Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / Pioneering the Path: Laila Edwards On the Power of Representation, Winning Gold with Team USA Hockey & How to Stay Even-Keeled

Transcript

Pioneering the Path: Laila Edwards On the Power of Representation, Winning Gold with Team USA Hockey & How to Stay Even-Keeled · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: like you, but don't ever feel like you don't felong.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Don't let that be the reason you don't do it.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Hey, everyone, Emily here, You are listening to another episode
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: of Hurdle, a podcast featuring the mindset, secrets, and true
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  Speaker 2: stories of the most inspiring women in sports and wellness,
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  Speaker 2: empowering you to live a healthier, happier, more motivated life
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  Speaker 2: and of course, conquer your own hurdles. This week, I
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  Speaker 2: am joined by a powerhouse in women's hockey, Leyla Edwards.
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  Speaker 3: Leila has been making.
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  Speaker 2: Headlines is the first black woman to ever play for
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  Speaker 2: Team USA, not only that, she's a national champion and
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  Speaker 2: a prolific scorer, led the nation with thirty five goals
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  Speaker 2: in her last season. In this week's episode, Layla shares
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: what life's been like after winning gold in Milan and
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  Speaker 2: how she's managed the sudden influx of media attention. We
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  Speaker 2: also talk about the nerves and pressure that come with
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  Speaker 2: being a trailblozer and how she's turned those challenges into
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  Speaker 2: an opportunity to inspire others. Layla opens up about her
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  Speaker 2: transition from high school to a decorated college program at
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  Speaker 2: Wisconsin and the mental shift required to go from being
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  Speaker 2: a star player to earning her ice time. Of course,
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: Layla and I talk a little bit about the drama
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: post win with the men's team rolls eyes, but more importantly,
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: she doubles down on the lesson she hopes that people
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  Speaker 2: take from hearing about her story, one where she was
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  Speaker 2: often in spaces with people that did not look like her.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: She says that if you love something, then you belong.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: Make sure you're following along with Hurdle over on social
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: It's over at Hurdle Podcasts. You can also check out
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: Iheartwoman's Sports over at Iheartwoman's Sports, me over at Emily
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: a Body. Listen to Hurdle with Emily a Body on iHeartRadio, app,
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And lastly,
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  Speaker 2: I want to point out a through line here. Leila
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  Speaker 2: is I think the third red bull athlete I've had
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: on the podcast in the last few months, and that
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: is a testament to the fact that this company is
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: investing in woman. It's something worth highlighting, It's something that
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: I love, and I am grateful for the team over
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  Speaker 2: there for always keeping hurdle in mind when it comes
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  Speaker 2: to helping me tell some of the special stories of
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  Speaker 2: women in sport.
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  Speaker 3: With that, let's get to it. Let's get to hurdling. Today.
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  Speaker 2: I am sitting down with Leila Edwards. She is the
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  Speaker 2: first black woman to ever play for and win gold
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  Speaker 2: with Asterisk USA Hockey.
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  Speaker 3: Welcome to hurdle, Leila. How are we doing good?
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  Speaker 4: Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
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  Speaker 2: I'm excited to have you here. You have a very
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  Speaker 2: sexy radio voice. Oh, thank you, Oh Leila, after dark,
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  Speaker 2: big city here in New York this week, a little
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  Speaker 2: different than your usual yep. Also, when I was a
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  Speaker 2: graduating senior, things I was not doing running around New
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  Speaker 2: York City and obviously playing for Team USA at the Olympics,
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  Speaker 2: an unconventional senior spring If you will, right, do you
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  Speaker 2: like it like that?
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  Speaker 4: I don't know it.
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  Speaker 1: Any differently, So I like what I'm doing now. I've
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  Speaker 1: been given some really cool opportunities. So yeah, I like it.
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  Speaker 3: When you were.
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  Speaker 2: Really onboarding for what would be this busy season of
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  Speaker 2: your life, how did you mentally prepare as Laila the student?
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  Speaker 4: Right? Right?
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  Speaker 1: Honestly, I underestimated how busy I would be, you know,
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  Speaker 1: going back and forth with my college team, the USA
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  Speaker 1: Hockey team, and then obviously academics, but to mental prepares
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  Speaker 1: a student, I was like, Okay, let me check in
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  Speaker 1: with all my teachers and professors and let them know
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  Speaker 1: the circumstances, and if any of them were incooperative, I
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  Speaker 1: would either just have to figure something else out, which
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  Speaker 1: I did, and yeah, just make sure I was present
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  Speaker 1: when I was in class and not thinking about or
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  Speaker 1: dreaming about a gold medal and a national championship, kind
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  Speaker 1: of just trying to focus on lecture slides and stuff
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  Speaker 1: like that.
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  Speaker 2: I can't imagine that being present is all that easy
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  Speaker 2: when you have those things on the back of your mind, exactly.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, and I like to daydream a bit, but yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it's just trying to find that balance of being present,
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  Speaker 1: which I'm still working on it.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, definitely challenging.
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  Speaker 2: I cannot even fathom, especially in the aftermath, what it's
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  Speaker 2: been like to try to go back to how things
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  Speaker 2: were before the gold.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, like exactly, I mean, before the gold it
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  Speaker 1: was hectic in the best way, like all things that
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  Speaker 1: I signed up for, but.
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  Speaker 4: I didn't expect that much.
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  Speaker 1: Media attention and media opportunities, and unfortunately there were like
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  Speaker 1: a lot of things that had it turned down just
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  Speaker 1: because I didn't have time for them. But my schedule
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  Speaker 1: was packed. Yeah, I don't foresee myself ever being that
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  Speaker 1: busy again, but you never know.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I don't foresee myself ever being that busy again,
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  Speaker 2: she says at twenty two years old.
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  Speaker 3: Right, yeah, okay.
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  Speaker 2: So let's also just highlight here that you have also
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  Speaker 2: been a massively prolific scorer, leading the nation with thirty
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  Speaker 2: five goals in your last season. So something tells me
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  Speaker 2: at twenty two you still got a lot of runway ahead.
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  Speaker 4: I sure hope.
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  Speaker 1: So, yeah, people like to use that analogy a lot,
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  Speaker 1: which I appreciate this, and I've got a long runway,
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  Speaker 1: you know, high ceiling kind of can take things wherever
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  Speaker 1: I want to, and that gives me a lot of
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  Speaker 1: excitement and motivation as.
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  Speaker 4: A hockey player.
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  Speaker 1: But I think more importantly as like a person and
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  Speaker 1: a leader and an inspiration.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, especially because there are a lot of eyes
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  Speaker 2: on you. When I say that to you, how does
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  Speaker 2: that make you feel? I even introduced you again, as
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  Speaker 2: most everyone does. Who should down with you? Reiterating that
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  Speaker 2: you're the first black woman to ever play for Team USA.
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  Speaker 3: It's a little heavy now.
