Latest / Career Clarity with Athletes: A 2ndwind Podcast with Ryan Gonsalves / 97: Abbie Wolf - From College Basketball to Venture Capital: A Game Plan for Career Reinvention

Transcript

97: Abbie Wolf - From College Basketball to Venture Capital: A Game Plan for Career Reinvention · Career Clarity with Athletes: A 2ndwind Podcast with Ryan Gonsalves

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I think the thing about athletes is we're so disciplined and ready to know the way it's supposed to be done Having a coach, having structure you lift and you know exactly the amount of weight and reps you're supposed to do and you do your hardest and best within that structure.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: What I really struggled with when I started at Counterpart was like my manager is in LA, I'm in San Francisco, I don't have that many Microsoft PowerPoint or Excel skills.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: There's no clean template for me to rock and perfect, so you have to create your own templates and structure to excel.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: Hi, I'm Ryan Gonsalves and welcome to a Second Wind Academy podcast, a show all about career transition through the lens of elite athletes.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Each week, I invite a guest to the show who shares their unique sporting story.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Please join me to delve into the thoughts and actions of athletes through a series of conversations.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: Don't worry, there's plenty to learn from those of you that aren't particularly sporty.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: Elite athletes are still people after all.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: Let's be inspired by the stories of others.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: Thanks for joining me today.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Welcome to the show.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: It's great to have you on here.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Great to be here, so glad we connected and ready to go.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Awesome, and I know we were chatting just there.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: I guess, for those who are listening in who perhaps don't know who you are, can you just give us your 30-second infomercial.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: My name is Abby Wolf.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: I currently live in San Francisco working in venture capital.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: I am from the New York area, so other side of the country Basketball has been a love and obsession as long as I can remember.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: I graduated from Northwestern University in 2020, won a Big Ten championship.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: A bunch of agents were reaching out to me, so I played three years of pro basketball in Europe two years in Spain, one season in Scotland and decided it was the time to make a jump and start my next career.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: So a talent agency called Transition Play got me a fellowship here in San Francisco and I turned into a full-time role in November.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's pretty cool.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: How did you like the experience in Europe just from a cultural perspective?
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: Oh, it was amazing Spanish siestas.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: I played for FC Barcelona my second year.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: It's really hard to beat a metropolitan city like that and just the strong friendships I made over there it morphed into actually a business opportunity bringing Spanish players to America for a host family experience that I run with a camp in Connecticut.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: But everything aside just the amount of traveling and countries I've seen you know my brothers are big time athletes too.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: When I come back and they're like so jealous of the unique, authentic experiences, I'm not going to Barcelona for a week.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: I'm hanging out at the Catalans Fresh grandmother's made paella, not not something you get.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Avoid the tourist streets at all costs you very quickly became a local.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: That is a great way, to you know, just to embrace a culture is to get involved and have sort of the camaraderie you get from teammates.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: And I know from personal experience playing in in france or belgium and it was through sport and teammates and that type of conversation that I felt I really got to understand that, as you said, that authentic culture.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: So it's so cool some americans have a bad rep because we um isolate ourselves or think you know we're better and just watch netflix.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: I was out as much as I could with my teammates exploring.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: You're different.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: You're not like a normal American.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: You seem kind of European and I was like.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: I'll take that as a compliment, thank you.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that is good, that's really cool.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: And today, like you were saying, originally East Coast US, now you're living out on the West Coast.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: What's your cool?
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: And today, like you were saying, originally East Coast, US.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Now you're living out on the West Coast.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: What's your job at the moment?
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: So, within venture capital, my job title I'm a marketing and platform analyst, and that's a broad term platform for non-investing role at ABC.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: So I do everything from marketing blog posts.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: I study journalism, so any writing and content is right up my alley.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: I plan a lot of different events to build our community of corporate venture capitalists, like Nike, CVC, or even a guy from Atlantic Hawks was in our community versus Maersk supply chain and shipping.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: One of their employees were in our office today.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: So it's a really interesting space where we're a smaller fund, so it's called Counterpart Ventures, 110 million, fund two and we have 21 portfolio companies, seed and series A, predominantly B2B SaaS.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: So you know I don't have a technical software background.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: It's been a challenge adjusting but I'm embracing it.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: I have a great team.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: My boss, Patrick Egan, has actually played soccer so he's a big believer in transferable skills and kind of help guiding me and there's a lot to do with a small, nimble team and big aspirations.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: So startup type environment.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: That's good and it sounds like an environment where I guess they're open for people to learn, for, like yourself, to come in with transferable skills, liking the person first, and then you'll get the technical knowledge and know how that will come through time is.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: Is that how it feels for you?
