Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / 262. Alysha Newman, Olympian & Pole Vaulter

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262. Alysha Newman, Olympian & Pole Vaulter · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The people that want to be a part of this journey.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: To know is like Alicia in her mind, right now
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: comes first because it takes everything for me to be
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: at my best self.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Hello, Hello, Emily Abadi. Here you are listening to episode
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: two hundred and sixty two of Hurdle, a wellness focused
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: podcast where I connect with everyone from your favorite athletes
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: to top experts and industry CEOs about their highest highs,
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: toughest moments, and everything in between. We all go through
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: hurdles in life, and my goal through these discussions is
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: to empower you to better navigate yours and move with
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: intention so that you can stride towards your own big
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: potential and of course have some fun along the way.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: For today's episode too, I am chatting with Alicia Newman.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: She is an Olympic pole vaulter, the first pull vaulter
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: we have ever had on the show. She's a five
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: time All American and record holder.
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: She's also a.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: Two time Olympian, and man, what a conversation of this is.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: In today's episode, Alicia gets really vulnerable about the twenty
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: twenty one accident that left her with a concussion that
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: changed everything. She opens up about the difficulty of coming
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: back from that, the difference between trying to work to
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: repair the damage versus just navigating the side effects, masking
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: it with different medications that she didn't want to be on,
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: and then the life changing doctor that truly enabled her
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: and empowered her to have an epic comeback in sport.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: For those that don't know much about pole vaulting, essentially
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: Alicia powers now a forty meter track herrying a fifteen
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: foot stick sprinting and then slams that stick into rubber
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: for takeoff, which means that it requires.
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: A ton of athleticism.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: And she talks about why she decided to get into
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: this sport in the first place, background in gymnastics, which
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: is undeniable if you ever see her exercising her craft.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: Alicia and I talk about some of the different tools
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: that she uses to level up in her sport, especially
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: as she heads into Paris twenty twenty four, including a
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: hyperbaric chamber, as well as her more recent decision to
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: completely give up alcohol, and I can't forget our discussion
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: on OnlyFans, plus the most interesting takeaway on how she
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: manages her relationships and puts them into different buckets depending
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: on how much time she is capable of investing time, energy,
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: mental capacity.
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: Super super interesting.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: Make sure, if you're not doing so yet, you're following
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: along with hurdle over on social media. It is at
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: hurdle Podcast. I myself am over at Emily a body.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: I'm personally so amps because I'm going to be hitting
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: the road and will be in Budapest four World Championships
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: where Alicia will be doing her thing. It's the first
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: of a few different trips I have coming up for work,
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: and I'd love to answer your questions about travel, wellness,
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: whatever you've got, so hit me with a voice message
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: and I'll answer it on an upcoming episode on five
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: Minute Friday. The link to do that is in the
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: show notes. I think that's all the housekeeping we.
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: Have for today.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: With that, let's get to it. Let's get to hurdling.
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: Today.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: I am sitting down with Alisia Newman. She is an
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: Olympic pole vaulter. How are you doing today, Alisha?
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: I'm good.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: How are you?
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: I'm so good.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: I'm excited to be here with you today, especially because
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: about a week ago now you just won your fifth
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: national title. You hit the Olympic standard championship record.
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: How are we feeling?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's like one of those things. It's
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: like every four years, you like think it's a long time,
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden, I'm now hit my
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  Speaker 1: third Olympic standard. In god, that's twelve years now, So
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  Speaker 1: it's just mind blowing to me that time goes by fast,
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: but then it also goes by very slow when you're
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: in it. So I don't know, life's been pretty awesome.
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  Speaker 1: I had kind of a rough start in my outdoor season,
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: but kind of figured it out and excited heading into
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  Speaker 1: World Championships in two weeks.
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  Speaker 2: So this is coming out just shy of a week
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  Speaker 2: before you're going to be getting after it in Buddha. Pat,
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: like you said, four years is a lot of time,
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: but no time at all. How does it feel to
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: be in your body at this moment?
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: How are you feeling in your body?
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so right now for me, it's like I'm very,
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: very happy and ecstatic to be where I'm at. It's
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: always been something that it's hard to maintain such a
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: high level of performance through a year and a lot
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: of people. I think for me, I underestimate myself. I mean,
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: I you know, you feel invincible when you're one of
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: the best athletes of all time and you want to
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: be at your best every single competitions, But when it's
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: individual sports, that's just not what it is. And I
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: think that that's what makes a career so beautiful, is
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: being able to constantly feel motivated and getting back into it.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: And so I had a killer indoor season. I won
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: the Indoor World Tour jump four seventy eight, which is
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: a season's best at that time of year. So I
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: knew going into this outdoor season I had these really
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: high hopes and June and halfway through I did not
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: go as I wanted, like at all, like lower heights
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: than I've ever jumped in my career really, and just
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: was kind of shocked on, like not that I wasn't
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: physically there, just my equipment and my technical was not there.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: So that the fact that I didn't like give up,
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: and I kept like pushing and kept showing up. And
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: you know, it's one of those things like you're kind
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: of embarrassed when you're competing and you're not jumping well.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: So for me to be able to keep showing up
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  Speaker 1: doesn't matter how high I jumped, I'm just very proud
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: that I stuck with it because in the end, and
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: again I have very high hopes for World Champs. But
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: if it doesn't pan out the way I hope, I
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: have Olympic standard and I have another year to get
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: shit or get my shit figured out so that I
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: could apply for the Olympics, is which the big stages
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: and our number number one goal right now.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I mean, you're no stranger to dealing with
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: things not going as you'd hoped because of extenuating circumstances
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: coming back from a really gnarly injury cycle leading into
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: the last Olympics. Talk to us a little bit about
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: your concussion before Tokyo.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was shocking because people are like, why'd you
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: fall on the pole vault runway or hit one of
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: the bars, And I said, no, I was literally stepping
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: into a bathtub and they just didn't have, you know,
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: one of those like squshy mats at the bottom, and
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  Speaker 1: I just lost my footing and went face first into
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: the faucet, which at that time it really really hurts,
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: so to be able to like I woke up the
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: next day and like knew, like my head was shaken,
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: but I never really took it serious. And I think
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: it's because, like, we never really talked about brain health,
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: and in my life, brain health was a disease. More
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: so when I was growing up, it was okay, if
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: you have something wrong with your thinking, or you're depressed,
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: or your hormones are off, it all comes through the brain,
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  Speaker 1: So you need to be put on medicine because your brain,
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: your brain's not functioning right. And so no one really
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: said that you could just like shake your head and
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: then you need time to get back and get the
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: neural pathways back. And I never really ever thought about
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: that because for brain health and brain injuries, there's not
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: like a specific time. It's not like, hey, you have
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: to take six weeks off, just like a broken arm
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: or a broken leg. There's no specifics. And I think
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: that that is what was shocking to me, because even now,
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: I still, you know, have sensitive delight. I still if
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: I don't sleep, like if I'm flying and traveling a lot,
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: if I don't get my right amount of sleep, I
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: can feel a little lethargic and a little I wouldn't
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: say depressed, but a little anxious when I'm traveling. And
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: it all comes from taking care of my brain, and
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: so that has been the biggest kind of shift and