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  Speaker 1: Correct, Yeah, it is heavy, But you know, I think
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  Speaker 1: I could take it one of two ways. I could
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  Speaker 1: shy away from it or use it as an opportunity
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  Speaker 1: to inspire other people and just be an inspiration and
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  Speaker 1: a role model. I think that is such a blessing.
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  Speaker 1: You know, it comes with a lot of attention and
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  Speaker 1: nerves and pressure, which I'm still managing and figuring out
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  Speaker 1: a way to you know, deal with. But it's it's
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  Speaker 1: a great problem to have, you know, I have the
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  Speaker 1: opportunity to change someone's life essentially, and I think that
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  Speaker 1: is so cool. So any chance I get to do that,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to take it.
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  Speaker 2: Would you say that the nerves and pressure are perhaps
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  Speaker 2: the biggest downside to all of it?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I would say downside, But also it has taught
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  Speaker 1: me so much about myself and I've learned so much
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  Speaker 1: from it that it's also kind of been an upside.
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  Speaker 4: You know.
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  Speaker 1: At first, it was definitely a downside because I wasn't
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  Speaker 1: used to it, But I've been finding ways to turn
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  Speaker 1: all of this into positivity and that's something I'm still
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  Speaker 1: working on but this is just the best way to
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  Speaker 1: go about it.
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  Speaker 2: Have you always been someone that's good and maybe I'll
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  Speaker 2: do that in an air quotes good at looking at
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  Speaker 2: the bright side.
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  Speaker 1: Honestly, No, I think ever since things like this, I've
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  Speaker 1: gotten better at it. I definitely wasn't a pessimist, but
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  Speaker 1: I would not say I was the biggest optimist. But
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: with all that's going on and just everything that I'm
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: so grateful for, I think it's been beneficial to be
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  Speaker 1: more of an optimist and look at the bright side
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  Speaker 1: with all these incredible opportunities.
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  Speaker 2: I've been given so many incredible opportunities, and yes, appreciate
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: you saying that I've been given, but you've been working
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  Speaker 2: for this for such a long time. Took to ice
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  Speaker 2: for the first time at age three, figure skating, but
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: didn't really stay that way for long. No.
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  Speaker 1: I Yeah, so I started figure skating, and my dad
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  Speaker 1: always gets mad at me because I get this wrong.
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  Speaker 1: But I was also ice skating at the same time.
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  Speaker 1: I was on the ice like a million days a week.
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  Speaker 1: So I would do figure skating and then I would
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: do public skating in hockey skates, and I also did
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: speed skating, not many people know that, but yeah, I
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: was doing that forever. But I wasn't a big fan
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: of the figure skating outfits. I was a tomboy and
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  Speaker 1: I just remember hating putting on the tutwo's and the leotards.
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  Speaker 1: And as soon as my dad was like, Okay, we're
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  Speaker 1: just gonna do hockey now, I was like, thank you
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  Speaker 1: so much.
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  Speaker 4: Don't don't get me wrong.
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  Speaker 1: I have so much respect for figure skaters. I think
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  Speaker 1: they're incredible. Just wasn't my thing. I wasn't great at
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  Speaker 1: it either. My sister was better.
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  Speaker 2: But yeah, and coming up with your sister who also
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  Speaker 2: played hockey, that must have been a really cool opportunity
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  Speaker 2: for the two of you.
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  Speaker 4: Oh yes, so cool.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: I mean it's like living out my dream, you know,
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: playing D one college hockey and then to do it
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  Speaker 1: alongside your sister is incredible. We went to separate high school,
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  Speaker 1: so we didn't spend much time together, and we kept
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: in touch, but we just got so much closer, you know,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: being in college together. And of course that first year
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: was like she was trying to be my mom and
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: I was like getting annoyed. But then I found you know,
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: I found it really really cool, just to be alongside her,
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: and yeah, we got to win a national championship together,
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  Speaker 1: and not many people can say they did that.
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: Not many people get to say they did that for sure.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: And so for you coming up and playing hockey from
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: the get go, what was one of your favorite parts
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: about the sports? I know that team played a big
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: part into why you enjoyed it.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: Definitely, Yeah, team, and then also it was just so unique.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: You know, like when I told people at school that
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: I played hockey, they were like, what, Like a lot
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: of people didn't even know what hockey was, a lot
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: of people didn't know girls played, and a lot of
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: people just didn't have much interest in it. And it's
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: just such an interactive sport and it's so different. I
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: feel like it's a lot of different sports combined. And
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: I think it was challenging and I love that challenge.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: And yeah, I think I picked it up pretty quick.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: You know, people called me a natural.
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: People called me a natural, But why do you think
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: that is? Why do you think that you were a natural?
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah? I think there's a lot of things that I
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: was good at that. You know, it's hard to teach.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: You know, people say I have a really good IQ,
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: which you can get better at that, but it is
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: hard to teach, and that's not really something you can coach.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: And I was told I had good stickhandling skills, and
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: I think I was so in love with the game.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: I just worked on it all the time, and I
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: was like, Okay, I'm pretty good at this.
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: I'm gonna stick at it.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: But yeah, I don't know why and how I was
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: such a natural, But I think all my siblings were
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: kind of like that, which was really cool.
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: Ran in the family.
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: Yeah, my dad played.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: So Yeah, having him as a role model as you
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: were really growing up within sport definitely something that played
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: to your advantage. And then also being surrounded by siblings
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: that were so excited about what you were excited about.
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: What was it like in the house?
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: Oh, chaos, chaos, things breaking left and right, arguments, screaming
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: at each other. But it's so cool because like we
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: were each other's biggest competitors, but we were also each
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: other's biggest supporters. But like, yeah, we played little mini
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: hockey in the house, something to break every time, got
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: a scar on my chin for my little brother hitting
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: me with a stick, and stitches on my lip. Like
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: there's so many stories and our garage doors broken because
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: I would shoot bucks. There's Yeah, my poor parents, you know,
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: made their pockets hurt for sure, But I'd like to
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: think it was worth it.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: I think I think now looking back on it, and
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: it was worth it. And I know that they got
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: to got to be there for you or you were
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: in Milan something that you had the privilege of doing
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: with them. What did that mean to you?
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean privilege is the perfect word. Like, just
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: so grateful and everyone who helped them get there, because
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: especially because they knew how much it wouldn't meant mean
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: to me. Yeah, to have them there, I think that
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: was just so cool. I mean obviously all those people
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: who donated and then who were sharing the donation and
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: just trying to put it out there even if they
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: couldn't help, but which that was plenty of help. I
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: just thought it was so cool. And I like to say, like,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: obviously my name's on the roster, but you know, my
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: family is on into They're the reason I got there,
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: and I like to share this metal with them that
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: you know, we won, and it's just so cool. They're
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: everything to me and very family oriented, So to have
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: them there was a great privilege.