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: yeah, it's not usual at all, especially not in an industry like venture capital.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: I got very lucky that trailblazer and mentor of mine, a lot of beard, started a talent agency called transition play, which actually created a space for collegiate and professional athletes to team up with an organization because of their teamwork, coachability, hard work, just dedication.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: So she arranged through her contacts.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: She really struggled at a big bank, sbb out of the WNBA Didn't really struggle but realized there was an issue.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: So she created this platform and organization.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: So I really have her to thank for the initial introduction.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: But it started with a fellowship internship.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: I had to prove myself.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: It wasn't like I could just walk into a big VC job.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: I had to earn my stripes and then they offered me the full-time role in November.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: So during the summer I was still up in the air.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: Okay, if this doesn't work out, am I gonna play again?
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: Maybe I actually do want to play again, but, um, I have a whole new team and challenge ahead of me that I'm really enjoying yeah, brilliant, and I'm going to.
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: I want to come back to that, definitely so, but before we do go there, we spoke opened up basketball, an integral part of your life.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: Can you just give us the version?
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: Where did basketball begin for you, where did you start playing and what was that experience like for you?
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: My dad was actually an Olympian in the 1984 LA Olympics.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: He got fourth place in the shot put so he threw a big metal ball around.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: I've been lifting weights in my driveway since I was in like fourth grade so it just was really natural for me and I'm so fortunate because I loved it.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: If I hated it I'd probably have like a lot of childhood issues just because it was just what we did in our family.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: But luckily I just embraced it and wanted to be on the court every minute I could, playing with boys at the YMCA.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: It's funny.
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: Now I've gotten into rowing like crew because my dad made me do that one season in high school, just as like a backup.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: Hey, what if you know this kid isn't that coordinated and she doesn't get a full ride?
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: College in America is really expensive.
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: My dad doesn't sound like a nice guy, but he's incredible.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: He'd always push me and knew I could be the best if I wanted to.
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: So luckily basketball worked out.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: I had offers from all around the country UConn in South Carolina even.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: I had some interest from them and just decided I wanted to go somewhere that would open doors I wouldn't otherwise have.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: So high academic schools ended up choosing Northwestern, struggled there, didn't play a lot played under a Nigerian Olympian now.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: So she was dunking on me in practice and it definitely was a wake up call freshman year that I allowed work to do, but senior year I was a starter and Big Ten champion.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: So it was a big journey and road but I loved every minute of it.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: Never wanted to transfer.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: It was always, you know, bought into the bigger picture.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: That's so cool.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: I'm interested.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: What was the bigger picture for you?
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: Well, kind of.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: Like I said earlier, there's basketball is amazing.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: You know all the opportunities in the WNBA and NBA, but it's bigger than that.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: You know, just a scholarship alone is $280,000 to Northwestern University, which is 70 grand a year.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: You know I've I wanted a degree.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: I thought that would hold more weight than any ring.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: I could win Any opportunity playing, which I cherish, and I wouldn't trade for anything.
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: But you know I was new that I wanted to be in more circles than just the huddle, which meant the current industry.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: I'm in venture capital.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: I don't think I'd be where I am today if I had prioritized basketball when I was choosing a college.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: So it's interesting because basketball for you gave you a route, gave you that opportunity to go into, well I guess, some good schools, and you know you could call that some good schools there.
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: So, academically, as you were growing up, coming through high school, you know how much time.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: What was that balance like for you between academic work and that basketball dream.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I've.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: I've always just done the best I could and never had great test scores, but enjoyed learning and writing and thinking and just wanted to be the best.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: So I always had pretty good GPA.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: Like I graduated on magna cum laude, all academic big 10 every year at Northwestern and, like I said, like it was a really important piece to me, I actually those first three years when I wasn't playing, I have to say like I enjoyed the classroom more than the court.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: You're not getting the gratification from playing and just sitting on the bench and being on the scout team.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: It wears you down.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: So I really was energized by being in a challenging, exciting environment where I was pushing myself the more just on the court.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it sounds like you had a, I guess, coming through.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: It sounds like you still had that university experience and there was this sort of balance then that you had between uni or basketball at university and that academic side.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: And so when you say you picked a school where it sounds like the academic level was high, was higher, I mean, have I understood that that right as you were looking at the options, you had this well, I can go to that school, play full-time, you know, play from freshman year and do all of that, or you could go somewhere where you could get this kind of best of both worlds.