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: come back for me was realizing how to continue at
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  Speaker 1: a high level sport, one of the most mental sports
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: with the new brain I had now. That was very
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: challenging and I had to really let myself. I guess
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  Speaker 1: I had to be kind to myself and I had
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  Speaker 1: to let myself go through phases so I could learn.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: And if I tried to bounce back fast and I
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: didn't have the right people on my side, I still
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: don't think I would have been back yet because of
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: how severe the injury was. So for me, it's kind
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: of like a bitter sweet. It was the worst moments
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  Speaker 1: of my life. But oh my gosh, I am happier
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  Speaker 1: and content and stable more than I've ever been in
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  Speaker 1: my life before my concussion and now after my concussion
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  Speaker 1: as well. So I think everything happens for a reason.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, wow, so much to unpack there.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: So first and foremost feeling happier and more stable now
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: than ever. Talk to us about kind of where your
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: mental state was before this injury.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, So for me it was, you know, everything that
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: needs to happen is all about track and field. I
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: needed like, you know, I would say no to certain events,
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: or I would say no to certain friends on going
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: out certain weekends because I had to, you know, have
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: that sacrifice and that determination to be the best, which
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: is what most athletes do. But for me, it wasn't
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: even about saying no to those places. It was about
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: putting myself in environments that didn't have that same goal
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: in mind, if that makes sense. So for me, when
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: I was before my concussion, I would go to events
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: and I could juggle a lot more. I could go
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: to events and I could go party, and I could
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: have a drink here or there. And it's not that
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: I don't think there's a bitter sweet line, like I
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: don't think that completely going cold turkey and excluding yourself
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: from everything is the right thing to do. But I
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: think it's allowed me to show me right now that
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: not putting myself in environments that help that will make
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: me take wrong decisions has only elevated me even more
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: and helped me more with internal I would say, like spiritually, mentally, socially,
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: I'm a better person. That's what I was saying before
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: I was still I was third in the world before
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: my concussion, which was my best season ever in twenty nineteen,
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: and I was living life. I was happy, I was content,
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: I was stable, but I didn't know there was like
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: this superior level to being even more happy, even more stable,
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: even more financially have freedom. And that was all on
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: just like changing my environments. But the only reason I
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: changed my environments was because of my injury. I couldn't
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: go out as much, and I started realizing that when
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: I started taking care of the most important organ in
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: your body, which is your brain, like more doors were opening.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: It was just a really weird environmental switch, if that
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: makes sense. I don't know if people talk about that ever,
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: but just the things that were coming to me, and
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: even deals and sponsorships that were coming to me was
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: way different than what I was getting at my best.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And it's so interesting because what I'm hearing you
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: say is that before your injury, when you were third
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: in the world, you felt like you could kind of
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: have your cake and eat it too. It was like
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: you were putting in the work and you were really
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: working hard. I mean, you're not third in the world
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: just by chance, right, but you were able to indulge
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: in some of these other behaviors that now you're just
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: not partaking in in the same way. So what would
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: you say a holistic picture of your life looks like Now.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I would say there's not much difference other than
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: like my circle has gotten a lot smaller. I've been
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: able to and people w don't know what part of
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: circle and that's what circle they're is. And that's like
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: my biggest accomplishment that I've been able to do is
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: I have one hundred percent circles, I have eighty, I
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: have fifty, and I have five percent circles and the
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: five percenters feel like they're in my one hundred percent.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: And that's what I've been able. I give them five
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: percent of my happiness, five percent of my anger, five
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: percent of my financial, five percent of my time, but
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: they feel so important that they're feel like they are
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: part of this journey. And I've been able to work
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: through that and develop that mentality with my neurologists in California,
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: doctor Daniel Aman, and that has been something I've never like.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: It's like a super power really, so deep down, it's
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: like you're taking care of yourself, but you're still not
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: hurting anyone on the outside. So that selfishness doesn't come across,
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: but really, deep down, you know you're being selfish and
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: taking care of yourself, and that has been the best
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: thing I've ever done for myself.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: I am fascinated by this concept of the five percent
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: circle and those people still feeling like they're in the
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: one hundred percent circle. So how do you only allocate
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: five percent of your care and concern to these people
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: but they feel so fulfilled by your relationship.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: I think the number one thing is is the when
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: I'm in person with them, the presentness that I feel.
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: I also am very good at remembering since I've stopped
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: drinking since twenty twenty one at the beginning of the year.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: I also remember like the most incredible things about someone
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: when I first meet them, and I'll bring up something
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: so specific to think that that I'm constantly following their
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: life and a part of their life, and I do.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: I do want everyone around to be great, but again can't.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: You can't divert your time and effort into every single
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: person you meet. And I think that that's like the
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: coolest thing for me. If I even meet a fan
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: that's been following me and I'm like, oh my god,
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: I saw you in Switzerland and now you're in France
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: with me, Like, how are the fact that I remember that?
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: And I've only been able to adapt that since I've
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: decreased the alcohol intake and actually completely went in cold
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: turkey with it. I remember faces and moments almost like imagery,
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: a little bit like you know when you write something down,
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: you can remember once you wrote it down. Where to me,
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: it's like personalities. Now, I remember smiles, I remember eyes
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: and what we spoke about that day when they see
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: me two three months later down the road. So that's
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: that's been something I've valued. I always remember names, and
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: I always remember something unique and special or something that
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: they even brought to me that day, and that I'll
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: remember and I'll bring up, like you know that day
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: we met. You know you this for me, and I
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: hope you realize you made my life better. And by
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: them feeling that way, they feel better about themselves too.
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: And it's not a lie, it's very much true. But again,
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: that five percent of energy that takes five seconds or
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: ten seconds with them, they the most important person in
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: the world right at that point.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: What's the difference between your relationship with a five percenter
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: versus one hundred percent.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: So those are different. Those are, like, you know, a
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: great example, my mother, my best friends, well even I
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: would say and my best friends will probably kill me
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: if they ever hear those podcasts. But they're kind of
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: on them right now at this point in my career.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: And they know this. They're about the eighty percent, and
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: it's just because I'm not. I have a different I
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: have a different I guess career than they do. You know,
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: they are very successful in their entrepreneurial and they are
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: just incredible people and they motivate me with their determination.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: But I can't spend every weekend with them. I can't
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: build and water that plant every single weekend because then
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: it takes a way from my track side. So the
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: people that are in that one hundred percent circle are
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: the people that know exactly what to say after I
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: have a bad competition. Know who I call The first
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: person I call, It's usually my mom and doctor Aimon
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: and my best friend, and those people kind of see
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: the imperfections of me, if that makes sense, And I'm
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: very within vulnerability around them. I'm very much myself, very
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: I'm never embarrassed with my accomplishments because I know that
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: they're not in my life because of track and field.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: They're in my life because they love me as the person.
