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Speaker 1: Your gut is your compass. You already know you feel

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Speaker 1: it in your bones. You will not be satisfied unless

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Speaker 1: you do this thing, because that's who you are. You

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Speaker 1: live and die by your gut. Take that chance. There's

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Speaker 1: no such thing as failure, There's only lessons.

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Speaker 2: What is going on? Everyone, Emily A Body Here.

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Speaker 3: You are listening to episode two hundred and thirty of

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Speaker 3: Hurdle a While, this focus podcast where I connect with

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Speaker 3: everyone from your favorite athletes to top experts and industry

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Speaker 3: CEOs about their highest ties, toughest moments, and everything in between.

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Speaker 3: We all go through hurdles in life, and my goal

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Speaker 3: through these discussions is to empower you to better navigate

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Speaker 3: yours and move with intention so that you can stride

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Speaker 3: towards your own big potential and of course have some

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Speaker 3: fun a law the way. For today's episode, I am

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Speaker 3: chatting with the chief content officer and co founder of Together,

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Speaker 3: Jessica Robertson. I am elated for this conversation. It's always

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Speaker 3: fun for me to be able to wrap with someone

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Speaker 3: in the industry, and not just as a fellow journalist,

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Speaker 3: but as a fellow a woman in sports enthusiast. I

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Speaker 3: love that for us now Together, you have definitely seen

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Speaker 3: them on social media.

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Speaker 2: Let me refresh your memory.

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Speaker 3: Together as a brand new media and commerce company, they've

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Speaker 3: got a mission to feature a diverse and inclusive community

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Speaker 3: of game changers, culture shapers, thought leaders, and barrier breakers

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Speaker 3: to say that five times fast. They're founded in twenty

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Speaker 3: twenty one alongside not only Robertson, but a few of

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Speaker 3: the world's top athletes, including Sue Byrd, Alex Morgan, Chloe Kim,

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Speaker 3: and Simone Manuel. Maybe just can give me the hookup

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Speaker 3: to get in on some of those conversations. But as

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Speaker 3: Together's Chief content officer, Just has done truly unbelievable work

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Speaker 3: pushing boundaries to promote all the things that are in

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Speaker 3: their mission statement, including inclusivity and visibility for women in sports,

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Speaker 3: and her journey to doing this.

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Speaker 2: It did not happen overnight.

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Speaker 3: In today's episode, Jessica gives us some of her backstory,

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Speaker 3: talking to me about what it was like to grow

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Speaker 3: up in a small town and make the move to

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Speaker 3: New York to follow her dream of at the time

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Speaker 3: being a music journalist. We chat about what that chapter

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Speaker 3: of her career was like, what it felt like to

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Speaker 3: be one of the only women in her space, and

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Speaker 3: the evolution of transitioning from music to sports. Jessica shed

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Speaker 3: some insight into the creation of Together, what those first

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Speaker 3: meetings were like. We talk about what it is like

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Speaker 3: for her to constantly be surrounded by so many impressively talented,

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Speaker 3: strong women, both in sport and beyond, and what she

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Speaker 3: hopes for the future of coverage for women's sports, what

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Speaker 3: we can expect moving forward, and how she herself plans

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Speaker 3: to be a part of the conversation. I really really

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Speaker 3: appreciated jess for opening up with me, not only about

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Speaker 3: her career path, but also about what it was like

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Speaker 3: for her as a gay woman coming up, like I said,

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Speaker 3: in a small town, transitioning to different markets New York

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Speaker 3: and now LA, and finally feeling as though she herself

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Speaker 3: has found a community that embraces her for who she

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Speaker 3: is and she couldn't feel more fortunate. If you're not

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Speaker 3: doing so yet, make sure you're following Together, and also

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Speaker 3: make sure you are following Hurdle over at Hurdle Podcast

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Speaker 3: on social I am at Emily a body and with that,

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Speaker 3: let's get to it. Let's get to hurdling.

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Speaker 2: Today.

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Speaker 3: I am sitting down with Jess Robertson. She is the

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Speaker 3: co founder and chief content officer for Together.

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Speaker 2: How are you doing today, Jess, I'm doing great.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much.

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Speaker 2: How are you? I'm good, I'm good. I am trying

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Speaker 2: to find the right word here.

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Speaker 3: I am excited to sit down with someone who has

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Speaker 3: such an extensive background as a journalist, as a fellow journalist,

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Speaker 3: because I feel like we're going to geek out a

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Speaker 3: little bit together.

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Speaker 1: I love that storyteller to storyteller. Those are my favorite conversations.

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Speaker 3: Oh for sure, for sure. Well, thanks so much for

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Speaker 3: the time today. Am to have you here. And first

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Speaker 3: and foremost, I mean we have to write off the

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Speaker 3: bat address a commonality between the two of us, which

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Speaker 3: is that you started out your career in a completely

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Speaker 3: different sector than women's sports and storytelling. So can you

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Speaker 3: tell me a little bit about the decision to go

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Speaker 3: from music based content to this kind of content?

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Speaker 1: Such a great question. I've always loved music and sports.

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Speaker 1: Those are two of my biggest passions in life. I

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Speaker 1: was an athlete. I also studied music business and my

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Speaker 1: minor was journalism, and I thought at some point I

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Speaker 1: would work at a record label and bring great music

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Speaker 1: to the world as an A and R person, But

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Speaker 1: I didn't love the business of it all, But I

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Speaker 1: still loved the artistry and the impact that music can

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Speaker 1: have on culture and the stories behind the music that's made.

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Speaker 1: So even though I worked in music as a music journalist,

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Speaker 1: I still identify as a storyteller, and I see sort

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Speaker 1: of my lane kind of similar in sports and that

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Speaker 1: I think sports are a prism for culture, as is music,

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Speaker 1: and sports move culture forward. When we think about sort

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Speaker 1: of icons of culture who have greatly impacted it and

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Speaker 1: made an impact on this world, on politics, on communities,

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Speaker 1: marginalized communities, and people, it's athletes and musicians. I think

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Speaker 1: about that all the time, and I think about their

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Speaker 1: role and the responsibility that they have as sort of

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Speaker 1: icons of culture. So even though I'm in sports now,

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Speaker 1: but I was in music before, I'm still a storyteller

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Speaker 1: and I still get to work with incredible people who

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Speaker 1: are impacting the world that we live in.

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Speaker 2: For sure.

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Speaker 3: For sure now, to give some context, I was writing

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Speaker 3: about everything from God, food and holiday and news and

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Speaker 3: the royals too. Then making the decision to go into

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Speaker 3: writing and editing content about health, wellness and fitness full time,

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Speaker 3: a while back, now, before way before the Hurdle chapter.

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Speaker 3: You made this pivot in twenty fifteen. I'd be curious

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Speaker 3: if when you made the pivot you had any reservations.

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Speaker 3: Despite knowing that maybe the industry made you feel some

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Speaker 3: kind of way, were you still hesitant to drift away

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Speaker 3: from this music content space.

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Speaker 1: I really wasn't. And the reason I say that is

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Speaker 1: because I found that in my sort of day to

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Speaker 1: day life personal life, I was talking about sports more.

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Speaker 1: I'm watching more sports, I'm going to more sporting events.

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Speaker 1: I was a lifelong athlete. I still compete today in

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Speaker 1: rec leagues or you know, I've been taking up boxing

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Speaker 1: and I'm gonna have an amateur fight, like I just

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Speaker 1: I've not It's true. It's so true. I shortly, yeah,

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Speaker 1: just please don't tell my mother. So I just found that,

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Speaker 1: like my in my personal life, my passion for this

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Speaker 1: space was increasing, and my passion for music had changed,

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Speaker 1: not that it was lessened, it just had changed. And

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Speaker 1: I've been in the music industry for almost twelve plus

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Speaker 1: years at that point. It's a young person's industry to

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Speaker 1: be able to taste, make, and influence culture the way

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Speaker 1: that I used to and or wanted to do that,

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Speaker 1: change my ability to do that, and I didn't want

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Speaker 1: to be going to shows and clubs, you know, late

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Speaker 1: at night and writing all night and then being up

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Speaker 1: the next day, and you know, running a consumer facing brand.

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Speaker 1: It was just it's a different we're all the older

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Speaker 1: that you get and the longer you've been in it.

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Speaker 1: But my personal passion had really swelled around sports. And

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Speaker 1: in twenty fourteen, I vividly remember I was working in

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Speaker 1: music and I read a story by Michael Carter Williams

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Speaker 1: on the Player Stripute. The player Stripune had just launched

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Speaker 1: in October twenty fourteen. That's Derek Jeter's athlete lad Media company,

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Speaker 1: and I felt like I was in this really intimate,

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Speaker 1: beautiful storytelling experience because it was through his voice, his words.

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Speaker 1: It felt like I was sitting in a bar next

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Speaker 1: to him and someone was telling me a really intimate

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Speaker 1: story about something that I would have had a thousand

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Speaker 1: questions on and through his own POV, which felt like

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Speaker 1: he was free to express, was telling me something I

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Speaker 1: never would have heard through a traditional means, And it

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Speaker 1: felt like a really interesting landscape shift in content period

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Speaker 1: forget sports or music, like we've seen the democratization happening

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Speaker 1: in digital, the rise of blogging in the early aughts,

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Speaker 1: to social media and the insertion of eye and I thought,

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Speaker 1: just as a storyteller, like, Wow, what amazing impact you

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Speaker 1: could have and what really rich stories you could tell

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Speaker 1: if you sat with your subject and you allowed them

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Speaker 1: to be vulnerable in a safe space where ultimately they

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Speaker 1: had some version of control over what their personal story is,

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Speaker 1: which they should And I met the co founder and

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Speaker 1: president at the Players Should You and Jamie Mussler shortly

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Speaker 1: after that, and said, this is where I want to be.

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Speaker 1: I believe in this type of storytelling. I see what

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Speaker 1: you're doing, and I think we could impact the world,

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Speaker 1: especially through sport. And I was hired within maybe twenty

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Speaker 1: four hours, and it was one of the most transformative

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Speaker 1: experiences in my life.

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Speaker 2: That's awesome, awesome to hear.

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Speaker 3: I hear you on the I just wasn't in the

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Speaker 3: place in my life anymore where I wanted to be

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Speaker 3: out late doing the all nighter. I think we all

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Speaker 3: in regardless of whatever industry you're in, you know, we

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Speaker 3: go through these phases where we put in the time.

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Speaker 3: And I'm sure that in the position that you're in now,

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Speaker 3: you have an opportunity often to offer advice about getting

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Speaker 3: through maybe those earlier, super transformative years for anyone who

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Speaker 3: could be interested in making a little bit of a

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Speaker 3: career pivot. You clearly weren't afraid to change the plan.

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Speaker 2: What do you say to them?

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Speaker 1: Oh? I think there's a couple of answers to that.

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Speaker 1: Number one is your gut is your compass. I firmly

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Speaker 1: believe that if I didn't feel such conviction and passion

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Speaker 1: over sport as a potential lane for me, but in

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Speaker 1: particular the types of storytelling I wanted to do within

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Speaker 1: the sport, I think I would have had more reservations.

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Speaker 1: If I was like, Oh, I just want to get

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Speaker 1: into sports, but what does that look like? I would

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Speaker 1: be a little more nervous. I actually had something made

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Speaker 1: visible to me that gave me a path, and that

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Speaker 1: happened to be fortunate timing. I couldn't imagine working at

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Speaker 1: a place like ESPN. Not that I don't like, Yespian,

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Speaker 1: It's just it was too traditional for me. I wanted

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Speaker 1: something new and innovative that could impact the way we

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Speaker 1: tell stories, and it happened to be visible to me,

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Speaker 1: so it helped the transition be a little bit more

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Speaker 1: comfortable because I could see it. So one, listen to

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Speaker 1: your gut. It is your compass. If you're feeling something,

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Speaker 1: it's probably for a reason. But the second is do

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Speaker 1: your homework and know the people that are in that

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Speaker 1: space and ask them questions, like make those connections, because

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Speaker 1: if you don't have a path and you don't have

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Speaker 1: that network, which for many reasons some of us don't,

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Speaker 1: some of us are more advantage than others. I think

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Speaker 1: if I had not had that path visible to me,

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Speaker 1: and I also didn't make that connection with the president

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Speaker 1: of the company and know how to pitch what I

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Speaker 1: wanted to pitch, I don't know that I would be

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Speaker 1: in this position. So it's know what you're feeling and

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Speaker 1: why you're feeling it is probably real, and look to

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Speaker 1: lay a path to get yourself there, and oftentimes that

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Speaker 1: path is through people.

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Speaker 3: So make those connections, make those connections. That path is

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Speaker 3: through people. I also love the tidbit about not being

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Speaker 3: afraid or above let's say, asking questions, right, because there's

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Speaker 3: always that opportunity to learn, and we learn through listening,

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Speaker 3: which is clearly something that you had a strong awareness

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Speaker 3: of at this point in your career.

