Jennifer Heil shares what she's learned as Team Canada’s Chef de Mission. ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­    ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­  

View Online

The Sunday Send

Nearly 3,000 of the world’s best athletes will wake up on Monday having completed the competition they’ve spent years training for.

 

How do they mentally motivate themselves to begin again — to either commit to another four-year climb, or to prepare for what comes next?

 

In today’s newsletter, Olympic medalist and Team Canada’s Chef de Mission Jennifer Heil gives us her perspective. After spending weeks in Milano Cortina preparing and leading her team through the Games, Jennifer reflects on how the experience has changed her — not only as a former Olympian, but as a start-up founder navigating her own future.

 

What’s Inside:

  • Q&A: Team Canada’s Chef de Mission Jennifer Heil
  • Sponsored: Bring your idea to life with LTX-2
  • Scale Story: The business of hosting the Super Bowl
  • Urgent Insights: How e.l.f. Beauty is winning

Q&A with Jennifer Heil

You’ve been serving as Team Canada’s Chef de Mission. What did that experience teach you about leadership?

 

Jennifer: Being Chef de Mission for Team Canada taught me to separate what matters from what distracts. Heart is a leadership skill — care, courage, and high standards. The other skill is self-regulation: noticing what I’m feeling, processing it, and not letting it spill into the team. When you’re steady, others can take risks.

 

Did the experience change how you show up as a founder? If so, how?

 

Yes. It reminded me that the best performance isn’t just intensity, it includes joy. The
most consistent athletes embraced the moment instead of forcing it. I’m taking that approach back into daily founder life.

 

You wrote on LinkedIn about more women in their mid-30s medaling at the highest level. What’s changed to make that possible?

 

Women in their mid-30s are medaling more because elite sport is finally closing the women’s physiological data gap. Instead of trying to override female physiology, teams are measuring it. By tracking cycle patterns, recovery, stress, and training load, they can adapt training in real time. When variability is understood rather than suppressed, women stay healthier longer and sustain peak performance. I am excited to be translating that same approach through revvel so more women can benefit, not just Olympians.

 

What’s one fascinating athlete ritual or habit you noticed at these Games?

 

I saw how intentional athletes were about switching modes. In the Village, they truly unplugged and connected. Then, the moment they put on their gear, they locked in. That ability to move between recovery and focus on purpose is a performance skill, and it is how you push hard without burning out.

 

Was there a moment at these Games that genuinely moved you — something you won’t forget?

 

I won’t forget the women’s and men’s Big Air finals. They drop in from a roughly 180-foot tower, often traveling backwards at around 37 miles per hour, and land massive tricks. It’s not just athleticism, it’s superhuman mental strength to take on that level of risk and perform under pressure.

 

AI is increasingly integrated into the Olympics — from judging to training and the broadcast. Inside the Village, how are athletes actually talking about that? Any real concerns? Any uses that surprised you?

 

Athletes talk about AI the same way founders talk about tools. If it helps you get better, you use it.

 

The clearest adoption I saw was in ski and snowboard sports. Athletes are using AI-driven biomechanics and video analysis to clean up takeoffs, trick mechanics, and landings. It is practical, it is fast, and it shows up in performance.

 

Judging is where the conversation gets more cautious. As someone from a judged sport, I would welcome AI playing a meaningful role in scoring.

 

When the Games end, what would you say to the athletes who wake up Monday without the competition they’ve trained years for?

 

When the Games end, it can feel like the floor drops out, so I would say this: If you are continuing to the next Olympics, be bold. Use this moment to make the changes you know you need to make, and build the next four years so you arrive at the start line with no regrets.

 

If you are transitioning to something new, take the best of what sport built in you. You know how to show up with resilience, grit, and focus. Those skills transfer. Now you get to choose where to apply them next.

 

-----

 

You can learn more about Jennifer’s journey as an Olympian and start-up founder in her recent appearance on Pioneers of AI. Watch it on YouTube, or listen on your favorite podcast platform.

Bring your idea to life with LTX-2

The next wave of generative AI tools is here. LTX-2 is a fully open-source model that generates synchronized audio and video in native 4K resolution. This isn’t a demo or a locked down API. You get full model weights, training frameworks, benchmarks, and evaluation tools. Everything you need to experiment, fine-tune, and build real production workflows. Join the 3 million developers and creators who have already downloaded LTX-2, and start creating today.

 

Don’t settle for a first draft. Get a complete creative engine to reach your idea’s full potential. Try LTX-2 today at ltx.studio.

Try Today

SCALE STORIES

The Bay Area is in the midst of something unprecedented: playing host to the NBA All-Star Game (2025), Super Bowl (2026), and FIFA World Cup games (later this year). The Bay Area Host Committee’s CEO Zaileen Janmohamed takes us behind the scenes. Watch | Listen

URGENT INSIGHTS

CEO Tarang Amin breaks down the unconventional moves driving growth at e.l.f. Beauty — from fast product cycles to partnering with Hailey Bieber — on Rapid Response. Listen

If you’re enjoying this newsletter, make sure you’re subscribed. Know someone who’d like it? Forward it their way — and hit reply to tell us what you’d like to see next.

LinkedIn
Facebook
X
Instagram

WaitWhat, 8605 Santa Monica Blvd., PMB 14071, West Hollywood, CA 90069, USA

Unsubscribe Manage preferences