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From WNBA Pioneer to Lifelong Inspiration: Kym Hampton · Mind Over Mountain

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, Welcome to Mind over Mountain with me Cheryl Strad.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: This week, my guest is basketball legend Kim Hampton.
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  Speaker 2: Kim is a pioneering basketball player.
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  Speaker 1: She played for the New York Liberty in the inaugural
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  Speaker 1: season of the WNBA in nineteen ninety seven. Since she retired,
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  Speaker 1: she's done many interesting things, from singing to acting, to
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  Speaker 1: modeling to being the inspiring human that she is. In
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  Speaker 1: my conversation with Kim, we talk about always putting your
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  Speaker 1: best foot forward, even when it scares you. Let's listen
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  Speaker 1: to our conversation. Kim Hampton, Welcome to mind over Mountain.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I'm thrilled to have you her because, honestly, I'm
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  Speaker 1: a fan. Back when the WNBA nineteen ninety seven, you
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  Speaker 1: were playing for the New York Liberty. Of course, you
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  Speaker 1: were the number four draft pig. I was your big fan,
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  Speaker 1: and i'm still your fan. But I really got into
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  Speaker 1: watching those games, and some of them were quite unforgettable.
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  Speaker 1: And of course you by then had had a long
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  Speaker 1: career in basketball.
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  Speaker 2: But I want to go back to those early days.
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  Speaker 1: I've heard you say that, really what drove you into
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  Speaker 1: that sport as a career.
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  Speaker 2: Is that you loved it? How did you fall in
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  Speaker 2: love with basketball?
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  Speaker 3: Well, first of all, I didn't start playing basketball until
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  Speaker 3: my freshman year of high school. That was the year
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  Speaker 3: that I started playing organized sports, shall I say? And
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  Speaker 3: I think I started I fell in love with it
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  Speaker 3: because I realized, Wow, I'm pretty good at this. I
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  Speaker 3: learned pretty fast. And I went from my freshman year
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  Speaker 3: of just playing JV junior varsity basketball and dressing varsity
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  Speaker 3: I would just sit on the bench and wit and play,
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  Speaker 3: to starting varsity my sophomore year and then my senior
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  Speaker 3: year being the top female basketball player in the state
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  Speaker 3: of Kentucky. I fell in love and love with it
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  Speaker 3: somewhere along the along the lines of that.
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  Speaker 1: And do you think it was because was it about
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  Speaker 1: like that it was fun or was it about that
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  Speaker 1: sense of like it being really hard and challenging and
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  Speaker 1: it and it, you know, was something that you had goals,
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  Speaker 1: you know around Or was it that you were just
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  Speaker 1: like you loved to be on the spotlight and you
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  Speaker 1: were good at it and people will cheer you on.
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  Speaker 3: No, it wasn't that, I think for me, because I
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  Speaker 3: was always kind of shy growing up, but then I
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  Speaker 3: was always taller than everyone. In the fourth grade, I
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  Speaker 3: was like five four. As freshman in high school, I
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  Speaker 3: was six feet tall, and I just, you know, I
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  Speaker 3: used to walk around like this, just trying to shrink
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  Speaker 3: and to be smaller. My dad always a string your
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  Speaker 3: back up, stand up straight. And I think sport what
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  Speaker 3: that did for me. Sports gave me an opportunity to
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  Speaker 3: be seen and to validate or just to make it
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  Speaker 3: make sense for all of this eyes. And then when
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  Speaker 3: I became a really good athlete, then I started feeling like, oh, okay,
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  Speaker 3: it makes sense and you know, and everyone seeing me,
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  Speaker 3: and I'm feeling a lot better about myself.
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  Speaker 2: So it was more about the self esteem for me,
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  Speaker 2: you know.
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  Speaker 3: And then I just realized it was just one of
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  Speaker 3: those things that were that was easy because I feel
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  Speaker 3: like we're all blessed and gifted with our own natural
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  Speaker 3: gifts and talents, and that was just just happened to
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  Speaker 3: be one of the gifts that I had, just being
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  Speaker 3: a great athlete.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and people recognize that pretty early on.
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  Speaker 1: I understand you were when you went out to college,
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  Speaker 1: you had a lot of choices.
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  Speaker 2: You chose Arizona State. I think it's amazing.
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  Speaker 1: You still hold the record right for leading score men
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  Speaker 1: and women.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and rebounder and rebounding and rebound and rebaluing.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, it's been like thirty years now, right exactly.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, twenty three hundred points, it was like, and then
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  Speaker 3: over fourteen hundred rebounds.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been an honor. That's a lot of basketball
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  Speaker 2: in your hands and in the air.
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  Speaker 1: Why did you choose ASU? And what did you learn?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, what is college? What is playing at the
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  Speaker 1: college level? Give you how's it different? You know, what
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  Speaker 1: kind of schooling was that? And when it comes to
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  Speaker 1: preparation for going pro, well, first and foremost, there was
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  Speaker 1: no professional basketball. So the mind part of it, like
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  Speaker 1: student athletes now, females that play basketball in college, they
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  Speaker 1: know that there's a professional league. There are professional leagues,
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  Speaker 1: shall I say, And they have options. But for me,
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  Speaker 1: I think the mindset more for me. Well, first of all,
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  Speaker 1: I chose Arizona State. And this is so crazy because
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  Speaker 1: the weather was warm, actually hot, and really farm and
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  Speaker 1: the campus was big and beautiful. The facilities looks nice.
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  Speaker 3: And I was looking at UCLA and you see, I
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: was looking at like the University of Hawaii, thinking I
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  Speaker 3: just wanted to get away. You know, the real issue
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  Speaker 3: behind that was my mother was going through like a
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  Speaker 3: nervous breakdown during that my whole high school stint. That's
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  Speaker 3: when it kind of started. When I was a freshman
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  Speaker 3: and I just wanted to get away. My dad really
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  Speaker 3: was pushing me to go to the University of Louisville,
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  Speaker 3: and I just wanted to get away. I needed to
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  Speaker 3: just it was like a peace of mind type of thing.
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  Speaker 3: I want to go somewhere where I just that I
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  Speaker 3: can lead that heavy stuff behind and I can just
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  Speaker 3: start anew afresh. And women's basketball wasn't big, so we
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  Speaker 3: didn't know what school to go to. I was getting
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  Speaker 3: letters every single day from Tennessee. Had I known Pad
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  Speaker 3: had summit plays, you know, she's the coach at Tennessee,
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  Speaker 3: and you know, had I known and understood that, then
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  Speaker 3: I probably would have gone to Tennessee. But I didn't.
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  Speaker 3: But the coolest thing is I went to Arizona State.
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  Speaker 3: And who was coaching Arizona State Julien Brazinski Simpson, who
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  Speaker 3: happened to be co captain with head on the seventy
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  Speaker 3: sixth Olympic team.