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Speaker 1: Listening makes you an amazing storyteller. I don't know how

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Speaker 1: you tell stories if you're not listening to people, if

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Speaker 1: you're not curious to know more about them and their

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Speaker 1: life experience is shared or different from yours, if you

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Speaker 1: don't listen with intent and also with empathy. Those two things,

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Speaker 1: those three things actually are really really critical, along with curiosity.

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Speaker 1: I am this way in my work, but I'm also

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Speaker 1: very much this person in my personal life. I love

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Speaker 1: talking to people and knowing people and making people feel seen.

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Speaker 1: And I don't know where that comes from, because it's

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Speaker 1: not like I was an extrovert as a kid and

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Speaker 1: I was innately curious about I was observant of people.

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Speaker 1: But now my desire to talk with them, to know them,

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Speaker 1: to connect with them and make them feel seen is immense,

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Speaker 1: and I get to do that through my work, but

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Speaker 1: I would also do that in my private life.

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Speaker 3: Before we talk more about what you're doing now at

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Speaker 3: Together and Woman in Sport, I do want to talk

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Speaker 3: a little bit about Jessica as a kid to get

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Speaker 3: that understanding. Because you said at the time of making

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Speaker 3: this pivot to the player's Tribune and then ultimately two

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Speaker 3: together that you had a vested interest in sport, But

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Speaker 3: was that nurtured in you from a young age.

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Speaker 2: What was life like for you growing up.

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Speaker 1: I grew up in a really small town in Kentucky.

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Speaker 1: It's not a place where many people leave and beyond

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Speaker 1: high school, there's not much of a path unless someone

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Speaker 1: has again made it visible and sort of invested in

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Speaker 1: you and made it known that that could be your

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Speaker 1: journey beyond just your primary education. It's a pretty simple place,

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Speaker 1: and it's a place where, you know, if New York

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Speaker 1: and LA are places where when you meet someone you

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Speaker 1: ask them like, well, what do you do where I'm from?

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Speaker 1: Is a place where you ask people how they are?

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Speaker 1: It's actually really rude to ask what do you do

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Speaker 1: where I'm from? So I grew up with the sort

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Speaker 1: of innate trait to pay attention to the people around

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Speaker 1: me and make sure they're okay. I started playing sports

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Speaker 1: at the age of four. My dad and my mom

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Speaker 1: both greatly invested in my twin sister and I. I

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Speaker 1: remember my dad we played basketball and softball. Tea ball

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Speaker 1: at that age would put my twin sister and I

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Speaker 1: on either side of the tea, and that's how I

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Speaker 1: learned to like swing in bat left handed, because we

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Speaker 1: would fight over who got to bat first, so we

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Speaker 1: would just bat at the same time. I don't remember

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Speaker 1: much of my early life and certainly middle school and

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Speaker 1: high school life without either like a cassette player or

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Speaker 1: CD player walkman in my hand and a basketball or

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Speaker 1: softball or glove on my other hand. Like those two

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Speaker 1: things are just so ingrained in me. And I remember

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Speaker 1: being thirteen and nineteen ninety six, which were those really

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Speaker 1: incredible Summer Olympic Games held in Atlanta, and having this

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Speaker 1: very sort of transformative informative experience of watching particular all

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Speaker 1: the incredible American athletes dominate that summer and there was

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Speaker 1: the softball team, the soccer team, the basketball team, the

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Speaker 1: gymnastics team that was a fantastic four like watching all

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Speaker 1: of them when gold and dominate. And then the WNBA

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Speaker 1: was announced and it was like, oh, we have a

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Speaker 1: like first of its kind professional women's basketball league outside

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Speaker 1: of the ABL and others that come before it, like

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Speaker 1: backed by the NBA, and it just felt like this

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Speaker 1: big moment for like a young girl like me who

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Speaker 1: finally had maybe a future in sport. If I was

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Speaker 1: a better athlete, I probably would have been. So that

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Speaker 1: was a very formative experience. But it was also happening

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Speaker 1: at the same time where there's a swell of girl

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Speaker 1: power happening in popular culture. So I also remember like

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Speaker 1: in the music side, like there was Lilith Fair, there

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Speaker 1: was a Riot Girl, there was the Spice Girls, and

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Speaker 1: girl power. There was like like then the rise of

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Speaker 1: like c Elliott and Lauren Hill and what was happening

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Speaker 1: in hip hop and R and B, and I was

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Speaker 1: just like, wow, like women are it. I don't know

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Speaker 1: what that means because I'm only thirteen, but like, I

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Speaker 1: was so inspired by the generation maybe two generations before me,

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Speaker 1: who created and laid a path that up until that point,

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Speaker 1: I didn't know what I was going to do. I

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Speaker 1: didn't see an opportunity to get outside of my small town.

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Speaker 1: And from then on it was I knew I would leave.

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Speaker 1: I knew I wanted to tell stories. I didn't know

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Speaker 1: what that meant, and I didn't know what lane that

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Speaker 1: would be in. But I also had the fortune of

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Speaker 1: having a supportive family who knew that staying in Paduca,

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Speaker 1: Kentucky was not gonna satisfy me.

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Speaker 3: It sounds like you had your own gender rank moment

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Speaker 3: in Paducah, Kentucky.

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Speaker 1: Yes, exactly exactly.

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Speaker 3: And so going from that, how are you culture to

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Speaker 3: then coming to New York say and immersing yourself head

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Speaker 3: first Rollingstone dot com.

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Speaker 2: Was it a culture shock for you?

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Speaker 1: Yes and no in some ways. I remember the first

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Speaker 1: time I visited in New York City. It was also

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Speaker 1: the first time I ever got on a plane, which

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Speaker 1: is wild. To say that is wild wild. We drive

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Speaker 1: where I'm from, We don't. We are not a flying people.

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Speaker 1: I landed in New York and I was like, this

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Speaker 1: is it. This is where I want to be. I

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Speaker 1: had dreamed of living there, and when I got there,

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Speaker 1: it felt right, like the place felt right. What was

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Speaker 1: sort of more of a culture shock for me, especially

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Speaker 1: at a place like Rolling Stone was, and maybe it

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Speaker 1: was more my insecurity and less culture shock, was the

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Speaker 1: people I You know, there weren't many others with my background.

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Speaker 1: I went to a state school. I was surrounded by

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Speaker 1: people who came from family that had worked in media

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Speaker 1: and industry and had connections right, or who went to

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Speaker 1: an Ivy League school, or just had different privilege and

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Speaker 1: opportunity than I did. So there was a little bit

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Speaker 1: of inferiority complex more than anything. And I wouldn't call

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Speaker 1: it culture shock, just am I good enough to be here?

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Speaker 1: Like one of these is not like the other? And

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Speaker 1: it was me. So I had to really work to

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Speaker 1: develop self confidence, which now looking back and I just

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Speaker 1: think about like that twenty one year old kid, that

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Speaker 1: twenty year old kid feels normal because in your twenties

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Speaker 1: or it's like your second adolescence, right, Like, that's that's

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Speaker 1: I think everyone goes through that and maybe it continues

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Speaker 1: throughout the course of your life. But I had that

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Speaker 1: confidence going into that role, but as soon as I

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Speaker 1: got into it, I was like, am I do I

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Speaker 1: fit here? So that that was the big trans That

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Speaker 1: was a big transition for me.

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Speaker 3: And that's so understandable that you felt that way coming

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Speaker 3: in to such a big opportunity, knowing your backstory up

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Speaker 3: till this point when you say that there was a

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Speaker 3: need for you to develop self confidence, where did you

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Speaker 3: garner that from? How did you strengthen that muscle so

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Speaker 3: to speak?

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Speaker 1: I think it comes with reps a little bit. I

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Speaker 1: also think it comes with the people you surround yourself

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Speaker 1: with I also think it comes with time. I'm sure

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Speaker 1: you find this to be true. The older you get,

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Speaker 1: sort of those things that you worry about and those

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Speaker 1: insecurities you have just sort of fall off a little

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Speaker 1: bit like leaves. You know, you just say, I'm not

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Speaker 1: carrying that weight anymore. I've lived enough life to know

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Speaker 1: that this thing will be okay, or this problem or

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Speaker 1: this path will solve itself or reveal itself. Like life

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Speaker 1: is going to happen, and I will be okay because

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Speaker 1: I know how to navigate it now. But reps to

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Speaker 1: me are really important. I mean, in that role in particular,

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Speaker 1: at that age, surrounded by these people who seem to

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Speaker 1: so experienced and so smart and so funny and so

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Speaker 1: you know, charming, and all the sort of like the

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Speaker 1: social skills they had that I didn't, and being able

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Speaker 1: to navigate a place like Rolling Stone or a city

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Speaker 1: like New York and I just didn't know. It was

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Speaker 1: just like dropped into the pool. I needed a lot.

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Speaker 1: There were a lot of first that happened for me.

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Speaker 1: And after first and seconds and thirds and fourths, you

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Speaker 1: start to find your rhythm and your groove and you

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Speaker 1: start to discover like what you're really good at and

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Speaker 1: the things that maybe you're not as good at, and

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Speaker 1: you lean into those sort of superpowers that you have,

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Speaker 1: and you're not trying to be every single superpower at once.

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Speaker 1: You just you know, you know what you have to offer,

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Speaker 1: and you're confident in what you have to offer. Again,

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Speaker 1: it takes time, and then you find that people tend

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Speaker 1: to pour into you around those things. I was fortunate

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Speaker 1: enough to have an editor at that age and in

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Speaker 1: that role who would literally wheel a chair over next

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Speaker 1: to him and his desk, and we would edit stories together,

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Speaker 1: like line by line, comma by comma, paragraph by paragraph.

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Speaker 1: So I learned not only how to tell a story,

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Speaker 1: but how to construct and really build a story, and

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Speaker 1: it made me ultimately better storyteller in the long run.

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Speaker 1: But if it weren't for him seeing something in me

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Speaker 1: and knowing that I could add value to even a

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Speaker 1: conversation like that one, which is relatively small in scale,

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Speaker 1: you know, I don't know that I would be the

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Speaker 1: same person. I was very, very lucky to have that

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Speaker 1: at a young age.

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Speaker 3: It's special to be able to reflect on that mentorship

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Speaker 3: experience and how beneficial it was for you to then

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Speaker 3: move forward and know that you have the opportunity to

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Speaker 3: be that type of individual for others, younger in the

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Speaker 3: field coming up.

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Speaker 2: Is it not?

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Speaker 1: It's amazing. And I also just think about privilege and power,

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Speaker 1: and I firmly believe at least in my position as

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Speaker 1: a storyteller and now is sort of a co founder

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Speaker 1: of a company that's impacting the world. I mean, what

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Speaker 1: good is my power, my privilege if I don't give

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Speaker 1: it away to people? Like, what's the saying? What use

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Speaker 1: is it when you take the elevator up if you

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Speaker 1: don't send it back down? There's no what's the point? Like,

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Speaker 1: it doesn't mean anything. And because I was invested in

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Speaker 1: not just by one person, multiple people over the course

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Speaker 1: of my life and my career, I see it as

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Speaker 1: a responsibility to do that to other people, especially people

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Speaker 1: who don't have the privilege that I have in this world.

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Speaker 1: I think it's critical.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, reflecting on those early years, I don't want to

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Speaker 3: call it a mistake, but do you have a story

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Speaker 3: or a takeaway of a moment that perhaps you made

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Speaker 3: an error that at the time felt catastrophic.

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Speaker 1: I want to come back to that one.

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Speaker 2: I need to think about that one Okay, marinate on that.

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Speaker 2: I'll tell you a story while you think about it.

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Speaker 3: So, when I was at Self magazine, we did a

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Speaker 3: package leading up to the Olympics. I believe this must

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Speaker 3: have been the twenty sixteen Olympics. I'm like, my years

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00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:11,520
Speaker 3: are all a player now after COVID, but leading up

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Speaker 3: to the sixteen Olympic Games.

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Speaker 2: And there was a line that.

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Speaker 3: Somehow made it into the print magazine that insinuated that

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Speaker 3: one of the athletes we featured lifted weights I want

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Speaker 3: to say, like six days a week instead of five

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Speaker 3: days a week. It wasn't a big it wasn't a

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Speaker 3: large error, but it was an error. And this athlete

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Speaker 3: also happened to be the only athlete that we didn't

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Speaker 3: show her face. She was in a sport that like,

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Speaker 3: she just had the most beautiful strong back, and the

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Speaker 3: photos of her, like from behind, doing her sport were

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Speaker 3: just stunning, and that's what we went with. And so

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Speaker 3: I'll never forget the call I got from the entertainment

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Speaker 3: director at the time basically telling me that I had

438
00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:01,560
Speaker 3: royally messed up.

439
00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:04,639
Speaker 2: She couldn't believe that I had done X and Y.