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: It's such a it's such a beautiful thing.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: You you talked about the people that donated the Kelsey
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: is a big part of your story here, also being
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: from Cleveland Heights.
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: What did it feel like the first time that you
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: heard that the Brothers were talking about you on their podcast? Oh?
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean the first time.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: I remember getting a text about it and I was
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: like it was from a number I didn't have saved,
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: and I was like, yeah, this is a prank or something.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: And I was getting more and more text about it.
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: I was like, Okay, well I need to go check
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: this out. And I saw the video and I was like, WHOA,
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: Like just hearing my name come out of their mouth.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: You know, I've been such a big fan of both
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: of them, you know, especially growing up from in Cleveland Heights,
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: and they're obviously both very successful football players. But I
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: think it's been cool to get to know them as people.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: They're really great guys who are just normal and down
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: to earth. I'm not saying we're best friends, like I haven't.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: I haven't like hung out with them like besties, but
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: just the little bit I've gotten to interact with them,
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: they're really good people, and I really appreciate the support
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: they've shown me.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: I want to talk a little bit about your journey
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: playing toward college.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: Then.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: Obviously something that you knew you wanted to do from
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: a young age, continue to play in college, But when
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: you got there, what was it about it that you
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: expected and what was different.
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: When I got to college. I expected to not necessarily
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: because obviously I went from being one of the better
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: players on every team to you know, a freshman on
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: a very decorated team, very decorated program under an extremely
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: well known and successful coaching staff. So I didn't expect
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: to just get there and play a lot. But I
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: expected to get there and have a role that I
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: can play and then just keep getting better at Yeah,
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: I had to not work a lot harder than I expected,
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: but it was a challenge. You know, I didn't get
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: all the ice time that I wanted, but I'm not
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: saying I deserved it.
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: It's just like everybody wants to play, and so.
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: I had to work towards that and work towards it
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: all season and ended up, you know, getting a good
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: amount of ice time towards the end. But yeah, I
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: was and surprised at how everyone was so good. It
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: was so cool though, just like practice was so fast
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: paced and I was like, whoa, Like it wasn't easy
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: in it and having to keep up at the beginning,
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: I was like, Okay, I'm just you know, just a freshman,
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: but I had high expectations.
• 14:57
  Speaker 4: I don't know if any of that made sense.
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: No, it's totally sense.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: And I hear that a lot from women that go
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: from that transition high school to college and then especially
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: if that transition from college to pro Right, there's always
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: like that next sense of leveling up that you anticipate,
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: but you don't fully get it until you exactly yea,
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: and when you didn't have the ice time that you wanted.
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's just one example of things that maybe
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: feel or are uncontrollable for you. What were you able
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: to do in the indrome that made you a better
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: player during that time?
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: Yep, definitely, that's a good question. I would just speak
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: to the coaches, and because they're the ones who decide,
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: I'm like.
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: What can I do.
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: I'm not going in there saying give you more ice time,
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: because it doesn't work like that, especially at the collegiant level,
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: and the best team in the country. So it's like,
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: what can I do to earn more ice time? What
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: can I do to make you guys more comfortable putting
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: me out there more oft end, they gave me things
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: that I worked on them, and they they didn't stay
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: truly their word, but I got better at those things,
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: so they rewarded me for which I guess, Yeah, they
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: stayed true to their word in that sense.
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: And that's so important in such a good example for
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: you knowing that just because you don't have something that
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: you want doesn't mean that there can't be something good
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: that happens before that.
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: Definitely, yes, exactly.
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: And as you're getting it to play, I mean, for instance,
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: having to switch positions. This is something that a lot
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: of people can definitely just pull out of their back pocket.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: Talk to me about that process for you and how
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: you and your skill set were able to switch so easily.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: I mean it started in conversation, I want to say,
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: the summer of the summer after the World's Tournament where
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: I won MVP as a forward at my first World's end.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: I just like so, I played a lot of defense
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: growing up with the boys, and I was recruited to
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: Wisconsin as a defenseman's last forward. I don't even know,
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: but yeah, I just always had the skill set in
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: my back pocket, a defensive I hadn't played for years
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: or was speaking us saying, it was kind of like
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: they're very heavy upfront, the forwards, great forwards, and obviously
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: like I fit in fine.
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: It was great.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: They didn't have any doubt in my position there. But
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: it was also like not as having on the DN
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: and I had those assets. So we both agreed, like,
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: let's try it out. Let's just try it. Yeah, so
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: we tried it, and yeah, I'm not I don't know
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: if it was I think it worked out obviously. I
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: don't know how it would have worked out if I
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: was on forward because I don't know, but I liked it.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: I loved how dyance so much faith in me, and
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: they believed in me. I thought that was incredible and
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: just feeling that belief was really cool. But yeah, a
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: lot of it, like you said, it was those skills,
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: but more of it was mental for me because I
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: think I had all the physical abilities. Yeah, mentally making
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: that switch and trying to drown out the outside noise
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: because everybody, almost everybody disagreed with it, which I understand
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: and tell me about that. Yeah, obviously it was this
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: season because there was recent It was the season after
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: I was the leading scorer in college and I just
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: want MVP at forward. So I understood where people were
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: coming from. But I also have the stature of a defend.
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: I'm tall, I get the one reach. I like to
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: see everything in front of me with you know, my IQ. So,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: like I said, I get where people are coming from,
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: but I also could tell people weren't even trying to
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: get a like, get behind the fact. Even if I
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: was doing good, they were just like no, no shift
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: forward right.
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: Like if it's not broken, don't fix it.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, which, like I said, I understand, but it's
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: not their decision.
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: To make I feel like.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: Also, you're the kind of person that appreciates the challenge, Like, yes,
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: it's like one thing to do something well and to
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: keep doing it, but this allowed you to flex in
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: a way that you hadn't been flexing and keeps it
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: interesting exactly.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I love the challenge, and having played D before,
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: it was like I can do this. Yeah, it's a
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: much higher level and much more complicated, but I can't
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: adapt quick and I had all the resources and yeah,
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: it was incredible.
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: It's so funny now knowing what we know, knowing that
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: you had those amazing goals that had the Olympics, to
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: look back and hear you say.
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: I'm not sure if it worked out how they.
• 19:10
  Speaker 4: Wanted, right, I'd like to say it did.
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: I think it did.
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: Speaking of those goals in Milan, I want to talk
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: a little bit about being in your skates during those moments.
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: I mean, before we even talk about the actual Oh
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: my god, what are you feeling?
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: What's happening here?
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: How do you typically come back to calm during high
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: intense moments.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah, kind of just for me, it's actually simpler because
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: I always try to stay calm no matter the moment.