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  Speaker 2: So I still got.
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  Speaker 3: Some exposure there, exposure to just great coaching, but it
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  Speaker 3: was tough. When I tell you, one of the biggest
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  Speaker 3: lessons that I learned it learned, I mean that I
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  Speaker 3: learned while I was in college was that you always
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  Speaker 3: have more. I mean, when when the going gets tough,
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  Speaker 3: sometimes we want to tap out, and but we surprise
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  Speaker 3: ourselves if we just keep going, and we just keep going,
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  Speaker 3: and you know, and so it's just kind of like,
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  Speaker 3: oh my goodness, I remember, you know, so that that
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  Speaker 3: was one of the main lessons. You know, I was
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  Speaker 3: getting ready to go into another story, you know when
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  Speaker 3: you talk about like tapping out, but that was.
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  Speaker 2: One of the story I want to hear about the
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  Speaker 2: topping out. Well you and I know you understand it.
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  Speaker 3: With your height, with all of that that you've gone through,
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  Speaker 3: you understand it.
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  Speaker 2: You know.
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  Speaker 3: I remember I wanted to start fasting, and I started
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  Speaker 3: with intermittent fasting, and you know, the twelve hours I
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  Speaker 3: was pretty easy, but you know, you start getting into
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  Speaker 3: sixteen seventeen hours, you know, then you're pushing yourself. Well,
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  Speaker 3: I decided I was going to do a twenty four
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  Speaker 3: hour fast and you know, and so I started doing
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  Speaker 3: it and then I was like, Okay, you know, this
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  Speaker 3: is a mindset.
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  Speaker 2: You know, I'm fine now.
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  Speaker 3: Really after twenty four hours, you know, you don't really
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  Speaker 3: feel hungry.
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  Speaker 2: And I said, I'm just gonna keep going.
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  Speaker 3: So I pushed it to thirty six hours, and you know,
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  Speaker 3: I didn't feel like, oh my gosh, I'm going to die.
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  Speaker 3: I'm going to starve to death. I'm gonna you know.
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  Speaker 3: So it is the mind over I mean, it is
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  Speaker 3: truly mind over matter in everything that over mountain, yeah,
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  Speaker 3: and over mountain, yes, and yeah, because listen, yeah.
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  Speaker 1: I mean I think I think it's true in so
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  Speaker 1: many parts of life, you know, in sport and difficult
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  Speaker 1: things we faced personally and emotionally and psychologically in our lives, right,
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  Speaker 1: you know, there's so I mean, I think of so
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  Speaker 1: many things that I thought I couldn't do, or couldn't endure,
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  Speaker 1: or couldn't survive, or couldn't bear, and I've always been
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  Speaker 1: wrong about that.
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  Speaker 2: And the way to overcome it is always mindset. Right.
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  Speaker 2: What's the steepest mountain you've had to climb?
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  Speaker 3: I think for me it was getting out of my
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  Speaker 3: own way. You know, sometimes when you don't start, for example,
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  Speaker 3: if you want to be an actress. Let's just take
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  Speaker 3: that as an example. And you started late in life,
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  Speaker 3: you might start to compare yourself or measure yourself against
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  Speaker 3: people who went to college Ford, who had been acting,
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  Speaker 3: our childhood actors and things like that, and so you
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  Speaker 3: start questioning who you are. And because I was a
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  Speaker 3: late bloomer as an athlete, I get to college and
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  Speaker 3: now all of a sudden, I start hearing things names
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  Speaker 3: like Cheryl Miller, and I start hearing names of the
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  Speaker 3: McGee twins and you know, Latania Pollard, and you hear
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  Speaker 3: about all of these great players that are on the
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  Speaker 3: Olympic team or they played USA basketball, or they're all American,
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  Speaker 3: and I hadn't heard any of those terms.
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  Speaker 2: And so, you know, I think just learning how to.
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  Speaker 3: Understand who I am, what I have, my gifts, and
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  Speaker 3: just pushing through, working as hard as I can, and
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  Speaker 3: just showing up in the best way I think.
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  Speaker 2: You know, for me, that was just my hardest mountain.
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  Speaker 3: You know, I talk myself out of trying out for
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  Speaker 3: the Olympic team because I was kind of like, yeah,
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  Speaker 3: they usually already know who they're going to pick. They're
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  Speaker 3: probably not going to pick me. You know, I didn't
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  Speaker 3: play for PAD or I didn't go to this school
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: or whatever. But I talk myself and to this day
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  Speaker 3: like that, you don't even understand how that that like
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  Speaker 3: bothers me to this day.
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  Speaker 2: And so for me singing, let's take sing. You're a
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  Speaker 2: singer too, And I mean, I think.
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  Speaker 1: What you're saying, I mean it's so common, and I
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  Speaker 1: think it's common for all of us, maybe especially for women,
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  Speaker 1: because there is that feeling like, well, yeah, maybe I'm
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  Speaker 1: not enough, right and I shouldn't.
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  Speaker 2: I shouldn't, I shouldn't.
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  Speaker 1: It's not like, you know, ambition is not always seen
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  Speaker 1: as like a positive quality in women. And of course,
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  Speaker 1: you know you have to be wildly ambitious, I think,
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  Speaker 1: to be at the top of your game and whatever
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  Speaker 1: you do in sport or any kind of career.
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  Speaker 2: When you were in college, you know, however.
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  Speaker 1: You know you didn't make that choice to try out
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  Speaker 1: for the Olympic team, but you did start to set
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  Speaker 1: your sights on professional basketball, not here in the US
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: because you didn't have that opportunity, but you did realize
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: at what point did you realize, Hey, women are playing
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  Speaker 1: at that level in other countries around the world.
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  Speaker 3: I think that was a sophomore in college and I
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: had an opportunity to do something with USA Basketball and
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: I or maybe it was like the Goodwill Games or something,
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: and so that's when I realized that there was professional
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: basketball abroad, and I knew that was something that I
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  Speaker 3: wanted to do. I mean, heck, I went to Arizona
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: to go to college traveling. I had that travel bug.
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  Speaker 3: So I knew that that was something that I wanted
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  Speaker 3: to do.
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  Speaker 2: And where did you go? What was that? What was
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  Speaker 2: that path? Yeah?
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  Speaker 3: My first six years was in Spain. I played two
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  Speaker 3: years and well those signs of Ego vien do signs
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  Speaker 3: a Valencia.
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  Speaker 2: Oh I love it.
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  Speaker 1: You got to play basketball and you got to eat
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  Speaker 1: all that amazing Spanish food and you learned Spanish.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, okay, did joke at the polocnestron Italia puatro mezza
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  Speaker 4: my body, I need mezzaa.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so I'm going to translate even though I don't
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  Speaker 1: speak Italian. Okay, she played in Spain for I think
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: you added that up all up?
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  Speaker 2: Six years? Did you say? Yeah? And Italy? How many years?
