Speaker 1: Hello Sunshine.
Speaker 2: Hey, Bessie's Today on the bright Side, we are with
Speaker 2: US Ambassador Michelle Kwan.
Speaker 3: Yep, you heard that right.
Speaker 2: Olympic figure skating icon Michelle Kwan is here to talk
Speaker 2: about how she is redefining success as a mother, author
Speaker 2: and diplomat in her second act. You don't want to
Speaker 2: miss this. It's Tuesday, May twenty. First, I'm Simone.
Speaker 1: Boyce, I'm Danielle Robe and this is the bright Side
Speaker 1: from Hello Sunshine. Michelle Kwan is currently the US Ambassador
Speaker 1: to Belize, and I'm so intrigued by this career shift.
Speaker 3: Talk about second acts.
Speaker 2: I mean, she was one of the most decorated figure
Speaker 2: skaters of our time, and then she's like, you know what,
Speaker 2: I'm going to take this little taste of diplomacy that
Speaker 2: I've had as an international athlete, and I'm going to
Speaker 2: go become a US ambassador. I just love her imaginative living,
Speaker 2: the way that she truly sees no limits for herself.
Speaker 1: I mean, it actually is not such a shock to
Speaker 1: me that this is where she went, because I remember
Speaker 1: looking at Michelle Kwan as a very little girl, thinking
Speaker 1: to myself that she always stood for more than just
Speaker 1: figure skating and being an Olympic figure skating was enough.
Speaker 1: But she just always had so much heart and soul
Speaker 1: and so much pride for America. And I can't wait
Speaker 1: to talk to her about it.
Speaker 3: It really does.
Speaker 2: I mean, you could tell that she was just built
Speaker 2: different from such a young age, the way that she
Speaker 2: handled the pressure on that global stage, the way that
Speaker 2: she just had so much grace and poise and confidence.
Speaker 2: I was always blown away by her. You know, she
Speaker 2: actually inspired me to pursue a very short lived career
Speaker 2: in figure skating.
Speaker 3: What do you mean.
Speaker 2: I decided to enroll in a summer camp when I
Speaker 2: was living in Miami, and it was a figure skating camp,
Speaker 2: and we learned how to do a couple of tiny
Speaker 2: little jumps. And I still have this picture that I
Speaker 2: look back at from time to time of me wearing
Speaker 2: this extremely tight white leotard out on the ice. I
Speaker 2: have this like determination in my eyes that I was
Speaker 2: channeling from Michelle Kwan herself. And I have this plastic
Speaker 2: gold medal around my neck. But I just think about
Speaker 2: the generations of women that she inspired with her sport.
Speaker 3: I mean, you also were a figure skater too.
Speaker 2: Bestie's Danielle has been downplaying her figure skating skills and
Speaker 2: we're going to get to the bottom of it right now.
Speaker 1: Well before we do, I need that photo. I think
Speaker 1: you need to post it on Instagram for everybody to
Speaker 1: that little simone skating photo. But no, she inspired me too.
Speaker 1: I remember Michelle Kwan and Tara Lepinsky were my idols.
Speaker 4: I'll never forget.
Speaker 1: I wore this burgundy bedazzled outfit and I wanted to
Speaker 1: look like Michelle Kwan, and I was so competitive. I
Speaker 1: really wanted to be the best. I was doing like
Speaker 1: shoot the ducks and cartwheels all over the ice, and
Speaker 1: that is so impressive.
Speaker 2: You were doing freaking cart wheels on the ice. How
Speaker 2: long did you skate for?
Speaker 1: I wanted to do gymnastics on the ice. Basically I
Speaker 1: did it for like ten years. I loved it. I
Speaker 1: was I never felt freeer. I know that sounds so weird,
Speaker 1: but I've never felt freer than when I was skating.
Speaker 2: It's the best. What is the most impressive trick that
Speaker 2: you can do on the ice?
Speaker 1: For sure the cartwheel. I can still do it to
Speaker 1: this day. Although what every time I'm in like a
Speaker 1: city like in Chicago, or I'm visiting New York and
Speaker 1: they have these like public rinks. Yeah, I always want
Speaker 1: to do it, and I can't because it's so crowded.