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: Have I understood that?
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: definitely best of both worlds.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: I think Northwestern's acceptance rate is probably like seven percent and nobody in my high school class got in there and it's like an Ivy League caliber, but Big Ten athletic.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: So definitely best of both worlds.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: That's nice, that's good you were able to think like that.
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: Now, although you're describing your dad as making you do weights from fourth grade, and maybe he was slam dunking on you on the court as well when do you think that balance came from that perspective?
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely my upbringing, but it's just a natural motor.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: I wanted to do that.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: It was all voluntary extra gym sessions and I'd bug my high school coach to bring out the gun you know the shooting machine at like 6.30 am in high school, just so I could be prepared.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: You know I always wanted to be ready and pushing myself.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: I put all these pennants up on my ceiling, like of the universities I wanted to go to when I was a like a ninth grader or something I said.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: You know, I want scholarship offers from all these schools and I would say like by the time I was done playing AAU many thanks to my travel coach I had offers from about like half of them.
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: Well, that's quite.
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: I love that.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: That dream you know for you growing up, then getting to college, getting the scholarships.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: How, to what extent, were you dreaming of WNBA?
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: Were you dreaming of, or should I say, being a full-time paid-up pro in the US?
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: What sort of impact did that have on you as you grew up?
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: You know, I ask myself a lot what if I prioritized basketball a little more and dreamed a little bigger and took that offer to, or waited to get that offer from UConn, or went to South Carolina to play for one of the best coaches in the world, don Staley?
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: Where would I be today?
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: I could be hooping and the WNBA, but who knows, life is so unexpected and I just had more of a drive and curiosity to be the most well-rounded person I could be.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: I don't think I ever I wanted to be the best, but I had realistic expectations for myself and I think if my primary goal is to be the WNBA, I wouldn't have gone to Northwestern.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: Now I love the fact you had that balanced dream.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: The goal for you was that scholarship and getting those universities or colleges to give you that scholarship was sort of step one, then going was step two.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: But really your focus has been on you as a well-rounded individual and I think you know, looking back, that's quite a mature perspective and a very healthy way of looking at sport and well you know life in general.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: So as you went through uni, as you hit that final year, yeah, I was gonna say there's balance, and pushing myself in many ways was great, but I got to a point and it came to a realization that I couldn't keep doing everything.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: At this point, senior fall I was equipped and prepared to be the starter, but I was running off to consulting info sessions and going through management consulting.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: Interview prep is no easy feat and I was stressed out and I was open with my head coach about it.
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: Like, yeah, coach, I've been going to these info sessions trying to get a job offer.
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: He looked at me and said what are you doing that for?
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: Do you realize we have an opportunity to be great here and we need you?
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: Abby, you're going to be okay.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: I promise you.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: Like I will help you get a job, but we need you a hundred percent this year.
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: And I was a little hesitant.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: Like, well, coach, if you're going to say that to me, well why didn't you, you know, play me the other years?
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: And then I took a step back and I said, no, he's absolutely right.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: Like basketball is bigger than anything and will open many more doors than being one in a hundred kids stepping into this interview on campus.
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: Like I need to lock in my.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: My team needs me and I, we can be great.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: So let me stop stressing myself out so I can give more.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: And then we went on to win the Big Ten, I think the first like five games.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: I think I was the leading scorer.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: Like I started out the season really hot and I even started meditating, doing a body scan every game.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you saw my story.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: I sent it to you guys.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: It's the mental health leap to kind of walk in was a big one for me.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and it sounds certainly that it got you firing as well as a player.
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: I'm curious then, thinking from that transition perspective.
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: You say balance.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: That season became that big season and you know what the focus that you put in.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: You saw the results and that came true.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: You then, I'm guessing it feels like you had this decision then to make about whether you turn pro going overseas, whether you stay in the US.
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: What was that decision moment like for you after winning and coming out of college?
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: It was always a goal of mine to be a professional athlete.
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: My dad trained in Germany.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: I always loved traveling.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: The spring before my senior year I studied abroad, in South Africa and was working in a newsroom for 10 weeks because I was a journalism major for class credit and that experience it really opened my eyes to wow.
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: I need to get abroad and get out of my little bubble at this university.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: I'll learn so much more and become a better human with more diverse experiences.
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: So I could have came to the realization before that fall lock in.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: This is your dream to be a pro athlete.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: Even though I didn't necessarily think I was good enough to be in the WNBA, I've always been such a curious person.
