Elisette Carlson
Prior to founding SMACK! Media, Elisette Carlson was the Director of Marketing at Zoot Sports, a global leader in multi-sports products. While at Zoot, she was responsible for driving the brand expansion for innovative apparel, wetsuits, footwear and compression clothing. During this time, the company's revenues tripled and expanded into 28 new international markets.
Previous to Zoot Sports, Elisette was a Senior Account Manager at The Active Marketing Group, where she implemented strategic online and event marketing campaigns for Timex, Nike, Gatorade, Kyocera and United Airlines. Before joining Active, she spent 3 years managing Reebok's triathlon and running initiatives, in addition to serving as a key liaison to the NFL and NBA. Elisette also spent 2 years in sponsorship and media sales for sports programming at IMG.
Elisette's passion for sports marketing started at a young age while assisting her father with World Cup soccer events and athletes. Whether it was drafting proposals, coordinating hotels, executing game-day logistics, or traveling to South America on scouting trips, the key principles of integrity, eye contact and the value of strong relationships were deeply ingrained as pillars for excellent business practices.
A graduate of Princeton University, Elisette was named NCAA First Team All- American and All-Ivy League in Women's Rowing. As a National Champion coxswain for 2 countries, her competitive drive and determination molded her into a leader and motivator. Further, she has completed numerous marathons and triathlons and finished her first Ironman in 12:37.
Fluent in Spanish and proficient in French and Italian, Elisette prides herself in written and spoken communication.
Shanna Burnette
A standout 3x Nevada State Cross-country and Track State Champion in high school, Shanna was recruited to the University of Colorado on a running scholarship. During her time at CU, she was a part of two Division I Cross-country NCAA Championship Women's Teams. She was also Big 12 Female Cross-country runner of the week in October of 2007 in addition to being a part of the Big 12 Academic Team several times.
Immediately upon graduation, Shanna was recruited to the University of Portland's MBA program. She finished the two-year program in a year and a half with a dual emphasis in Entrepreneurship and Marketing. Upon graduation, Shanna moved to San Diego to plan her wedding where her fiancée, Kevin, was working at the time. While in San Diego, she was recruited to join Smack! Media.
Shanna and her husband have since moved back to Boulder,CO where she continues her passion for running and heads up the CO headquarters for Smack! Media. They welcomed their first child in April of 2011.
Morgan Sjogren
Morgan began running at age 9 when she asked her Mom to train with her for a local 5K race. After trying many sports, this one stuck and Morgan has not stopped running since. She received a running scholarship to compete for California State University San Marcos, where she twice earned NAIA All-American honors in the 10K (Track) while training under Olympian Steve Scott.
Morgan graduated with a B.A. in Literature and Writing and decided to focus her energy on running. Now a professional runner for Team BSK, Morgan competes in everything from the 1500 to the marathon, with her favorite events being the 5K (PR 17:04) and the 10K (35:28). She finished 2nd overall in her debut Marathon (Carlsbad 2010) and holds a marathon best of 3:01.
In addition to running, Morgan enjoys freelance writing and blogging. Her writing skills, industry experience, and passion for endurance sports led to her recruitment for SMACK! Media.
Alongside her work at Smack! Media and running, the San Diego native also teaches yoga and enjoys the good life along the coast.
Sarah Lieneke-Nickle
As an active child, Sarah participated in many sports - gymnastics, swimming, soccer, volleyball and even cheerleading - there was no shortage of athletic opportunities. It wasn't until late in high school that she started running with her mom to "stay in shape." At 17, Sarah ran her first race, the 4-mile Trolley Run in Kansas City, MO, and she was hooked! Later in college, a torn quadricep from a rough game of intramural soccer put Sarah on crutches and back into the swimming pool. All she had to do was add the bike and she was well on her way to first triathlon. July 2000 marked her first race and Sarah hasn't looked back. A fierce competitor, Sarah consistently places at the top of her age group and qualified for both the Ironman and Ironman 70.3 World Championships, Team USA, and the Boston Marathon.
An analytical and creative thinker, Sarah earned her Bachelor's of Architecture from the University of Arizona. Upon graduation, driven by her love for the sport, Sarah took a career detour and joined a start-up online triathlon store. With initial duties ranging from designing ads to managing events, Sarah played an integral role building the business over a 7-year period for TriSports.com, now one of the largest online triathlon and endurance sports retailers.
Sarah lives in Tucson Arizona, where some of the world's best endurance athletes travel to train. When she isn't running, riding or swimming, Sarah likes to hang out with her big Great Dane, Samson, drink wine with girlfriends and work in her garden.
