Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / 275. In Good Faith: Olympian Vashti Cunningham On Achieving Balance & New Heights

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275. In Good Faith: Olympian Vashti Cunningham On Achieving Balance & New Heights · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

0:00
Speaker 1: You can be the one that makes or breaks you.
0:16
Speaker 2: What is happening in everyone? Emily a body Here. You
0:19
Speaker 2: are listening to episode two hundred and seventy five of Hurdle,
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Speaker 2: a wellness focused podcast. Reconnect with everyone from your favorite
0:26
Speaker 2: athletes to top experts and industry CEOs about their highest hies,
0:31
Speaker 2: toughest moments, and everything in between. We all go through
0:35
Speaker 2: hurdles in life, and my goal through these discussions is
0:38
Speaker 2: to empower you to better navigate yours and move with
0:41
Speaker 2: intention so that you can stride towards your own big
0:44
Speaker 2: potential and of course have some fun along the way.
0:50
Speaker 2: For today's conversation, I am chatting with Bashdy Cunningham.
0:55
Speaker 3: She is an Olympic high jumper.
0:57
Speaker 2: She's also a six time national champion, a Nike athlete,
1:03
Speaker 2: a red bull athlete, and candidly. This conversation was one
1:08
Speaker 2: of my favorites of recent memory, and that's large in
1:13
Speaker 2: part because she's so open and honest with me in
1:16
Speaker 2: a really beautiful way, talking about everything from her deep
1:20
Speaker 2: rooted connection with her faith to the highs and lows
1:25
Speaker 2: of sport. Vashdai has been in the game for a minute.
1:28
Speaker 2: She first tackled the high jump back in fourth grade,
1:32
Speaker 2: and now she is admitting that there are highs and
1:36
Speaker 2: lows as an athlete. There are good years versus maybe
1:38
Speaker 2: some not so stellar years, and all of these things
1:42
Speaker 2: she has a greater understanding are happening for her to
1:45
Speaker 2: make her better and to teach her something. Vashdai gets
1:49
Speaker 2: really open about the difficulties that came with not performing
1:53
Speaker 2: as she had hoped at World Championships this year, and
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Speaker 2: she also talks about her journey to being someone that
2:00
Speaker 2: she wants others to respect, admire, and ultimately look up to.
2:06
Speaker 2: She talks about how she knows she wants to make
2:09
Speaker 2: others feel when she walks out of the room, and
2:12
Speaker 2: candidly the hurdles that come hand in hand with that.
2:16
Speaker 2: You know, I've been taking a new approach, or maybe
2:18
Speaker 2: a little bit of a pivot from my old approach
2:21
Speaker 2: to how I interview people on the show lately, and
2:24
Speaker 2: I have just come to this place where I really
2:26
Speaker 2: not only want you the hurdler, to get to know
2:29
Speaker 2: who I'm sitting down with, but then also I want
2:32
Speaker 2: it to be a conversation, and I want us to
2:34
Speaker 2: talk about different topics.
2:35
Speaker 3: And I'm having a lot of fun with it.
2:37
Speaker 2: I hope that you're having fun listening to this pivoted format,
2:42
Speaker 2: and I'm always open to your thoughts, your feedback, so
2:46
Speaker 2: if you have them, you know how to reach us.
2:47
Speaker 2: We're over on social over at Hurdle Podcasts and also
2:50
Speaker 2: available an email over at Hello at hurdle dot us.
2:55
Speaker 2: Make sure you're following the show over on social. I
2:58
Speaker 2: am over also at Emma a Body and if you're
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Speaker 3: It's absolutely free.
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Speaker 2: I'd love to bring you all of that, and also
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Speaker 2: the things that you love about the show, the inspiration,
3:24
Speaker 2: the motivation, all the goodness directly in your inbox every
3:28
Speaker 2: single Friday, on the heels of Thanksgiving, one more time,
3:32
Speaker 2: I want to reiterate how grateful I am for each
3:36
Speaker 2: of you, for the hurdle community. I feel like I
3:40
Speaker 2: have the best best job in the world. With that,
3:45
Speaker 2: let's get to it. Let's get to hurdling.
3:55
Speaker 3: Today. I am sitting down with Vashdai Cunningham.
3:58
Speaker 2: She is an Olympic high She's a six time national champion,
4:02
Speaker 2: a Nike athlete, a red bull athlete.
4:04
Speaker 3: How are we doing today, Vashti.
4:07
Speaker 1: Oh, I'm so blessed. I'm so happy to be on
4:09
Speaker 1: this podcast with you and just to you know, have
4:12
Speaker 1: a good conversation.
4:13
Speaker 2: We need a good conversation. I feel like I look
4:15
Speaker 2: forward to this moment in my day because it allows
4:18
Speaker 2: me to have like a genuine connection with someone else.
4:21
Speaker 2: As someone who spends a lot of my time alone,
4:23
Speaker 2: I kind of look forward.
4:26
Speaker 1: I stand what you mean.
4:28
Speaker 2: Something that I love about you and everything that you
4:30
Speaker 2: stand for is you're very rooted in your faith. And
4:32
Speaker 2: that's actually where I want to start our conversation today.
4:36
Speaker 2: I had the good fortune to be at World Champs
4:39
Speaker 2: this year in Budapest and see you compete. I was
4:42
Speaker 2: at the last World Champs. I've seen you many times
4:46
Speaker 2: in Eugene. I have a favorite photo of you and
4:50
Speaker 2: it's from our girl, Courtney White, and you're chatting with
4:54
Speaker 2: your dad, who happens to be your coach, and the
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Speaker 2: caption on that photo it's all about your faith. After
5:01
Speaker 2: coming in eleventh at this year's worlds. So start us
5:05
Speaker 2: off today by talking a little bit about what it
5:08
Speaker 2: means to you both your faith and being able to
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Speaker 2: share your sport with your dad.
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Speaker 1: Okay, I would love to start off by talking about
5:16
Speaker 1: my faith because it's the most important key that my
5:20
Speaker 1: parents and my siblings like we have to relate about
5:25
Speaker 1: and we can always sit there and be accountable for
5:27
Speaker 1: each other with And I really really depend on my
5:30
Speaker 1: family a lot with my career in sports, and so
5:36
Speaker 1: I don't know, I've I've always been in the church
5:39
Speaker 1: and I've always been a Christian. My parents have always
5:41
Speaker 1: been pastors. But there came a point where I just
5:45
Speaker 1: decided that I'm pursuing this love relationship with God for
5:48
Speaker 1: myself and not because of people around me. And that
5:55
Speaker 1: was kind of like I saw a switch in everything.
5:58
Speaker 1: I saw a switch in my happiness and my peace
6:00
Speaker 1: in life, and I saw a switch in my training,
6:04
Speaker 1: my competition, my results, and I was like riding the wave.
6:09
Speaker 1: I was like, you know what, like I am with Christ.
6:12
Speaker 1: He got me, and so I you know, I just
6:14
Speaker 1: had like a very high expectations going into Budapest because
6:17
Speaker 1: of the work that I knew I was putting in
6:20
Speaker 1: behind the scenes spiritually, and I actually couldn't really come
6:25
Speaker 1: to terms with my final placement at eleventh place. I
6:29
Speaker 1: couldn't really come to terms with that while I was
6:32
Speaker 1: still in Budapest or even going into the next competition.
6:35
Speaker 1: I just figured, like, why am I finishing in eleventh place?
