Did you know that today is International Women’s Day? I’m not sure when this became a thing but I’m game for celebrating some awesome women in this world.

Today I wanted to give a shout out to Mitzi Dulan. I know Mitzi because my high school volleyball team competes against her daughters each year (her daughter is a stud by the way). She and her husband, Antoine have always been friendly but we never really spoke much beyond the casual “hello’s and how are you’s?”

Since the quarantine and I do believe mainly because of my post about the inequity in women’s sports compared to that of men, we have become friends. Mitzi doesn’t know me other than from my coaching at St. James and more recently from reading my quarantine posts. I knew immediately I liked her, for a lot of reasons.

First, she is a mom, something I can relate to! She is a former athlete and has worked with athletes her entire life…again, we have that in common. Also, she is a confident and courageous woman that started her very own healthy food empire out of her own kitchen and that’s totally badass and should be celebrated. Finally, when she read on this blog that I wanted to write a book about my mom, she reached out to me, because she has written and published two books, and told me she could help me.

THIS. THIS. THIS.

This is what it’s all about. She owes me nothing. I’ve never coached or taught her children. I’ve never played a sport or even drank a glass of wine with this person. Instead she is a person that has done something awesome, that was also really hard, (something that I hope to do someday) and she reached out to help another person so she could possibly make it easier for them then it was for her.

Again…THIS!

Our world needs more of this. I’m grateful that there are women out there like Mitzi who lift other women and their dreams up, rather than tearing them down. I think we can all agree our world needs more of this!

To give you a little background on my friend Mitzi, I’ll give you a few of my favorite highlights from her very extensive and impressive bio! First, it’s important to know that she is a CSSD, which means she is a registered dietitian who provide safe, effective, evidence-based nutrition services for health, fitness, and athletic performance. Another fun fact about Mitzi is that she was the first ever Sports Nutrition Intern for the United States Olympic Committee, Sports Medicine Division at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs in 1994. This is pretty awesome and only happened primarily because she was persistently writing them letters and wore them down. This is my kind of human being. Persistence pays off. She will prove this again and again.

Another highlight is that she was the team nutritionist for the MLB WORLD Championship Kansas City Royals baseball team for 11 seasons. Prior to that she worked as the team nutritionist for the Kansas City Chiefs Football team for 8 seasons and before that she worked for the Golden State Warriors.

Mitzi is also an author and public speaker. She is quoted in nearly every popular publication that has ever existed from the Wall Street Journal to ESPN to Oprah.com and has appeared on many television shows over the years. She also co-authored a book with Tony Gonzalez (yes that Tony Gonzalez…former Chiefs tight end standout) called the “All Pro Diet.” She even wrote a second book called the “Pinterest Diet.”

As a result of her social media presence Mitzi was named one of the “Top 20 Nutrition Experts to Follow on Twitter” by The Huffington Post. You can read Mitzi’s entire profile here is you are interested…it’s pretty incredible and impressive. I could not do it justice in a short blog post, that’s for sure.

What I find most impressive about Mitzi is that she started her own company out of her kitchen. Simply Fuel is a company that exists to help people live a healthy lifestyle. It also exists partly because of her role with the Kansas City Royals. When they were making their championship run back in 2015 the news stations started to do stories on how the protein balls Mitzi was making for the team were fueling their success. The guys loved the protein balls and requested so many (and other teams started ordering them too) that she needed the help of friends and family just to keep up with the demand. Then, with the encouragement from others and the support of her family she decided to make the balls a business.

The goal…to provide healthy on the go snacks with whole food ingredients. I can personally attest to having tried the protein balls and they are amazing. My kids love them and they are WAY easier to make with her mix than they are from scratch. So as a busy working mom of 5, I will always buy her protein ball mix because it makes my life easier, they are delicious and now as a bonus I can support a friends local business. I can’t keep them in my house for very long…that’s for sure. If you want to take a look at her products (which I highly recommend) take a look at her Simply Fuel website right away!

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So…here is where you all come in…Mitzi just got huge news, Costco is selling one of her products, the KETO granola. Costco decides whether or not to keep a product by how it does in the first two weeks of sales. So, if you live in any of the following areas where it is being sold (see picture below), please go out and buy some to support an awesome, hard working, smart, beautiful, and determined mom of two who is showing not only her own daughters, but all the women in her life, how to take a chance and to never give up on your dreams. Also, to be clear…I am not now nor do I plan to be a “media influencer.” I write this blog for my own personal sanity at a time that has been pretty crazy for all of us. Furthermore, Mitzi did not ask me to do this, I just want to support a local woman who is busting her arse to do amazing things. Mitzi is also a person who clearly demonstrated to me that she wants to do the same for others, just another good reason to support her business! People who are persistent and work hard and help others are definitely my kind of people.

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I’m often hard on social media because I think there is a lot about it that can be harmful, especially to young people. But…there is also a lot of good. Social media, for me, exists so I can stay up on family and friends scattered all across the country as well as to promote and support things that are meaningful.

I am inspired by women who do hard things despite the obstacles that may be in their way. When I learned more about Mitzi, her family and the story of her becoming the founder CEO, COO and CFO of her own company, Simply Fuel, I wanted to know more. She’s pretty awesome and is the kind of woman that without even being asked offers her help to others. To me…that’s pretty darn awesome. I hope you will help me in supporting this product, but more importantly this person!

#dorseyshenanigans

#celebr8awesome

You can contact Mitzi Dulan at: mitzi@nutritionexpert.com.