Latest / Stuff Mom Never Told You / SMNTY Interviews: AJ Andrews

Transcript

SMNTY Interviews: AJ Andrews · Stuff Mom Never Told You

0:05
Speaker 1: Hey, this is Anny and SMITHA and hope your stuff.
0:07
Speaker 1: I never told your production of iHeartRadio. And welcome to
0:20
Speaker 1: our guest athlete, host, sports commentator and so so, so
0:24
Speaker 1: so much more AJ Andrews. We're so happy to have you.
0:28
Speaker 2: Hey, thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.
0:31
Speaker 1: Yes, we're really excited to have this conversation. Can you
0:35
Speaker 1: introduce yourself to our listeners please?
0:38
Speaker 2: Sure.
0:38
Speaker 3: Yes, I'm a professional softball player and at CVOs you'll
0:42
Speaker 3: see on SEC network, MLB Network and Reach TV mainly,
0:46
Speaker 3: and then as far as softball goes, I was first
0:49
Speaker 3: woman to win a rolling school glove and so yeah,
0:53
Speaker 3: it's just all things passionate about all things women's sports, extending,
0:57
Speaker 3: expanding women in sports and uplifted all things girls.
1:01
Speaker 2: So that's me and yeah, love talking softball and baseball.
1:05
Speaker 1: Yes, and we have been on kind of a sports
1:09
Speaker 1: kick over here at Sminty so doing a lot of
1:12
Speaker 1: conversating around women in sport and we're really excited to
1:15
Speaker 1: have you here. And you have a podcast now called
1:20
Speaker 1: Dropping Diamonds.
1:21
Speaker 3: Correct, yes, yes, so podcasts called Dropping Diamonds where talk
1:26
Speaker 3: to all things softball and baseball on the diamonds, So
1:30
Speaker 3: you'll hear a lot of fun stuff, like you know,
1:33
Speaker 3: you drop your gyms, but hence it is a softball
1:36
Speaker 3: baseball diamond.
1:36
Speaker 2: You drop in your diamonds.
1:38
Speaker 3: So it's a lot of fun conversation, a lot of
1:40
Speaker 3: great advice, whether it be on the field or something mental,
1:45
Speaker 3: and being able to take that the confidence that you
1:47
Speaker 3: can take into life onto the field, how it translates.
1:50
Speaker 3: So it's a lot of fun being able to drop
1:52
Speaker 3: some diamonds on the podcast.
1:54
Speaker 4: Yes, I love that.
1:55
Speaker 5: I love that You're like, I'm going to take these
1:57
Speaker 5: gyms and them say diamonds, and now I'm going to
1:59
Speaker 5: make this multi in all the ways, and then you
2:01
Speaker 5: would do a beautiful job and truly uplifting the spirit,
2:05
Speaker 5: like everything in your podcast, especially like when you go
2:08
Speaker 5: through your first one explaining what you wanted to do
2:10
Speaker 5: and how you're bringing affirmations into it, which I feel
2:14
Speaker 5: like we've moved too quickly away from affirmations and we
2:17
Speaker 5: need more of that, especially today. And so for that alone,
2:22
Speaker 5: what made you think of making that as a part
2:24
Speaker 5: of your podcast.
2:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would definitely say that's been ingrained in me
2:29
Speaker 3: as an athlete my entire life. I feel like that's
2:31
Speaker 3: what's motivating me in some of my darkest days or
2:34
Speaker 3: some I've had injuries or moments when I would do
2:36
Speaker 3: and feel like I was doing as well as I could.
2:38
Speaker 3: I definitely leaned on affirmations and quotes and things like
2:42
Speaker 3: that to really uplift me and keep me going in
2:45
Speaker 3: the moments where maybe I kind of felt like I
2:47
Speaker 3: wasn't doing my best or I could be doing better.
2:49
Speaker 3: I'm very hard on myself, and I think a lot
2:51
Speaker 3: of athletes can attest to that. We're just extremely critical,
2:54
Speaker 3: overly critical at times of our performances, and so a
2:58
Speaker 3: lot of the things that kept me going and kept
3:00
Speaker 3: me positive. We're saying affirmations to myself and thinking of
3:05
Speaker 3: quotes in order to prevail and continue to move forward
3:08
Speaker 3: even in the moments which I was.
3:09
Speaker 2: Quote unquote failing.
3:11
Speaker 3: But you know, if you failure, as you know, opportunity
3:14
Speaker 3: to better succeed. But I don't know that that would
3:16
Speaker 3: have been my mentality had I not leaned so heavily
3:18
Speaker 3: on the quotes and the affirmations of those before that
3:22
Speaker 3: have experiences, because you know, we're not no one experience
3:26
Speaker 3: is something that only one person has ever gone through
3:29
Speaker 3: and so being able to learn and listen to others,
3:31
Speaker 3: It's always been.
3:32
Speaker 2: Something helpful for me.
3:33
Speaker 3: So I wanted to be that voice for someone else
3:37
Speaker 3: that has maybe looking for that same type of experience,
3:40
Speaker 3: same type of motivation that I was, especially at a
3:42
Speaker 3: young age darting ensemble.
3:44
Speaker 4: I love that.
3:44
Speaker 5: Okay, So I'm gonna give you assignment right now. Right
3:47
Speaker 5: now as a person who is obviously success in this
3:51
Speaker 5: industry and work through so much to come to this point,
3:55
Speaker 5: I am newly doing something kind of athletic nice like
4:00
Speaker 5: I'm teaching some like dance cardio stuff, and I'm very
4:03
Speaker 5: new to this. So at the end of this, can
4:04
Speaker 5: you think of affirmation because it's all about me obviously,
4:08
Speaker 5: that you could give to me and for those who
4:10
Speaker 5: like are diving into new adventures.
4:13
Speaker 4: So I'm gonna give you that at the beginning of here.
4:15
Speaker 5: So at the end, give you some time to think
4:17
Speaker 5: and the crew of a good affirmation to end us on.
4:20
Speaker 2: Okay, I'm a marrin kay, I got it. I love that,
4:22
Speaker 2: love that you're doing that.
4:25
Speaker 1: This is so great that Samantha, You're like giving giving
4:29
Speaker 1: a guest a test.
4:30
Speaker 5: I know I have to, but I'm like, oh my gosh,
4:32
Speaker 5: she's so good at it.
4:32
Speaker 4: I need I gotta take it.
4:33
Speaker 2: Tap in the resources. Are you doing ballet? Is it
4:38
Speaker 2: hip hop? Hip hop?
4:39
Speaker 4: Like zoom cardio y type of thing. Yeah, okay, we
4:42
Speaker 4: will get into that.
4:43
Speaker 5: I mean, as a fellow cheerleader, I know you already. Uh,
4:46
Speaker 5: you already know about that life.
4:47
Speaker 3: So no, I would love to learn. I mean, listen,
4:50
Speaker 3: I'm always open to learning. So please teach me something.
4:53
Speaker 3: Y'all get the affirmation, and you teach me a new move.
4:55
Speaker 5: Oh you're coming to when you come to Atlanta, we're gonna,
4:58
Speaker 5: we're gonna, we're gonna click up and we're gonna going
5:00
Speaker 5: to do something perfect.
5:02
Speaker 2: I love this. This is great.
5:06
Speaker 1: So aj you have a history of making really acrobatic
5:13
Speaker 1: plays like the diving catch, and you're really great at
5:17
Speaker 1: stealing and you literally made history as the first woman
5:20
Speaker 1: to receive a Rawlings gold glove. Can you walk us
5:24
Speaker 1: through how that all happened, how it all came to
5:27
Speaker 1: be sure?
5:29
Speaker 3: I don't mean to start from you know, the way
5:31
Speaker 3: back when I would say I first got started in
5:33
Speaker 3: softball a lot later than what you'll hear kids say today.
5:36
Speaker 2: But I was around eleven years old and started with
5:38
Speaker 2: a little league.
5:39
Speaker 3: And I remember the very first my the beginning of
5:43
Speaker 3: the diving catches kay E from Florida. So, you know,
5:46
Speaker 3: the in the winter springtime, the grass is like really
5:48
Speaker 3: dewy in the morning, and we and so making a
5:51
Speaker 3: diving catch, I dove for the ball and I slid
5:56
Speaker 3: really far, and I remember thinking like, oh my god,
5:59
Speaker 3: this is like a slippings like this is going to
6:00
Speaker 3: be my new moniker, Like I'm just gonna dive everywhere.