6:38
Speaker 1: And I've changed my whole life for the better, you
6:41
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. And I realized that my intention
6:46
Speaker 1: and my heart was not in the right place. Even
6:48
Speaker 1: if I'm chasing a relationship with God and I'm reading
6:52
Speaker 1: my Bible and I'm praying and I'm changing the way
6:54
Speaker 1: I speak, traging the way that I think. If ultimately
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Speaker 1: I'm doing this to receive, you know, earthly materials, a metal,
7:04
Speaker 1: a place. If I'm doing all of that to receive,
7:06
Speaker 1: then I'm really not doing it at all. I'm just
7:09
Speaker 1: like substituting. And so that was like a big lesson
7:12
Speaker 1: for me after World Championships and after my final competition.
7:16
Speaker 1: And here's where my dad comes in. He's my pastor,
7:20
Speaker 1: and he's just been able to help me navigate the
7:23
Speaker 1: pressure of this sport and the pressure of this level.
7:26
Speaker 1: And he's also able to tie in the proper way
7:29
Speaker 1: to serve the Lord with my heart in the right place.
7:34
Speaker 2: It's so interesting to hear you say that it wasn't
7:38
Speaker 2: that you were frustrated that you had put in the
7:41
Speaker 2: work physically. It was more so that you were frustrated
7:45
Speaker 2: about the fact that you felt as though you were
7:47
Speaker 2: really adapting and changing within your relationship with your faith,
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Speaker 2: and that is what should have changed that result. Talk
7:55
Speaker 2: to me a little bit about the behind the scenes
7:58
Speaker 2: that went into heading into World Championships this year.
8:02
Speaker 1: The physical is the main aspect of it, you know
8:05
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, And that's why I like to start
8:07
Speaker 1: out with the spiritual aspect, because the athletes, we push
8:11
Speaker 1: our body to the test, and we fight and we
8:14
Speaker 1: grind and it's a long season. And so I felt
8:17
Speaker 1: like going into the season, I came in more confident
8:20
Speaker 1: than I've ever come in. I came in with more
8:22
Speaker 1: joy than I've ever come back to a season because
8:24
Speaker 1: personal opinion, a month is not enough off. That's just
8:27
Speaker 1: how I feel. So I go back into the season
8:30
Speaker 1: next year, I'm like, forget, forget that stuff, just have
8:32
Speaker 1: joy when you do it. And so, like, I honestly
8:35
Speaker 1: had an amazing year training. I had probably my most
8:39
Speaker 1: successful year training, I had an actually amazing performance. My
8:44
Speaker 1: stats this year were not that bad either, and I
8:47
Speaker 1: honestly think it was because I was able to come
8:49
Speaker 1: to practice with a refreshed mind and push my body.
8:54
Speaker 1: I didn't have any injuries last year, so there was
8:56
Speaker 1: nothing holding me back physically, and that's the part that
9:01
Speaker 1: I feel like most athletes struggle with that is the
9:05
Speaker 1: physical holdback of the body breaking down or of injuries.
9:08
Speaker 1: And I didn't really experience that that last year. I've
9:11
Speaker 1: experienced it every year before that, but not last year,
9:14
Speaker 1: and so that was also like mentally messing me up.
9:18
Speaker 1: I'm like, my ankles haven't heard all season. I've been
9:21
Speaker 1: lifting my butt off all year, going hard on every exercise.
9:26
Speaker 1: Why am I not jumping high? You know what I'm saying.
9:29
Speaker 1: And it just comes to a point of understanding, like
9:32
Speaker 1: you're not always gonna get first place, but that doesn't
9:35
Speaker 1: take away the work that you put in and it
9:38
Speaker 1: doesn't take away what you've done to get to where
9:40
Speaker 1: you are, and that kind of helped me. That kind
9:45
Speaker 1: of helped me mentally when I approached the physical side,
9:48
Speaker 1: was like, Okay, the physical is there, You're strong. Now
9:51
Speaker 1: we need to fix the mental side of things.
9:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's such a hard lesson to learn and something
9:59
Speaker 2: that I know that's so many individuals that are listening
10:01
Speaker 2: to our conversation really struggle with this frustration over being
10:08
Speaker 2: in a place where you're putting in the work and
10:10
Speaker 2: you feel as though it's truly not paying off. For
10:14
Speaker 2: someone who can really sympathize with that frustration, what advice
10:19
Speaker 2: do you have for them when they feel as though
10:21
Speaker 2: they're down and out and it's just not clicking.
10:25
Speaker 1: My advice to people going through that type of similar
10:29
Speaker 1: thing that I've been going through is to find balance.
10:32
Speaker 1: That's always my advice to athletes is to find balance
10:35
Speaker 1: away from the sport. For me, it comes in my
10:37
Speaker 1: faith and it also comes in the things that I
10:39
Speaker 1: like to do. I love fashion, I love photography. So
10:42
Speaker 1: when my practices end, I'm not talking about track for
10:45
Speaker 1: the rest of the day, I'm either going to go
10:47
Speaker 1: and try and thrift around find some vintage pieces or
10:51
Speaker 1: take pictures, or just sit and like just give myself
10:55
Speaker 1: to something else that actually enjoy because then you kind
11:00
Speaker 1: of like go into the next day. For me, it's
11:02
Speaker 1: practice the next day, and I'm just like, Okay, I
11:05
Speaker 1: have a little bit of peace because I actually smiled
11:07
Speaker 1: yesterday after practice. I did something that I enjoyed. I
11:10
Speaker 1: had a good time, and now I can come back
11:12
Speaker 1: into this a little bit more refreshed. Even if you
11:15
Speaker 1: know the season that you're going through is what we're
11:19
Speaker 1: talking about, just not physically being there, but putting in
11:21
Speaker 1: all the work. My advice is just to find balance
11:24
Speaker 1: and also to be gracious with yourself because like, your
11:27
Speaker 1: body is not meant to go at one hundred percent
11:30
Speaker 1: every single day. You know what I'm saying. Recovery and
11:33
Speaker 1: rest is such a part of everything that I feel
11:35
Speaker 1: like mentally, we also need to recover and we also
11:38
Speaker 1: need to rest our brains for sure.
11:41
Speaker 3: How do you recover?
11:42
Speaker 2: What are your top priorities in terms of what you
11:45
Speaker 2: like to incorporate into the mix.
11:49
Speaker 1: Well, like I said, I really enjoy fashion photography, So
11:51
Speaker 1: those for me are like recovery. I can go to
11:54
Speaker 1: the antique mall and just walk around and find some
11:57
Speaker 1: stuff and I'm like, oh cool, there's something new in
12:00
Speaker 1: my life. There's something new in my day. Like I
12:02
Speaker 1: didn't just go to practice and come back and I
12:04
Speaker 1: practice again, Like now I have something to kind of
12:06
Speaker 1: feel a little bit excited about, even though it's material, Like,
12:10
Speaker 1: just like stuff that I enjoy to do. I enjoy
12:12
Speaker 1: being at home. So coming home after practice and knowing
12:16
Speaker 1: I'm gonna chill for a little bit and I'm not
12:17
Speaker 1: gonna rush to go do anything gives me peace and
12:22
Speaker 1: you know, just just giving yourself time to do other
12:25
Speaker 1: things you're interested in.
12:27
Speaker 2: I love that that's where you went with this answer,
12:30
Speaker 2: because so many other athletes would be like, well, I'm
12:33
Speaker 2: more of a sauna person, or I'm more of a
12:35
Speaker 2: cold punch person, or I like to go sit on
12:38
Speaker 2: my Norma tech boosts, and you're like, I like to
12:39
Speaker 2: go to the antique shop.
12:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, like I need a break from everything that has
12:45
Speaker 1: to do a trek. The sauna is trek.