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  Speaker 2: Four and a half? W thro mezzaing?
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  Speaker 1: Okay, So you were eating some really good food while
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  Speaker 1: you were paying basketball.
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: I am such a food snob, I am telling you.
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  Speaker 3: I'm just like, yeah, exactly, some great food. And then
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  Speaker 3: even Japan and France, Oh my goodness, I'm come on.
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  Speaker 1: So I always think about that, you know, Like I said,
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  Speaker 1: I was, I was a fan immediately of the WNBA,
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: and and I was aware that, like so many of
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: the players had had come from you know, they've been
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: playing for years in other countries, And I wonder, what
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  Speaker 1: did that feel like to you? Did that feel only
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: like a great privilege and a big adventure and you know,
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  Speaker 1: a wonderful thing in your life and your career, or
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: did you have that sense of kind of resentment, like
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: why isn't there women's women's professional basketball league?
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  Speaker 2: You know in the US?
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  Speaker 1: Why do you have to go to a foreign country
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  Speaker 1: unlike your male counterparts.
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  Speaker 3: I never felt like that. I didn't feel like, why
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  Speaker 3: isn't there? I think I always understood that there are
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: levels to things, and then it's a progressive thing. I
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: understood that women's basketball wasn't there yet. There was still
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  Speaker 3: a lot of mental prejudice surrounding people and women in sports.
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  Speaker 3: So I just I took it as just a blessing
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: a gift to be able to travel the world and
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: to see the world, learn cultures, and have friends all
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: over the world experience all of those amazing experiences. I
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: took it like that, but towards the end, I would
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: say maybe around my eleventh tenth, eleventh year, it did
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: start to wear on me. I was kind of like, man,
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: I mean, you know, I think women's basketball was getting
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: to the point now, I mean, you would hope. And
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: then we heard that the ABL was going to start.
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: That was the league that started before the WNBA, And
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: so I was approached by one of the players who
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: was signing players to play in that league. But my agent,
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: you know, knew that WNBA would start. So he's like, no,
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: don't sign anything. The NBA is going to start a
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: league next year.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: And I'm like, are you sure.
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: He's like, yes, of course, I'm sure. You know so,
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: but you got to keep it under wraps, and you know,
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: it hasn't they haven't had a press conference about it.
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: Chet So I said, okay, and I just turned down
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: the ABL. But it was and so wow, it was
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: just kind of so refreshing, like, oh my gosh, this
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: is so amazing. And the fact that I was thirty
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  Speaker 3: five getting ready to turn thirty six when it started,
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: and that I could be a part of that.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: So it was just like whoa. It was huge. It
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: was it was it.
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  Speaker 1: Was historymaking, and you are a very central part of that.
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  Speaker 2: Tell me what.
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: That was like, you know, to be I remember there
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: being this sense of y'all as being like rock stars really,
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: and I don't know, maybe that was just because I
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: was a big fan, but I think that there was
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: this immense.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: Energy in those early years in nineteen.
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  Speaker 1: It was ninety seven, right, and it was just like
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: this is happening for women, and there was so much
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: energy and excitement.
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  Speaker 2: You guys were stars. That is exactly what I say.
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  Speaker 2: I felt like we were rock stars.
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: I mean, the paparazzi from the fans waiting for us
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: when we were leaving the arena, I mean, it was
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: truly truly amazing, and we were all so grateful because
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: we knew that we were playing overseas. I know the
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: college players that were graduating, like Vicky Johnson, Rebecca Lobo
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: on our team, and all of the college players that
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: were coming out that year, I know they were super
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: excited to be able to walk into a professional league
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: and have the choice of whether they wanted to go
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: abroad or not. So it was when I tell you,
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: it was amazing, Like we had stars coming up to
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: us wanting like, oh my gosh, Teresa Weaspoon, Oh my gosh,
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: camp he It was amazing.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a thrill.
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  Speaker 1: Was there this feeling of like, you know, there was
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: I'm guessing the kind of two So like the old
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: school players who had had been in Italy and Spain
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: and you know, Japan, and then these these new kids
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: who were coming straight out of college. Was there a
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: sense that you were I mean, what was it like
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: on the team where the older you know, the thirty
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: somethings mentoring those those kids?
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: Were you all the family? Were their rivalries? Tell me
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: all all the juice? Yeah?
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: For us on our team, we definitely mentored our young players.
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: And you know, we went in with the mentality of
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: working hard because that's what we did. We were professional
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: basketball players, and we understood that we had done it
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: for years abroad. We were the oldest team in New York.
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: Liberty was the oldest team in the league, and they
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: all in the media never let us forget that. So
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: we kind of started out with a little chip on
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: our shoulder. You know, we had all of our rookies.
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: They worked hard, everyone worked harder. We just kind of,
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: I guess we honed this blue collar work ethic and
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: we played for each other. I mean, if we were able,
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: and the beauty of it is is we were able
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: to hold each other accountable if somebody, if someone was like,
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: you know, let had two defensive breakdowns in a row.
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: Teresa Wetherson, our leader, she would get in our face. No,
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: we don't play defense like that. Now, I know you
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: can do better than that, you know. So it was
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: just amazing. And they looked up to us, and we
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: looked up to them as well, and we just we
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: just had a nice blend, a nice combination where they
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: stepped in and they hit the ground running and we're just.
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: Doing a great job. So but yeah, we were.
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: We mentored them as well they we you know, one
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: of the things that in the very first game, you know,
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: of course, the media had Lisa Leslie and Rebecca Lobo
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: with their backs against each other the first of the
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: u NBA game, you know, Leslie versus Rebecca Lobe. And
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: I asked my coach if I could defend Lisa, so
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: that Rebecca wouldn't have to worry about now I have
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: to stop her. I know she's going to be playing me.
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: I just wanted her to be able to relax a
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: little bit and you know, just acclimated into this big
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: role because she was our marquee player, and the media
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: and everything, the hype, you know, having lost a game
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: in four years, you know, she's just win win, and
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: so it was a lot and coming off of that Olympics,
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: and and so that's who we were. We would carry
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: the load for someone or if something happened on the court,
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: whether or no I got her, I got her, you know,
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: or whatever.
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: So that's who we were.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: If you think about your proudest moment in that era
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: of your of your career, what would that be.
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well I would just say having the wherewithal to
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: still be there and playing. There were so many other
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: players that for whatever reason had retired. Again, I said,
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: I was thirty five, getting ready to turn thirty six,
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: and I played for a couple I played for three seasons,
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: and so a lot of players don't get the opportunity
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: to play that long, and so just to have been
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: a part of it, like I scored the first two
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: points in New York Liberty history. And so just being
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: on that team going to the first finals, yeah, go
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: into the first finals, and then we went to the
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: third finals, and just those I mean just monumental moments
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: for not only us, but for the sport, for women's basketball,
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: and it's just it was just those are some of
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: the most memorable moments that just Yeah.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: When you think about the league today and all of
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: the ways it's expanded and grown, how has it changed,
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: and you know, what is your take on what's happening
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: right now in the WNBA.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: I feel so proud.