6:03
Speaker 3: And you know, at eleven years old, I was diving
6:05
Speaker 3: just so I could slide everywhere and thinking like it'd
6:08
Speaker 3: be cool to make the catch too, but you know reality,
6:10
Speaker 3: I just want to slide and then you know, but
6:12
Speaker 3: I think that that it's so interesting because a lot
6:14
Speaker 3: of young athletes that started off playing softball, they're scared
6:17
Speaker 3: of diving, like that's the one thing that they're probably
6:19
Speaker 3: really timid to begin with. But for me, that was
6:21
Speaker 3: what I literally went head first for ever since I
6:25
Speaker 3: first started, and so it just kind of became something
6:28
Speaker 3: that I enjoyed doing and I would take all of
6:30
Speaker 3: the big risk and dive for the balls that a
6:33
Speaker 3: lot of people didn't think could be caught. But in
6:35
Speaker 3: my mind, it was always something that started off being fun.
6:38
Speaker 1: Right.
6:38
Speaker 3: It was always like, Okay, well I want to slide
6:40
Speaker 3: because it's going to be fun and the diving catch
6:42
Speaker 3: can come second. Of course, as time went on that changed, Right,
6:45
Speaker 3: I wanted to make the catch more than I I
6:47
Speaker 3: wanted to side on the grass. But you know, because
6:50
Speaker 3: that was my mindset, I was always I always thought
6:53
Speaker 3: I could make the catch.
6:54
Speaker 2: I always thought that I could go from the ball.
6:55
Speaker 3: There wasn't a ball that I didn't think if I
6:57
Speaker 3: dove for it or I slid really far, that.
7:00
Speaker 2: Isn't going to be in my glove. And because of.
7:02
Speaker 3: That, from elementary school to high school to college, that
7:07
Speaker 3: was something that I always strove to do, to pro
7:10
Speaker 3: ball to making diving catches, and I tell people all
7:13
Speaker 3: the time, I made a diving catch in high school
7:16
Speaker 3: as a LSU coach was walking by, and that's you know,
7:20
Speaker 3: if I didn't die for that one ball, my entire life.
7:22
Speaker 2: Could be completely different.
7:24
Speaker 3: And so I went because I went to LSU to
7:26
Speaker 3: play collegiately, and so I think that for me, my
7:30
Speaker 3: mentality was always just if it's anywhere in the vicinity
7:33
Speaker 3: I've always felt like I was the outfield's like my
7:35
Speaker 3: hunting ground, and I'm a lion, and it's kind of
7:38
Speaker 3: like if you step anywhere near my hunting ground, your
7:41
Speaker 3: stuff's going to get en up. Like there's just there's
7:43
Speaker 3: it's not safe in the ball to your meat, you
7:46
Speaker 3: are not safe. And so that was something that I
7:49
Speaker 3: really felt like, I felt strongly about and I felt
7:52
Speaker 3: just like the Queen of the diamond dropped my diamonds
7:54
Speaker 3: Queen the diamond on the outfield and was always going
7:56
Speaker 3: to make a play. And you know, going into pro ball,
8:00
Speaker 3: it's interesting because the year I've won the Gold Glove,
8:01
Speaker 3: I actually broke my hand. And that confidence that I
8:06
Speaker 3: had throughout my entire life of you know, making diving catches,
8:08
Speaker 3: I can do this, it definitely kind of withered away
8:11
Speaker 3: because just because it was so painful to make a catch,
8:14
Speaker 3: and being that softball seasons pro seeds are so short,
8:17
Speaker 3: I I mean sitting out the amount of time for
8:20
Speaker 3: my broken hand to heal, the season would have been over.
8:22
Speaker 3: So I played on a broken hand because it was
8:24
Speaker 3: my left hand. I just kind of went through the
8:26
Speaker 3: pain anytime I tried to make a catch.
8:29
Speaker 2: But the one time.
8:30
Speaker 3: The ball that I think was the ball that cemented
8:32
Speaker 3: me winning was a ball in right field on the
8:36
Speaker 3: line that I dove backwards for and you know, it's
8:39
Speaker 3: the ball And that moment I went back to my
8:42
Speaker 3: mentality when I was eleven years old. Oh, I just
8:44
Speaker 3: want to I just want to make the play. I
8:46
Speaker 3: just want to dive. And so all the fear that
8:48
Speaker 3: had been consuming the majority of the season due to
8:50
Speaker 3: the pain went away in that one moment, and I
8:53
Speaker 3: feel like it's just so almost poetic, you know, winning
8:56
Speaker 3: the goal Glove that I went back to what really
8:58
Speaker 3: cemented why I wanted to dive in the first place
9:01
Speaker 3: than just to go out there and fly. And that's
9:03
Speaker 3: when that season won the goal Glove, which was in
9:06
Speaker 3: twenty sixteen, And you know, I loved it because I
9:10
Speaker 3: didn't know that no one knew we're gonna win till
9:12
Speaker 3: the end of the season, and they kind of just said, hey,
9:15
Speaker 3: we're gonna give this. So there wasn't I wasn't doing
9:18
Speaker 3: this for the goal Glove. I was just being myself,
9:20
Speaker 3: being AJ making these plays. And then it went off
9:23
Speaker 3: and they announced the top three and I ended up
9:26
Speaker 3: being the winner.
9:27
Speaker 2: And what's different about for professional softball is.
9:29
Speaker 3: There's just one overall goal glove winner, so you're the
9:33
Speaker 3: defensive best defensive player, period versus in baseball you get
9:36
Speaker 3: it for position, so you're, you know, the best center field,
9:38
Speaker 3: their best right field, their best pitcher, what have you.
9:42
Speaker 3: And they have it in two separate leagues, so the
9:43
Speaker 3: AL and NL, so two people can actually win. So
9:46
Speaker 3: that's what makes a little more grander in professional softball
9:48
Speaker 3: because only one person can win the whole thing.
9:52
Speaker 2: And yeah, that was That's pretty much my my story
9:55
Speaker 2: of the outfield.
9:56
Speaker 3: And you know how I began to make diving catches
9:58
Speaker 3: and how it led me to making history.
10:00
Speaker 5: So I feel like this is a signature move for
10:02
Speaker 5: you in the end, the diving catch, huh like that?
10:06
Speaker 3: Yeah?
10:06
Speaker 2: People, I mean your dance routine, like you know, I.
10:09
Speaker 4: Love to figure it out.
10:10
Speaker 5: I'm gonna figure it out and catch you know you
10:12
Speaker 5: can you too much? Do you have too much bravery
10:15
Speaker 5: for me to incorporate any of that, because I'm like,
10:17
Speaker 5: I'm gonna stand here because I'm a fall naturally not
10:19
Speaker 5: on purpose, like for four things, So that scares me.
10:22
Speaker 5: I feel like you're challenging me in a way that
10:24
Speaker 5: I'm like, oh, she's trying to she's.
10:25
Speaker 4: Trying to show me out, like you're trying to put
10:27
Speaker 4: me out.
10:28
Speaker 2: No, it can't be.
10:30
Speaker 3: I mean, like some of the plays people make and
10:32
Speaker 3: and myself included, like diving into the wall, you definitely
10:35
Speaker 3: just like erase your well being.
10:37
Speaker 4: It really do.
10:39
Speaker 2: So it's you know, it's not it's even not for everybody.
10:42
Speaker 4: The commitment to make that play.
10:45
Speaker 5: I actually went through your TikTok and watched you commentating
10:48
Speaker 5: on other players and how they did in the outfield,
10:51
Speaker 5: and I'm like, first of all, you doing that was
10:53
Speaker 5: beautiful because I was like, oh, it feels like I'm
10:56
Speaker 5: watching a dance and you are showing me the choreography
10:59
Speaker 5: in this moment first and foremost. But like, yeah, seeing
11:02
Speaker 5: people hit up against those walls trying to get I'm like,
11:05
Speaker 5: oh no, no, definitely no, that's that's a body part.
11:08
Speaker 5: That's a body part that just got something like whatever
11:12
Speaker 5: this is. But on top of that, like the fact
11:15
Speaker 5: that you did win the Gold Glove and the fact
11:17
Speaker 5: that it took to twenty sixteen for a woman to
11:21
Speaker 5: be the winner, what was your feelings, what were your
11:24
Speaker 5: thoughts when all of this occurred?
11:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was in that moment, sitting down and getting
11:30
Speaker 3: ready for them to announce who the winner was going
11:32
Speaker 3: to be. I I don't know, I felt like I
11:35
Speaker 3: was very numb. I was kind of thinking, like, I'm
11:38
Speaker 3: hearing the names of the other girls that were the finalists,
11:41
Speaker 3: so the other two, so that I'd not be to
11:43
Speaker 3: not be disappointed if it wasn't my name being called.
11:46
Speaker 2: But in that moment in.
