AdreaMade Rebrand

AdreaMade Brand: 2015 Origin

In Spring 2015, Adrea graduated from U.Regina with a bachelor of arts (english), business administration diploma, prestigious Female Athlete of the Year, a couple Cougar T+F records, and an invitation to move to Victoria, BC to train for the Olympics. 

Fall 2015 marked the move West to Victoria, BC. Upon landing in Victoria, the AdreaMade brand was developed and created as a way to document the athlete journey of an Olympic hopeful, and founding athlete of National Training Centre, Athletics Canada West Hub.

 Fall 2015 - Spring 2019: 

Four years on the island included: The 800m debut, formally training as a full-time athlete, and helping innovate the brand of the training group, Vic City Elite. For performances, each year results improved from a 2:10 time to a 2:03 time in the 800m. On paper there was progress. But the body was aggressively signalling there was something wrong. 

Summer 2019 - Fall 2023

In Spring 2019, the decision was made to move back to Regina, SK for coaching expertise of Alger Seon. With that move began the summer of 2019 breakthroughs including: rewriting top 10 performances, first 2:02 (1100+ world athletics points) results, and making the first 800m Sr. National final. This opened a competitive summer of travel across Canada, USA, and Europe, setting up a great base for the next summer stop: 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Where the path forked:  

Covid-19 was an unexpected wrench for everyone, which delayed the Tokyo Olympics, and closed tracks/ facilities for one year. Despite the challenges and setbacks, Adrea made it to the Olympic Trials final in the 800m. Unexpectedly, during Olympic Trials her body shut down, and her mind blacked out in this race resulting with a dead-last finish, and not making the Olympic team. 

The return home, was devastating. After exhausting professional answers for what was happening in the body, the referrals landed with a top psychologist in Canada. 

The diagnosis: Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (c-PTSD), caused from the former training environment. Despite numerous breakthroughs, formal treatments, CBT Therapy, and more, the professional opinion was there is no cure for this diagnosis. One just learns to live with it and manage the symptoms including: memory loss, blackouts, physical shut-down, nervous system activations, severe fatigue, panic and anxiety attacks, and more. 

The Missing Chapters: 2021 - 2024

After being cyber-attacked during the pandemic, paired with the delicate nature of the diagnosis, the AdreaMade brand went largely offline to prioritize wellness, and navigate the next steps with close friends, family, and new-found team. The solutions being developed went beyond making an Olympic team or recovering from a physical injury. This offline chapter was focused on rewiring the brain, healing trauma, mastering energy-work, building a holistic life outside of sport, and a fierce determination to race amongst Canada's best again. 

Many criticized the 400mH and 800m double during these years, but this criticism lacked the insight that the 400mH didn't trigger c-PTSD symptoms and was a key strength and endurance strategy to get back into 2:03-shape in the 800m along with PB's in the 600m, and 400mH. More importantly this double proved rewiring the brain is possible, as is being reconnected mind-body despite trauma pathways that were deeply forged. 

At both 2022 and 2023 Senior Nationals Adrea was a double finalist in both 400mH + 800m in Langley, BC.

Making Peace, and time for a rebrand.

Although there wasn't a fairy tale ending of making the Olympic Team in 2024, there was a full circle moment of finally appreciating the full return to high performance sport and auto-qualifying to be at the Olympic Trials.

With the down-time of that summer, it was time to reflect on the AdreaMade brand, and it was time to close this chapter on sport, and refresh the brand to reflect the next version.