligned and yeah, here they'llbe in twenty twenty four. That's incredible.
Austin Tootle, what about you,we kind of touched on a little
bit. You were involved with theUS Figure Skating Championships. It's about fashion,
It's about the costume. It's aboutthe costumes. Yeah. So I
(04:06):
graduated last year from Columbus College ofArt and Design and they reached out and
they were like, they want someoneto make costumes, and they immediately thought
of me. So that's kind oflike how it came about? But how
does that happen? Like, howdo they have no idea? I could
probably shed a little light and Okay, so knowing that we wanted to make
the championships special to Columbus, whatare we known for? There's so many
(04:30):
great things, our great footprint,the fact that everything is going to be
so close together, but also ourfashion scene, our arts scene, and
how can we tie all of thattogether? So several conversations happening to what
makes us so unique? And ofcourse the College of Art and Design was
right front and center, had someamazing conversations about how could we do this
(04:51):
with these amazing athletes? This issuch an artistic sport. So from there
we let the experts take hold ofit. Many of the key leadership at
the schools said, why don't wepair an alumni with a student or a
class and come up with a wayto make this very special. So that's
just the background story. So Iguess Austin you could take it from there.
(05:12):
Yeah, for sure. So whenthey reached out to me, they
really wanted to do like a classroomlike work with the students being at CCAD.
The biggest thing that you can dois your portfolio so that when you
go out for a job, youare able to you know, get jobs
essentially. And so having real lifeexperiences I think makes it more personable for
the student to basically drive themselves todo the best that they can. And
(05:39):
so what we're doing is there's goingto be groups of two and they kind
of have the same when I gointo the class, they'll have the same
like criteria that I got when talkingwith the skater, and then it'll kind
of give them a chance to takethat knowledge and then make it themselves.
(06:00):
So they're not actually making garments asmuch as they are just doing the sketches
and the overall concepting, so everythingthat leads into it before you actually go
and design it. I just feelthis is so Columbus. This is what
we do. You know, wehave this event and then we find ways
to just make the team effort tobring in all of the you know,
all of the things that make usso vibrant and special and like to have
(06:23):
you hit sitting here Austin and Iwouldn't even have thought of that, you
know, reaching out to our localcommunity because we have this amazing fashion scene
and now you get to be apart of it. Yeah, could you
tell us a little bit about whoyou designed for and what you designed?
Yeah. So the skater that I'mdesigning for is Isabeau Levedo, and she
(06:48):
is sixteen years old and she's likewhen I first met her, I think,
if you know, I think shewas top three in like the USA,
and then as we started designing andtalking more, she moved up to
number one. And so back inAugust, I got to go to Vegas
to meet her. They were doinglike a little like sports camp, and
I was kind of going into thisvery blindly, just not really knowing what
(07:11):
to expect. Which I think that'sbetter because I feel like it made me
more into it in the moment,and it is way more in depth than
I ever thought. And I thinkuntil you're in it, you can't wrap
your brain around it. Cause thisgirl is one week in Japan and then
she's home for two days. Nextweek she's in Germany, And so when
we would have to go do fittings, I was just in New York.
(07:33):
It was like we have one hour, and it's like you have one hour
to do this fitting. Next thingwe know, she's gone. So it
was a really unique experience to seethat. And it also, like when
I mentioned you can't prep yourself forit until you're in it. It's like
you have to hound in in thatmoment to be able to get all your
measurements, all your questions asked.And because she's gone, she's kind of
(07:55):
like a magician exactly. So Austin, I have to assume that you are
prepping it down to the tee,down to the second what you're gonna do
when you're with her, right likeyou you've got it all mapped out.
