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Mom, Entrepreneur Lives To Compete

Tribune photo by JIM REED

Dawna Stone, with husband Matt Dieter and daughter Kaelie, has launched a magazine targeted to ordinary women interested in running.

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By MARY SHEDDEN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 14, 2009

Competition has always been in Dawna Stone's blood.

She thrived on it as a 6-year-old entering her first aquatic meets; as an elite college-level swimmer; as an Ironman endurance athlete.

And the contests didn't have to be athletic. Her competitive spirit showed up in professional venues as well: on Wall Street, where she put a finance degree into action; in the publishing world; and on reality TV, where Stone won a coveted one-year job as Martha Stewart's apprentice.

Winning is familiar, and welcome. But today, it's not what's most important. Juggling a whirlwind life as a mother, wife, publisher and recreational athlete carries a whole lot more weight than a first-place medal, says Stone, 40.

"Now, it's about having fun," she says. "I still have that competitive fire. But it's different now that I'm a mom. ... Now I just want to cross the finish line with a smile."

Stone says she couldn't imagine saying those words just three years ago. After winning "The Apprentice" with Stewart in late 2005, Stone spent a year working at a bevy of enterprises in Stewart's publishing and entertainment empire. She returned to St. Petersburg; her husband, Matt Dieter; and Her Sports + Fitness, a first-time publishing venture for the former chief marketing officer at Clearwater's MarineMax.

Stone and Dieter, president of the magazine's umbrella company, had great plans for expanding the magazine's reach. Stone was training for triathlons during her lunch break. The couple started drafting Stone's first book, "Winning Nice: How to Succeed in Business Without Waging War" (Center Street, $21.99).

They had just finished the manuscript when Stone learned she was pregnant. Stone laughs about promoting the book just weeks before delivering daughter Kaelie in September 2007.

Children are known to affect a person's perspective and ability to maintain their old lifestyle. Stone was no exception. She gladly added the role of mother to her resume. Soon after being born, Kaelie joined the daily trek to the magazine office with Stone, Dieter, and their dog, Valkyrie. A nanny cares for Kaelie and another staffer's child; Valkyrie spends most of her day sleeping under Stone's desk.

For Stone, who completed the 140.6-mile Ironman triathlon a decade ago, the new routine means lunchtime workouts are gone. She's been squeezing in three-to-six-mile runs early in the morning or on the treadmill. She and Dieter take turns on Saturday morning bike rides, switching bikes and handing Kaelie off to each other so they can get a 25-mile ride in with other local cyclists.

Actually, even that routine will have to take a backseat for a few months. Stone and Dieter are expecting a second child in August, adding a little more welcome chaos into their lives.

"I'm super excited about having another baby," she says.

All this change coincides with a major professional shift. Stone has overhauled Her Sports + Fitness and launched a new baby of sorts just this month. The rebranded publication, Women's Running, narrows the focus of a magazine Stone initially created to serve ordinary women interested in running, triathlons and other sports.

For Stone, Women's Running exists for women like her: those who want to live a full, active life but don't have a lot of time to figure out how. That attitude, she says, is best encapsulated in her favorite feature, called "Women who Move." It highlights ordinary women who reach special goals and share their advice.

Though Stone has loads of her own success stories, she admits she uses this feature as a major source of motivation, especially when she's struggling to juggle the life of a mother, wife and business owner. Even great competitors need a little inspiration, she says.

"I want to know how other people do it."

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