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: There's no better place to be than traveling the world in Europe.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: That's right.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: Getting out seeing the world, and sport was a way for you to do that.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: How did that did you see, then, basketball as your route to get overseas, to turn pro?
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: Was that, did that then become like the ambition for you?
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it was more desire to see the world and meet different people.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: I still love the game, but I would still be playing if I wanted to be a coach who X's and O's have never been my thing.
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: I've always been a player who shares the ball and is here for a good time to bring everybody together.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: And I, like, made my team in Barcelona Thanksgiving meal and I got yelled at that week from my head coach Like you're not here to be a chef, you're here to play basketball.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: Like I think I made my team in Barcelona Thanksgiving meal and I got yelled at that week from my head coach like you're not here to be a chef, you're here to play basketball.
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: Like I think I had a bad practice and I didn't think it was related.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: But again back to that focus piece.
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: It probably was right.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: So if I'm thinking about what to put in the stuffing, wasn't clicking on the court that day?
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: so so, when you went overseas, what was your aspiration?
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: Did you have a time in mind?
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: Did you have a championship in mind?
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: Did you have WNBA in mind?
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: What did you hope to achieve?
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know my first year.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: It was a COVID year, 2020 to 2021.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: I was in the first division in Spain.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: I played some of the top players in Europe, like Chelsea Gray, who was playing in Girona at the time, the Samuelson sisters playing with Evendita and Salamanca.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: It was wow, like I'm on the court with these girls.
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: I even got player of the week one time of like all these pros and veterans, like Miss Rookie got player of the week.
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: I think I dropped 26 points or something.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: This other team just wasn't playing defense.
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I went on a trip to Dubai in the middle of the season because the rest of Europe was locked down.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: It was like hanging out with the vets.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: They were teaching me how to make the most of things and deal with these coaches.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: You're not baby, like you are in college, so learning to be a pro, what it meant to show up and be professional.
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: But back to your question what was my goal in all this?
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: After the first year, I called my agent and said that was a great experience.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: Thank you, but honestly I'm not that happy.
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: Zamora isn't a metropolitan city with that much to do.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: Can you send me somewhere more interesting and fun?
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: So he got me a contract with FC Barcelona, which sounds much better, but it was actually second division.
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: But we won that second division and it was the best year because we won almost undefeated and we were drinking beer out of our trophies at the end of the season and a lot of great memories in San Felicio de la Bargata, which is 20 minutes outside of Barcelona.
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: So that conversation with my agent is what my mentality was.
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: This isn't going to be the career of the rest of my life.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: I want to make the most out of every day and opportunity I have on the court, yes, but off the court as well to really have rich experiences in, yes, but off the court as well.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: To really have rich experiences in a beautiful, interesting place.
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I get that.
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: For you, it was that experience and sport was a pathway.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: Sport supported your ability to go live in Barcelona, to go into this metropolitan city, to be able to travel around Europe and get those experiences.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: For me it's definitely something I hear a lot of for individuals recognizing hey, this is an experience Sport can get me here.
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: Basketball can do that for you and it was.
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: It sounds like a wonderful experience, or a better experience playing in a lower division, some more success in many respects, but being part of that team and really being involved in the both team and, I guess, the country or city culture.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: Moving on to another element of this, I remember watching the men play in Palau Burgana their big gym right after we'd won the championship and I was already thinking, wow, this is such a great ending.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: That could have been the best last basketball game I played.
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: And I was just watching the men play in this electric environment, with their fans going crazy, with all these flags, and I started crying like watching the game, like, oh my God, is this?
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: Why am I?
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: Am I really leaving this beautiful thing?
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: I had this internship in New York and strategy consulting at a creative agency in Soho, very sexy type of environment with a lot of people from Brooklyn.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: We had clients Spotify, nike, apple like every consumer brand you could think of was coming through our doors and we were thinking about big picture consulting.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: I was like, oh, if I work my butt off at this, they're going to offer me a job.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: We had a pro bono project with Wise, which is women in sports and events, and somebody in the office reminded the person that makes all the assignments like I think Abby should be on this and I killed it.
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: Like in brainstorming, I was just using all my knowledge and they were like you did that in 15 minutes.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: I was like, yeah, and I just felt my guy had proven my worth.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: But then I found out that sometimes the stars don't align, like no matter how hard you try, it's just it's not the right time.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: A few months after that, all the tech recession happened.