Yeah, I mean it's very muchlike wake up three am, go to
the airport, like make sure youknow, hopefully nothing's delayed. If something's
delayed, there's no changing it.So wow, all your questions, you
(08:18):
know, if I have a specificmeasurement, I need to make sure that
I get that, you know,any questions with her? I mean I
think so designing for like you know, my normal brand or my collection,
they're on the runway for thirty secondsto forty five seconds and they're standing in
your signature model pose I have totake in consideration she's moving and so seams
(08:41):
have to be stronger, it hasto be stretchier. You know, when
you rhinestone something, it shrinks becauseof the glue. So it's all these
things come into it. And thenwe have to look at the whole picture.
How's the hair gonna look, how'sthe color gonna look under the lights
versus how it looks and you know, normal lighting, what color skates is
she having? Well does that clashwith this? You know? So there's
everything that goes into it. Solike even when you take measurements, you
(09:03):
have to see like if she's gonnaabout to go do a spin, she
has to get prepped for right beforeshe does it when we measure her,
so it doesn't bust a seem when. So there's just so much that goes
into so many elements. I neverthought about before. Is does it have
a lot of sparkles? It hasa lot. I am hand sparkling hands
studying crystals onto the Yeah, isit finished, by the way, is
(09:28):
it not? It's not. Sowe essentially had a deadline to have it
done about the middle of October,and when we met the first week of
October, it was me and Isabekind of looking at it and we were
just like, we can do better, Like you know, we want to
make Columbus proud, and I don'twant to play it safe. In the
(09:52):
realm of like doing an easy design, I want to kind of wear something
or I want her to wear somethingto wear while I wanted to be a
wow but also you know, thiscould not only benefit Columbus but also myself.
So it's like, I don't wantto play it easy. I've never
been someone to play it easy.I remember at CCAD my senior year,
I did a whole rhein stoned catsuit and my teachers were like, have
(10:16):
fun doing that, and she actuallytold me after the fact that she had
full doubts in me. She's like, I don't think you could finish it,
and she was like you just keptgoing and going and going and it
got done. And then you know, it kind of brings me to where
I am today, is to like, you know, taking those risks get
you where you need to go,even though if it's not in your thought
process or even in your realm.At that moment where with Linda Logan,
(10:37):
CEO and president of the Greater ColumbusSports Commission, and Austin Tootle, who
you were just listening to fashion designerand of course talking about CCAD, a
grad from there, costume designer fora US figure skating costume. This all
started before we started taping Austin.You were saying, did I hear you
right? A lot of this startedduring the pandemic, Is that right?
(10:58):
Yeah? So I graduated high schoolin twenty fifteen and had no idea what
I wanted to do with my life, and so I decided to pursue modeling
and acting and I hated it.It just wasn't for me. I wanted
to be able to make clothes onthe runway rather than wear clothes on the
runway, okay, And so thatkind of got me to go to CCAD,
and you know, freshman year andthe beginning of sophomore year were great.
(11:20):
Then COVID happened, and so inmy living room I learned the fundamentals
of fashion, sewing, patterning,draping, everything that you need to be
able to make a garment. Andso when COVID kind of loosened up,
it was the beginning of my senioryear in twenty twenty one, and it
was like make a collection. Andso I am not one to like do
(11:43):
like normal types of like everyday clothing. So I was always in the realm
of performance where wanting to make clothesfor Beyonce or Taylor Swift. I just
love that key detailing of everything,and never even thought of the glitz and
the glam of figure skin and souh. Once graduating, I did Columbus
Fashion Week, which then got menoticed for New York. So I just
(12:07):
got down with New York and thenbrought the collection back for Columbus and then
on top of all that, I'mdoing this as well. So so while
we were doing our shows or radioshows in our closets and yelling at our
kids to just shut up during thepandemic, you were just blossoming into this.
Oh no, I was crying onthe Oh my gosh, because it
(12:31):
was in the moment. You know. As a student, I don't think
people understood that it wasn't just aphone call away if I have a question,
it was you're going to figure itout, or you're going to get
a lower grade. And that's notnecessarily anything bad on the school, but
it's like, I don't like wondering. I would rather figure it out myself.
And if it's the wrong way,I learned the right way and if
(12:52):
it's the right way the first time. Great, you know, great.