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: And that's why I give them one hundred percent. Because
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: a lot of people and relationships that have developed over
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: the years are based off of my looks or my accomplishments,
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: and these ones are rooted and these are from the ground,
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: you know, And that's the difference.
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: How did it feel to get to this place where
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: you have a very true understanding of what your bandwidth is?
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: Were there growing pains associated with this?
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: For sure? I think like the growing pains are more
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: when you are rekindled with friendships. The growing pains are like, oh,
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: you don't text me enough, or you're not around all
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: the time, or I'm not standing in a wedding. I'm
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: not standing in one of my best friend's wedding, And
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: those are not hurtful, but those are moments I wish
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: I could have been a part of. But I know
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: at the end of the day how great and invested
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: I will be once I'm done and accomplish my goals
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: in track, if that makes sense, because that is my
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: goal as soon as I retire. My number one goal
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: is to rekindle and rebuild relationships that I've kind of
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: put on the back burnner or really have given them
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: a little bit less energy, but they've always stuck around
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: and supported me, and that those are the growing pains
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: for me. It was like, gosh, I would have loved
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: to stand next and see my best friend get married
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: and be in that wedding party, but I know I
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: couldn't have been the best wedding party for her. I
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: probably couldn't go to the bachelorette and I probably couldn't,
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: you know, go early to the wedding because I have training,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: And so those are kind of things that you end
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: up just dealing with and you support by going to
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: the wedding and having the best time with your friends,
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: and it's not about you that day anyway. So I
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: just try to not think about those kind of things
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: because again, it's not about me and the people that
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: want to be a part of this journey. Nos. Nos,
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: like Alicia in her mind, right now comes first because
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: it takes everything for me to be at my best self.
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I'm hearing so much awareness about like the
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: stage of life that you're in, right you know that
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: this is how a life is now and it won't
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: be like this forever, and you have deemed that this
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: is a high priority for you, and so that's how
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: you're going to move forward through the world at this
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: moment exactly.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: You like said it better than I could. Like, it's
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: just the state these stages and chapters in my lifestyle.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: And that's what I think, even when it became financial stuff,
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: like people want everything right now, and I am that.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: I am that person. I'll wake up and I'm like,
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: I want to do this. Oh wait, Like even last night,
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: my friends were at the tennis match and my polls
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: didn't land in time, so I had to drive all
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: the way back to Buffalo to get my polls. But
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: I got invited by Tennis Canada to go and watch
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: all the players play. And I'm just like, oh, why
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: does this happen to me? Like I want to go,
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: But probably was best because I got home at nine
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: and I went to better early and now I feel
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: great this morning. You know, there's like always these little
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: levels you want everything at this time, but we have
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: to realize opportunities are constantly coming. We're an athlete's career.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: It is only maybe like I don't know, my goal
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: is to go past Paris twenty twenty four, but we'll
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: see if my body allows me.
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: To mm hmm, yeah. Yeah.
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: You know, we're talking about chapters in life, right, and
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: we talked about the chapter of dealing with your concussion
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: before we move into talking about what comes after that recovery.
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: I do want a home in a little bit on
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: the difficulties that came hand in hand with not being
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: able to perform as you knew that you once could
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: after that injury. Talk to me about going to the
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: Tokyo Olympics.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, oh gosh. I love all the time because people
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: we talk so much about it and it's so relatable.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: But it's definitely one of the worst moments of my
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: life that I tried to tell everyone I was okay
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: and everything was going to be all right and I
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: don't need help. I got this. Everything always clicks and
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: everything always comes together. And when it didn't and I'm
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: standing at the Olympic Games and I don't even take
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: one jump and I don't care, that is when I
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: knew something was wrong. Because it's already so hard to
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: get to the Olympics and I didn't care if I
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: did well or not. That's kind of when I knew
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: I wasn't okay. And I think that that was a
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: rush of emotion that hit me all at once, and
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: I just kind of went cold turkey. I slept for
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: like six days straight in my parents' bed, didn't leave
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: their house. And it was one of those things. I
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: it wasn't like I was depressed. I was so burnt out.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: I was so tired. I was so tired of showing
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: up and performing and trying to be in my absolute best,
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: but my body not responding and I didn't understand why.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: And that's when I did that reach out to the
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: aiming clinics in California and I called doctor Ahm and
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: I said, I don't know what's going on, and this
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: is my story and this is what has happened. And
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: I feel like I'm being over dramatic, and he goes
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: over dramatic and he like stopped me right there, and
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: he goes, get on the next flight to California. We're
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: going to ski in your brain. And as soon as
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: we figured it out that there wasn't proper blood flow,
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: there wasn't popper like they call it neuro transmitters, so
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: the way that your pathways of your brain goes, those
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: were shaken. There's a lot of fluid in my back,
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: kind of where your subconscious brain is, and there was
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: also like an explosion. He calls it in the front
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: of my temple lobe and he goes, wow, you've been
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: through a lot lately, h And just by looking at
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: my brain he could he could understand what was going on.
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: And I think that that is what gave me hope
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: that like, Okay, it's not a quick and easy fix.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: This is going to take time, and that that's what
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: kept me going because there was still answers Team Canada
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: and our organization, Athletics Canada. They kind of were treating
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: the symptoms rather than the actual injury. So a lot
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: of my symptoms were I was tired, I was lack
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: of motivation, I was sad, I was emotional, I could
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: cry on demand, and I just didn't want to live
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: really like there was I didn't feel like there was
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: a purpose. And so they're like, oh, she's depressed. Here's
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: some anti depressors, and that completely messed me up. Actually
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: broke out in hives and had allergic reaction to those.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: So when doctor Amond called me in and we did
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: the brain scan and we figured out everything from there,
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: and he put me on this vitamin regiment. Within three
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: four months, I felt completely better and completely different. But
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: it took a while. And I think that that's what
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: is so negative about our society right now. You know,
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: we're so used to this quick fix. You know, I
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: want a little bit bigger lips. Okay, I'll go get
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: some lip in plants. Okay, I want to skin your
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: away so well you can get fat reduction. Make me
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: put on your back, you know, like it's such a
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: quick fix instead of like making these proper, proper life decision,
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: that's going to be like an investment in yourself to
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: get the long term of being healthier. And that was
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: our goal. Doctor Amand's goal wasn't to get me back
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: on the track. He's like, I just want you to
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: get back to being happy human, feel like you have
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: a purpose in life. And when he said that to me,
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: that's when I knew it wasn't a good like a
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: good situation, and I needed to take time away. And
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: I did step away six months from pole vaulting completely
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: erase my mind from any negative that had created. Because
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: even though I was at one of the highest levels
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: at the Olympic games and I didn't jump. There's trauma
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: from that, right, Like you go to a highest Olympic
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: game and you're talking to people and I remember people saying,
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: like my conversations at the Olympics were, I don't really
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: care that I'm here. Like I developed these words and
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: this trauma in those sixteen days of being at the
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: Olympics that were rooted in my brain as well. And
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: that's what people underestimate on how you speak to yourself,
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: on who you surround yourself with, people being positive and uplifting.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: I was being so negative that it became my thought process,
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: and that's what was the hardest to change the view
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: on life. Everything is half full now, you know. Everything
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: in my life is oh, oh that's exciting. That's exciting
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: that I got a parking ticket. I'm donating to the city,
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: Like that's my lifestyle now, you know.
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: Wow, Just so many nuggets in here.
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: First and foremost, I watched you're sit down with doctor Amen,
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: and you know, when you're talking about having the right
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: people on your side, it's very clear that that's a
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: relationship that happened for you. And I saw that you
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: got emotional when you talked to him about how you
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: felt when you couldn't see. You know, you couldn't see
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: because there were these bright lights and people made you
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: feel as though it would just get better. And in reality,
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: your literal chemistry, your bringing chemistry in this moment because
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: of what had happened to you, was making it impossible
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: to do the thing that you had so easily at
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: one other time exceled in. So in this work with
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: doctor Aman, what would you say has been one of
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: your biggest light bulb moments?
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the first was the lifestyle change, and
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: that's just my daily vitamins, you know, like I get
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: my blood taken every three months. I'm on iron, I'm
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: on probiotics, I'm on magnesium before ben, I'm on B complex,
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: I'm on vitamin D and like a Tumeric to help
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: with my joints before and after practice. So that was huge.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: But what was huge about that was being consistent then
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: realizing just because you've got your blood taken and you
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: were deficient for this time, something's going to be different
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: next time and you have to adjust. So your body
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: does adapt and your body does hold level. So when
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: I got my blood taken six months from that three months,
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: I was I didn't need any more vitamin D, so
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: we decreased it a little. So I think what's important
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: is being consistent with yourself and constantly showing up for yourself.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: But what was like the best thing was constantly realizing
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: you're growing and you're a different person every single day
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: and being okay with that, but kind of making it
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: like cool, like what's going to happen today, you know,
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: like what's new today. And then I invested in a
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: hyperbaric chamber. So I take ninety minute naps every other
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: day in the hyperbaric chamber. And that is just like
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: so cool because it allows me to get in this chamber.
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: You can bring your phone, you can work, you can
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: do whatever you wanted in there. But for me, that's
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: my time to like be off social, be off everything
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: and just like take a nap and let my brain
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: rest with lots of oxygen in that chamber. So that
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: was a huge thing because the vitamins help. But then
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: we are wearing and tearing on the mental performance and
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: mental health every single day, so you need to go
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: another next level up and then we did. So these
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: are steps, right, So this was like, you know, the
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: first six months was changing up vitamins and really stand
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: on top of that. Then we added the hyperbarre chamber.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: Then finally and doctor even never pressed me, and that
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: was what was so cool about our relationship, and he
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: is one of my best friends like till this day.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: Was he goes, alcohol is bad for you. I don't
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: know why you drink it, but I understand why you
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: have a glass every so often and you do that.
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: And then twenty twenty two came around and I was like, gosh,
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: I'm so tired of being fourth and fifth. What is
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: going to like get me to that next level? I said,
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: why don't I just start with taking out alcohol? So
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: I started September. Actually, remember the last night I drank.
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: September twenty second, twenty twenty two was the last time
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: I drank.
• 28:43
  Speaker 3: What was that night?
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: It was crazy at the weekend concerts, so it was
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: like it was a perfect finale night, a lot of
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: tequila shots, a lot of athletes out and partying and
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: dancing on a Thursday night actually, but it was fun.
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: But that next day I come to myself and probably
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: a little because I kind of felt like shit in
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: the morning as well. So when I woke up, I
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: was like I think I'm going to do it this season.
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: I'm just going to go cold Turkey and see and
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: if it doesn't work, nothing Like, I don't lose anything.
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: I'm still fourth or fifth.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: Like I'm not getting better, not getting worse. It is
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: what it is. And then I went and I won
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: the Indoor World Tour in February, and I just was
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: like wow, Like not that it was easy, but I
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: gave myself a level up from the other girls, if
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: that makes sense. And I'm not saying all the other
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: girls drinks. Some don't, some do, but it just made
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: me feel more not only like more physically better, but
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: like I said, I was present. I was able to
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: have conversations that I remembered I had with them six
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: months ago, and my friendships got stronger. My family members
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: became closer to me because I could remember these things.
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: And I'm not saying it's just because of the drinking,
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: but it definitely was a huge part of that recovery
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: and completely feeling invincible again and getting that evidence back
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: that it took a long time to even feel that.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: And I've been working with doctor Emond for two years now.
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and that was going to be my next question is,
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: aside from you know, cutting out the alcohol, in this
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: timeline of recovery, when would you say you actually really
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: started to feel like your old self when it came
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: to hitting the runway and pull vaulting.
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: I would say probably January. Like I was having practices
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: that my coaches are so funny because they're just like
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: they see me as like the best in the world,
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: and I love that. But I would jump and they
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: would like giggle like with each other, like, oh my god,
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: this looks so good.
• 30:40
  Speaker 3: Oh my god, it's gonna.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: Be so And that's kind of how I knew I
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: was getting back to where I was in twenty nineteen,
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: but better like and that that was cool for me
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: because I thought, and that's what a lot of people
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: feel like, you know, you get injured, you get hurt,
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: they have that saying you take two steps back to
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: take two steps forward or whatever, but no, like within
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: that matter And I understand twenty nineteen to twenty twenty
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: three is three years, four years, but really it came
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: back a lot faster because I dedicated that time and
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: I was consistent, and to get to that level again
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: was there was always there, it was just from within
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: and that was the difference.
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: And I love what you were kind of getting at
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: about what's the worst thing that can happen? Like, the
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: worst thing that could happen for you was that you
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: ended exactly where you started, right, So to.
• 31:34
  Speaker 3: Make a small change and just experiment.
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: You knew that the cost benefit analysis, like there were
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: potentially a lot of benefits for you. But if the
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: worst thing is just being where you started, then that's
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: not actually all that bad, no.
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: And that's what I think people are scared of, like
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: not scared of like them losing fun, but maybe scared
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: of seeing how cool and how much more potential they
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: have with something that society is not doing because society
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: is doing it, so when I'm not doing it, And
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: that was the huge mental shift, Like I want to
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: be in an environment, not as above society, but in
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: an environment that they might be making the wrong decisions.