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: That's just kind of who I am and how I operate.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: I don't like to get too high or too low.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: Obviously in certain moments I do get really you know,
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: a pilot where we tied the game at the end
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: and what we want, of course, but yeah, I think
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: just taking a deep breath and reminding myself like this
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: is awesome, this opportunity to grape. But it's like, you're
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: here for hockey, And when I was in those skates,
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: it were just like, okay, deep breath, the stakes are high.
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: You're at the Olympics, but it's the same game you
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: played your whole life. You know, the game hasn't changed,
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: so kind of just stick to what you know and
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: play your game.
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah, stick to what you know and play your game.
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: It's reiterating what you know to.
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: Be true exactly.
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: I love the.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: You've been doing this for a while. This is nothing
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: new here. Yeah, you're entirely capable of what you're setting
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: out to do. And sometimes that voice inside of our
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: head makes us think or question the things that we
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: already know. Is there a specific dialogue maybe that you
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: go to aside from you're capable of doing this?
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: You do this all the time pretty.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Much, or just like kind of like remember who you are,
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: Like you're here for a reason. Really Sometimes like after
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: I mess up or have a bad shift, I get
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: in my head and like it gets pretty negative kind
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: of just like stupid stuff, But just remind myself, like
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: you're here for a reason. You wouldn't be here if
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: you weren't good at Often I have like a smiley
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: face ran on my gloves just to look down and
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: like hockey supposed to be fun, Like I started it
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: because it's a game. I play it because it's fun,
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: and that shouldn't change no matter what level or how
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: long I've been playing.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: But I think there's something very special that separates you
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: and high performers from others in this sense, because you
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: have the ability to hear that negative voice, those negative
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: phrases and say like, Okay, I hear you, and I'm
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: gonna graduate from this.
• 21:31
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: That's challenging, Yes, definitely, And I think I haven't always
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: been good at that. It took a lot of work,
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: you know, in full transparency, Like I learned a lot
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: of that from like seeing a sports psychologist who helped
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: me a lot, and that freshman year when I wasn't
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: playing a lot and things weren't going great and I
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: had a lot of those negative thoughts in my head.
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: And so since then, I've just been working on being
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: able to hear those counteractive thoughts that are more positive
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: and help me perform better.
• 22:00
  Speaker 4: Yeah. I agree with that sentence.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: I like that about it separating high performers because I
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: wasn't the highest performer I could have been a freshman year,
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: and I feel like I'm getting there now.
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: However, if you had been such a crazy high performer
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: freshman year then I don't even think we would be
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: here exactly, we would even be here right now. You
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: also got to play on the team. With that said,
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: with a lot of veterans. Talk to me about what
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: that meant for you and if intimidated when you when
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: you got on, I would.
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: Say at the Olympics, not so much, because I had
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: been around all these girls a ton, Like We've done
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: a lot of stuff together these past few years. But yeah,
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: I mean there's a level of respect I have for
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: them too. Just I grew up being a big fan
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: of a lot of them, you know, especially Hillary Knight.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: Big shout out to the Goat. I think she's incredible
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: and like she was like my biggest inspiration in hockey
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: growing up.
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: Just was so cool.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: I was such a fan, still am such a fan,
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: But to be alongside hers, like at first, it was
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: very intimidating, and I still have so much respect for
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: her where it's still a bit intimidating, but I've got
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: to know her better now. Yeah, I would just say
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: I've become friends with like almost all of them, and
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: I think it was important that we build our relationships
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: before the Olympics, so that everyone was comfortable and yeah,
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: not so much of that intimidation anymore, which is good.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: You said that you don't like to get too high
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: and you don't like to be too low when you're
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: in the locker room or on the ice with these women.
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: Who is it that they are seeing there?
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: Yeah? I think I try to keep it.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: I got it on my crowd, so like there's younger
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: girls on the team, and I'll crack jokes here and there,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: but I try to keep I try to keep it neutral,
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: like exactly like low key, but still dialed in. You know,
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: I want them to know I take it seriously, but
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: at the same time, I'm not like, like super serious.
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: And why is that so important to you to be
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: so even keeled?
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think because that way, I just keep it
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: like I play the game simple, like I keep it
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: the I don't sorry, my game isn't necessarily simple, but
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: I I keep it consistent that way, so like I'm
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: not gripping my stick too tight, I'm not too loose
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: and just like, oh, like comfortable kind of thing. I
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: don't know if that makes sense, ye, but yeah, that way,
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: it's like when I say, not get too high.
• 24:15
  Speaker 4: It's okay.
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: If we're winning, I'm not just like a lot like
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: they're winning, right, And if we're losing, I'm not like
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: gripping my stick tight and worried, kind of just trying
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: to play that same game no matter what.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, what I'm hearing you say is that by even keeled,
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: you're not letting your emotions maybe get.
• 24:30
  Speaker 3: The best ye correct, Okay, yeah.
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: Okay, So in these moments, do you ever feel as
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: though that desire to stay even keeled can work against you?
• 24:41
  Speaker 4: Yes? And I've been told that a lot.
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: Oh that's interesting.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well yeah, sometimes I think people mistake it for
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: either not caring or like too nonchalant or things like that.
• 24:54
  Speaker 4: But I that's just how I'm wired.
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: I obviously people say I handle pressure really well, especially
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: like on the ice, but I think that's just how
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: I am. I don't want to get too over too under,
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: because that's just never been.
• 25:08
  Speaker 4: How I am. And I was gonna say my best
• 25:10
  Speaker 4: that's the best answer I have for that.
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: Well, because sometimes when we have a habit or behavior,
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: we are exercising it in that way because we had
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: an experience where something that was different or perhaps the
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: opposite didn't.
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: Do us well exactly.
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: So That's where I'm going with this. Was there an
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: experience that maybe being at an extreme didn't serve you.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: I think a good example and I've never said this
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: or talked about it since, but the gold medal game
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: was not my.
• 25:37
  Speaker 4: Best hockey game.
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: I was. I was so nervous, and I actually wasn't
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: for a big chunk of the game. I wasn't able
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: to be that even keeled that I usually am. But
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: as soon as I returned to that, I started to
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: play better.
• 25:51
  Speaker 4: So that was interesting to me.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: It's because like, I've been this way my whole career,
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: and then I get to the biggest game of my
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: life and I struggled. I really did struggle, but I
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: pulled it together.
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: Oh well.
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: Actually a lot of credit to my teammates. I think
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: they could tell I was in my head a little bit,
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: and my coach got me together, told me to dial
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: with the FN and I said word, and so I
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: picked it up and I just remembered. I just took
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: a deep breath, and I was like speaking to myself,
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: like this is hockey. Like a few of my teammates
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: down on the defensive end, we're like hey, like, you
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: know who you are, you know you can do. And
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: I started to pick it up and just go back
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: to my game, and they're like, there it is. And
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: I was just getting more comfortable. I wasn't too high
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: or too low. You though we were losing. So that
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: actually does the opposite of answer your question.
• 26:44
  Speaker 3: No, Sorr, there's so much good color in that.