440
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:07,679
Speaker 3: And really this frustration was coming from the fact that

441
00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:11,119
Speaker 3: the entertainment director had been contacted by this athlete and

442
00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:14,560
Speaker 3: the athlete was upset, and I remember going into the

443
00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:16,879
Speaker 3: office that day and thinking like this is it, Like

444
00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:19,760
Speaker 3: this is how I lose my job. I can't believe

445
00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:22,600
Speaker 3: that this whole thing happened. And in retrospect, again not

446
00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:24,920
Speaker 3: a big error. But I tell this story and that's

447
00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:27,920
Speaker 3: why I asked this question of you, because I look

448
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:32,000
Speaker 3: back on that experiences as you put it, a true

449
00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:36,840
Speaker 3: rep like that was a moment where I had to

450
00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:40,719
Speaker 3: experience what it felt like to disappoint someone higher up

451
00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:44,639
Speaker 3: than me, navigate their feedback and their criticism based on

452
00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:48,040
Speaker 3: feedback and criticism that they received from someone else, and

453
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:51,000
Speaker 3: also worry about what it would be like if I

454
00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:54,520
Speaker 3: were to lose my job that day, which ultimately I

455
00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:58,240
Speaker 3: don't need to tell you, but that's what ultimately ended

456
00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:00,639
Speaker 3: up happening months later when self folded.

457
00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:04,400
Speaker 1: I love that story for so many reasons because as

458
00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:07,280
Speaker 1: you were telling that story, I could feel that anxiety,

459
00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:10,800
Speaker 1: which means I have a thousand berson been there, and

460
00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:14,720
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's like one massive mistake or

461
00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:16,600
Speaker 1: one that rises to the top, but a lot of

462
00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:20,119
Speaker 1: micro mistakes like that that felt really really big in

463
00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:23,959
Speaker 1: the moment, and the ones that I'm thinking of, And

464
00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:27,200
Speaker 1: if a specific, like really specific one rises to the top,

465
00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:29,520
Speaker 1: I'll come back to it lean into it. But it

466
00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:32,040
Speaker 1: comes down to something very similar that you're talking about

467
00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:34,439
Speaker 1: right now, which I think goes back to, like my

468
00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:39,920
Speaker 1: unconscious bias had to do with like descriptions and representations

469
00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:44,879
Speaker 1: and especially around women in particular women's sports, which you know,

470
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,000
Speaker 1: when I did transition from music to sports, like I

471
00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:49,040
Speaker 1: knew a lot about sports because I was a fan

472
00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:51,520
Speaker 1: of sports and I played sports, but I didn't know

473
00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:54,320
Speaker 1: all like the way a super fan or someone that

474
00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:56,800
Speaker 1: did this for a living had to know about sports,

475
00:26:57,359 --> 00:27:00,719
Speaker 1: and there was a real learning curve and what was

476
00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:04,680
Speaker 1: happening and happens in particular in women's sports. And this

477
00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:07,959
Speaker 1: is again a broader lesson, but I feel your anxiety

478
00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:12,399
Speaker 1: around decision making what tends to happen, especially in a

479
00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:16,480
Speaker 1: sport like women's basketball, for example, as we center the

480
00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:26,000
Speaker 1: more feminine quote unquote attractive, maybe straightish appearing white basketball

481
00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:29,840
Speaker 1: player versus you know, the real women who maybe dominate

482
00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:33,800
Speaker 1: that league because it's predominantly black and predominantly queer, and

483
00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:36,840
Speaker 1: that's because they've been deemed unmarketable, and therefore there are

484
00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:39,600
Speaker 1: just certain women who tend to be on magazine covers

485
00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:42,320
Speaker 1: who tend to get this, like talking head spots, who

486
00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:45,560
Speaker 1: tend to be interviewed more than others, and that's clearly

487
00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:47,959
Speaker 1: the bias that's happening in the media. But I remember

488
00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:53,200
Speaker 1: coming into the sports sector and gravitating towards those women

489
00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:56,160
Speaker 1: because they were available to me and they were easy

490
00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:57,760
Speaker 1: to get a hold and I just they were there

491
00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:00,560
Speaker 1: and you know them, and they start you enter them

492
00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:04,400
Speaker 1: in stories, and you learn very quickly if you're paying

493
00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:07,480
Speaker 1: attention not just to the sports, but like the women's sports,

494
00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:11,600
Speaker 1: but to culture, that we were centering the wrong people.

495
00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:14,840
Speaker 1: The people that needed to be centered, and especially having

496
00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:18,320
Speaker 1: certain conversations in the women's sports space were black and

497
00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:21,320
Speaker 1: queer women because they were the ones that had been

498
00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:24,440
Speaker 1: grossly marginalized and should have been centered. And not just

499
00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:26,600
Speaker 1: like in sport, but in culture. That's true. Women's sports

500
00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:30,480
Speaker 1: is ground zero foreverism. And so I don't remember it

501
00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:32,879
Speaker 1: being there's been a series and the stakes like the

502
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:36,000
Speaker 1: one that you're describing, but I remember the theme of

503
00:28:36,119 --> 00:28:41,880
Speaker 1: them is an unlearning of unconscious bias and being very

504
00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:46,640
Speaker 1: very very mindful about who tells these stories, what stories

505
00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:50,520
Speaker 1: we're telling, who's the storyteller through which these stories are told,

506
00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:54,840
Speaker 1: and how do you better represent the communities that you

507
00:28:54,840 --> 00:29:01,480
Speaker 1: know ultimately create the space through that storytelling. It's been

508
00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:07,040
Speaker 1: a big, not learning necessarily, but a really gratifying journey.

509
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:12,040
Speaker 3: Yeah, especially to be at the forefront of and to

510
00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:19,600
Speaker 3: have that opportunity to help others, let's say, better understand

511
00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:23,840
Speaker 3: maybe they're unconscious bias, so that you can further along

512
00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:28,520
Speaker 3: the mission of the specific publication or the outlet that

513
00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:29,880
Speaker 3: you are working on.

514
00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:33,920
Speaker 2: And then also of course to better yourself right, right.

515
00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:36,040
Speaker 1: And it's even those micro things like you mentioned, like

516
00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:40,040
Speaker 1: showing those athletes back because it's beautiful, right, and you

517
00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:42,800
Speaker 1: want to show that because we don't often celebrate the

518
00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:46,320
Speaker 1: physicality of a woman's body, especially as an athlete. We're

519
00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:48,720
Speaker 1: trying to shrink them, we're trying to feminize them, We're

520
00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:50,960
Speaker 1: trying to do all these things. And you think that

521
00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:53,520
Speaker 1: you're doing a great thing, but by not showing her face,

522
00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:57,240
Speaker 1: you're making her less visible. I mean, these layers of

523
00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:03,280
Speaker 1: decision making that you you have to take into account

524
00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:07,440
Speaker 1: and every single one matters, so that learning and the

525
00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:10,480
Speaker 1: anxiety of learning through that and being very intentional about

526
00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:15,160
Speaker 1: your decision making is Again It's been a really rich experience,

527
00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:17,960
Speaker 1: but one that's also critical because, like I said, these

528
00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:23,960
Speaker 1: women have been so marginalized and deepowered that we have

529
00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:27,800
Speaker 1: the opportunity to pull them into the center and empower them.

530
00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:33,280
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean to your point about the women in

531
00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:37,840
Speaker 3: the WNBA and their visibility. I feel lucky and grateful

532
00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:40,480
Speaker 3: that I've had the opportunity to talk to so many

533
00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:44,760
Speaker 3: WNBA players for the show, ranging from Necho Guimmockay and

534
00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:48,000
Speaker 3: Dede Richards too. I sat down with Kelsey Plumb yesterday

535
00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:50,760
Speaker 3: and I will say that I think there is a

536
00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:55,240
Speaker 3: really beautiful transition happening right now, large in part because

537
00:30:55,360 --> 00:31:01,719
Speaker 3: of what outlets like Together are doing to show the

538
00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:07,760
Speaker 3: breath of the athlete, to show what it is that's

539
00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:13,680
Speaker 3: actually happening instead of, you know, just the random every

540
00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:16,680
Speaker 3: eighteen months woman on the cover of women's Health magazine

541
00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:17,800
Speaker 3: that happens to play sport.

542
00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:22,480
Speaker 1: It's so fascinating to see the shift in sport broadly.

543
00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:25,120
Speaker 1: And then I'll talk about women's sports specifically, but for

544
00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:29,600
Speaker 1: sure Yeah, around twenty fourteen twenty fifteen, what I'll call

545
00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:32,920
Speaker 1: like this athlete empowerment movement happened, and it was really

546
00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:38,560
Speaker 1: just the recognition that these athletes come off a dreamalized

547
00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:41,960
Speaker 1: performances and then they have a microphone in their face

548
00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:44,480
Speaker 1: and they have to answer questions about how they performed

549
00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:48,040
Speaker 1: or didn't perform, or if you're Lebron, you're getting asked

550
00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:50,880
Speaker 1: about NBA's relationship with China, and like you're just like

551
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:54,520
Speaker 1: you have to answer for anything and everything at all times.

552
00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:58,240
Speaker 1: And I can just imagine the tension and the fraught

553
00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:01,800
Speaker 1: relationship that's built between built up over time between traditional

554
00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:04,680
Speaker 1: media and athletes. Athletes as a whole are just sort

555
00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:09,160
Speaker 1: of considered assets to be traded and discarded and embedded

556
00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:11,680
Speaker 1: on over time, despite the fact that they are some

557
00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:15,600
Speaker 1: of the most culturally powerful and influential people in our world.

558
00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:19,400
Speaker 1: So we've dehumanized them for so long. What I love

559
00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:22,320
Speaker 1: about this sort of movement that's happened and through places

560
00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:25,600
Speaker 1: like the players should beune or uninterrupted in others, is

561
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:29,520
Speaker 1: you give them a space to tell their whole story

562
00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:32,000
Speaker 1: in a way that feels authentic to them, because in

563
00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:34,880
Speaker 1: the end, their byline is on it. You get to

564
00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:39,160
Speaker 1: know them and they can have significant, significant impact through

565
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:42,880
Speaker 1: their personal narrative in a way that traditional media sometimes

566
00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:45,480
Speaker 1: doesn't allow for. And I think the two need to coexist.

567
00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:48,080
Speaker 1: I think they're very symbiotic. They need to exist at

568
00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:52,720
Speaker 1: the same time. But for women athletes, they almost it's

569
00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:56,840
Speaker 1: different because they don't even have the visibility and they're

570
00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:01,560
Speaker 1: not even respected as athletes, so it's wishing critical to

571
00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:05,040
Speaker 1: tell their stories and make them visible. There is this

572
00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:08,680
Speaker 1: very vicious cycle that happens in the women's sports space

573
00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:12,520
Speaker 1: where of one hundred percent of media coverage, only four

574
00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:15,800
Speaker 1: percent of that is dedicated to women's sports. And that's

575
00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:18,280
Speaker 1: not even to talk about the quality of that coverage,

576
00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:21,240
Speaker 1: the depth of that coverage, the diversity of that coverage,

577
00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:25,120
Speaker 1: nothing where you can find it. If you're not telling

578
00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:28,840
Speaker 1: these stories and you're not making these women visible, then

579
00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:32,040
Speaker 1: it's incredibly hard to grow an audience or community around that,

580
00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:34,680
Speaker 1: or to put butts in seats, or to drive viewership

581
00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:37,840
Speaker 1: or any of those things that matter to teams, leagues,

582
00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:41,000
Speaker 1: media companies, organizations. And if there's no audience in no

583
00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:43,480
Speaker 1: community and no people in the stands and nobody watching

584
00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:45,760
Speaker 1: then brands don't invest in the space, and then media

585
00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:47,800
Speaker 1: companies don't tell the stories because there's no money for

586
00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:51,200
Speaker 1: them to be had. It's so vicious, and we think

587
00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:54,920
Speaker 1: every couple of years it'll break around a women's World

588
00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:57,720
Speaker 1: Cup or an Olympic year because women tend to dominate

589
00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:00,720
Speaker 1: those summers, and we think maybe because there's a swell

590
00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:03,360
Speaker 1: of investment and coverage then that it will sustain itself

591
00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:06,680
Speaker 1: over time, but it doesn't, which is why Together exists.

592
00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:10,000
Speaker 1: It's just to make these women visible every single day,

593
00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:14,880
Speaker 1: to celebrate them, to dimensionalize them, to recognize the power

594
00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:18,600
Speaker 1: in their skill and their athleticism, and respect them as athletes,

595
00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:21,960
Speaker 1: but also to embrace that they are incredible multi hyphenates

596
00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:28,200
Speaker 1: as women have to be who move culture forward. And

597
00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:33,120
Speaker 1: I say this so often, but I think it's incredibly

598
00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:38,239
Speaker 1: true and hopefully changing over time. But there's this perception

599
00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:41,440
Speaker 1: that women's sports has been behind, and that's because we've

600
00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:43,520
Speaker 1: viewed sports through a male lens, and that goes back

601
00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:46,840
Speaker 1: to visibility and media stuff. But there's this perception that

602
00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:50,160
Speaker 1: women's sports has been behind, And I think, to myself,

603
00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:54,120
Speaker 1: knowing what I know about women, women and women's sports

604
00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:57,040
Speaker 1: has been so far ahead of culture that culture has

605
00:34:57,040 --> 00:35:00,880
Speaker 1: had to catch up. And when you have plate entities

606
00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:06,120
Speaker 1: like you know, together just women's sports, when you do

607
00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:09,719
Speaker 1: have a publication like GQA others like putting women on

608
00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:12,879
Speaker 1: the front, like the cover, like, it actually does matter.

