AN INTERVIEW WITH OUR FOUNDER, ANGELINA PERINO.

TEAM: What inspired Cove?

ANGELINA: There’s nothing easy about making it look easy.

People put so much value on success, accolades, titles, but no one ever talks about what it takes to get there. We try to skip over the struggle, but that’s the most valuable part of the story. That’s the process.

Nobody sees the 10,000 hours of effort that have gone into somebody’s success.

Nobody sees the long nights, the early mornings, the small wins, the big losses. That leaves us feeling like we’re behind, that we’re the only ones struggling, that our path and timing are supposed to look like everyone else’s, when, why would it? It’s your calling—your process is not supposed to look anything like theirs.

I trained relentlessly for over a decade to become a professional dancer. That was my dream at the time, and what I thought was my calling. But what I know now, looking back, is that the training was never really about dance. 

It was so much deeper.

That process taught me to respect the pursuit and every sacrifice and challenge that comes with it. It taught me what it means to be committed to something bigger than myself—something that challenged my belief of what I thought I was capable of. 

The work is as mental and spiritual as it is physical.

I think of dancers as an artist and an athlete merged. I know the process on both sides—the artist and athlete, the mental and the physical. There’s no difference between what an athlete endures in pushing past their perceived physical limits and what an artist endures in pushing past their perceived creative limits. 

In both cases, the work is spiritual.

The dedication is the same. The tenacity is the same. The sacrifice is the same. The process is the same.

Very few people in life are bold enough to actually go after their dream. Even fewer people have the tenacity and grit to stay committed once shit gets tough.

Everything you want lives on the other side of the fear. That’s what dance taught me, and it’s the foundation for everything Cove represents. Most people quit when the path doesn’t unfold as planned, or when they realize the dream isn’t happening overnight. But those rare ones who instead dig deeper and surrender to the process? That’s who Cove is for.

The greatest lessons we’re meant to learn are usually tied to our craft. It’s there to push us. It’s there to grow us. It’s there to transform us into who we’re meant to become. 

So let it.

We’re living in a world that rewards the notion of overnight success. There’s no such thing. Anyone that’s reached a certain level of success within their craft has put in their time—behind closed doors when nobody was even looking.

Regardless of what it is we’re pursuing, we need authentic inspiration, we need raw motivation, we need to be reminded that the people who seem larger than life once stood in our shoes.

Those we look up to didn’t get where they are on luck or talent; they got where they are because they matched that talent with extreme work ethic, extreme tenacity, and extreme belief in their vision.

Greatness is not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. So I built Cove to honor the stories behind the success, the trials behind the trophy, and the lessons behind the legacy. 

Building something out of nothing. Overcoming the odds. Taking risks for a dream no one else can see but you.

To me, that’s the real motivation. Those are the kind of stories we tell. Those are the kind of people that Cove was created for and with. That’s the mentality behind everything we do and create.

TEAM: What does AMBITION, UNTAMED.™ mean to you?

ANGELINA: Real ambition runs so much deeper than the surface. AMBITION, UNTAMED.™ is a phrase dedicated to the ones who go the distance for the dream, no matter how challenging the pursuit.

Even when it’s a dream that no one else can see. Even when every odd is against you. Even when it doesn’t make sense.

You persevere because the calling runs that deep. And if you persevere long enough, that passion will inevitably lead you to your purpose. If you have the dedication, courage, and tenacity, there’s no way you won’t make it. You wouldn’t have been given the desire without the capacity to make it a reality. It’s that simple.

There’s no such thing as competition when it’s something you’re called to do. No one can ever do it how you do it. That doesn’t mean you won’t need to put in relentless effort, to learn some difficult lessons, to ask for guidance, to switch up your approach, to fight some heavy inner battles, or to make sacrifices to get where you’re going.

Actually, that’s exactly what you’re signing up for by choosing to go after what you really want in life. You’re a different breed.

So I built Cove for athletes, artists, and entrepreneurs because while the crafts are different, the pursuit is the same.

The drive is the same. The process is the same. The ambition is the same.

Each of us is pursuing the highest expression of who we have the potential to become. AMBITION, UNTAMED.™ is your reminder to never play it small. You came here for so much more.

TEAM: Why Chicago? How did this city influence the vision for Cove?

ANGELINA: Chicago is not for everyone, but for those who it is for, that love runs deep. 

Chicago makes you adaptable. It makes you tenacious. A hundred times over, this city has inspired my dreams, hustle, and grit.

This city is resilient. It practically burned to the ground and built itself back stronger, more powerful, more majestic than before. That fire was a big part of what made the city we see today.

To me, that’s a lesson in itself: To become who we’re meant to become, we have to be willing to let go of who we think we are.

You have to make space for the process to take place. You have to make space to embrace the next level.

So Cove is a way for me to pay tribute to the city I love and to share the inspiration and hustle it’s given me.

No matter where we go and how big we get, Cove will always be for Chicago, and by Chicago. 

TEAM: Why the name Cove?

ANGELINA: It has two meanings.

One, Cove is short for the word covenant: a sacred contract. I see that contract as the relationship between a person and their craft, whatever it is. Sport, art, business—if the passion is real, it runs deeper than the surface. It’s tied to our purpose and potential. No matter where that passion takes us, in some way, shape, or form, we’ll be connected to it for the rest of our life.

Two, a “cove” is a resting space off of a body of water. I wanted to provide that space for people to refuel and reflect as they pursue their dream no matter how difficult the path gets.

TEAM: What’s your vision from here?

ANGELINA: If Cove’s work has inspired even one person to keep going in a moment where they were ready to walk away from their dream, then I’ve already done what I set out to do.