11:47
Speaker 3: Which it was my name being called, I think it
11:49
Speaker 3: was just like this overwhelming feeling of joy and of
11:55
Speaker 3: I want to say, I mean, in that moment, I
11:57
Speaker 3: didn't feel like recognition, but it felt just like a
12:00
Speaker 3: deep breath of like finally for women in sports and
12:02
Speaker 3: for softball, because for so long I think softball players
12:07
Speaker 3: we've been compared to baseball, right, and it being in
12:10
Speaker 3: this sense of okay, well, to field smaller, you know,
12:14
Speaker 3: the pitching mound is shorter, all these things, and it
12:17
Speaker 3: was finally a moment of no, we are all this
12:19
Speaker 3: equal playing ground, Like I am. I make these amazing
12:22
Speaker 3: catches the same way that you make them, and so
12:24
Speaker 3: many other women in this sport do as well, and
12:27
Speaker 3: you know, for a moment to really celebrate women in sports,
12:30
Speaker 3: and it was felt just like a glass ceiling that
12:32
Speaker 3: hadn't broken. And in my mind it felt like this deep,
12:35
Speaker 3: big breath, because a breath of relief, because now it
12:39
Speaker 3: seemed like this, this door was broken open for so
12:41
Speaker 3: many other women to you know, finally walk through.
12:44
Speaker 2: And you know, bigger dreams were realized in that moment.
12:46
Speaker 3: You know, there wasn't before part to twenty sixteen, right,
12:49
Speaker 3: no young girl couldn't aspire to be a goal glove winner,
12:52
Speaker 3: and now you see them winning in college left and right.
12:55
Speaker 3: And so I think that it was for me an
12:58
Speaker 3: amazing moment for myself. But I feel like it was
13:01
Speaker 3: this amazing moment that I felt like women in sports,
13:03
Speaker 3: particularly softball could kind of like sit on my shoulders.
13:07
Speaker 3: And I was so excited to just like a moment
13:09
Speaker 3: to like uplift and pick all the other women coming.
13:11
Speaker 2: After me up.
13:12
Speaker 3: So I was excited for that task, and you know,
13:15
Speaker 3: I started doing a lot more chest press to.
13:17
Speaker 2: Make sure that I could live a little higher.
13:20
Speaker 1: Yes, you've been really outspoken about women's empowerment, especially when
13:39
Speaker 1: it comes to women of color, and also just reframing
13:42
Speaker 1: how we talk about the whole conversation about limits and
13:46
Speaker 1: about challenges and things like that. Why do you think
13:50
Speaker 1: sports and talking about them is important in this context.
13:55
Speaker 3: I think it's important because I think that for so
13:58
Speaker 3: long women have been made the butt of the joke.
14:02
Speaker 3: And I mean we even see it now in twenty
14:03
Speaker 3: twenty six, when you go win a gold medal and
14:07
Speaker 3: still be the butt of a joke. And I think
14:10
Speaker 3: that it's important to have these conversations because I believe
14:14
Speaker 3: ten years ago people wouldn't have the reaction, wouldn't be
14:19
Speaker 3: as strongly as it is in twenty twenty six. Right,
14:21
Speaker 3: women in sports as frustrating as it is, as much
14:24
Speaker 3: as we advocate for ourselves. Ten years ago, it would
14:28
Speaker 3: have been we would all have been upset, but then
14:30
Speaker 3: everybody else would be say, okay, get over it. Well
14:32
Speaker 3: it wasn't that serious. Where now everyone agrees and it's
14:36
Speaker 3: saying no, no, no, these women are amazing. Actually, how many
14:40
Speaker 3: gold medals have the women won? The women in the
14:43
Speaker 3: Olympics have won majority of the gold medals. Right, the
14:46
Speaker 3: conversation is completely different than what I think it would
14:48
Speaker 3: have been ten years ago, and that it's because of
14:50
Speaker 3: the conversations that we have relentlessly been having. Is because
14:53
Speaker 3: of the movements that women have relentlessly been pushing for.
14:57
Speaker 3: The equality, the equity those conversations. While for some it
15:01
Speaker 3: may seem like a broken record or seem as if
15:04
Speaker 3: they're having the same conversations, the only reason why we're
15:07
Speaker 3: moving forward in which you are is because people are
15:08
Speaker 3: continually pushing forward. And I think it, you know, you
15:11
Speaker 3: see that as evidence not just within softball, but within
15:15
Speaker 3: women in sports as a whole. Viewership is up, marketing
15:18
Speaker 3: is up, brand advertising is up. These networks are now
15:22
Speaker 3: putting these women on television and understanding that it is
15:26
Speaker 3: not just a good thing to do, but it is
15:29
Speaker 3: actually beneficial and you have monetary value to it, which
15:34
Speaker 3: always would have been the thing. But the chicken in
15:35
Speaker 3: the end conversation has been going on for so long
15:38
Speaker 3: and finally people are understanding, yeah, no, put them on TV,
15:41
Speaker 3: build it and they will come. And so I only
15:44
Speaker 3: think that that is what is happening today because there's
15:48
Speaker 3: that kind of conversation and because so many women like
15:50
Speaker 3: myself have refused to be quiet when individuals have wanted
15:54
Speaker 3: us to shut up.
15:55
Speaker 5: Right, and I'm just talking about all these controversies. One
15:59
Speaker 5: of the things that I've been seeing a lot of
16:01
Speaker 5: and people are actually having a larger conversation because Yay,
16:05
Speaker 5: finally people are recognizing women in sports and this is
16:08
Speaker 5: sports and this is good athletics.
16:10
Speaker 4: But then they're still.
16:10
Speaker 5: Having a problem and having that women's team being centered
16:14
Speaker 5: around men, like whether it's again the hockey team with
16:18
Speaker 5: one of the conversations in which they brought male hockey
16:21
Speaker 5: players to do interviews in the middle of their games,
16:23
Speaker 5: or trying to compare some of the actions of like
16:26
Speaker 5: well it's not like this so and so comparing it
16:28
Speaker 5: to a male player instead of letting them just be
16:30
Speaker 5: a part of the sport. Do you see, because I
16:32
Speaker 5: know you'd mentioned that about softball as well, like seeing
16:35
Speaker 5: that as well, that they continue to center men even
16:38
Speaker 5: when it's like, hey, but we're playing women are playing
16:40
Speaker 5: in this game and we're just as good, if not
16:42
Speaker 5: better obviously, but like they still want to center men.
16:46
Speaker 5: Have you seen that as still a continued problem or
16:49
Speaker 5: do you think that it's actually getting better?
16:51
Speaker 2: What is your thoughts?
16:53
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that for a lot of time, it's
16:56
Speaker 3: just a lot of comparison. I mean, you'll assoll see
16:58
Speaker 3: it with them of them at saying okay, we'll lower
17:02
Speaker 3: the hoop to have the same excitement value quote unquote
17:06
Speaker 3: as the men, when in reality, the women are if
17:08
Speaker 3: you sit and watch basketball, they don't need to do that.
17:11
Speaker 3: They doesn't need to be this comparison with men. They
17:13
Speaker 3: are just as exciting on their own, if not to
17:16
Speaker 3: your point, more exciting. I mean, women in sports do
17:19
Speaker 3: the same thing men do it, but you know, we
17:22
Speaker 3: just look better. You know, at times we got like
17:24
Speaker 3: they are to make them done all the things and
17:27
Speaker 3: like the finesse. Like if people talk about how there's
17:29
Speaker 3: so much more finesse within women's sports and men's sports,
17:32
Speaker 3: but does that not mean that we have had to
17:37
Speaker 3: overcome more or we're still performing on this high level.
17:40
Speaker 3: We're still doing all the extravagant things on top of
17:43
Speaker 3: also adding the finesse. But you know, I feel like
17:45
Speaker 3: when you talk to the conversation of having these men
17:48
Speaker 3: there to amplify women in sports, I don't want to
17:51
Speaker 3: knock them in because I think it's amazing having them
17:53
Speaker 3: as allies and then being able to speak to the
17:56
Speaker 3: understanding for the masses of yes, we support these women
18:00
Speaker 3: and like this this is what they do. What they
18:02
Speaker 3: do is amazing, But I do believe that there needs
18:04
Speaker 3: to continually be this separation. I love how women nowadays
18:08
Speaker 3: are saying, well, I love what the hockey team is doing,
18:12
Speaker 3: and then the men's hockey team did this, right, like
18:14
Speaker 3: the standard is a women, right, I love what the
18:17
Speaker 3: WNBA is doing, and then the men NBA right, adding
18:21
Speaker 3: men to it rather than just be the NBA to
18:24
Speaker 3: make the point that we're not some subpar or some
18:28
Speaker 3: sub section of this men's sport. We are the top level,
18:33
Speaker 3: just in this women's category. And so, you know, I
18:36
Speaker 3: think that it's important to differentiate, have the allies love them,
18:41
Speaker 3: want them, but definitely want to make sure that it
18:44
Speaker 3: is to the point that we don't need to be
18:47
Speaker 3: compared to this men or have it be like women's
18:51
Speaker 3: softball is doing this, and then this is what this
18:53
Speaker 3: baseball player did, So this is how good it is.