12:51
Speaker 3: I dig it, I dig it, I dig it a lot.
12:54
Speaker 2: Also feel as though for context, for those that don't
12:57
Speaker 2: know much about the high jumb we should kind of
12:59
Speaker 2: film them in before we keep going.
13:01
Speaker 3: Let's start with the basics.
13:03
Speaker 2: Give me Vashtai Cunningham's one oh one high jump.
13:07
Speaker 1: Go okay, So high jump one oh one high jump
13:11
Speaker 1: is essentially a run with a vertical jump at the end.
13:16
Speaker 1: It's not the same as pole vault, where you actually
13:19
Speaker 1: or you actually use something to catapult yourself. You actually
13:22
Speaker 1: just rely completely on your legs and also arms, you
13:26
Speaker 1: know everything, But you just are using what you're born
13:29
Speaker 1: with to go and jump over a vertical bar. So
13:31
Speaker 1: my I take nine steps in my approach and then
13:36
Speaker 1: you're gonna run kind of like a J. So your
13:39
Speaker 1: first part of your approach will be straight and then
13:41
Speaker 1: you'll start curving into a J and then just take
13:44
Speaker 1: off off of one foot. And so here's the rules
13:48
Speaker 1: behind high jump. You have three opportunities to make every height.
13:53
Speaker 1: So you can make a height on the first attempt
13:55
Speaker 1: and automatically be moved up to the next to height,
13:58
Speaker 1: or you can two heights and make it on your
14:01
Speaker 1: last attempt and just make it into the next height.
14:03
Speaker 1: But all around you want to conserve your energy. So
14:07
Speaker 1: clearing bars on the first height is like praise. It's
14:10
Speaker 1: kind of simple.
14:11
Speaker 2: I actually thought that was a great breakdown. Nine steps?
14:14
Speaker 2: Is that average? Is that less more? What's like? Give
14:17
Speaker 2: me a rundown of comparatives.
14:19
Speaker 1: Here, I honestly, yeah, I'd say it's pretty average. A
14:22
Speaker 1: lot of people like to do a couple of just
14:26
Speaker 1: like a couple of shuffle steps or short steps before
14:29
Speaker 1: they actually hit their mark into their nine steps, and
14:31
Speaker 1: it's mostly to build up speed, so some people may
14:35
Speaker 1: look like they have a longer approach, and then their
14:37
Speaker 1: approach could consist of nine steps towards the bar.
14:40
Speaker 2: So how does someone get in to doing the high jump?
14:46
Speaker 3: Where did your.
14:46
Speaker 2: Excitement for jumping over a bar really come from?
14:51
Speaker 1: Okay, So I actually started high jump when I was
14:54
Speaker 1: in fourth grade. And the first day that I came
14:57
Speaker 1: to high jump, I had never seen it, never heard
15:00
Speaker 1: of it. I had zero, zero experience or knowledge of
15:05
Speaker 1: high jump. And even the first time that I came
15:07
Speaker 1: to a track, in just a track in general, I
15:09
Speaker 1: had never seen one. I've never been on one. I
15:12
Speaker 1: was just blown away by, Like this is in my
15:14
Speaker 1: city and I never knew this was here, and like
15:17
Speaker 1: people come here because they know it's here, you know
15:19
Speaker 1: what I'm saying.
15:20
Speaker 2: So that's so interesting though, like that perspective, I'm like, Oh,
15:23
Speaker 2: this track is here and anyone can use it, Like
15:26
Speaker 2: what a cool thing. I think that so many of
15:28
Speaker 2: us know that something like this is available to us,
15:30
Speaker 2: But there is such a hesitancy about that first time
15:34
Speaker 2: about being a beginner, and while completely understandable, it sounds
15:39
Speaker 2: as though it felt like an opportunity for you and
15:43
Speaker 2: not so much a oh my god, this is really scary.
15:47
Speaker 1: Yeah. It was almost like my dad brought me and
15:50
Speaker 1: like didn't say anything. He just like had me walk
15:53
Speaker 1: onto the track and I was already like, whoa, why
15:55
Speaker 1: is it squishy? Like I want to take my flip
15:57
Speaker 1: flops off, I want to jump on it. I want
15:59
Speaker 1: to bounce on it. I want to see, like what's
16:00
Speaker 1: different about this? And so I think I had like
16:03
Speaker 1: such a beautiful entrance into the sport. It was so natural.
16:07
Speaker 1: It was just like somebody provided an opportunity for me
16:12
Speaker 1: to just come into this. I didn't have in There
16:15
Speaker 1: was no expectations, you know what I'm saying. My dad
16:17
Speaker 1: just brought me. He didn't say, we're going to try
16:20
Speaker 1: out with this team, you're gonna go watch anyone. He
16:22
Speaker 1: just brought me. And so it was like I got
16:25
Speaker 1: to like fall in love with it myself.
16:27
Speaker 2: I think it would be an oversight if we didn't
16:30
Speaker 2: also state here that your father was also an NFL quarterback,
16:33
Speaker 2: so you, from a young age were surrounded with sport.
16:37
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, from the time I don't remember like a
16:42
Speaker 1: time where I didn't know about sports, Like I'm thinking
16:44
Speaker 1: about when the first time I thought about sports was,
16:46
Speaker 1: and I can't remember. I think I just was born
16:50
Speaker 1: into sports and.
16:52
Speaker 2: It wasn't just your father's influence on you. Also, you
16:55
Speaker 2: had siblings who are extremely active in sport.
16:58
Speaker 1: Yes, my older brother, he's two years older than me.
17:02
Speaker 1: He's like my best friend. I'm very close with all
17:05
Speaker 1: of my siblings, but me and my brother were just
17:07
Speaker 1: really close. Probably after sixth grade that was when our
17:11
Speaker 1: feuding stopped, but just even before, I just always wanted
17:15
Speaker 1: to keep up with him. I always wanted to hang
17:17
Speaker 1: out with him and his friends because they were doing
17:20
Speaker 1: stuff that required energy, and I had all the energy
17:23
Speaker 1: in the world. I was like, I want to race
17:25
Speaker 1: you guys. I want to go to the skate park
17:27
Speaker 1: with you guys. I want to beat you guys. And
17:29
Speaker 1: I want you guys to know, like give me my
17:31
Speaker 1: props when I beat you. You know what I'm saying. Like,
17:33
Speaker 1: I'm just this young girl, and my brother was so athletic.
17:37
Speaker 1: I was watching my dad just coaching him in football,
17:41
Speaker 1: him playing basketball, him playing baseball, Like I was always
17:44
Speaker 1: attending his games. And so I think that just put
17:49
Speaker 1: like this fire inside me of just watching someone that
17:52
Speaker 1: I'm so close to become so great that I just
17:56
Speaker 1: like wanted to be right there with him.
18:00
Speaker 3: Yeah.
18:00
Speaker 2: Now, for those that don't know, Vashti is quite tall
18:06
Speaker 2: and quite slender coming up in sport, how did it
18:10
Speaker 2: feel for you to present in this body.
18:13
Speaker 1: Type it was? I think it was more. I think
18:21
Speaker 1: it was actually less on my mind in sports than
18:24
Speaker 1: it was in school because in sports, Yeah, I was
18:27
Speaker 1: gonna say, in sports, you kind of see that freak
18:30
Speaker 1: looking person that you're like, they might have it, you
18:33
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, Like they're tall, they might just
18:35
Speaker 1: be able to dunk, or they might be super fast
18:38
Speaker 1: or just have stupid hops. So I think that, like
18:41
Speaker 1: for me, going to school is a bit strange because
18:44
Speaker 1: I was the tallest person, I was the skinniest person.
