Speaker 1: Hello, friends, and welcome to the Powerful Podcast.
Speaker 2: I'm your host, Ajam McCord.
Speaker 3: In this podcast, we introduced you to powerful women who
Speaker 3: were changing the game in and outside of their field
Speaker 3: of play. These are women's stories, women who happen to
Speaker 3: be doing things that many of us can only dream of,
Speaker 3: but the lessons and inspiration they share is universal.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Powerful Podcast. I'm your host, aj
Speaker 1: McCord and I'm not gonna lie to y'all. When I
Speaker 1: sat down to do an interview with the number one
Speaker 1: ranked free skier in women's superpipe, I did not.
Speaker 2: Also expect that we're going to be talking about the
Speaker 2: psychology of.
Speaker 1: Fear and how that was going to really go so
Speaker 1: far beyond the twenty two foot walls of the super
Speaker 1: pipe that Zoe Atkin absolutely thrives in. The Great British
Speaker 1: Free Skier is trying to make it to her second
Speaker 1: Olympics and she has had a twenty twenty five season
Speaker 1: to remember. Cannot wait for you guys to hear this episode.
Speaker 1: Let me know what you think.
Speaker 2: Welcome back, Powerful Podsquad.
Speaker 1: I am so excited to be joined by a Crystal
Speaker 1: Globe winner.
Speaker 2: No big deal.
Speaker 1: That means She is the top ranked free skier in
Speaker 1: the women's super pipe in the world.
Speaker 2: Her name is Zoe Akin.
Speaker 1: She is also a junior at Stanford University, trying to
Speaker 1: make it to her second Olympics for Team Great Britain
Speaker 1: and right now catching up with me in the middle
Speaker 1: of a training camp.
Speaker 2: Zoe, thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 4: Hi, thank you so much for having me. I'm very excited.
Speaker 2: This is so much fun.
Speaker 1: So I want to first talk about the Crystal Globe
Speaker 1: because for those who don't know, can you explain how
Speaker 1: massive of a deal this award is in your sport.
Speaker 4: It's definitely a pretty big deal. I was very excited
Speaker 4: when it happened. So basically, we have about five World
Speaker 4: Cup events a year, and then at the end of
Speaker 4: the year they kind of tally up all your results
Speaker 4: and then whoever has the best results over like all
Speaker 4: those events, Yeah, they add them together and then they
Speaker 4: make rankings for the rest of the year from those events.
Speaker 4: So yeah, it's kind of about, you know, being consistent
Speaker 4: and doing well, but you kind of have to, you know,
Speaker 4: maintain that level throughout the whole season, which kind of
Speaker 4: can be a little bit tough because the first World
Speaker 4: Cup of the season was in August and then the
Speaker 4: last one was just last week in February. So it's
Speaker 4: kind of a long season to be kind of at
Speaker 4: that high level and to be performing, you know, at
Speaker 4: the events. So yeah, I ended up with a Cup
Speaker 4: with the first place medal and a couple of second places,
Speaker 4: and then I ended up ranked first in the world
Speaker 4: at the end of the season, which is so crazy
Speaker 4: to me and I'm so excited about it.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I can imagine.
Speaker 1: I mean August to February that is such like that's
Speaker 1: a solid season and it's crazy to think, Like when
Speaker 1: you think about a sport like basketball or football, or
Speaker 1: even like within Olympic sports like surfing, the season itself,
Speaker 1: the length of the season is similar, but the number
Speaker 1: of events only five. There's so much pressure on every
Speaker 1: single event. How do you make You're twenty two years old,
Speaker 1: You're going for your second Olympics. So we're gonna get
Speaker 1: to the fact that you made to your first Olympics
Speaker 1: in just a minute. But how do you how are
Speaker 1: you managing the pressure and the time off in between events,
Speaker 1: Like how are you staying ready this whole time?
Speaker 4: Totally? I mean honestly, it's it's quite tough, especially, I
Speaker 4: feel like, especially because we have such a big break
Speaker 4: in the spring and summer and we do have training camps,
Speaker 4: so we are you know, still on our skis, but
Speaker 4: there is definitely a big break that you just spend
Speaker 4: not on snow at all because you know, it's like
Speaker 4: summer and there's only so like a few places that
Speaker 4: you can go in the summer. So I mean when
Speaker 4: I went to the first competition in New Zealand, I
Speaker 4: think I ended up like fifth or six or something.
Speaker 4: It was I did not ski very well. It wasn't
Speaker 4: my best. I was kind of in a little bit
Speaker 4: of a mental funk that spring and summer just with
Speaker 4: you know, I had a lot on my play Like
Speaker 4: school was just I was taking this really hard class.
Speaker 4: I was like literally coding and my room like all
Speaker 4: day every day during the summer, and then I just
Speaker 4: flew to New Zealand and competed in this World Cup
Speaker 4: with like I think we had like a one or
Speaker 4: two week training camp the week before, so it was
Speaker 4: very hectic, and I didn't sche my best and I
Speaker 4: kind of you know, did that event. I was like,
Speaker 4: well that was terrible. I you know, like completely put
Speaker 4: the Crystal Globe out of my head because I was like,
Speaker 4: I mean that results just not good enough. So whatever,
Speaker 4: just put it out. I'll forget about it, focus on
Speaker 4: doing better, train a little bit harder, and focus on
Speaker 4: the next World Cup. And yeah, I just was able
Speaker 4: to kind of build on that and try and you know,
Speaker 4: it's it's definitely tough, but I feel like being able
Speaker 4: to be like, this event is super super important, this
Speaker 4: is the most important event, and then once it's over,
Speaker 4: it's like it's over and then you focus on the
Speaker 4: next one. And I feel like that kind of you
Speaker 4: don't want to be ruminating on, you know, your failures
Speaker 4: all the time. You can, you know, take what you
Speaker 4: can from the event, like learn what you can and
Speaker 4: then take that into the next event. So I feel
Speaker 4: like that's something I was definitely working on the season.
Speaker 4: And to be able to, you know, win my first
Speaker 4: World Cup since I was sixteen and I'm twenty two now,
Speaker 4: so it's been a really long time and to be
Speaker 4: able to like get up to that level meant so
Speaker 4: much to me. And yeah, to be able to bring
Speaker 4: that consistency back up to the level I wanted to
Speaker 4: be at going into this next year with the Olympics
Speaker 4: and everything and so much to me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so let's talk about the fact that at sixteen
Speaker 1: you won your very first World Cup and then six
Speaker 1: years later you have to wait six years until you
Speaker 1: top the podium again in a World Cup. You had
Speaker 1: some X Games medals in there, there were a couple
Speaker 1: of other like podium topping moments, but in terms of
Speaker 1: World Cups, which, like you mentioned, really big when we
Speaker 1: look at Olympic qualifying and obviously less than a year
Speaker 1: away from Italy. So what did it feel like in
Speaker 1: early February you land your run and Aspen and you realize,
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, I just put down a ninety, which
Speaker 1: is like borderline untouchable in your first right, that was
Speaker 1: your first run, and so tell me, like, what did
Speaker 1: what zone did you get into at the top of
Speaker 1: that super pipe?