Speaker 1: I'm scared someone's going to skate over my hands.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, you can still do the cartwheel, Danielle,
Speaker 2: That's wild for sure. I mean, we have the Olympics
Speaker 2: coming up this summer, right, It's such an exciting time
Speaker 2: and it has me nostalgic for all those iconic nineties
Speaker 2: Olympics moments. I mean, I am thinking of Carrie strugg
Speaker 2: doing a vault on an injured ankle in the ninety
Speaker 2: six Olympics. No one thought she was going to be
Speaker 2: able to do it. She does the vault anyways, she
Speaker 2: clinches the gold for the US team. I mean chills
Speaker 2: just thinking about it right now. I remember screaming at
Speaker 2: the top of my lungs, probably crying. It was so emotional.
Speaker 2: It was so emotional watching that moment. What comes to
Speaker 2: mind for you.
Speaker 1: Oh, for sure, the dream team, the nineteen ninety two
Speaker 1: men's basketball team. And that's because I grew up as
Speaker 1: a Michael Jordan fan, and it was Michael Jordan Charles
Speaker 1: Barkley Patrick Ewing, and I just remember Michael Jordan getting
Speaker 1: off the bus in his beret, thinking that, like, you
Speaker 1: could not tell me he was not God, Michael Jordan
Speaker 1: was jumped so high. I was All of my passwords
Speaker 1: as a kid were Michael Jordan twenty three. So I
Speaker 1: was so excited to see them in the Olympics. You know,
Speaker 1: I covered basketball and football for a few years, and
Speaker 1: when I started, I didn't know much. And I texted
Speaker 1: one of my best girlfriends from high school who was
Speaker 1: a huge sports fan, and she.
Speaker 4: Was like, I can't believe you're there right now.
Speaker 1: It's so exciting. And I was like, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I'd rather be at the Grammys, I think, And she
Speaker 1: was like, no, It's the one place where people come
Speaker 1: together still, everybody who regardless of color, political affiliation, any
Speaker 1: of it, just comes together to root for a team.
Speaker 1: It's so special, and I just I hope that the
Speaker 1: Olympics are like that in Paris this year. I'm holding
Speaker 1: out hope. I think that we can still all galvanize
Speaker 1: around something. Okay, do not go anywhere, because after the break,
Speaker 1: Michelle Kwan is here.
Speaker 2: We'll be right back, Okay, y'all, We're back with the
Speaker 2: most decorated figure skater of all time, a two time
Speaker 2: Olympic medalist, a five time World champion, and a nine time.
Speaker 1: UN champion, Ambassador Kwan. We are both so excited to
Speaker 1: have you here. On the bright side, we were figure
Speaker 1: skaters growing up. Ish yes, Simone says ish.
Speaker 4: There's no ish.
Speaker 1: My cartwheel on ice was my largest claim to fame.
Speaker 2: Ambassad Quon, I'm like literally shaking right now because you're
Speaker 2: a personal hero of mine, childhood hero. I mean, your grace,
Speaker 2: your heart on the ice. You just inspired an entire
Speaker 2: generation of women. And it's such an honor to meet you.
Speaker 4: So nice to meet you, and both of you look
Speaker 4: so fabulous.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 1: You do too with your American flag in the background.
Speaker 4: I usually have a lapel pen that has both the
Speaker 4: Belize flag and the US flag. Of course.
Speaker 1: Well, you're living a fully different life right now than
Speaker 1: most people know you from. You were obviously an Olympian
Speaker 1: and now you're an ambassador. It's really exciting.
Speaker 4: It is very exciting. It is sort of a one
Speaker 4: to eighty from I guess what folks know me as
Speaker 4: like competing at the Olympics and the World Championships, and
Speaker 4: on the ice. And it's funny because when people see
Speaker 4: me off the ice, so like you look different, you're
Speaker 4: wearing more clothes.
Speaker 2: Like.
Speaker 1: That purple outfit from the Olympics is forever in my mind.
Speaker 4: Oh really, that was one of my favorite ones.
Speaker 2: I'm so glad you brought that up because you were
Speaker 2: really intentional about the outfits that you chose, what kind
Speaker 2: of thought went into what you wore on the ice.
Speaker 2: And I know that your mom was really involved in
Speaker 2: actually helping you make some of those costumes.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, my mom actually from day one, from the very
Speaker 4: first skating competition, she would actually literally sew every bead
Speaker 4: and every sequence and you know, glued every crystal on
Speaker 4: my on my costume because we couldn't afford a costume,
Speaker 4: you know, we couldn't afford a custom made costume like
Speaker 4: some of the other skaters could. So she was very
Speaker 4: hands on. But my number one, of course, being an athlete,
Speaker 4: was like come for the ability, Like I want something
Speaker 4: that doesn't give me like scratch marks, because if you
Speaker 4: have sequence on the side, you can imagine like rotating,
Speaker 4: you get cut up. And I didn't like anything too
Speaker 4: high in the neck because I needed to breathe.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 4: Of course, luckily later in my career, I worked with
Speaker 4: the one and only Verra Wang.