18:48
Speaker 1: I was one of the only black, like black girls
18:51
Speaker 1: in my school at the time. In my grade. I mean,
18:53
Speaker 1: I had I had friends for my church and we
18:56
Speaker 1: went to the same school and all that, so it
18:58
Speaker 1: wasn't like a thing. But I just always noticed that
19:00
Speaker 1: I stood out among my peers. And honestly, I went
19:04
Speaker 1: to a small school so everybody in my class was
19:06
Speaker 1: on my team, but there was like a separation. Like
19:10
Speaker 1: I think people knew who my dad was, so when
19:13
Speaker 1: it was whenever it was me involved with sports, I
19:17
Speaker 1: just kind of like didn't really look around, Like I
19:19
Speaker 1: was like a little bit shy and nervous because I
19:22
Speaker 1: have this great person like coming into my game and
19:26
Speaker 1: everybody's looking at him looking at me, you know what
19:28
Speaker 1: I'm saying, And so it was different. But I think
19:32
Speaker 1: that coming into sports and being tall and skinny, like
19:35
Speaker 1: people really didn't know what I was good at, but
19:38
Speaker 1: they knew I was good at something hmmm interesting.
19:42
Speaker 2: So it's almost as though someone would assume that you
19:45
Speaker 2: had something to quote unquote live up to because of
19:47
Speaker 2: who your father is, but because of how you presented,
19:50
Speaker 2: you also felt as though you needed to really excel.
19:54
Speaker 1: Yes, I was. I remember volleyball was my first and
19:57
Speaker 1: my most favorite sport, and I just remember like being
20:01
Speaker 1: at games and just thinking to myself, like I have
20:04
Speaker 1: to go hard. I'm the tallest one on the team.
20:06
Speaker 1: I have to get all the kills. Like if it
20:09
Speaker 1: comes to a team that's bigger than us, we're relying
20:11
Speaker 1: on me. Mm hmm.
20:14
Speaker 2: Would you say today, you're someone that's hard on yourself.
20:20
Speaker 1: Yes, I think I'm pretty hard on myself.
20:22
Speaker 2: Now, how do you think that plays out for you
20:25
Speaker 2: in your favor or against your favor?
20:30
Speaker 1: I think it's a little mix of both. Okay, I
20:33
Speaker 1: think it plays out against me because I have like
20:37
Speaker 1: this chip on my shoulder that I need to do
20:40
Speaker 1: everything perfect and that I need to win everything, and
20:45
Speaker 1: also that I need to be able to like reach
20:49
Speaker 1: people while doing it, so they're in my mind it
20:52
Speaker 1: could be a competition on the outside, But then in
20:54
Speaker 1: the back of my mind, I'm thinking of like steps
20:57
Speaker 1: and what I need to do, what I need to
20:59
Speaker 1: say to reach somebody, you know what I'm saying, Just
21:03
Speaker 1: to help anybody that I can, and also to perform
21:05
Speaker 1: at the level and then also to meet my own standards.
21:09
Speaker 1: So I think it puts a lot of pressure on myself,
21:11
Speaker 1: and I think that I can deal with pressure. That's
21:16
Speaker 1: the this is the flaw. This is the flaws that
21:19
Speaker 1: I put the pressure on myself because I think I
21:21
Speaker 1: can deal with it, and then when things don't go
21:23
Speaker 1: in my favor, then I'm kind of just like super
21:26
Speaker 1: disappointed in myself and I'm just not content and it
21:31
Speaker 1: takes me about a day or two to remember, Okay,
21:33
Speaker 1: like God brought you here, His plan is bigger than
21:36
Speaker 1: your plan. You don't know what your future looks like.
21:41
Speaker 1: You can only just sit here and trust and do
21:43
Speaker 1: everything that you can, but you ultimately don't know. And
21:46
Speaker 1: I think that the side when whenever my dad tells me, like,
21:49
Speaker 1: you don't put pressure on yourself, you don't do that
21:52
Speaker 1: to yourself, That's when I'm like, oh, okay, so I
21:55
Speaker 1: really do this and people notice it. It's not an
21:57
Speaker 1: internal thing like the people around me notice I say.
22:00
Speaker 1: That's when I realized, Okay, maybe it's not benefiting me.
22:04
Speaker 1: How I think it is?
22:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean what I'm hearing you say is that
22:08
Speaker 2: it's so much bigger than just the jump, right, And
22:11
Speaker 2: in that moment of the jump, there are so many
22:13
Speaker 2: different things going through your mind. I'm super intrigued by
22:18
Speaker 2: the sentiment how am I impacting someone?
22:21
Speaker 3: How am I helping someone?
22:22
Speaker 2: When do you think that those questions became part of
22:26
Speaker 2: your equation?
22:27
Speaker 3: And can you attribute that to anything?
22:29
Speaker 1: I think that that came a part of my equation
22:34
Speaker 1: maybe a couple of years into my career, and I
22:37
Speaker 1: honestly think I remember this moment, like I strictly remember
22:41
Speaker 1: this moment, but I don't think it's the defining moment.
22:44
Speaker 1: But I remember being asked to do a Q and
22:46
Speaker 1: A with Nike, and it was on global warming. And
22:50
Speaker 1: I never went to college. I was not the most
22:53
Speaker 1: stellar student in high school and I had no clue
22:57
Speaker 1: about global warming. But I'm like this folks person and
23:03
Speaker 1: somebody's going to somebody's watching me, somebody's actually watching me
23:06
Speaker 1: and waiting to take something. And I ended up informing
23:09
Speaker 1: myself and talking to people before I went and did
23:12
Speaker 1: the interview. Did the interview, got good feedback, but I
23:17
Speaker 1: realized I was like, Okay, this actually means something because
23:21
Speaker 1: the faces. It's just when I go and I do
23:23
Speaker 1: an interview or something and I see people's faces like
23:26
Speaker 1: they really want to know what I'm gonna say, because
23:29
Speaker 1: maybe to other people, they're looking at me like, oh,
23:32
Speaker 1: she did it, and this is what I'm trying to do.
23:34
Speaker 1: And so I feel like it was one of those
23:38
Speaker 1: moments where I was doing a Q and A about
23:39
Speaker 1: something I didn't know about, and I realized like how
23:43
Speaker 1: important my words are and how important it is for
23:46
Speaker 1: me to actually like care about what I say and
23:50
Speaker 1: not just say something because I think it will sound
23:52
Speaker 1: right or because I don't want to look uneducated. You
23:56
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, And I know that that doesn't
23:58
Speaker 1: have to do global warming, doesn't have to do with
24:00
Speaker 1: the heart like and who you are, But that just
24:05
Speaker 1: made me look at things in a different perspective. Like
24:07
Speaker 1: they care so much about the global warming, I can't
24:09
Speaker 1: imagine how the people who are down and out after
24:12
Speaker 1: something bad happens peel you know what I'm saying like
24:15
Speaker 1: something that I can relate to.
24:16
Speaker 3: I commend you two for two things.
24:20
Speaker 2: One for wanting to do that research because you wanted
24:23
Speaker 2: to come in and not only feel prepared, but also
24:26
Speaker 2: represent yourself in such a way. And then two having
24:28
Speaker 2: that self awareness right to know, hey, this is bigger
24:33
Speaker 2: than me, This is bigger than the global warming. This
24:35
Speaker 2: is my opportunity to impact someone in a positive way,
24:38
Speaker 2: whether or not it is in relation to this topic.
