When Oak Park and River Forest High School science teacher Christina McKittrick’s father told her to “get a dream where you can grow something and be your own boss,” she did just that. While at her daughter’s dance class about a year ago, McKittrick was scrolling on Facebook and came across a post that sparked her interest: the owners of a local athletic store, Lively Athletics, were selling the business.
As a lifelong athlete and fitness enthusiast, McKittrick was interested. McKittrick is one of the head coaches for the girls JV swim team, a three-time marathon runner and a fitness instructor for a local workout group called Fit4Mom. She has bought multiple shoes for her marathons and activewear from Lively Athletics. She has also partnered with Lively for Fit4Mom events, she said.
“I’ve been a loyal customer, and just the idea of being able to contribute to that and give back was also part of the draw of [buying] Lively [Athletics],” McKittrick said.
The idea of adding “business owner” to her already packed schedule was somewhat daunting, but she had expertise to draw from. McKittrick’s father had been a small business owner his whole life, who recently retired, and had a plethora of business knowledge to share with her.
While McKittrick always bonded with her mom over their shared passion for teaching, she now has a chance to form a deeper bond with her dad over her new journey as a business owner. “It’s nice to have something that we can grow together,” McKittrick said.
Family focus runs true to Lively Athletic’s roots. The former owners were sisters and their father encouraged them to open their own store, helped them purchase it and provided knowledge about running a business. “It’s kind of a continuation of their story of family helping family, to help the community,” McKittrick said.
Piper Pezalla, a junior at OPRF and the daughter of former owner Anne Pezalla, has been working at Lively since her freshman year and loves how McKittrick has maintained the same sense of family within the store.
“She does a good job at making work easy, peaceful, calm and really stress free,” Pezalla said.. “She’s always at the store, striking up conversations, asking us about our interests, and she is very good at remembering them and asking good questions.”
Along with maintaining this tight-knit culture, McKittrick aims to make sure Lively Athletics continues helping and being part of the community as it was under the former ownership. For example, Lively manager Wendy Barrett noted that many of the brands the store carries offer support to underserved communities.
“The Cotopaxi brand gives back some of their profits to help impoverished communities around the world.” Barrett said. “We also have a shoe recycling program through ‘Sneakers4Good’. They take used athletic shoes, refurbish them to be distributed around the world. In return, they send us a check which Lively [Athletics] then donates to a local charity.”
As for the future of Lively Athletics, McKittrick has plans to diversify and expand the store’s clientele. McKittrick’s goal is for the community to know, “[Lively Athletics] is not just a store for women, but a store for men and children too.”
McKittrick also hopes that as she continues to grow Lively Athletics, people in the community will shop local more regularly rather than relying on big chain stores such as Amazon and Target.
This connection to Oak Park is what drives McKittrick the most. “I grew up in the community, so it’s like continuing that legacy of finding ways to support people here by giving them jobs, or helping them pick out their kids’ shoes and athletic clothes,” she said.