Speaker 4: Honestly, I so we had X Games the week before
Speaker 4: and I was like so ready. I had done all
Speaker 4: the preparation. I was so ready for that event, and
Speaker 4: I don't know what happened on com day. I think
Speaker 4: I was just like so like so much pressure on myself,
Speaker 4: Like I was so stressed. I just felt like I
Speaker 4: didn't ski to the level I wanted to do, and
Speaker 4: with the new X Games format, they like changed it
Speaker 4: this year, so it was kind of like a little
Speaker 4: bit of curveball. Definitely wasn't my best skiing. And so
Speaker 4: the World Cup was the week after in the same pipe,
Speaker 4: and I was like so mad. I was like, this
Speaker 4: is I got fourth, which is always like, I mean
Speaker 4: fourth is great, like it's I'm obviously happy that I'm in,
Speaker 4: like you know, the top four, but it's always so tough,
Speaker 4: like right that first position right off the podium, like
Speaker 4: you don't get to you know, stay on the mix.
Speaker 2: Maggie is it the chocolate what is what does Maggie
Speaker 2: call it? Maggie voice? And she got I think she
Speaker 2: calls it like the chocolate metal or something like that.
Speaker 2: It's like the yeah, yeah, like you don't close, yeah,
Speaker 2: but you're so.
Speaker 4: Close totally, Like it's so it's like a great position,
Speaker 4: but you do not want like at least if you're
Speaker 4: in fifth, you're like okay, like it's fine, but fourth,
Speaker 4: like you're right there and you didn't get it. I
Speaker 4: was so mad, and I was like I'm channeling all
Speaker 4: of this energy into like landing my run at the
Speaker 4: World Cup doesn't matter the result. But I'm going to
Speaker 4: land my run and I'm going to land it the
Speaker 4: best I can. So I had just you know, really
Speaker 4: like high intensity trainings and I was super ready for
Speaker 4: this event. And my first run, I was like, let's
Speaker 4: get this done, like I'm gonna show these people what's up.
Speaker 4: And yeah, to be I was honestly just so hyped
Speaker 4: to land my run after you know, not landing it
Speaker 4: the way I wanted it to the week before, so
Speaker 4: so hyped, and then yeah, to be able to win,
Speaker 4: like it's I mean, it's it's tough because I had,
Speaker 4: you know, I've had a couple of good seasons with
Speaker 4: you know, podium results and stuff like that, which is
Speaker 4: great and I'm very excited about that. But it's so
Speaker 4: tough to be on that top spot. Like there's so
Speaker 4: many factors. I mean, there's so many other good girls
Speaker 4: skiing and with great runs, and it's definitely there's definitely
Speaker 4: a difference between being top three and being number one.
Speaker 4: Like it's definitely that like one extra little bit that's
Speaker 4: you know, tough to crack. So yeah, it's definitely something
Speaker 4: I've been thinking about for the past couple of years,
Speaker 4: I've been getting a lot of seconds, all of thirds,
Speaker 4: you know, and so yeah, to be able to get
Speaker 4: on top of that step was a huge confidence boost
Speaker 4: for me landing my run under the pressure after X
Speaker 4: skins and everything. Definitely, yeah, it was. It was a
Speaker 4: very meaningful moment for me, I.
Speaker 1: Bet, because I mean going through your career just in general, right,
Speaker 1: Like I said, sixteen, your first World Cup, you make
Speaker 1: it to the Olympics, so you're competing there, should have
Speaker 1: been competing with your sister, but she had to pull
Speaker 1: out of it. But your sister was baring all of
Speaker 1: this sort of weight and pressure of the nation because
Speaker 1: she was the first female to ever medle on skis
Speaker 1: for Great Britain.
Speaker 2: Correct.
Speaker 1: So it's like your family has had a lot of
Speaker 1: attention and then you at sixteen burst onto the scene.
Speaker 2: You don't have the Olympics that you want.
Speaker 1: I imagine there's a lot of self doubt that's coming
Speaker 1: in of like, yeah, I'm one of the best, but
Speaker 1: like can I be the best? What are you going
Speaker 1: through mentally throughout the last few years and how do
Speaker 1: you sort of get through it to top that podium
Speaker 1: and to say you know what the results sounded like.
Speaker 1: You said almost like the results don't matter. I'm just
Speaker 1: landing this thing the best way that I possibly can.
Speaker 4: Totally. I mean you touched on so many things right there, like, oh,
Speaker 4: that's so true. I Yeah. So I saw my sister
Speaker 4: win a medal in twenty eighteen. I was there in
Speaker 4: Korea when she got that bronze and slop style, and
Speaker 4: I kind of like illuminated the possibilities of like what
Speaker 4: I could do in the sport. So I definitely was
Speaker 4: like okay, like I could get there, Like I could
Speaker 4: train and work hard and do it. And so I
Speaker 4: had a couple podium results. I had that World Cup win.
Speaker 4: I think I medled that World Championships and another World
Speaker 4: Cup or something, and then I went into my first
Speaker 4: Olympics and I put so much pressure on myself. I
Speaker 4: was like, this is the Olympics, like I'm going to
Speaker 4: do so well, and I was only ever really thinking
Speaker 4: about the results. And I feel like that really shows
Speaker 4: in my skiing, and I feel like going into the
Speaker 4: whole season, I don't even remember, like at this point,
Speaker 4: I don't even think I landed a single run that
Speaker 4: I was very proud of that season, just because I
Speaker 4: was so focused on the results and I couldn't like
Speaker 4: let that go and you know, focus on what I
Speaker 4: needed to improve on, what I needed to work on,
Speaker 4: and just the skiing itself. So there's a lot of that,
Speaker 4: And then there's a lot of disappointment after the Olympics,
Speaker 4: just because it didn't go the way I wanted it to,
Speaker 4: especially after all those expectations, and after that. I had
Speaker 4: a little bit of a low, a low point coming
Speaker 4: after the Olympics, and that's when I went. I started
Speaker 4: at Stanford my freshman year at Stanford that fall after
Speaker 4: the Olympics.
Speaker 2: Perfect.
Speaker 1: Stanford is known for being a really easy school, something
Speaker 1: that you just freeze into really.
Speaker 2: Good never really good academics.
Speaker 1: So if we're feeling bad about ourselves, Stanford is a
Speaker 1: really good place.
Speaker 4: Yes, just go to Stanford. You'll feel No. It was
Speaker 4: definitely it was definitely tough, and because I had just
Speaker 4: taken a gap year, so it's been a while since
Speaker 4: I've been to school. But it was honestly so refreshing
Speaker 4: to kind of have a different challenge that wasn't so
Speaker 4: mental and fear focused. And I feel like that's such
Speaker 4: a big thing with you know, action sports is like
Speaker 4: is the whole thing is kind of overcoming fear and
Speaker 4: being able to like, you know, fake the confidence in
Speaker 4: order to you know, try things and do things and
Speaker 4: make them better and get up after your fall. But
Speaker 4: at Stanford, it was so much more just like learning
Speaker 4: to be in a new environment and like making friends,
Speaker 4: being social, like being able to like raise my hand
Speaker 4: in class, you know, and obviously like the academic side
Speaker 4: of things too. And I feel like it was so
Speaker 4: nice to be able to just forget that I was
Speaker 4: a skier and to just be me again and kind
Speaker 4: of be like I exist outside of my results, and
Speaker 4: I exist outside of whatever place I got at the Olympics.
Speaker 4: And I feel like that was really big for me,
Speaker 4: especially just like being so young at my first Olympics
Speaker 4: and just when you're young in general, I feel like you're,
Speaker 4: you know, grappling with all these you know, what your
Speaker 4: identity is and all that kind of stuff. So just
Speaker 4: like a very emotional time, I guess, and I felt
Speaker 4: like that. Yeah, So that experience at Stanford was just
Speaker 4: really helpful for me, like as a person, for my
Speaker 4: growth and everything. And I was kind of like not
Speaker 4: sure if I wanted to go back to skiing, but
Speaker 4: I was like, I'll just do this season and see
Speaker 4: outgos and if I don't want to ski by the
Speaker 4: end of the season, then I'll just quit and do
Speaker 4: school full time. And that's fine. And I feel like,
Speaker 4: and that was my first X Games gold medal, and
Speaker 4: I had a great season that year. I podium to
Speaker 4: all the events I went into, which was huge for
Speaker 4: me coming after you know, a season of not a
Speaker 4: single podium. I think I got like ninth at the
Speaker 4: Olympics or something, which I was, you know, upset about,
Speaker 4: like but and I just feel like taking that pressure
Speaker 4: off really allowed me to you know, focus on the
Speaker 4: skiing and remember why I did it in the first place,
Speaker 4: which is like that passion that you know fun. And
Speaker 4: also going to Stanford and I was taking a lot
Speaker 4: of like psychology classes and stuff kind of in that realm,
Speaker 4: so I was able to learn a lot more about
Speaker 4: the brain and the thought process and you know, how
Speaker 4: fear is kind of like created in the brain and
Speaker 4: how it's like processed in the body. And I feel
Speaker 4: like kind of thinking about it mechanically helped me a lot.
Speaker 4: You know, when you're standing at the top being like
Speaker 4: I'm so scared, like I like my body paralyzed. I'm
Speaker 4: like I can't move, and then being like this is
Speaker 4: just a biological process, like of course I'm scared. It's
Speaker 4: like my brain, there's, you know, all this stuff going
Speaker 4: on in my body. But like I can still do this,
Speaker 4: Like I can be scared and do it either way.
Speaker 4: And I feel like learning all that kind of stuff
Speaker 4: was also very helpful for me going back to skiing.
Speaker 4: That was a really long winded answer, but.
Speaker 2: No, that was great. No, that was great.
Speaker 1: I want to hear more about the fear and how
Speaker 1: learning about that biological process, because I think you're right,
Speaker 1: like as somebody who I absolutely love watching action sports,
Speaker 1: I love watching you guys do what you do. And
Speaker 1: I will never throw myself thirty four feet above the
Speaker 1: snow and a twenty two foot ice wall in order.
Speaker 2: To like flip and feel something in the air.
Speaker 1: And it like the fear in me is my biological
Speaker 1: response is like, actually, no, you can't, you can't do that.
Speaker 1: That is like a reasonable fear. But I think so
Speaker 1: often you proge this confidence and so we almost put
Speaker 1: these you know, like Olympic extreme athletes on a pedestal
Speaker 1: of like, well, look they're doing it, and they're actually
Speaker 1: they're actually not scared, and it's almost what I've experienced
Speaker 1: is almost a form of separation where it's like, well, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's good for you, but not for me, Like you
Speaker 1: could do that, but I couldn't do that, And what
Speaker 1: you're saying is like, no, actually, this is something that
Speaker 1: happens to all of us, and we can all handle
Speaker 1: whatever the fear is. We can all handle it because
Speaker 1: it's in biological response, is what you've learned.
Speaker 4: Totally. I definitely feel like there's this kind of idea
Speaker 4: that all these people that are doing these crazy things
Speaker 4: are like even the people in my sport, that there
Speaker 4: were like crazy adrenaline junkies, or that we're just we
Speaker 4: just aren't afraid, and that we're just so good at
Speaker 4: our sports though it's like it's nothing to us, but
Speaker 4: it is scary, and it's scary every time, even when
Speaker 4: I do things that I know I can do, not
Speaker 4: to mention the things I'm trying and you know, haven't
Speaker 4: ever tried before, and I'm just like, you know, trying
Speaker 4: to learn it by throwing it. But yeah, it's definitely
Speaker 4: like it's it's natural to feel the fear because you know,
Speaker 4: what we do is ultimately dangerous, Like there is risk involved,
Speaker 4: and there's kind of risk in anything. Like if you
Speaker 4: think about, you know, whatever it is that makes you scared,
Speaker 4: whether it be I don't know, going up to someone
Speaker 4: that you don't know and like speaking to them, or
Speaker 4: raising your hand in class like I said before, or
Speaker 4: you know, whatever it may be. It's like there's a
Speaker 4: biological reason for that. It's whether it's you're you know,
Speaker 4: you're throwing yourself over an ice tube, or it's like
Speaker 4: you know, fear of like social rejection or whatever it is.
