Q&A with Alex Castello
Editor’s note: Nancy Cox is the founder of Research Story Consulting and former CPG corporate researcher. Her work and play include words, sketchpads, cooking (not baking) and the occasional sock puppet
Passions, hobbies, healthy distractions and even guilty pleasures – discover how the research community plays and how that plays out in their work life. In the Venn diagram of work and play, what happens when they overlap? Research colleagues share their work and play stories in this interview series by Nancy Cox.
Hello Alex Castello, vice president marketing and client strategy, KJT
What is the “play” in your life?
The play in my life is ice hockey. I’ve been a big fan of hockey for years and my boys, who are 5 ½ and 8, started playing in 2023. That’s when my husband and I got jealous – we wanted to be on the ice, too! I found a local rink offering an adult “learn to play” program that was open to all skill levels. We did that every Sunday morning for 11 weeks this year, culminating in a real refereed game where we put our new skills to the test.
While I grew up in upstate New York, where winter can feel endless, I didn’t skate a lot when I was younger. My friends and I took ice skating as a college course just for the credit. I did learn, since the SUNY Geneseo ice hockey coach taught the course, but I was more focused on having fun with friends. I learned some basic skills, but more advanced skills did not come easy at the time. However, I did fall in love with skating recreationally and continued to go to open skate sessions with friends over the years.
I didn’t skate too seriously again until the “learn to play” program. After 11 weeks, I was really into it and wanted to find a way to continue playing. But one of the things I didn’t like about the program was skating with men who are waaay bigger than me – I’m pretty short! – including some men who were worse skaters. I feared one of them barreling into me if they couldn’t stop properly. So, I was excited when I heard that there were women – who had been through the program as well – putting together a recreational women’s league. I was able to get in at the start of what is now the Rochester Women’s Hockey League – I’m very proud to be part of the inaugural group.
Over this past summer, we scrimmaged every weekend with about 20 to 30 women. We have a ref, but it’s very casual. I started playing forward – an offensive position – I love competing and trying to score, but I’m also not too great at backwards skating – a skill you need for defense.
Recently our league held a tournament. We split up into four teams. Some volunteer coaches helped us. Over the course of two days, we all played four games – regulation length games. I was exhausted but we really had some fun.
Our league is continuing on a regular basis during the normal season. We have one woman who is still spearheading this all – there was reluctance from one of our local rinks to believe there would be enough interest and commitment for a formal women’s only league, so it has been cool to have the proof of concept and to be able to continue independently. Now we have our own ice time every Sunday at a different local rink, and the plan is an annual tournament – or two! I’m looking forward to continuing to play!
How has your play influenced your research work?
Playing in the tournament was very interesting because it was the first time that I had a coach since high school – back when I was captain of a competitive cheerleading team. I loved it. When we scrimmage each other without the coaches, it’s fun but it’s hard to know how to grow – how to do a skill a bit different to get a better result.
The same is true at work. Without that little bit of coaching and feedback, you don’t always know the better approach. In the tournament, for example, I actually scored. I was so proud of myself! My mom happened to capture it on video. But I was so surprised watching the video – my first reaction, was “I am going so slow!” I thought I was moving very fast. The position of my body wasn’t what I thought it was – I thought my knees were more bent and I was lower to the ground, but I look all hunched over. I’m lucky I even scored the goal. The next day, I talked to the coach about being faster, more agile. One on one, he was able to give me some pointers. Then during the game, he gave me real-time feedback. Very helpful, and a reminder how much we need that feedback and coaching even when we think we’re doing great.
More than hockey influencing my day-to-day work, it’s given me perspective on my career. I’ve become more aware of the idea there might be things you are writing off – that you assume you can’t do. You’re so far into your career that it’s too late to make that change now. I didn’t play hockey growing up … I wasn’t even aware when I was younger that hockey was for girls, too. Yet now I’m playing. Hockey has shown me there are different ways you can expand your career and your skills. It’s taught me to be open to possibilities in how I can grow and progress.
In the last two years, I shifted more into a marketing strategy role than research. It was a challenging transition, and sometimes imposter syndrome would creep in. If I had had this new perspective from learning to play hockey, I may have been more comfortable in my career change. While I was motivated, it felt scary at times. Although I have proven over the past two years, yes, I do have the skills and expertise, there was second-guessing about changing my path. Hockey has given me the perspective to not be afraid to try something new, no matter how far down your career path you are.
What would you tell readers who want to know more about your area of play?
If you have any inkling you want to play hockey, do it. Don’t second guess yourself! We have all ages participating from 20- to 50-year-olds, and even older. You may find you don’t want to do it long term. Just have the goal to try to do it, to try to learn it. If you are interested, start with an online search for “adult learn to play” programs and you may be surprised what you find.
My hockey experience has even inspired my mom and stepdad to start ice skating. If my whole family was going to be on the ice so much, they decided to start learning to skate. They’ve found a community, a group of friends who go every day to the ice rink.
For hockey, you do need to invest in equipment. Sometimes you can get a discount if you’re buying the full set of equipment, always ask about that. You will spend a couple hundred dollars up front. There’s a lot more than just your skates – a helmet, a mouth guard, a neck guard, chest and shoulder pad, elbow pads, gloves, shin pads, hockey socks and more. You’ll appreciate all that padding when you fall – I’ve fallen and never been hurt.
You might think, oh I’m just a beginner why do I have all this safety equipment such as a neck guard? As a beginner, skating with other beginners, I felt there was a higher likelihood of someone falling and getting a skate to the neck than with higher level of skilled players. Just as you’re learning to stop on the ice, others are learning that as well. You definitely want the protection!
You also need to budget for skate blade sharpening, which needs to happen at a regular frequency – depending on how long and how hard you skate. When you start, it’s easy to forget about that. My mother went several months before she got hers sharpened. She thought there was something wrong with her, that she was losing her ability to skate. Turns out it was just dull blades.
One more thing, if you do have children who play, accept that they will play better than you. My sons came to the tournament and cheered for me, which was great. But my older son also commented when watching our league, “Wow, you guys stink.” Well, maybe, but I scored a goal!