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: And so when I'm in and when I'm in a
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: room now and I'm in a party, like I feel
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: so confident because I'm like they're not taking care of
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: their brain health and I am right now and I'm present,
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: and they're not going to remember tonight, and I'm going
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: to remember these memories and so it's not about being
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: better to like show off to people. It's about being better,
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: like feeling better in yourself, like, oh my gosh, I
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: woke up, I got my workout in the next day,
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: I had a whole day, and I don't feel like shit.
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: I'm not sad, I'm not overthinking. Like all these things
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: stemmed down and it's a right now. Alcohol And it's cool.
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: I think doctor Amon I was just on the phone
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: with him yesterday and he said, I think Switzerland or
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: maybe it's Sweden. Sweden or Switzerland is now putting on
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: their alcohol labels could cause cancer and brain health problems.
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: So it's kind of cool to see that one country's
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: kind of going in and doing that now. But it's
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: just like how back in the day cigarettes and now
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: cigarettes are the worst thing for us, and we have
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: to realize that our society is trying to make money
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: right off of us. And I don't disagree on not
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: having a good time. I love having good time. I
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: love torking, going to clubs and turning up I do.
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: It's so much fun. But there's also so much peace
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: and so much fulfillment in going home to a good
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: sleep and waking up having a full day the next
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: day as well.
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: Taking a break from today's episode to talk to you
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• 35:23
  Speaker 2: I also want to dial back a little bit to
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: the period of time where you decided, along with doctor Aman,
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: that you were going to treat what happened to you
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: and the root causes of some of the issues that
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: you were dealing with, rather than just put a band
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: aid on it. You mentioned the hyperbaric chamber for those
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: that may not know, Basically, what happens inside of a
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: hyperbaric chamber is that the air pressure and size raised
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: to a level that is higher than normal air pressure,
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: and then that increased air pressure in the chamber helps
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: the lungs collect more oxygen. So through this essentially getting
• 35:59
  Speaker 2: more oxygen to your chin, shoes can help the body, heal,
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: fight infection, all the things that are really good, especially
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: if you're trying to level up your athletic performance, and
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: again heal your brain from a very real injury.
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think that that's like our whole life.
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: We talked about concussions all the time, stay away from screens,
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: you know, sleep and take your time to get back.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: But it's like more needs to be done with those.
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: And then brain injuries can also come from traumas, and
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: I didn't know that, Like, you know, having a conversation
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: with someone that hurts your feelings, that's like a little
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: bit of trauma, and people underestimate that. And that when
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: I started realizing, like if people are being negative, even
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: about other people, those are little traumas in my brain
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: that will go off and it will stick with me.
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: And I didn't want to be around that. So that's
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: why my environment's changed as well.
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and then this goes back to your whole five percent,
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: et cetera circle method. It's so interesting to hear it
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: described in that way, right. We can liken it to
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: when you do an interval workout, and that creates those
• 37:07
  Speaker 2: small muscular traumas, those small muscular tears, which we often
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: give between twenty four and forty eight hours before working again.
• 37:16
  Speaker 3: So can you imagine what would happen if.
• 37:20
  Speaker 2: Every time you just felt a little stressed out, you
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: took twenty four to forty eight hours off of that
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: one person, that one situation that one thing, what it
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: could do for our personal betterment.
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: It's so cool and that's such a I've never heard
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: that perspective, Like that's huge. And one thing I mean
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: I could give advice is one thing that we've done
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: is kind of switch the mind of like if someone's
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: being negative. So there's sometimes like I'll be on the
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: in field and the girls will be like, oh it's
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: windy out, or it's like this. I sit back and
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: they're in the red, so they're batteries in the red.
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: But the more negative I hear from them, the more
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: green I'm getting because I'm not saying it. So that's
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: kind of how you avoid it. So doctor Aaman and
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: I I have figured out mentalities and analogies to try
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: to avoid, to try to not just have to walk
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: away from a person, right because that's kind of mean too.
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: So any negative that is coming out of their mouth
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: is coming into my ear positive though it's windy, oh,
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: well it's going to be a nice day to day,
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: Like you know it's windy. Oh it's a nice brush
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: of fresh air, you know. So the negative turn into
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: the positive, which then you internalize and that fills your
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: green battery. Up is what we do.
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: And this takes practice and skill, right, It's not like
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: all of a sudden one day you can decide like
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: I want to filter everything from red to green for myself.
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: You really need to take the time to learn how
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: to adapt and adopt that mindset.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: It's huge. And that's the thing. It was like, I
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: never like to take thialinol or medication because it's like
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: my body's trying to tell me something. It's like, okay,
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: if I'm feeling a little like the other day, for example,
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: I had I had flown an overnight flight, then had
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: two days, then was flying all the way back to
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: Memphis and then jumped but it was like one hundred
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: and three fahrenheits so thirty six celsius. And then I
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: flew again the next morning at four am, and I
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: hadn't had sleep, and when I landed, I was like,
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: I don't I don't want a pull vault right now.
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: And I was like, whoa, wha, whoa, what's happening? And
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: I called doctor Aim And that's why I called him.
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: I said, I'm feeling like I don't have a purpose
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: right now. He goes, well, I all vac knows my skeedule.
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: He goes, well, I've seen you gone to six different
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: time zones the last four weeks. How about you try
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: a twelve hours sleep tonight and then get back to
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: me tomorrow. And again, I woke up this morning completely
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: different mindset. And that's why when you're at your when
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: you're at that's why they talk about when you're intoxicated,
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: you're not making the right decisions. Same with when you're fatigued,
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: when you're burnt out at the end of the work week,
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: you're like, oh, I need to celebrate and go get
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: a drink. You should go and celebrate and take a
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: nice nap, then maybe go on and socialize, you.
• 40:04
  Speaker 3: Know, celebrate with that nap.
• 40:08
  Speaker 2: I appreciate what you're saying though about these different mindsets,
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: and I know that one of the mindsets that you
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: personally adopt when you are out there, you call your
• 40:17
  Speaker 2: superhero state. Talk to me a little bit about what
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: that means for you.
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think, well, again, pull vault is not your
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: normal on the ground. You know, staying on the ground,
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: you're really catapulting yourself to higher heights and defining gravity,
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: which takes a little bit of imagination and so for me,
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: I needed to find like just the same thing. When
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: I put certain makeup on for that day, it's like
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: my war paint, Like I'm coming out of this time
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: to battle. And a superhero is is is in selfish,
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: so it's powerful and people look up to it, but
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: you're there to protect others. Well, the protection from me
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: in that analogy is to inspire others. So I put
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: on this armor and it ends up not being about me.
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: It's about, you know, going to World Championships. It's not
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: about me jumping high and breaking the Canadian record and
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: bringing home a medal about my career. It's about representing
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: the country at my best ability and being proud to
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: be Canadian and wearing that armor and that superhero feel.
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: So that's that to me, is a mentality I have
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: to bring myself to because if I don't, then it
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: just feels like an every other day, if that makes sense.