609
00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:15,480
Speaker 1: It needs to be more sustained, but it really does

610
00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:19,319
Speaker 1: matter because it takes this sort of socially constructed norm

611
00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:22,759
Speaker 1: that sports are male inherently and starts to center these

612
00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:25,440
Speaker 1: women and just make it more of the norm. Hopefully

613
00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:27,359
Speaker 1: we are at the tip of a spear and things

614
00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:28,160
Speaker 1: are really changing.

615
00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:31,960
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think we see hints of that change

616
00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:37,040
Speaker 3: as time goes on. Right, I mean, prime example the

617
00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:40,200
Speaker 3: US woman's national team versus England sellout at Wembley when

618
00:35:40,239 --> 00:35:44,360
Speaker 3: sixty five thousand tickets were sold like the day after

619
00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:47,560
Speaker 3: they went on sale, and there was a surprise in that.

620
00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:52,920
Speaker 3: But the general theme from let's say media and maybe

621
00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:57,719
Speaker 3: female focused reporting advocates for women in sport was it's

622
00:35:57,800 --> 00:35:59,640
Speaker 3: been here, The demand has been here.

623
00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:01,440
Speaker 2: Where Why have you been sleeping on this?

624
00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:06,160
Speaker 1: Yes, it's been here. Also, women's sports fans are inherently digital,

625
00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:08,680
Speaker 1: They're digitally native. They've had to be. They are here,

626
00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:11,879
Speaker 1: they think they've been underserved, they have been starved. It's

627
00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:13,560
Speaker 1: not if you build it, they will come. It's like

628
00:36:13,840 --> 00:36:18,360
Speaker 1: they're here. So if you create, if you create the

629
00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:20,960
Speaker 1: stories and you make them visible, they'll consume them. They'll

630
00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:23,880
Speaker 1: engage with them, they'll share them. If you make the

631
00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:26,120
Speaker 1: games available for broadcasts, they will tune in. They will

632
00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:29,800
Speaker 1: watch them. If you put like massive events and big arenas,

633
00:36:30,200 --> 00:36:32,360
Speaker 1: same thing happened in the O two Arena, the women's

634
00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:35,919
Speaker 1: boxing match Colorisa Shields and Savannah Marshall in the UK

635
00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:39,920
Speaker 1: in the last month, like sell out, Like that's women's boxing.

636
00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:42,319
Speaker 1: It's not even women's soccer where we have like the

637
00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:45,160
Speaker 1: crest on our chests and we suddenly become really patriotic.

638
00:36:45,239 --> 00:36:49,440
Speaker 1: It's like it is. If you just do it, audience

639
00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:52,360
Speaker 1: is there. They've been waiting for it. What's been missing

640
00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:55,200
Speaker 1: is the investment. And I don't mean just like financial investment,

641
00:36:55,239 --> 00:36:58,480
Speaker 1: which is very true. I mean the media and storytelling investment.

642
00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:02,920
Speaker 1: It's it's those two things are critical to growing the

643
00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:07,560
Speaker 1: overall category. And as you say, sell out stadium Wimbley

644
00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:09,960
Speaker 1: is huge, it's a massive event. Because of that, then

645
00:37:10,040 --> 00:37:12,480
Speaker 1: Fox decided to broadcast it on their main channel, not

646
00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:16,560
Speaker 1: on FS one. Like, imagine if you made a conscious decision,

647
00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:19,399
Speaker 1: if you had the power as a decision maker at

648
00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:23,880
Speaker 1: a massive media organization to not broadcast an NWSL championship

649
00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:26,960
Speaker 1: at nine am on the West coast right which happened

650
00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:29,520
Speaker 1: last year, that was out under consideration, and put it

651
00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:34,400
Speaker 1: in prime time, not competing against another massive men's sporting event.

652
00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:37,360
Speaker 1: What you could do for a viewership on a major

653
00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:39,920
Speaker 1: media network, And that just comes down to again, to

654
00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:42,480
Speaker 1: go back to conscious decision making. There are people in

655
00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:45,279
Speaker 1: positions of power who can make this happen, who can

656
00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:48,439
Speaker 1: change it. They just have to decide to invest, cut

657
00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:53,719
Speaker 1: the check, tell the story.

658
00:37:54,719 --> 00:37:57,319
Speaker 3: Taking a break from today's episode to give some love

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Speaker 3: slash hurdle. Let's circle back to you joining and helping

700
00:40:52,080 --> 00:40:52,960
Speaker 3: as a co founder.

701
00:40:53,080 --> 00:40:56,440
Speaker 2: Just start together. Give us some of that origin story.

702
00:40:57,840 --> 00:41:00,239
Speaker 1: Yeah, I had been working at the Player's Tribune for

703
00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:04,680
Speaker 1: four and a half years by then, about four years,

704
00:41:04,719 --> 00:41:10,359
Speaker 1: and I got a call like early twenty nineteen one

705
00:41:10,440 --> 00:41:15,279
Speaker 1: day asking if I would be willing to take a

706
00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:19,080
Speaker 1: meeting on a potential new athlete, a women's athlete focused

707
00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:24,200
Speaker 1: media company, and outside of running content at players should

708
00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:26,960
Speaker 1: be in my day to day focus, or at least

709
00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:29,960
Speaker 1: what I would bring into a lot of conversations was

710
00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:32,920
Speaker 1: insertion and reminding that we were also working with women athletes,

711
00:41:32,960 --> 00:41:35,320
Speaker 1: were not just entering male athletes, and we would infuse

712
00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:37,680
Speaker 1: that into our content strategy. So over the course of

713
00:41:38,239 --> 00:41:42,239
Speaker 1: those four to five years, I had the privilege to

714
00:41:42,280 --> 00:41:44,560
Speaker 1: tell some of the greatest stories I think I've ever

715
00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:46,720
Speaker 1: told them in my life in partnership with really incredible

716
00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:51,000
Speaker 1: women athletes. So I've had sort of built a reputation

717
00:41:51,040 --> 00:41:53,200
Speaker 1: for being a storyteller and an ally in the space,

718
00:41:54,080 --> 00:41:59,120
Speaker 1: knowing how to build brands and build companies around temples

719
00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:03,319
Speaker 1: and ideas and hypotheses, and knowing like potential audience and

720
00:42:03,360 --> 00:42:07,640
Speaker 1: consumer demand, and having relationships with a lot of these

721
00:42:07,680 --> 00:42:11,600
Speaker 1: women athletes directly. And I took the call and it

722
00:42:11,640 --> 00:42:16,120
Speaker 1: was about Alex Morgan and she was going into a

723
00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:20,799
Speaker 1: World Cup year. I said, this is twenty nineteen. This

724
00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:24,800
Speaker 1: is Alex's observation, which is true. You know she watches

725
00:42:25,480 --> 00:42:29,520
Speaker 1: you know Lebron James build Uninterrupted in spring Hill, Derek

726
00:42:29,600 --> 00:42:32,960
Speaker 1: Jeter has the Player Subune, Kevin Durant builds his own

727
00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:37,320
Speaker 1: venture company, thirty five Ventures. Steph Curry has Unanimous Media.

728
00:42:38,160 --> 00:42:40,799
Speaker 1: There's just all these male athletes. They can build their

729
00:42:40,840 --> 00:42:43,000
Speaker 1: own platforms and their own brands and their own venture

730
00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:45,960
Speaker 1: and companies because the money and the investments made available

731
00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:49,440
Speaker 1: to them, because their power and platform is so much bigger,

732
00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:52,280
Speaker 1: because they happen to be superstars because they're male athletes.

733
00:42:52,840 --> 00:42:56,160
Speaker 1: And even despite like that sort of disruption of athlete

734
00:42:56,239 --> 00:43:00,160
Speaker 1: led storytelling, women were still kind of left in the margins.

735
00:43:00,239 --> 00:43:04,000
Speaker 1: And she was tired of waiting for any one of

736
00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:08,120
Speaker 1: them or traditional media to decide that women's stories who

737
00:43:08,120 --> 00:43:11,959
Speaker 1: are worth investing in consistently and telling. So she said,

738
00:43:13,040 --> 00:43:15,839
Speaker 1: what do you like, Let's fuck it, let's go build it.

739
00:43:16,520 --> 00:43:22,239
Speaker 1: And I remember the first big meeting with Alex in

740
00:43:22,320 --> 00:43:26,080
Speaker 1: September twenty nineteen that we were in Los Angeles and

741
00:43:26,960 --> 00:43:30,080
Speaker 1: we got in this sort of coworking shared space and

742
00:43:30,120 --> 00:43:33,440
Speaker 1: there was just a massive whiteboard and there was nothing

743
00:43:33,480 --> 00:43:36,160
Speaker 1: on that board except brains in a room who knew

744
00:43:36,200 --> 00:43:38,239
Speaker 1: that we wanted to build a media company, but that

745
00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:42,400
Speaker 1: was it. So we asked over the course of a

746
00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:45,360
Speaker 1: full day like ourselves. What do we want this to be?

747
00:43:45,760 --> 00:43:47,920
Speaker 1: Who do we want this to stand for? What is

748
00:43:47,960 --> 00:43:49,960
Speaker 1: the voice of this brand? What is the tone of

749
00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:52,680
Speaker 1: this brand? What are the qualities that our stories have?

750
00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:54,600
Speaker 1: Like just who do we want to build this in

751
00:43:54,680 --> 00:43:57,160
Speaker 1: partnership with? What other athletes do we want to bring

752
00:43:57,200 --> 00:43:59,359
Speaker 1: into this, Like who are we representing? It was just

753
00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:07,000
Speaker 1: such inspiring, thoughtful, creative, collaborative conversation. And I remember leaving

754
00:44:07,040 --> 00:44:09,920
Speaker 1: that room that day and getting on a plane to

755
00:44:09,960 --> 00:44:13,759
Speaker 1: go back to New York and knowing that this was

756
00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:17,120
Speaker 1: the right move for me, but more importantly, just feeling

757
00:44:17,160 --> 00:44:19,480
Speaker 1: so excited by the impact that a brand like this

758
00:44:19,520 --> 00:44:22,560
Speaker 1: one could have. And then from there it's like, Okay,

759
00:44:22,600 --> 00:44:25,000
Speaker 1: well how do you build it? It's one thing to

760
00:44:25,000 --> 00:44:27,200
Speaker 1: have an idea of what you want to make, and

761
00:44:27,239 --> 00:44:31,040
Speaker 1: then something else entirely to then go and make that

762
00:44:31,080 --> 00:44:32,360
Speaker 1: thing and launch it into the world.

763
00:44:33,600 --> 00:44:35,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely.

764
00:44:35,360 --> 00:44:38,800
Speaker 3: And so when you sat in there and you started

765
00:44:38,800 --> 00:44:43,160
Speaker 3: to outline kind of the brand ethos. Now when you

766
00:44:43,960 --> 00:44:48,040
Speaker 3: are asked those questions, who are you reaching, what is

767
00:44:48,080 --> 00:44:48,640
Speaker 3: your mission?

768
00:44:49,280 --> 00:44:49,919
Speaker 2: What do you say?

769
00:44:50,480 --> 00:44:55,520
Speaker 1: Our mission is to make women visible and give them

770
00:44:55,560 --> 00:45:01,359
Speaker 1: their power back through storytelling? Who we reach every single day. Right,

771
00:45:01,719 --> 00:45:04,520
Speaker 1: there's the technical answer, which is predominantly women eighteen to

772
00:45:04,600 --> 00:45:07,000
Speaker 1: thirty five who have never had a brand like this

773
00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:10,320
Speaker 1: probably exists for them before, who finally see themselves reflected

774
00:45:10,400 --> 00:45:13,840
Speaker 1: back because we're telling stories that represent their own journey

775
00:45:13,840 --> 00:45:18,720
Speaker 1: and maybe their own identities. But for me, I think

776
00:45:18,760 --> 00:45:21,240
Speaker 1: this brand and if you spend time with the content

777
00:45:21,360 --> 00:45:24,799
Speaker 1: and certainly the mission and the voice, which has a

778
00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:28,080
Speaker 1: bit of sort of an activist voice to it, we

779
00:45:28,160 --> 00:45:32,280
Speaker 1: stand for anyone who hasn't felt seen, who's been disempowered,

780
00:45:32,360 --> 00:45:35,000
Speaker 1: or who has been told that they weren't powerful, and

781
00:45:35,920 --> 00:45:38,040
Speaker 1: we're taking those people, like I said earlier, from the

782
00:45:38,040 --> 00:45:41,279
Speaker 1: margins and pulling them into the center and giving them

783
00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:44,440
Speaker 1: their power back. Because women inherently move culture forward.

784
00:45:45,640 --> 00:45:50,120
Speaker 2: When have you felt like that in your life? Unseen?

785
00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:54,920
Speaker 1: I mean so many times. And that's to say I

786
00:45:54,960 --> 00:46:02,000
Speaker 1: have a lot of privilege that others don't. To personalize it,

787
00:46:02,160 --> 00:46:04,520
Speaker 1: I was, you know, growing up in this small town.

788
00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:07,759
Speaker 1: I was. I knew at a very young age I

789
00:46:07,880 --> 00:46:11,239
Speaker 1: was gay, and that was not a place where you

790
00:46:11,280 --> 00:46:14,760
Speaker 1: wanted to be, especially at that time the mid nineties,

791
00:46:14,760 --> 00:46:17,439
Speaker 1: like you wanted to be out in a conservative town.

792
00:46:18,200 --> 00:46:19,840
Speaker 1: So there was a lot of sort of like hiding

793
00:46:19,920 --> 00:46:23,080
Speaker 1: of self and identity out of shame and fear, some

794
00:46:23,200 --> 00:46:25,279
Speaker 1: fear which was self construct and some fear which was

795
00:46:25,280 --> 00:46:27,279
Speaker 1: actually very real. So it took me a while to

796
00:46:27,280 --> 00:46:29,759
Speaker 1: feel seen on a personal level, which was part of

797
00:46:29,800 --> 00:46:32,880
Speaker 1: my journey. I've also been and I'm sure you have

798
00:46:33,040 --> 00:46:37,239
Speaker 1: two and only in a room A lot in the

799
00:46:37,280 --> 00:46:42,160
Speaker 1: media industry, if surrounded by men and oftentimes the only

800
00:46:42,200 --> 00:46:46,879
Speaker 1: woman in the room, and I see one, they don't

801
00:46:46,920 --> 00:46:49,640
Speaker 1: hear me when I talk, which isn't the case anymore,

802
00:46:49,680 --> 00:46:51,759
Speaker 1: but for a long time, you know, I could say

803
00:46:51,800 --> 00:46:53,719
Speaker 1: something and then the guy sitting next to me could

804
00:46:53,719 --> 00:46:55,680
Speaker 1: say the same thing and he would be heard. And

805
00:46:55,760 --> 00:46:58,480
Speaker 1: I'm like, I just said that thing. I just said

806
00:46:58,480 --> 00:47:00,880
Speaker 1: that thing, or I would be the only woman in

807
00:47:00,920 --> 00:47:05,759
Speaker 1: the room. I will never forget. This is actually a

808
00:47:05,760 --> 00:47:10,200
Speaker 1: really funny story. I will never forget. It was working

809
00:47:10,680 --> 00:47:13,280
Speaker 1: sort of like I hate calling them more room styles,

810
00:47:13,280 --> 00:47:14,879
Speaker 1: but you know what I mean. When you're like covering

811
00:47:14,920 --> 00:47:16,839
Speaker 1: a big event like the Grammys or the Super Bowl

812
00:47:16,920 --> 00:47:19,960
Speaker 1: or whatever, and you have like every employee is in

813
00:47:19,960 --> 00:47:22,840
Speaker 1: the same space because you're like deploying and publishing a

814
00:47:22,880 --> 00:47:25,839
Speaker 1: lot of content in real time. So I was in

815
00:47:25,880 --> 00:47:28,239
Speaker 1: one of those spaces and I was in charge in

816
00:47:28,239 --> 00:47:32,520
Speaker 1: that room, and someone came in, an executive came in,

817
00:47:32,920 --> 00:47:34,719
Speaker 1: and it was sort of like my show, my event,

818
00:47:34,800 --> 00:47:37,680
Speaker 1: my thing to run, and he knew that I was

819
00:47:37,719 --> 00:47:42,560
Speaker 1: the one in charge, and he asked me to order

820
00:47:42,640 --> 00:47:46,480
Speaker 1: dinner for the entire team, who were all men, because

821
00:47:46,640 --> 00:47:48,480
Speaker 1: he didn't know how to get on seamless, and just

822
00:47:48,560 --> 00:47:50,839
Speaker 1: order a couple of pizzas. And I remember, I think

823
00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:57,719
Speaker 1: like feeling so undermined in my power, and then thinking, well,

824
00:47:57,760 --> 00:47:59,920
Speaker 1: that's default for you, and you don't even realize you're

825
00:48:00,120 --> 00:48:02,239
Speaker 1: doing it. You just think I know how to get

826
00:48:02,239 --> 00:48:04,719
Speaker 1: things done, But the default for you is to turn

827
00:48:04,760 --> 00:48:06,440
Speaker 1: to the only woman in the room and make sure

828
00:48:06,480 --> 00:48:09,799
Speaker 1: she's servicing all the guys in the room and taking

829
00:48:09,840 --> 00:48:11,799
Speaker 1: care of them, making sure they're fed, even though my

830
00:48:11,920 --> 00:48:17,280
Speaker 1: job was to actually run the ship that night. And

831
00:48:17,360 --> 00:48:20,120
Speaker 1: I felt really small in that space. And it's such

832
00:48:20,160 --> 00:48:23,680
Speaker 1: a specific and tiny example, right, there's bigger ones that

833
00:48:23,719 --> 00:48:25,239
Speaker 1: I can think of in space as I've been and

834
00:48:25,239 --> 00:48:28,680
Speaker 1: where I didn't feel seen, But even something like that,

835
00:48:28,719 --> 00:48:31,200
Speaker 1: even when you are seen, but you're still undermined because

836
00:48:31,200 --> 00:48:34,800
Speaker 1: you're a woman is infuriating.

837
00:48:36,360 --> 00:48:39,279
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and thank you for sharing that.

838
00:48:40,280 --> 00:48:47,239
Speaker 3: You spoke about the whiteboard session with Alex right, But

839
00:48:47,560 --> 00:48:52,600
Speaker 3: how does it feel ultimately when you start to truly

840
00:48:53,480 --> 00:49:00,200
Speaker 3: understand and get to a place where you are going

841
00:49:00,280 --> 00:49:05,319
Speaker 3: to be working with so many women that represent a

842
00:49:05,400 --> 00:49:07,920
Speaker 3: wide breadth of female athletes, some of the best and

843
00:49:07,960 --> 00:49:12,600
Speaker 3: the best, Sue Bird, Chloe Kim Simone, How did that

844
00:49:12,640 --> 00:49:13,120
Speaker 3: feel for you?

845
00:49:14,640 --> 00:49:19,600
Speaker 1: There are avengers. These women are amazing. They are for

846
00:49:19,840 --> 00:49:21,680
Speaker 1: the greatest athletes in the world, I don't have to

847
00:49:21,680 --> 00:49:24,640
Speaker 1: say for the greatest women athletes in the world. They

848
00:49:24,760 --> 00:49:30,640
Speaker 1: just are. But beyond that, they are incredible humans for

849
00:49:30,760 --> 00:49:33,920
Speaker 1: all of sort of their shared greatness and accomplishments, which

850
00:49:34,080 --> 00:49:36,920
Speaker 1: you know would take an hour's worth of conversation to

851
00:49:36,960 --> 00:49:41,640
Speaker 1: go through. They have incredibly different lived experiences and povs

852
00:49:41,680 --> 00:49:45,239
Speaker 1: on the world too, and different personalities and expressions, and

853
00:49:46,520 --> 00:49:50,879
Speaker 1: given what together stands for, which is representation and visibility,

854
00:49:51,480 --> 00:49:55,160
Speaker 1: to be able to take all of that sort of

855
00:49:55,200 --> 00:50:01,520
Speaker 1: like lived experience and aspiration and dedicated and commitment to

856
00:50:01,719 --> 00:50:03,920
Speaker 1: the same thing. We all have the same thing that

857
00:50:03,960 --> 00:50:07,840
Speaker 1: we're marching towards, but all those different expressions and infuse

858
00:50:07,920 --> 00:50:13,480
Speaker 1: it into the DNA of Together has been wildly beyond

859
00:50:13,480 --> 00:50:18,960
Speaker 1: my dreams. And the best part is they are all

860
00:50:19,040 --> 00:50:23,600
Speaker 1: incredible thought partners and they are also all incredibly selfless,

861
00:50:24,360 --> 00:50:27,800
Speaker 1: and I think that's what you see happening with women generally,

862
00:50:27,880 --> 00:50:31,800
Speaker 1: Like we know how to come together, form a collective

863
00:50:31,840 --> 00:50:33,880
Speaker 1: and move things forward for the better men of everyone

864
00:50:33,880 --> 00:50:36,200
Speaker 1: around us and more importantly for those that are coming

865
00:50:36,280 --> 00:50:40,080
Speaker 1: behind us. And these for women, embody that every single

866
00:50:40,200 --> 00:50:42,279
Speaker 1: day in their life. They are first. They are all

867
00:50:42,400 --> 00:50:45,840
Speaker 1: first of different kinds. They also understand what it means

868
00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:50,400
Speaker 1: to break glass ceilings and then the cuts and the

869
00:50:50,400 --> 00:50:52,720
Speaker 1: bruises that come with that, which we don't even consider.

870
00:50:52,800 --> 00:50:58,719
Speaker 1: Sometimes they are wildly creative and entertaining, and they also

871
00:50:58,800 --> 00:51:01,719
Speaker 1: just know this space, they know it's missing, So they

872
00:51:01,760 --> 00:51:06,239
Speaker 1: know what Together needs to be, what it needs to exemplify,

873
00:51:06,440 --> 00:51:08,440
Speaker 1: what it needs to consider, and where it needs to

874
00:51:08,480 --> 00:51:12,520
Speaker 1: show up. And it's like just having a focus group

875
00:51:12,680 --> 00:51:15,520
Speaker 1: right every single day. They're just a focus group for

876
00:51:15,600 --> 00:51:17,360
Speaker 1: where we should go. They're a good litmus test for

877
00:51:17,440 --> 00:51:20,680
Speaker 1: where this brand should go. But they are just wildly

878
00:51:21,200 --> 00:51:26,840
Speaker 1: creative thought partners and collaborators and champions, not just in

879
00:51:26,880 --> 00:51:29,880
Speaker 1: the sense of sport accomplishment and winning, but like true

880
00:51:29,960 --> 00:51:33,680
Speaker 1: champions for other people, and it's been a dream.

881
00:51:33,800 --> 00:51:38,600
Speaker 3: Honestly when you say breaking glass ceilings and the ramifications

882
00:51:38,680 --> 00:51:40,960
Speaker 3: of that, can you expand on that a little bit?

883
00:51:42,840 --> 00:51:47,800
Speaker 1: Yeah? I remember. I think in particular about Simone Manual

884
00:51:47,960 --> 00:51:52,960
Speaker 1: when I think about this, because for all of her

885
00:51:53,000 --> 00:51:58,880
Speaker 1: accomplishments for being a first, I think about there's this

886
00:51:58,960 --> 00:52:02,200
Speaker 1: picture of Simone that her family has shown me, that

887
00:52:02,280 --> 00:52:05,120
Speaker 1: she's shown and the world has probably seen, where she's

888
00:52:05,680 --> 00:52:09,840
Speaker 1: this young girl in a swimming pool in Texas, maybe

889
00:52:09,880 --> 00:52:14,080
Speaker 1: six years old, and she's smiling and excited because she's

890
00:52:14,200 --> 00:52:16,120
Speaker 1: like she loved it. She was also so good at

891
00:52:16,120 --> 00:52:18,320
Speaker 1: at such a young age, but she just loves swimming.

892
00:52:19,160 --> 00:52:22,200
Speaker 1: What people don't see about that picture is she had

893
00:52:22,200 --> 00:52:24,920
Speaker 1: been intentionally left off a swim team because of their

894
00:52:25,000 --> 00:52:27,239
Speaker 1: parents complained that she made the team and it was

895
00:52:27,280 --> 00:52:30,400
Speaker 1: really they were racist, and she happened to be the

896
00:52:30,440 --> 00:52:32,040
Speaker 1: only black swimmer and they didn't want a black swim

897
00:52:32,120 --> 00:52:34,160
Speaker 1: on the team because their white daughter got left off.

898
00:52:34,880 --> 00:52:40,680
Speaker 1: And when I think about Simone in twenty sixteen winning

899
00:52:40,760 --> 00:52:44,120
Speaker 1: that gold medal and becoming a first, I think about

900
00:52:44,160 --> 00:52:48,240
Speaker 1: what she represents to her broader community and how they've

901
00:52:48,280 --> 00:52:51,799
Speaker 1: been left out of that space for generations and generations,

902
00:52:51,800 --> 00:52:53,680
Speaker 1: and what it must mean for her. But I also

903
00:52:53,800 --> 00:52:55,480
Speaker 1: know what she had to go through to get there,

904
00:52:56,200 --> 00:53:01,640
Speaker 1: and the racist comments and the unintentionally racist questions she

905
00:53:01,680 --> 00:53:03,759
Speaker 1: gets asked all the time, but also the you know,

906
00:53:03,800 --> 00:53:05,719
Speaker 1: sort of the weight on her shoulders to represent her

907
00:53:05,880 --> 00:53:09,000
Speaker 1: entire community as we go through like social justice movements.

