She showed up to this interview the day after foot surgery. That alone tells you everything you need to know about Wendy Blackshaw.
The president and CEO of Minnesota Sports and Events sat down with Rise to More this week and delivered one of the most honest, warm, and genuinely inspiring conversations this show has ever had. Over the course of our time together, Wendy didn’t just talk about the Super Bowl and the sold-out gymnastics trials — she talked about bankruptcy, breast cancer, addiction, imposter syndrome, and how every single one of those things made her exactly who she needed to be.
Building something from nothing
When Wendy and her colleague Debbie Estes founded Minnesota Sports and Events in 2019, they had two laptops and a belief that Minnesota deserved better. At the time, it was the only state of its size without a permanent sports commission — every major event like the Super Bowl required standing up a temporary organizing committee, and then dismantling it when the confetti settled.
“We were literally building the plane as we flew it.”
— WENDY BLACKSHAW
What followed was remarkable: the Women’s Final Four, the gymnastics trials where Simone Biles and Sunni Lee competed in front of a roaring downtown Minneapolis crowd, World Juniors hockey with bumper cars on ice in Rice Park, and free fan festivals drawing hundreds of thousands of people to the city. All of it funded not through government appropriations, but through corporate relationships built on trust, vision, and Wendy’s signature authenticity.
And she did all of this while undergoing treatment for breast cancer — a diagnosis she received the same month the organization launched.
The philosophy that carries her
If there’s one phrase that defines how Wendy navigates her life and career, it’s this: more will be revealed. Not a polished five-year strategy. Not a Pinterest board of goals. A deep, lived faith that if you stay open and keep taking the next right step, the path will show itself.
“I don’t need to solve the whole thing. It’s a little bite at a time. The next right thing.”
— WENDY BLACKSHAW
This isn’t passive optimism — Wendy is quick to point out she’s also a worrier, someone who can get stuck solving problems in her head. But she’s learned to channel that intensity productively. She spoke about literally waking up one morning with a solution to a problem she’d gone to bed stressing over, after allowing herself to let go and trust the process.
That spiritual groundedness is inseparable from her practical determination. The two halves reinforce each other constantly throughout this conversation and honestly, one of my favorite parts of this conversation.
Recovery, resilience, and the truth about her north star
Wendy was refreshingly open about her journey in recovery. She has been sober since her twenties, introduced to Alcoholics Anonymous at 26 by a woman she met by chance. Her father died of alcoholism. She knew early she was wired the same way and she chose differently.
She speaks about her recovery not as a chapter she survived, but as the foundation everything else was built on. The 12-step program, she said, taught her to give things away, and that principle runs through everything from how she leads her team to how she mentors young women coming up behind her.
“You never know when there might be someone who is struggling and who might need to hear that you can have an amazing life. You just need to make some choices to get help.”
— WENDY BLACKSHAW
To any executive listening who is quietly struggling: she said it plainly. Reach out. People want to help. And highly successful people have been through hard things too — she included.
On confidence, rooms full of power, and just being real
Wendy has sat across from governors, billionaires, senators, and CEOs and asked them for money, for votes, for belief. We asked her what the secret was. Her answer? There isn’t one. She just tells the truth.
She described a period working for a difficult boss that slowly eroded her self-worth — something many high-achieving women quietly recognize. Imposter syndrome crept in. She started doing therapy, started getting back in touch with who she actually was, and slowly rebuilt. That experience now informs everything about the way she leads: with warmth, with directness, and without pretense.
“In the end, we’re all people. A powerful CEO has problems with their 18-year-old too. You find common ground.”
— WENDY BLACKSHAW
She talked about Senator Klobuchar as someone she genuinely loved chatting with — a Vikings fan, funny, deeply human beneath the national profile. The message for anyone intimidated by big rooms: relax, be yourself, and make the ask. All they can say is no.
What’s at stake right now
Minnesota just lost the 2028 gymnastics trials. Despite hosting what USA Gymnastics called a gold-standard event in 2024, the state couldn’t secure the funding to compete for the next one. Other states have permanent, yearly appropriations for events like these. Minnesota has to go back to the legislature every single year with its hat in its hand.
Wendy is pushing hard for a line item in the sports betting bill that would direct a percentage of tax revenue to fund these events permanently. It’s a policy change with enormous ripple effects — economic impact, community activation, youth access to sport, and Minnesota’s standing as a world-class host city for years to come.
If you believe in what this state can be, this is worth paying attention to.
What Rise to More means to Wendy
We asked Wendy at the end of our conversation what Rise to More means to her. She paused — and then said it feels like the tagline for every phase of her life.
“In every phase there have been these opportunities, and I could have at any given time allowed the challenges to cause me to say I can’t do this. But we can all get through those difficult times and be more — rise to more — and be the best that we can be.”
— WENDY BLACKSHAW
That’s it. That’s the whole conversation in one breath.
Wendy Blackshaw is proof that showing up — imperfectly, authentically, persistently — is enough. The rest gets revealed.
Learn more about Wendy and her work:
