Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / Trusting the Process: Lexi Rodriguez on Quiet Leadership, The Reality of NIL & Finding Your Voice

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Trusting the Process: Lexi Rodriguez on Quiet Leadership, The Reality of NIL & Finding Your Voice · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: At the end of the day, like belief is just
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: so strong, And when you believe in yourself, I feel
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: like you can accomplish more than you ever thought you could.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Always having that even at your lowest points, like you
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: can still believe in yourself.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Hey, Emily, here, you are listening to another episode of Hurdle,
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: a podcast featuring the mindset, secrets, and true stories of
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, empowering you
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: to live a healthier, happier, more motivated.
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: Life and of course, conquer your own hurdles.
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  Speaker 2: For this week's episode, I am sitting down with Lexi Rodriguez.
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  Speaker 2: She's a professional volleyball player for Love Nebraska. Lexi's journey
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: is a masterclass in trusting your intuition. She famously committed
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  Speaker 2: to the University of Nebraska as an eighth grader and
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  Speaker 2: went on to become an integral part of their legendary program.
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  Speaker 2: So naturally, we talk about what it's like to make
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  Speaker 2: that kind of decision at fourteen years old. Today, we
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  Speaker 2: also chat about the superpower of quiet leadership and how
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  Speaker 2: she learned to lead through connection rather than just being vocal.
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  Speaker 2: The mental transition from college to the pros, including how
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  Speaker 2: she managed to navigate the learning curve and initial moments
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: of doubt, plus the realities of the NIL era, managing
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: what often feels like a second job, and the importance
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: of authenticity over constant content production. We also chat about
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: her empowerment app, she sports, and her wellness non negotiables,
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  Speaker 2: from a slow morning routine to the power of a
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: long exhale to reset the nervous system mid match.
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: Love this combo.
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  Speaker 2: Amazed by Lexi and her wisdom well beyond for years
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  Speaker 2: and so excited to bring it to you, especially at
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: the beginning.
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  Speaker 3: Of a new League one volleyball season.
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  Speaker 2: I myself am so amped to make it out to
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  Speaker 2: a match this year.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: Make sure you're following along with Hurdle over on.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: Social It's over at Hurdle podcast. You can also check
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: out I Heart Woman's Sports over at iHeart Women's Sports
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: and me over at Emily Abody. Listen to Hurdle with
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: Emily A Body on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: wherever you get your podcasts.
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: And with that, let's get into it. Let's get to hurdling.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: Today.
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  Speaker 3: I am sitting down with Lexi Rodriguez.
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  Speaker 2: She is a pro volleyball player for Love Nebraska.
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  Speaker 3: LEXI, welcome to Hurdle. How are you?
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  Speaker 1: Yay? Thanks for having me. I'm great.
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  Speaker 3: Oh I'm happy to hear that. I know I said
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: how are you?
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  Speaker 2: But I like to level set when we start the
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  Speaker 2: episode every single time, how are you doing?
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  Speaker 3: Really like pretty good?
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  Speaker 1: I think I don't know. I was really excited for
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  Speaker 1: this pro season, and so I think, just like overall,
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  Speaker 1: it's been good. We just started, so I would say
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  Speaker 1: a little tired, but besides that, really good.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: And so when you say a little tired, what does
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  Speaker 2: a typical day look like for you? And is the
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  Speaker 2: tired coming from just an influx of stimulation or are
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: we having early mornings, late nights.
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  Speaker 3: What's going on?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, So the past week we had our first two games.
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  Speaker 1: So we had one on Wednesday, I believe, which was
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  Speaker 1: in Texas, so it's just like the travel can be
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  Speaker 1: a lot. And then we had our first home game
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  Speaker 1: on Sunday and they were both long games, so I
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  Speaker 1: think just combination of those. And then yeah, a typical
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: day is we normally start at like nine am and
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  Speaker 1: we'll do like a little team meeting and then we'll
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  Speaker 1: head into lifting and do a workout and then go
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  Speaker 1: straight into practice and then either have film or lunch
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  Speaker 1: or whatever it is, and then we're pretty much free
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  Speaker 1: for the day. So on a day to day it's
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  Speaker 1: not that bad, but when you add in all the
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  Speaker 1: travel and the matches and everything, it can get a
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  Speaker 1: little exhausting.
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  Speaker 2: A little exhausting, especially at the kickstart of a new season.
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  Speaker 2: How are you feeling going into this season?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think as a team, we're feeling really good.
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  Speaker 1: We have some new people who joined us, some new
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  Speaker 1: like foreigners that have a lot of experience, so it's
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  Speaker 1: been really cool to see all the dynamics of this team.
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  Speaker 1: But I mean, two games in, we're one and one,
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  Speaker 1: so we're in a pretty good spot.
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  Speaker 3: In a pretty good spot.
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  Speaker 2: It's so fun to talk to someone who's such an
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  Speaker 2: integral part to a team, because it's one thing to
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  Speaker 2: really perfect your craft and work hard as an individual athlete,
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  Speaker 2: but there's a whole other set of skills that are
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  Speaker 2: necessary when we talk about being part of a team.
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  Speaker 2: Talk to me about why you think you play well
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  Speaker 2: on a team and what you love about it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I think for me personally, like being
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  Speaker 1: a part of a team is the coolest thing that
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  Speaker 1: like you can do, whether it's in the workforce, in school,
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  Speaker 1: in on like a team of like sports, Like, I
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  Speaker 1: think it's so cool to be able to like bring
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  Speaker 1: all these different personalities together and see like the key
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  Speaker 1: pieces and how it all just kind of comes together
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  Speaker 1: and completes the puzzle because really, like especially for Vullable,
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  Speaker 1: you do need every single piece of the puzzle to
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  Speaker 1: really make it work. And so I think that's the
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  Speaker 1: coolest part. And just getting to learn more about yourself
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  Speaker 1: and more about others is I don't know, and while
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  Speaker 1: when you're doing something that you love and being able
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  Speaker 1: to do that at the same time, it's just really cool.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, to your point, I'm sure being a part of
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  Speaker 2: a team has taught you so much about yourself and
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  Speaker 2: maybe even a little bit about your leadership style, right.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure.
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  Speaker 1: I think especially through college, trying to navigate like, oh,
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  Speaker 1: I want to be a leader, but this isn't really
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  Speaker 1: who I am. And I think that was a big
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  Speaker 1: challenge for me, is I'm not the most like vocal
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  Speaker 1: person and that's that was never my strength. But I
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  Speaker 1: feel like I have a really big strength of like
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  Speaker 1: connecting with people and so it took me a while
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  Speaker 1: to really like realize that and then use that like
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  Speaker 1: on the court and as my leadership like superpower instead
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  Speaker 1: of like trying to force something that wasn't there.
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  Speaker 2: That's actually quite interesting to draw attention to that you
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  Speaker 2: came to this understanding that you can be a leader,
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  Speaker 2: not because you're the most vocal person in the room,
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  Speaker 2: but there are other qualities, other attributes that you have
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  Speaker 2: that can make you really great in that arena.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. And it's definitely like I feel like
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  Speaker 1: everyone kind of in life, like you kind of had
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  Speaker 1: to figure out what your strengths are and what your
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  Speaker 1: weaknesses are.
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  Speaker 4: And so I think that was a big turning point
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  Speaker 4: for me for sure.
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  Speaker 2: Did someone talk to you about that or was this
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  Speaker 2: a realization that you came to on your own, because
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  Speaker 2: I think that a lot of people listening probably share
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  Speaker 2: that same maybe insecurity if we want to call it that,
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  Speaker 2: like I am not a super vocal person, can I
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  Speaker 2: step into these bigger opportunities?
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  Speaker 1: I would say it was a mix of we obviously
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  Speaker 1: would talk with like a sports psych as a team
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  Speaker 1: and kind of figure out like what our team dynamics
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  Speaker 1: were and everything. We would do like the personality testing
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  Speaker 1: to figure out like where you kind of fit in
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  Speaker 1: and how many people of this we have on our team.
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  Speaker 1: But I think like from the coaches perspective, like they
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  Speaker 1: really wanted me to be this like vocal, like hold
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  Speaker 1: people accountable like all of this thing. And I was like,
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  Speaker 1: this is really like contradicting like what you're trying to
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  Speaker 1: have me be. And so obviously I tried as hard
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  Speaker 1: as I could to still work on that and bring
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  Speaker 1: that to the team. But I was like, if I
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  Speaker 1: know how to do this, like I'm going to do
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  Speaker 1: this as best as I can.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, And I love what I'm hearing you say that
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  Speaker 2: you listen to your gut in that that's something else
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  Speaker 2: being so authentic to yourself that can be so important,
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  Speaker 2: because if you were to step into this other way,
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  Speaker 2: it wasn't going to resonate.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, probably not. And I think, like I don't know
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  Speaker 1: in life, like you're gonna have to do things that
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  Speaker 1: are uncomfortable. And I'm not saying I never try and
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  Speaker 1: be vocal or anything, but you're gonna have to like
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  Speaker 1: get comfortable with like something that isn't really like real
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  Speaker 1: to you, Like you're gonna have to do that at
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  Speaker 1: some point in your life. But I think at the
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  Speaker 1: same time, like staying true to yourself as much as
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  Speaker 1: you can is going to have a big impact as well.
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  Speaker 2: Now you mentioned playing in college, you were playing well
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  Speaker 2: before that. A fun fact about you is that you
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  Speaker 2: committed to University of Nebraska in eighth grade.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: It was like the end of eighth grade going into high.
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  Speaker 2: School, which is wild for someone who maybe isn't familiar
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  Speaker 2: with how volleyball works. So from the outside looking in,
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  Speaker 2: talk to me about why that is. Why are eighth
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  Speaker 2: graders committing to universities for volleyball?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, the rule has changed now, but around my
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  Speaker 1: time when I was getting recruited, that was like the norm.
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  Speaker 1: It was like everyone was so young committing to colleges.
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  Speaker 1: And I don't know, I think with volleyball specifically, it's
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  Speaker 1: such a like technically sound sport where that like all
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  Speaker 1: the technicalities and the fundamentals really matter, and so I
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  Speaker 1: think coaches were finding like the talent that they thought
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  Speaker 1: would kind of carry over into college at a young age.
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  Speaker 1: And I mean a bunch of the people I got
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  Speaker 1: recruited with went on to like go to top schools
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  Speaker 1: and compete for national championships. So I mean it did
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  Speaker 1: work out, But at the same time, like what does
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  Speaker 1: a fourteen year old know about where they want to
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  Speaker 1: go to college and spend like a big majority of
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  Speaker 1: their life that Like.
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  Speaker 2: I can't even imagine what that process looked like for you,
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  Speaker 2: can you?
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  Speaker 3: S I'm late on that.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, So a lot of it for me was I
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  Speaker 1: was trying to go somewhere that could compete for a
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  Speaker 1: national title. That was like a big priority for me.
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  Speaker 1: But then on the other side of it, it's like, Okay,
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: well volleyball might not be your whole life, Like we
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: had to like the parents' perspective more so, it's like
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: we have to find a good school that has your program,
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  Speaker 1: Like what do you want to do? And when you're fourteen,
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  Speaker 1: it's like I want to play volleyball and I want
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  Speaker 1: to win. Like there wasn't much thought behind, oh, this
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  Speaker 1: program and this school has a really good business program
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: that would be really interesting, Like there was none of that.
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  Speaker 1: It was just like, oh, this program has a really
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: good coach. They're usually in the final four, Like I
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: want to go there. And so I think a lot
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: of people had the same like couple of schools that
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: it's like, these are dream schools that can compete for
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  Speaker 1: national titles. And I thankfully just got really lucky that
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: one of those schools wanted me.
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  Speaker 2: So when you are making the decision, I'm assuming your
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  Speaker 2: at University of Nebraska.
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: When you commit, bring me into the room with you.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. So it's a kind of a funny story. I
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: was doing a camp there that summer. It's called like
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  Speaker 1: the Dream Team Camp. They bring in a bunch of
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: recruits and you just get to train and see the
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: facilities and all that stuff. And so at the end
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: of the three days, the coach brought me in and
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: was like, could you and your mom come to my
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  Speaker 1: office after, like we want to offer you, like a
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: scholarship to come here. And I was a fourteen year
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: old kid, like I was like, oh my God, like
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: seeing stars and everything. Like I was like, I don't
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  Speaker 1: know what just happened. So the camp ends and my
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: mom's like all right, like we got to get out.
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: We got to get out of here, like start driving home.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: And I was like, mom, no, Like he offered me
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: a scholarship and she was like she was like what,
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: well what he say? What he's say, and I was like, oh,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know, like we had to
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: go to his office and so like I couldn't remember anything.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: So then we ended up me and my mom both
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: ended up going up to his office. And then that's
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: when the parent actually gets the rundown of everything, and
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: he ended up offering and so he was like, oh,
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: you can take some time to like think about it.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: So my mom and I walk out. We go in
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: the elevator and then I like looked at her and
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: I was like, Mom, I want to go here. She
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: was like, why didn't you tell him? And I was like, well,
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: I didn't know if I was allowed to. So then
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: we literally get to the bottom of the elevator, go
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: back up, and then I come out and I tell
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  Speaker 1: him like I'm I wanted to be a corner husker, And.
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  Speaker 3: Wow, that was that.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: That was how it happened.
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  Speaker 4: Literally is so surreal. I can't can't even It's like
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: a dream.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: Talk about trusting your intuition from a young age and
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: learning about your intuition at a young age, like when
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: I think about fourteen, I think about for me aged thirteen,
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: like maybe my bot Mitzvah like I don't remember anything
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: from thirteen, Like I, oh my god, when I think
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: about what I wore, like so so many problems.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's crazy to think about. And I think like
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: the coolest part was that my mom was just had
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: full trust in me and like what I wanted. And
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  Speaker 1: I think she could tell through like the couple of
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: days I was training there that I was in like
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: volleyball Heaven, and that's literally like she could see it
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: was like a dream coming true. And so I think
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: when like having that validation of like you could have
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: told them like let's go tell them, like if you
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: really want to, and I was like, okay, well I do,
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: Like I just wanted my mom's permission, like I was
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: like that, And so I think that was also like
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: a really cool part of it. Too.
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: Completely understandable.
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: Again, You're like, a you're like fourteen years old, so
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: completely understandable at fourteen years old.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: And I'm so.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: Curious, So are there caveats or maybe like stipulations when
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: you sign on at that age to go play there
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: four years later? I would imagine that some people that
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: sign on at fourteen, life happens in four years. Not
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: everyone can actually go to where they commit.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so technically when you're like when you get offered
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: at that age, you're only like verbally committed. It's basically
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: like a commitment without like the actual like signage and
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: then signing day where it like is you actually sign
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: a piece of paper and submit it is like November
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: sometime in the fall of like your senior year. Okay, okay,
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: So if you did want to like change your mind
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: or if life happens and YadA YadA, like you can
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: decommit and explore other options. Like that's pretty common too,
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: or at least it was pretty common when people were
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: doing it at such a young age.
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: And you said that the system has changed now a
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: little bit. So what's different now than when you were
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: going through this process?
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: I think now you're not even allowed to be in
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: contact with college coaches until like the summer going into
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: either your sophomore junior year. I'm I want to say junior,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: but that could be wrong, so one of the two.
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: So now instead of four, most people are like sixteen
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: when they can finally start talking to coaches.
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: And so when you were younger, you had I on
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: the prize I want to play volleyball in college I
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: want to go somewhere where we can win the title.
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: Right upon graduation, did you still think to yourself, I'm
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: going to stay all in.
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: This is what I want to give all of my
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: focus to. Yeah.
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: I would say from a young age, I've always had
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: like really big, long term goals with what I wanted
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: to do in the sport. So there was never a
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: doubt in my mind that I wanted to keep playing
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: after You obviously learn a lot about yourself through college
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: and everything, and so I think some of the things change,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, like I still
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: want to keep kind of building my craft and see
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: how good I can get. And at the end of
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: the day, like I think everyone's goal is to kind
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: of play in the Olympics one day.
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: That would be the the top.
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: Of the mountain. Like that's that would be the coolest thing.
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: And I mean, you've got a lot of really great
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: inspiration and motivation around you at Nebraska. I recently chatted
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: with Jordan Larson. I can't even imagine what it's got
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: to be like for you to have someone of that
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: legacy within the sport at your access.
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure.
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: And I don't know if you know this. She actually
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: coached me when I was at Nebraska for two years,
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: and so being able to have that like wisdom, as
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: like having her as like a teacher, like a coach,
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: and then having that as a teammate has been so incredible.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: Like she has taught me so much, whether it's literally
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: just watching her do something or just the conversations we have.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: And it's really cool when someone that.
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: Like decorated and accomplished.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: In life in volleyball, like just so much experience and everything,
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: and having that as a teammate and a friend, It's
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: it's the coolest thing in the world, honestly. And he
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: would have told the fourteen year old girl that she
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: would be playing professional volleyball with Jordan Larson, like she
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: never would have believed.
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: Me, never believed.
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: Also, like such a special thing about volleyball nowadays.
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so cool. And to see the longevity within sport.
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: I mean, if we're thinking about you having even half
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: of the longevity that Jordan has had, you have ten
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: fifteen more years of playing ahead of you at the
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: very least.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: It's crazy. I don't know. She is a different breed.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: She amazes I think everyone every single day.
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: Still, I was listening to a podcast earlier, and the
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: person on the podcast was sharing the best piece of
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: advice that they've ever been offered, and the advice was,
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: if it won't matter in five years, then it doesn't
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: really matter that much right now. If you think about
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: some of the advice you've received, the best advice you've received,
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: whether it comes from Jordan or otherwise leveling up as
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: a professional yourself, what comes to mind.
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, speaking of Jordan, I would say, like,
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: like I said, she has a lot of wisdom, and
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: she kind of always talks about I'm really big on
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: like impact and everything like that, and she has said
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: more than once like leaving things better than you found it,
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: and like kind of that kind of goes along with
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: impact and kind of with this league and everything, like
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: we're trying to build something and with volleyball, we're trying
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: to like raise it to the next level. And so
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: I think, yeah, like leaving everything better than you found
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: it is a great life motto. I would say. Another
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: one I've heard her say a little bit is just
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: showing up every day, and like you can control like
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: how you show up, whether it's with your attitude or
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: your mindset, like yeah, maybe you're sick or maybe your
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: body's sore, but like how you show up mentally can
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: have a big impact in like how successful you are.
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: How do you show up when you're not really feeling it,
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: maybe when you are sore, when you have these back
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: to back games? What is your why? And how does
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: that help you show up when it's difficult.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I would say my wife is definitely changed a
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: little over the years I ask to me about that. Yeah,
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: I think when I was younger, like I was very
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: much a like volleyball like meathead, Like I was like, win,
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: win when that's all that matters. And like, obviously I'm
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: a competitor at heart, like I do want to win,
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: but I think the big thing for me now is
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: like the connection and impact piece of it. So whether
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: it's like the connection with my teammates, like I'm so
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: big on that. I think it's so cool that we
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: are like in the middle of Nebraska and there's people
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: from literally all over the world that are here to
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: like play a sport that we all grew up loving,
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: and I just think that's so crazy, And so I
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: think connection is huge for me. And then I also
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: think like impact and I don't know. I Nebraska, it
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: kind of teaches you a lot about that, just with
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: how crazy of a fan base they have. But I think, however,
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: we can impact the next generation and try and continue
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: to uplift those around us and female athletes, Like I
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: don't know, I think that's that's going to be a
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: big deal for how we move the sport forward. So
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: I would say those those two things are like my
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: why it's it's I'm a people person, So.
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: I'm a people person. I love that. And when you
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: say Nebraska having a.
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: Crazy fan base, paint a picture for me, give me
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: an example of the craziness of the Nebraska fan base.
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: I just I want to say crazy in a bad way,
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: a good way.
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: I just think like the best picture is just they
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: we set a world record for like an attendance, like
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: an attendance record, and I don't I don't know how
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: much crazier it can get. Like whenever, like whenever women's
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: sports needs fans and needs anything like Nebraska shows up
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: and I think that's it's so cool to be a
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: part of. But it never fails to amaze me, like
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: what they do and how much they care about like
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: female sports.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: Here of course, and so a lot of fans means
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: also a lot of eyes. A lot of eyes can
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: contribute to what is often a high pressure situation for
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: you in the middle of your games. Talk to me
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: a little bit about how you navigate pressure. And you
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: mentioned your sports psychologist earlier, so maybe how that's helped
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: you kind of figure out how to manage that.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think being at Nebraska definitely teaches you to
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: deal with pressure, and I would say there it was
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: particularly tough just because of the amount of eyes and
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: attention that are always on you. But yeah, I think
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: over the years, like I've learned what helps me get
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: through it and what makes it work. And so for me,
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: like I said, like I'm big on like the connection
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: piece and so having like people, not even I don't
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: need someone specifically, but I'm someone who just needs to
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: like talk and laugh and maybe sing a song that's
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: on or hit a dance move something just to like
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: keep me present in the moment. And I've found that
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: like if I'm quiet and I'm not talking, then like
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: that's when the thoughts kind of show up and you
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: start to spiral a little bit. Like I'm someone who
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: needs to be like vocal about it. And that's even
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: like admitting like telling someone, hey, I'm really nervous right now,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: like I'm I'm kind of freaking out, and like even
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: just like vocalizing it can help a lot. But I
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: would say the biggest thing that I'm like still trying
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: to work on is the self talk, and I don't know,
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: just giving yourself more grace and finding keywords that can
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: kind of snap.
• 22:55
  Speaker 4: You out of the rough patches for sure.
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: And so when you say finding the key words, do
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: you have any that come to mind?
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: I would say A big one for me is like
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: I've earned the right to be here, and I've earned
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: the right to be confident, just because when you like
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: put it in perspective of all the work that you've
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: put in, how many reps you've actually done at the skill,
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: like it just kind of puts your mind at ease
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: of like, oh, yeah, like I can I can show
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: up in this moment like I've showed up a thousand
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: times before this.
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: It's always so valuable to use your past experience as
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: the example, right, And so to your point saying I've
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: put in the reps, like you committed to playing volleyball
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: at age fourteen in college, like you have been doing
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: this for a long time and long committed because you
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: were good at it.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, and it's it's so it's crazy, like how
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: powerful like your own thoughts can be. And so I
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: think just I mean, Jordan talks about it. Our team
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: always talks about it, like what are we telling ourselves?
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: And it goes back to like how are you showing up?
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: Like are you coming in with a bad mindset coming
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: into practice? Like, oh, like I don't want to be here.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: I suck at this. It doesn't start like after you
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: shank a ball, Like it starts in the morning when
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: you wake up. I think, Yeah, that's also something that
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: I've learned as I've gotten more into the professional world too.
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: I want to talk a little bit about what happens
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: after you shank a ball. But before we do that,
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: you mentioned your morning. What have you set up for
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: yourself in terms of a framework that helps you show
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: up and put your best foot forward after you get up?
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, one thing is I'm not big on like just
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: waking up and going out the door, because I think
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: it's just like I like having a slow morning to
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: kind of have the mind like at ease, and so
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: I don't if we start at nine, Like I'll wake
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: up at like seven and just have coffee, breakfast or whatever.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: And then I usually try and journal every morning and
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: just jot some things down that like I'm grateful for
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: and some like intentions of the day. And then I
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: try and like do that at night as well. And
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: then besides that, I think, just yeah, trying to put
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: myself in a position where I can like show up
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: positively and just like feel good about myself.
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: It's so interesting because when I was twenty two, I
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: didn't know the first thing about gratitude or really much
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: about like I had a journal. But it's so different now,
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: like the exposure that we've had to understanding how these
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: tools can really help us. Have you had a journaling
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: practice for some time or is this something that you
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: adopted more recently.
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: I would say in college we did a little bit
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: with journaling. We would have different prompts or different exercises
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: to get used to it. But some people are big
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: on more meditation or visualizing, and for me, the thing
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: that's always helped has been journaling. So I I think
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: I've gotten a little more creative with it to try
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: and bring out what's going to help the best.
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: But the foundation was definitely laid in college for sure.
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: For sure, now you use this really great morning routine
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: to set you up for what can happen at practice
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: and then obviously in play. Talk to me a little
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: bit about what can be the mental reset that's required
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: in between points. You said before you understand that it
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: can't always be about winning, but obviously each and every
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: time you step in between the white lines, you want
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: to be putting your best foot forward. So how do
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: you reset mid play when something's not going as you
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: had hoped?
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: I would say another thing for me is like breathing
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: and trying to like slow everything down and just be
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: where your feet are. So I think, I mean, volleyball
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: is great because there's a lot of pauses between every
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: single point. You have at least like fifteen sometimes twenty
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: sometime longer like in between each play, so there's that
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: time to kind of take some real deep breaths and
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: slow your nervous system down so it can really focus
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: on the task at hand. And I feel like that's
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: probably the biggest thing that helps me right now.
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: And do you literally feel like when you take those
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: deep breaths, like the feeling shift within your body.
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: When I'm really intentional about it and I'm like, Okay,
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: take a deep breath inhale for four, exhale for like six. Yes,
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: I can actually feel like Okay, my shoulders go back
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: a little bit, like I am just like more clear headed.
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: But if I don't intentionally like tell myself to take
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: a deep breath, then I just go on like then No,
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: it usually doesn't.
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: She knows about those longer exhales. She knows about how
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: to use them to her advantage. We're talking about you
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: playing in the pros right now, but there had to
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: be a transitionary period from playing at Nebraska to now
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: playing in the pros. What was the biggest hurdle in
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: making that transition?
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: Oh? Boy, I would say in volleyball, there's always just
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: such a big gap when you go from level to level.
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: So going from high school to college was a big jump,
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: just because the speed is faster, the girls are more physical,
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: everything like that. Like when you're in high school, you're
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: playing against fifteen, sixteen, seventeen year olds, and then you
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: go to college and you're playing against like twenty two
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: year olds and you're like seventeen and it's like, Wow,
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: I've didn't know girl could hit that hard. So I
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: think it goes kind of the same, like you go
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: from college to pro and you're playing against people who
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: have been playing for fifteen years in different countries, and
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: it's like there's this whole new level of the game
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: that you kind of unlock. And so I think just
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: getting used to that and kind of training like your eyes,
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: I think is a big thing of the speed and
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: the level and just what the different style of play.
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: I would say, how did you handle that? At first?
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: I would say it was.
• 29:05
  Speaker 4: Really tough for me specifically.
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: I know a lot of people go through learning curves,
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: but last year when I went from college to Love
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: Nebraska or love Omaha, at the time, it was it
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: was pretty difficult. Like I was like there were definitely
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: times where I would question, like if I was going
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: to be able to make this work, or if I
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: was going to be able to kind of transition into
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: this new level of volleyball, Like I didn't know if
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: my skill level was gonna be enough, and that like,
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: obviously you have to give yourself grace and give yourself
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: time to adjust, which I did, and it ended up
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: working out, but there was definitely a month month and
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: a half where it was like, definitely the doubt was
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: creeping in a little bit.