So I'm kind of bursting with pridejust hearing your story. I think that
because we've gotten to watch the Olympicsand see the figure skating. I remember
myself being so touched by dating myselfhere about Peggy Fleming skated in this chartruse
costume, and I later read herbiography where so much went into that costume
(13:16):
with her mother. They were inFrance, and her mother wanted her to
resemble the liqueur from that region,and just just knowing how special and how
much thought goes behind it. Howwas that talking to Isabelle about her vision.
Sorry, I'm asking you the question. Oh that's a great question,
but I just was curious to knowhow you learned about her personality and what
was important to her. Yeah.So, how it essentially started was we
(13:39):
just did zoom calls, and sowhen we were on the zoom call,
we first of all got to meether for the first time, and she
was just like any other, youknow, fifteen sixteen year old girl.
And then our next zoom meeting waswhen we actually hounded on the questions I
had. You know, it goesinto way more also about what music you're
doing, you know, like everything. I can't say the music, but
(14:01):
she would tell me the music andkind of like her vision for it.
She actually left the reins open tome, which as a designer people might
say, oh, that's great.It's not a good thing in my realm
because my brain just travels. Andso I am someone that doesn't want to
have anything repeated. I want tobe like the first person to do something.
(14:22):
And so for about a week anda half, it was just me
researching and researching and you know,what cuts in the fabric did we like?
What color Ryan stones? And sothe only thing I asked her is
what don't you like? And thatlets me kind of push myself from a
starting point as to what not todo. And then we got to about
(14:46):
five designs and we changed it.And I think as a designer you have
to pick the brain of the personyou're doing. So they might explain something
one way, but they don't meanin that same way. And so we
did a little mock up, whichis where you do it in the same
fabric, but you don't have itfully rhinestone yet, just to make sure
(15:09):
it fits right, the cuts areright. Yeah, and we hated it.
We didn't like how it was cut. It looked very sinister versus the
music's not very sinister. Actually it'snot sinister at all. And so we
went back to the drawing board andso that was when we decided she was
supposed to skate with the outfit onfor Skate America. And when we were
in New York, I had tohave it done in a week, and
(15:33):
thank god, she was like,let's push it back and present the look
in Columbus rather than having it alreadypresented out there. And so I'm very
grateful for that because I feel likethat'll lead to a lot more build up,
not only for myself but for Columbus, kind of like debuting something.
So, yeah, this is abig deal, man, I know,
I know. I want to knowLinda. So we got to interview Brian
(15:58):
Boitano as part of this entire youknow, preparing for this huge event here
in Columbus. What was it likefor you to meet him after you know,
trying to get this event here andthen here he is in Columbus and
he's bringing his like cafe experience here. Pretty cool, I know what's like
And talk about an athlete that givesback to their sport. Yeah, someone
(16:21):
that so humble and just personable andwill just do anything for a sport.
Though. He and Jason Brown bothwere here, and Jason is the bronze
medalist and of course going to becompeting for the championship here, and I,
you know, I've been doing thisa long time and I get to
meet a lot of athletes, butI was so impressed with Brian and Jason
and the fact that they are justThey're willing to do whatever it takes to
(16:45):
make the championship successful in Columbus,and I think they had no idea what
goes into it behind the scenes.So I was really proud of the fact
that we were able to get himhere a few months early. They got
to meet a lot of the keystakeholders, people from the arena, people
from our team, people from youknow, experienced Columbus, and I think
they really have a different impression ofthe community because of that. You've talked
(17:06):
about our collaborative efforts, you know, all of a sudden, we had
Jason Brown, that bronze medalists talkingto somebody from the Columbus Symphony and just
off the Cuffee says, I couldskate live to the symphony and if you'd
want on that Sunday. So nowall of a sudden, we've got the
Columbus Symphony that's going to be youknow, live. At first I thought
they meant a recording, but they'relike, He's like, no, I
(17:29):
could skate live. So then wehad our Mike Ghetto from Nation wad Arena
happened to be in the room,so we got him right over there.
