Woman of the Arts Becomes Woman in Hockey
There was one exception about growing up with a sporting influence: At elementary school age, before late attending Lawrence’s mother, Lamarr Funn, enrolled her daughter in figure skating classes at a local Maryland rink. But her mom did it mostly because of the cool respite a rink can bring on hot, humid days of Maryland springs and summers.
“I skated for about six years, and I wanted to be good,” said Lawrence, smiling again. “You get into those group settings. It’s not competitive. But, you know, the friends that I made, they were so good, I wanted to be so good too.”
Her skating skills were both prescient and advantageous when she and a dozen nascent NHL Seattle staffers and two investors headed up to Angels of the Wind Arena in Everett to join then former NHL coach/Seattle hockey adviser Dave Tippett for Hockey 101 on-ice session one Friday afternoon in 2019. The lore about the event includes skaters so new that one among them wore two left-footed skates with, let’s just say, limited success.
Lawrence was wheeling around expertly, her skating a valuable skill when sticks were handed out, which, by the way, changes everything for skaters learning to play the game (and, yes, it is easier as young kids. The session was simply an extension of Lawrence learning the sport and its rules, nuances, and joys – sort of like connecting with a museum curator about pieces of art.
“In tandem with being part of the [Seattle hockey] dream, I’m also learning from Dave Tippett,” said Lawrence about the former Jack Adams Award winner as NHL coach of the year.. “Not many people can say that they sat in a small office with Dave learning the sport.”
Circling Back to First Impressions
About the promised “pivotal first-impression” story: As a student majoring in strategic design and management at Parsons School of Design in New York – Lawrence received many loans to attend her dream school – Lawrence was thrilled to be living in Brooklyn and studying in New York, the whole Alicia Keys song “Empire State of Mind, Pt. 2 (apologies Frank and Billy).
“My best friend’s the DJ at a club, I’m a nanny,” said Lawrence during a recent delightful hour-long conversation in a conference room with a shiny white table-top that is a full replica of an NHL rink, complete with blue lines and all. “I turned into a living nanny because I can’t afford it. And what happens? I’m like, okay, let’s cut everything out. Let’s focus on school. Not that I was doing poorly in school. I was an A/B student but decided to lock in.
“What happened? A friend says, ‘Hey, you should meet my friend Tyler. I say, okay, maybe. He texts me. I text back, “I can’t go to this gallery opening with you, but you can come to my school and help me with my paper.’ He comes and helps me with my paper. Then I say, oh, my favorite show is about to come on. I need to go home. It was ‘Scandal.’ I love Kerry Washington [btw agree]. You know, just good ABC Television. Ty says, ‘I live closer than you.’ Okay, fine, I want to see my show. I’ve been grinding hard on this paper.”
So did he really help with the paper? “He was really helpful. I ended up getting an A on the paper. It was endearing. Honestly, I thought he was gonna say no. I was thinking, ‘Please, god, please. Let him say no.’ But he showed up. I’m like, signing him in [at the front desk] of the school building. I guess this is a date?”
Princess and Tyler (calling him ‘Ty’ in a previous quote is what we writer-types like to call foreshadowing) are subsequently watching the show until a commercial break: “Hey, give me a second,” said Tyler. “My dad’s on TV. It’s the NFL Draft.”