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: And in practice those are just kind of normal days
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: because we're working on cues that I want to adapt
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: that will be consistent in practice, that will transfer over
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: into the competition. And I just feel like when you
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: see a superhero, you just are like whoa, or there's
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: something that's going to happen, or you're on the edge
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: of your seat. So that anticipation allows people to forget
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: what's going on in their life. And I know, and
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: I know life is an easy and life's not hard,
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: and you have to really work on your happiness and
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: your inner self and your purpose in life. And so
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: if I can take that anticipation to them for two
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: hours in their week when I'm competing worldwide, then that
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: is a fulfillment for me to be one of the
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: best pull vulters of all time.
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: It also sounds like through going into this superhero mind state,
• 42:24
  Speaker 2: so to speak, you're really allowed to focus on what
• 42:27
  Speaker 2: is instead of worrying about what isn't.
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, and that's and that's the best part is
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: like what is what isn't? You could go back and
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: forth all day. But what is so cool is you're
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: just present and you're here, and you're you're raising the
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: bar as high as you can for entertainment to please
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: people around as well. And I think that that's really cool.
• 42:49
  Speaker 2: Now that entertainment value and how you show up has
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: certainly ebbed and flowed over the last three four years,
• 42:59
  Speaker 2: especially with the pandemic. These days, do you feel as
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: though track and field your sport, it's finally back to
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: this perception, this place that we were pre pandemic.
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: I think track and field has always been overlooked pre
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: post pandemic, but definitely when it was in the pandemic,
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: you could definitely see this drop off. And I do
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: feel like we're getting back to where it was before.
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: I think, you know, I just got back from London,
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: UK in July, so July twenty fifth, I think I
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: got back and it was fifty thousand attendants sold out stadium,
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: and that is huge for us because when you go
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: to countries like that and they support track and field
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: to that elite level, you're elevated. You're like, Okay, it's
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: time to put on a show. You know, fifty thousand
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: people are here to watch me. And I do feel
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: like we are actually going to get better, because I
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: do feel like little movements in women's sport is slowly
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: getting better as well, and I think that that's so
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: cool that we're able to showcase in front of so
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: many people. But track and field will always be considered
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: an amateur sport, and that is some people's biggest issue
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: with it, you know, it's doesn't get you don't get
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: paid that type of money to be at that level,
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: you know. But again you have to realize a lot
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: of us wish we could get paid what the one
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: percent of amateur sports do, but not everyone's going to
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: get paid like that. And I would still do POVO
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: with or without an income. I wouldn't do POVO if
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: I wasn't at the best competitions, that's for sure. I
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: think that that's just my pride and probably a little
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: ego in me, just because I've seen it at a
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: high level. But I definitely feel that track will always
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: be the it's sport of the Olympics, and you can't
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: make a sport every four years if you want it
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: to be the best or in the world.
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: If that makes sense, yeah, yeah, So it means that
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: there needs to be more dollars that not only go
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: into supporting track and field, but then also supporting women
• 45:10
  Speaker 2: in track and field and supporting the visibility, especially when
• 45:14
  Speaker 2: you get to know the different modalities that are happening
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: in the center of the track. Right, it feels like
• 45:20
  Speaker 2: there's less and less awareness about that.
• 45:22
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: I don't always love to jump back and forth like this,
• 45:26
  Speaker 2: but I feel like I would be remiss if we
• 45:28
  Speaker 2: didn't at least give the hurdlers a little bit of
• 45:31
  Speaker 2: insight into how you started pole vaulting, because it goes
• 45:35
  Speaker 2: without saying it's not like the most jazzy, dazzling sport
• 45:39
  Speaker 2: option that there is.
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I know. And that's so funny because I
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: still to this day, like I talked to Nei Ali
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: and I'm like, listen, I'm ready to come hurdle with you, girl,
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: like whenever, and she just laughed. Likely, so you're so
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: good at puvoll, just stick to puvall. But that's me
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: how my career started. I started as a hurdler after
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: a gymnastics injury, and and I loved it. But to me,
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: it was like, I don't know, like even gymnastics, you know,
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: you put in I was training about like twenty eight
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: to thirty two hours a week, depending on that level,
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: and there was four events, so you were able to
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: kind of like be out on the floor for four
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: five hours, right, and you can showcase your different strength
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: on being bars, vaults or floor. When I went to track,
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: I tried all the events and it was fun because
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: it was taking up my time. But then I wasn't
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: the best at every event. I was really good at
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: hurdles and really good at pole vaults, and so I
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: loved hurdles. I loved that it wasn't just as straightaway
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: run as fast as you can. I love that there
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: was obstacles in between. But then I didn't like that
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: you were only on the runway for twelve seconds. Like
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: I'm like, I train all this time to run twelve
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: seconds and fly across the world to run twelve seconds
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: and do all this for twelve seconds, Like pole vault
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: really gave me this time to showcase and jump and
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: be in it and have this like this this fun
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: atmosphere where you get to socialize with the girls, And
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: that's kind of one of my favorite part. I know,
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: the sprinters are a little more like intense when they
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: get to the line, and then a lot of them
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: probably don't hang out after. And for us pole vaulters,
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: we're stuck with each other for four hours on the infield,
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: so we get to talk to them about you know, life, families,
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: some have babies, you know, we talk about stuff and
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: you become very connected and it becomes like a family
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: to you. And I think that that is why pole
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: vault became such a dominant but hurdles. I go watch
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: it every single Olympics. I watch Nia all the time.
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: I'm like her biggest fan, and I have the best time.
• 47:40
  Speaker 2: The pure grace, Like it's no surprise to me that
• 47:43
  Speaker 2: you have a background as a ten year professional gymnast,
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: because you look at like the grace and skill that
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: you have in the air when you're doing this what
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: looks like superhuman task and it is absolutely stunning. And
• 47:56
  Speaker 2: also of note, in your first ninety days of pole vaulting,
• 48:00
  Speaker 2: at the first meet you ever went to, you broke
• 48:02
  Speaker 2: the meat record, so you were kind of dustined for
• 48:05
  Speaker 2: greatness from the moment that you began.
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I laughed that. I tell my mom, I
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: was like, Mom, you couldn't just like put me in
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: a sport a that made a lot more money for
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: females and be that kept me on the ground. She goes, well,
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: I didn't know you were just were so fast, so
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: I just put you in track.
• 48:19
  Speaker 2: You brought up money a few times now, so I
• 48:21
  Speaker 2: just want to ask you a question on that. I
• 48:23
  Speaker 2: know that you're a Nike sponsored athlete, you also have
• 48:26
  Speaker 2: some other partnerships and sponsorship deals and at one point
• 48:29
  Speaker 2: you even dipped into only fans.
• 48:31
  Speaker 3: How has only fans been for you?
• 48:33
  Speaker 2: And how do you feel about the stigma that surrounds
• 48:36
  Speaker 2: other content on the platform?