24:41
Speaker 2: And to your point about okay, well there's people looking
24:45
Speaker 2: at me now, I over the last few years have
24:49
Speaker 2: really come into this understanding that everyone around us has an.
24:52
Speaker 3: Opportunity to both be our teacher and be our student.
24:55
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, regardless of if it's you know, you sitting
25:00
Speaker 2: in front of a bunch of people presented with an
25:03
Speaker 2: opportunity with Nike, or walking down the street to my
25:06
Speaker 2: local bodega and the guy the cash register tells me
25:09
Speaker 2: something about his family, and I have a moment to
25:11
Speaker 2: reflect on compassion and learn something from this man And
25:13
Speaker 2: this moment, right, it's so helpful to go through our
25:18
Speaker 2: day to day with that lens so that we can
25:21
Speaker 2: then in turn present ourselves and who we want to be,
25:25
Speaker 2: and all of us individually make an impact on.
25:28
Speaker 3: The people that are around us.
25:30
Speaker 1: Yes, I know, thank you for saying that. I'm like
25:33
Speaker 1: when you just said we always have an opportunity to
25:37
Speaker 1: be the student and the teacher around people, like I
25:39
Speaker 1: got chills because I do. I completely agree with you. You
25:42
Speaker 1: can learn something from anyone, doesn't matter you know what
25:46
Speaker 1: they're doing or what they aren't doing. Like, we're all
25:49
Speaker 1: born with different minds, and I think it's important just
25:53
Speaker 1: to like even just to care, just to not care
25:57
Speaker 1: about only how we feel about something, but to actually
25:59
Speaker 1: give someone the opportunity to even make us think differently.
26:03
Speaker 1: I really love that, So thanks for saying that.
26:10
Speaker 2: Taking a break from today's episode to give some love
26:13
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26:18
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26:51
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26:54
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27:03
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27:14
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27:22
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Speaker 2: travel backs with your order. That sentiment, just to geez,
28:01
Speaker 2: how relevant does that feel and everything that's going on
28:04
Speaker 2: right now? And I would like to think that personally,
28:06
Speaker 2: I'm the kind of person that does care all the
28:09
Speaker 2: time and tries to be kind all the time, but
28:11
Speaker 2: even more so right now with all the things that
28:13
Speaker 2: are going on in our world. I realize just how
28:16
Speaker 2: far a little bit of kindness can go, and how
28:20
Speaker 2: it feels for so many people to hear someone ask
28:25
Speaker 2: how are you today and have them look back at
28:28
Speaker 2: me and realize that I'm.
28:29
Speaker 3: Genuinely waiting for an answer.
28:31
Speaker 2: Right.
28:31
Speaker 3: Yes, it's so tough.
28:33
Speaker 1: It is tough. I was in Budapest for World Championships
28:36
Speaker 1: and I was in a taxi and the guy that
28:39
Speaker 1: was driving us, he was super nice, and he was
28:42
Speaker 1: explaining to me that he used to live in LA,
28:44
Speaker 1: and he was like, you know, people walk on the
28:47
Speaker 1: street in LA and they say how are you doing?
28:49
Speaker 1: With their head down. They don't look you in your eyes,
28:51
Speaker 1: so they don't want they don't really care to know
28:53
Speaker 1: what's next. And this is like how he perceived Americans.
28:56
Speaker 1: I guess, but they don't ask you how you're doing.
29:00
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, like waiting to know your answer.
29:02
Speaker 1: It's just kind of a greeting. And when he said that,
29:05
Speaker 1: I was like, I don't want to be like that,
29:07
Speaker 1: especially hearing that about my nationality in a different country.
29:11
Speaker 1: I'm like, I want to be the exact opposite, because
29:14
Speaker 1: we're actually not like that. We're I find it that
29:18
Speaker 1: people are pretty nice in America. I just came back
29:20
Speaker 1: from Korean. I'm driving in my neighborhood and my neighbors
29:22
Speaker 1: that I don't know are all like waving outside their
29:26
Speaker 1: houses and I was like, oh, I missed it here.
29:29
Speaker 3: It's like the Barbie movie. Everyone, Yeah, hi that we relate.
29:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, seriously, when was the last time that you feel
29:40
Speaker 2: like you answered the question how are you doing?
29:43
Speaker 1: Honestly, I've answered that question so many times this week.
29:52
Speaker 1: I don't know when I I don't know, probably the
29:54
Speaker 1: last time, like my mom asked me.
29:56
Speaker 3: Probably and what did you tell her?
30:00
Speaker 1: Told her everything top to bottom, laid it on her.
30:03
Speaker 1: I was like, you know how to deal with me,
30:07
Speaker 1: So here you go. I'm gonna just tell you every
30:09
Speaker 1: single thing that I'm dealing with and everything. Like I
30:13
Speaker 1: talked to my mom a lot after Budapest, we sat
30:15
Speaker 1: up in the room. Our flight was the next day.
30:17
Speaker 1: We actually stayed up the whole night talking about everything
30:21
Speaker 1: because she really gets me. She's where I got the
30:23
Speaker 1: balance thing from. She told me, at some point, you
30:26
Speaker 1: need balance, and I'm never gonna forget that. You know
30:29
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, because it has helped me finding balance.
30:32
Speaker 1: So I'll tell my mom exactly how I feel. But
30:35
Speaker 1: there's another part of me that doesn't want to put
30:38
Speaker 1: my feelings onto anybody because I know people deal with
30:41
Speaker 1: so much and I can carry my.
30:43
Speaker 3: Own feelings understandable.
30:45
Speaker 2: But also just because you make it look easy carrying
30:48
Speaker 2: them doesn't mean that there are in people to help
30:50
Speaker 2: you on your way.
30:51
Speaker 1: Yeah. No, you're right, You're right. I'm receiving that from
30:54
Speaker 1: you right now.
30:55
Speaker 2: I think it's really awesome that you had the opportunity
30:58
Speaker 2: to process with your mom. What else did you do
31:01
Speaker 2: when you got back from Worlds to help you move
31:05
Speaker 2: forward after that hurdle.
31:07
Speaker 1: I honestly came back and I got back to training
31:10
Speaker 1: because I had one more competition and it was hard.
31:13
Speaker 1: I can't lie. It was hard for me to come
31:15
Speaker 1: back to training. I'm like very transparent and so I'm
31:19
Speaker 1: gonna always be honest with everyone, like consumers, my friends, peers, associates, Like,
31:26
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna be honest. It was hard for me
31:28
Speaker 1: to come back to training. It was hard for me
31:30
Speaker 1: to stay focused for the last competition that I had
31:34
Speaker 1: because I was just so disappointed in my results, Like
31:39
Speaker 1: I just couldn't believe what had just happened, and I
31:42
Speaker 1: did not know how to move forward with the same
31:47
Speaker 1: energy and the same joy that I came into the
31:49
Speaker 1: season with. I honestly didn't know, but I kept going
31:53
Speaker 1: and I just kept telling myself, you know, to trust God.
31:57
Speaker 1: There was actually something. I'm going to bring this up
31:59
Speaker 1: bal quick. I did an event in Oregon with another
32:03
Speaker 1: high jumper and it was called here the Glory Eugene,
32:07
Speaker 1: and so I had to track meet coming up. But
32:10
Speaker 1: I also had the event, and I was supposed to
32:12
Speaker 1: share my testimony at the event, So it was like
32:14
Speaker 1: a double whammy where I was like, Okay, have one
32:16
Speaker 1: more track meet, and then I have to do a
32:18
Speaker 1: public speaking about my faith. I've I've never spoke about
32:22
Speaker 1: how I came to Christ or what that story was,
32:24
Speaker 1: never said it out loud to anyone, and so for me,
32:27
Speaker 1: I was like so tore up mentally because I had
32:31
Speaker 1: to jump and then I had to do something like that.