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's why I felt it was actually I put
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: that there, but yeah.
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: So much good color in that.
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: And just this recognition, like a frustration, which is, this
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: is the biggest game of my career. Why am I
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: not doing what I know to be of service of me?
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: But that's so relatable. How many times are we like
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: in these big moments and we worry so much about
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: what it could look like if we choke, and that fear,
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: that anticipation, the feelings that surround these big moments. Sometimes
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: we let those feelings take them away, and rather than
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: let your feelings be the thing that stood in the way,
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: you recognize them. And then you said, all right, you
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: know what, I'm going to be the one that's in
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: charge of what happens next exactly.
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: And that's so hard to do, yep, so hard to do.
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: I can't even imagine like being I mean, I think
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: I'm a tad older than you, and I can't even
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: imagine having the foresight to be able to think to
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: that I could do that. And so what a beautiful
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: place you're in right now at such a young age
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: to say this is really only the beginning.
• 27:53
  Speaker 4: Right, Yeah, I think you could do it.
• 27:55
  Speaker 3: Oh, thank you, thank you. I appreciate it.
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: Although I was nowhere near as athletically give did as
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: you twenty two, that's to say the least, coming now
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: out of this and obviously in the in the build
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: up to the Olympics, so many eyes and so much
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: attention on you.
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: What has been the most challenging part of that for you?
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: I think just being able to like handle it and
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: manage it. I think it was great to have like
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: the ability to put my story out there and hopefully
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: inspire people. But it made me really nervous to like
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: mess up because I have a lot of critics who
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: but everyone does, so that is what it is.
• 28:34
  Speaker 4: But I was like, yes, this is a.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: Great opportunity for people to get seen my story about
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: blah blah. But then it was so much more pressure
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: and like almost a magnifying glass of like if I
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: messed up or if I didn't, And for example, people
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: would say things like I don't know. I think it
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: was a lot of things that I would mess up
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: and people wouldn't notice unless I was getting all that attention.
• 28:55
  Speaker 4: So yeah, there's ups and downs.
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: To it, but I I there the outweigh the downs
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: by a lot. Yeah, that's probably the toughest part, is
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: just feel like I couldn't mess.
• 29:06
  Speaker 3: Up entirely understandable.
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: I think of it often as pressure is a privilege.
• 29:12
  Speaker 4: Yes, I love that saying yeah, I always say it.
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: It's not an easy stance approach to take. It is
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: something that you're getting what you want, which is you're
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: performing well. So there are eyes on you, and you
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: ask yourself, is this performance something that's worthy of all
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: of these eyes?
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: Right?
• 29:34
  Speaker 4: Right?
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: And so yes, I've said that saying pressure pressure is
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: a privileged a lot because it is.
• 29:40
  Speaker 4: But then there were times I'm like.
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: Why the hell would I ever say that, Yeah, I
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: hate this pressure. It doesn't feel like a privilege. But
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: then I'm like, look at all the good that's coming
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: out of it. It is very much a privilege. So
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: I just had to remind myself of that.
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: You said that you liked the opportunity to get your
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: story out there. In telling your story, what do you
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: think is something that maybe you've talked a little bit
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: more about.
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah lately, you know, one of the my favorite things
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: I've been saying is like, if you love something, And
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: obviously I play hockey and coming more specifically from hockey,
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: but this goes to anyone, like, if you love something,
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: then you belong, like no matter who looks like you
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: and who doesn't.
• 30:19
  Speaker 4: I think.
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: A lot of people ask you know, what kept you
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: going when you didn't see people that look like you
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: in the locker room or in the rink, And I
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: was like, I loved it. I loved hockey, And like, well,
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: did you feel like you belong I'm like, yes, because
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: I loved hockey. And if you love something in that space,
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: then you belong in that space. It's simply put so
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: more specifically, you know, in correspondence to my story for
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: young you know, minorities and honestly, anybody, if you don't
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: feel like you belong in hockey because you don't see
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: many people that look like you, that shouldn't be the
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: reason why, but it's easier said than done.
• 30:53
  Speaker 4: I get it.
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's hard to be in spaces that no one
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: looks like you, But don't ever feel like you don't belong.
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: Don't let that be the reason you don't do it.
• 31:00
  Speaker 3: Exactly. It can be an and both situation.
• 31:03
  Speaker 4: Exactly.
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: You can feel like you belong because you share a
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: love of the game or whatever it is that we're
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: talking about, right, Yeah, and it can also be hard. Yeah,
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: it can be both totally. When you look back on,
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: you know, the last decade of playing hockey for you,
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: would you say that there was.
• 31:21
  Speaker 3: A moment where maybe it was the most difficult.
• 31:25
  Speaker 4: Yes, I mean I've.
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: Maybe in one tournament, but I've never had a teammate
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: that just looked like me. Especially when I was playing
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: boys hockey. Yeah, ten years ago, a decade ago, I
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: was the only girl, an only person of color. So
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: that was difficult. But I loved it so much where
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: it didn't bother me too much. There are times where
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: I was like, okay, whatever, like the weird looks i'd
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: get in the rink, the microaggressions, things of that sort. Yeah,
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: and then even th when I went to the high school,
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: the boarding school I went to the only person of
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: color in the dorms and in the program. But the
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: school was diverse, the actual school part, which was nice. Yeah,
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: there's not a specific time, but there were times where
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: I was like, actually, there was a good a lot
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: of times where I was like, I don't know if
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: I want to do this anymore, Like nobody, nobody gets it,
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: no one is in my shoes, Like I'm sick of
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: being an outlier. All this stuff, But that was always
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: overpowered by how much I loved hockey.
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: What did you do in perhaps the most intense moments
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: of frustration, or in the moments that you wanted to
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: give up? What was your outlet in that maybe outside
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: of the rink.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean often I would call my mom or
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: dad or my sister and cry and complain about it. Yeah,
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: And that was that was tough. I hated those times
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: because of how much I loved hockey. I was like,
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: this isn't fair, Like it should not matter, you know
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: what the color of my skin is.
• 33:01
  Speaker 4: It's hockey. It's a game, you know. But it was tough.
• 33:05
  Speaker 4: And they always talked.
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: Me metaphorically off a ledge, yeah, like kind of thing,
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: and I constantly just had to remind myself, like, you
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: love this. No one should be able to take that
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: from you. Nothing should take that from you. And yeah,
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: it wasn't always easy, but it was worth it.
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: It was worth it, and to go back to where
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: we were before. It enabled and empowered you to get
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: to that place where you're scoring a goal on the
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: Olympic stage. So now put me in your skates on
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: the ice. Yes, this is this is not a casual goal.
• 33:41
  Speaker 3: Nothing is casual about it.
• 33:43
  Speaker 4: No, I mean yeah, just my whole life.
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: I dreamt of going to the Olympics ever since I
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: knew what it was. And twenty fourteen, Sochi Olympics.