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and you talked earlier about the reps that you've
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: put in to be able to say the sentence I
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: I am confident that I should be here, right and
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: so so to put in those reps at the beginning
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: of this big shift, it's quite an uncomfortable situation, yeah.
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: For sure. And yeah, you're playing next to Olympians and
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: you're fresh out of college and you're like, oh, I
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: don't belong here. What am I doing? And then like
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: you get the reps down and you're like, Okay, it's
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: at the end of the day, it's the same ball.
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: Well it was a different ball, but at the end
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: of the day, you're playing volleyball, the sport that you've
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: been playing for literally like eighteen sixteen, whatever it is years,
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: and so it just takes time. But yeah, there's always
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: going to be adjustments that you have to make.
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: Do you find that you have to really compartmentalize what's
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: going on within your life off of the court versus
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: what's happening on the court.
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: Being at Nebraska that is also something that you learn
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: very quickly, just with especially when NIL became a thing,
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: like you really had to learn how to time in
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: and really like leave things that were off the court,
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: like off the court, make time for you know, your
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: individual needs, and then also like prioritize the volleyball part.
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: So I would say, now like I've I've learned, Okay,
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: this is what I need to do, this is what
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: I have time for. But when you're in college and
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: you're young and you just want to say yes to everything,
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: like it can be a little difficult for sure.
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, let's talk a little bit about NIL because I
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: feel like people we talk about it, and people think like, oh,
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: I'm just supposed to understand like what all of this means.
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: So like when you started to become integrated into this,
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: when NIL really became a thing for you, how did
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: that change your day to day?
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean at first, so my freshman year was
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: the first year that it like got past. So at
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: first I think it was like, oh, we get a
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: free meal, or we get people are sending us free clothes,
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: Like it was like no one really knew what to expect.
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: And then obviously through my four years it grew tremendously
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: and there's billboards and commercials like you see all like
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: Caitlin Clark and just everything like that. Like it obviously
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: grew and people understood like how to utilize it more.
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: But yeah, like it became me and my mom would
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: always joke that, like I was a full time volleyball
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: player and like I had a part time job, Like
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: it was you really had to look at your calendar
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: and try and schedule it in, especially when you're in season.
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: It can make things really difficult. But you I think
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: that came along with like learning how much you could
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: handle and how much time you needed to put a
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: side like for yourself too.
• 32:42
  Speaker 3: How much you can handle.
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: This is an interesting concept as well, because we're now
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: addressing the fact that there are so.
• 32:50
  Speaker 3: Many people that have eyes on you.
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: And we're not just talking about during gameplay now right,
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: we're talking about a social media following. What would you
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: say has been the biggest blessing of that and also
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: perhaps the hardest part.
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: The biggest blessing is like the impact piece of things,
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: And I've been able to now channel that a little
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: more and try and give back to like the kids
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: specifically that want to play volleyball at the next level,
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: Like we just have this amazing platform to I don't know,
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: to kind of tell our story but also give the
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: kids or give these young girls like what they need
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: or what I don't know, just a little bit of
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: advice that we think would be useful for them to
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: get to the next level. And it's like we didn't
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: always have that resource when we were younger to those
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: like professional or college athletes, like it was like, oh,
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: you watch them on TV twice a week and that
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: was pretty much it. So I think that part is
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: a really cool blessing. And then obviously I think the
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: big not so great part of it is that there's
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: going to be the judgment and the criticism and everything
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: like that, which you got to try your best to
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: ignore it. But everyone sees the comments at the end
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: of the day, like you might it might just be
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: a really bad day you're having and this comment sets
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: you over the edge, like it's they're there. And as
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: much as like people will say like, oh, you just
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: ignore it, it's definitely easier said than done.
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: I think as a public figure, everyone has a story
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: about the first time that they saw some sort of
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: a comment or feedback that really just sucker punched them
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: in the face.
• 34:35
  Speaker 3: Do you remember yours?
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: Man, I don't know if I remember the first one
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: or not. I don't. I want to say there was
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: everyone that like like sucker punched me, but I would
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: say just like everyone has the time when it's like
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: after a bad game or like you feel like it's
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: the worst game you've ever had, and then like you
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: go online and someone just says something like it could
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: be so like oh, she couldn't do this today, whatever
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: it is, and it's like it just validates it. And
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: so I don't know, I don't have one specific one
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: that was like oh, but yeah, there's definitely been some
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: there always is.
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: Now, you mentioned impact being something that you're super passionate about,
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: which brings me to talking about she Sports for those
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: that aren't familiar, give us some insight into what that is.
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, So myself and my other co founder we built
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: an app called she Sports and it's basically just an
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: empowerment app where we have female college athletes on it
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: and then they're able to kind of produce content or
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: answer questions, and then there's obviously like the user part
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: of it where they can go on they can ask
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: all these athletes different questions about like mental fitness, like
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: behind the scene, skilled training, literally like you name it,
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: you can ask usually anything and then so it kind
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: of just gives that back and forth loop of I
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: don't know, like the realness and also like the connection that,
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: like I was saying earlier, didn't always exist, Like there
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: was never this place where I could go and ask
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: Jordan Larson when I was younger, like hey, like, how
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: are you such a good passer? Like there was never that,
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: And so I think this gives a space for these
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: young girls to really connect with kind of the older
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: girls in the sport that they want to play one day.
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, So what I'm hearing you say is you really
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: were passionate about creating something that you yourself wish you
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: had when you were younger.