Can we make this happen? Andso all of a sudden, within twenty
minutes of this brainstorm, it's comingto life. Much like what Austin is
doing. We're again trying to tiein different parts of what makes Columbus special.
So it just makes you very proudof the community. And this is
(17:52):
such a beautiful sport, so artistic, so and we are an amazing arts
community. So why not pair themhaha intended, But it's so true that
we're trying to do these special things. Linda, no doubt all eyes will
be on Columbus Nationwide Arena in Januaryfor this event. How important is this
event with knowing how aggressive you areand your goals of what you want next?
(18:18):
For Columbus and other events to landhere. We are very proud of
the fact that Columbus shows up.So by that, I mean people are
going to buy tickets here, andit is important to skate with a full
house, if you will. Wewant that lower Bowl to be just rocking,
so that these these athletes have anamazing experience that looks great on television.
We're also a community that watches television. We're always in the top five
(18:42):
in viewership for the Olympics, theWorld Cup, the Super Bowl. So
again we know that Columbus is goingto show up in all different forms of
fashion, and so it'll be importantto buy those tickets. You know,
come as a family, come seethe best in the brightest of a sport.
And that's what makes our job sospecial is that we know that we're
going to touch families. One ofthe proudest moments I think for me was
(19:06):
when we hosted the Women's Final four. To see all those little children here
and maybe that never saw the sportbefore. I know. Merri Ginther tells
the story about his daughter had neverreally been a sports person, but she
was eight years old at the Women'sFinal four and saw those buzzer beater events,
and next thing you know, she'spicking up a basketball and he's coaching
her team. So I think theold saying, if you see it,
(19:27):
you can be it, And Ithink hopefully we're going to inspire a lot
of young people in Columbus. Andwe want everyone to buy tickets for the
holidays, for your family and yourfriends, and make sure that we get
out and experience this beautiful event herein Columbus. Right absolutely, tickets are
on sale now. There's all kindsof packages, all kinds of price points,
(19:49):
and there's just so many ways thatyou can get involved. And yeah,
I'm just very proud of that nation. Why to read it? Dot
Com has a nice page setup forthis if you're looking for tickets Austin.
You know, are you a lifelongresident by the way of Columbus. I
grew up in Leiccaster. Oh okay, so look at you look at a
small town I okay, that's thatjust makes it even more amazing, though,
(20:12):
you know, a small town guycomes to Columbus, Cca d and
and I just think about your experienceswith Columbus Fashion Week New York Fashion Week,
which, by the way, everyonetalks about New York Fashion Week.
Was it ass amazing as what youalways hear about. So it was the
most magical experience that I've ever done. Yeah, I also had to learn
(20:36):
to live in the moment because weblinked it was over. Okay, it
was a whole. I actually broughtColumbus models. I flew them in and
housed them because I wanted them tobe able to get the experience like finding
someone, so a signature thing thatNew York told me when they reached out
to me. Well, actually,let me backtrack just a tiny piece.
Yeah, when you do fashion weeks, you normally apply for them and then
(20:59):
once you apply, they go throughthe process of like do you have you
know what we're looking for this yearor do you not? And so they
actually reached out to me, whichI thought was a scam. So I
didn't react to them when they reachedout to me. And then they reached
out again and they're like, wewant you, Like there's no one doing
the things that you're doing. Sowhen they reached out, I actually wasn't
(21:22):
going to do any fashion weeks thisyear. I was I wanted to kind
of lay low. I had justgraduated, and so they were like,
we will waive you know, yourfees, so all you have to pay
is a minute, like a veryminimal production fee. And I was like,
okay, let's do it. Andso that kind of jump started me
being able to say like, okay, people are seeing me it, let
(21:47):
me know. And I think alsofellow designers in Columbus, because Columbus is
number three for fashion in the UnitedStates, that the big cities are watching
us. They're watching up and comingdesigners and so you never know, you
know, something post on social mediawhere it'll get you. Yeah, by
the way, is it New YorkLa Columbus? Is that New York La
Columbus? Yeah, so like noteven you know, there's still really big
(22:08):
fashion cities such as Chicago or Miamithat are still behind us. So it's
definitely very unique to be able tosay that I was approached to do New
York. I didn't have to askfor it, but right from the start
they were like, we want yoursix to tenant shields. We don't want
you know, that is so signaturebecause no one does that on the runway
and so I was like okay,and I was like, well, when
(22:30):
do I get to pick the models? And They're like, you'll get to
pick them the day of the show, and I said, there's no way
that I can trust a girl towalk in six to eight ten in shields.
