Q: What made you decide to start your business Live Love Gameday?
A: What I love about life is that sometimes you find yourself doing something that you never even imagined you would be doing, but it is exactly where you are supposed to be. As a little girl, I always said I would be a veterinarian or a doctor.
I wore my shirt tucked in to school with my glasses on and my hair slicked back in a bun so I would be ready for ballet class immediately after. I graduated high school in three years with honors and immediately started at the university.
My life was always go, go, go but I absolutely loved it. Then one day everything changed and I was about to love what I was doing even more. In 2008, I traveled from McAllen, Texas to Dallas and auditioned for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders at Texas Stadium a few days after my 18th birthday. I had no idea what I was getting into! I made the team a few months later and officially moved to Dallas. Year after year passed, and each one was filled with memories and experiences I will forever cherish. After 7 seasons, the field was truly my “home.” My last season (2014-2015) cheering, it was my turn as group leader to give my group a gift on game day, we rotate it each game, there are usually 8-10 in each group. I wanted to design something different and memorable. I kept repeating in my head, “Well, we are always with each other on the field. This stadium and this field is our home away from home. Perfect! Home is where the field is!” I came up with something that is sporty yet feminine and that conveys the message of how much we love football.
I created a few of these tanks for my group, however when the other girls saw them, my order list began to grow. From there, alumni cheerleaders wanted them and girls from other NFL teams. In January of 2015, Live Love Gameday was born! I created an Instagram account (@LiveLoveGameday) and began reaching out to other NFL cheerleading teams and NBA as well. I never once said who I was or what team I cheered for. I was just “Live Love Gameday.” I wanted people to fall in love with the unique designs and company. I even had friends writing me asking if I could contact LLG for them and get them a shirt. No one knew that I was the owner, and it was a pretty cool feeling!
It wasn’t until May 2015, after I retired with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, that I came out and announced that I was the owner of Live Love Gameday®. I’ll never forget that moment! Since then, LLG has grown beyond what I ever imagined and I couldn’t be happier! I love creating new tees and tanks for sports fans everywhere to wear on game day to show their love for their teams. I now have football, baseball, softball, soccer, basketball, hockey, hunting, fishing, men’s tees and more. Home Is Where the Field Is and Live Love Gameday are both officially trademarked, and LLG recently became licensed collegiately beginning with Texas Tech, UNT and Rice University. I will continue to work hard and be creative in my designs, and I look forward to what is next for Live Love Gameday!
Q: Did you face any challenges when you were first starting Live Love GameDay?
A: The biggest challenge for Live Love Gameday is staying on top of new designs and styles. Both are always changing, and if I don’t take the time to research and design each day, LLG can easily fall behind. Home Is Where the Field Is will always be our original design and our staple. I release it on a new tank or tee or long-sleeve every few months to keep our website fresh and updated. On top of that, I like to release fun and witty game day sayings that are unique for sports fans everywhere. I always get emails about different sports and hobbies. I remember when I was about to release: “I vow to always love you, even during hunting season.” I thought, “Will this sell? Do enough people love hunting that they would wear this tee?” Yes! That tee ended up being one of Live Love Gameday’s top-sellers. In January of 2018 we will be releasing fun, new lifestyle tees that don’t necessarily have to do with game day. Then, LLG moves into a few more basketball and hockey tees, Super Bowl designs, Valentine’s Day sprinkled in there, racing season (which is absolutely huge for us) and of course, baseball season.
Q: What’s next for you?
A: This year, my goal for LLG is to release more collegiate designs. Last season our collegiate designs were a hit, but this year I have a few creative ideas up my sleeve to make them even more unique and special, as well as adding more schools to the list. Stay tuned!
Follow Live Love Gameday on Instagram: @livelovegameday or visit their website at www.lovelovegameday.com