• 36:44
  Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure.
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: And I think I've said it before, like talking about
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: she sports, But all throughout college I was like I
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: have an amazing platform and I have no idea like
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: how to use it for good, and so I think
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: I was like searching for how I could kind of
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: give back to younger girls specifically and just a a
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: big thank you. And I feel like this is kind
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: of connects to what means the most to me, and
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: that's like authenticity part and the impact part. So I
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: was like, it's the best of both worlds.
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: The best of both worlds. Now, you mentioned a big following.
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: How do you balance being an elite competitor with the
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: demands of being so public facing. You talked about it
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: also being a little bit of a second job.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it definitely is kind of like a second job.
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: Some days are easier and some days are definitely a
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: lot harder. I think like the biggest thing is like
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: on social media, it's all about, oh, like be consistent
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: with how much you post, and I think, like for me,
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: that's really hard because like I don't I want to
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: produce something that's like authentic and that really like showcases
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: my personality and me, like my story and everything, and
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: so it's really hard for me to like just go
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: produce content every day because it doesn't feel very like natural,
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: and so I think that would be like the hardest
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: part is like I know that this is part of
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: like my brand, but it's like at the same time,
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: like I don't even know what I want to like post,
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: So it does get a little tricky sometimes, but most
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: of the time. It's it's fun. It's fun to make
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: dances or too. It's a good way also to like
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: connect with teammates in my opinion, and especially people like
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: Jordan Larsen. She's like, what what is TikTok? Like I
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: don't and then she and and now she's like doing
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: dances in the airport with us.
• 38:40
  Speaker 4: So it's like, it's really cool to kind of see
• 38:42
  Speaker 4: all the dynamics.
• 38:43
  Speaker 3: You were a marketing major in college.
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: I was ad pr.
• 38:47
  Speaker 2: Ad pr okay, yeah, do you feel like you're using
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: any of that now?
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: I honestly yes.
• 38:54
  Speaker 4: Like when I first did it, I was like, what
• 38:57
  Speaker 4: am I gonna do with this?
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: And then Nil kindkind of took off and I was like, huh,
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: I might be able to sneak this in in some places.
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: It's interesting as well, because we talk about the big
• 39:09
  Speaker 2: decision you made at fourteen to commit to a school,
• 39:12
  Speaker 2: and then you're also dealing with like just such big
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: things that so many individuals don't deal with until later
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: in life. We're talking contracts with Nil, we're talking about
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: I mean, the way that you're speaking is so impressive, right,
• 39:26
  Speaker 2: You've had to learn so many skills to be able
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: to show up in this way at some point or another.
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: Does the expectation ever frustrate you to be able to
• 39:38
  Speaker 2: do everything already?
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: Obviously on the core expectations are different. But I would
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: say I don't know if like expectation is the right word.
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: I think sometimes I do get a little frustrated with like, oh,
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: I just feel like I had to do like all
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: of this and I'm literally just a twenty two year
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: old girl, like I just want to go home to
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: my family. Like it's just I don't know. Sometimes you
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: just you get it's a little overwhelming, I would say,
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: of course, And so I would say, like that's been
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: the big thing that I've been trying to I would say,
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: manage more is like how can I kind of keep
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: it steady to where it doesn't get to a point
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: where I'm like overwhelmed with everything? And so I think
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: that's always like a internal battle I have.
• 40:27
  Speaker 2: And that goes back to our conversation about self talk
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: and putting in the reps, like right, like, this is
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: the first time you've ever done this, and you shouldn't
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: know how to do it yet you're living your life
• 40:38
  Speaker 2: for the first time, just like everybody else.
• 40:41
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's all it's just all connected.
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: Everything is always connected when you look at it. And so,
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: like you said, with like the contracts, like my mom
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: always stand up for like what you want, like what
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: you deserve, and I was like, I mean that's pretty cool,
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: though I don't know, I don't really care. And she's like, no,
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: it's not like how the this world works. And I
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: was like, well, I'm not I don't know. Like so, yeah,
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: there's definitely some moments of frustration. For sure.
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: You got to get your feet wet somewhere, right, and
• 41:09
  Speaker 2: you've got to go through something to experience it to
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: learn from it. Whether or not the experience goes how
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: you want it to go, it's always the learning opportunity, Yes, exactly,
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: entirely so so for you right now, you talked a
• 41:22
  Speaker 2: bit about how awesome it is through the work that
• 41:25
  Speaker 2: you're doing with she Sports and then obviously your team
• 41:28
  Speaker 2: experience to have the opportunity to foster these connections, to communicate,
• 41:33
  Speaker 2: let's say, between the generations. Right when you think about
• 41:37
  Speaker 2: the lasting impact that you want to have on the
• 41:40
  Speaker 2: sport of volleyball, what comes to mind.
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: The authenticity part of it. And I would say big
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: thing for me is like the joyfulness. I am a
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: very happy person most of the time, and even when
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: I play, like, yes, I'm very competitive and and like I,
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: like I said before, I want to win, But I
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: think you don't have to be for me. It's like
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: I don't have to be angry. I don't have to
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: be like mean mugging. People like to be competitive, like
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: I just have a different way of showing it. And
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: so I think, yeah, just being true to yourself and
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: just trying to bring and spread as much joy as you.
• 42:21
  Speaker 3: Can beyond volleyball. Right now, what's exciting you, Like.
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: You said, she's sports. It's very new, Like we just
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: launched a couple months ago, and so I think, still
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: contributing as much as I can even though I am
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: in season, and trying to continue to build that so
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: it can kind of take off to even more places
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: because right now we're just kind of focusing on the
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: state of Nebraska. So i'd say that's the main priority.