I think I ended up deciding oneight inch that, you know,
cause it makes me might look bad, you know, if they fall,
it's like, oh, I putthem in danger. And so I reached
out to fellow CCAD models that Ihad used back when I did my senior
(22:53):
thesis, and then I just hadsome friends that I was like, hey,
like, you guys want to walkin New York Fashion Week. I
think they thought I was kidding andthen I was like, Okay, we're
doing it. They kind of justmade my dream a reality, and so
it was so nice to be ableto experience that with like all my friends
flew in, my family flew in, so it was like this amazing experience
(23:15):
to have them but also my friendsmodeling my clothes. And then we got
to come back a month later anddo it in Columbus with the same models.
So it was kind of like wewere on our own little like tour
around the East Coast doing like showsand stuff. But from there it got
me kind of noticed to do showsin Paris and Milan. So yeah,
that's you know, that's just wow. And to what you just said about
(23:40):
relationships, I think of actors,directors, producers that like to continue to
work with that certain circle of people. I think of musicians that either like
to do duets with certain people orthey have certain members of their band.
Is it the same way in fashionas a designer with models? So are
there certain models you're like, Oh, I click with this one, I
(24:03):
click with this one, Let's keeprocking it. Yeah. I think it
makes it more personable, like theyknow me from a friendship standpoint, which
I think, you know, Ithink when people have that or hear that,
they're like, oh, well,like they could, you know,
know how to bend and twist tonot get what they want to do.
But they the collection that I didfor New York, I really I didn't
(24:25):
have never done men's wear, soI wanted to include men'swear in that and
the collection. I like to notcause a stir, but I don't want
anyone to ever expect anything from me, because I think once you expect something,
you get bored. And I thinkthat's why studying pop culture, you
had mentioned musicians like Lady Gaga.Back when I was little, I went
to a little private Christian school.My parents are like, you are not
(24:47):
you are not allowed to listen toher or whatnot. And it's funny because
I never knew that she would cometo be an amazing actress and basically what
my parents are saying be normal now. But I think that is something where
I had to sit down with themodels and say, you know what,
as a designer, I want tohave my vision come to life, but
I also at the same time wantto make sure you're comfortable. So doing
(25:11):
performance where or lingerie, I hadto sit down with each model and say
what are you comfortable with? Whataren't you comfortable with? And I think
that also allows the models to beconfident in themselves. There's so many shows
that I see, even in Columbus, where it's like you can tell the
model doesn't like what they're wearing,and it portrays in the photos and the
videos and it's it's not you know, it doesn't get my point across.