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you know. It was one of those
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: things like I a I am so proud to be
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: a Nike athlete. I have a picture of when I
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: think it was in my eight year old birthday and
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: I'm like, Mom, I want a NIKEI cake because I'm
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: going to be a Nike athlete one day. So this
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: really cute picture of a Nike cake and with all
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: my friends standing around. So I knew I wanted to
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: be obviously one of the best athletes of all time
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: and get sponsorship, and I wanted my career to be
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: more more than just about your performance. I wanted it
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: to be about interaction with people and elevating people to
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: be at their best potential in life. Like that to
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: me is like priceless, like changing someone's life. You can't
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: pay somebody one hundred million dollars and then completely change
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: your life unless you're consistent about it. And I think
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: that that was something I wanted to impact and knew
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: that I was never going to get paid for it.
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: But then I have this other side of me that
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: is an entrepreneurial and I do love a little bit.
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: I don't want to say drama, but I like a pizaz.
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: I like to be different than everyone else, and I
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: wanted to be a part of the only fans community
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: because of what type of brand I had developed. But
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: I wanted to be compensated for it because I felt
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: like my lifestyle was so cool to a point that
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: I wanted to bring people around we that were track
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: fans that will never get an experience like I could,
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: And I just felt like that was always unfair that like,
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: just because I'm an Olympic athlete, no one could ever
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: see what the Olympic village looked like because they will
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: never be an Olympian. So my thought was, I obviously
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: knew like I didn't have the best lead up to
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: Tokyo twenty twenty one, and I wanted to somehow monetize
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: myself and my career that year on giving back to people.
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: And this was this is when I go in selfish
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: because I knew like I couldn't really get a medal, like,
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: so how can I still bring pizam through myself? And
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: some spark and to make it give myself attention. And
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: so I said, well, covid hit, there's no attendance to
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: the Olympics, no one's allowed to come. How can I
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: bring my fans to the Olympics. And that's when my
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: agents and I we talked about why don't you launch
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: an OnlyFans for sixteen days?
• 50:58
  Speaker 3: And I was so like, I.
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: Don't know, like the bad rap, like you know, that's
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: kind of where the adult entertainment went because everything was closed,
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: and that's where it became like a huge thing. I said,
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: I don't want to be associated, not because I'm embarrassed
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: at them, but because I don't want people to think
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: like I'm a part of anything that's X rated, right,
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: And so they're like, well, there's bitter spee. If you
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: can have thick skin and you can be a part
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: of it, you'd be the first Olympian to do it.
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: And I think it'd be pretty successful, not just by
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: getting your brand up, by getting noise about the Olympics,
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: and then an income on top of that. And so
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: I said, I sat down for a couple of like
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: weeks with them. I talk to my parents, I talk
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: to my siblings. I talk to everyone and they're like,
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: I don't know why you wouldn't like because my sisters
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: and my sister and my brothers, they'll watch me online.
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: And the number one things like reporters would say is
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: like talk about our looks, talk about what we're wearing,
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: talk about our eyes, talk about our hair and what
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: is And it's like people already do it. The people
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: already sexualize women in sport because of.
• 52:05
  Speaker 3: The outfits we wear.
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: And I said, so, that's not going to be any different.
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: So I said, fine, you know what, let's do it.
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: Let's see how it goes. It went so well, girl,
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: And I'm still on it now and I don't need
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: to promote it because I have a huge following on it.
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: I do so well on it. But what has made
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: me so excited about it is I've never had to
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: go into that adult entertainment X rated. But it's to
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: a point for me it's like I am so happy
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: I did it because I've now monetized myself in a
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: way that I can control all the outcome of it.
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: Like I've sold some workouts, Like I've written workout programs
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: for people on there. They pay for them and to
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: me that I can do that and get you know
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: that income for my time has been way more beneficial
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: for me and the most incredible thing I've done in
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: my career. And again, I don't really care what people
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: say about me. I've never been that person because I
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: don't understand why people get all worked up on people
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: they don't even know saying stuff. It's like, how can
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: you take that personal? If my mom were to say
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: something that was different? And that's why I went to
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: my family at first, and when they didn't care, and
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: they didn't and they said, We're okay. My Dad's like, girl,
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: you should monetize as much as you can. And we did,
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: and we had limits and that those were our limits.
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: And I'm completely proud and would do it all over again,
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: and almost I wish I would have done it sooner.
• 53:34
  Speaker 2: You have something like thirty five thousand people that subscribe
• 53:37
  Speaker 2: to your only fans, and I think it starts at
• 53:39
  Speaker 2: about twenty dollars a month. So that's a little side entrepreneur,
• 53:43
  Speaker 2: if you will.
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: And that's the thing. It was like I wanted more
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: than I have I do. I have this lifestyle that
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: I want to live and it's it's definitely not going
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: to be off of a amateur athlete's income, and you know,
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: and that's that's just the life it is, and that's
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: what I want. So I decided to be I think
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: it was one of the second or third Olympians to
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: launch that, and it went really well and I still
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: have it to this day, and I'll definitely do another
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: round and even better for Paris. I think Paris. For
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: my followers and fans, they're gonna be excited because I'm
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: going to wear a camera on my shirt every day
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: and then editors are going to edit and post it
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: up for them. So that's what it is like during
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: COVID and what it was like now with outside of
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: a pandemic.
• 54:32
  Speaker 2: Very different vibe. Right now, as someone goes to your
• 54:36
  Speaker 2: Instagram page, they see a two time Olympic pol vaulter
• 54:41
  Speaker 2: with something like almost six hundred thousand followers. When you
• 54:45
  Speaker 2: look in the mirror, alsha, what is it that you
• 54:47
  Speaker 2: see looking back at you?
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: I am so like I love turning the impossible to possibilities.
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: I don't do well with people that say no or
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: don't agree with being better. I have a very lowsh
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: like they could say, like a small amount of energy
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: for those type of people. And I think that that
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: is what I'm most proud of who I've become. I
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: literally never give up and the things. There's been one
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: one thing in my life that I've given up on
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: and it was a must because it was unhealthy for
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: me and him. And I think that that to this
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: day doesn't eat at me, but it just it was
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: like I couldn't help or I couldn't fix. And I
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: think that that's what I'm so thankful for, Like I
• 55:37
  Speaker 1: will go to the ends of earth, especially if I
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: love you, to make an environment healthy and happy and
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: to uplift people, because I think we need more of that.
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: And it's not about money, it's not about looks and
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: what you have materials. It's about the energy you can
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: give to somebody that just maybe will make their heart
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: a little bit happier that day. And that's the type
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: of energy I hope I can give to everyone that
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: meets or comes across my path.
• 56:09
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 56:10
  Speaker 2: What I'm hearing you say when it comes to the
• 56:12
  Speaker 2: situation that you had to quote unquote give up on,
• 56:15
  Speaker 2: is that you just choose yourself.
