Sloane Klonsky: We Are All Working Toward The Same Goal
May 15, 2019
The D10 Athlete Profile explores what brings competitors to The D10 playing field...and what they bring away from it. Sloane Klonsky
Vice-President, Morgan Stanley
The D10 NYC
Fundraising goal: Team Capital Gainz (8K)
2019 Marquee event: Vertical Jump (Goal: 25 Inches)
What is your primary motivator for competing in The D10 events?
I first signed up for The D10 after a client and close friend lost his son to cancer. I was impacted by his son’s struggle and looking for a way to help other children battling this disease. The D10 has become a huge part of my life. After my first D10, I joined the Competitor Board so that I could be closely involved in driving the direction and growth of The D10 in New York. Specifically, I wanted to focus on women in The D10 and raising more money for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
How much of your motivation for participating in The D10 stems from its charitable mission?
This is all about raising money for kids that face great challenges every day of their lives.
How did you first get involved in The D10?
I heard about The D10 a few weeks after my friend's son lost his battle with cancer. I immediately knew that a charity event that draws on my athletic and competitive nature was the perfect way to get involved. Competing for the first time was a challenging and incredibly rewarding experience. I loved every minute and was hooked.
How has The D10 been different from your collegiate or high school sports experiences in terms of training and motivation?
For me, The D10 offers the opportunity to continue all the things I loved about competitive school sports.
I’ve been a competitive athlete and loved playing sports my entire life. As a kid, there’d be a ball in my hands at all times. I played every sport and was always ready for a challenge (boy or girl). My passion for sports continued in high school where I was a 12-season athlete and in college where I played on the women’s basketball team.
Throughout these years, I chose to make sports a big part of my life, because of my love of competing, working as a team, and pushing my body to perform. Now as an adult, participating in The D10 gives me and others with full-time careers the opportunity to continue to compete, train, and be involved in athletics in a similar way that we have been our entire lives. It's a similar experience that is equally rewarding.
Sloane Klonsky has mastered the pull-up, from none to many, infinite improvement!
In what ways has your participation in The D10 affected or enhanced your performance at work?
Competing in The D10 has significantly impacted my confidence at work. While confidence has not necessarily been something I’ve struggled with, Finance is a male-dominated industry where it can be difficult for women to find their voice, particularly at the junior level. For me specifically, I was one of the youngest people in my division to run a business, which meant I was often in meetings with people that were senior to me and had more experience.
Training for The D10 helped to build my confidence in these situations. My first year competing, in order to build muscle, I started to lift weights and strength train for the first time in my life. While I had been nervous like many women to look “too bulky”, I actually found that I was really proud of the new muscle I was building. I was also eating healthier, sleeping better and happier with my body. My training progress and my improved mentality directly translated into success at work. I was more comfortable presenting and conveying my expertise in my product-area (especially knowing I could do more pull-ups than anyone in the room).
Have you made new lasting friendships, or strengthened your professional network, as a result of your D10 experience?
Through The D10, I’ve met an incredible community of driven, athletic, and like-minded people (some have become my closest friends), who throw down hard on game-day, but more importantly, are there to support, train with, and help each other because we are all working towards the same goal.
Sloane has been working muscle and mind to raise money for pediatric cancer research. Lend her an assist with a donation to her athletic performance fundraising at the D10 NYC 2019.