908
00:53:09,040 --> 00:53:13,680
Speaker 1: And she has said herself, you know, you guys see

909
00:53:14,040 --> 00:53:18,359
Speaker 1: the accomplishment and I break these glass ceilings and I'm

910
00:53:18,360 --> 00:53:21,919
Speaker 1: a first But what you don't see, because either I'm

911
00:53:21,960 --> 00:53:24,680
Speaker 1: not asked, or you're not thinking, or you're not paying attention,

912
00:53:24,880 --> 00:53:27,640
Speaker 1: or you just don't know me, is I am covered

913
00:53:27,680 --> 00:53:30,840
Speaker 1: in cuts and bruises, and I have been for so long.

914
00:53:31,560 --> 00:53:35,319
Speaker 1: And I think a lot about that. As glorious and

915
00:53:35,400 --> 00:53:39,920
Speaker 1: triumphant as it is to be a first period, there

916
00:53:40,000 --> 00:53:43,760
Speaker 1: is a long journey that goes into that one moment

917
00:53:43,800 --> 00:53:46,480
Speaker 1: that we ultimately see. And when you are first and

918
00:53:46,520 --> 00:53:49,319
Speaker 1: you break a glass ceiling, of course, because you were

919
00:53:49,360 --> 00:53:51,320
Speaker 1: opening up for the people that behind you, the seconds

920
00:53:51,320 --> 00:53:54,279
Speaker 1: and thirds that are coming, we don't think about the

921
00:53:54,440 --> 00:53:56,360
Speaker 1: cuts and the bruises and the scrapes that come with that,

922
00:53:56,960 --> 00:54:02,080
Speaker 1: and because of her and being an pathetic storyteller. Now

923
00:54:02,640 --> 00:54:04,799
Speaker 1: that's almost where my mind goes first. It's like, wow,

924
00:54:04,840 --> 00:54:06,200
Speaker 1: what did you have to go through to get there?

925
00:54:06,600 --> 00:54:10,719
Speaker 3: Also, top of mind the boundaries that are set as

926
00:54:10,760 --> 00:54:15,480
Speaker 3: a result of breaking that glass ceiling and recognizing what

927
00:54:15,520 --> 00:54:18,680
Speaker 3: it is that these women need so that they can

928
00:54:18,719 --> 00:54:23,400
Speaker 3: continue on in their pursuit of greatness while also protecting

929
00:54:23,920 --> 00:54:26,160
Speaker 3: their mental health and their needs.

930
00:54:26,239 --> 00:54:26,520
Speaker 2: Right.

931
00:54:26,600 --> 00:54:29,680
Speaker 3: I remember some own is actually one of the few

932
00:54:29,719 --> 00:54:33,799
Speaker 3: people that I've ever tried to message that I got

933
00:54:33,840 --> 00:54:37,279
Speaker 3: a notification that she only allows certain people to message her.

934
00:54:37,400 --> 00:54:37,600
Speaker 1: Right.

935
00:54:39,480 --> 00:54:40,440
Speaker 2: And so you.

936
00:54:40,480 --> 00:54:45,799
Speaker 3: See the parameters that athletes are putting not just on

937
00:54:46,320 --> 00:54:49,600
Speaker 3: you know, the boundary between their personal and professional life,

938
00:54:49,600 --> 00:54:52,240
Speaker 3: but then also when it comes to social media and beyond,

939
00:54:52,920 --> 00:54:54,879
Speaker 3: just so that they can go on living a life

940
00:54:54,920 --> 00:54:57,200
Speaker 3: that brings them joy, that brings them that sense of

941
00:54:57,239 --> 00:55:00,160
Speaker 3: contentment and enables them to focus on the things that

942
00:55:00,200 --> 00:55:02,040
Speaker 3: they feel are to be really important.

943
00:55:02,320 --> 00:55:05,240
Speaker 1: Yeah. And also women athletes, Sue has said this before,

944
00:55:05,560 --> 00:55:10,640
Speaker 1: they aren't really afforded the luxury of shutting up and dribbling. Right.

945
00:55:10,960 --> 00:55:14,640
Speaker 1: They can't just show up and perform and compete and

946
00:55:14,680 --> 00:55:18,760
Speaker 1: do their job because number one, we don't actually respect

947
00:55:18,800 --> 00:55:22,680
Speaker 1: them as athletes. We don't respect women's sports in the

948
00:55:22,719 --> 00:55:27,719
Speaker 1: way that we should. So they have to advocate for themselves.

949
00:55:27,800 --> 00:55:30,040
Speaker 1: They have to advocate for their communities. They have to

950
00:55:30,040 --> 00:55:32,359
Speaker 1: think about the next generation. They're fighting for equal pay,

951
00:55:32,400 --> 00:55:36,560
Speaker 1: they're fighting for visibility. Like their day job may be

952
00:55:36,719 --> 00:55:39,880
Speaker 1: an athlete, but their full time job is almost as

953
00:55:39,880 --> 00:55:44,319
Speaker 1: an activist. And especially considering most of the communities that

954
00:55:44,320 --> 00:55:48,080
Speaker 1: they come from, there's a heavy emphasis on representation. And

955
00:55:48,800 --> 00:55:52,600
Speaker 1: you know, because you are a public figure, and maybe

956
00:55:52,640 --> 00:55:54,160
Speaker 1: not as public as you could be because of the

957
00:55:54,239 --> 00:55:56,680
Speaker 1: inequities and visibility, but because you are a public figure,

958
00:55:56,719 --> 00:56:00,040
Speaker 1: people also think they have access to you. And I

959
00:56:00,080 --> 00:56:05,400
Speaker 1: think about just the level of mental fortitude you have

960
00:56:05,480 --> 00:56:08,240
Speaker 1: to have to compete at that level in the first place,

961
00:56:09,200 --> 00:56:11,359
Speaker 1: and then you have to think about and consider all

962
00:56:11,400 --> 00:56:13,799
Speaker 1: these other things because you're fighting for so much more

963
00:56:13,880 --> 00:56:16,600
Speaker 1: for yourself but also for your teammates, but also for

964
00:56:16,719 --> 00:56:19,279
Speaker 1: the women coming behind you. And then you're being asked

965
00:56:19,400 --> 00:56:22,680
Speaker 1: questions about social justice and pay inequity and all the

966
00:56:22,800 --> 00:56:24,640
Speaker 1: isms and the issues that it exists in the space.

967
00:56:24,680 --> 00:56:27,439
Speaker 1: You can't even focus in your sport, and then you're

968
00:56:27,480 --> 00:56:29,000
Speaker 1: like all of us when you're on social media and

969
00:56:29,000 --> 00:56:31,040
Speaker 1: you have this massive platform. Therefore, people think they have

970
00:56:31,120 --> 00:56:39,120
Speaker 1: access to you even though they don't. It's unhealthy, it's wild.

971
00:56:38,080 --> 00:56:43,080
Speaker 1: It's taken them to a place where they have to

972
00:56:43,160 --> 00:56:45,759
Speaker 1: be protective and they also have to treat their brain

973
00:56:45,880 --> 00:56:48,520
Speaker 1: like they treat their body. Right, we focus so much

974
00:56:48,600 --> 00:56:52,120
Speaker 1: on athletes' body and less so their mental well being.

975
00:56:52,840 --> 00:56:55,640
Speaker 1: I think for women athletes, it's incredibly important to give

976
00:56:55,680 --> 00:56:59,359
Speaker 1: them that space and that support considering all the other

977
00:57:00,080 --> 00:57:02,480
Speaker 1: sort of competing and fighting they have to do outside

978
00:57:02,480 --> 00:57:06,520
Speaker 1: of the sports arena. It just just it's wild. And

979
00:57:06,600 --> 00:57:09,880
Speaker 1: Chloe Kim talks about this too. She's you know, especially

980
00:57:09,880 --> 00:57:12,600
Speaker 1: I go back to being first and representing communities. I mean,

981
00:57:12,640 --> 00:57:15,120
Speaker 1: there's a lot of women's sports is ground Zegle foreverism.

982
00:57:15,120 --> 00:57:18,440
Speaker 1: There's a lot of racism and hate that's targeted towards her,

983
00:57:18,640 --> 00:57:21,400
Speaker 1: especially as what we see happening in culture, the rise

984
00:57:21,440 --> 00:57:26,560
Speaker 1: of ap I hate in crimes. She's seeing that in

985
00:57:26,600 --> 00:57:29,360
Speaker 1: her DMS, you know, and it's just like wow, it's

986
00:57:30,360 --> 00:57:34,800
Speaker 1: you can't sub you can't separate the personal and the

987
00:57:34,840 --> 00:57:38,720
Speaker 1: professional truly for them, because the stakes are so high.

988
00:57:38,960 --> 00:57:41,160
Speaker 1: It's advantageous for them to be visible and to be

989
00:57:41,200 --> 00:57:44,600
Speaker 1: advocating for these things because it's bigger than them. But

990
00:57:44,760 --> 00:57:49,040
Speaker 1: it's also, you know, a really vulnerable and probably lonely

991
00:57:49,120 --> 00:57:50,080
Speaker 1: place to be into.

992
00:57:51,160 --> 00:57:53,400
Speaker 3: And that's a place that so many of the people

993
00:57:53,600 --> 00:57:58,040
Speaker 3: that whether you're you know, sending those horrible messages or

994
00:57:58,480 --> 00:58:02,760
Speaker 3: you're just scrolling through during a break in your workday,

995
00:58:03,400 --> 00:58:06,920
Speaker 3: you're not thinking about putting yourself in that position, putting

996
00:58:06,920 --> 00:58:10,920
Speaker 3: yourself in their shoes and thinking of the things that

997
00:58:10,960 --> 00:58:14,280
Speaker 3: they have to navigate through that lens, right, And so

998
00:58:14,320 --> 00:58:19,160
Speaker 3: it makes it easier more often than not to speak

999
00:58:19,840 --> 00:58:25,200
Speaker 3: and say things without taking that time to consciously think

1000
00:58:25,200 --> 00:58:29,160
Speaker 3: about that and again to put yourself in their shoes. Now,

1001
00:58:29,720 --> 00:58:32,240
Speaker 3: what I find so impressive about you is not just

1002
00:58:33,000 --> 00:58:36,680
Speaker 3: your fandom of sport and your advocacy for women in

1003
00:58:36,720 --> 00:58:45,480
Speaker 3: sports specifically, but also your affinity to empower everyone to

1004
00:58:45,520 --> 00:58:48,440
Speaker 3: be a storyteller and your belief that that is possible

1005
00:58:49,160 --> 00:58:52,360
Speaker 3: when you come down to it.

1006
00:58:52,840 --> 00:58:55,640
Speaker 2: How does Jess take care of Jess?

1007
00:59:00,480 --> 00:59:03,000
Speaker 1: She drinks whiskey?

1008
00:59:03,080 --> 00:59:05,000
Speaker 2: Yes, do you have a favorite right now?

1009
00:59:05,640 --> 00:59:09,080
Speaker 1: I am a huge fan of will it Rye and

1010
00:59:09,160 --> 00:59:11,800
Speaker 1: Pikesvill Rye. I'm a big rye girl if I'm gonna.

1011
00:59:11,560 --> 00:59:14,160
Speaker 3: Okay, Okay, I'm a bourbon girl, but I'm on a

1012
00:59:14,160 --> 00:59:17,120
Speaker 3: four Roses small Batch kick for the last few months.

1013
00:59:17,320 --> 00:59:20,240
Speaker 1: Listen, Whole Foods doesn't have my Willet or my Pikesville,

1014
00:59:20,280 --> 00:59:22,160
Speaker 1: so I get the four Roses small Batch.

1015
00:59:23,960 --> 00:59:26,000
Speaker 2: Wait where are you in, La?

1016
00:59:26,360 --> 00:59:27,320
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm in Playa Vista.

1017
00:59:27,440 --> 00:59:28,000
Speaker 2: Okay, I was.

1018
00:59:28,000 --> 00:59:30,240
Speaker 3: Gonna say, because you know that I'm not walking to

1019
00:59:30,280 --> 00:59:32,240
Speaker 3: Whole Foods to buy bourbon in New York City.

1020
00:59:33,800 --> 00:59:35,800
Speaker 1: It's across the street, so it's easy.

1021
00:59:37,080 --> 00:59:39,400
Speaker 2: Okay, so we're sipping whisky. What else are we doing?

