WEBVTT - TRUE GRIT 0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:04.240 What do you think could the most recognizable pool player 0:00:04.320 --> 0:00:07.280 on the planet, a world champion right number one, known 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:11.959 as the Black Widow, disguise herself and hustle a guy 0:00:12.000 --> 0:00:15.360 out of all the money in his pocket. Ginette Lee 0:00:15.520 --> 0:00:17.720 got a phone call one day from the great Rick Riley, 0:00:17.720 --> 0:00:20.400 of a sports illustrated who wrote a backpage column called 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:23.680 The Life of Riley. He asked her that very question. 0:00:25.239 --> 0:00:28.280 He had asked me, have you ever do you think 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:32.240 you could hustle now? And like, no, you know, everybody 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:34.400 would recognize me. And he was like, but what you know, 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:37.280 what if we changed everything, changed the way you look? 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:40.000 And I said, oh no, then yeah, I mean I 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:42.320 wouldn't want to be I don't get any It's like 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:45.440 a bully picking on the low kid. It doesn't do 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:47.239 anything for me. He was like, no, we should do it. 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:50.000 We should do an article, and so he flew into Indianapolis, 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:53.519 where we live. We um George made some call, my 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:56.160 ex had made some calls, and we picked a Mark 0:00:56.360 --> 0:01:00.800 who was coming out of a bar across town and 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:04.760 we had Rake be like my pimp daddy, and you know, 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:08.160 he had like a wife beater shirt and the Navy 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:12.360 bowling hat. And you know, God knows what. And and 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:16.039 I had put on a black you know, I mean 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:19.800 like an auburn red wig and glasses and like skin 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:24.520 tight like one piece denim with my Newport's cigarettes and 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:28.480 my you know, spurn off eyes. And we hustled a 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:32.400 guy to eventually lose all the money in his pocket, 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:36.560 which was about seven and eventually he gave it back 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:38.679 after the story, and it was it was great, but 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:43.080 it was one of his pieces. I love that the 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:47.040 Black Widow spins her web in disguise and then gives 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:50.760 the mark his seven hundred bucks back. But how did 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:54.440 the shy daughter of Korean immigrants who had a severely 0:01:54.520 --> 0:02:00.400 curved spine was bullied transformed into the black Widow. It 0:02:00.440 --> 0:02:04.320 goes to this episode's title, true Grit. Jeanette Lee embodies 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:09.040 it the courage, resilience, relentless drive. Coming up, she tells 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:12.280 a story of pain tolerance that's up there with anything 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:15.919 I've heard in thirty five years covering athletes in all 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:19.800 sorts of sports. But each and every day Jeanette gets 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:24.640 by on grit and toughness. My other guests, Jay billis 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:28.680 ESPNS lead college basketball analyst and an attorney has steadied 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:31.880 toughness and wrote a best seller on it, drawing from 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:35.440 examples of the toughest people he's known from all backgrounds. 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:39.440 You talk about a positive influence that what you know 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:42.880 what in my life is so difficult, in such an 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:46.959 obstacle that I can't deal with it with the positive 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:51.000 attitude that a young woman with a geoblastoma had, like 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:54.360 I can't match that attitude with the tiny little molehill 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:58.320 obstacles I have when she had that the scale that 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:00.360 that was another one for me just in writing the 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:04.280 book that I said, man Um, I may think I've 0:03:04.360 --> 0:03:06.000 I've got a little bit of toughness in me, but 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:10.280 it's not close to Sabrina Lewandowski. Later, Jay offers valuable 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:15.840 ideas on developing mental toughness. But first Janette Lee and 0:03:15.880 --> 0:03:21.320 they're empowering example. It's a unique journey. At age twelve, 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:24.680 the course of her life change when she developed scoliosis 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:29.760 sideways curvature of the spine. Jeanette's case was severe and 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:34.480 debilitating to eighteen inch metal rods were implanted in her back. 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:41.400 She says it was excruciating physically and emotionally, something that 0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:46.320 is not known to be a lethal disease. But it 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:51.080 is something that really affects your life, not just in 0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:54.160 the way that you look, which you know, a lot 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:58.200 of it happens more girls than boys. Um, you discovered 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:01.240 a lot of times in your early teams are just 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:05.400 in your early childhood development. And and to then see 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:09.080 that and be it. For me, it was when I 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:11.320 was like twelve, So you're just starting to like boys 0:04:11.440 --> 0:04:15.600 and just starting to form your own identity and you know, 0:04:16.000 --> 0:04:19.080 start worrying more about what you look like. And and 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:21.840 for me, actually in New York, being born and raised 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:24.280 in Brooklyn, New York, it was an all black neighborhood, 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:27.520 and so I was the minority, and I was the 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:30.719 one ching chong chali wang and all this stuff, you know, 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:34.839 going to school, and so I already felt very much 0:04:35.200 --> 0:04:38.279 like an outcast, you know what you mean. And so 0:04:38.480 --> 0:04:42.560 then now you know, having to have this major spinal 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:47.680 fusion and where this giant cast and then for the 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:52.640 next year this big plastic brace, and um, it was. 