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: I feel not only I mean and you can see
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: the evolution of the game, how the game has evolved.
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: I mean the players.
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: I thought we were tough when we were playing, but
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: I mean just look at the players now. I mean,
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: you can go to every team and it's four or
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: five six players that are tough, and it's just so
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: amazing to see just how far women's basketball has gone.
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: I mean from the social media standpoint, we didn't have
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: social media back then, but just from the money, the
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: collective bargaining agreements, just the.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: Talent on the court.
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: You look at each player now, again, we don't have
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: we didn't have social media, So you had those players
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: that were into fashion, but we just didn't get a
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: chance to show it off and showcase it like the
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: players get to do. We didn't have tunnel walks back then,
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: you know. So it's just really interesting just to just
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: to see how everything has evolved and you get to.
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: Look back like a proud mama.
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: Yeah we're not going to say a proud mama. How
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: about a proud auntie.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: A proud auntie. So you did retire really because of
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: an injury?
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: Is that right? Yeah? It was just I had.
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: Severely worn cartilage behind my right knee and it wasn't
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: any major injuries. And I feel so grateful that I
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: never had any major injuries during my whole career of playing.
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: But it was just you know, the pounding and there.
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: Because the WNBA season is such a compact season. You're
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: playing back to backs. You know, you're playing minimally three
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: games a week and sometimes more the travel time in between,
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: and it's just not a lot of recuperation time for
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: the body. So you know, my knee was like tapping out.
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: It was like, Okay, I'm done, I can't anymore. And
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: you know, the crazy thing was right after that third season,
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: I had the scope on my knee and it was
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: just basically cleaning out everything, smoothing off everything, and he
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: was and I was back in four weeks running sprints hard,
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: and so my teammates were.
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: You know, like, come on, let's try to run it back.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: Let's go one more.
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: And I was like, oh my god. I was like, okay,
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: I'm going to go one more. But I think the
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: third day in training camp, my knee swollen up again
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: and it was just like so the doctor was like, okay, Cam,
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: He's like, I can have you back in five weeks,
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: but the same thing is going to happen because you're
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: not going to have enough recuperation time to keep this down,
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: you know. And so yeah, I just had to call
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: it quits.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: So you listened to your body, because the body.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: Is wise, right.
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: I think that sometimes that can be challenging, maybe especially
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: for you know, elite athletes like yourself, because it is
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: like that is your you know, you're like, come on,
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: let's go. Was it hard for you to make that
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: decision or did you do it with a lot of peace.
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: In your heart?
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: It wasn't hard because I listened to. I mean, the
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: doctor asked me a couple of questions. He was like,
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: you know, how much longer do you want to play?
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: And he said, you know, don't you want to have
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: some quality of life after you play? I mean, your
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: knee is pretty much bone on bone, and so he
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: was just saying, you know, the keep having the surgeries
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: back to back to back.
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: You know, it's just like that's just a lot. And
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: so I just decided to walk away.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was. And that next chapter, what what was
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: that like for you? I mean to say, to say
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: goodbye to this big part of your life.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: And find new things. What did you find?
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: What did you feel as you as you said goodbye
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: to basketball?
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: It was tough.
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: I mean, imagine doing something for the like I think
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: the last twenty years of your life, always having something
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: to do. You're always this is the time that you
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: have to get in shape. This is the time you
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: meet with the team, you have practice, every day, you
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: have games, you have your life revolves around basketball, this game.
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: And then all of a sudden, you don't have to
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: wake up and go to practice. All of a sudden,
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: you don't have to go to team meetings. All of
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: a sudden, you know, games you don't have to go
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: in for pre It was tough, when I tell you
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: it was probably it was one of the hardest things
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: transitioning out of the sport, and especially where we were.
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: I mean again, we weren't rock stars, so now you
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: no longer play, and it was and I was still
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: kind of hot, you know, during that my first second
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: third year, you know, and everything. But after why it
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: just kind of starts to fall off, you know, because
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: you're a former player and everything.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: So but it was just really tough.
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: It was It was really tough mentally trying to define
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: who I am without this game because during all of that,
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: I think, and that happens with us all you know,
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: we do things, and we have these titles, and we
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: have these accolades associated to us, and and you know,
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: and then it's like when you know, no longer doing that,
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: it's kind of like, oh, okay, well, well who am I? Okay,
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: I'm no longer that, so now who am I? And
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: so that was like one of the biggest things, just
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: me trying to figure out where I wanted to go,
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: what I wanted to do.
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: And what'd you find?
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, I should say I know that you did
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: some singing and acting and you majored way back there
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: at ASU and Dinter.
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: Is that right?
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: So you it sounds to me like you fell back
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: on another love of yours from your childhood.
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: Really yeah, I definitely did. But that was the work
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: in progress because I really stopped singing. I mean you
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: could probably my teammates in college. I wouldn't sing in
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: front of people. I was really shy. And that stemmed
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: from like some beliefs that I had as a kid.
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: I remember getting I love to sing, and I always sing,
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: and my mom would say, come and sing this, you know,
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: and I would be singing everywhere everything.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: And then I got we were doing a.
• 25:41
  Speaker 3: Play during the summer months and you know, for our parents,
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: and I got stuck out on stage by myself. And
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: after I came up from my curtsey, I realized I
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: was on stage by myself, and I.
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: Was like and you know, and then I was just like,
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: oh my gosh. And you know those big heavy.
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: Coatains that used to close and then close all the
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: way to my end. So I turned around and immediately
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: started running down the stage trying to find the opening
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: to the curtain. And then I heard the parents were laughing,
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: you know and stuff, and then you know, so that
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: really traumatized me and I stopped singing. So yeah, that
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: was a big thing for me to start singing again,
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: and that you know, it's just a testament to what
• 26:15
  Speaker 3: I'm doing now, I think, right, shine bright, it's you know,
• 26:17
  Speaker 3: just helping people to understand. Are helping us all to
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: understand that we formed these beliefs throughout our lives. I mean,
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: they happened to us as adults too, but a lot
• 26:27
  Speaker 3: of beliefs are formed, you know, in those early stages,
• 26:30
  Speaker 3: and they caused us to react and to act and
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: to you know, put our brakes on, and they caused
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: us to show up in life according to what those
• 26:40
  Speaker 3: beliefs are. And so I had to really just kind
• 26:42
  Speaker 3: of challenge that singing belief and it wasn't and it
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: morphed into spotlight for me.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: You know, you mentioned spotlight. It it morphed it.
