Glen Werner Roseboom '93

It’s not all fun and games for Glen Werner Roseboom ’93, director of the United States Olympic Center in Colorado Springs.

There’s middle-of-the-night phone calls from international Olympic hopefuls wanting time in the aquatic center. Right now, she and her team are working out the logistics to recreate their 500-bed training facility in Beijing before July where they will be housing and caring for Olympians for a few months this summer. Or, unfortunately, she’s there when, as she says, “People’s careers are ending. It’s not good.”

It’s the laughter that fuels her. “Laughter and excitement are important to me. Without a huge dose of it every day, I’m in trouble,” Glen said. “Giggling is what I do at work, with my two year old, and giggling is why I married my husband. If you enjoy the atmosphere and the people you work with, you will be wildly successful.”

Glen said this is the first time she’s been able to sit back and “simply enjoy being.” A year after graduation, she didn’t feel successful. Then, she was leaning in the Mezzanine in Claire Lynch during a Saint Ben’s basketball game in 1994 talking to then-Blazer-coach Jim McConnell about what she should do. His words changed her life: “Whatever you do, make sure you want to be knee-deep in it for the rest of your life.”

That moment of clarity was all she needed. Within two months, she’d taken her GRE and enrolled in a sports management program. The next twelve years presented a series of sports related jobs that lead her to the USOC. “At the time, it didn’t hit me like a ton of bricks,” she said. “It was more like one brick at a time each year to build it up to where I am now.”

The biggest challenge she sees others facing in life is finding balance. “This is the right spot for me because I have a beautiful balance. I love being at home, and I love being at work,” she said. “That’s what passion looks like to me. I don’t need mental health days.”

Glen said if giggling at work isn’t in your immediate future, there are other things you can do. “The Saint Ben’s ‘hello,’” she suggested without pause. “Let’s start with that and make people feel welcome each day.”

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