Speaker 4: You know, more like complex rather than like the biological
Speaker 4: like fear, you know what I mean, there's always like
Speaker 4: the reason for that. But it's like that feeling doesn't
Speaker 4: have to stop us from doing it. That feeling is
Speaker 4: just a feeling at the end of the day. And
Speaker 4: that's something I talk with a lot with my sports
Speaker 4: psy like, and I took this class at Sanford called
Speaker 4: How Beliefs Create Reality, And there's so much of it
Speaker 4: of like it's it's how you approach that. It's like,
Speaker 4: am I taking this as a warning signal? Like is
Speaker 4: this you know, whatever you're feeling is like, oh, my
Speaker 4: palms get sweaty or my heart's racing. Am I like
Speaker 4: this means I can't do this, Like I'm too scared
Speaker 4: to do this. I can't. Like you're taking these signals
Speaker 4: as a negative, or you could be like my sweaty palms,
Speaker 4: my racing heart, like I'm nervous because I really care
Speaker 4: about this. You know, I'm nervous because I'm kind of
Speaker 4: rising to the challenge. My body's getting activated. This adrenaline
Speaker 4: is going to give me the edge that I need
Speaker 4: to be able to do this trick in the halfpipe,
Speaker 4: or this kind of racing heart's gonna like give me,
Speaker 4: you know, the energy and the courage to like go
Speaker 4: up to someone new at like the coffee shop or
Speaker 4: something like that. Yeah, And I feel like so much
Speaker 4: of it is like how we frame these things. And
Speaker 4: you know, anyone can kind of take your beliefs and
Speaker 4: mindsets and you can kind of shift into whatever works
Speaker 4: for you and whatever is positive. Or you if you
Speaker 4: find yourself backing out of things because you know you're nervous,
Speaker 4: it's like are you taking that nervousness, like do you
Speaker 4: need to be viewing that nervousness as such a negative thing,
Speaker 4: like a lot of the times, you know, fear is good,
Speaker 4: Like we need the fear, and it just means we
Speaker 4: care about something, you know, any other feeling, like when
Speaker 4: you feel happiness, you like that feeling, but you know,
Speaker 4: if you feel fear, that's a bad feeling. Like they're
Speaker 4: all just feelings and we kind of associate them with
Speaker 4: different things. But we can change those associations, and we
Speaker 4: have that power to you know, control our minds in
Speaker 4: that way. And I feel like that's something that I've
Speaker 4: learned through my sport, but also through like classes and
Speaker 4: speaking with sports like and stuff like that that I
Speaker 4: feel like has been really helpful for me personally to
Speaker 4: be able to you know, kind of like take that
Speaker 4: control back, Like I can't help if my heart races,
Speaker 4: Like of course my heart's going to race when I'm
Speaker 4: you know, doing flips in the air, but I can
Speaker 4: kind of take back the control of being like yeah,
Speaker 4: but I'm not going to let it control what I
Speaker 4: choose to do next.
Speaker 2: I guess yeah.
Speaker 1: I can't remember where I heard it, but someone I
Speaker 1: definitely didn't come up with this, which is why I'm
Speaker 1: certain I heard it somewhere, but someone was recently talking
Speaker 1: about how fear can be viewed as a focuser because
Speaker 1: of all the emotions, right, there's like obviously too many
Speaker 1: to name, but let's take a few of them, like happy, sad,
Speaker 1: those two plus fear, right, Like, if you're feeling happy,
Speaker 1: you don't necessarily need to be like focused, if you're
Speaker 1: feeling sad, you don't necessarily need to be focused.
Speaker 2: But fear, if you, it's almost like a focusing emotion.
Speaker 1: It's like, hey, there's this one thing happening right now
Speaker 1: that really needs your attention because whether you're doing something
Speaker 1: that is scary from a physical perspective of hey, you
Speaker 1: really need to focus because you are hurtling your body
Speaker 1: thirty feet up in the air, and.
Speaker 2: You need to focus because otherwise you could get hurt.
Speaker 1: Or you know, hey, you're going up to somebody in
Speaker 1: a coffee shop and this is scary, So focus in
Speaker 1: on this. Don't get distracted by the sounds and who's
Speaker 1: the boris was calling somebody else's name? And for me,
Speaker 1: that are really important because you know so in competitive gymnastics, right,
Speaker 1: like I understand the fear. I understand the fear of
Speaker 1: hurtling yourself up into the air and really trusting that
Speaker 1: you're gonna land on your feet. And at sixteen, I
Speaker 1: didn't have that capacity to manage my fear, and at
Speaker 1: the end of it, it almost ruined the sport for
Speaker 1: me because I'd gotten hurt, I was scared to get back.
Speaker 1: I was physically unable to do some of the things
Speaker 1: that I'd done in the past, and I ended up saying,
Speaker 1: you know what.
Speaker 2: I'm good. This was the end of the road for me,
Speaker 2: and I'm okay with that.
Speaker 1: But the reality is, partially because I was terrified, I
Speaker 1: was too afraid to turn fear into something other than fear.
Speaker 1: And so I feel like what you're describing is it
Speaker 1: goes hand in hand with like fear can be just
Speaker 1: a focusing emotion of like this is important, so pay attention,
Speaker 1: don't get distracted because you've worked really hard for this,
Speaker 1: you care a lot about this, so just focus on
Speaker 1: this and stay here with us.
Speaker 4: Totally. Yeah, and I definitely empathize with the fear kind
Speaker 4: of takeing the love or you know, the passion away
Speaker 4: from the sport, Like it can be so overwhelming, like
Speaker 4: I've had so many times where I've been standing at
Speaker 4: the top of the pipe and I'll just be standing
Speaker 4: there and I won't move, and like two hours will
Speaker 4: pass and then after I'll just like go home and
Speaker 4: i won't even try it because I've just like builds
Speaker 4: it up in my head. And definitely like it is,
Speaker 4: especially for young girls, I feel like it's it's it's
Speaker 4: such an overwhelming emotion, but it's also like what you said,
Speaker 4: it is you know, that kind of focusing agent, and
Speaker 4: biologically evolutionarily, it's you know, there's a point of fear.
Speaker 4: It's like you know, there's a lion. Okay, now I
Speaker 4: got to lock in. I gotta run as fast as
Speaker 4: I can to escape this lion. You know. It's it's
Speaker 4: it biologically gives you the edge that you need. Like
Speaker 4: I'm not sure all the stats on this, but I
Speaker 4: think it let you vaso constrict so like kind of
Speaker 4: more you become like better at like coordination and stuff
Speaker 4: like that and any kind of like I don't I'm
Speaker 4: not sure all the like you know, the scientist, but
Speaker 4: it definitely does like biologically, you know, put you in
Speaker 4: a place that's better for you know, like flow state
Speaker 4: or better focus, better performance and I think, THINKI about
Speaker 4: it that way can be really powerful.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think now that we've talked through all
Speaker 1: this fear, it makes it even I don't know, more
Speaker 1: impressive and more exciting for me to have watched you
Speaker 1: this season and knowing that you wanted to try to
Speaker 1: incorporate a lot of new tricks this year right into
Speaker 1: your halfpipe run. And that's something that you know for
Speaker 1: those who you who don't know half pypes, zo you
Speaker 1: can talk to this a lot more.