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: I thought it just was only attached to singing, so
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: I just kind of stopped singing. But then as I
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: became this rising star, you know, it's rising athlete, it
• 26:59
  Speaker 3: morphed in to performance anxiety, feeling like I had to
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: show up yeah, and so you know I had to
• 27:06
  Speaker 3: really just like face that. There's because and one of
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: the biggest things that I ever did after I faced it.
• 27:12
  Speaker 3: I was in Italy when I had to face it
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: was to come back to New York. Then before I
• 27:18
  Speaker 3: even stepped foot on the court as a w NBA player,
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: as a New York Liberty player, they asked me to
• 27:22
  Speaker 3: sing the anthem at a Knicks heat playoff game. And
• 27:25
  Speaker 3: you know that's back to the raft, yeah, right, and
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: like not as a square garden right where yeah, where
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: many many you.
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: Know, like you know McK tagger, you know, like.
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: All of the so many, so many the great singers
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: or readA fraglet, all the people have suck and there
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: you are. Okay the shot Ey're like traumatize from your
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: childhood getting caught the curtains.
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: Right, how was that? Yeah?
• 27:51
  Speaker 3: But but you know it was I just had to
• 27:55
  Speaker 3: really sit down with myself and just really kind of
• 27:59
  Speaker 3: just unpacked, peel that onion and just figure out, Okay,
• 28:03
  Speaker 3: what was it. Okay, it's not like you can't sing. Okay,
• 28:05
  Speaker 3: it's not like no everyone is for you. Like I
• 28:08
  Speaker 3: really had to learn how to neutralize those crazy what if.
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: This happens, what if that?
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: Those thoughts, and then I had to learn how to
• 28:16
  Speaker 3: just you know, just turn the ship in a different direction.
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: And so I said yeah, because I didn't want to
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: lose the opportunity, and uh, you know, and so but
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: it was who it was scary, and I just recently
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: sang and I hadn't sang it.
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: For a few years.
• 28:29
  Speaker 3: I would always sing it at least once every year
• 28:32
  Speaker 3: within for the New York Liberty, but I hadn't sang it,
• 28:34
  Speaker 3: you know, because of COVID and because of something. I
• 28:36
  Speaker 3: hadn't sang it in a while. So they asked me
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: to sing it this year for the whole home opener
• 28:41
  Speaker 3: for the you know, celebrating the thirtieth anniversary. Yeah, and
• 28:44
  Speaker 3: I was like, I was kind of like, uh, I'll
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: get back to you and then I just just stop it.
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: There you go right there, you know again, And I
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: said yeah, and so I could potentially have a chance
• 28:55
  Speaker 3: to sing it coming up soon, maybe in August for
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: a Yankees game.
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: And I was I was like, yes, you know, I
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: find that so inspiring about you, Kim, because you throughout
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: our conversation there's this pattern You've been like, you know,
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: I was shy, I was scared, I didn't think I
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: could do it, And there's never one time like you
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: always did it, which is you know, I think it's
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: so powerful for people to understand that that. You know,
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: I think sometimes we think like courageous people are like
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: they go in brave and they feel they step in
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: with confidence and that's how they can do it. And
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: I what I've found is is courage is almost always
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: full of like fear and some doubt and hesitation, and
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: then it's about it's about saying yes.
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: And you mentioned think right shine?
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: Fright?
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: Can you tell me more about that?
• 29:49
  Speaker 3: Well, that's what I'm just calling what I do now?
• 29:52
  Speaker 3: Think right shine bright? I want to you know, And
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: it's and that's what it is. It's getting people to
• 29:59
  Speaker 3: to recognize and to be able to challenge thoughts and
• 30:02
  Speaker 3: beliefs that we have and just being able to navigate
• 30:06
  Speaker 3: to thinking better, to just having a more intentional thought
• 30:12
  Speaker 3: pattern towards the things that we want to do.
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: Because here's the.
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: Thing, and like you just said, you know, throughout my
• 30:18
  Speaker 3: life things have come up and I was scared, but
• 30:21
  Speaker 3: I have to fear is gonna always you know, we're
• 30:23
  Speaker 3: gonna always have opportunities, things that we want to do,
• 30:26
  Speaker 3: things that we you know, you might want to try
• 30:28
  Speaker 3: out for a team or do audition for this, are,
• 30:32
  Speaker 3: you know, be promoted to another position at your job.
• 30:35
  Speaker 3: Things are going to always happen. Fear, you know, that's
• 30:38
  Speaker 3: one thing that never ever stops. We're going to always
• 30:41
  Speaker 3: face fear. You know, We're gonna always have performance anxiety.
• 30:45
  Speaker 3: We're gonna always have some self doubt going on. And
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: it's different levels, at different levels, but it happens to everyone.
• 30:51
  Speaker 3: I don't care if it's the top entertainer in the world.
• 30:56
  Speaker 3: Sometimes they suffer from fear anxiety. But it is about
• 30:59
  Speaker 3: just learning how to unpack it and then just doing it.
• 31:02
  Speaker 3: Like but I took the focus of what I did
• 31:04
  Speaker 3: was I took the focus off of myself.
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: This isn't about you. This is about all of those
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: people who want to sing.
• 31:10
  Speaker 3: This is about the fact that you're coming out here
• 31:12
  Speaker 3: as a as an athlete or a former athlete and
• 31:15
  Speaker 3: then oh my gosh, okay, well she can sing too,
• 31:18
  Speaker 3: And this is about yeah, just sharing my gifts. And
• 31:22
  Speaker 3: so that was kind of the spin that I put
• 31:24
  Speaker 3: on mine. I'm sharing my gift, you know, I'm blessed
• 31:27
  Speaker 3: with this talent and I'm just sharing it for others
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: and hopefully and people hear how afraid I am, and
• 31:34
  Speaker 3: I still push through to do it, and hopefully that
• 31:36
  Speaker 3: helps other people to step out and to do things
• 31:39
  Speaker 3: that they're gifted to do.
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: Oh that's beautiful.
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: So, Kim, you are clearly a wise woman, and so
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: I'm going to enlist your help. I received a Dear
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: Sugar letter from somebody who needs some advice. Could I
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: read you the letter and will you help.
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: Me answer it? Sure? Here we go, Dear Sugar.
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: I recently got a major promotion at the large nonprofit.
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: Where I work.
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: I'm thrilled about my new role, but I'm anxious about
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: making the transition from one of the gang to being
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: a member of the executive level leadership team. Because I've
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: worked at this nonprofit for more than a decade, friendships
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: at various levels have developed over time. A few of
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: my coworkers are my very close friends, while several others
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: are casual friends who I socialize with fairly regularly. Given
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: that so many of your guests have teammates in the
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: sports they compete in, I thought it worth asking you
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: and them about how I should handle this dynamic now
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: that I have oversight and supervision duties in my new job.
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: How does one.