Speaker 1: Yes, you know, I was watching old interviews of you
Speaker 1: last night and I was struck by something. At a
Speaker 1: young age, you were putting yourself out there, taking really
Speaker 1: big risks day in and day out, and at the
Speaker 1: same time, there's absolutely no room for your What was
Speaker 1: your relationship like with perfectionism back then.
Speaker 4: I think it's something I deal with every single day. Actually,
Speaker 4: it's sort of ingrained in me to be a perfectionist almost.
Speaker 4: And in a sport, you have to work on the
Speaker 4: small things. I always look at a overall performance of
Speaker 4: a long program. Let's say, you know how many triple
Speaker 4: jumps you have, you know how many spins you have,
Speaker 4: You know, the footwork and the spiral sequence and everything,
Speaker 4: and every little thing counts. And I think in sports
Speaker 4: there's always a big difference between great skaters and the
Speaker 4: person standing on top of the podium.
Speaker 1: Oh, what do you mean.
Speaker 4: There's a lot of good skaters. There's a lot of
Speaker 4: people that have the same triple jumps, the same combination jumps,
Speaker 4: the same it's how you execute it. It's the whole package.
Speaker 4: It's everything, so you can't overlook the details. It's also
Speaker 4: your consistency on the ice. How often can you perform
Speaker 4: at that level? As my father used to say when
Speaker 4: we were little kids, on the ice, the blade is
Speaker 4: thin when the ice is slippery, and the risks are extreme,
Speaker 4: quadruple jumps and triple triple combinations. It's remarkable because yet
Speaker 4: you need that finesse and you need that grace. And
Speaker 4: it's that athleticism combined with beauty and grace, which a
Speaker 4: reason why I fell in love with figure skating in
Speaker 4: the first place.
Speaker 2: Well, I learned that your dad used to tell you,
Speaker 2: and this is kind of harsh, but like, see that
Speaker 2: skater over there, they're better than you.
Speaker 3: See that skater over there, they're better than you.
Speaker 4: Did you talk to my dad?
Speaker 3: We did. We called it mister Kwan.
Speaker 2: No, I'm kidding, But his point was, it's not necessarily
Speaker 2: all about talent. It's about hard work. It's about the
Speaker 2: heart that you put into it. And for me, when
Speaker 2: I think about you, Michelle, and like I said, how
Speaker 2: you inspired me and Danielle and so many other people,
Speaker 2: it was your touch that set you apart. It was
Speaker 2: your heart and your flourish out there on the ice.
Speaker 4: Oh well, thank you. And yes, my father did say that.
Speaker 4: I remember vividly my dad pointing at certain skaters and
Speaker 4: being like, look at that triple LUTs or look at
Speaker 4: that triple toe combination, look at that. These skaters are
Speaker 4: better and they're stronger than you, and but hard work,
Speaker 4: hard work, is going to get you to that finish
Speaker 4: line quicker than any of these skaters. You know. I
Speaker 4: took that to heart because I realized, yes, everybody could
Speaker 4: do a triple LUTs, but can they do the triple
Speaker 4: LUTs with that other six triple jumps in the program
Speaker 4: plus those spins, plus when the time counts, Let's see,
Speaker 4: that's the competitor and me where you know, let's see
Speaker 4: if we can perform when it really counts. It's a
Speaker 4: lot of pressure for a young person to be under
Speaker 4: when all eyes are on you and you train your
Speaker 4: whole life to spend a few minutes on the ice
Speaker 4: and try to do it. But that's what the challenge
Speaker 4: and the fun of it is.
Speaker 1: I I heard you say that you savored all of
Speaker 1: these moments and you didn't get distracted, you said, because
Speaker 1: there's a lot of distractions when you're competing, is there
Speaker 1: a moment that you think about that you would like
Speaker 1: to relive.
Speaker 4: I mean, savoring every little thing was so important because
Speaker 4: as an athlete, you don't know when it's gone. I
Speaker 4: hit sort of the world stage, if you will, at
Speaker 4: twelve thirteen years old. My first international competition was at
Speaker 4: twelve years old. At thirteen, I was the alternate to
Speaker 4: the Olympic Games. It was my first World championship. At fifteen,
Speaker 4: I won my first world title. Like I was exposed
Speaker 4: from the very beginning, but I also knew that an
Speaker 4: injury or something could sideline me any day, because as
Speaker 4: we were talking about that risk is there, Like you're
Speaker 4: doing triple jumps. It might look easy when you land it,
Speaker 4: but when you fall, it does hurt. You know, I
Speaker 4: do have even to this day, I have like injuries.