Speaker 2: But I know, like you put years. It's like again,
Speaker 2: I keep.
Speaker 1: Comparents gymnastics, but it's similar to gymastics, and that you
Speaker 1: put years into being better at the same exact skills
Speaker 1: right doing them to almost perfection.
Speaker 2: That's like the goal. And incorporating a new trick into
Speaker 2: a routine or into a run is a lot. It's
Speaker 2: really scary.
Speaker 1: Because all of a sudden, you're not just like doing
Speaker 1: the same old thing and trying to better. Now you're
Speaker 1: trying out in a competition for the first time, and
Speaker 1: you decided to do this the year before an Olympic year.
Speaker 1: How did you incorporate these new tricks into your runs?
Speaker 1: And in the meantime have the best year of your
Speaker 1: skiing career.
Speaker 4: Thank you. Definitely, it's yeah, like what you've said, very
Speaker 4: similar to gymnastics, like you kind of, I think we
Speaker 4: call them tricks and you guys call them skills. Like you,
Speaker 4: you know, learn a thing and then you do it
Speaker 4: over and over and over again, and then when you're
Speaker 4: putting a new one in, you still have to do
Speaker 4: all your other tricks, so there's still you know, kind
Speaker 4: of you have to rely on that muscle memory so
Speaker 4: you can do all those other things while also focusing
Speaker 4: on this new thing that you want to put in.
Speaker 4: So yeah, it's definitely it's it's definitely tough. There's always
Speaker 4: kind of you know, there's never there's always something to
Speaker 4: be working on. I feel like that's kind of my mindset. Like,
Speaker 4: for example, if it's not the best day ever, I
Speaker 4: won't work on my hardest trick. I'd work on something
Speaker 4: simpler and maybe try and make it smoother, trying to
Speaker 4: get the grapnd a little bit better, make the landing
Speaker 4: a little bit lighter. So I always think that there's
Speaker 4: something to work on, and we're all we're simultaneously working
Speaker 4: on all these different things all at once, so there's
Speaker 4: like a little bit of that. And also, you know,
Speaker 4: no matter how many times I do a trick. I
Speaker 4: think I mentioned this earlier, but I am still so
Speaker 4: scared to do it every single time. So it's it's
Speaker 4: like being able to kind of reconfront that fear every
Speaker 4: day until it is just kind of like background noise
Speaker 4: to me. Like it's like even my simplest trick, Like
Speaker 4: the first time I'll do it in a day, I'll
Speaker 4: be like, oh my gosh, I'm so nervous, but it's like, hey,
Speaker 4: I did this yesterday, I did this day before, I
Speaker 4: did this day before that. You know, I got this.
Speaker 4: But yeah, I think, especially like with a sport, like
Speaker 4: halfway seeing, it's definitely progressing so much, and I feel
Speaker 4: like that's really awesome to see all the girls, you know,
Speaker 4: throwing down and learning new tricks all the time. But
Speaker 4: it's also very like it's kind of like methodle methodological.
Speaker 4: I don't know how to say that word.
Speaker 2: Methodlodical, yeahd in.
Speaker 4: Progression yeah, methodical, Sorry, Okay, that's okay. It's very methodical,
Speaker 4: and it's kind of progression like someone will learn something
Speaker 4: and then a bunch of other people will learn it
Speaker 4: as well, so there isn't kind of new tricks going
Speaker 4: down all the time. It's definitely like you kind of
Speaker 4: learn something and then you work on it and you
Speaker 4: perfect it and then you put it in the comp.
Speaker 4: So it's kind of like a really big process that
Speaker 4: takes a really long time and a lot of work
Speaker 4: and then only kind of comes to fruition at the
Speaker 4: end and then you get all the credit for it.
Speaker 4: But like you know, in the build up, it's definitely
Speaker 4: like baby step, baby step, baby step. So to be
Speaker 4: able to put I just recently learned a switch nine.
Speaker 4: I put that in the last comp, the last World
Speaker 4: Cup of the year a couple of weeks ago. To
Speaker 4: be able to put that in my comp front is
Speaker 4: just such a culmination of like all these days that
Speaker 4: I've put into that, and not only that, but all
Speaker 4: my other tricks in the run that I was able
Speaker 4: to do all in that one run. So it's definitely
Speaker 4: like it's cool because it's a little bit of like
Speaker 4: the behind the scenes, the behind the scenes work that
Speaker 4: a lot of people don't see, and it's like, oh,
Speaker 4: like you just tried this new trick and it just
Speaker 4: went well and you just landed it, like so crazy,
Speaker 4: but it's like, no, there's so much behind it, which is, yeah,
Speaker 4: you didn't.
Speaker 1: Just you didn't see me land this into the pit
Speaker 1: a million times or like onto the blob for you guys,
Speaker 1: a million times before I went out and tried.
Speaker 2: So switch nine.
Speaker 1: So break that down for those of us who you know,
Speaker 1: that's it's a lot of spinning, Zoe, and it's coming
Speaker 1: in backwards.
Speaker 2: It isn't mistaken.
Speaker 4: It is a lot of spinning. So in okay, So
Speaker 4: we have basically, so there's two ways of spinning. You
Speaker 4: can spin left and you get been right, and then
Speaker 4: you can also spin switch left and switch right. So
Speaker 4: usually you'll have kind of a natural way of spinning.
Speaker 4: Like for example, I prefer to spin left. That's just
Speaker 4: the way that I would rather spin if I had,
Speaker 4: you know, a choice, But it's the best. You want
Speaker 4: to be spinning as many ways as possible. Basically, So
Speaker 4: my switch right nine hundred is basically two and a
Speaker 4: half rotations to my switch unnatural side of spinning. So
Speaker 4: it's my uncomfortable way backwards two and a half rotations.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, that's ridiculous. And it's like it's so
Speaker 1: cool because like you're saying. And so this is the
Speaker 1: other thing that I think is really fascinating about skiing
Speaker 1: in particular and half pipe I think in particular. Correct
Speaker 1: me if I'm wrong, But is there not like a
Speaker 1: little bit of strategy with the clips that you post
Speaker 1: on social so that like sometimes as you're learning a
Speaker 1: new trick, like some athletes will be like really upfront
Speaker 1: about like, oh, look at me, I'm trying this, I'm
Speaker 1: trying this, I'm learning this, and some athletes are like, yeah,
Speaker 1: you're not going to see anything until I land this
Speaker 1: in the comp because you don't want to tip anybody off, because,
Speaker 1: like you said, it's a pretty small community. So you
Speaker 1: land a switch nine and all of a sudden, people
Speaker 1: are going, oh, wait a minute, a switch nine.