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: A few months after that all the tech recession happened, I'm at Google and Facebook or I heard the news about thousands of employees being let go and I was like, okay, that's probably why I think their strategy marketing budget went before they would let their employees go.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: So I didn't take it personally, kept great relationships, wrote thank you notes.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: But it was a big learning experience.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: I say, okay, life didn't go as planned.
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: So I decided to contact my agent and play another season and I ended up in Scotland.
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: Before we touch on Scotland, what made you get the role in Soho?
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: What was it that got you thinking, hey, this is something that I need to do next?
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: Yes, one of my mentors through Northwestern and just a friend, becky Edwards.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: I talked to her and she was like, oh wow, everything you're telling me about your interest in journalism, but more so brand and storytelling have you heard of Sylvain?
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: They did the rebrand for the WNBA.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: I said what they did the rebrand for the WNBA, and someone who's always been love sports but not the X's and O's, the marketing and operations behind things, that's what I'm into.
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: So I was like, okay, I want to work there.
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: And so that interest.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: I just reached out to the founders of the consultancy and they connected me with one of the head strategists for that WNBA rebrand in the summer before, so the year before I got that job, I already had that informational interview and it was authentic.
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: I wanted to know how they branded the WNBA and what it led to, the outcomes, the process, and so I had something to write about in that cover letter.
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: It wasn't just please give me a job, like, I'm genuinely interested, I've done my research, this is for me, and so I think there are a lot of applications to that internship and only three of us got it.
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: So it worked, you know.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, and you said it yourself, you said it authentically, you, you were really interested in what they did, and how could you participate in that?
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: And that would have, it would have shown, you know very simply that, wow, this person actually really cares.
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: Definitely came back to Scotland.
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: You moved to Scotland and a couple of things.
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: One language you understood accent.
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: Did you understand?
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: You know, this is just me asking an American here.
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: Did you understand to what?
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: extent accent is rough.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't say I understood them, but I could make it out.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: It's funny.
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: I wish I was better at accents.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: It would be great and funny, but I honestly can't do it.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: It's, it's bizarre.
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: Definitely not going to ask you to do a Glaswegian accent.
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: That wouldn't help anybody.
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: But I'm guessing, even there, when you're on the court, you're learning because you know one another's body movements.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: Now, was the intention for that only to be one season?
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: No, you know, when I got back to basketball, I was so grateful to be there.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: I remember going on a team trip and having lunch with the team and the whole road trip planned and I was so grateful.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: It really energized me in a way that things I've been taking for granted To be a part of something bigger than yourself, to just get to focus on basketball and someone plans your meal.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: And I just remember sitting at lunch like, oh, I'm so happy I'm back.
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: I think my mentality going in was okay, this is just to buy myself time.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: But even when I was working in San Francisco the backup plan to go play again you know, australia, they have great leagues as well, even the timelines it's always been the back of my mind okay, well, I'm not training now, but, um, I can train for a couple months, get a part-time job and then go to australia in march.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: And then the the planner in me is like, well, that's not going to help your financial future and stability if you have another six month contract and living out of your suitcase and have to go back to your parents' place and never have a real home.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: So there's always both sides of me.
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: But it was definitely to buy time.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: The last thing I wanted to do was to take a job, but I wasn't going to be happy, and it wasn to the right people.
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: To get into a better position where I can make a more objective decision about what I want to do next, rather than a rushed decision where I don't have another option.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: So I'm going to take an offer.
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: That's not good, you know.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you never.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: You never want to ask for a job when you don't have one.
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: It's much better position to be to have a job and apply yes, it is.
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: It is have a job to get a job often, often seems to work better.
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: It probably just makes us a lot more relaxed in the way that we approach these things.
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: I'm curious, though, on so even from scotland.
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: It was there it was.
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: It gave you a comfortable, a safe place for you to go enjoy yourself, relax, play, play a game that you still loved.
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: What is it you did to then set yourself up for?
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: I guess what was.
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: I think it was the fellowship, but what did you do to to create that opportunity for yourself?
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: yeah, I just casted a wider net.
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: You know, in times of desperation you're humbled and you realize you need some more help than you thought you did.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: I thought this was a perfectly crafted opportunity before, when I knew all about this WNBA brand, and it didn't work out.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: So maybe I need to talk to some more people and let them know what I'm feeling and going through and maybe they can relate and know somebody with an opportunity that could work.