18:55
Speaker 2: Right, It's no, this is amazing because it is amazing. Yeah,
18:58
Speaker 2: this is amazing.
18:59
Speaker 3: Because average woman, the average athlete, the average person in
19:02
Speaker 3: this world wouldn't be able to do this well on
19:05
Speaker 3: this field with this picture against this team period, right,
19:09
Speaker 3: So I think it's very important that we accentuate those
19:11
Speaker 3: facts while still celebrating and still having the allyship of men,
19:16
Speaker 3: but understanding that it is different and we don't need
19:18
Speaker 3: them in order to highlight or make our achievements seem
19:22
Speaker 3: like better achievements.
19:23
Speaker 4: Right.
19:24
Speaker 5: I love that period, as you said, And we're going
19:28
Speaker 5: back because I want to talk about some of those
19:29
Speaker 5: people that you've had on your podcast, because you've had
19:32
Speaker 5: some amazing influences, but also you've spoken about the importance
19:36
Speaker 5: of learning about history and your own influences. Do you
19:39
Speaker 5: have mentors for your own have you had them on
19:41
Speaker 5: the show? Are you wanting mentors to come onto your show?
19:44
Speaker 4: Tell us about that?
19:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would say, I mean all the women I've
19:48
Speaker 3: talked to are are extreme.
19:49
Speaker 2: Ajo.
19:50
Speaker 3: Natasha Watley was my idol growing up, like quite literally
19:55
Speaker 3: the only reason I thought that I could play collegiate softball,
19:58
Speaker 3: her being someone that I just really read with saying
20:00
Speaker 3: a black woman on TV for the first time. It
20:03
Speaker 3: was I'm not even kidding, maybe my fifth little league game,
20:07
Speaker 3: sitting at a beefull Brady's where I turned to the
20:09
Speaker 3: TV and watched and I'm looking at Natasha Walley, So I.
20:13
Speaker 2: Don't you know what I mean.
20:13
Speaker 3: I played a lot of sports growing up, so I
20:15
Speaker 3: don't know if I would have really stuck with softball
20:18
Speaker 3: had I not been in that beefol Brady's that one
20:20
Speaker 3: day and turned to left and saw this black woman
20:22
Speaker 3: on TV.
20:23
Speaker 2: In my mind thinking, oh my god, that could be me.
20:25
Speaker 3: Uh you know, so I think she's someone that she's
20:28
Speaker 3: my very first first person to come on. So for me,
20:31
Speaker 3: that was extremely extremely full circle. Yeah, full circle, And
20:36
Speaker 3: she's just the best to me. I would love to
20:39
Speaker 3: have like Serena Williams on, I would love to have
20:42
Speaker 3: I'm actually.
20:42
Speaker 2: Friend, I'm gonna get Taylor Townson to come on.
20:44
Speaker 3: I know these were going beyond just softball, yere, but yeah,
20:47
Speaker 3: and softball and baseball. But I just think that I've
20:49
Speaker 3: had Kim ing On, who's now the commissioner, and she,
20:51
Speaker 3: you know, she's the first woman to be able to
20:55
Speaker 3: manage a MLB team, And so I think that there's
20:57
Speaker 3: so many as a general manner, so many different people
21:00
Speaker 3: that have been in inspirational within baseball and softball. But yeah,
21:03
Speaker 3: I would love to continue to talk to miss so
21:06
Speaker 3: many other women as well. Justine's like Siegel came on,
21:08
Speaker 3: who is now going to be She's one of the
21:11
Speaker 3: co founders of the WPBL so the new Women's Professional
21:14
Speaker 3: Baseball League.
21:15
Speaker 2: So yeah, I've talked to some really dupe people outside
21:18
Speaker 2: of you know.
21:19
Speaker 3: Baseball and softball. There's something more I want to speak to.
21:21
Speaker 3: But I'm gonna get everybody, anybody within baseball softball roles.
21:26
Speaker 4: I plan to have them, plan have them on ixcited.
21:29
Speaker 3: I'm working on Derek Jeter and I would love to. Yeah,
21:32
Speaker 3: there's there's so many people.
21:34
Speaker 1: Well, one of the things about your show that is
21:38
Speaker 1: so cool is you do and and and in interviews
21:40
Speaker 1: you've talked about this is like it's more than just
21:44
Speaker 1: the players. It's the host, it's the managers, it's the
21:47
Speaker 1: media who covers it. Like there's it's just this bigger
21:50
Speaker 1: ecosystem that people might not realize and it does all matter.
21:56
Speaker 3: Uh.
21:57
Speaker 1: And another thing you've spoken about is how for you
22:02
Speaker 1: the support of your family was so important and how
22:07
Speaker 1: that helped shape where your aspirations in sport ended up going.
22:12
Speaker 1: And also I thought it was interesting you have this
22:15
Speaker 1: conversation about the difference between guides and goals. Can you
22:19
Speaker 1: break down the importance of having support of some type
22:24
Speaker 1: when you're in this type of sport, and also why
22:28
Speaker 1: you think it's important to have guides as opposed to goals.
22:32
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, my family is always I mean, we're a
22:35
Speaker 3: big sports family. Every single individual and my family is
22:38
Speaker 3: an athlete. My older brother played football young Sound State.
22:42
Speaker 3: I played at LSU. I have two younger sisters, one
22:45
Speaker 3: that played at LSU as well, and then my youngest
22:48
Speaker 3: sister played softball. Family, so, needless to say, we were
22:52
Speaker 3: at a field probably like four days out of the week,
22:55
Speaker 3: and so it's just been something that's kind of ingrained
22:58
Speaker 3: in us, that hard work. I'm very self motivated though
23:02
Speaker 3: as a young athlete, I've always wanted to be the best.
23:05
Speaker 3: I always felt like I could be the best, and
23:07
Speaker 3: then you know, my parents just always really supported that,
23:10
Speaker 3: and they would whether they I'm this type of person
23:12
Speaker 3: that likes to work hours and hours and hours and
23:15
Speaker 3: hours on my craft, and my mom would be right
23:17
Speaker 3: there with me, or my dad be right there with me.
23:19
Speaker 3: And Yeah, I talked a little bit about how my
23:21
Speaker 3: dad really told one thing that just stuck me my
23:25
Speaker 3: whole life.
23:25
Speaker 2: Was I wanted to win. Well, the whole story.
23:28
Speaker 3: Goes he broke he one of the years he limited
23:32
Speaker 3: my back to school shopping.
23:34
Speaker 2: He put a budget on.
23:35
Speaker 3: It was like a bigger budget than before, and I
23:37
Speaker 3: was so upset and I'm like, listen, whatever money you're
23:39
Speaker 3: saving for me for college, can we add that to
23:42
Speaker 3: my budget because I'll just get a scholarship.
23:45
Speaker 2: And then he's super scared. My dad's a very serious guy.
23:48
Speaker 3: He's a judge, and so he's like, Okay, well, if
23:51
Speaker 3: you really think that's going to happen, you have to
23:53
Speaker 3: be the hardest workers. There's always going to be someone
23:56
Speaker 3: that's better than you, so they'd not be anyone.
23:57
Speaker 2: That works harder.
23:59
Speaker 3: And in my mind, I'm at this point, I'm probably
24:00
Speaker 3: like fifteen, like I just couldn't fatho. I'm like someone
24:03
Speaker 3: that's better than me, I'll well know and but you know,
24:07
Speaker 3: but those words they I don't know what they just
24:09
Speaker 3: seep into my brain and never left. And so anytime
24:12
Speaker 3: I felt like I could take a day off, that's
24:15
Speaker 3: what would replay my head. Someone is working harder. Don't
24:18
Speaker 3: let someone work harder than you. Don't let someone work
24:19
Speaker 3: harder than you. It would get up and go back
24:21
Speaker 3: to and go go hit. It's the same thing my
24:23
Speaker 3: college coach at LSU, coach Trina, would say I was
24:26
Speaker 3: probably I would, I'm confident, she would say, with one
24:27
Speaker 3: of the hardest workers she's ever had, because I would
24:31
Speaker 3: lay down at night after a full day as a
24:33
Speaker 3: collegiate athlete and think to myself, Oh, someone in California
24:36
Speaker 3: is two hours more than me. Gotta go dot field
24:39
Speaker 3: and hit two more hours. Like that's really how my
24:41
Speaker 3: brain would work. And that's all because of what my
24:43
Speaker 3: dad told me, because I just want to, you know,
24:45
Speaker 3: an extra one hundred dollars for back to school shopping,
24:48
Speaker 3: and so, you know, I think that mentality, though, is
24:51
Speaker 3: really what made me who I am, and they've always
24:54
Speaker 3: supported that, and they've always been there for me throughout
24:56
Speaker 3: the good times, bad times, the times in which I've
24:59
Speaker 3: over critiqued and have been too hard on myself. They
25:03
Speaker 3: were always the people to ub lift. I've never I
25:04
Speaker 3: didn't have like the crazy parents that would yell. They're
25:06
Speaker 3: always chilling in their own little section, just watching the game,
25:10
Speaker 3: which is a perfect balance because my sisters and not
25:12
Speaker 3: always too art on ourselves, so we were able to
25:15
Speaker 3: go back and talk to them, and so yeah, they've
25:17
Speaker 3: always been extremely supportive and my mentality when it comes
25:20
Speaker 3: to like the guides not goals, conversation is essentially what
25:24
Speaker 3: I really believe is that you should make people guides
25:28
Speaker 3: rather than goals. And the reason why I believe that
25:31
Speaker 3: is because if you make somebody your goal, you are
25:33
Speaker 3: putting a cap on what it is that you could achieve,
25:35
Speaker 3: like you're putting a cap on your own success. What
25:38
Speaker 3: if you were supposed to do exponentially more than that person.