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: Gracefully separate friendship from business when it comes to things
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: like assessing job performance or offering feedback? What mistakes should
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: I be mindful of avoiding? I want to continue to
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: build on the positive work environment we already have. In
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: your opinion, what qualities does a good leader possess. I'm
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: a thirty five year old woman and it's only in
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: the past few years that I thought I would even
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: be interested in pursuing a leadership position, and now that
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: I have one, I want to do a good job.
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: Thanks the new boss so well, Kim. You know, I'm curious.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: I mean I think that there you described a little bit,
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: you know there. Maybe it's a mentorship the way the
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: dynamic between you on your team is one of the
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: older play players bringing up the younger players. But you know,
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: also I'm imagining with your teammates because you have been
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: a leader, that sometimes there was that like offering big
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: feedback that might be difficult, and then you have friendships
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: with these people. I'm curious if you've had any experience
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: in your own career with this dynamic that is being
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: described here in this letter.
• 33:41
  Speaker 3: No, I really haven't in that particular dynamic, but I
• 33:46
  Speaker 3: kind of feel like I would almost I know what
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: I would probably do and how I would approach it.
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: Though, I mean, if you want me, yeah, I want
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: to hear it, let me know.
• 34:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I kind of feel like first and foremost, she
• 34:02
  Speaker 3: she mentioned that she has a lot of friends that
• 34:05
  Speaker 3: she works with. Some are closer than and a couple
• 34:09
  Speaker 3: of them are close friends. So I would almost treat
• 34:13
  Speaker 3: it like a one on one interview with her with
• 34:18
  Speaker 3: with with each individual, and I would just say, hey,
• 34:23
  Speaker 3: you know, I have this role right now and I
• 34:25
  Speaker 3: don't know what that looks like, but can you help
• 34:28
  Speaker 3: me figure out how our dynamic is going to work,
• 34:30
  Speaker 3: you know, and things like that. I have to as leadership,
• 34:34
  Speaker 3: I have to uphold certain standards for the company, but
• 34:38
  Speaker 3: I want to maintain what we have too, and I
• 34:41
  Speaker 3: want to do it in a way where it's still
• 34:42
  Speaker 3: a woman and it's comfortable for everyone. So, you know,
• 34:46
  Speaker 3: I want to let you know that I have my
• 34:48
  Speaker 3: set of rules coming from my upper management, but I
• 34:52
  Speaker 3: want us to be clear on how we're gonna you know,
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: function and how we'll do this. You know, we might
• 34:57
  Speaker 3: not be as smoothy smoothie, you know, in the office
• 34:59
  Speaker 3: and things like that anymore as I'm management, and we
• 35:02
  Speaker 3: don't want any newcomers to feel like, oh, well, she's
• 35:05
  Speaker 3: best friends with this person. So let's and I would
• 35:08
  Speaker 3: just go through all of my friends and just say hey,
• 35:10
  Speaker 3: and tell me what you're feeling about that, you know,
• 35:13
  Speaker 3: and just make sure we keep the lines of communication
• 35:16
  Speaker 3: open because the moment you're feeling away, if you feel
• 35:20
  Speaker 3: something like I slighted it, like well you used to
• 35:23
  Speaker 3: do that, you know, and stuff like that, let's keep
• 35:25
  Speaker 3: the lines of communication open and let me know exactly
• 35:28
  Speaker 3: how you feel because you may pick up something and
• 35:31
  Speaker 3: it might not be how it was meant, but I
• 35:33
  Speaker 3: know how that happens also, and then that way, and
• 35:36
  Speaker 3: I'll come to you guys if I need something from
• 35:38
  Speaker 3: you or you.
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: Know, or whatever.
• 35:40
  Speaker 3: But we've been killing it as far as work is concerned.
• 35:43
  Speaker 3: You know, I want us to be this rock star team,
• 35:47
  Speaker 3: you know, because I want everyone to get promoted.
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: So let's yeah, let's work this out. Yeah, I love that.
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: I mean, I think that's such great advice because so
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: much of what goes wrong.
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: When things go wrong is.
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: About communit medication, and I think that there is something
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: you know, especially your advice to like not communicate after
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: there's a problem or after they've sort of set out
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: in this new you know, sort of power dynamic, but
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: like before, like you know, right from the get go
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: to say, like, let's acknowledge that that some things haven't changed,
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: and that is our friendship and our love for each
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: other or or our care for each other, and other
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: things have changed, and that is I have a new
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: role in this place that we both work, and you know,
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: to simply like map out a kind of plan like
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: how are how are we going to communicate differently? How
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: do we not make others feel like, oh they have
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: you know, because they're friends, that some there's going to
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: be some kind of favoritism. I think that's really you know,
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: the new boss asks like what what are some things
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: to be mindful of? I would say that, you know,
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: to make sure that that friendship does stay separate from
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: the workplace. You know, And I think too what we're
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: both talking about a little bit is boundaries because they're
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: is you know, there are boundaries that can't be crossed
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: in a professional realm, Like, even if you don't have
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: the difference in a power dynamic, you have to work
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: together as colleagues, even if you are friends. What are
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: the leaders you've had, the coaches, the bosses, the people
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: who you know guided you in your various endeavors. What leaders,
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: what leadership qualities do you most admire or we're the
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: most effective for you.
• 37:27
  Speaker 3: I think transparency is really big as a leader, being
• 37:32
  Speaker 3: very clear with what you're expecting of each individual, I mean,
• 37:36
  Speaker 3: and being able to understand your personnel. Certain people are
• 37:41
  Speaker 3: good at certain things and you can ask and certain
• 37:44
  Speaker 3: people can be approached in a particular way. So knowing
• 37:47
  Speaker 3: your personnel number one, and knowing how to communicate and
• 37:51
  Speaker 3: how to get through to each individual as individuals. And again,
• 37:55
  Speaker 3: like I said, transparency so and then but I guess
• 37:59
  Speaker 3: all together that means communication, just having great communication skills.
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: I also feel for a.
• 38:05
  Speaker 3: Leader getting in there and getting your hands dirty, rolling
• 38:10
  Speaker 3: your sleeves up with your team as well. If someone
• 38:12
  Speaker 3: is struggling with something, maybe chime in on it and say,
• 38:15
  Speaker 3: oh what about this? You know, or maybe we could
• 38:18
  Speaker 3: you know, do this, but letting them know that you're there,
• 38:21
  Speaker 3: you know, and if someone can't do something, I think,
• 38:23
  Speaker 3: you know, don't worry about it. I know you have
• 38:25
  Speaker 3: your daughter has a recital. You go, I will finish this,
• 38:28
  Speaker 3: you know, stuthing if there's any no should.
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: I do something.
• 38:31
  Speaker 3: I just think like letting people know that you are
• 38:34
  Speaker 3: a part of the team. You're not just managing the team,
• 38:37
  Speaker 3: but you are truly a part of the team. And
• 38:38
  Speaker 3: I think some of those things. I think when people
• 38:40
  Speaker 3: feel like you have their best interest at hand, and
• 38:43
  Speaker 3: when people know that you'll do, you'll get in and
• 38:45
  Speaker 3: work too.