• 33:55
  Speaker 4: I was ten. They lost to Canada in the finals.
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: I remember being heartbroken, but I was like, but these
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: girls should be so proud of themselves, like blah blah blah.
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: And then I met Kelly Stack and a silver medalist
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: from Cleveland. I got to see her medal. I was like, well,
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: that's cool, it's awesome. I want to get that one day,
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: but in gold. Respectfully, I think silver is an incredible
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: feet as well. But I was like, if there's something
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: cooler than that, I want it. And I remember twenty
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: eighteen and watching them win in Peon Chang. I believe
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: it was super cool. I was just so excited for them,
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: and long story short, I've dreamed of them my whole life. Yeah,
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: to get there, it's a very small percentage of people
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: who get there to the Olympics, and the small percentage
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: of people who score at the Olympics, small percentage of
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: people who win a medal at the Olympics, and even
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: smaller percentage to win gold. So yeah, it was I mean,
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: to put yourself in my skates, it was.
• 34:54
  Speaker 4: Just like crazy.
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: I still haven't really sat down and processed it all.
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: That was actually gonna be my next question, Yeah, is
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: if you haven't, as you're saying, like, what have you done?
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: I got back from the Olympics, and three days later
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: I was starting playoff hockey with my collegiate team Wisconsin,
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: and I was going back to class and I was
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: back into a different world and we just won the
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: national championship with them in March twenty second.
• 35:22
  Speaker 4: I believe.
• 35:23
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's been a crazy six weeks for you.
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah to say so, yeah, it's crazy.
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: I mean, do you have a way that you usually
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: reflect or do you think that this is just such
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: a mountaintop that it's almost hard to force yourself to
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: sit down and take a look back at it all.
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think exactly. It's it's been tough. I haven't
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: had the opportunity. I mean, I'll scroll and see things
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: on social media. I'm like, well, that's cool, we did that.
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: That's awesome, and then that's that and move on and
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: that's that a movie.
• 35:51
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I haven't had.
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: Much of a breaker, which is fine, It's what I
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: signed out for. But maybe once I graduate.
• 35:58
  Speaker 3: Maybe once you graduate, who knows, its just a quick
• 36:01
  Speaker 3: media day in.
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: New York before we go back to class and then
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: get ready for finals.
• 36:05
  Speaker 4: Exactly.
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: I would be remiss if we didn't talk about the
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: men's team. Yeah, yeah, I don't really want to talk
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: about the men's team, but I want to talk about
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: more so, how all of that.
• 36:36
  Speaker 3: Made you feel.
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: Obviously, the people listening to the podcast are familiar with
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: the fact that there was all of this chat chat
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: about the men's team going to the White House, Trump
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: making a joke about the women's team should be invited,
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: and then there was uproar. So being a member of
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: the team, having experienced that, what were your feelings on
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: the whole thing.
• 36:57
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it really upset me.
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah, to be honest, like that whole tournament, I thought,
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: you know, the men seems really nice to us. You know,
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: we got along, We supported each other, We wish each
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: other luck, we congratulated each other, we shared a training room,
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: et cetera, et cetera.
• 37:15
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and I was I was upset about the video,
• 37:18
  Speaker 4: but I'm not.
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't say understand, but you know, I wasn't in
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: their shoes without all went down. But yeah, it was
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: a little bit upsetting. I thought it was, you know,
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: as Hillary Knight said, I my quota, it was a
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: distasteful joke. Yeah, and a lot of us had to
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: go through media to explain someone else's behavior, which wasn't fair,
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: you know, and there wasn't many apologies with that aspect. Yeah,
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: which is upsetting, but you know, to me at this point,
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: it is what it is. But yeah, I, personally, among
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: many others, were really upset about it, just because I
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: felt like, not that't necessarily.
• 38:02
  Speaker 4: Oh what we're I'm looking for.
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: It's annoying to me. Let me tell you why it's
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: annoying to me. It's annoying to me because you had
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: such an unbelievable accomplishment, and then all of a sudden,
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: people stopped talking about the accomplishment and stopped it started talking.
• 38:16
  Speaker 3: About this exactly.
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the first time my history and the men's woming
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: team win gold at the same time. And it's like, yeah,
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: it's such a cool thing that happens. It's a cool opportunity.
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: And then it gets I wouldn't say ruined, because there's
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: such a it's still such a very cool thing, but yeah,
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: for that attention to get taken away to something that
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: didn't have any business right taking away from it was
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: very upsetting to see.
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: Totally heard, and I commend you on your grace on
• 38:46
  Speaker 2: speaking on it because I'm sure that you know for
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: everything you're articulating now, there were so many other feelings
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: and thoughts and things said between teammates to be able
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: to come home.
• 38:58
  Speaker 3: Did you feel like once.
• 38:59
  Speaker 2: You got home that sense of accomplishment, how excited everyone
• 39:04
  Speaker 2: was for you, that was reignited once you got on
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: American soil.
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: Yes, for sure, it was really cool. We got a
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: lot of cool welcome backs and that was awesome and
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: everyone was super super welcoming back, especially on our Wisconsin
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: team and our Wisconsin fans. You know, we're getting recognitions
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: a lot of places. It was really cool. Yeah, got
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: asked about the situation a lot, and this is the
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: first time I've truthfully answered it. I kind of just
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: I don't want to say bs the other answers, but
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: I was just like, oh, we want gold, let's focus
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: on that.
• 39:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: But I and I to your point of like, it's
• 39:38
  Speaker 2: unfair that this is the thing that gets to take
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: away from it.
• 39:41
  Speaker 3: I totally agree with you.
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: It's like kind of another one of those double edged
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: sword situation. It's like, I want you to talk about
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: how that made you feel. I don't care about what
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: was said on my revisit what was said, but I
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: do think it's important that we as women talk about
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: how important it is that you deserve to feel all
• 40:01
  Speaker 2: of the things you deserve to be excited, you deserve
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: to celebrate your accomplishments, and that should never be overshadowed
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: by anyone.
• 40:08
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: Definitely, And we were, you know, kind of directed to
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: answer it by redirecting it, yeah, and just talking about
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: the team, which I understood at the time. But now
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: it's like, I don't know, I kind of feel like
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: I can be a little more honest. I appreciause yeah,
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: And like I saw Hilary be our captain, you know,
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: speak a few separate times about how how she felt
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: about it truthfully, and that kind of just like inspired
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: me to do the same because why not, Yeah, you know,
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: it's it's how it made me.
• 40:38
  Speaker 4: Feel, and it's helped me a lot of other people feel.
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: And I'm not individually attacking anyone with that statement, but
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: it was upsetting.
• 40:46
  Speaker 4: I'm not going to sit here and say it wasn't.
