ESPN's VICTORIA ARLEN at the age of 11 developed two rare conditions that robbed her of the ability speak, eat, walk and move. She spent nearly four years "locked" in her own body -- aware of what was happening around her, but unable to move or speak -- before gradually relearning those basic functions. Today, Arlen wears many hats in addition to her ESPN gig -- she is a co-host of "American Ninja Warrior Junior," a published author and the first celebrity to ever design an athleisure line collection for Jockey. Arlen recently took some time out of her hectic daily schedule to speak with THE DAILY about all the different things she has going on.
5:00am: I usually wake up around this time, I consider that to be my golden hour. No one usually is trying to reach me until around 8:00, so those three hours are really my time. I'll begin with some reflection time and make sure I know what needs to be done that day. Then I'll usually work out for an hour or two either with a trainer or at a SoulCycle class -- I was paralyzed for 10 years and started walking three years ago, so I need to get my legs moving as soon as I can.
7:00am: I like to turn on some music and have a little dance party while I make breakfast -- I'm a sucker for a big smoothie. If I'm scheduled to be on ESPN that day, I'll turn on "SportsCenter" just to catch up on what's been going on. Other times I'll listen to podcasts to see what I can learn, what I can do to motivate myself.
Arlen is the first celebrity to ever design an athleisure line collection for Jockeyjockey
8:30am-5:00pm: I'm usually at our ESPN studio in Bristol by 8:30 and then we'll start taping around 10:00. I'll get my hair and make-up done first and then start writing scripts and preparing for my hits. We'll tape throughout the day until about 5:00, so I'll be on set periodically just depending on what the schedule looks like for "SportsCenter" updates that day. I'm also a co-host of the upcoming second season of "American Ninja Warrior Junior," so I'm on set for that around 10:00 on days that I'm not on ESPN and we'll tape various segments and episodes throughout the day similar to my ESPN schedule. In between being on set for either show, I'm usually working on other things because I'm wearing quite a few hats at the moment. I'm in the throes of writing my second book, launching my own clothing line with Jockey and I have a few acting projects in the works, as well as additional hosting roles, so it's a lot of prepping for those and taking meeting and phone calls in between taping. I also founded a non-profit two years ago called Victoria's Victory Foundation, so I'm usually touching base with my executive director and getting a brief on what we're doing. I don't sit still very well, so I've learned how to juggle all my responsibilities and multitask.
5:30pm: Once I'm done with taping for the day, I'm usually boarding a flight heading out somewhere or driving back home to West Hollywood. I'm a motivational speaker and my speaking tour usually runs from about mid-September to June so I'm flying to different cities for events. I'm in the same place only a day or two on average at a time, so traveling is a big part of what I do.
7:00-10:00pm: I try to wind down in the evenings and have my own little turn-down service where I just shut my brain off, put my phone down and have some quiet time. I love cooking so if I'm home, I really enjoy being in my kitchen. Otherwise, my quiet time consists of reading, journaling or reflecting. There's so many different moving parts in my life, so I try to find some time for myself. Sometimes I'll watch a show like "America's Got Talent," "Grey's Anatomy" or "Stranger Things" and other times I'll read a self-help book -- JOEL OSTEEN or DALE CARNEGIE are a couple of my favorites.
10:00-11:00pm: I try to be in bed by 10:00, but if I have a shoot or I'm working late on something that's not always achievable. I can function on 3-4 hours of sleep, but if I have the chance to sleep longer than that, I'll take it.
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