25:40
Speaker 3: What if you're only supposed to use them as inspiration
25:44
Speaker 3: not as a finish line.
25:46
Speaker 2: And I think when you.
25:46
Speaker 3: Make somebody a goal, you are truly saying, Okay, well
25:49
Speaker 3: once I get here, that's all I need to do,
25:52
Speaker 3: and so use people as guys. But then also if
25:54
Speaker 3: use them as your goal, if you don't make it there,
25:56
Speaker 3: then you feel like you failed. And so I think
25:58
Speaker 3: if you use people as guys and say this is
26:01
Speaker 3: how this is the avenue that I want to go down,
26:04
Speaker 3: or you take this and pieces from what they do
26:06
Speaker 3: to utilize it to help, Okay, well this is what
26:08
Speaker 3: they did in this situation, this is how I can pivot.
26:11
Speaker 3: I think understanding that these individuals is just like a
26:14
Speaker 3: guide on if you're on a tour, right, they're showing
26:17
Speaker 3: you around, But how you experience what you're looking at
26:20
Speaker 3: is totally up to you. How it is that you
26:22
Speaker 3: want to perceive it, how it is that what you
26:24
Speaker 3: take from it, that is completely up to you. And honestly,
26:27
Speaker 3: when you're going on these things the next day after
26:30
Speaker 3: that guide, you may go that direction, but then shift
26:32
Speaker 3: to a different route. And I think that's really important
26:34
Speaker 3: in sports the same way it is in life to
26:38
Speaker 3: utilize people as guides not goals, so that you can
26:41
Speaker 3: experience beyond what you maybe imagine you could have experienced
26:45
Speaker 3: if you use them as a goal.
26:48
Speaker 4: I like that.
26:48
Speaker 5: I feel like, especially when we talk about like putting
26:51
Speaker 5: people on pedestals, people disappoint no matter what. No one
26:54
Speaker 5: is perfect, and so having that type of mentality really
26:58
Speaker 5: does like protect your heart as well in understanding that
27:01
Speaker 5: you don't have to throw away their success or the
27:03
Speaker 5: things that they've done that as well because of some
27:05
Speaker 5: things that might come about later because it's a guide
27:07
Speaker 5: and you're not like, I love that mentality.
27:10
Speaker 4: It really does put a different perspective on that.
27:13
Speaker 3: And I think, I mean the reason that really was
27:15
Speaker 3: inspired to me, Like the first time I remember thinking
27:17
Speaker 3: that was when Rihanna started fining beauty and it being
27:21
Speaker 3: like this sense of there's so much conversation with certain
27:25
Speaker 3: industries being oversaturated, and in my mind it was like, okay,
27:29
Speaker 3: but no one is Rihanna, right, Like I think that
27:32
Speaker 3: that's to me, that's really where that came from, because
27:34
Speaker 3: it was, Yeah, these places that you may think everybody's
27:37
Speaker 3: doing something, your superpower is that nobody is you though,
27:41
Speaker 3: and so like, don't use these individuals or anything as
27:45
Speaker 3: a goal. It may seem oversaturated because of X y Z,
27:49
Speaker 3: but what you bring is what no one else can bring.
27:52
Speaker 3: And that's why supporting to just use people as guides,
27:55
Speaker 3: because again, your superpower is that no one is you,
27:58
Speaker 3: and so what can you.
27:59
Speaker 2: Do with that?
28:00
Speaker 4: Okay I'm taking that as an affirmation as well, So
28:02
Speaker 4: thank you.
28:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, yes, yeah, a lot stem tell you.
28:19
Speaker 3: Well.
28:19
Speaker 1: Another thing that you have spoken about is your view
28:22
Speaker 1: on failure in sports and how to reframe, how to
28:28
Speaker 1: think about that or how we talk about that. Can
28:30
Speaker 1: you expound on that?
28:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean there's a lot that I feel I've
28:36
Speaker 3: learned from experiencing failure and playing a sport of failure
28:40
Speaker 3: where I mean there's not many sports where you can
28:42
Speaker 3: fail three out of ten times and still be a
28:43
Speaker 3: Hall of Famer other than like based on softball. And
28:46
Speaker 3: so I mean, to that point, like any other sport
28:49
Speaker 3: you're feeling that much, they're probably okay, well, was maybe
28:52
Speaker 3: not the sport for you. But in softball baseball, I
28:54
Speaker 3: know you're doing great, honey, You're doing amazing, sweetie, and baseballtball.
28:58
Speaker 3: And so I think because of that, you know, I've
29:01
Speaker 3: had to reframe failure being that it was inevitable, right,
29:04
Speaker 3: I'm going to meet failure more than I'm going to
29:07
Speaker 3: meet success in this game, and so changing my relationship
29:10
Speaker 3: to it and almost I call it like befriending failure,
29:14
Speaker 3: understanding that it's kind of like that that friend that
29:17
Speaker 3: is like that no nonsense friend that you at times
29:20
Speaker 3: really hesitate to call, but you know you have to
29:22
Speaker 3: tell them this, Like you know you need this conversation
29:26
Speaker 3: and you know the feedback they're going to give you,
29:29
Speaker 3: but nonetheless you do it anyway. And so it's kind
29:31
Speaker 3: of like that I pick up the phone call. I
29:33
Speaker 3: know I'm going to fail, I know what it's going
29:35
Speaker 3: to be, but I know I have to have this
29:36
Speaker 3: conversation because through that conversation is the only way I'm
29:39
Speaker 3: going to learn these certain things. And so the acronym
29:42
Speaker 3: fail I tell young kids all the time it is
29:45
Speaker 3: just the first attempt in learning because within failure, right,
29:49
Speaker 3: you have to you have to fail to first succeed.
29:53
Speaker 3: I talk about how it's not the opposite, which we're
29:56
Speaker 3: taught a lot of the times. Right, you either fail
29:57
Speaker 3: or succeed versus understanding failure is the part of process
30:00
Speaker 3: to success. And I talk about it being like steps
30:04
Speaker 3: to where like every time you fail, you're kind of
30:06
Speaker 3: adding a step to your journey, which is only leading
30:08
Speaker 3: you higher to higher successes. Right, if you only feel
30:11
Speaker 3: two times your success is, you know it's not that high.
30:14
Speaker 3: Versus you fail twenty, look how far you can go.
30:18
Speaker 3: And so I think it's kind of like you're going
30:20
Speaker 3: through through failure knowing that you're on the opposite side
30:24
Speaker 3: of that is going to be maybe the biggest success
30:27
Speaker 3: that you've ever had. And I at the end of
30:30
Speaker 3: my podcast, I ask everybody what their favorite failure is
30:33
Speaker 3: that's led to like their biggest successes, because it's you know,
30:35
Speaker 3: you don't look at it think of it that way,
30:37
Speaker 3: like my favorite failure. Huh. I don't know if I
30:39
Speaker 3: have of my favorite time but I didn't do what
30:42
Speaker 3: I want to do. But when you really reflect on it,
30:45
Speaker 3: you think about, how, ah, well, you know what, if
30:48
Speaker 3: I didn't fail in that one moment, this probably wouldn't
30:51
Speaker 3: have happened. And then you go people really sit and
30:53
Speaker 3: reflect and think, Okay, well, yes, my biggest failure is that.
30:56
Speaker 3: And like I think to the year I won the
30:57
Speaker 3: Gold Glove, hmm, there's so many moments in my life
31:01
Speaker 3: in which I didn't make the catch right, I failed
31:04
Speaker 3: to make that play. But the only reason why I
31:06
Speaker 3: was able to win a gold Glove is because I
31:08
Speaker 3: first failed, and that from that failure, I learned how
31:11
Speaker 3: to take a different angle. I learned what my first
31:13
Speaker 3: step should have been to that ball, so that one
31:15
Speaker 3: time I didn't catch it turned into the three hundred
31:19
Speaker 3: times that I did. You know. So I think that
31:21
Speaker 3: that's that's the power of failure, and that's why in
31:24
Speaker 3: life and especially in sports, you have to befriend it
31:28
Speaker 3: in order to get where you want to go.