Speaker 2: I should be training a switch you know.
Speaker 1: It's like this, like it feels like a little bit
Speaker 1: of like everybody's watching each other, so what is your
Speaker 1: when it comes to new tricks.
Speaker 4: That's definitely really true. There is kind of like a
Speaker 4: flaw to that strategy, and that we usually are kind
Speaker 4: of all training together, so we usually will see if
Speaker 4: something goes down, But there is definitely the element of
Speaker 4: being like, Okay, let's say I learned something in the
Speaker 4: spring and I post about it and so everyone knows
Speaker 4: about it, and then it's like, okay, but people still
Speaker 4: have the fall camps and like all the time in
Speaker 4: the winter, you know, to learn something and maybe put
Speaker 4: something in comp that you know they got inspired to
Speaker 4: do because of the post. So I'm definitely a little
Speaker 4: bit more of a secretive person. I don't really post
Speaker 4: things until comp comes around, and that's I think it's
Speaker 4: a little more exciting too, for like the viewers. It's like,
Speaker 4: oh wait, if he hasn't been doing that or that's
Speaker 4: a new thing, and I think that's, you know, fun,
Speaker 4: and I think it makes it fun, you know, for
Speaker 4: the competition. I feel like it's like a big reveal,
Speaker 4: even though like probably no one cares, Like even though everybody, but.
Speaker 1: No, do not even begin to tell yourself that because
Speaker 1: everybody cares. When somebody does a new trick, it's like
Speaker 1: everybody notices it.
Speaker 2: It's on social media within ten seconds of you landing it.
Speaker 1: Like it's one of the great surprises that come with sports.
Speaker 1: And I think part of the reason we love sports
Speaker 1: is because nobody knows what's going to happen, right and
Speaker 1: like in half pipe in particular, there's really two things
Speaker 1: that can happen that are really jarring. You can like
Speaker 1: land it absolutely perfectly, or you can fall and then
Speaker 1: sort to add in this element of like ooh, or
Speaker 1: she could surprise us with something that we haven't seen
Speaker 1: done in a half pipe by a female before, or
Speaker 1: that we haven't seen her do before.
Speaker 2: I think, no, I love it, keep it secret. I
Speaker 2: like it. I think that's a lot of fun.
Speaker 4: Totally. It is really fun. I'm definitely like quite competitive
Speaker 4: deep down, so it's fun to see everything go down
Speaker 4: in a competition setting. It's fun.
Speaker 2: Oh, it's a blast. Okay.
Speaker 1: I want to talk about your sister Izzy because we
Speaker 1: mentioned the history that she made which is worthy of
Speaker 1: being repeated in case you missed it, which is that
Speaker 1: in the twenty eighteen Games in slopestyle, correct, Zoe. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So the twenty eighteen Games, she became Great Britain's first
Speaker 1: ever medalist or female medalist medalist period.
Speaker 4: In slope style. Yes, there's a little bit of a
Speaker 4: controversy because a racer had won an Olympic medal, but
Speaker 4: there was like there was like a failed drug test
Speaker 4: or something. So the medal was stress. She was like
Speaker 4: a whole controversy. So we just say for slop style
Speaker 4: medal or.
Speaker 2: Free skiing medal, she was the first. Okay, so we're
Speaker 2: gonna start this over.
Speaker 1: Her sister Izzie in twenty eighteen made history for Great
Speaker 1: Britain when she became the first female to ever win a.
Speaker 2: Free skiing medal in the Olympics.
Speaker 1: And you, my dear, got a chance to ski with
Speaker 1: her growing up and learn from her how And maybe
Speaker 1: this is selfish because I'm an older sister, so I
Speaker 1: always like to, you know, make sure that the older
Speaker 1: sisters get a little bit of the credit for the
Speaker 1: work we put in in childhood. How did skiing with
Speaker 1: her and seeing her achieve that history you touched on
Speaker 1: a little bit, but like, how has that impacted the
Speaker 1: way that you ski and what you believe is possible?
Speaker 4: It was? It was everything for me, honestly, Like everything
Speaker 4: I've accomplished I feel like I can attribute to her.
Speaker 4: I feel like, I mean, growing up, I was very competitive,
Speaker 4: so and I'm four and a half years younger than
Speaker 4: she is, so every time she would learn something, I
Speaker 4: would always try and learn it at a younger age
Speaker 4: than she did. Just so I was like one step ahead,
Speaker 4: but I would never be you know, like better than her,
Speaker 4: because four and a half years in skiing is like
Speaker 4: quite a big gap. So and she got me into
Speaker 4: freestyle skiing in the first place. She was like, you
Speaker 4: have to freestyle ski if you go into racing your lame.
Speaker 4: So there's just so much of that. And then seeing
Speaker 4: her succeed when I was so young, it kind of, yeah,
Speaker 4: opened the doors of possibility for me. And not only
Speaker 4: that in like a result sense, but also my skiing
Speaker 4: itself is so inspired by her. She was always very
Speaker 4: smooth and stylely, and maybe she wasn't doing like the
Speaker 4: biggest rotations or you know, like the you know, the
Speaker 4: first trick of something, but she was always doing her
Speaker 4: stuff very smooth, and she was very styly, and she
Speaker 4: kind of brought that style to every event, and she was,
Speaker 4: you know, like a crowd favorite to watch just because
Speaker 4: she was so smooth and she kind of had that
Speaker 4: effortless style about it. And that's something that I try
Speaker 4: and emulate in my own skiing. I think there's a
Speaker 4: lot of different ways. Like what I said before, I
Speaker 4: think halfpipe skiing is progressing so much, but I think
Speaker 4: there's a lot of different ways to look at progression.
Speaker 4: You know, you can think about it as doing the
Speaker 4: biggest amount of spins, the biggest rotations, or you can
Speaker 4: think about it as you know, going like the highest
Speaker 4: out of the pipe, or you can think about it
Speaker 4: as you know, bringing in more switch skiing. And there's
Speaker 4: a lot of different ways to progress. But I think
Speaker 4: for me, something that I really want to embody in
Speaker 4: my skiing is kind of that style and smoothness and
Speaker 4: kind of when people watch to go, oh that was nice,
Speaker 4: Like I enjoyed watching that. That wasn't you know, like oh,
Speaker 4: like she might be like, oh that's so scary, or
Speaker 4: you know you watch people when you're like that was insane,
Speaker 4: but oh my god, I was so nervous for them. Yeah,
Speaker 4: watching my sister kind of be that effortless skier really
Speaker 4: inspired me in my skiing. And honestly, you know, when
Speaker 4: I do tricks, I'm like, how would she look doing this?