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: Or, even if it doesn't work, I'll have new insight and experience that could lead to my next path.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: So, my teammate from the first year in Spain and a longtime mentor of mine.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: I went to her camps in Connecticut and she was my teammate, so it was.
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: It's been a really unique relationship with her.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: I said, vanessa, you know you won't believe this, but I'm down bad.
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: I thought I had this job.
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: Now I'm going to Scotland and making a lot less than I was.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: My first year in Spain, the first division, like.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: I thought this business opportunity was going to work out, but now I'm questioning it.
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: I'm loving basketball again, like, but I really do want to start this next path.
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: And she just started working at Nike.
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: She's okay, I hear you.
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: I think I know someone who can help.
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: So she connected me to Lana Beard.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: Um, we had a first call.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: I was when I was still in New York this was before Scotland, forget the details about making half as much as I was my first year in Spain.
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: This, this was way before, like before that, I was in New York just like telling everything to Alana and she was just listening for an hour this defensive player of the year from the WNBA and she's like okay, I hear you, abby, this is you know why I'm doing this?
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: I had my own challenges when I was coming out of the league, 35 years old and entry-level person who was treated differently for being an athlete.
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: And she created this space and group of transition play to empower people like me who just need a little help.
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: You know I'm reporting to managers in Spain who have nothing to do with corporate America, just not in the same circles that when you're coming out of college you can go to interview sessions.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: So, anyway, she understood.
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: She said okay, I got you, we'll be in touch.
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: I have an opportunity and somebody who I think would be of interest and it could be a great match.
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: But she didn't give me a lot of information.
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: I was like, okay, thanks, I didn't think that much of it or count on her.
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: I was just disappointed so many times.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: So she emails me like in a few months into my season in Scotland and says, hey, are you, are you ready?
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: I think she maybe mentioned Venture Capital.
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: Like I said, yeah, it was, you know, that's interesting, but I'm also interested in consulting.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: She said, ok, abby, we're ready.
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: You want to interview with Counterpart Ventures and meet Patrick next week?
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: And I said, whoa, I'm somebody who had a coffee chat informational coffee chat a year before I've flied somewhere.
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: You want me to meet next week?
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: I said, okay, no, she wanted me to meet in like three days.
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: I said I need some more time.
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: Can I have at least a week?
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: She said, okay, okay, I'll tell them next week.
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: I read as many blogs about entry-level venture capital jobs.
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: I started an ebook called Venture Deals by, I think, an Andreessen guy, one of the top venture firms, writing about term sheets and cap tables and just trying to read up as much as I could Over-prepare.
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: Always that was my mentality, what got me there.
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: And then I get on the call.
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: He explains to me for 15 minutes introductions do you know anything about venture capital, like, did not expect me to know a thing.
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: That's why they wanted to do it in two days.
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: And they were like, oh, you know our portfolio.
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: Like you know what you think about the current macroeconomic environment and what you would do in this.
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: They were pleasantly surprised and so I said, yeah, it was an easy choice.
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: Other person walked in, thought you know, might be handed to her, but they could see that I was hungry.
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so, but an internship didn't mean a full-time job.
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: So how did you when you were prepping?
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: So when you got the phone call, where were you?
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: Were you still playing?
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: In Scotland.
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: I interviewed with them while I was still playing in Scotland.
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: So you did this prep whilst you were in season.
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: You were playing away and you were doing this prep in readiness, really, for that next chapter.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: I remember prepping in a Scottish pub because the coffee shop closed and I had a beer in my hand hand and I was reading about venture capital.
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's great.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I would sometimes not be able to sleep and just go to a coffee shop in Spain and like at 6 am, just like couldn't turn it off, you know, or just think about basketball, or like take an hour and a half nap.
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: So that was nothing new to me too, too, it was still early in the season.
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: I hope that my team doesn't listen to this, but, um, yeah, it was definitely priority number one to be ready for this interview.
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: But, uh, my coach, miguel Ortega, is in Scotland.
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: I have to say, like that organization and him and the gladiators program, like he was the best coach I ever played for and he just always said focus, focus.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: Like if he could tell immediately if somebody was somewhere else in practice.
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: So I think, even as scattered as I was mentally and knew my priorities when I stepped on the floor, I know I need to be locked in and I so I think I got a lot better at separating the two, and that's what comes with being a professional my first year.
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: Maybe I thought it was more fun and games, or I think, yeah, I I learned what you had to do to show up every day, regardless of your circumstances or your intentions.
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: And so now you set yourself up.