32:33
Speaker 1: And so I came to the end of the competition,
32:35
Speaker 1: didn't jump very well, and I was like, Oh, I'm leaving.
32:39
Speaker 1: I'm not doing the thing tomorrow. I thought I was
32:41
Speaker 1: going to go into this thing tomorrow in good spirits,
32:45
Speaker 1: like I thought I was going to be able to Yeah,
32:46
Speaker 1: I got a comeback story. Now I can say my
32:48
Speaker 1: testimony in front of all these people. And it was
32:51
Speaker 1: like the most not uplifting moment for me, was like
32:56
Speaker 1: getting ready to go and share my testimony. And I
33:00
Speaker 1: remember calling my mom like three times the day that
33:03
Speaker 1: I was supposed to stay my testimony. Nobody from my
33:05
Speaker 1: family was actually able to stay for it, which made
33:08
Speaker 1: a little harder, but everybody was busy, so I was okay.
33:11
Speaker 1: I just remember calling her three times, like, Mom, I
33:15
Speaker 1: don't want to do this. I don't I don't have
33:17
Speaker 1: the energy to do this. My heart's not in the
33:19
Speaker 1: right place. I'm not happy to do this. I don't
33:21
Speaker 1: want to go out there and be fake on stage
33:26
Speaker 1: or be like just a negative energy because I can't.
33:29
Speaker 1: I couldn't even change my face. And she like talked
33:32
Speaker 1: me through it. Every single time that I called her.
33:35
Speaker 1: We talked on the phone for thirty minutes and I'm like,
33:38
Speaker 1: you're so busy, Like thank you for talking to me.
33:40
Speaker 1: She had me crying on the phone, and I ended
33:42
Speaker 1: up going to the event and speaking and like all
33:46
Speaker 1: of my joy was restored and I was like back
33:50
Speaker 1: to being happy and that was the last thing that
33:52
Speaker 1: I had to do for the rest of the season.
33:53
Speaker 1: And I just was so thankful for my mom and
33:56
Speaker 1: that time, because I was like, this is a time
33:59
Speaker 1: that I didn't think I could get out of this
34:01
Speaker 1: funk by myself. You're not even here, but you were
34:04
Speaker 1: able to help me get out of it. And so like,
34:06
Speaker 1: I really really cherish my mom and my dad because
34:09
Speaker 1: they've helped me through so many things.
34:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, that really happened for you and this idea of
34:18
Speaker 2: showing up there and finding your joy again, and that you,
34:23
Speaker 2: even when you felt alone or physically no one could
34:26
Speaker 2: be there for you, you had the understanding and gratefulness that
34:31
Speaker 2: someone is in your corner, even if they might not
34:34
Speaker 2: be next to you. And that's something that's a lesson
34:36
Speaker 2: that I think so often we need when we feel alone, Right,
34:40
Speaker 2: is that knowing that there are people in our lives
34:42
Speaker 2: that do want to support and love you, and sometimes
34:45
Speaker 2: you just need to allow them to do it exactly.
34:49
Speaker 1: And this, I feel like this ties together with what
34:52
Speaker 1: we're talking about earlier of you know, the Q and
34:56
Speaker 1: A with the global warming, just wanting to be educated
34:58
Speaker 1: and wanting just caring how I was coming off on stage.
35:03
Speaker 1: That kind of ties to what we're saying now about
35:05
Speaker 1: like me just knowing that one person cared even if
35:07
Speaker 1: they weren't with me, Like I want people to feel
35:10
Speaker 1: that whenever I talk, like even if we don't get
35:14
Speaker 1: to meet each other, shake hands, take a picture, Like
35:16
Speaker 1: I would like someone to remember what they heard and
35:21
Speaker 1: to feel like there's a person with them just from
35:23
Speaker 1: the message.
35:24
Speaker 3: There's a question. I ask a lot.
35:26
Speaker 2: I run a lot of female empowerment workshops and goal
35:29
Speaker 2: setting workshops as a part of the work that I do,
35:31
Speaker 2: and I always ask people, how do you want people
35:35
Speaker 2: to feel when they leave you? And if you feel
35:38
Speaker 2: as though you're not acting in a way that would
35:40
Speaker 2: enable them to feel that way, then you have to
35:42
Speaker 2: do a little bit of self reflection work. You have
35:45
Speaker 2: to look in the mirror and ask yourself, why is
35:47
Speaker 2: it that I'm not either being my true self or
35:49
Speaker 2: holding back or acting in some kind of way.
35:51
Speaker 3: What is it that I'm trying to prove or do?
35:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, And so for you, knowing how you want people
35:58
Speaker 2: to leave when they and time with you, you have
36:01
Speaker 2: that opportunity then to do that same reflection work. You
36:04
Speaker 2: have that opportunity to ask yourself, how am I showing up?
36:07
Speaker 2: And am I putting my best foot forward? And if
36:10
Speaker 2: I'm not, what do I need to take care of
36:12
Speaker 2: so that I can again? Because I think we all
36:13
Speaker 2: have that opportunity, right and we owe it to ourselves
36:16
Speaker 2: in our one life to show up and present that way.
36:20
Speaker 1: No, we do, You're right, we owe it to ourselves.
36:22
Speaker 2: You said that you had never shared the story publicly
36:25
Speaker 2: really about your journey with your faith. How old were
36:27
Speaker 2: you when you actually became really immersed in your faith.
36:31
Speaker 1: I was always immersed in my faith, but I only like,
36:34
Speaker 1: I don't know, there was just like those times because
36:37
Speaker 1: I grew up in the church, like but my both
36:38
Speaker 1: my parents are pastors, So there was times where I
36:42
Speaker 1: was very immersed. Younger, which was for me would probably
36:45
Speaker 1: be like sixth and seventh grade, maybe fifth grade, and
36:50
Speaker 1: then I would have these phases of like trying to
36:53
Speaker 1: figure out who I am and not be put in
36:56
Speaker 1: a box. And then I would have phases where but
36:59
Speaker 1: I never loved my faith, But then I would have
37:01
Speaker 1: more moments where I'm just immersed and not really having
37:05
Speaker 1: any static stuff going around mentally. But when I turned
37:09
Speaker 1: seventeen and I signed professional, that was a really big
37:13
Speaker 1: moment for me because I wanted nothing more than to
37:15
Speaker 1: leave and go to college. Okay, I wanted nothing more
37:18
Speaker 1: than to leave Vegas, and I ended up staying, which
37:22
Speaker 1: means is that I was going to stay around all
37:25
Speaker 1: the vibes in Vegas, all the people, all the stuff.
37:28
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, I'm just gonna stay here
37:30
Speaker 1: with it, this stuff that I want to escape, I'm
37:32
Speaker 1: going to stay around. And so I kind of think
37:34
Speaker 1: that I leaned on God in that time, and especially
37:39
Speaker 1: in my season, like I was doing so many things
37:41
Speaker 1: for the first time, jumping against women who are older
37:43
Speaker 1: than me, traveling to states that I've never been to,
37:47
Speaker 1: and out of the country. I was just like doing
37:50
Speaker 1: things that I was not accustomed to. I was just
37:52
Speaker 1: accustomed to going to school and practicing in my storage
37:57
Speaker 1: room with my whole team, my club team. And so
38:00
Speaker 1: I think that that time for me was also like, Okay, well,
38:04
Speaker 1: this operating only opportunity only came from God, So I
38:08
Speaker 1: guess I need to seek God on how to navigate
38:10
Speaker 1: this opportunity.