(25:34):
So that I've definitely took that overwith Isabe to make sure, you know
what, can we push the boundaryof but still make you comfortable in So
that you can do the best ofthe best, so kind of like,
what was your question again? Sorry, no, no, no, you
you answered it. You answered it. It was about if you had you
have the same favorite models that youlike to work. Oh yeah, I've
(25:56):
already asked almost all of them toif you know. I was like,
hey, like, if I payyour fees for Paris and Milan, will
you pay for your plane tick?And they're like yes, of course,
so you know it. Also,I think gives Columbus an opportunity to have
I mean, the models in NewYork is probably one hundred thousand during fashion
week and a lot of them willfly in from all over the world to
(26:19):
audition, to never get chosen.And so for me to be able to
say I have my models, Iknow the closes fit already right off the
bat like cover the charge for meto relieve anxiety and stress, especially with
the heels. That the stage waseight feet in the air, so one
stumble they are they're down for thecount. Can you imagine eight inch heels
(26:42):
marveling at it? Myself? Ilove me some flats. What are your
students responding to this class assignment too? Oh yeah, so they can watch
her skate r get inspiration. Sowe're kind of switching it up a tiny
bit because when we essentially were goingto do the program with them, the
costume is going to be done,and so we're since I'm still working on
(27:03):
it, we've kind of critiqued somethings, so like, you know,
they are starting it next next week, but I think that they don't know
how big this is not only forColumbus but for Cca D And so when
I was in CCAD, I alwaysloved doing the more like real life projects
(27:26):
that could get you know, yousomewhere. And so you know, I
was telling the teachers and stuff like, we have to push them to be
able to be the best versions ofthemselves. So a lot of them are
juniors, so I think this willalso prep them for you know, it's
not about what you like when you'reworking for a client, it's about what
they want. And so that issomething that I had to learn through this
(27:48):
process myself, because I had tobasically differentiate my brand that I show in
New York from what I'm working onwith Isaboe. And so my brand is
called two Tell, So I feellike it's just a little bit more boogy
than Tootle. So it's called totell and that is your performance where lingerie
aspect. And then with Isabelle,she's working with Austin Tootle. So there's
(28:12):
how I can kind of differentiate that. But they, I think will definitely
get a different type. I hopethey get the same thing out of it
as I did. Is that noteverything you're gonna do is you're gonna be
comfortable with, especially in fashion,and that you have to sometimes push your
(28:34):
own self in this element to beable to be the best designer, you
know, the best business person.And so we I can give you more
information when we kind of like startthe project. But I'm really excited for
them, and I kind of wishI was in their shoes because I definitely
I don't I can't tell you whatI think their mindset is going into it.
Yeah, so well, look,we realized that the skating Championships the
(28:57):
US figure Skating is after the holidays. But I was curious with you guys
being a part of the columb fabricof Columbus for a while, do you
do you have some favorite things youenjoy about the holidays in Columbus. Linda
will start with you, Well,Columbus all year round is amazing, right,
but there's something very special about justbeing home for the holidays and just
(29:18):
seeing how the decor. You know, there's different neighborhoods that do different things.
Obviously figure skating or ice skating thatwe might do like as a family
is always fun to do. Somaybe this year it has a little bit
more meaning. So maybe organizing yourown little private skate if you will,
So I'm looking forward to that.It's also holidays are all about the food
(29:40):
too, so anyway that you cansupport our local restaurants, even our specific
our piemakers who all you know,pastries, all the things. So I
just love maybe just the environment andjust a very visual person. So even
how we might celebrate New Years withthe blue jackets, you know, that's
become a tradition too, really someof the special things that happen around the
(30:02):
community. Austin. Sure you mentionedvision. So I used to live downtown
and having like snow covered streets aroundChristmas with like the lights in the short
and north. It's just a verylike visual representation of like how beautiful Columbus
is. And then also I justI used to work at Easton so I
love Easton at night when they haveall the lights up and stuff. So
(30:23):
and of course the zoo. TheZoo's always something fun to do with the
family lights. Yeah, you don'treally have to be any certain age to
go or you're too old for it. It's always super cool to do that.
All right. Well, we wishyou both the happiest of holidays.
Merry Christmas, and we're really excitedfor January and the US Figure Skating Championships.
By the way, you can gettickets at Nationwide Arena dot com.
(30:45):
Linda Logan and Austin Toodle thank youso much for your time and being a
part of our podcast We Live ForwardLive and Experience Columbus podcast. Take care,
guys, thank you, thank you, good luck, thank you,
Live fun, and thanks for listeningto Experienced Columbuses Live for Live. For
(31:07):
this podcast and others, go toExperiencecolumbus dot com.
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