Michael Rivarde from Red Rock Running Company shared some of his thoughts after winning the 2025 award.
The impact of the Future Leader Award
I think that my biggest takeaway is I realized the importance that I have in my own community. When you get nominated for the award…somebody really sees the work that I'm putting into my community and it validates the work that you're doing in your own space.
And so, the biggest takeaway is the validation that I've gotten from my peers and people that I look up to that recognize that I am making a difference in my own community. And to me, that's very important and it's something that I love to do and want to continue to do.
Jogology gave him confidence and a voice
It's been very validating in myself for one. Because usually I'm not a big talker. I'm not a big in front of people person. I'm very much a more reserved person. But I've learned to really step into my own voice over the past year and say what I think and feel and make decisions based on the betterment of the people around me. So I think that that definitely has given me a little bit more of a voice and a confidence.
Why people should apply for the Future Leader Award
I think that nobody should be discouraged from applying because personally, I didn't think I was going to win. like I didn't think I had a shot compared to all of the peers that I had. And you know, you when you see yourself against like all these other different people, you don't really think that what you're doing is really that significant until you go through the process and you interview with some of these really high up people and you make an impression on them that what you're doing really matters. And I think that that shows that anybody can win the award. It just really matters what you're doing and not what anybody else is doing.