Speaker 4: But saving was so important. I think I can't take
Speaker 4: it for granted. And I think that's why I probably
Speaker 4: had such a long career because I didn't want to
Speaker 4: stop for one, but another was because I loved what
Speaker 4: I was doing and I could always find joy and
Speaker 4: find ways to reinvent myself and to discover new things.
Speaker 1: That reinvention piece is something I'm so curious about because
Speaker 1: you were representing the USA and you still are, You're
Speaker 1: just doing it in a different way. How did you
Speaker 1: decide to get into diplomacy. Well, even though it looks
Speaker 1: like I retired from sport and then you know, transition
Speaker 1: quickly into diplomacy, I have to say it was losing
Speaker 1: myself in order to find myself. It was my identity
Speaker 1: since I turned five years old and I started skating.
Speaker 4: Is everything that I wanted to do. So when I
Speaker 4: finished at twenty six, it's like, oh my god, Now
Speaker 4: what what am I supposed to do? And that period
Speaker 4: was of self discovery and I thought what better way
Speaker 4: to discover than a very safe space, and that was
Speaker 4: going to school, going back to college. And then after
Speaker 4: I graduated from the University of Denver, I said, okay, well,
Speaker 4: I feel like I still need more learning to to do,
Speaker 4: and so therefore I ended up going to grad school.
Speaker 4: And then after grad school, I was appointed as a
Speaker 4: public Diplomacy envoy by Secretary of Condallize Rice and I
Speaker 4: had traveled at that moment as a public diplomacy on
Speaker 4: voy to Russia, Ukraine, Singapore, Argentina, and I discovered my
Speaker 4: love for diplomacy, and you're absolutely right in terms of
Speaker 4: you were representing the United States in your skating capacity,
Speaker 4: So there is this similarity in representation. And I have
Speaker 4: to say, like being here in Belize, living and working
Speaker 4: alongside diplomats who serve our country each and every day
Speaker 4: and make so much sacrifices for the country, it's really
Speaker 4: truly an honor.
Speaker 1: What do you feel most proud of in terms of
Speaker 1: your work as an ambassador.
Speaker 4: Well, I'm very hands on. I'm the type of person
Speaker 4: that very much rolls up their sleeves and gets to work.
Speaker 4: And the most important thing is to strengthen by that
Speaker 4: or relationship between the United States and Belize, and we
Speaker 4: partner with Believes on a number of things, and that's
Speaker 4: the build the capacity of the government and civil society organizations,
Speaker 4: develop shared prosperity of course, strengthen people people ties, protect
Speaker 4: you as citizens and their interests, and improve security. I
Speaker 4: would say that Belize sits in the Northern Triangle and
Speaker 4: because of that, there are a number of issues that
Speaker 4: are disconcerning the flow of migration, drugs, and illicted activities,
Speaker 4: transnational criminal organizations. I feel very blessed to be living
Speaker 4: in Belize and getting to explore the wonders and the
Speaker 4: biodiversity of this beautiful country, from the second largest barrier
Speaker 4: Brief to the the blue Hole, which is very famous
Speaker 4: if you're a diver. I have yet to do it
Speaker 4: because I'm I just like snorkeling, I like to say
Speaker 4: on the surface, but I've swam with manatees, I've checked
Speaker 4: out the mangroves. I reached the top of Shanantini, which
Speaker 4: is five thousand year old Mayan sights.
Speaker 1: You're making me want to come visit.
Speaker 4: I seriously want to go to visit. I please.
Speaker 1: We need a vacated Belize Simon.
Speaker 2: Well, Michelle, it's Asian, American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Speaker 2: right now, and I'm thinking about your family's immigration story,
Speaker 2: and I'm thinking about the sacrifices. Are the choices that
Speaker 2: they made so that you could live out your story?
Speaker 3: Mama Kwan staying up all.
Speaker 2: Night sewing sequins on the costumes while working two jobs.
Speaker 3: What do you hope your daughter's story looks like?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 4: Being a child of immigrants, You know, my parents immigrated
Speaker 4: in their early twenties with nothing but a seat of hope.