38:12
Speaker 2: Was there anything in particular you mentioned, like growing up
38:14
Speaker 2: in Vegas and wanting to get away from the things
38:17
Speaker 2: that you really wanted to get away from specifically.
38:21
Speaker 1: Yes, it's people out here. I don't want to say
38:26
Speaker 1: it's people, but it is people. Like I don't know
38:29
Speaker 1: what it is. I love Las Vegas. This is my home,
38:32
Speaker 1: and I will like probably always have roots here in Vegas.
38:36
Speaker 1: But there's just something about growing up in Vegas, like
38:41
Speaker 1: I don't know, I've seen so many people leave and
38:44
Speaker 1: just come back and get stuck here. And I've also
38:48
Speaker 1: felt ways like some people, like if I haven't seen
38:51
Speaker 1: someone in a long time, I get the notion that
38:54
Speaker 1: in their mind, I think that I'm better or that
38:57
Speaker 1: I'm like bossed up, and I just don't. I'm not.
39:00
Speaker 1: I really like that I'm still you know what I'm saying,
39:01
Speaker 1: still do the same things that I did when I
39:03
Speaker 1: was in high school, some of the same things. I
39:05
Speaker 1: still hang out with some of the same people. But
39:07
Speaker 1: there's just like something about Las Vegas. I always tell
39:10
Speaker 1: people that I think there's an invisible dome because we're
39:14
Speaker 1: surrounded by mountains, so there's an invisible dome at the
39:17
Speaker 1: top of all the mountains, and it meets over the
39:19
Speaker 1: top of the city, and everyone's energy and their emotions
39:23
Speaker 1: and their attitudes just goes up and it bounces right
39:25
Speaker 1: back into the dome. And so that's just how I've
39:28
Speaker 1: always felt living here is like I can be off
39:31
Speaker 1: the grid, i can live as far as I want
39:34
Speaker 1: to in Las Vegas, but I'm always going to feel
39:36
Speaker 1: someone else's vibe somehow, and that's like something that I
39:40
Speaker 1: just don't like.
39:43
Speaker 2: When did you feel as though the decision not to
39:48
Speaker 2: go to college and pursue this as your career and
39:52
Speaker 2: your path started to really pay off for you.
39:56
Speaker 1: I think that I saw it paying off as it
40:01
Speaker 1: was happening. I really did see it paying off. I knew.
40:04
Speaker 1: I knew my dad was hitting it on the head.
40:07
Speaker 1: He told me, he was like, you can make money now,
40:09
Speaker 1: or you can make money in five years. Like this
40:11
Speaker 1: is an opportunity. The door is wide open, and God
40:13
Speaker 1: has blessed you with this. And so I didn't even
40:15
Speaker 1: hesitate when I was talking to him about everything. It
40:19
Speaker 1: was almost like I just trust him so much that
40:21
Speaker 1: I know he wouldn't lead me into the wrong direction.
40:25
Speaker 1: And everything was happening at the same time. Like I remember,
40:30
Speaker 1: I went to World Changing. I went to US Championships
40:33
Speaker 1: in Oregon and I won, which was not expected. And
40:36
Speaker 1: then I got invited to Worlds and I won Worlds,
40:38
Speaker 1: which was the next week. I had went home to
40:41
Speaker 1: go to school, and then I came back for the competition,
40:43
Speaker 1: and so I signed. In the peak moment of me
40:46
Speaker 1: signing professional, I was experiencing success, and I continued to
40:50
Speaker 1: experience it shortly after a year after, and then there's
40:55
Speaker 1: like maybe into the fifth year or the third or
40:59
Speaker 1: fourth year of my career, things just started slowing down
41:02
Speaker 1: a little bit, and so I just remember, like thinking
41:06
Speaker 1: back onto signing and I'm like, dang, that was like
41:09
Speaker 1: riding the high for sure, Like things were just looking
41:12
Speaker 1: up every corner that I turned. And so I can
41:16
Speaker 1: sit here and say, you know, every day is not
41:19
Speaker 1: supposed to be your best day. Your body is not
41:21
Speaker 1: one hundred percent every single day. Because I've done I've
41:24
Speaker 1: been a professional for eight years now, and so I'm
41:27
Speaker 1: like five years ago, you know, I would have thought
41:32
Speaker 1: I was still number one, number one in the world, this, that,
41:35
Speaker 1: and then you know, I'm just going through something that
41:37
Speaker 1: all athletes go through. So I definitely got to see
41:41
Speaker 1: the success. Yeah, the success was early in my career
41:45
Speaker 1: and it's still here. It's just in ways that I
41:50
Speaker 1: don't consider success.
41:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, that really resonates with me, that every day is
41:55
Speaker 2: not going to be your best day, and I'm sure
41:57
Speaker 2: that it resonates with a lot of people listening right now,
42:01
Speaker 2: because it is hard right to go through these periods
42:04
Speaker 2: of time that you feel like you're on top of
42:06
Speaker 2: the world.
42:06
Speaker 3: And I'm not just even talking about within sport.
42:09
Speaker 2: I you know, have wins every once in a while
42:13
Speaker 2: with work, but there are many times weeks, days, whatever,
42:16
Speaker 2: that it feels like nothing's clicking. And so aside from
42:21
Speaker 2: your tip on finding balance, what else do you have
42:24
Speaker 2: to say to someone who feels like it's just not clicking? Like,
42:27
Speaker 2: how do you keep persevering in the moments that it
42:30
Speaker 2: feels like you're in this valley and you just can't
42:33
Speaker 2: clear the next hurdle in front of you.
42:36
Speaker 1: I would just say to seek God, honestly, because I
42:40
Speaker 1: read my Bible, and the things that I read in
42:42
Speaker 1: the Bible I genuinely carry with me every single day,
42:46
Speaker 1: like I put them in my person, I ZiT my
42:48
Speaker 1: purse up, and when I need that, I think back
42:50
Speaker 1: to that moment and I'm just, like God says, consider
42:54
Speaker 1: it pure joy when you trace when you face trials
42:57
Speaker 1: of any kind, because the testing of your faith is persevering.
43:00
Speaker 1: And so for me, it's like going through something lets
43:04
Speaker 1: me know that God is testing me because He's getting
43:07
Speaker 1: me ready for something bigger than what I think is
43:10
Speaker 1: coming right now. And that's like, truly where I find
43:13
Speaker 1: my peace is knowing that God has a plan and
43:16
Speaker 1: just being able to read about it because I honestly
43:21
Speaker 1: don't read a lot of books. I only read the
43:23
Speaker 1: Bible because I feel like it feeds my soul and
43:27
Speaker 1: that's like my go to in times where the balance,
43:30
Speaker 1: where the shopping doesn't work and the photography and everything
43:33
Speaker 1: else doesn't work. It's like Square one for me is
43:36
Speaker 1: always going to be running to the Father because that's
43:40
Speaker 1: honestly where I find my joy, That's where I find
43:43
Speaker 1: my peace, that's where I gain my strength, and that's
43:45
Speaker 1: where I find my understanding on literally how to go
43:48
Speaker 1: through this life.
43:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's really knowing like where you draw
43:52
Speaker 2: inspiration from and knowing that there is solace for you
43:55
Speaker 2: and whatever feels like a resource.
43:57
Speaker 3: Right You have seventy.