31:31
Speaker 5: Like this is why I have a hard time with sports,
31:33
Speaker 5: because my anxiety and fear of rejection in general is like,
31:37
Speaker 5: I can't fail. I have to be the best of everything.
31:39
Speaker 5: And because I know I'm not. I'm like, yeah, I'm good, y'all.
31:42
Speaker 5: I see how hard they throw that softball.
31:44
Speaker 2: I'm good.
31:44
Speaker 4: I'm I'm gonna let y'all have you It's true.
31:47
Speaker 3: No, I mean it trusts me that I think as athletes,
31:49
Speaker 3: like if I'm not immediately good at something, I gotta
31:52
Speaker 3: go gotta blast, like pick a ball, forget about it,
31:54
Speaker 3: like I'm not even doing it, like.
31:56
Speaker 4: I picked a bride.
31:58
Speaker 2: I'm good. Thank you, no, thank you you, and you know.
32:01
Speaker 3: But like it's just it's that mentality when you get
32:03
Speaker 3: to it, and but you have to so I can
32:05
Speaker 3: consistently tell myself, okay, like this is just helping you
32:10
Speaker 3: get better.
32:11
Speaker 2: I guess you know, and I'm not.
32:13
Speaker 3: It sounds good right in the conversation, But to stick
32:16
Speaker 3: to to stick to it and to believe it and
32:19
Speaker 3: to prevail even though you through that failure it is
32:23
Speaker 3: harder than.
32:24
Speaker 2: You know it sounds, and then it seems.
32:26
Speaker 3: And that's why the success is so much better when
32:30
Speaker 3: it does when you are able to see through it.
32:32
Speaker 2: So I haven't stuck just pick a ball.
32:35
Speaker 3: But you know, if I do decide to go back
32:38
Speaker 3: through it, I'm sure my success will be great at
32:40
Speaker 3: the end.
32:41
Speaker 4: I'm excited. I'm a white but I see that as
32:43
Speaker 4: a mini series coming up.
32:44
Speaker 2: I see it.
32:45
Speaker 5: I know you've gone viral a few times on TikTok.
32:47
Speaker 5: I saw that costume, but.
32:53
Speaker 2: It's the most random things that go viral, Like I
32:55
Speaker 2: would have never thought that would have been girl.
32:58
Speaker 5: It wasn't random when I watched Okay, I see you
33:00
Speaker 5: why but like all of your stuff was hitting it.
33:02
Speaker 4: But I was like, oh, she's she's got choreography.
33:04
Speaker 2: She got I did get for all twenty minutes of that.
33:10
Speaker 2: I loved it.
33:10
Speaker 5: But you know, you talk about success in general, and
33:14
Speaker 5: there's so much like in this type of field, in
33:16
Speaker 5: competition and sports in general, and especially when you come
33:20
Speaker 5: as a public figure. Obviously you've become a public figure
33:22
Speaker 5: and influence for so many. You know, talked about the
33:26
Speaker 5: importance of being vocal about success as a woman and
33:30
Speaker 5: having perseverance and resilience, and particularly a woman of color,
33:34
Speaker 5: especially today, but like talking about how your own influences
33:38
Speaker 5: seeing a black woman for the first time, that representation
33:40
Speaker 5: and how that changed your perspective. Why do you think
33:43
Speaker 5: that it's so important to have that vocal success being
33:47
Speaker 5: out there.
33:49
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think There's there's so much to be said
33:51
Speaker 3: about representation and what it does to the psyche and
33:54
Speaker 3: what it does to individuals that are able to see
33:57
Speaker 3: themselves in these spaces. I mean, I feel like beyond
34:00
Speaker 3: just myself in softball and seeing a black woman in
34:04
Speaker 3: the game with it really allowing me to see myself
34:08
Speaker 3: on teeth, like I literally saw her and saw myself.
34:12
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm still sitting in this is post my game,
34:15
Speaker 3: so I'm still sitting in my uniform in Little League
34:18
Speaker 3: and I'm watching her in her UCLA uniform. I'm just like, Oh.
34:21
Speaker 3: I mean, from that moment, Ucla was my favorite school.
34:23
Speaker 3: I wanted to go to UCLA. I still have this
34:25
Speaker 3: big old letterman jacket I made my parents buy me
34:27
Speaker 3: when I was, you know, fourteen years old because I
34:30
Speaker 3: love Ucla so much.
34:32
Speaker 2: I loved Ucla for no other reason than.
34:34
Speaker 3: Tasha Wally and you know what I mean. And I
34:36
Speaker 3: feel like that's that's the power of it. And I
34:38
Speaker 3: think in at LSU, there's so many times in which
34:41
Speaker 3: these young girls I'm their favorite player and it had
34:44
Speaker 3: nothing to do with my stats, that had nothing to
34:47
Speaker 3: do with the play I made, and had everything to
34:48
Speaker 3: do with no, we're the same number, or you were
34:51
Speaker 3: your hair the same way as me, or you know
34:53
Speaker 3: what I mean, or you look like me, or I
34:55
Speaker 3: like to run bases just like you. These very small
34:58
Speaker 3: things that as an ass lee because we feel like
35:01
Speaker 3: we have to be the best in order for someone
35:02
Speaker 3: to like us.
35:03
Speaker 2: It doesn't always make sense. And then you have these
35:06
Speaker 2: conversations with these young girls and you're like, it's the
35:09
Speaker 2: smallest thing that they feel like they can identify with
35:12
Speaker 2: that makes them feel like they can be the biggest
35:13
Speaker 2: and the best. And you know, it's the.
35:15
Speaker 3: Same thing in which I talk about, like the Bad
35:18
Speaker 3: Bunny performing a Super Bowl. I watched all the videos
35:20
Speaker 3: of Latinos watching that and crying and feeling so represented,
35:24
Speaker 3: how the excitement they had when you called out their
35:26
Speaker 3: country at the end.
35:27
Speaker 2: And for me, because I feel like representation is.
35:30
Speaker 3: So important on all aspects for everyone, race, gender, any
35:35
Speaker 3: diaspeta you want to put out there, you know, for me,
35:37
Speaker 3: I think it's just so powerful in one moment twenty seconds,
35:41
Speaker 3: how the impact it can have on humans and how
35:44
Speaker 3: it can literally change your mind to what you feel
35:47
Speaker 3: like you can do and achieve and where you think
35:48
Speaker 3: you can go and because it is so poignant at
35:52
Speaker 3: That's why I feel like it's so important to have
35:55
Speaker 3: those conversations. It's so important to just show up, like
35:59
Speaker 3: you know, you don't always have to have the biggest
36:01
Speaker 3: voice or have the biggest performance, but your presence, oftentimes
36:05
Speaker 3: and not is making the biggest difference to those individuals
36:09
Speaker 3: that didn't even see themselves in those spaces prior to
36:11
Speaker 3: seeing you. And so that's why I think representation is
36:14
Speaker 3: huge because it sparks new goals. Would there be a
36:18
Speaker 3: new goal lover if I had sat in that beefl
36:20
Speaker 3: Brady's at twelve years old watching Natasha Wali, you know,
36:23
Speaker 3: we never know would there be this new line of
36:28
Speaker 3: women wanting to play in the WBAF it was not
36:31
Speaker 3: for Lisa Leslie, if it was not for the Caitlin Clarks,
36:34
Speaker 3: if it was not for the Angel Reese's. You know,
36:38
Speaker 3: I feel like there's just so many different people that
36:40
Speaker 3: really align with hockey, you know, feel like they can
36:43
Speaker 3: win a gold medal.
36:45
Speaker 2: You know, I don't know.
36:45
Speaker 3: I just think there's so much to be said for
36:48
Speaker 3: a woman that just shows up and the power behind
36:52
Speaker 3: that because women we like supporting women.
36:54
Speaker 2: So if you show up.
36:55
Speaker 3: We're going to amplify you as much as we possibly
36:57
Speaker 3: can to make sure the world knows who you are.
37:00
Speaker 2: If they hadn't already. Absolutely.
37:03
Speaker 6: Yeah, And you've already touched on this a little bit
37:16
Speaker 6: and it's a huge topic.
37:18
Speaker 1: So we're asking a big question about You've talked about
37:23
Speaker 1: women in pay equity and investing in women's sports, but
37:26
Speaker 1: also respect and media exposure support all of that. Can
37:31
Speaker 1: you briefly share your thoughts on that, because again, I
37:34
Speaker 1: know it's a huge topic, Coure.
