I love the balance of my friend Marni Salup’s New York lifestyle! A neighborhood she loves, a walk-up apartment with tons of character, a PR company she founded herself, and the healthy discipline and strength of a triathlete. Through her PR work she secured a recent feature for Maria Brito in Elle Magazine – a perfect example of how women can help each other succeed, adding value to each other’s lives by celebrating and empowering each other and sharing in our journey of careers, parenting and being our strongest selves!
Marni is inspiring in so many ways! Naturally, I had to ask her to sit down and talk with me about her exciting life in Chelsea and what she loves most about living in New York.
CSF: You’re a long-time Chelsea resident! Tell me about your never-ending love affair with the neighborhood. What are some of your favorite Chelsea spots?
MS: My love affair with Chelsea spans almost a decade. The day I moved to my first Chelsea apartment, I knew I’d never live anywhere else in NYC. I’ve lived in Manhattan twenty years and Chelsea is my favorite neighborhood. Centrally located for everything I do from working, socializing and working out, Chelsea is a terrific place for me to live. It’s a quick walk to my office or to media and client meetings whether ’I’m going uptown to meet with traditional print and television media contacts, downtown to meet with new media and online editors or clients in the fashion district, Chelsea, or MEPA.
My favorite spots include: -Tipsy Parson’s, Izakaya Ten and Cookshop for dining, Appellation Wine shop for their great unique selection of wine, Foragers Market for healthy local and seasonal produce and, most importantly, my home away from home, The Sports Center at Chelsea Piers. Living in Chelsea makes me feel lucky to be in NYC!
CSF: Your PR business keeps you busy! What’s a typical day in your New York Life like?
MS: PR definitely keeps me busy and every day is different from the previous one. It is both exciting and intense at the same time. My fashion, fitness, and lifestyle clients keep me on my toes starting at 5:30 AM! My typical day involves waking up around 5:30/6:00, checking email, responding to client questions, and reading the news on Hootsuite and dialing in to the DWC (digital water cooler) of Facebook and Twitter, while watching NY1, then heading to Chelsea Pier or The West Side Highway for a workout, back home for breakfast and dog walking and at my desk by 9:30.
Once I am in work mode, I spend most of my day innovating and formulating brand-building strategies and media campaigns for new and existing clients as well as meeting, emailing, or speaking on the phone with editors, producers and clients about PR story or segment ideas and angles, discussing media generating, promotional activities or events, and creating ideas for overall brand outreach and communication. So, lots of writing, talking, meeting, and strategizing!
My work day “sort of” ends around 6:30/7:00. I debrief and unwind while checking back into the DWC and starting to plan dinner. Usually I love to cook at home during the week if I am not going to a work event or client dinner. I always check my email before heading to bed.
CSF: What first drew you to your walk-up in Chelsea? What do you love most about your home?
MS: Well, I was drawn to my walk-up primarily because I don’t like elevators, lol. But I love my apartment because it’s very spacious, lots of light, character and personality. It’s a real NYC Chelsea apartment with a working fireplace, brick walls, four huge windows across the front façade-living room and kitchen, high ceilings, and wood floors with all modern appliances. It’s the best of both worlds but I’m lucky because I live in a nice building that’s well maintained.
CSF: I’m so impressed by your discipline as a triathlete! How do you train? What else do you like to do to stay fit?
MS: Triathlon training does require tremendous discipline. I carve out the time from my busy PR work schedule to run, swim, and cycle every week, all year round, with the focus varying on speed or endurance. It depends on the races I am training for and the time of year. I have a few private coaches I work with on occasion and belong to an amazing Triathalon club here in the city, Empire Tri Club. And as I mentioned earlier, I workout at The Sports Center at Chelsea Pier and take lots of great classes from swimming to cycling with their great tri coaches and teachers.
In addition to triathlons, I also strength train and practice Ashtanga (Broome Street Temple in SoHo) on alternating days and have been an avid Windsurfer for over ten years. I think the key to having a healthy balanced fitness practice is to change up your workouts seasonally, just like food and fashion!
CSF: We are so lucky to live in New York! What do you think makes life here so special?
MS: It’s so true. We are very fortunate to live in NYC. It is an amazing, inspiring, beautiful city pulsing with energy and passion from a diverse amalgam of people, cultures, art, style, food, entertainment and more. NYC is the hub of fashion, entertainment, media, and culture. Being an entrepreneur in the PR and brand communications business, New York has presented me with the opportunities of a lifetime. I feel so lucky to live in a city where I can work with everyone from fashion brands and emerging designers, fitness studio’s or personalities, new restaurants or a hot new lounge, indie artists and start-up mobile or online companies or established new media and entertainment entities.
As a fitness enthusiast, there are tons of opportunities to experience the varied and growing fitness culture in this city. I love that living here I can do everything from running in the park or on the West Side highway to checking out new types. And socially, I love the diverse mix of cultural, dining, music related activities I can take advantage of in the blink of an eye, because I live in NYC! It’s truly a magical and inspiring place to live.
