Inspiring story on finding success together:“We both have dreams that we’re chasing, and we can relate around that"- How Lauren Kyle and Connor McDavid built careers beyond the rink

For Connor McDavid, success has always been measured in goals, assists, trophies and the pursuit of the Stanley Cup. For Lauren Kyle McDavid, it has taken a different shape. Her world is built around interiors, fashion, hospitality and creating spaces people remember. Together, they have built something that reaches well beyond the Edmonton Oilers. Their story is not simply about a hockey superstar and his wife. It is about two ambitious people building separate careers while learning how to support each other through demanding goals, setbacks and new opportunities.Lauren Kyle McDavid built her own business identityLauren Kyle McDavid's career began long before she became known as Connor McDavid's wife. Her interest in design started early, and she studied interior design at Toronto Metropolitan University. After moving from Toronto to Edmonton in 2019, she launched Kyle & Co, an interior design studio that became the foundation for a much larger business portfolio.Her ambitions did not stop with residential design. Lauren later expanded into furniture, hospitality and fashion. Trove Living became a furniture showroom and a home for Kyle & Co, while Bar Trove added a hospitality arm to her growing business world. In 2026, the University of Alberta described her portfolio as including Kyle & Co, Trove Living, Bar Trove and Sports Club Atelier.That expansion says a lot about how Lauren approaches creativity. She has taken one interest and allowed it to lead naturally into another. Design influenced her furniture business. Her interest in sport helped shape her fashion brand. Hospitality gave her another way to turn design into an experience.Her philosophy is less about simply selling a product and more about creating an atmosphere.“It’s all about the feeling,” says Kyle McDavid, creating experiences that make people feel good and, ultimately, part of something bigger than themselves.That idea now runs through several parts of her professional life.Connor McDavid and Lauren Kyle share a drive to improveWhile Lauren has been building companies, Connor has continued to carry the enormous expectations that come with being the Edmonton Oilers captain and one of the NHL's biggest stars.Yet their careers are remarkably different. One revolves around competition on the ice. The other involves clients, employees, products, spaces and business decisions.Lauren has said that the difference does not make their ambitions harder to understand. Instead, it gives them common ground.“We both have dreams that we’re chasing, and we can relate around that,” she said. “We both know how we need to show up for each other in those moments and how we need to support each other in order to reach our goals. It’s really important to have a partner like that, who does understand and does provide support, because you need all the support you can get when he’s grinding through the playoffs and I’m grinding through opening businesses.”That perspective helps explain why their relationship works as more than a familiar sports celebrity story. Both understand what it means to have a demanding goal that requires consistency.Lauren has also described Connor as someone who has supported her entrepreneurial ambitions. Forbes reported that he gave her business-coaching sessions as a birthday gift, an early gesture that helped her develop the skills needed to manage a growing group of ventures.Lauren Kyle expanded from interiors into fashion and hospitalityOne of the most interesting parts of Lauren's career is how little she has treated her original field as a limit.Sports Club Atelier grew from her experience designing playoff jackets for the Oilers' wives and girlfriends. What began as a creative project developed into a sportswear business, with the brand moving beyond a single team and into broader sports partnerships. Forbes reported plans involving several NHL teams and Team Canada, while the University of Alberta later described the label as officially licensed with the NHL.Lauren's fashion work also reflects how she sees creativity. She does not treat interiors, clothing, art and sport as completely separate worlds.“I think, when you’re creative, you’re interested in everything that that inspires you creatively,” she said. “For me, I look at fashion to inspire my interiors, everything overlaps each other. So it’s natural that I would be interested in art, fashion. Anything that gets my creative mind going.”Bar Trove added another dimension. Located in downtown Edmonton, the space combines hospitality with Lauren's design sensibility. When the project was announced, CityNews reported that the venture was entering an area where downtown businesses were facing an evolving commercial environment.For Lauren, the challenge was not simply opening another venue. It was creating somewhere people would deliberately choose to visit.That philosophy remains central to her approach. In 2026, she told Alberta School of Business students that a physical business cannot rely only on foot traffic. Instead, she said, it needs to become a destination through careful attention to details such as lighting, music, food and service.Connor McDavid and Lauren Kyle built a partnership around ambitionAway from the businesses and hockey games, their relationship has developed alongside their professional lives. The pair met through a family connection when McDavid was a teenager, and their relationship grew while both were beginning important chapters in their lives. Lauren eventually moved to Edmonton and built her career there, while Connor became the face of the Oilers franchise.Lauren has also spoken about the pressure that comes with being connected to professional hockey. She pushed back against the assumption that being an NHL player's wife is simple, pointing to the demands and strain that can exist away from the public view.The couple's approach to mistakes offers another window into their shared mindset.“We both are leaders in a sense. He’s a captain on his team. I manage different employees. And although our careers are so different, the principles are the same … Mistakes are great. They expose gaps. And then you work on constantly improving and finding gaps.”That may be the clearest thread connecting their careers. Connor's world demands constant improvement on the ice. Lauren's businesses demand the same discipline away from it.Lauren's own approach has evolved as her companies have grown. In 2026, she told Alberta School of Business students that she has learned to remain closely involved in vision and creative direction while giving her team more ownership over execution.That shift is significant. Building a business is not just about having good ideas. It is about turning those ideas into something that can function without the founder controlling every detail.For Connor and Lauren, success therefore looks different but follows a similar rhythm. One prepares for another NHL season. The other develops new brands and businesses. One faces the pressure of a packed arena. The other faces the pressure of building something from the ground up.Their story is ultimately about partnership without losing individuality. Connor McDavid continues to pursue his ambitions in hockey, while Lauren Kyle McDavid has created a growing business identity of her own. Their careers may occupy different worlds, but their shared approach is strikingly similar: set a goal, put in the work, learn from mistakes and keep moving forward.Stay updated with the latest Asian Games 2026 news, check the Asian Games medal tally and complete Asian Games schedule.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.