43:59
Speaker 2: Five thousand people that follow you on Instagram and way
44:02
Speaker 2: more than that if you consider the reach of your
44:04
Speaker 2: sponsors as well. Those people come to your page and
44:08
Speaker 2: they see a high jumper, they see someone that's into
44:12
Speaker 2: fashion and photography and someone that is admittedly pretty tall. Oh,
44:17
Speaker 2: when you love in the mirror of Ashdai, what is
44:20
Speaker 2: it that you see looking back at you?
44:22
Speaker 1: That is a question right there, that might be the
44:24
Speaker 1: hardest question of the day. I'm looking in the mirror
44:27
Speaker 1: right now. Today has been like a weird day for me.
44:30
Speaker 1: It's been just not I haven't had high energy today.
44:34
Speaker 1: So when I look at myself in the mirror right now,
44:36
Speaker 1: I kind of just see like tired. But on an
44:41
Speaker 1: everyday thing. When I look at myself in the mirror,
44:43
Speaker 1: I see like I'm God's daughter. And if I don't
44:48
Speaker 1: see myself precious, I know I'm precious to him. That's
44:51
Speaker 1: like truly what I see and what I tell myself.
44:53
Speaker 2: I think also what you said about today, I look
44:56
Speaker 2: at myself and I see tired, Like that's relatable. That's like,
45:00
Speaker 2: how if there's not one day of the next five
45:03
Speaker 2: that you don't feel that way, then I'd be like
45:04
Speaker 2: are you even human? Right? But it's knowing that there's
45:07
Speaker 2: or for you that every day isn't going to be
45:10
Speaker 2: like that, and if it feels like it is like
45:12
Speaker 2: that every day right now, then knowing that there is
45:14
Speaker 2: a light and that it won't be like that every
45:16
Speaker 2: day in the future. But that starts with you, right
45:19
Speaker 2: That starts with all the advice that you've given about
45:21
Speaker 2: how you show up for yourself and how you make
45:23
Speaker 2: momentum going forward. Knowing that there's opportunity in every day,
45:27
Speaker 2: but it's up to you to create it.
45:29
Speaker 1: Oh, most definitely, it always starts inside, like in the heart,
45:33
Speaker 1: not in the microphone, in the heart, like, it always
45:36
Speaker 1: starts in your heart. Because what your heart's desires, well,
45:41
Speaker 1: one God knows your heart's desires, but two also what
45:43
Speaker 1: you have in your heart you're willing to fight for.
45:46
Speaker 1: And so I would always just say, like, yeah, self,
45:50
Speaker 1: reflect a lot, because you can be the one that
45:54
Speaker 1: makes or breaks you. Nobody else can take it from you.
45:56
Speaker 2: I love that what is in your heart you're willing
45:59
Speaker 2: to fight for. I'm going to read you back something
46:02
Speaker 2: I still have joy. The God of Peace is with me.
46:05
Speaker 2: The season is about the strength of my relationship with God,
46:07
Speaker 2: trusting his love through everything.
46:09
Speaker 3: And it's not over yet.
46:10
Speaker 2: I'm so grateful for my family, church friends, and most importantly,
46:13
Speaker 2: my heavenly Father who chose me prior to this sport.
46:16
Speaker 2: I love y'all, and let's finish off strong. I read
46:19
Speaker 2: that to you because that's the caption that you wrote
46:21
Speaker 2: in the Instagram post that we talked about at the
46:23
Speaker 2: top of this podcast, and having had the opportunity to
46:27
Speaker 2: talk to you for the last forty five minutes, you
46:29
Speaker 2: told me that even after sharing this socially, you were
46:33
Speaker 2: still struggling. I say that because I think it's important
46:37
Speaker 2: to bring together the highlight reel versus the struggle, knowing
46:41
Speaker 2: that sometimes we have to go through our period where
46:44
Speaker 2: we're talking ourselves up only to get there to meet ourselves.
46:47
Speaker 2: It's that sometimes mood follows action. Can you talk a
46:52
Speaker 2: little bit about how that plays out for you?
46:56
Speaker 1: Oh, that caption was like totally for myself. It was
47:00
Speaker 1: like me writing that caption to remind myself, Okay, when
47:05
Speaker 1: you get on this plane and you fly back, you're
47:07
Speaker 1: not gonna sit here and be in the air for
47:08
Speaker 1: twelve hours straight thinking on a loop crazy things like no,
47:12
Speaker 1: I have something to go back and look at. It
47:14
Speaker 1: was like to let people know, you know, God got me.
47:18
Speaker 1: But it was also really for me, like I had
47:21
Speaker 1: to remind myself this is what you do, and this
47:26
Speaker 1: is what you're doing, and this is just like this
47:29
Speaker 1: is the proof right here, like you know, God has you.
47:33
Speaker 1: You know the work that you've put in this season,
47:37
Speaker 1: remember that and don't get caught up in the moment.
47:39
Speaker 1: So for me, it was like, okay, let me just
47:41
Speaker 1: remind myself with something like Instagram. Okay, I know I
47:44
Speaker 1: got to make up I was like, I know I
47:46
Speaker 1: got to make a post real soon. Here I'm not
47:48
Speaker 1: ready to make a post. I don't want to make
47:50
Speaker 1: a post, So how can I actually get myself to
47:52
Speaker 1: do this and not be fake?
47:55
Speaker 2: I commend you for knowing your horror and knowing the
47:58
Speaker 2: right way to show up in that moment, and it
48:00
Speaker 2: perfectly leads us into the last question that I ask
48:04
Speaker 2: all of my guests. Right now, you have an opportunity
48:07
Speaker 2: to offer yourself a piece of advice going through the
48:11
Speaker 2: hurdle moment, let's say the one that we talked about,
48:14
Speaker 2: not specifically about this last World Champce, but just of
48:17
Speaker 2: riding the highs and embracing the lows. You talk so
48:21
Speaker 2: beautifully about knowing that not every day is gonna be
48:24
Speaker 2: your best day. So what advice do you offer yourself,
48:27
Speaker 2: knowing what you know now to manage those hurdle moments.
48:32
Speaker 1: This might be a little bit off, but like my
48:34
Speaker 1: advice to myself is to when I wake up every morning,
48:37
Speaker 1: get out of the bed and actually start something, because
48:41
Speaker 1: for me, it does start right in my room when
48:44
Speaker 1: I wake up. If I sit there and I lay down,
48:46
Speaker 1: or if I go on to my phone, I'm ruining
48:49
Speaker 1: my day in the morning. Like, I'm just not one
48:52
Speaker 1: of those people who can wake up and like stay down.
48:56
Speaker 1: I have to get up in order to give myself
48:59
Speaker 1: the best opportunit counity for the day because I actually
49:03
Speaker 1: need to follow that advice. So right now, that is
49:06
Speaker 1: my advice to myself. It might not be the same
49:08
Speaker 1: advice a month from now, but like, right now, get
49:10
Speaker 1: up and get the day started. Girl, that's my advice.
49:13
Speaker 2: Get up and start something. Vas I really loved this conversation.
49:18
Speaker 2: I'm so happy that we were able to have it.
49:20
Speaker 2: For those that don't follow along with you just yet
49:22
Speaker 2: on social let me know how they can do that.
49:26
Speaker 1: Okay, if you guys want to follow me on Instagram,
49:29
Speaker 1: my name is Vashtizzle. It's v A s h t
49:34
Speaker 1: I z z l E.
49:36
Speaker 2: I'm over at Emily Body and at Hurdle Podcast Another
49:40
Speaker 2: Hurdle Conquered.
49:41
Speaker 3: Catch you guys next time.