Speaker 4: And when I mean nothing. It is nothing enough to
Speaker 4: buy a plane ticket. My dad was a busboy at
Speaker 4: a restaurant, and I still to this day, I am
Speaker 4: very curious of how they were able to get by
Speaker 4: because my dad's English, he would joke, is like Chinglish
Speaker 4: because didn't go to high school. He is, my Chinese
Speaker 4: is bad. My English is bad, so it's Changlish. I
Speaker 4: have an older brother and older sister. My sister skated
Speaker 4: with me, and I think this is why at points
Speaker 4: of my athletic career, when I was just starting out,
Speaker 4: there were times when my parents couldn't afford, you know,
Speaker 4: to take us to the next skating competition. My mom
Speaker 4: was like literally sewing costumes because there was no other choice,
Speaker 4: you know. And there were times where I was about
Speaker 4: this close from quitting and my parents refused. My parents like, no,
Speaker 4: you might not have a coach going into the national championships,
Speaker 4: but if you're okay with that, we're going to still
Speaker 4: keep going. We could still pay for ice time, so
Speaker 4: you could still skate. You just won't have that mentor
Speaker 4: that coach beside you. So it's that American dream, you know,
Speaker 4: that if you could believe it and if you could
Speaker 4: work hard, you can achieve it.
Speaker 1: There is this really cute video on your Instagram where
Speaker 1: your daughter's all bundled up for ice skating and you're
Speaker 1: tying her skates. And I just think there was a
Speaker 1: collective awe on the internet when we all watched that.
Speaker 1: What was that like for you?
Speaker 4: Oh? Well, it was an emotional moment, not me tying
Speaker 4: my daughter skates, but when my father stepped in and
Speaker 4: helped tie Kelli skates, because I just remember my father
Speaker 4: doing that for me, and I just had a kick
Speaker 4: out of the joy on her face when she was
Speaker 4: running towards the ice. First of all, we were going
Speaker 4: to the rink because we were going to see my
Speaker 4: nephews skate. They're doing they're enrolled and learned to skate.
Speaker 4: And then Callie just started to run on the ice.
Speaker 4: I'm like, okay, I'm going to strap on some skates
Speaker 4: really quickly. And then of course in her head she
Speaker 4: thought she could start jumping and she was like kicking,
Speaker 4: and I was like, what are you doing. I'm holding
Speaker 4: her hand and she's like kicking.
Speaker 3: See that's your DNA right there.
Speaker 4: Well was like fear. Yeah, I was like what are
Speaker 4: you doing? But it was super exciting.
Speaker 2: What does she know about you and your badassery? I mean,
Speaker 2: does she have any idea yet? No idea.
Speaker 4: She's a little over two years old, so she I
Speaker 4: think she's seen a little bit of a performance or two.
Speaker 4: She knows skating's always in the periphery. She even knows
Speaker 4: how to do a spiral, right, I go spiral, like, yeah,
Speaker 4: so that's the one word she does.
Speaker 1: Know she'll be doing shoot the deck so soon.
Speaker 4: I know, I know she's yeah, she'll she'll love it.
Speaker 1: When I think of Olympians and why we're all so
Speaker 1: excited about the Olympics, part of it is this hope
Speaker 1: we see these people. I know, I've heard you talk
Speaker 1: about them as almost super like we look at them
Speaker 1: as superhuman. I look at them as people that never
Speaker 1: gave up on their dreams. And that's why they inspire
Speaker 1: me so much. When you look at the games coming up,
Speaker 1: what do you feel inspired by?
Speaker 4: When I look at athletes, doesn't matter fits and figure
Speaker 4: scathing or other sports across the board. It's that discipline
Speaker 4: that strive for excellence and also the talent and watching
Speaker 4: athletes for one, competing at the Olympics of the highest
Speaker 4: level is like the pride that they have representing their
Speaker 4: country and you know, having been there before, it like
Speaker 4: just fills me with all these memories. But the sacrifices
Speaker 4: that their families have made in order to give those
Speaker 4: opportunities for these athletes, it's such a beautiful thing. It's
Speaker 4: I don't know, I have no words for it. It's
Speaker 4: it's a gift to be able to watch them, be
Speaker 4: able to compete at that level and strive for excellence.
Speaker 1: When I see these athletes, people like you, who were
Speaker 1: competing at such an elite level, it becomes about more
Speaker 1: than just the talent or the sport. It's a business.
Speaker 1: It's all these other things. Did that ever impact your
Speaker 1: joy or did you always find that in skating?
