This weekend, Ed Easton Jr. spoke to iconic actresses Roselyn Sanchez, Gina Torres, and Brooke Shields at a remarkable women’s empowerment brunch hosted by Donna Kelce in partnership with GSK’s THRIVE@50+ campaign in Kansas City ahead of the Chiefs’ divisional-round playoff game.
The THRIVE@50+ campaign emphasizes the need for conversations and awareness about the risk of health challenges such as shingles to ensure that people can be present for all of life’s most important moments and events.
The campaign’s conversations, which profile women who genuinely “do it all”, are full of great stories, laughs, and essential health information.
Donna Kelce, who served as the host of Saturday’s brunch, was praised by Sanchez, Torres, and Shields for the success of her sons—Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce—who have been catapulted into the national spotlight in recent years.
“When you’re a mom of boys, and you have two out of two… I mean, it’s incredible that you have two boys, and they both make it to the NFL,” Sanchez said. “The sacrifices that you make as a parent to be able to have elite athletes reach that level. I have a girl who plays tennis. She’s 13 years old, and it’s all-consuming. We are tennis parents, and it is the tournament every weekend. She trains every single day, and we’re like, oh my god. So to raise kids that are so focused and determined and they make it to the top like it’s a fluke when you get one, but to be able to get to raise two, to accomplish that is unbelievable.”
Travis Kelce recently became the Kansas City all-time touchdown leader this season, cementing his legacy as one of the best players of his generation. Jason Kelce has successfully transitioned from being an NFL player into a new role as a television analyst following his legendary career with the Eagles.
“I mean, kudos to her,” Torres said of Donna Kelce. “I don’t know how she did it. I don’t know how she kept enough food in the house, quite frankly, to feed two potential NFL football players. So hats off to her. She has so much to give to women and mothers everywhere. “
Saturday’s brunch wasn’t Shields’ first encounter with Donna Kelce, as the pair had previously connected at the 2024 Glamour Women of the Year Awards, which the actress hosted with her daughter Rowan Henchy last October.
“I had already met [Donna Kelce], so it was fun to reconnect with her,” Shields explained. “She’s just fabulous and funny and irreverent. She’s like, ‘Can you believe all this?’, and I’m like, ‘Boy, you inherited, and you created, and then you inherited quite the story.’ She’s so down to earth about everything, and that’s what all these women were. It was so refreshing because nobody was superior, and it’s just they’re women at their best, and to be at the game with her is going to be surreal. I have to say it’s going to be surreal. I’m going to have to stay warm but pinch myself.”
Visit Instagram and Facebook pages for more information on GSK’s THRIVE@50+ campaign.