37:36
Speaker 3: I mean, I feel like, you know, when it comes
37:37
Speaker 3: down to it, it just it comes down to the advertising dollars,
37:41
Speaker 3: and it comes down to the brand partnerships and the
37:43
Speaker 3: brands getting behind these women in sports. I think networks
37:46
Speaker 3: are starting to really understand and get on the curve.
37:50
Speaker 3: I mean, ESPN has now as a partnership with AUSL
37:54
Speaker 3: Women's Professional Softball League right now. MLB has also had
37:57
Speaker 3: backing with not just monetaryous but also putting on social media,
38:02
Speaker 3: also putting on the network. There's a lot of different
38:05
Speaker 3: networks that are now I feel like kind of jumping
38:07
Speaker 3: on the curb. People call it a trend, but I
38:11
Speaker 3: hate the we're trend of women in sports, I feel
38:14
Speaker 3: like now people are just starting to take notice of
38:17
Speaker 3: what was always amazing and what was always there. And
38:20
Speaker 3: so I feel like when it comes down to it,
38:24
Speaker 3: women women for most sports make up half the viewership.
38:28
Speaker 3: Over the last five years, I believe it's gone up.
38:32
Speaker 3: There's I think about seventy percent of women in the
38:34
Speaker 3: in the United States watch sports, and over the last
38:38
Speaker 3: five years it's gone up fifty percent. As far as
38:42
Speaker 3: the women that are sitting down and watching sports and
38:44
Speaker 3: have they know who they're rooting for, know what they
38:47
Speaker 3: want to do. Even just this past Super Bowl, you
38:49
Speaker 3: know how people did not care who was playing, but
38:51
Speaker 3: they're rooting for the Seahawks because the owner was a
38:54
Speaker 3: woman like you know, like you There's just so much
38:58
Speaker 3: behind the women in advertising and marketing to women. It
39:03
Speaker 3: is such a missed opportunity in my opinion, for advertisers
39:07
Speaker 3: and for brands.
39:09
Speaker 2: Women buy all the things for the household.
39:11
Speaker 3: Women are the ones that are you know, they have
39:13
Speaker 3: the they go out, and they do the most supporting
39:17
Speaker 3: When it comes down to it, I think it said
39:18
Speaker 3: it's like I don't know the exact statistics, but brands
39:21
Speaker 3: at back women's sports.
39:23
Speaker 2: They have a higher amount or higher percentage of women
39:27
Speaker 2: going out and buying their product just solely because they've
39:30
Speaker 2: announced that they support these women. And so for me,
39:33
Speaker 2: I feel like it's just such a missed.
39:35
Speaker 3: Opportunity, not only because women in sports are exciting, they're powerful,
39:41
Speaker 3: they are they build revenue. It's this is not they're
39:44
Speaker 3: now revenue making sports all across the all across every sport,
39:49
Speaker 3: but because it's gonna make you a lot of money, Like,
39:54
Speaker 3: why wouldn't you support women?
39:56
Speaker 2: To me, it just seems stupid at this point to
39:58
Speaker 2: not support women in sports.
40:00
Speaker 3: And so I don't know, I feel like that is
40:03
Speaker 3: that's it's gotten better, but it's still not where it
40:06
Speaker 3: should be or could be. And so I think but
40:09
Speaker 3: to our port earlier, having those conversations making it notable
40:13
Speaker 3: and making it something that people are more aware of.
40:15
Speaker 3: I mean even just now with with the women's hockey team,
40:19
Speaker 3: that just one gold flavor for them going to go
40:21
Speaker 3: to Vegas with Flavor FLA. But all these brands that
40:24
Speaker 3: jumped on to help support do you know how I'm looking.
40:27
Speaker 2: At every single one of them? Okay, what can I
40:28
Speaker 2: buy from you? What can I buy from you can.
40:30
Speaker 2: I like, that's that.
40:31
Speaker 3: Is truly what women do and one thing for us,
40:35
Speaker 3: we're going to be influenced, Like anytime those ads. I
40:37
Speaker 3: keep telling you how many pieces of clothing I have
40:39
Speaker 3: just from an ad that popped up on Instagram. So
40:42
Speaker 3: like to that point, put it towards women in sports,
40:45
Speaker 3: and I feel like the more we do that, as
40:48
Speaker 3: we continue to push for equity, as we continue to
40:50
Speaker 3: push for more equality not just in the workplace, but
40:54
Speaker 3: within the facilities, within the travel, within money, I feel
40:59
Speaker 3: like a lot of that will happen as soon as
41:00
Speaker 3: we see a little bit more advertising dollars.
41:02
Speaker 2: And it's just it's just a smart thing to do.
41:05
Speaker 5: Like we talk about that all the time, like do
41:07
Speaker 5: you understand, Like some companies do understand, but not to
41:12
Speaker 5: their advantage. They do like pick and choose how they're
41:14
Speaker 5: going to do this, and then when people are women
41:16
Speaker 5: become aware of like, oh, you're trying to gas light
41:19
Speaker 5: us into this, We're not like falling backwards, like Target
41:22
Speaker 5: being one.
41:22
Speaker 4: Of those big ones.
41:23
Speaker 5: But anyway, moving on, but also a side note, did
41:26
Speaker 5: you notice like the women's hockey team got to get
41:28
Speaker 5: eat with Stanley Tucci while the men's team ate McDonald's.
41:35
Speaker 3: You know, anything that they do, it's gonna be substantially
41:38
Speaker 3: better than the men's.
41:42
Speaker 4: I was like, have you seen Stanley Tucci cook?
41:45
Speaker 2: He is good?
41:46
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, let's hang out with him anyway.
41:52
Speaker 7: Yeah.
41:52
Speaker 2: No, what a not a hot mess express that turned
41:54
Speaker 2: out to be.
41:56
Speaker 5: But it kind of goes to a test to what
41:58
Speaker 5: you're saying in general, like the power of what happens
42:02
Speaker 5: when people are really supportive and understand instead of trying
42:05
Speaker 5: to cut down on what could be great for you,
42:08
Speaker 5: Like what could have changed in conversation for whether it's
42:12
Speaker 5: for a brand or whether it's for a public figure,
42:15
Speaker 5: like what that looks like Like Flavor flav the last
42:18
Speaker 5: two Olympics has really made a name for himself because
42:22
Speaker 5: he loves women's sports. He is all about that, and
42:25
Speaker 5: it's it was so unexpected when I first saw it,
42:27
Speaker 5: But I'm like, oh my god, you see him as
42:30
Speaker 5: a person who truly understands the value.
42:33
Speaker 3: No, yeah, Now it's like, I mean, I'm a well
42:36
Speaker 3: I was, you know, old enough to watch Flavor of Love,
42:39
Speaker 3: and you know, I didn't get it at that point
42:41
Speaker 3: at that time, but now I get it.
42:42
Speaker 2: I get all those girls loved him. Oh my god.
42:47
Speaker 7: API in your conversation here, I was very much tuned
42:55
Speaker 7: in as a you know, you're young to be watching
42:58
Speaker 7: high school at the time, but.
43:01
Speaker 2: I loved it. That was primetime reality TV.
43:03
Speaker 5: That was some of those things that come back round
43:06
Speaker 5: from those episodes.
43:08
Speaker 4: Yeah, amazing, amazing.
43:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, But no, to your point, like, as we talked
43:14
Speaker 3: about earlier, you know about how people laughing at the
43:19
Speaker 3: joke quote unquote right ten years ago, the most prevalent
43:24
Speaker 3: thing you would see time a woman was successful and
43:26
Speaker 3: something was get back in the kitchen Mega say. You
43:29
Speaker 3: know that's ugh, Like I call them couch coaches. You
43:32
Speaker 3: don't see that anymore, and if you do see it,
43:34
Speaker 3: they're getting fired on, like it's not cool to be
43:37
Speaker 3: corny anymore. It's not cool to make those those statements anymore,
43:40
Speaker 3: like support women's sports or move along, you know, And
43:43
Speaker 3: so I think that that's that is again what we're
43:47
Speaker 3: seeing as far as the movement, And then you have
43:49
Speaker 3: Flavor Flave coming on. You have other individuals supporting these
43:53
Speaker 3: women in sports, which is I think is so cool. Yeah,
43:56
Speaker 3: he's he did what swimming previous summer and then this
44:00
Speaker 3: year for Bob said, and skeleton, so I think that
44:04
Speaker 3: that's he's just killing it. And then just all women
44:07
Speaker 3: in sports. He's at every every event for the Olympics,
44:10
Speaker 3: so it's helped.
44:11
Speaker 5: With table tennis, he supported an American woman athlete to
44:15
Speaker 5: get to it because she was having like she wasn't
44:17
Speaker 5: getting as many sponsorships, and he was like, I got you,
44:20
Speaker 5: I got you.
