Friday Five: Jess Cerra
Warm Fuzzies
Welcome to the Friday Five, where I ask one leader building the future of sports the same five questions. Every Friday (ish).
This week’s guest goes back to my private equity days. My firm acquired her company, JoJé Bars, as part of a sports nutrition roll-up called Alete Active Nutrition — and I met Jess in the initial diligence process. Jess is also the reason I got into gravel riding in the first place (I was truly blown away watching her crush it competing in UNBOUND Gravel), and the inspiration to actually toe the start line of a few races myself (more on that here). Since then, she's become an incredible mentor, friend, and hype-woman — she has this rare ability to make you feel completely comfortable even if you don't yet know her that well. Simply put, being around Jess just gives you the warm fuzzies.
Jess was raised in Whitefish, Montana, where scholarships and community resources shaped her path through high school and beyond — an experience that's clearly stuck with her. She went on to college, found her way into endurance sports, and eventually built a company of her own. She's also a trained chef, a professional cyclist, and — alongside her husband Sam — co-founder of The Last Best Ride, a gravel race that has provided over $153,000 in scholarships to graduating high school students in Whitefish.
Today, Jess is VP of Product Development, Quality & Community at Alete. When she’s not working, riding, or cooking, she’s out hiking with her (adorable) dog, Emory.
Let’s get into it.
1. Tell us about a sports moment that stopped you in your tracks — as a fan, in the building, behind the scenes, or on the court.
Long before I was an athlete myself, I will never forget watching Kerri Strug on the vault at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games. She injured her ankle on her first attempt but needed to land her second vault to secure the first-ever women's team gold medal for the USA. She landed on one leg, and then immediately collapsed in pain (and secured the medal for the team). I was mesmerized by this — something within me resonated with everything she went through to stick that landing. I knew that I would find a way to have an opportunity to take my body to a place like that one day.
2. What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received — and who gave it to you?
Communication is a constant representation of yourself. Stop apologizing. Example: I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you vs. Thanks for your patience. Learn strong, professional, and effective communication skills.
3. What’s something happening in women’s sports right now that you think is underrated or under-discussed?
While it’s great that the cycling grand tours are getting coverage, it’s sad in comparison to the men’s coverage. Each stage for the men has a studio crew, ground crew, and full stage and post stage coverage. This gives you a chance to know the riders, teams, and behind the scenes which makes the racing more compelling. You also get to see the early parts of the race to have a better understanding of the dynamics in the later part of the race. Often, the women’s coverage starts with around 50-60 km (31-38 miles) to go. I’ve seen some investment in coverage and crews, but would love to see complete parity.
4. Who’s someone in this space — athlete, builder, fan, or otherwise — who deserves more flowers than they’re getting?
I didn't even have to think about this one and while it's not exclusive to women's sports, the staff on cycling teams! They are true hero’s — and on women's teams, like the riders, make lower salaries compared to their counterparts on the men's team. And often, they do a lot more with a lot less. From the mechanics, to DS's, swannies, and chefs, they deserve more notoriety and flowers.
5. What are you most excited about right now — in work or life?
So the Grand Tour season has been captivating. The women's Vuelta, specifically the last stage, honestly made me want to come out of retirement. However, I'm just crossed a finish line at work that has definitely felt like doing all three grand tours. I'm the VP of Product Development & Quality Systems for SaltStick; we just launched an electrolyte gummy with a patent pending formulation. Simply put, this b&*th was REALLY hard to develop, which is probably why no one else has been able to do it. It's a breakthrough format in the functional hydration space and I can't stop eating the R&D samples. GET YOURS HERE!
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— K