Mimi Stender - Fit City Duluth

Mimi Stender loves cottage cheese. We met on a windy afternoon at her home in Congdon, and Mimi, fresh off an eight mile jog – fortunately for all, she did shower-  jumps up and declares, “I’m starving. Do you mind if I eat?”

I shrugged. “Sure. Go ahead.”

“I’m going to make my favorite lunch,” she said. “V-8, cottage cheese, Italian dressing and Shredded Wheat.”

“So you drink the V-8, put a little dressing on the cottage cheese, eat that, and then have a bowl of Shredded Wheat?” I ask. Nothing else involving those ingredients seemed to make any sense.

“Nope,” she said. “I put it all together.”

She’s gone for a minute, and returns with an unusual concoction: a V-8 “base,” topped with cottage cheese, a few Shredded Wheat biscuits, and a shake or two of dressing.

“Mmmmm,” she said. “I love cottage cheese. It’s my mayo, my butter, my sour cream. I put it on top of everything.”

That’s how I feel about ranch dressing. But I digress.

Mimi munches happily while we talk. And, as a wife, a mom of three, a fitness enthusiast, and the Executive Director of Fit City Duluth, this woman has got a lot to say.

Mimi grew up in the Twin Cities area – more specifically, Elk River and Minnetonka. With the support and encouragement of her family, she was an active youngster, taking up downhill ski racing at the tender (and fearless!) age of 7. In her teens, she took up jogging as a means to an end – it was simply a way for her to stay in shape during the off-season.

And it was during her formative years that Mimi crossed paths with her husband-to-be, Tom Stender, then a member Spirit Mountain’s ski racing team.

“I was good friends with Tom’s sister, Laura, and also with Nikki Burns, another friend of his,” she said. “Because of these connections, I had heard about Tommy Stender for most of my life. But we were just friends, saying the occasional ‘Hi, how’d your race go?’” in the various ski area chalets that we traveled to. ”

That changed. One night, Tom’s older sister Laura suggested that Mimi come out for a drink with the two Stender siblings.

“We got together at Sweeney’s in St. Paul – this great Irish bar,” said Mimi. “I wasn’t thinking of it as a date – I just wanted to say hi. But by the end of the night, I was smitten.”
What was it about Tom that turned Mimi’s head?

“He was smart, motivated, family oriented, he had similar values, and he was a fantastic skier,” she said. “He was everything I was looking for!”

Judging from the smile on Mimi’s face, he still is.

Tom and Mimi married in 1995, and lived in the Twin Cities for two years before they moved to Duluth – right into Tom’s childhood home, in fact.

“My family has a cabin around Lutsen, so I’d been traveling north for most of my life,” said Mimi. “I liked all the outdoor recreation a lot, and I thought it would be a great place to raise our kids – J.B., Bailey and Cici.”

Cici, 3, and Bailey, 9, are home during our interview - J.B., 12, a second-generation ski racer, is out with a friend. The girls are adorable towheads with abundant energy. It should be noted than in addition to the Stender sisters, there are two neighbor kids running around. While there’s a lot going on around us, Mimi is clearly practiced at tuning it all out.

After Cici was born, Mimi decided to take some time off work and be a stay-at-home mom. She enjoyed it, but soon felt an itch to get back to work. And this time, she wanted her work to be truly meaningful. She wanted her work to help and inspire others.

“I decided I wouldn’t do anything I didn’t have a passion for ever again in my life,” said Mimi.
 

As a mother, Mimi saw a need in the community for a portal of information – a way to connect families and individuals with events and opportunities that had an active focus.

“I wanted to be able to access that information easily – not be digging through a stack of paper wondering, ‘Where were those swim lessons again?!’”

After a lot of brainstorming, and a few conversations with her trainer, Anna McGee, Mimi launched her Web site, fitinduluth.com. (The Web site has since evolved into fitcityduluth.com.)

In March of 2007, the State of Minnesota Department of Health awarded Duluth a “Fit City” designation. A task force was formed.

“I heard about the meeting, and it was suggested to me that I go,” said Mimi. “But I hadn’t been invited. I knew I had value to bring to this, though, and I didn’t want to miss an opportunity to move the city forward. So, I crashed it.”

It’s a lesson Mimi wants to share – if you want a seat at the table, it’s okay to force your way in. “Most of the time, people are thrilled to have more involvement.”

As the task force continued to meet, Mimi eventually grew into the leadership role.

“Frankly, it wasn’t because I had the most expertise,” she said with a smile. “It was more that I had the most free time and flexibility - and I have a lot of passion for this work.”

Over the past year, Mimi’s guidance has resulted in some great accomplishments for the young organization. Today, Fit City Duluth has a large and engaged board and task-specific committees whose membership lists read almost like a Who’s Who. They’ve added a fundraising arm. And they’re working with the local school district to ensure each school’s environment promotes health for the whole student.

Today, the group’s major focus is on promoting active living. Simply put, active living means putting activity into your daily routine - whether that means biking to work or walking to the grocery store. Fit City Duluth wants to make that an easier thing to do in our hilly, chilly city.

“Our trail system is already so unbelievable,” said Mimi. “Connectivity is about linking them all together, and making our streets more bike- and pedestrian-friendly. I want my kids and other kids to be able to bike or walk to the trails. I want moms to be able to safely take a stroller to Chester Bowl. You shouldn’t have to go to a gym to get the exercise you need.

“I want to help people be active in their everyday lives. The culture in Duluth needs to shift so the healthy choice is the easy choice – on all fronts. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing.”
 

Added on May 12, 2009