1022
00:59:39,720 --> 00:59:42,160
Speaker 1: I have to I have a lot of adrenaline because

1023
00:59:42,200 --> 00:59:45,960
Speaker 1: of my stress, so I have to exercise. I'm also

1024
00:59:46,520 --> 00:59:49,920
Speaker 1: very competitive person, so when I exercise, it helps me

1025
00:59:50,040 --> 00:59:53,600
Speaker 1: to have some sort of goal in mind, which is

1026
00:59:53,640 --> 00:59:56,920
Speaker 1: why I'm now, you know, wanting to compete as an

1027
00:59:56,960 --> 01:00:02,160
Speaker 1: amateur boxer, which is probably not the smartest decision I've

1028
01:00:02,160 --> 01:00:09,720
Speaker 1: ever made. I have a great community, and I love

1029
01:00:09,840 --> 01:00:13,560
Speaker 1: spending time with my people and talking about the space

1030
01:00:13,600 --> 01:00:15,640
Speaker 1: that I'm in and hearing about the space at they're

1031
01:00:15,720 --> 01:00:21,240
Speaker 1: and laughing for hours. I'm actually really energized by other

1032
01:00:21,280 --> 01:00:24,040
Speaker 1: people and their energy, and when I need to protect

1033
01:00:24,040 --> 01:00:27,360
Speaker 1: my space or give back or feed my soul, people

1034
01:00:27,520 --> 01:00:32,760
Speaker 1: tend to do that for me. So my decompression is

1035
01:00:33,480 --> 01:00:39,480
Speaker 1: a happy hour, probably a sweat session. I also read

1036
01:00:39,520 --> 01:00:42,160
Speaker 1: and consume a lot of things that have nothing to

1037
01:00:42,240 --> 01:00:45,560
Speaker 1: do with sports. So words inspire me and settle me,

1038
01:00:45,880 --> 01:00:48,680
Speaker 1: and you will find me probably lost in a book

1039
01:00:48,760 --> 01:00:51,080
Speaker 1: or like a New Yorker somewhere.

1040
01:00:52,040 --> 01:00:57,480
Speaker 3: I again really appreciated your openness talking about your experience

1041
01:00:57,680 --> 01:01:01,200
Speaker 3: as a gay woman, and when you say community not

1042
01:01:01,360 --> 01:01:04,120
Speaker 3: only with you know the work that you're doing, citing

1043
01:01:04,160 --> 01:01:07,040
Speaker 3: the fact that so many women not just in the WNBA,

1044
01:01:07,160 --> 01:01:11,880
Speaker 3: but of course throughout sport share that in common. How

1045
01:01:11,920 --> 01:01:14,080
Speaker 3: does it feel for you now to be a part

1046
01:01:14,320 --> 01:01:19,240
Speaker 3: of this overwhelming community, that idea that if sometimes to

1047
01:01:19,280 --> 01:01:21,480
Speaker 3: be her, you need to see her like you're surrounded

1048
01:01:21,520 --> 01:01:24,680
Speaker 3: by her now. So how does it feel these days

1049
01:01:24,720 --> 01:01:28,480
Speaker 3: for you knowing that compared to where you came from?

1050
01:01:30,480 --> 01:01:34,040
Speaker 1: Oh, I feel like I have my people. Yeah, I

1051
01:01:34,080 --> 01:01:40,120
Speaker 1: feel settled. It's such a different existence. It actually feels

1052
01:01:40,160 --> 01:01:44,120
Speaker 1: so wild. Like the fifteen year old in Kentucky, it's

1053
01:01:44,120 --> 01:01:47,200
Speaker 1: almost like she didn't happen like it's just it's been.

1054
01:01:48,240 --> 01:01:52,080
Speaker 1: It's so wildly different from that time. Yeah, I certainly

1055
01:01:52,120 --> 01:01:54,880
Speaker 1: feel seen. It's gotten to a point where I don't

1056
01:01:54,880 --> 01:01:57,600
Speaker 1: even think. I don't describe myself as a gay woman, right,

1057
01:01:57,640 --> 01:01:59,960
Speaker 1: I just describe myself. But when I was growing up,

1058
01:02:00,120 --> 01:02:02,480
Speaker 1: that was the big label that I was so afraid of.

1059
01:02:02,640 --> 01:02:06,880
Speaker 1: And now it's just another detail about myself because I'm

1060
01:02:06,880 --> 01:02:10,040
Speaker 1: surrounded by so many people who are like me. I'm

1061
01:02:10,040 --> 01:02:15,280
Speaker 1: comfortable with my skin. I have that community. But also

1062
01:02:15,520 --> 01:02:18,560
Speaker 1: I get to make that community visible every single day.

1063
01:02:18,640 --> 01:02:21,480
Speaker 1: And it goes back to why I do what I do.

1064
01:02:21,640 --> 01:02:25,040
Speaker 1: There is a power and a privilege in my position,

1065
01:02:25,960 --> 01:02:28,840
Speaker 1: and what I love about that is I get to

1066
01:02:28,840 --> 01:02:30,560
Speaker 1: give it back to the people that don't have it.

1067
01:02:30,920 --> 01:02:34,120
Speaker 1: And yes, for me, it was probably as a young

1068
01:02:34,200 --> 01:02:37,960
Speaker 1: queer woman in Kentucky, and for other people it might

1069
01:02:38,000 --> 01:02:40,240
Speaker 1: be something different. And I get to listen and pay

1070
01:02:40,280 --> 01:02:45,360
Speaker 1: attention and use myself, you know, together as sort of

1071
01:02:45,360 --> 01:02:48,640
Speaker 1: a conduit to make sure that that visibility exists, because

1072
01:02:48,720 --> 01:02:51,440
Speaker 1: when I was growing up as a gay woman, it

1073
01:02:51,520 --> 01:02:52,960
Speaker 1: didn't in the mid nineties.

1074
01:02:53,840 --> 01:02:58,440
Speaker 3: I love all of the I get too's within your responses.

1075
01:03:00,040 --> 01:03:01,480
Speaker 2: I to you right now, Jess.

1076
01:03:01,720 --> 01:03:06,000
Speaker 1: This literally, this conversation. I wake up every single day

1077
01:03:06,080 --> 01:03:10,080
Speaker 1: and I get to make micro decisions and sometimes really

1078
01:03:10,080 --> 01:03:14,000
Speaker 1: big decisions that hopefully impact the world and change the

1079
01:03:14,040 --> 01:03:16,760
Speaker 1: world and the culture that we exist in. But I

1080
01:03:16,800 --> 01:03:19,320
Speaker 1: also I get to do it with such an incredible team.

1081
01:03:19,440 --> 01:03:23,320
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm here talking about together as one person,

1082
01:03:23,440 --> 01:03:29,760
Speaker 1: but we are an incredible eighteen person mostly women identifying

1083
01:03:30,480 --> 01:03:34,640
Speaker 1: team who are some of the smartest and coolest and

1084
01:03:35,320 --> 01:03:38,480
Speaker 1: the most wonderful and creatively talented people I've ever met

1085
01:03:38,520 --> 01:03:40,400
Speaker 1: in my life. And that feels like my family. So

1086
01:03:40,840 --> 01:03:42,400
Speaker 1: not only do I get to wake up every single

1087
01:03:42,480 --> 01:03:45,240
Speaker 1: day and you know, change the world through story, I

1088
01:03:45,280 --> 01:03:47,440
Speaker 1: get to do it with my people, and I get

1089
01:03:47,480 --> 01:03:49,880
Speaker 1: to do it with Alex and Sue and Chloe and Simone,

1090
01:03:49,880 --> 01:03:53,160
Speaker 1: And that is just wild to me. What a privileged

1091
01:03:54,080 --> 01:03:56,360
Speaker 1: position to be. And you know, not to say that

1092
01:03:56,400 --> 01:03:59,200
Speaker 1: it's not hard at times, but I this literally being

1093
01:03:59,240 --> 01:04:01,080
Speaker 1: in this moment, being to talk about it with you

1094
01:04:01,880 --> 01:04:03,120
Speaker 1: inspires and excites me.

1095
01:04:04,200 --> 01:04:09,000
Speaker 3: Aside from more representation within the media, what else do

1096
01:04:09,080 --> 01:04:13,360
Speaker 3: you hope for coverage of woman's sport going forward?

1097
01:04:16,720 --> 01:04:20,200
Speaker 1: I think we've all been existing on crumbs for so long.

1098
01:04:21,280 --> 01:04:23,840
Speaker 1: It's it's sort of what I mentioned earlier, it's cut

1099
01:04:23,840 --> 01:04:27,640
Speaker 1: the check and tell the story. I think I want

1100
01:04:27,680 --> 01:04:31,160
Speaker 1: to see not just more, but specific types of more.

1101
01:04:31,320 --> 01:04:34,360
Speaker 1: I want to see really intentional storytelling. I want when

1102
01:04:34,360 --> 01:04:40,320
Speaker 1: there's a you know, NWSL draft happening, for there to

1103
01:04:40,320 --> 01:04:43,080
Speaker 1: be like a pre show that breaks down the draft

1104
01:04:43,080 --> 01:04:45,440
Speaker 1: class and like who's going on and like what's like

1105
01:04:45,600 --> 01:04:49,440
Speaker 1: there's just not even enough. It's not just the quantity

1106
01:04:49,480 --> 01:04:52,480
Speaker 1: of story, it's the type and quality of story. And

1107
01:04:52,520 --> 01:04:58,480
Speaker 1: I think if the goal is to sort of undo

1108
01:04:58,640 --> 01:05:01,480
Speaker 1: that social construct that we view sports through a male lens,

1109
01:05:01,560 --> 01:05:04,760
Speaker 1: the only way we can do that is to reinvest

1110
01:05:04,800 --> 01:05:07,920
Speaker 1: and be consistent and the volume and the quality and

1111
01:05:07,960 --> 01:05:10,720
Speaker 1: the diversity of women's sports stories that we tell every

1112
01:05:10,760 --> 01:05:16,760
Speaker 1: single day, and it comes with intentional decision making. The

1113
01:05:16,840 --> 01:05:19,640
Speaker 1: beautiful thing that's happening right now is we don't have

1114
01:05:19,720 --> 01:05:22,400
Speaker 1: to rely on sort of the larger, more traditional media

1115
01:05:22,520 --> 01:05:26,360
Speaker 1: organizations to do that. What also inspires me is outside

1116
01:05:26,400 --> 01:05:29,400
Speaker 1: of Together, you have other women's sports focused brands that

1117
01:05:29,520 --> 01:05:33,080
Speaker 1: exist and are increasing. You have just women's sports, you

1118
01:05:33,080 --> 01:05:36,320
Speaker 1: have Highlight Her, you have the GISTs, you have a

1119
01:05:36,360 --> 01:05:41,400
Speaker 1: lot of like smaller but hyper focused women's sports newsletters

1120
01:05:41,400 --> 01:05:44,439
Speaker 1: that exist every single day. You have athletes coming into

1121
01:05:44,480 --> 01:05:47,960
Speaker 1: their own power on their own social platforms, growing their

1122
01:05:48,000 --> 01:05:53,360
Speaker 1: own communities, and monetizing against it. The top ten nil athletes,

1123
01:05:53,400 --> 01:05:56,640
Speaker 1: what is it, Seven of them are women and that's

1124
01:05:56,680 --> 01:06:01,160
Speaker 1: with no like massive media organization coming behind them except

1125
01:06:01,200 --> 01:06:05,240
Speaker 1: for maybe pagebackers. Like it is so exciting for me

1126
01:06:05,320 --> 01:06:10,000
Speaker 1: to see because the change has been happening for on

1127
01:06:10,000 --> 01:06:12,480
Speaker 1: the grassroots level for so long. And that again, that's

1128
01:06:12,480 --> 01:06:15,040
Speaker 1: where I say like people have been here, Like it's

1129
01:06:15,120 --> 01:06:18,280
Speaker 1: not like we're creating a new space. Like this space

1130
01:06:18,320 --> 01:06:22,440
Speaker 1: has been existing and just waiting, just waiting for the

1131
01:06:22,520 --> 01:06:25,240
Speaker 1: right time, and culture is catching up. We're having the

1132
01:06:25,320 --> 01:06:28,880
Speaker 1: necessary social conversation, social justice conversations that we need to have.

1133
01:06:29,320 --> 01:06:33,040
Speaker 1: We're focused on outside of sport and culture right sizing

1134
01:06:33,200 --> 01:06:37,520
Speaker 1: the pay inequity and opportunity for women in the workplace.

1135
01:06:37,680 --> 01:06:41,000
Speaker 1: Were it's sort of like the ground swell and the

1136
01:06:41,040 --> 01:06:42,959
Speaker 1: sort of the perfect storm of all the right things

1137
01:06:43,000 --> 01:06:45,760
Speaker 1: happening at the right time. But the most important thing

1138
01:06:45,920 --> 01:06:50,280
Speaker 1: is we're not waiting for legacy media companies to decide

1139
01:06:50,320 --> 01:06:52,720
Speaker 1: to invest. They have a power, they have massive power,

1140
01:06:52,760 --> 01:06:54,959
Speaker 1: and they could change it and pour like a lot

1141
01:06:55,000 --> 01:06:59,160
Speaker 1: of fuel on that fire. But these women, especially who

1142
01:06:59,200 --> 01:07:03,440
Speaker 1: are starting their own news media organizations or consumer facing brands,

1143
01:07:03,680 --> 01:07:06,640
Speaker 1: who're creating their own merch and selling it to women's

1144
01:07:06,640 --> 01:07:09,720
Speaker 1: sports fans. These athletes who are creating their own platforms

1145
01:07:09,720 --> 01:07:12,080
Speaker 1: on their social channels or with a company like Together,

1146
01:07:12,560 --> 01:07:15,520
Speaker 1: have decided to take it into their own hands and

1147
01:07:15,560 --> 01:07:18,480
Speaker 1: build something so big and so cool and so powerful

1148
01:07:19,000 --> 01:07:22,080
Speaker 1: that everyone else is going to be forced to follow.

