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People and Pop Culture

Minding My Business With Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority Chair Michele Kelm-Helgen

Name: Michele Kelm-Helgen

Position: Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority Chair

Where I'm from: Minneapolis

Focusing on right now
: With the (U.S. Bank Stadium) opening, our focus is 100% on that. We have a lot of events scheduled for this week and next week to take us to the end. We have our official ribbon cutting on Friday, and then we're doing a public open house on Saturday and Sunday. It starts Saturday morning at 9:00am CT and goes into the evening, and then the same thing on Sunday. We've had so far 110,000 people download tickets to come to that. We're really excited to have so many people coming to help us celebrate. I've really been with (the project) from the inception. It's great to see everything we've designed on paper actually get built. As I sit in the building today, it's kind of amazing.

A must for a new hire
: I would say a must is they have to be a team player, because everything we're doing here is such a partnership that reminds us how many different groups must be able to work as a team.

Exec I admire most
: Minnesota Gov. MARK DAYTON and his leadership qualities. He's definitely one who steps up and makes decisions and is always accountable for those decisions. The best piece of advice I had from anyone was from the governor. Early on, when I started working for him in his office, he had a sign that was hung on the wall and always reminded us of it. It said, "No one of us is as smart as all of us." He taught me that if one person has to make a decision, you're going to want to make that decision with input and information from everyone.

Best book I've read: "The Power Of One," by BRYCE COURTENAY. It's about a young man in South Africa overcoming many odds. It's a book I've read a couple of different times. I've passed it along to my friends and my children and others because I think it inspires.

Must have music: Most recently, it's been the CD for "Hamilton." I kind of caught the Hamilton bug. I have a daughter who lives in N.Y., and she had gotten tickets. Ever since then I've been taken with the soundtrack. I listen to that a lot when I walk. It was as good as everyone has said.

Talking tech: My phone is probably the technology I rely on most. I'm hoping the new iPhone comes out this fall.

Food for thought: My husband and I live downtown, so we actually eat out a lot. We try out all sorts of different things. Probably my favorite food is sushi. There's also a restaurant in south Minneapolis called "Revival," and they make this unbelievably great fried chicken, and we are going to have them in the stadium.

First thing in the morning: I work out every morning, seven days a week. I never skip it, because I always feel if I do, then all the more likely I start skipping it the next day and the day after that.

How I unwind: If I want to think about things and relax I go down to the (Mississippi) river and take a long walk. Probably listen to some music along the way.

Day in the life: I get up early, I work out, and then I walk to work to the stadium. It's about a 10-15 minute walk. Once I get here, it's a lot of different meetings. Before it was construction and design all day long, and now it's looking at operations. My focus is on sales and marketing for the stadium, so I focus my work on attracting big events. I work with a lot of people and partners, the city, the convention and tourism group. We put together the proposal for Super Bowl LII, and we were able to also secure the Final Four (in '19). We're also (hosting) the X Games in '17 and '18. The state owns and operates the stadium, so people definitely feel like they need to be part of it and they need to know what's happening. So I spend a lot of time with various groups around the state talking about the stadium, its plans and development.

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