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 38:46
  Speaker 3: It's kind of like being a manager at a restaurant.
• 38:48
  Speaker 3: Some managers at restaurants just walk around and just tell
• 38:50
  Speaker 3: people what to do, but when the kitchen gets slammed
• 38:53
  Speaker 3: or when the servers get slammed, you know they're back
• 38:55
  Speaker 3: there certain delivering food as well.
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: Though.
• 38:58
  Speaker 3: I think those qualities are always best Oh totally.
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, I think that's right there, way up there
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: for me too. You know, if a great leader never
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: asks those who are working for her to do things
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: that she wouldn't do, it never holds others to account
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: for things for which she doesn't hold herself accountable, And
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: I think that they'll you know to really be And
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: this is I think ultimately about humility and recognizing that power,
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: Like the kind of power you have as a leader
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: isn't about being you know, domineering, you know, dominating others.
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: It's about actually supporting them. It's about being you know,
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: a strong foundation so that others can thrive. And that's
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: that's really you know, new boss, I think that's what
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: the best advice.
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: We have for you is, like, enter with humility, Enter
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: with an.
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: Open heart and open communication, and you know, and make
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: everyone on your team understand that you're right there walking
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: alongside them, believing in them, and that has always been
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: you know, those are the best spossors I've ever had, right.
• 40:04
  Speaker 3: And then also explaining that sometimes I might have to
• 40:08
  Speaker 3: put the hammer down, but I will always do it
• 40:10
  Speaker 3: in a respectful way. I will always, you know, I'll
• 40:13
  Speaker 3: never ever, you know, it won't ever be in a
• 40:16
  Speaker 3: manner that I'm tearing you down or degrading you or
• 40:19
  Speaker 3: embarrassing you in front of people. I should be able
• 40:22
  Speaker 3: to ask, you know, you to give more and to
• 40:24
  Speaker 3: do more because I know, as a leader, I know
• 40:27
  Speaker 3: what you're capable of, and I should be able to
• 40:29
  Speaker 3: ask that of you without you taking things personal as well.
• 40:33
  Speaker 3: And it is asking give me some leniency because this
• 40:35
  Speaker 3: is a new role for me, like work with me,
• 40:39
  Speaker 3: and you guys have to kind of have to help
• 40:41
  Speaker 3: me as well, you know, don't. I'm asking you don't
• 40:44
  Speaker 3: just get mad at me for something that I said
• 40:46
  Speaker 3: I did or I didn't do or something like that.
• 40:49
  Speaker 3: Come to me because I'm learning this is all new
• 40:51
  Speaker 3: for me as well.
• 40:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, thank you. I think that's I think we've
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: given some good advice. So Kim, what's next for you?
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: I know it sounds like you're still doing the singing,
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: the singing scary singing.
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: Gigs you do have. You've also acted. Are you still
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: doing that and also modeled?
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: Tell me a little bit about that, tell me and
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: if and also just what's ahead and maybe other realms
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: that I'm not aware of.
• 41:25
  Speaker 2: What's happening for you. Well, I was a.
• 41:28
  Speaker 3: Theater major and I never really got a chance to perform.
• 41:33
  Speaker 3: But I was scared to death anyway, But because we
• 41:35
  Speaker 3: were playing basketball and there was always something going on
• 41:39
  Speaker 3: with the basketball, So I chose makeup, and you know.
• 41:46
  Speaker 2: I just kind of chose that. I love to do
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: the makeup, But moving forward.
• 41:53
  Speaker 3: I So because of the w N b A, I
• 41:55
  Speaker 3: got the opportunity to do those acting roles like Spike Lee,
• 41:59
  Speaker 3: you know, he reached out to me personally. It was like, Heykim,
• 42:01
  Speaker 3: you know, I want you to come an audition, you know,
• 42:03
  Speaker 3: for this movie and just different movies, just different opportunity again,
• 42:07
  Speaker 3: because you know, when you're rock stars, it just seems
• 42:10
  Speaker 3: like everything happens. Everyone wants to be a part of you,
• 42:15
  Speaker 3: will have a piece of you, and so all of
• 42:17
  Speaker 3: those happened. But I wouldn't really say that I have
• 42:20
  Speaker 3: really acting skills acting skills, so that was just opportunities
• 42:24
  Speaker 3: that I had. So I haven't had an opportunity to
• 42:26
  Speaker 3: focus there singing. I feel like I can definitely sing
• 42:30
  Speaker 3: and still do that. But you know, the weirdest things,
• 42:34
  Speaker 3: I feel like I missed maybe another calling as a
• 42:37
  Speaker 3: psychologist because all of my friends, almost everyone that I know,
• 42:42
  Speaker 3: I'm always talking to people. I'm always giving people a
• 42:45
  Speaker 3: different perspective. I'm always talking people off the ledge, you know,
• 42:49
  Speaker 3: of going crazy or going mad and getting mad and
• 42:53
  Speaker 3: doing something.
• 42:54
  Speaker 2: You know, I'm like, okay, calm down to well just wait,
• 42:56
  Speaker 2: let's look at it from this perspective.
• 42:58
  Speaker 3: So to think, right, shine Bright is truly something that
• 43:02
  Speaker 3: I'm passionate about because it's something that affects all of us.
• 43:06
  Speaker 3: So I'm just going to continue just to grow there
• 43:08
  Speaker 3: and see where that goes. I'm trying to figure it
• 43:11
  Speaker 3: out and how I want to do it, like get
• 43:14
  Speaker 3: ready to launch, you know, like any week now, days now,
• 43:19
  Speaker 3: and just you know, I don't know if I want
• 43:20
  Speaker 3: to launch that by just having just some content like hey, everyone,
• 43:24
  Speaker 3: so this is my daily message or this is my
• 43:27
  Speaker 3: message for the day, you know, just give yourself some
• 43:29
  Speaker 3: grace or I don't know if I want to do
• 43:31
  Speaker 3: that or how I really want to go about it.
• 43:33
  Speaker 3: If it's just going to focus on speaking engagements and
• 43:35
  Speaker 3: things like that now, but modeling, it was weird. That
• 43:39
  Speaker 3: was one of those opportunities that came out. I was
• 43:40
  Speaker 3: walking down the street and this lady came up to
• 43:42
  Speaker 3: me and she's like, oh my god, you are so beautiful.
• 43:45
  Speaker 3: And that's how I got an opportunity to in New York.
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: Now, somebody just spotted you old like old school of
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: classics spotted on the like all the super bottles before you.
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: That was his old school spot.
• 43:58
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that was pretty cool and That's that was when
• 44:01
  Speaker 3: so mac like in ninety seven, that's when the rise
• 44:03
  Speaker 3: of plus size modeling came along, because remember everything was
• 44:06
  Speaker 3: straight rise modeling. Yeah, and that's when the rise of that.