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's another really good example of what we were
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: talking about earlier, that sometimes you need someone to model
• 40:52
  Speaker 2: the way and like almost show you that it's okay
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: to be who you are. So many young women in
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: on the other hand, looking at you and feeling motivated,
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: okay to be who it is that they are seeing
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: you excel in a sport where a lot of people
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: do not look like you.
• 41:12
  Speaker 3: In fact, most people don't look like you.
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: As you tell your story, what else do you feel
• 41:18
  Speaker 2: like is really important that you want people to walk
• 41:22
  Speaker 2: away from learning about who leyla Edwards is.
• 41:27
  Speaker 4: Yes, I think.
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: Cliche, but like if you can see it, like you
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: can be it and you can do anything in a
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: space that you love, or just you belong anywhere that
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: you love. As I mentioned before, but I think it's
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: so important and I want people to know about me
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: is that I've worked very hard to become a great
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: hockey player, and I want to keep working towards that.
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: But it's always always been more important to me to
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: be a good role model and a good person and
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: good inspiration because I was a person befroze hockey player,
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: and I'm a personal side of a hockey player. You know,
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: I'm a person that plays hockey. Yeah, you know, I'm
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: not a hockey person. So I just think that's really important,
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: and even for people at the highest level to be
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: recognized as people and as humans outside the sport, I
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: think is incredible and important.
• 42:15
  Speaker 3: Who is Layla off of the ice?
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: She's laid back, She's chill. I'm speaking a third person.
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: I don't know why I am a little bit boring
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: off the ice, but I don't agree. I don't mind it, though,
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: because I'm so busy with hockey that anytime I can
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: just to chill, and I really enjoy s many time
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: with my friends and family. I like to crack jokes,
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: I like to be just someone who's fun to be around,
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: but also can read the room and in certain situations.
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: But yeah, Laila off the ice is slow key.
• 42:49
  Speaker 4: Low key.
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: I can't gather that from your personality at all, right, right,
• 42:54
  Speaker 2: low key so much that she looks forward to two
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: Red Bulls during the day. Yeah, yeah, that's a lot
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: of caffeine, my girl.
• 43:02
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a bit. It's one to two. It depends
• 43:06
  Speaker 4: what time our game is that.
• 43:07
  Speaker 3: Day, fair, fair, fair.
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 43:10
  Speaker 3: Do you have a flavor preference?
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: So obviously like the og no sugar free ogre GOA did,
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: but my favorites probably strawberry apricot or white peach. I
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: mean those just do it for me. Every time.
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: White peach is something that I need to get on
• 43:25
  Speaker 2: my radar, I think it might be sitting in my
• 43:28
  Speaker 2: kitchen right house.
• 43:29
  Speaker 4: So it's so good.
• 43:31
  Speaker 2: With that said, I too am an og sugar free
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: kind of fan. I bring Red Bull up because obviously
• 43:38
  Speaker 2: you are a red Bull athlete. You know, we talked
• 43:41
  Speaker 2: about your rise to success within this sport. It's not
• 43:44
  Speaker 2: surprising to me that you certainly had sponsors, including Red Bull,
• 43:49
  Speaker 2: excited to support you and your rise. What has that
• 43:53
  Speaker 2: part of your journey taught you being a student athlete
• 43:57
  Speaker 2: working you know a little bit within this and I space.
• 44:00
  Speaker 2: It's completely different than I was going through college.
• 44:03
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been unbelievably cool for me, Like being a
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: Red Bull athlete is being a part of the Red
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: Bull team, being rebl athletes genuinely probably like the coolest
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: thing that's ever happened to me. Like the way they
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: take care of their athletes, it's second to none. Like
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: I've never ever heard of a company. And I've heard
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: this from other people who aren't in the Red Bull
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: like industry at all. They're like, yeah, here, Red Bull
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: takes great care of the athletes, and it's true, Like yeah,
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: the amount of resources and the things they do for
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: me and that it's just I can't even put into words.
• 44:38
  Speaker 4: It's so cool.
• 44:39
  Speaker 3: Give us an example.
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I'm going to Monaco for the Grand
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: Prix June beginning of June.
• 44:46
  Speaker 3: After graduation.
• 44:47
  Speaker 4: Yes, yes, after graduation.
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: They've they have a facility in Los Angeles that they've
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: flown me to and put me up in a very
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: like the athlete house that they have. They give me
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: opportunities like this, you know, to be on this cool podcast,
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: and they've given me so many media opportunities. They just
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: make sure I'm all set at all times.
• 45:08
  Speaker 2: It's such a matter of what it's so cool because
• 45:10
  Speaker 2: I'm sure like if you were to think of a
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: younger you saying something like this, you probably wouldn't believe it,
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: no chance.
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, it's yeah, Like I'm obviously growing up, Like
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: we did a lot of road trips to my family
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: and I we were always drinking red Bull because we
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: just drove everywhere. But I never would have seen myself
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: like being a red Bull athlete and being taken care
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: of so well, Like I've never been taken such good
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: care of.
• 45:34
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's it's hard to put in a word.
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: It's like you honestly just have to be a red
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: Bull athlete to really understand it. Yeah, because it's the
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: coolest thing ever. Love to meet so many cool people.
• 45:45
  Speaker 2: And whoa, whoa, whoa who who would you say? Starstruck anyone?
• 45:50
  Speaker 2: Who's the coolest person you've met?
• 45:51
  Speaker 4: Through Red Bull?
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: There's been a lot of athletes that are really cool,
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: like Zeb Powell's cool, Aileen Goo, Like there's so many
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: people trying to think who.
• 46:01
  Speaker 3: Else, Like anyone at the Olympics. That really took your
• 46:04
  Speaker 3: breath away.
• 46:06
  Speaker 4: At the Olympics, I didn't get to meet Lindsay Von
• 46:08
  Speaker 4: that would have been awesome.
• 46:11
  Speaker 2: Is that the default answer for every woman that goes
• 46:14
  Speaker 2: to the Olympics Olympics.
• 46:17
  Speaker 3: Athletes, I mean, respectfully, that's all right, right, well.
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: Hillary Knights, but Loki Alyssa Lou she's not a red
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: at the Olympics. I school and then like I met
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: Megan thee Stallion, I mean I met Usher Snoop Dog.
• 46:33
  Speaker 3: Wow.
• 46:33
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, it wasn't it wasn't a bad trip.
• 46:38
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you you mentioned your family.
• 46:41
  Speaker 2: What was it like to see your family again after
• 46:44
  Speaker 2: that gold medal win?
• 46:46
  Speaker 4: It was so cool, Like as soon as I could
• 46:47
  Speaker 4: get off the ice.
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: With my medal, I went right up to my family
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: in the stands and I just hugged them and, you know,
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: shared a lot of words. I told him I was
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: so grateful, They said, they were so proud.
• 46:59
  Speaker 3: Your grandmother came.
• 47:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, ninety one years old, first ever trip out of country.
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: Out of North America. So I was telling one out
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: of the country moms like Canada's.