Speaker 4: To me, I feel that it was such a gift
Speaker 4: to be able to do what I loved. I enjoyed
Speaker 4: doing the choreography and picking out costumes, and it was
Speaker 4: a production, you know. And it was always predictable because
Speaker 4: the off season was always April through August, and then
Speaker 4: the first competition September and then the national championships in January,
Speaker 4: and Olympics is always in February, and March was always
Speaker 4: the month of World championships. I think there are no
Speaker 4: doubt times where it becomes hard, where things aren't going
Speaker 4: your way, where you're literally and in figure skating, like
Speaker 4: hitting a rut, and the best way to find your
Speaker 4: way out of it, to me was kind of figuring
Speaker 4: out how you fell in love with it in the
Speaker 4: first place. I said this to the team the other day,
Speaker 4: where said I didn't have to look very far for
Speaker 4: inspiration because it was always a young skater getting on
Speaker 4: the ice for the very first time, and it was
Speaker 4: a quick reminder of how I felt when I started
Speaker 4: for the very first time. And I'm sure I'll be
Speaker 4: replaying that video I have when Callista, you know, ran
Speaker 4: onto the ice, because that vigor, that excitement, it goes away, dissipates,
Speaker 4: but it's always within you. And so those were good
Speaker 4: reminders for me when things are getting bad and it's
Speaker 4: sort of evaluated, Okay, why am I feeling this way?
Speaker 4: How can I get to a place where I feel
Speaker 4: excitement and happy and thrilled because the heaviness or the
Speaker 4: frustration part can be difficult at times because let's be honest,
Speaker 4: it's sports is tough, and you're always pushing the envelope
Speaker 4: your body's always sore, you fall a lot in the
Speaker 4: figures getting you're bruised up, and you know it's tough,
Speaker 4: so you need that inspiration to carry you through.
Speaker 1: We're going to take a quick break, but we'll be
Speaker 1: right back with Michelle Kwant. And we're back with Michelle Kwant.
Speaker 2: Here on the bright side. We love talking to athletes,
Speaker 2: and specifically female athletes, because it really illustrates this beautiful
Speaker 2: connection between sports and leadership. We see so many women
Speaker 2: who are in the C suite now who got their
Speaker 2: start as athletes. How do you feel your athletic career
Speaker 2: prepared you for leadership?
Speaker 4: That's a very good question, and I think the statistics
Speaker 4: is like women in C suite's positions have played sports
Speaker 4: like ninety five percent. It's a staggering statistic. There are
Speaker 4: so many advantages, you know, of the things that you
Speaker 4: learn from sports. That's teamwork, that's focused, that's determination, persistence,
Speaker 4: like that grit that people talk about, that vision. It
Speaker 4: really helped me prepare for everything in life. I know
Speaker 4: that when I retired, you know, I talk about that
Speaker 4: sort of lost of identity, but it didn't take long
Speaker 4: for me to say, well, the way I in which
Speaker 4: I succeed in sports, I have to reapply myself and
Speaker 4: work hard. And I know I can work hard. I
Speaker 4: have four whole confidence that I am determined and I
Speaker 4: am persistent. So the way I'm going to succeed here
Speaker 4: is applying that same principles. And in terms of leadership,
Speaker 4: I think I think it has helped me because I think,
Speaker 4: for one is understanding people and how to work with people.
Speaker 4: I had an entire team that I worked with that
Speaker 4: we worked day in and day out. A coach, a choreographer,
Speaker 4: a trainer, a you know, the figure figure Skating association.
Speaker 4: I had sponsorships, I had managers, I had I had
Speaker 4: everybody you know, and we all work together as a
Speaker 4: team to to get to the same finish line. So
Speaker 4: I think I think sports is such an invaluable experience,
Speaker 4: whether you're in it to compete at the Olympics in
Speaker 4: the highest level or to just playing team sports and
Speaker 4: just to have fun.
Speaker 1: There's such a crossover in analogies between sports and life.
Speaker 1: I think that's why I love sports films so much.
Speaker 1: What lessons have you learned from your athletic career that
Speaker 1: also apply to your life?