44:21
Speaker 3: No, the backing has been amazing because I know a
44:24
Speaker 3: lot of people don't realize this, but like Olympic athletes
44:27
Speaker 3: don't unless they have a lot of sponsorships. They have
44:29
Speaker 3: to figure out how to get where they have to
44:33
Speaker 3: go to to pay.
44:34
Speaker 2: For these certain things. They don't get paid well at all.
44:37
Speaker 3: So I think it's really amazing when all these different
44:39
Speaker 3: individuals step up to help support.
44:42
Speaker 1: Yes, and you've already talked about it before. Our final
44:47
Speaker 1: question before we get into the affirmation has asked, what
44:54
Speaker 1: is something that you are really excited about for the
44:58
Speaker 1: future of women in sport and what if something that
45:00
Speaker 1: you are excited about in your own future that you're
45:03
Speaker 1: looking for too.
45:05
Speaker 3: I'm excited about for women in sports for it just
45:08
Speaker 3: to continue to get bigger and bigger. I think in
45:11
Speaker 3: the future there's so many new leagues that have started,
45:14
Speaker 3: whether it be volleyball, whether it be hockey, whether it
45:18
Speaker 3: be additional teams for soccer, additional teams in the WNBA,
45:22
Speaker 3: and new leagues with unrivaled aus Sel expanding and having
45:26
Speaker 3: more teams. I mean, I feel like year after year,
45:29
Speaker 3: within the last three to five years, women's sports has
45:32
Speaker 3: only continued to expand. And the notoriety and the recognition,
45:36
Speaker 3: which is something that I feel like we've been starved
45:39
Speaker 3: of for a majority of our careers as athletes.
45:43
Speaker 2: We're starting to get fed a little bit more now.
45:45
Speaker 3: We can still have, like you know, we're still working
45:48
Speaker 3: for the steak dinners, but we're definitely getting a lot
45:51
Speaker 3: more than what we were getting prior. And I think that
45:54
Speaker 3: that is I think it's only going to continue to
45:57
Speaker 3: get bigger. I think if people continue to the growth
46:00
Speaker 3: of women in sports has been exponential within I can
46:03
Speaker 3: speak to to softball. College softball this past year had
46:07
Speaker 3: more viewership ever in the Women's College World Series. I
46:11
Speaker 3: think two point two million people for the finals, which
46:13
Speaker 3: is the most, and one point three million over the
46:16
Speaker 3: entire series, which is the most for that stand. There's
46:20
Speaker 3: been years in the past where the women's College World
46:22
Speaker 3: Series had more viewership than the men's World Series. And
46:25
Speaker 3: it's just a trend that only continues to get bigger
46:27
Speaker 3: and better. And that's now transcended over into the AUSL,
46:31
Speaker 3: which last year had eighty eight percent growth in viewership.
46:34
Speaker 3: And so I just see that only going up as
46:38
Speaker 3: more leagues continue to grow, as more networks continue to support,
46:42
Speaker 3: as more brands continue to see the value, as more
46:44
Speaker 3: women continue to use their voice. And I'm just so
46:47
Speaker 3: excited where where women's sports could go. Because in college,
46:52
Speaker 3: I did my thesis, my college thesis on women in sports,
46:55
Speaker 3: and I went to a softball baseball field and I
46:58
Speaker 3: asked eight young boys what they want to be when
47:01
Speaker 3: they grew up. All of them said either professional baseball
47:04
Speaker 3: player or a baseball coach. And I asked the same
47:08
Speaker 3: thing with the young girls. Eight young girls, all of
47:11
Speaker 3: them teacher, doctor, nurse.
47:14
Speaker 2: Only one of them.
47:15
Speaker 3: Only one said, well, I thought about maybe wanting to
47:18
Speaker 3: be a professional softball player, but I don't know if
47:20
Speaker 3: it's possible.
47:21
Speaker 2: Those are her exact words.
47:22
Speaker 3: And I believe if I were to go back today
47:26
Speaker 3: and do that same same experiment, eight young girls, eight
47:30
Speaker 3: young boys, I believe I would just have just as
47:33
Speaker 3: much young girls saying they want to be professional softball
47:35
Speaker 3: players as I would have a young boys saying they
47:37
Speaker 3: want to professional baseball players.
47:39
Speaker 2: And to me that that is that's the goal.
47:43
Speaker 3: That's what I hope continues to happen to where there's
47:46
Speaker 3: at hesitation of young girls saying I want to be this,
47:50
Speaker 3: I can be this. They say it with conviction, they
47:52
Speaker 3: say it with confidence because they know it's possible, because
47:55
Speaker 3: they see it on TV. They're able to see themselves
47:58
Speaker 3: in these amazing women. And then for myself, I would
48:01
Speaker 3: say I want to continue to be a voice for
48:05
Speaker 3: those those young girls and just for women in general,
48:08
Speaker 3: young girls, women, for men, I mean, an inspiration to
48:12
Speaker 3: whomever it feels like they identify with. Whatever it does,
48:14
Speaker 3: I have to say, whatever is I have to do,
48:16
Speaker 3: and whether I am amplifying those voices on the field
48:19
Speaker 3: or I'm amplifying it from a studio talking about these
48:22
Speaker 3: women in sports on television, that is that's my goal,
48:26
Speaker 3: and that's what I hope to continue.
48:28
Speaker 2: To do in the future.
48:32
Speaker 1: Yes, and we hope that you do as well. It's
48:36
Speaker 1: so important to all the conversations you are having, all.
48:40
Speaker 4: Right in where we got I'm so exciting.
48:48
Speaker 3: Okay in regards to dancing, but making it but make
48:51
Speaker 3: it about life.
48:52
Speaker 2: Okay.
48:52
Speaker 3: The best move is always the next I'm going to
48:55
Speaker 3: dance left to right. Success is my biggest flex. That's Oh,
49:01
Speaker 3: I'm so glad this is recorded. I'm gonna play that
49:03
Speaker 3: back myself.
49:04
Speaker 2: I'm a truly astounded. That's amazing.
49:08
Speaker 1: Love it.
49:08
Speaker 2: That's our affirmation.
49:10
Speaker 3: Next time you go to your dance, the best move
49:13
Speaker 3: is always the next.
49:14
Speaker 2: I'm gonna dance that. To write, success is my biggest thing.
49:17
Speaker 5: Yes, okay, you know what, I'm gonna put that at
49:20
Speaker 5: the beginning of my sessions so everybody can hear it.
49:24
Speaker 4: I'm gonna put it in there. I'm gonna put it
49:25
Speaker 4: in there.
49:26
Speaker 2: Wow. That was fantastic.
49:30
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for coming on the show. You
49:33
Speaker 1: have been into light. We would love to have you back.
49:36
Speaker 1: There's plenty we didn't even get to talk about.
49:38
Speaker 4: I know, but so many things.
49:41
Speaker 1: So many things. I want to know what it's like
49:42
Speaker 1: to be a sports host on like ESPN. But in
49:47
Speaker 1: the meantime, where can the good listeners find you a
49:50
Speaker 1: j Yeah, well.
49:52
Speaker 3: You guys could definitely find me on dropping diamonds podcasts
49:55
Speaker 3: you can. It's in partnership with iHeart, so we listen
49:58
Speaker 3: I Heart, but really anywhere get your podcasts.
50:00
Speaker 2: You can listen to it.
50:02
Speaker 3: And then you can also find me on socials, AJ Underscore,
50:06
Speaker 3: Andrew's Underscore, Instagram and Twitter. And then if you're on TikTok,
50:10
Speaker 3: it's the AJ Andrews So excited to drop some diamonds
50:15
Speaker 3: all year wrong, all twenty six Yes and because.
50:18
Speaker 2: My best move is always the next.
50:20
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, yes, well, thank you, thank you, thank you
50:26
Speaker 1: so much for being here. Thank you guys for having me.
50:29
Speaker 1: If you would like to contact us, you can. You
50:31
Speaker 1: can email us at Hello at stuff Onnever Told You
50:33
Speaker 1: dot com. You can find us on blue Skype, Mom
50:34
Speaker 1: Stuff podcast or on Instagram and TikTok at stuff one
50:37
Speaker 1: Never Told You. We're also on YouTube but we have
50:38
Speaker 1: some new merchandise a compuro and we have a book
50:40
Speaker 1: you can get wherever you get your books. Thanks as
50:42
Speaker 1: always too, our Superduce Gris, Senior executive producer, my under
50:45
Speaker 1: contributor Joey, Thank you and thanks to you for listening.
50:47
Speaker 1: Stuff Never Told You is production by Heart Radio. For
50:49
Speaker 1: more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can check out
50:51
Speaker 1: your heart radio app, Apple podcast, wherever you listen to
50:52
Speaker 1: your favorite shows. You're the only way you