1149
01:07:22,680 --> 01:07:25,560
Speaker 1: Brands are going to follow, large media organizations are going

1150
01:07:25,600 --> 01:07:29,520
Speaker 1: to have to follow because it's going to be undeniable.

1151
01:07:30,520 --> 01:07:33,880
Speaker 3: Your excitement is contagious, and we love a page backer,

1152
01:07:33,920 --> 01:07:38,280
Speaker 3: as mentioned because I am a University of Connecticut alumni.

1153
01:07:39,520 --> 01:07:41,080
Speaker 1: Ooh, I'm a Lady Vols fan.

1154
01:07:41,240 --> 01:07:44,480
Speaker 2: Is this where we oh? No good thing? We're coming

1155
01:07:44,520 --> 01:07:45,160
Speaker 2: to a close here?

1156
01:07:48,240 --> 01:07:51,360
Speaker 3: Well, you know, as I wind down here a question

1157
01:07:51,440 --> 01:07:54,480
Speaker 3: I ask everyone that comes on the show. We know

1158
01:07:54,640 --> 01:07:57,920
Speaker 3: you no longer feel like that fifteen year old in

1159
01:07:58,000 --> 01:08:01,720
Speaker 3: Kentucky these days, But when you look in the mirror, Jess,

1160
01:08:02,080 --> 01:08:04,200
Speaker 3: who is it that you see looking back at you?

1161
01:08:07,920 --> 01:08:11,240
Speaker 1: I do I actually see that young girl? I don't.

1162
01:08:11,520 --> 01:08:14,160
Speaker 1: I don't see that life anymore because it's so far

1163
01:08:14,200 --> 01:08:18,600
Speaker 1: from my reality, but I have, especially the work that

1164
01:08:18,680 --> 01:08:21,160
Speaker 1: I do now, I have a lot of full circle moments,

1165
01:08:22,320 --> 01:08:24,640
Speaker 1: a lot of can you can you believe this? Like

1166
01:08:24,720 --> 01:08:28,280
Speaker 1: I went to the White House with Megan Rappino when

1167
01:08:28,320 --> 01:08:32,120
Speaker 1: she got her Presidential Medal of Freedom, and I'm thinking

1168
01:08:32,120 --> 01:08:35,080
Speaker 1: about that girl who was watching the ninety six of

1169
01:08:35,080 --> 01:08:37,280
Speaker 1: the Olympic team or the ninety nine ers and just

1170
01:08:37,320 --> 01:08:39,880
Speaker 1: being so and like, what that is my life now?

1171
01:08:40,439 --> 01:08:44,799
Speaker 1: And I'm outside of I get to tell those stories

1172
01:08:44,840 --> 01:08:48,040
Speaker 1: that were so formative for me. I'm a part of

1173
01:08:48,080 --> 01:08:53,200
Speaker 1: a bigger community that I at once felt very isolated

1174
01:08:53,240 --> 01:08:57,719
Speaker 1: from or didn't think that it existed, and now it's here.

1175
01:08:58,479 --> 01:09:02,600
Speaker 1: So when I when I look at that mirror and

1176
01:09:02,680 --> 01:09:07,000
Speaker 1: I see that girl, I think, Wow, a lot has changed.

1177
01:09:07,640 --> 01:09:10,280
Speaker 1: But I also kind of think she just needed to

1178
01:09:10,320 --> 01:09:14,800
Speaker 1: let life happen. I was so worried about what would

1179
01:09:14,800 --> 01:09:17,679
Speaker 1: be next and creating a path and following a plan

1180
01:09:17,800 --> 01:09:19,559
Speaker 1: and how do I get to Rolling Stone? And then

1181
01:09:19,560 --> 01:09:21,360
Speaker 1: from there what do I do? Because I've peaked at

1182
01:09:21,360 --> 01:09:23,880
Speaker 1: twenty one and like what happens now? Where do I go?

1183
01:09:24,120 --> 01:09:27,000
Speaker 1: And who am I? And who am I Dating's? Who

1184
01:09:27,080 --> 01:09:31,120
Speaker 1: can I say? This like, just let life happen and

1185
01:09:31,160 --> 01:09:33,800
Speaker 1: you can't answer the You can't answer the questions, the

1186
01:09:34,040 --> 01:09:35,320
Speaker 1: life has to answer them for you.

1187
01:09:36,640 --> 01:09:37,519
Speaker 2: Let life happen.

1188
01:09:38,080 --> 01:09:41,439
Speaker 3: I would be remiss if I didn't ask you because

1189
01:09:41,640 --> 01:09:45,719
Speaker 3: we've dropped a few pretty big names over the last hour.

1190
01:09:46,200 --> 01:09:50,400
Speaker 3: Is there anyone that you've met that you just completely

1191
01:09:50,439 --> 01:09:52,360
Speaker 3: geeked out and lost your shit with?

1192
01:09:52,880 --> 01:09:55,240
Speaker 1: I mean there's some like legends and sports, like I

1193
01:09:55,320 --> 01:09:57,880
Speaker 1: met Cynthia Cooper, but it wasn't like this big moment.

1194
01:09:57,880 --> 01:09:59,479
Speaker 1: It was just like, holy shit, that Cynthia Cooper.

1195
01:10:01,160 --> 01:10:03,280
Speaker 3: I guess you know as I asked that question, like

1196
01:10:03,360 --> 01:10:05,519
Speaker 3: it wouldn't be odd if you did. But I also

1197
01:10:05,680 --> 01:10:08,080
Speaker 3: do feel like you get to a certain place in

1198
01:10:08,120 --> 01:10:11,280
Speaker 3: your career at least this is where I am, and

1199
01:10:11,320 --> 01:10:13,080
Speaker 3: I'd be curious if you feel the same that it's

1200
01:10:13,160 --> 01:10:18,840
Speaker 3: like just us shared respect more than a point where

1201
01:10:18,840 --> 01:10:21,360
Speaker 3: I'm like, oh, I can't believe I'm in this situation.

1202
01:10:21,600 --> 01:10:24,520
Speaker 3: Like yes, maybe a little bit of that, and also

1203
01:10:25,160 --> 01:10:28,360
Speaker 3: like I've worked hard to be in this situation and

1204
01:10:28,439 --> 01:10:30,920
Speaker 3: I feel fortunate to be in your company instead of

1205
01:10:31,000 --> 01:10:34,439
Speaker 3: just completely like I'm going to lose my shit.

1206
01:10:36,760 --> 01:10:38,920
Speaker 1: There's a lot of rooms that I get to be

1207
01:10:39,040 --> 01:10:43,639
Speaker 1: in with not just powerful women in sport, but powerful

1208
01:10:43,720 --> 01:10:47,200
Speaker 1: women in culture. Yeah, and the people who take me

1209
01:10:47,960 --> 01:10:51,760
Speaker 1: like a back are more those sort of like cultural

1210
01:10:52,120 --> 01:10:56,599
Speaker 1: icons who have changed the landscape for all of us,

1211
01:10:57,240 --> 01:11:02,759
Speaker 1: including sport. So recently. An example that comes to mind

1212
01:11:03,080 --> 01:11:08,040
Speaker 1: because I do love words and because I lean towards

1213
01:11:08,040 --> 01:11:11,280
Speaker 1: culture when I'm thinking about this question, I was in

1214
01:11:11,320 --> 01:11:15,479
Speaker 1: the same space and got to meet Roxanne Gay and

1215
01:11:16,560 --> 01:11:19,880
Speaker 1: it was such I don't even remember what I said,

1216
01:11:20,000 --> 01:11:22,200
Speaker 1: and not because I was like nervous or anything, just

1217
01:11:22,200 --> 01:11:23,800
Speaker 1: like it was one of those moments where it was like,

1218
01:11:23,920 --> 01:11:28,720
Speaker 1: I have read your words and consumed your ideology, and

1219
01:11:28,800 --> 01:11:31,880
Speaker 1: so much of that inspires me and has infused into

1220
01:11:31,920 --> 01:11:34,080
Speaker 1: some of the work that I do, and so many

1221
01:11:34,120 --> 01:11:36,639
Speaker 1: of the women athletes I work with love your work

1222
01:11:37,200 --> 01:11:39,600
Speaker 1: and connect with you, including Megan Rapino. And it was

1223
01:11:39,760 --> 01:11:43,680
Speaker 1: just sort of this moment where it's like I am

1224
01:11:43,680 --> 01:11:46,679
Speaker 1: in a position to be in the same room as

1225
01:11:47,000 --> 01:11:54,200
Speaker 1: now Roxanne Gay, who is impacting culture in a shared

1226
01:11:54,360 --> 01:11:58,320
Speaker 1: but very different way, and those moments to me are

1227
01:11:58,360 --> 01:11:59,519
Speaker 1: really surreal.

1228
01:12:01,200 --> 01:12:05,559
Speaker 3: Definitely definitely well. I'm so glad again that we were

1229
01:12:05,600 --> 01:12:08,360
Speaker 3: able to carve out the time for this. Before I

1230
01:12:08,479 --> 01:12:11,240
Speaker 3: let you go, one final question. You have an opportunity

1231
01:12:11,320 --> 01:12:14,679
Speaker 3: right now, Jess, to offer yourself a piece of advice.

1232
01:12:15,120 --> 01:12:18,439
Speaker 3: Back when you knew that you were were ready to

1233
01:12:18,640 --> 01:12:23,120
Speaker 3: leave the music space, You are ready to pivot a

1234
01:12:23,160 --> 01:12:27,160
Speaker 3: bit and continue telling stories in a different way. Knowing

1235
01:12:27,160 --> 01:12:30,080
Speaker 3: what you know now, what do you say to yourself

1236
01:12:30,120 --> 01:12:31,920
Speaker 3: back then, during that hurtle moment?

1237
01:12:33,320 --> 01:12:39,799
Speaker 1: Jump jump? Do it? You know your gut is your compass.

1238
01:12:39,960 --> 01:12:43,160
Speaker 1: You already know, you feel it in your bones. You

1239
01:12:43,240 --> 01:12:47,080
Speaker 1: will not be satisfied unless you do this thing, because

1240
01:12:47,120 --> 01:12:49,280
Speaker 1: that's who you are. You live and die by your gut.

1241
01:12:50,240 --> 01:12:53,200
Speaker 1: So take that chance. There is no such thing as

1242
01:12:53,479 --> 01:12:55,479
Speaker 1: There's no such thing as failure. There's only lessons.

1243
01:12:56,479 --> 01:12:59,920
Speaker 3: No such thing as failure, only lessons. Again, so glad

1244
01:13:00,080 --> 01:13:01,840
Speaker 3: we were able to make this happen, Jess. How do

1245
01:13:01,920 --> 01:13:04,280
Speaker 3: the hurdlers follow along with you? How do they keep

1246
01:13:04,320 --> 01:13:06,080
Speaker 3: up with you? How do they keep up with together?

1247
01:13:06,439 --> 01:13:07,800
Speaker 3: Give me the details.

1248
01:13:08,800 --> 01:13:14,320
Speaker 1: Follow together on all your favorite social platforms TikTok, Instagram, Twitter,

1249
01:13:14,720 --> 01:13:19,679
Speaker 1: We'll see what happens there. We're all there. Please follow, YouTube, follow, subscribe, like, engage,

1250
01:13:19,840 --> 01:13:22,840
Speaker 1: share all of those things and together, or at least

1251
01:13:22,840 --> 01:13:25,639
Speaker 1: for me specifically. You'll find me mostly on Instagram at

1252
01:13:25,720 --> 01:13:26,960
Speaker 1: Jess M Robertson.

1253
01:13:27,760 --> 01:13:31,120
Speaker 3: And make sure that you are spelling together right. How

1254
01:13:31,120 --> 01:13:31,960
Speaker 3: do they spell together?

1255
01:13:32,439 --> 01:13:35,479
Speaker 1: It's together with an ex so t og E t

1256
01:13:36,400 --> 01:13:38,000
Speaker 1: XR beautiful.

1257
01:13:38,240 --> 01:13:40,599
Speaker 3: I will say I checked out the YouTube in preparation

1258
01:13:40,680 --> 01:13:42,479
Speaker 3: for this, and I feel as though I could watch

1259
01:13:42,520 --> 01:13:45,960
Speaker 3: the together YouTube for at least seventy two hours straight.

1260
01:13:46,400 --> 01:13:47,519
Speaker 1: Please go do that right now.

1261
01:13:49,240 --> 01:13:49,679
Speaker 2: Amazing.

1262
01:13:49,720 --> 01:13:53,000
Speaker 3: I'm over at Emily Abodi and at Hurdle Podcast Another

1263
01:13:53,040 --> 01:13:54,280
Speaker 3: Hurdle conquered.

1264
01:13:54,600 --> 01:13:55,599
Speaker 2: Catch you guys next time