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: You set yourself up to play in Scotland, be in that safe place, whilst thinking this is probably only going to be for a year, and you know at least the time it takes for you to set up that next role, that next job, becoming a professional, really getting that focus, that hyper focus which it does sound like you were able to, that hyper focus, which it does sound like you were able to turn that hyper focus to make you good in the court and then good, certainly, in the prep, so that you, you know, as you said there, so that you were, you were well prepared and you were focused in that interview, you were on your game, you'd done the prep, you knew exactly, you had a game plan and essentially it sounds like it was as much a case of executing that.
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: Definitely Be relaxed.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: You know, and after the Sylvain branding experience I kept networking.
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: Even after I got the internship.
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: I said, okay, this is great, but an internship doesn't mean I have a job, I need more options.
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: When I was in New York for my basketball camp, I kept meeting with people I need backup options.
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: Moved to San Francisco and kept networking and thinking about.
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: You know, plan C, d, e, e being okay.
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: Australia season is in February.
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: It's nice and warm as well, so it's not a bad thing.
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so you live and you learn.
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and so when you look at your current role and you talk about sort of having to it wasn't given to you you know you had to work hard and you know and sort of really present yourself to turn it into a full-time opportunity when you look back at the steps you took to get to where you are today, how much of that do you think was I'm going to say it's kind of in spite of of basketball, but what are the traits you brought with you as a basketball player?
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: Do you think, or what do you think the traits are that make you successful in your current role, that helps you to be successful on the court as well?
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the thing about athletes is we're so disciplined and ready to know the way it's supposed to be done, having a coach, having structure you lift and you know exactly the amount of weight and reps you're supposed to do and you do your hardest and best within that structure.
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: What I really struggled with when I started at Counterpart was like my manager is in LA, I'm in San Francisco, I don't have that many Microsoft PowerPoint or Excel skills.
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: There's no clean template for me to rock and perfect, so you have to create your own templates and structure to Excel.
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: And that was really overwhelming for me.
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: I wanted to know exactly what I was supposed to do and how well I did it.
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: And that's just not the reality in most workplaces.
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: Maybe large organizations with a clear chain of command there is, but not venture not the startup world.
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: You deal with imperfection every day and people take pride in their failures and building things from scratch.
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: So that was a mindset shift.
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: Let me not view this as I had a lot of doubts.
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: Mid-internship stressed, planning a 400-person conference, not understanding a thing about the software companies that were coming through our doors, and I had the privilege of sitting in on them and I thought because I was in the room, I needed to know what was going on and have something to contribute, and it took a few conversations with my managers saying having me understand that is a privilege, with my managers saying having me understand that is a privilege they're not expecting me to contribute.
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: It's at this time I need to own my platform, non-investing role and take more pride and excitement to create my own structure and, looking back on it, you don't learn and grow as much if if you're just put into a box.
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: When you're able to spice things up and put your own twist on them, it's a lot of fun, but it's it's hard to realize.
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: Okay, maybe I do have the confidence and creativity to do something that's great, rather than I'm so scared to make a mistake, like what feeling stuck.
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: I definitely had moments like that as well.
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: Still do sometimes.
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: You know what I think we all do as we grow, as we progress through our careers and new challenges get placed in front of us and you have that moment of doubt.
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: That moment of doubt might still flicker in To your point being prepared, knowing how you might be able to go and solve a problem, even if you've never seen it before.
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: I think that is something that takes time to learn, or at least takes time to reapply from sport into that workplace and perhaps even from role to role.
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: I have to let you go, I know that.
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: So I'm kind of thinking you know when you, you know you're there in your transition and you are where you are today.
• 38:52
  Speaker 2: Previously, you had the college penance on your wall.
• 38:56
  Speaker 2: Hey, that was your target.
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: You wanted to go and you knew the scholarships.
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: That was something that you really wanted to achieve.
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: What do you have on your wall today?
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: What do you see as success as you transition into this phase of your career?
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: it's a lot more difficult and less linear, right?
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: I think that's what everybody realizes once the championships are over and you hang up your cleats or kicks and nobody's telling you what to do.
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: You have to figure it out.
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: I don't have clear goals right now, but I know I have more opportunities right now.
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: But, um, I know I have more opportunities.
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: Um, in a few weeks I'm going to a mini MBA for elite athletes and veterans at Dartmouth and I applied to that while I was actually in Scotland.
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: I said, okay, what if this team realizes, um, messing around and they cut me, what am I going to do that?
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: And then I saw this like program for elite athletes and said, okay, that's where I need to be.