Speaker 4: Hmmm? You need to be able to one be organized
Speaker 4: as an athlete. Athletes are very very highly prepared. When
Speaker 4: someone said to me, God, you look so confident out there, like,
Speaker 4: how did you do that at fifteen years old? How
Speaker 4: did you do that at such a young age? And
Speaker 4: I think confidence is it something that somebody has and
Speaker 4: somebody doesn't have. But trust me that if you're prepared,
Speaker 4: you show up a lot more confident than if you
Speaker 4: didn't write. It's like, it's the same as if you're
Speaker 4: in school and you have a presentation and you had
Speaker 4: done nothing. You're going to go into the classroom very
Speaker 4: nervous and less confident, right, but if you show up
Speaker 4: having done your work. And I think that's when athletes
Speaker 4: talk about being in the zone. Is that certain competitions
Speaker 4: in my career, I could say, Yeah, I could see
Speaker 4: in my face that I was going to kill it
Speaker 4: because there was nothing going to stop me from doing
Speaker 4: or getting in my way. That's what I say.
Speaker 1: I've heard this from athletes before. Boxers tell me this.
Speaker 1: Actually they know when they're going to win and when
Speaker 1: they're not.
Speaker 2: And someone Biles has talked about when she had a
Speaker 2: gut feeling that she wasn't going to perform well that
Speaker 2: that actually manifested. That's so interesting. So it's metaphysical, it's
Speaker 2: in the mind and the body.
Speaker 1: Did you ever have a trick for that, like when
Speaker 1: you're when you're feeling like you're sucking, Because sometimes I'll
Speaker 1: come in here and I'm like, I just feel like
Speaker 1: I suck today.
Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean my advice to myself would like be
Speaker 4: get out of your own way, Like, just let let
Speaker 4: yourself do it. Your body knows how to do it.
Speaker 4: Just let your mind get in that comfort space to
Speaker 4: let it go and just do what you've been training
Speaker 4: to do. I think when you're not in the greatest shape,
Speaker 4: when when you know you're going to have to dig deep,
Speaker 4: you're going to have to dig deep. I would say
Speaker 4: just to take my time, to just be in the
Speaker 4: moment and take one step in front of another.
Speaker 1: Do you say something to yourself ever.
Speaker 3: To hype myself up or to get out of a rut.
Speaker 1: Yeah, either like when you're having a bad moment or
Speaker 1: a bad day.
Speaker 3: I do, But it's so corny. I don't want to
Speaker 3: admit it.
Speaker 1: Come on, you have to tell us mine's corny too.
Speaker 4: I want to know because they might be useful to me.
Speaker 3: It's so corny.
Speaker 2: Okay, So I'll tell you I do a lot of
Speaker 2: speaking engagements, right, and I have this affirmation that I
Speaker 2: say to myself in the mirror. I say I am
Speaker 2: radiant because when you say the word radiant, you can't
Speaker 2: help but smile.
Speaker 4: So that's not cheesy at all, Michelle, It's kind of cheesy.
Speaker 4: But I like you that I'm gonna use this because
Speaker 4: somebody had said to me that once you crack a smile,
Speaker 4: it changes your body. Yes, and I I similar. It
Speaker 4: wasn't a word, but it was more like a little
Speaker 4: right before I skated, especially when I was on the ice,
Speaker 4: it was like, do I have my legs under me?
Speaker 4: Because you know, when you get nervous, you start to,
Speaker 4: like yep, you start to either have shallow breasts or
Speaker 4: you start to and I mince words. So, especially when
Speaker 4: I have to do a speaking engagement, I'm not a
Speaker 4: natural speaker. It's not something that I enjoyed doing, by
Speaker 4: the way, and so I have to find myself like
Speaker 4: I have to find that composure. Do I have my
Speaker 4: legs under me?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Be calm and don't rush. That's what my my three
Speaker 4: Don't rush that's it. I have two and one is similar.
Speaker 1: I say, slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly, you do rush, and
Speaker 1: my other one is embarrassing, but I say, uh. In
Speaker 1: my mind, I'm like, Danielle, you didn't come this far
Speaker 1: to come this far, little pep.
Speaker 4: And I think that's it's funny because you know, being
Speaker 4: a athlete, you have these pet talks with yourself all
Speaker 4: the time because that's pretty much what you're doing the
Speaker 4: entire day of training. When you're trying something or you're falling,
Speaker 4: you're like, come on, one more time that you pick
Speaker 4: yourself back up, and then it's like, come on, let's
Speaker 4: do it. It's like, it's funny.
Speaker 1: That's actually what I got most from our conversation today.
Speaker 1: I have to tell you. When you were talking about
Speaker 1: falling and getting back up, the imagery of that is
Speaker 1: powerful for me. It's like, just get back.
Speaker 4: Up, let's do it. Like perseverance. Yeah, I think that's
Speaker 4: something I'm I actually have to do the opposite where
Speaker 4: I'm like, okay, I just fell a hundred times. I
Speaker 4: have to stop.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: No.
