Arlen and Kristine Wiley

Arlen and Kristine live with their two sons, Kai and Julian in Chicago. Arlen and Kristine both attended University of Chicago for undergrad and are college sweethearts! Whenever we come to Chicago they make room for us. When they come into the DC area, we make room for them! For years, The girls and I would fly to Chicago for Antonio‘s birthday. Turns out Arlen shares the same birthday! They could’ve been out celebrating Arlen, yet he and his family chose to spend time around his birthday with AJ’s girls and I. In real time, I did not realize how selfless it was. I look back in awe of their patience with us.

When the pandemic hits and we no longer made trips to Chicago for Antonio’s birthday, Arlen has consistently sent us heart felt sentiments about Antonio.

Arlen and Antonio met somewhere in business world. Both Arlen and Haslyn went to the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, perhaps Haslyn introduced Antonio to Arlen.

Somewhere along the way, Arlen met Jonathan, my late brother, and they developed a friendship. I believe they worked for the same company in New York. Perhaps Antonio introduced Arlen to Jonathan.

What I do know is that the Wiley’s are a beautiful family. They have honored Antonio’s memory well! They have been extremely generous with their resources. After being widowed, I was eager to start something entrepreneurial. It is said that necessity is the mother of invention and loss sparked something in me. I needed to build something for my family. My previous plan was no longer valid. My recent launch of Welcome to Training Camp is a direct result of their early and ongoing support of our entrepreneurial journey! It has been pivotal to our success!

This past April, Alivia, Audrey and I were in Chicago for Alivia’s volleyball tournament. It was our first time back in six years! As always, they made time to connect and it was so great to see them! The children are all now athletic teens and found common ground in competition! The Wiley boys are into baseball and football while my girls are into volleyball and swim. The Wiley’s picked up the perfect place to hang out! It was fun to see our children interact and have fun!

The Wiley family is a fun loving bunch that we really enjoy spending time with. So grateful they are a part of our village!