Industry News

Morsel Munk Interview with Outdoor Nation Ambassador Nitish Nag

Brigitte Rouleau, Vice President
Morsel Munk, LLC
brigitte@morselmunk.com
(800) 918-5139
www.morselmunk.com

Winsted, CT, Jul 31, 2010 -

Morsel Munk, LLC (www.morselmunk.com), co-owned by Scott and Brigitte Rouleau, is a Coalition Partner of Outdoor Nation, a national initiative that empowers young people to champion the outdoors – as athletes, artists, advocates and ambassadors. Through entertainment, education, engagement and action, Outdoor Nation and its community of ‘Outsiders’ will work to dramatically increase and expand youth participation and engagement, especially among urban communities and communities of color – resulting in a healthier, more active generation.

On June 19th and 20th, 2010, Outsiders from Outdoor Nation joined together for the world’s first two-day Outdoor Youth Summit and Festival in New York City’s famed Central Park. The event invited young people from across the country with a common mission: to champion the outdoors and start a youth-driven movement. This next American Revolution will harness the passion, energy and ideas of a new generation that is eager to influence the future and stand up for change.

Scott and Brigitte attended the summit, serving as volunteers and spectators. “The Summit far exceeded our expectations,” states Brigitte. “The energy, enthusiasm, motivation and dedication of more than 500 youth was impressive and contagious. We look forward to great results from this outstanding group of youth leaders.”

Nitish Nag is an Outdoor Nation Ambassador. Outdoor Nation is a youth driven movement; Ambassadors are the leaders at the heart of the movement. Scott and Brigitte had the distinct pleasure of meeting and conversing with Nitish at the Summit. In Scott and Brigitte’s opinion, words can’t sufficiently describe his level of over achievement! They had the opportunity to catch up with Nitish for Q&A. Here’s some insight into Nitish. Keep in mind that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Scott & Brigitte (SB): What motivated you to be an Outdoor Nation Ambassador?
Nitish (N): Inspiring others to live healthy, in enjoyable ways, is something that runs in my blood. As an Outside Idol Award recipient by the Outdoor Industry Association in 2007, I was naturally contacted to become an Ambassador for Outdoor Nation. Yeah!

SB: Which issue track did you work on at the Outdoor Youth Summit and Festival, and why?
N: I worked on the Health track. Read more about my education below to understand why.

SB: What will you do differently now that you attended the Summit?
N: As an Ambassador, there is a lot of work to do. It is now time to make plans for future action to implement programs to help alleviate the problems that were identified at the Summit. The Ambassadors are working hard to analyze data, research strategies and think of novel ideas to solve these problems.

SB: What are the top 2-3 things you came away with (from the Summit)?
N: There is huge potential for growth in the youth outdoor movement. There is an increasing awareness of the government and industry, recognizing that this movement is important.

SB: Grant money was announced at the event. Any thoughts for pursuing?
N: I think that grassroots clubs and community projects are really what will open the eyes to the government and public as to how powerful the outdoors can uplift our whole population. This grant money should be given to programs that are inspiring folks to become outdoor enthusiasts for life, because these enthusiasts will build a country and world of voters that care about the issues that promote the outdoors.

SB: What message do you want people to know/take away from your experience?
N: A few things:
1. The active, healthy lifestyle is the ultimate enjoyable way to live your life. Don’t miss out!
2. You can make big things happen if you are dedicated and pursue your goals. Don’t place limits on yourself.
3. Have FUN!

SB: You’re currently pursuing 3 majors in college. Tell us about the majors, and your career plans. Any synergy with Outdoor Nation?
N: Outdoor Activity is a beautiful and enjoyable gateway for exercise. I am majoring in Nutritional Science, Biochemistry, and Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley. Studying these subjects allows me to work on health problems from two sides. One is the athletic performance side where we are trying to see the limits of human perfection. This is obviously important to high end outdoors athletes and Olympians, etc. On the other hand, we study these subjects to see how we can better understand and treat disease for those that are not able to perform optimally. As an athlete I can both understand the theory and the application of these sciences. As a scientist who works in these fields, I enjoy seeing brilliant ideas in the lab applied to everyday life scenarios, such as for an athlete or for someone with diabetes. Being well educated about this material also allows me to give my athletes that I coach the cutting edge information on science for performance, while cutting out the myths and hype of popular training trends.

Also, the growing trend of increasing metabolic disease in the world can easily be cured with a healthy outdoor oriented lifestyle. This is really the bottom line. Not pills and fads.

SB: We see that you’re a Whole Athlete coach. What motivated you to get into coaching, and what do you like most about your work?
N: The satisfaction received from giving opportunity to others goes above and beyond any personal achievement. It’s like planting a flower and watching it bloom. Although the flower is beautiful, it’s the planter that enjoys that beauty the most. It is great to see people also enjoy an activity to the fullest, which they would have not otherwise had the opportunity to do.

SB: Tell us about NRL Racing.
N: I am the Founder and President of the NRL Racing Development Cycling Team. NRL Racing is a Junior U18 [under 18 years old] and U23 [under 23 years old] development cycling team, fueling enthusiastic bicycle racers from the San Francisco Bay Area. The team focuses on bringing the best mountain bikers to the start line in endurance events such as the cross country, short track and super D competitions. We also compete in Road races, Downhill, Slalom and other types of bike races. All levels are welcome to join on the condition that they dedicate themselves to bringing the best out of their potential. NRL is a completely non-profit team. We also do volunteer work (http://sites.google.com/site/nitishnag/volunteerwork) to help the cycling community, such as trail building and bike commuting.

SB: Nitish, thank you for your time answering our questions. You are an impressive leader. We look forward to more great things from you! One last (rhetorical) question. Outdoor Nation Ambassador, Founder/President of NRL Racing, Whole Athlete coach, 3-major student at UC Berkeley (none of which are cushy majors), volunteer. When do you sleep?

To learn more about Outdoor Nation, and to become an Outsider, visit http://www.outdoornation.org.

About Morsel Munk, LLC (www.morselmunk.com):
The mission of Morsel Munk is to motivate, and equip, people of all ages to exercise their minds and bodies, and be young at heart. Emphasis is on being young at heart. In addition to operating an online store, Morsel Munk is dedicated to bringing events to their community, and empowering people (customers and guests) with information on enjoying the great outdoors, being creative, and being big kids. Being a Coalition Partner of Outdoor Nation is one way Morsel Munk furthers its mission. According to Scott Rouleau, President, “Outdoor Nation is a perfect opportunity to equip youth with a voice and empower them with tools and support to connect their networks with the great outdoors.”