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: But besides that, I don't know, just trying to stay
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: consistent with everything.
• 42:54
  Speaker 2: Honestly, I mentioned health and well being. What would you
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: say is the most important aspect of your personal wellness?
• 43:18
  Speaker 3: Routine right now that helps you feel like you.
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: Oh boy, that's such a such a big question.
• 43:25
  Speaker 4: I feel like there's so many things.
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: I think right now, Like I'm living on my own,
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: Like it's different from college. You're a professional athlete. You
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: have to really take care of yourself. And so I
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: think just having routines and everything is like really big
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: for me. And so like a big routine in like
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: what I eat and like everything like that, My food schedule,
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: I would say, is like really helpful for me, just
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: because I feel like when I eat clean, like I
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: can perform a lot better.
• 43:58
  Speaker 4: So I would say that's a big thing for me.
• 44:00
  Speaker 3: I was not eating clean at twenty two, and.
• 44:04
  Speaker 4: I think that's yeah, I got to give myself grace too.
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: But I'm around all these like athletes who have done
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: it for so long, and they're like they're diets under control.
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: I'm like, man, I know I'm younger, but like I
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: feel like I should be doing.
• 44:18
  Speaker 3: This now right now.
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: Someone comes to your Instagram page, maybe they're one of
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: your two hundred and fifty thousand plus followers. They see
• 44:28
  Speaker 2: a volleyball player, someone that really knows how to get
• 44:31
  Speaker 2: after it on the court, but when you look in
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: the mirror, a LEXI, what is it that you see
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: looking back at you?
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: Oh, I would say, like, again, I'm very big on
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: connecting with people, and very big on my friendships, my relationships,
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: my just connections with everyone and how I interact with everyone,
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: And so I would want to be known as like
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: a good friend, a good daughter, a good sister. I'm
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: an aunt now, so good aunt, like just all of
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: those things. I'm Yeah, I just love being around my people.
• 45:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and what a special opportunity that it is. I mean,
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: your people being pretty local, being that you're still in Nebraska.
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: Yes, exactly, Like that's one of the biggest blessings that
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: I never could have imagined coming, especially growing up when
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: you kind of were expected to go overseas after college.
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: So yeah, being able to play pro and have my
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: parents and grandparents and everyone come watch me is like
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: a dream come true.
• 45:32
  Speaker 3: Do you ever wish that you had left?
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: Not right now?
• 45:36
  Speaker 4: I think when you think about all the things.
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: That I've been doing and I'm only twenty two, Like
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: thinking about moving across the world and having to manage
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: all of that, and then also be away from my
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: family and the people I love, like I think it
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: would have been really difficult for me. I do think
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: it will be really cool to do one day and
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: to have that experience. But right now I'm really glad
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: to be in the US.
• 46:04
  Speaker 3: I love it. I love it well.
• 46:06
  Speaker 2: Right now, Lexi, you have an opportunity to offer yourself
• 46:09
  Speaker 2: a piece of advice. Let's talk about that really difficult
• 46:12
  Speaker 2: transition that you mentioned, going from college to playing in
• 46:16
  Speaker 2: pro leveling up playing against.
• 46:18
  Speaker 3: Competitors from all over the world.
• 46:20
  Speaker 2: That have a fine tuned skill set.
• 46:24
  Speaker 3: That reminds you how intense the sport can really be.
• 46:27
  Speaker 2: Knowing what you know, now, what advice would you offer
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: yourself going through that Hurtle moment.
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: I would just say, trust the process and at the
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: end of the day, like just always believe in your capabilities,
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: just because those were two things that kind of broke
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: down for me, Like I was questioning if I was
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: ever going to get there, and I was maybe at
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: the lower end of the curve whatever it is, and
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: it did never feel like there was light at the
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: end of the tunnel. So I would definitely say, like,
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: trusting that it's all going to work out, like you're
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: gonna adjust to everything, and then at the end of
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: the day, like belief is just so strong. And when
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: you believe in yourself, like I feel like you can
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: accomplish more than you ever thought you could. So just
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: always having that, even at your lowest points, like you
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: can still believe in yourself.
• 47:20
  Speaker 3: What do you want your competitors to see when you
• 47:22
  Speaker 3: step on the court?
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: Oh, I would just say, Oh, this is a tough one.
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: I would say, just someone with a lot of grit
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: and at the end of the day, like a like
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: hardcore competitor, because I think sometimes like yeah, maybe he's
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: smiling a lot and YadA, YadA, YadA, but like I'm
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: I want to win and I'm going to do everything
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: I can to win. So I would just say, like
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: someone who who always brings it.
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: Who always brings it, Lexia Rodriguez. So glad that we
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: were able to sit down today for hurdle. For those
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: that aren't following along with you, just yet give us
• 47:55
  Speaker 2: your details.
• 47:55
  Speaker 3: Where can we find you?
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: Oh gosh, I don't even know. I think my Instagram
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: is like Lexi dot Rodriguez, and then I think my
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: TikTok is just Lexi Rodriguez. I think Lexi has like
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: three eyes. Maybe I should probably I should probably know
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: my handles better.
• 48:13
  Speaker 3: It will it will be in the show notes. So
• 48:15
  Speaker 3: that's all you need to speak.
• 48:17
  Speaker 2: I'm over at Emily a Body and at Hurdle Podcast
• 48:20
  Speaker 2: Another hurdle conquered.
• 48:22
  Speaker 3: Catch you guys next time.