Speaker 4: What grab would she do in this? And honestly, it
Speaker 4: takes it takes a lot of practice to look effortless,
Speaker 4: which is why I think it's cool. You know, like
Speaker 4: anyone can throw I mean not anyone. There it's hard
Speaker 4: to do a really big trick, but it's hard to
Speaker 4: do it's even harder to do a really big trick
Speaker 4: and make it look good.
Speaker 2: Well, I think it's like the kind of yeah.
Speaker 1: I think that most people the best tricks are the
Speaker 1: ones that are pulled off so effortlessly, effortless, effortlessly that
Speaker 1: the people watching are like, huh, could I do that?
Speaker 1: Is that like a possible thing for a normal because
Speaker 1: it's like I mean you, I mean even your X
Speaker 1: Games run. I know you weren't very happy with it,
Speaker 1: but I remember watching you and going, whoa, she's making
Speaker 1: this look way too easy for like how high she's
Speaker 1: going in the air, for how many spins, for the
Speaker 1: type of grabs, And so I totally agree with you.
Speaker 1: I think the effortless part of it is like really
Speaker 1: alluring for a viewer to be like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: it's just like such a such a it's like a
Speaker 1: symphony with the snow where you're just like in sync
Speaker 1: with the pipe and it's it's beautiful to watch unfold.
Speaker 4: Totally thank you. I actually it's cool that you brought
Speaker 4: that up. I feel like we kind of our sport
Speaker 4: has kind of seen as you know, a lot more
Speaker 4: athletic and maybe mental, but I think there's a lot
Speaker 4: of you know, creativity and artistry that goes into a
Speaker 4: half pipe run. I think it's cool to kind of
Speaker 4: like lean into that and yeah, be able to like
Speaker 4: appreciate I guess, like the artistry that goes into it.
Speaker 4: It's kind of like a dance, but you know, dance
Speaker 4: is also very athletic, but it's also kind of an
Speaker 4: art at the same time, which is cool.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So you're getting ready trying to qualify for Italy here
Speaker 1: to make it to your second Olympics. What is the
Speaker 1: thing that you're the most proud of yourself for so
Speaker 1: far in this Olympic cycle That Zoe four years ago,
Speaker 1: who was or three years ago, was so unhappy with
Speaker 1: how she made her Olympic debut that you would tell her, now, hey,
Speaker 1: look at what I've.
Speaker 2: Done since what is the thing you're most proud of?
Speaker 4: I mean, obviously there is kind of a little bit
Speaker 4: of like, I mean, i'm world number one now, like, yes,
Speaker 4: there's more part of that and we.
Speaker 2: Should be proud of that.
Speaker 4: All of that, thank you, and you know, all the
Speaker 4: results and stuff. But I think to be honest, like
Speaker 4: with how unhappy I was after the Olympics, I feel
Speaker 4: like just telling her how much I love skiing right
Speaker 4: now and how much passion I have for it, and
Speaker 4: how much inspiration and motivation I found for like training
Speaker 4: just on the daily basis and being able to like
Speaker 4: really go into competitions and be like, obviously I want
Speaker 4: this metal and obviously I really care about this, but
Speaker 4: I enjoy being here and I'm enjoying the emotional roller
Speaker 4: coaster that it is, and I'm enjoying putting in the
Speaker 4: work that it takes to compete at this level. And
Speaker 4: I feel like that is a really big breakthrough for me,
Speaker 4: just being able to like live my life and you know,
Speaker 4: enjoy the day to day because at the end of
Speaker 4: the day, like you know, World Cup goals are great,
Speaker 4: and it feels so good in the moment, but it's
Speaker 4: like the day to day that you have to be
Speaker 4: happy with and you have to find that kind of
Speaker 4: inspiration from and to be able to kind of be
Speaker 4: in this place now that I think I'm more inspired
Speaker 4: by skiing than I think i've ever been, and I'm
Speaker 4: more passionate for it than i think i've ever been.
Speaker 4: In my whole life. And I think that is something
Speaker 4: that I'm really proud of, especially coming after you know,
Speaker 4: such a like a dark time in my life, I
Speaker 4: would say, after the Olympics, and it's definitely not all
Speaker 4: you know, happy all the time, and it's not easy
Speaker 4: all the time. And I definitely still go through you know,
Speaker 4: harder patches and times where I'm not motivated, in times
Speaker 4: where I'm just like, I'm so scared, I don't want
Speaker 4: to do this anymore. And there is those ups and downs,
Speaker 4: but I feel like kind of living through those ups
Speaker 4: and downs is you know what makes it really fun
Speaker 4: for me and really like experiencing that and like feeling
Speaker 4: those emotions and being able to like, yeah, just like
Speaker 4: ride that wave. And I think that's something that I'm
Speaker 4: really proud of the past couple of years.
Speaker 2: That's awesome.
Speaker 1: And what's so cool about that is that that is
Speaker 1: something that you will carry with you no matter what
Speaker 1: you do, you know, whether it's skiing in a super
Speaker 1: pipe or going back to Stanford or whatever. And I
Speaker 1: think that's the process. Orienting is something that yeah, I
Speaker 1: feel like it's so common and it's such a it's
Speaker 1: so cool for again, my time in competitive sports was
Speaker 1: twenty years ago, fifteen, twenty years ago. At this point,
Speaker 1: it's something that so many more athletes are talking about
Speaker 1: openly now than they were when I was looking up
Speaker 1: to athletes, and it's just such a cool, cool evolution
Speaker 1: of sports. And so I'm really grateful that you're sharing
Speaker 1: that because I think it makes a difference to the
Speaker 1: next generation of skiers and extreme sport athletes who are
Speaker 1: going I just want to I just want to do
Speaker 1: what I love and to like not lose that joy
Speaker 1: is so critical. You can you can skip so much
Speaker 1: heartache if you just don't lose the joy even in.
Speaker 2: The hard times and the passion.
Speaker 1: So I love that well, Zoe, I could talk to
Speaker 1: you all day about skiing and I want to learn.
Speaker 1: So there's just so many more things. Yeah, I just
Speaker 1: think you're the best. I think you're I think you're incredible.
Speaker 1: I think it's so fun to watch you and so
Speaker 1: I cannot wait to continue to reach you on and
Speaker 1: hopefully in Italy next year bringing home another medal for Britain.
Speaker 1: But we have to transition now for the podcast purpose,
Speaker 1: this is a segment called something to Sip On. It
Speaker 1: is brought to you by the sports Bra, which is
Speaker 1: the first women's sports bar in the entire world. It's
Speaker 1: in Portland, Oregon, and so Zoe, the week of your episode,
Speaker 1: they're going to have a cocktail or mocktail of your choosing.