Speaker 4: My coach used to say that to me. There's one
Speaker 4: particular jump that I just would fall and I fall,
Speaker 4: and I literally have broken bone like spurs on my
Speaker 4: my shin because I would kick myself, not purposely, but
Speaker 4: I would like try to get out, so I would
Speaker 4: continue to and being that hard headed, sobborn person, I
Speaker 4: was like, I'm gonna go keep going. I had a
Speaker 4: good pep talk, let's go, let's go one more time,
Speaker 4: one more time, You're so close, let's do no, And
Speaker 4: it'd be like fifty falls in a row, and my
Speaker 4: coach would be like, come here, Michelle, come here right now. Stop,
Speaker 4: let's try this tomorrow, like start now. And he would
Speaker 4: recognize that I wasn't going anywhere, like we're not gonna
Speaker 4: We're not going to solve it right now.
Speaker 1: Did he classate you too? Because you're I love it,
Speaker 1: you're giving us the coach you're wagging And he would
Speaker 1: do that.
Speaker 4: He'd be like stop, come here, like he would literally
Speaker 4: that's so funny. Yeah, And you catch yourself that time,
Speaker 4: like those times where you're like you need to just
Speaker 4: walk away and find that balance, because that's the perfectionism
Speaker 4: that we talked about earlier. Sometimes that gets the best
Speaker 4: of you when the best thing you could do is
Speaker 4: walk away a little bit and revisit in a later.
Speaker 2: Time, Michelle, I was really moved by your autobiography Heart
Speaker 2: of a Champion. I read that when I was growing
Speaker 2: up and it really touched me and inspired me as
Speaker 2: a young girl. And now that you have some perspective
Speaker 2: and distance from that chapter, what does it mean to
Speaker 2: have the heart of a champion now as a mother,
Speaker 2: as a diplomat, and as an olympian.
Speaker 4: Well, thank thank you first of all for reading that book.
Speaker 4: You know, Heart of a Champion? What does that mean?
Speaker 4: And it sort of changed the trajectory of my life
Speaker 4: really because win or lose is how that attitude is
Speaker 4: what carries you through when things didn't go my way
Speaker 4: in skating. It's like, how did I learn from that
Speaker 4: and how did I apply it to the next competition
Speaker 4: and have that heart of a champion? To me, I
Speaker 4: think it's that falling and getting back up thing that
Speaker 4: we've talked about. You know, we all fall, but it's
Speaker 4: how you pick yourself back up to keep going. Champions
Speaker 4: aren't the ones that are almighty and great. They're the
Speaker 4: ones that can pick themselves up and keep going. And
Speaker 4: that's that's something that I admire a lot. I can't
Speaker 4: even imagine what's next for you? Are you taking like
Speaker 4: a full left turn?
Speaker 1: Are you going to stay in diplomacy, like what's on
Speaker 1: your mind?
Speaker 4: Well, I think diplomacy is in my blood for sure.
Speaker 4: I think the people that I've worked with in the
Speaker 4: last year and a half since being at post has
Speaker 4: been so wonderful. And I know that I will stay
Speaker 4: in touch with these diplomats wherever they go, because they
Speaker 4: go from serving here and Belize to moving to another
Speaker 4: country and serving our country and another capacity, and it's
Speaker 4: so inspiring. I have to say, But where my path goes,
Speaker 4: I have no idea, you know, being a political pointee,
Speaker 4: I only serve for a certain duration and then I
Speaker 4: find the next challenge and my next adventure.
Speaker 2: Ambassador Kwan, this has been a dream come true for
Speaker 2: both of us.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much.
Speaker 4: I appreciate both of you. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Michelle Kwan is the United States Ambassador to Belize and
Speaker 2: a former World champion figure skater and Olympic medalist. Learn
Speaker 2: more about her and her work as an ambassador on
Speaker 2: Palm Side Chat with Ambassador Kwan. That's wherever you get
Speaker 2: your podcasts.
Speaker 1: That's it for today's show. Tomorrow We're joined by Jacqueline Novak,
Speaker 1: co host of the podcast Poog and comedian behind the
Speaker 1: recent Netflix special Get on your Knees, Listen and follow
Speaker 1: the bright Side on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3: I'm Simone Boye.
Speaker 2: You can find me at Simone Voice on Instagram and TikTok.
Speaker 1: And I'm Danielle Robe on Instagram and TikTok. That's r
Speaker 1: O b A.
Speaker 3: Y See you tomorrow, folks,