Draft:Kristin Labonte

• Comment: No indication of notability. Qcne (talk) 15:28, 15 December 2023 (UTC)

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Kristin Labonte
File:Kristin Labonte.png
Born	Kristin Denise Harvey (1971-05-21) May 21, 1971 Indianapolis, Indiana
Education	Southern Illinois University Carbondale (BA), Duke University (MBA)
Organization	Breaking Limits LLC
Known for	2004 United States National Criterium Championships Champion 2004 United States National Road Race Championships Champion 2006 United States National Time Trial Championships Champion 2008 1st Stage 2 Cascade Cycling Classic 2010 1st El Tour de Tucson 2011 1st Old Pueblo Grand Prix 2011 1st Wilmington Grand Prix.
Spouse	Bobby Labonte (2016)

Kristin Labonte is a marketing executive and entrepreneur, former professional cyclist, and wife of NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Bobby Labonte. She holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and serves as President of Breaking Limits , an integrated marketing, public relations, sponsorship, and event management company she owns with her husband.

Labonte also leads The Bobby Labonte Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the needs of local families and children throughout the Piedmont Triad of North Carolina. She joined Breaking Limits in May 2017 as Chief Strategy Officer, bringing more than 25 years’ experience in marketing and advertising to the agency. She took over as president in 2018, after six years as the Vice President of Client Services and Marketing at Momentum Sports Group , which owns and operates an international professional cycling team sponsored by UnitedHealth Group.

Labonte is a three-time National Champion cyclist , competing for nearly a decade with teams including the Colavita Women’s Professional Cycling Team and Rally UHC Cycling (formerly Optum Pro Cycling).

Early Life and Education

Labonte was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and raised on a small horse in farm Avon, Indiana, just outside of Indianapolis. Labonte began showing horses and riding equestrian at age seven. Six years later, she became the best 13-year-old equestrian rider in the country in two different disciplines – English Equitation and Western Horsemanship – at the Opportunity Appaloosa National Youth Show.

Labonte graduated from Ben Davis High School in 1989, where she still holds the school’s swimming record for the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:07.78 . She earned a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Design with a specialization in Visual Communications from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1993 , and her Master of Business Administration (MBA), with a concentration in Marketing, from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in 2019

Career

Labonte began working in advertising shortly after graduating from college, serving as an Account Executive at WOOZ-FM, a country radio station in Carbondale, Illinois. Her career progressed in broadcasting and advertising for the next decade, ultimately landing her at Zimmerman Advertising in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where she served as Senior Account Executive, Client Services and Vice President, Project Management. During these years, she began competing in the triathlon, and later in professional cycling.

In May 2012, Labonte began as a marketing, sponsorship and relationship building consultant for Colavita USA, where she was charged with developing relationships with major grocery retailers, helping to market new products and expanding Colavita’s distribution. She also secured event partnerships with Publix, taking Colavita’s Mobile Kitchen, a custom pizza truck, to organizations and events across the country.

In September 2012, Labonte was hired as Vice President, Client Services and Marketing at Momentum Sports Group. In this role, she managed relationships with all team sponsors including title sponsor Fortune 100 UnitedHealth Group, developed and managed a multi-million dollars global marketing budget and campaigns, and led a team to a 380% growth rate in team brand exposure in the first year of a new marketing program.

Labonte joined the family business in May 2017, taking on the role of Chief Strategy Officer at Breaking Limits, LLC, a company her husband, Bobby, founded in 2007. Breaking Limits began as a motorsports sponsorship agency and has since expanded into strategic marketing, public relations, sponsorship and event management, working with national and international brands and companies across the automotive, consumer-packaged goods, education, healthcare, retail, and non-profit industries as well as a vast array of sports platforms and properties. Some of the agency’s notable clients include Arrow Electronics, Ferrari, General Mills, Smithfield Foods, Universal Technical Institute, and UnitedHealth Group.

She stepped up to become Breaking Limits’ President in September 2018, with a vision of building future success and longevity. Anchoring the agency’s culture on the core attributes both she and her husband leveraged to become champion athletes, she redefined the agency’s culture, mission and focus. The agency specializes in brand strategy, experiential marketing, and communications. Breaking Limits is truly built on the shoulders of champions with the mission of helping client partners create and build stronger relationships with their target consumers that drive loyalty and drive revenue.

Kristin is also a Keynote Speaker; she and husband Bobby speak together and recently presented at the Women in Motorsports North America annual summit Women with Drive III held in Phoenix, Arizona.

Professional Cycling

Labonte began racing as a professional cyclist in 2004 for the Cycle Science Cycling Team, after being recognized as an All-American triathlete by USA Triathlon in 2002. She competed on the professional circuit until 2012, for teams including the Cheerwine Women’s Professional Team, Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings Women’s Professional Cycling Team, ValueAct Capital Women’s Professional Cycling Team, Vera Bradley Women’s Professional Cycling Team, Colavita Women’s Professional Cycling Team, and Rally UHC Cycling (formerly Optum Pro Cycling). She became a U.S. Masters National Champion her first year, in 2004, in the Criterium and Road Race and then a U.S. Masters National Champion in Time Trial in 2007. In 2008, Labonte finished first in stage two of the Cascade Cycling Classic, and in 2011, she won both the Old Pueblo Grand Prix and the Wilmington Grand Prix. She also spent time racing with the U.S. National Team throughout Europe.

Academia

Kristin is an avid learner, driven by her curiosity. She is still collaborating with one of her professors she met while at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. The two are studying the innovation and change management of NASCAR, initiated by the 2020 COVID 19 pandemic, and plan to publish a business case from which future students can learn.

Philanthropy

Labonte and her husband, Bobby, manage his charitable foundation, The Bobby Labonte Foundation. Bobby Labonte founded the organization in 2003, with a vision of building a cohesive community in which parents and families are empowered to fulfill children’s needs and together find joy, love and happiness. The foundation works in partnership with the local community and community organizations to empower parents, families and children to build a strong foundation for children’s futures.

Central to the foundation’s work is its annual Charity Bike Ride, held in downtown High Point, North Carolina or more recently at Winston-Salem, North Carolina’s Bowman Gray Stadium. Proceeds from the ride and the foundation’s yearly cocktail party and silent auction fund grants for non-profit organizations in the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina. Grant recipients, which have included organizations such as High Point LEAP, High Point Swim Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Central Piedmont, Inc., Millis Regional Health Education Center and Ready for School, Ready for Life, are chosen through an application process.

The Bobby Labonte Foundation has donated more than $1,000,000 since its inception.

Personal Life

Kristin Labonte Fly Fishing

Kristin and her husband Bobby live outside High Point, North Carolina with their Chihuahua Josey. In her spare time, she enjoys cycling, fly fishing, and cross-country skiing with Bobby in Montana, and spending times with friends and family. She often says she should have been born in France, because her love of Paris is so great.

External Links

• Official website