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, And that's true because if you sit there
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: and you do analyze an unhealthy and abusive relationship. You
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: I think you're in it because you want to keep
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: building and developing and getting better. But then there's a
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: point where it's just you. Like you said, you have
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: to choose yourself, and I'm so lucky i did. Like
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: I know so many friends of mine that are in
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: that right now. And if there's any wisdom is like
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: I always say, people like nothing venture, nothing gain, try
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: to take space away from it and see if your
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: life does get better or not. And for me, I
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: couldn't see it until like five six months later. And
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: I'm so fortunate because now it's so be a little
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: funny because I actually feel more powerful single than I
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: do in a relationship. And I think that you need
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: to get to that point in your life so that
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: you can then be the best mother, the best friend,
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: the best daughter, the best sibling you know, and the
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: best girlfriend and wife. And I'm very fortunate for that
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: experience because I don't think I'd be as strong as
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: I am today without it.
• 57:23
  Speaker 2: As well, firstly, yell at from the rooftops. I feel
• 57:27
  Speaker 2: more powerful single than I do feel in a relationship.
• 57:30
  Speaker 2: I'm sure there are a lot of people that need
• 57:32
  Speaker 2: to hear that listening to this right now, and this
• 57:35
  Speaker 2: really just expands upon the through line. Here you talked
• 57:39
  Speaker 2: about how difficult and saddening and frustrating and dark it
• 57:44
  Speaker 2: felt to go through the hurdle of navigating that concussion.
• 57:47
  Speaker 2: Likewise here going through what was at times as you
• 57:50
  Speaker 2: articulated a somewhat emotionally abusive relationship. Both of those things
• 57:54
  Speaker 2: so awful in their own right, but on the other side,
• 57:58
  Speaker 2: now you can see the beauty in what were these
• 58:00
  Speaker 2: really difficult moments.
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think that you don't you don't build
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: that character without failure or negativity or realizing you don't
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: like you're not okay, Like if you or we're good
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: all the time like you would, you would not be
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: living like these emotions and these these obstacles allow you
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: to feel like a human, And I think we underestimate that,
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: Like being not okay is like so beautiful, Like knowing
• 58:29
  Speaker 1: that the spot you're in in your life you don't
• 58:31
  Speaker 1: want to be here. It's awesome because now you know
• 58:34
  Speaker 1: you don't want to be in this situation. So let's
• 58:35
  Speaker 1: fucking move forward and let's try to make myself feel better.
• 58:39
  Speaker 3: What uh, what excites you right now? Alisha, Oh, that's
• 58:42
  Speaker 3: a good question.
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: I'm really excited because I've gotten on the phone with
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: a couple of well A World Championships huge coming forward.
• 58:51
  Speaker 1: I'm super excited. But as a lot of people, we
• 58:53
  Speaker 1: don't talk, we try not to overthink pool. But off
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: the track, I've been looking into private lending, so I
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: would love to open up my own private lending, be
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: a little corporation that I could help out, whether it's
• 59:06
  Speaker 1: other athletes, because I mean, if you don't, if you're
• 59:09
  Speaker 1: not in amateur sports, you know how hard it is
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: to qualify for a mortgage, how hard it is to
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: get off your feet because your income is so sporadic.
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: You don't have in Canada, we don't have like that
• 59:19
  Speaker 1: T four. You know that you're getting bi weekly or weekly.
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: So if I could do some private lending and work
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: with athletes to help them get a mortgage and get off,
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: that's kind of like what I'm really excited. I've been
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: learning a lot about that the last month and doing
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: a couple of phone calls with a couple of companies
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: about starting that. So hopefully after Worlds I can get
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: that up and going as well.
• 59:41
  Speaker 3: Wow, love this entrepreneurial side of you.
• 59:44
  Speaker 2: It's like my sets up call with Alisia for next
• 59:48
  Speaker 2: week to talk about money.
• 59:50
  Speaker 3: Okay, amazing.
• 59:53
  Speaker 2: No, I just like so jazzed by you and so
• 59:55
  Speaker 2: excited for you, and truly it feels really inspiring. I've
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 2: inspired to hear you talk about your both enthusiasm for
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 2: Spore and for everything else in life, knowing that the
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 2: journey hasn't been easy. And I think it's so important
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 2: to talk about that because a lot of people lose
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 2: sight of the fact that quote unquote overnight success isn't
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 2: overnight at all.
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: Oh not at all. And I think like, the longer
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 1: you're in it and you put more in it, the
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: less you'll give up. So if you're investing in yourself
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: every day you put some time, you put that money in,
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 1: then you can go back and be like, no, it
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 1: still don't feel good. It's been two months, but I
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: put in all this time enough or why am I
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 1: giving up? And like, I think that that's huge because
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: again I didn't start feeling good for my concussion until
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 1: three four months after getting on the right regiment, and
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: there's time to give up. But that is I always
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: say that too, and That's why I never retired after Tokyo.
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 1: You never make a decision, a huge and drastic decision
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: at your lowest, never like that is the number one
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: rule I live by. So whether I'm tired and I'm
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: like I don't want to do anything, I kind of
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: do opposite because I'm like, uh uh, don't make a
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 1: drastic decision, you know. And that's huge for me and
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: it's helped me actually listen to my gut more than
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: my heart or emotions. Does that make sense?
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 2: Gotta follow your guy? Well, that's an amazing piece of advice.
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 2: I'm going to ask you for one more.
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 3: Right now.
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 2: You have an opportunity to offer yourself a piece of
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 2: advice going through that really difficult hurdle moment, wondering if
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 2: maybe it was the end of the road for you
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 2: and your pull vaulting.
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 3: Career after that concussion.
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 2: Knowing what you know, now, what advice would you offer
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 2: yourself going through that hurdle moment.
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: I think the biggest hurdle moment obviously was that concussion.
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: And for me, like I wish I was more kind
• 1:01:47
  Speaker 1: to myself. I wish I allowed myself for imperfection and
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 1: go through the imperfection phase. I wish I allowed myself
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: to feel negative and be okay with the activity, and
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 1: that was huge for me. Once I realized and was
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 1: on the other side, was like, yeah, I didn't feel good,
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: But I wish I would have said, it's okay because
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 1: this is where you're at, and just know that there
• 1:02:14
  Speaker 1: will be a better ending as long as you're putting
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 1: that time and that effort in.
• 1:02:20
  Speaker 2: Meet yourself with where you're at. I am so happy
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 2: that we're able to do this, Alicia. For those of
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 2: the hurdlers that don't follow you just yet, how do
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 2: they follow along with you?
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 3: How do they keep up with you? Give me the details, Dee.
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: It's probably social because we answer quite a bit of
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 1: people on social So if anyone has questions, just at
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 1: Alicia Newman on Instagram and then all my other links
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: are connected under there Beautiful.
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 2: I'm over at Emily a Body and at Hurdle Podcast
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 2: Another Hurdle Conquered.
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 3: Catch you guys next time.