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: You know, I came to San Francisco and didn't feel like I had community and somebody told me there's this thing called the Olympic club and I was like, oh, okay, I'm going to go there.
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: It was everybody working mostly in tech and finance and everybody played college or pro basketball.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: They're actually known to pass and screens and even though it's fun, it's not about the basketball anymore.
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: Like, oh well, this is a group of women.
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: I want to be a mom and I think for me in San Francisco right now, where I'm at in venture capital, I just want to own and become the best platform person I can be for my team.
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: I want to build community.
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: I mean that means hosting a dinner with former college and pro athletes, building a group of platform people in venture capital.
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: And it's really hard to set goals and know where you want to go if you don't surround yourself by others who are also ambitious individuals.
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: So there's that old saying you're the average of the five people you hang out with the most.
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: That's my mentality in San Francisco.
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: Just to soak it all in, and one of my mentors recently told me, your network is your net worth.
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: So just making the most of being in vc, this current and at the center of the tech universe here yeah, I like that.
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: I love that.
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: I'm going to use the being the average of the five people that you hang around.
• 41:25
  Speaker 2: That's kind of cool.
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: And, as you said, being there, I like the, the center of the tech universe.
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: That's pretty cool.
• 41:32
  Speaker 2: The the thing for you, as you've described there, in terms of the goals and that goal setting is different.
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: It's very different out of sport and it often takes some time to to accept that for all of us and I know for many who will be listening to this will be will be nodding away and thinking, god, yeah, that's exactly right, that's how I feel, but but it and it is that challenge.
• 41:53
  Speaker 2: And so last question really, when you think about those athletes who are playing and you know they're thinking, well, how should I prepare myself for what comes next?
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: You know what tips you know, based on your experience, would you give to them?
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I think my current opportunity came out of that place of vulnerability where I called my teammate up and I wish I was a place of strength or I could brag about where I was, but then she wouldn't have helped me, right?
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: You don't know until you ask.
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: So the yeah, the chain of relations.
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: You could be one call away from your next role and somebody that could really use your skills and dedication.
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: So don't be scared, but also be willing to work.
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: And if you do have an opportunity, just read up as much as you can for a week and they can be pleasantly surprised that you know you're not some dumb jock and you really are will outwork everybody to be the best you can be.
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: But yeah, so, but also don't, don't rush it.
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: You know, you never know what's going to happen.
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: But yeah, if you do take a break, I'm sure you'll come much more refreshed when you get back to it.
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: Small things like the team meals.
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, I just saw Elena Deladon, one of the best players in the world, is taking a break from the WNBA.
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: So no one to stop, no one to focus, and what to focus on.
• 43:19
  Speaker 2: That's brilliant.
• 43:19
  Speaker 2: Look, abby.
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: I want to say thanks very much for joining me today, sharing your perspective on finding your second wind in life.
• 43:28
  Speaker 2: You know how sport works with you and how you've transitioned super well.
• 43:33
  Speaker 2: So people who are listening they're going to want to try and get in touch with you.
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: And and how you've transitioned super well.
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: So people who are listening they're going to want to try and get in touch with you.
• 43:36
  Speaker 2: Where's the best place to find you?
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: yeah, um, I kind of glossed over in the beginning telling my story, but, uh, I would say the biggest thing is what I'm most proud of, what I built wild works basketball my camp every year.
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: So, um, any any athletes looking for an example of how to build a brand for yourself, you can check out my website, wildworksbasketballcom.
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: On Instagram.
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: Wildworks underscore basketball Plug.
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: My camp that turned into a host, family, international network and nonprofit.
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: But anyway, personally, linkedin, abby Wolf, abbie WLF Wolfie21, wlfie underscore underscore 21 on Instagram.
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: Always happy to have a conversation, answer questions about my journey.
• 44:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Abby, thanks very much for joining me.
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: Thank you for doing what you do.
• 44:27
  Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to the Second Wind podcast.
• 44:29
  Speaker 2: We hope you enjoyed hearing insights from today's athlete on transitioning out of competitive careers.
• 44:35
  Speaker 2: If you're looking for career clarity for your next step, make sure you check out secondwindio for more information or to book a consultation with me.
• 44:43
  Speaker 2: I'd like to thank Claire from Betty Book Design, nancy from Savvy Podcast Solutions and Cerise from Copying Content by Lola for their help in putting this podcast together.
• 44:53
  Speaker 2: That's all from me.
• 44:54
  Speaker 2: Take it easy Until next time.