• 47:11
  Speaker 4: But I didn't know she went to Canada.
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: Okay, that's fine, but yeah, I wasn't. I didn't think
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: I was. Yeah, first time in North America.
• 47:18
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: So to be able to give her the opportunity like
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: obviously I didn't like, well I did give her essentially
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: put the opportunity to be able to provide something like
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: that for her and my whole family honestly just made
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: me so happy.
• 47:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's truly so special, and I like, probably the
• 47:37
  Speaker 2: best hug of your life.
• 47:39
  Speaker 4: Oh, yes, by far.
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: And I've never seen her so proud, Like I love
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: my grandma, but she doesn't show like a ton of emotion.
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: And she was so proud of me and I put
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: the metal around her neck. She was like, take a picture.
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: I'll have to show you the picture. I mean, she's
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: ninety one, and like it made me cry.
• 47:57
  Speaker 4: It's really cool.
• 47:58
  Speaker 2: Oh we love Grandma's Yeah, oh the best, the absolute best. Well,
• 48:03
  Speaker 2: right now, someone comes to your Instagram page and they
• 48:07
  Speaker 2: see a Team USA gold medalist. Ay now also NCAA
• 48:13
  Speaker 2: national champion. But when you look in the mirror, Laila,
• 48:16
  Speaker 2: what is it that you see looking back at you?
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: I see someone who's grown a tremendous amount. I keep
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: saying it. But like, as a hockey player, I've grown,
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: but as a person, I think I'm becoming proud of
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: who I am becoming. I think I've put so much
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: more effort into who I am as a person and
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: it's paying off. I think I want to leave an
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: impression as a good person. I can't stress that enough.
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: And because it's so easy to be kind, and I
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: think we need more kind people in the world because
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: it makes a difference. You know, you never know what
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: else on one's going through, and I just always want
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: to be that person you can rely on to be
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: kind and respectful and to everyone, no matter who you are,
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: what position you have in life, or whatever it is.
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: I think treating everyone with respect is very important. So
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: throughout this process I really focus on that.
• 49:10
  Speaker 2: I'm just enamored with you and the way that you
• 49:16
  Speaker 2: are so thoughtful about what's on your mind and also
• 49:21
  Speaker 2: who you want to be.
• 49:22
  Speaker 3: Being cognizant of the way that you.
• 49:25
  Speaker 2: Make people feel and how people feel when you leave them,
• 49:28
  Speaker 2: when you walk out of a room. It not only
• 49:31
  Speaker 2: takes time, but it's a skill set that will never
• 49:34
  Speaker 2: be wasted. And so to have this understanding of the
• 49:38
  Speaker 2: importance of something like kindness, regardless of age, is so
• 49:44
  Speaker 2: valuable and truly unrivaled when you now.
• 49:50
  Speaker 3: Think about what's next.
• 49:51
  Speaker 2: I mean, we talked about the Grand Prix, we talked
• 49:54
  Speaker 2: about graduation, but what do you think about after that?
• 49:57
  Speaker 4: The draft, the p TOBHL draft.
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, I'm so excited just to have an opportunity
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: to play after college. That wasn't only something that was,
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: you know, in my mind, because there wasn't a professional
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: league that was like solid and like consistent necessarily, and
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: this is something that I'm really excited about.
• 50:19
  Speaker 3: Do you have a place that you hope to go?
• 50:22
  Speaker 4: Honestly, no, I don't have one specific place.
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: Like I love a lot of the cities. I've been
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: to a lot of them, and i haven't been to
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: some of them, been to Seattle, Boston, New York, Toronto.
• 50:35
  Speaker 3: Uh, that's it actually, Okay, so you're open?
• 50:39
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, Opene.
• 50:41
  Speaker 3: Leila Edwards is a free agent.
• 50:43
  Speaker 4: Yeah, put it out.
• 50:45
  Speaker 3: There, put it out there. You heard it here first.
• 50:47
  Speaker 2: Well, I am so happy that we got to sit
• 50:50
  Speaker 2: down today too.
• 50:51
  Speaker 4: I had a great time, Laila.
• 50:53
  Speaker 2: Right now you have an opportunity to offer yourself a
• 50:56
  Speaker 2: piece of advice. I'm going to go back to when
• 50:58
  Speaker 2: you weren't getting them playing time that you were after
• 51:01
  Speaker 2: when you join the team in college, you were a
• 51:03
  Speaker 2: little bit down on that, but a realization and understanding
• 51:07
  Speaker 2: that maybe it was happening for you knowing what you
• 51:11
  Speaker 2: know now, what advice would you give to your younger self.
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: Definitely, it's not always going to be sunshine and rainbows.
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: You know, you got to work a bit harder for something.
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: You know, maybe you didn't always have to work as
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: hard for, but that work ethic can't go away as
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: you get as you achieve more things. You know, It's
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: like the moment I committed to college, it was like,
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: now the real work starts, so my dad said, And
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: the moment I made the US team, now the real
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: work starts. And I don't know if real work is
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: the right word, but now when you really got to
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: start working harder and harder so not to be too
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: content where you're at.
• 51:45
  Speaker 4: And I think that's what happened to me a little
• 51:47
  Speaker 4: bit of freshman year.
• 51:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's such. Is that not the most dad thing
• 51:51
  Speaker 3: to say? Ever? Whenever I'm upset, my dad is always like,
• 51:54
  Speaker 3: well what's next?
• 51:55
  Speaker 4: Right?
• 51:55
  Speaker 3: I'm like, okay, guy, minute be upset, right?
• 51:59
  Speaker 4: Right?
• 52:00
  Speaker 2: Both are valid, You can be upset because we don't
• 52:02
  Speaker 2: work hard for things not to go as we'd want.
• 52:04
  Speaker 3: But then it's valid. You gotta start thinking about what's next.
• 52:07
  Speaker 2: Exactly, Laila Edwards, so happy that you were able to
• 52:10
  Speaker 2: come in. Tell the hurdlers where can they find you online?
• 52:13
  Speaker 3: How do they keep up with you?
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: Oh, hurdlers, listen up, find my TikTok.
• 52:20
  Speaker 3: Oh we're tiktoking.
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I'm pretty active on TikTok there with my
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: best friend KK Harvey.
• 52:25
  Speaker 4: My TikTok is.
• 52:28
  Speaker 3: You can't be very active on TikTok and not be
• 52:30
  Speaker 3: right to call it out.
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: Yes, this is a little ridiculous and embarrassing. I think
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: it's Leila underscried words. Same, its my Instagram. I'm pretty
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: active on those two apps.
• 52:38
  Speaker 3: Okay, TikTok, Leila, Instagram underscore Edwards, I'm over.
• 52:42
  Speaker 2: A family of body and at Hurdle Podcast Another Hurdle Conquered.
• 52:48
  Speaker 3: Catch you guys next time.