Speaker 2: Called the Zoe. So Oh, I want to know what
Speaker 2: are we sipping on that week?
Speaker 4: My goodness, I'm so honored. Definitely my favorite drink is
Speaker 4: a mohito. So if we can do something like that,
Speaker 4: love a classic, delicious, love a good.
Speaker 2: Mohedo, so good, perfect a mojito. I know for a
Speaker 2: fact the Sports Bra can do a great mohedo. Next up,
Speaker 2: we have our Powered Up segment.
Speaker 1: So this is rapid fire questions where it's just like
Speaker 1: fun things, get to know.
Speaker 2: You a little bit better. Sorry, Podsquad, I say this
Speaker 2: every week.
Speaker 1: I'm so bad at this, Zoe because I always want
Speaker 1: to know the storry behind the answer.
Speaker 2: So I'm going to try to stay focused.
Speaker 1: Okay, maybe tap into a little bit of sweaty palms
Speaker 1: energy and get going.
Speaker 2: You ready, I'm ready? Okay, coffee or tea?
Speaker 4: Ooh, tea, I'm ready.
Speaker 1: Favored ice cream flavor that's fair BlackBerry ooh, I like that.
Speaker 2: Tillamook has a great BlackBerry In case I know that.
Speaker 4: One, I'm familiar.
Speaker 2: You don't. Yeah. What is your go to two meal
Speaker 2: after skiing?
Speaker 4: Ooh, I love a good burrito bowl.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, so good. Are you a night owl
Speaker 2: or an early bird?
Speaker 4: Oh? Night owl for sure. I hate mornings.
Speaker 2: Yeah that's fair.
Speaker 1: I mean if I didn't have coffee in the mornings,
Speaker 1: I also would hate mornings.
Speaker 2: But I love my morning cup of coffee. What is
Speaker 2: your favorite place that your sport has taken you?
Speaker 4: Ooh? Probably? Oh that's tough. Either the Alps or New Zealand.
Speaker 4: Very beautiful.
Speaker 2: Oh we're in New Zealand, were you?
Speaker 4: We were just outside of Queenstown. It's this little town
Speaker 4: called Wantica on the South Island's love Wantica.
Speaker 1: I went there a few years ago, but in their
Speaker 1: summer and I did a bunch of backpacking.
Speaker 2: I love that town.
Speaker 1: If if you get a chance to go to New Zealand, listeners,
Speaker 1: I twelve out of ten recommend Wanica. It is so cute,
Speaker 1: such a fun mountain town. Okay, if you were not
Speaker 1: an Olympic free skier, what sport would you want to be?
Speaker 2: An Olympian?
Speaker 1: In?
Speaker 4: Can?
Speaker 2: Be summer or winter.
Speaker 4: Oh, I think I would do tennis. I used to
Speaker 4: play tennis, and I have this fantasy that if I
Speaker 4: didn't quit, I'd be like a Grand Slam champion. So
Speaker 4: I'm gonna say tennis.
Speaker 2: I well, you know, maybe this is a second career.
Speaker 1: Maybe we're like done free skiing and we decided to
Speaker 1: pick up the tennis racket again.
Speaker 2: I super easy.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, no, it looks same, same, It's like very similar.
Speaker 4: Yeah, just a quick Wimbledon.
Speaker 1: Yeah, just put pencil it in, you know, your calendar,
Speaker 1: see if you can squeeze it in.
Speaker 2: What is your favorite dessert?
Speaker 4: Oh, my goodness, I love dessert. I have dessert after
Speaker 4: every single meal. I'm okay, you were my type of girls.
Speaker 2: As possible.
Speaker 4: I honestly, I don't know. I really like crembrule is
Speaker 4: really good. I love like anything chocolatey, so like you know,
Speaker 4: like cake or a brownie, like like bakery kind of stuff.
Speaker 4: Also just like like if we're talking, like you know,
Speaker 4: like gas station kind of snacky, like I love an oreo.
Speaker 2: Oh good to know.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's a We really covered everything from grimbolay to oreo.
Speaker 2: So I know you're a dessert I just.
Speaker 4: Love any dessert, literally, any dessert, all of it.
Speaker 2: That's fantastic. What is your dream vacation spot?
Speaker 4: Ooh, so this is not very fast.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna this is what happened that every time it's
Speaker 1: I need to I need to stop calling it rapid fire.
Speaker 2: I need to just call it like general get to
Speaker 2: know you questions Q and A.
Speaker 4: I really would like to go to South America. I've
Speaker 4: never I've only been once to Chile, and I would
Speaker 4: love to kind of explore that more because I'm usually
Speaker 4: in Europe or Australia, New Zealand, you know, those kind
Speaker 4: of places. I think South America could be really cool.
Speaker 2: I agree with you.
Speaker 1: I feel like that is the It's like the Patagonia
Speaker 1: region just like keeps entering my you these days, and
Speaker 1: I'm like, huh, maybe this is a sign that that's
Speaker 1: my next vacation.
Speaker 2: What is the best piece of advice you've ever gotten?
Speaker 4: Focus on progress, not perfection.
Speaker 1: Oh for those of us who I had a support
Speaker 1: that believed perfectionism was possible, that's that's a That's a doozy, okay, Zoe.
Speaker 1: And then the last question I have for you is
Speaker 1: what does powerful mean?
Speaker 4: To you. Oh my goodness, so many things. I mean,
Speaker 4: overcoming fear, building confidence, getting a little better every day,
Speaker 4: being the best version of yourself. Yeah. I think anything
Speaker 4: that builds your confidence makes you better person, makes you happier.
Speaker 4: I think it's all great. I agree.
Speaker 1: Awesome, well, Zoe, thank you so much for coming on
Speaker 1: the Powerful podcast.
Speaker 2: This has been a joy.
Speaker 1: I did not expect when we had the Crystal Globe
Speaker 1: winner to also get a really good psychology sort of
Speaker 1: session with talking about fear, but I'm so grateful for it.
Speaker 1: That was like exactly what I didn't know that we needed.
Speaker 1: So thank you for doing that.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much for having me and letting me
Speaker 4: rant about my psychology theories.
Speaker 1: There's no ranting. I'm signing up for Professor Zoe's classes.
Speaker 1: That's what I'm doing after this podcast, after this podcast.
Speaker 2: So thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Zoe. We are rooting for you. Cannot wait to see
Speaker 1: you hopefully in Italy next year. And pod Squad, we'll
Speaker 1: see you next week.
Speaker 2: Have a good one.
Speaker 1: This is a reminder to check us out every Tuesday
Speaker 1: everywhere you get your podcasts, and if you really enjoy
Speaker 1: this and don't want to miss an episode, be sure
Speaker 1: to hit that subscribe Itton