• 44:10
  Speaker 3: And so I signed with Click Modeling Agencies and it
• 44:14
  Speaker 3: was really really cool, and then I got the opportunity
• 44:17
  Speaker 3: to sign with Wilhelmina and so I signed with Wilhelmina
• 44:20
  Speaker 3: and got a chance to do some really nice campaigns
• 44:22
  Speaker 3: with that as well.
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: But that's fun, Like why did you stop doing that?
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: I mean, you know, you're still dropped at gorgeous? Like
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: is that something that you see yourself doing more of?
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: You know now?
• 44:35
  Speaker 3: And then I think it's it would be something that
• 44:38
  Speaker 3: I would love to do if I could do it
• 44:40
  Speaker 3: on that level as far as oh, she's a former
• 44:43
  Speaker 3: WNBA player, Okay, so she's done Lane Bryant, she's done
• 44:46
  Speaker 3: Ashley Stewart, she's done Cover Girl and stuff like that.
• 44:48
  Speaker 3: But if it had to be something where I had
• 44:50
  Speaker 3: to go on auditions, like like you have to go
• 44:53
  Speaker 3: on go sees and things like that, Yeah, no, you know,
• 44:57
  Speaker 3: I just like, again, everything is we have a tolerance
• 45:03
  Speaker 3: for a lot of things, and as an athlete.
• 45:05
  Speaker 2: It's black and white.
• 45:06
  Speaker 3: You you know, you either can play or you can't play,
• 45:10
  Speaker 3: you know, and stuff like that, and a lot of
• 45:12
  Speaker 3: other stuff.
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: It's like who you know, who's booking this gig?
• 45:15
  Speaker 3: You know over there that you know, because in the
• 45:17
  Speaker 3: modeling industry you might have like four or five you know,
• 45:22
  Speaker 3: plus size models to get all the work pretty much,
• 45:24
  Speaker 3: you know, and something I was like, this is this
• 45:26
  Speaker 3: is you know, as an athlete, I'm like, forget this.
• 45:29
  Speaker 2: I don't need this, you know.
• 45:30
  Speaker 3: So that's why I kind of stopped doing it because
• 45:32
  Speaker 3: I just wasn't with you know, like all of the
• 45:36
  Speaker 3: politics of.
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: It, and yeah, you don't need to be like walking
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: in and saying hey, you know, I mean, you know
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: your can have done. It's like they got to come
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: to you. That's that's what I would say if I
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: were your agent.
• 45:49
  Speaker 3: But I'm grateful for the opportunity and you know, in
• 45:52
  Speaker 3: that industry, and you know, I love it.
• 45:53
  Speaker 2: It's beautiful.
• 45:53
  Speaker 3: It's nothing like getting your hair done and putting make
• 45:56
  Speaker 3: up on and someone doing your nails and then you
• 45:58
  Speaker 3: go in and do this photo sheet for like fifteen
• 46:02
  Speaker 3: minutes and it's done. You know, Yeah, right, I love it.
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: You've come a long way as that shy girl who
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: got caught up on the stage and wanted to flee. Right,
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: that's a really that's really beautiful and it's firing.
• 46:14
  Speaker 2: So what advice you know?
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: I was going to say, what advice would you have
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: to young women who would like to pursue sports as
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: a you know, a professional path? But so I want
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: to ask that, but I also would extend that to
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: any any young woman saying, like, you know, what's your
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: best advice for me? Kim as I start out on
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: this journey of actualizing the dreams I.
• 46:41
  Speaker 2: Have for myself.
• 46:43
  Speaker 3: All Right, if you find yourself not feeling good about
• 46:48
  Speaker 3: where you are, stop thinking, because it's our thoughts that
• 46:53
  Speaker 3: keep us in those funky places. It's our thoughts that
• 46:56
  Speaker 3: have us analyzing second guess in questioning ours, our talents,
• 47:00
  Speaker 3: who we are, you know, it's our thoughts that project
• 47:04
  Speaker 3: into the future. What if this happens, well if that happens,
• 47:06
  Speaker 3: and this and that and what if they put You know,
• 47:09
  Speaker 3: stuff that has happened in the past is in the past.
• 47:11
  Speaker 2: Stuff that is in the future you don't have any
• 47:14
  Speaker 2: control over. You don't even you know, you don't.
• 47:16
  Speaker 3: All you have is the present. That's why they call
• 47:18
  Speaker 3: today a gift is the present. So stop thinking. It's
• 47:22
  Speaker 3: basically what I'm going to say. Stop thinking, stop the
• 47:24
  Speaker 3: stinking thinking, and focus on what you are doing right now,
• 47:29
  Speaker 3: you know, and if you're working hard right now, that's
• 47:32
  Speaker 3: what you focus on. And if dreams and visions are
• 47:35
  Speaker 3: if those are free, then think about seeing yourself.
• 47:38
  Speaker 2: Oh I got that promotion.
• 47:39
  Speaker 3: Oh my god, I made that team. You know, see
• 47:41
  Speaker 3: yourself scoring, knocking down jumpers. You know, see yourself, you know,
• 47:44
  Speaker 3: making the.
• 47:45
  Speaker 2: Team, and you're happy.
• 47:46
  Speaker 3: You see yourself score and put whatever it is that
• 47:48
  Speaker 3: you're doing, focus more on that. Stop the stinking thinking,
• 47:51
  Speaker 3: and focus on what you really want to happen. That
• 47:54
  Speaker 3: would be what I'm saying to you.
• 47:58
  Speaker 2: Stop at the stinking thinking. I'm going to take that
• 48:01
  Speaker 2: to heart myself. Kim, Thank you. I needed that. That
• 48:05
  Speaker 2: was exactly what I needed on this day.
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: And I'm so grateful for you to saying yes to
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: being on the show.
• 48:12
  Speaker 2: I loved talking to you. Thank you so much.
• 48:15
  Speaker 3: Thank you for having me, and I'm just so grateful
• 48:18
  Speaker 3: for all that you do as well. Thank you, thank you,
• 48:21
  Speaker 3: thanks for listening. If you'd like to write me a
• 48:24
  Speaker 3: letter seeking advice.
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: Please send it to me at Dear Dear Sugar at
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: gmail dot com and don't forget to rate, review and
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, Happy trails and I'll.
• 48:34
  Speaker 2: See you next week.
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: Mine Over Mountain with Cheryl Strain is an iHeart women's
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: sports production produced by Britney Brown and Rodney Brown of
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: Barbara Jean Productions. Supervising producer is Kaylin West at REALM.
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: Associate producer Amaya Brathwaite. Our executive producers are Molly Barton,
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: Jerry Carreta, Grace Views and Jesse Katz. Our theme song
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: is composed by Gramoscope Music. Don't forget to rate, review
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, Happy trails, and
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: I'll see you next week.