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:56.800 It was definitely the worst time of my life to 0:04:56.920 --> 0:04:59.640 that point. And those are some serious challenges. You talked 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:04.920 about it, feeling racism as a kid, being bullied, feeling different, 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:06.880 not to mention dealing with a whole lot of pain, 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:09.600 and I'm sure experts telling you you're not gonna be 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:12.120 able to do this. It became about what you can't do, 0:05:12.480 --> 0:05:15.080 the limitations, and not what you can do. So what 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:18.960 got you through that? I remember back then, Um, I'm 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:22.520 a Christian. My whole family was raised as Christians, and 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:25.400 my my mom has always been a devout Christian. And 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:28.360 I remember her saying to me when I was laid 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:32.000 up in bed, you know, after surgery and being miserable 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:35.400 and feeling like the world is so unfair and why 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:40.120 is this happening to me, and her saying let us pray, 0:05:40.360 --> 0:05:43.599 and her saying, well, God has a great plan for you. 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:48.640 And like any teenager got shut up, Mom, you don't understand, 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:53.000 you don't know what it's like. And and she just 0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:58.640 kept saying that sometimes we may not understand why something happens, 0:05:59.760 --> 0:06:02.960 but it that God has a greater plan, right, And 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:06.280 so I wasn't buying into that. It was just life stinks, 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:11.840 everything's unfair. And then later I continued on um, and 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:14.640 she always said, you have gifts and you have to 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:18.559 be open to discovering what that is. And you can't 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:21.520 do it feeling sorry for yourself on your couch. You 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:24.200 need to go out, get off the TV, get out there, 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:26.720 like you know, and go out and do things and 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:30.479 try things and always just be open. You've talked about 0:06:30.640 --> 0:06:34.800 just the way that the universe guided you, or whether 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:37.960 it was divine, whatever your belief, to find pool, because 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:40.560 it wasn't just the scoliosis. You were going through some 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:44.720 troubled times in your teenage years and lo and behold, boom, 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:47.560 here's this sport. It wouldn't be the first thing you'd 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:50.680 expect a girl from Brooklyn to run into. And now 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:54.159 you sent you what was that kind of a lightbulb 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:57.760 moment when you realize this is something for me and 0:06:57.800 --> 0:07:01.279 this could really be important. I remember when I was younger, 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:04.400 I was a bit of a tomboy. I loved being active. 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:08.400 I loved playing ball um with the kids. And I'm 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:12.520 talking about an elementary school so in my and then eventually, 0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:15.680 because of what I was saying, that racism, the bullying, 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:18.560 some of the other things, my mom transferred me to 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:23.160 a private school in the city, which she she regrets 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:25.720 to this day. It was in Greenwich Village, you know, 0:07:26.000 --> 0:07:29.160 And so in a private school it's it's great in 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:31.680 some ways, but you have access to a lot more 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:33.800 things that can get you in trouble. And I was 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:37.520 being a bit of a teenage delinquent and being rebellious 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:41.920 and things like that. And after after scoliosis my spinal fusion, 0:07:42.680 --> 0:07:45.920 I could no longer run be the tomboy. I had 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:49.160 to be way less active. And they kept saying, you know, 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:52.080 within a couple of years, you should be fine. Um well, 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:54.000 they would say in six to nine months, and then 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:56.560 a year, and then two years, and then they were like, 0:07:56.720 --> 0:08:00.160 now you probably I just should expect that you Now, 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:03.360 this is quite possibly the best that you're going to get. 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:06.520 Jeanette was forced to accept that playing all the sports 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:10.840 that she loved would now be impossible. Eventually, your high 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:14.520 school boyfriend took her to play pool. The Color of Money, 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:19.080 starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise, had made pool cool again. 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:22.000 New billiard rooms are opening up all over New York. 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:24.840 So one night, when she was eighteen, Jeanette walked into 0:08:24.880 --> 0:08:27.840 a pool room near where she worked and laid eyes 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:31.640 on a stranger who would completely change the course of 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:35.280 her life. And so I'm in there and I remember 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:38.559 all this noise and things going on, and in the 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:41.320 far back corner of the room there was an older 0:08:41.360 --> 0:08:47.280 gentleman playing by himself and he was it was almost 0:08:47.320 --> 0:08:49.559 like you're in a in a movie twilight Zone and 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:52.680 everything black sat and you're like you focused on this 0:08:52.880 --> 0:08:55.960 one table and I could almost almost felt like my 0:08:56.120 --> 0:08:59.240 breathing was in sync with his. And he was just 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:02.160 it was like he made the cube all dance. I mean, 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:05.320 he was just so graceful and he made everything look 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:10.800 so easy, and I just this is just beautiful. And then, um, 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:13.520 so I started going there more often. There were more 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:16.440 and more players that were really, really good. But I 0:09:16.480 --> 0:09:22.840 remember that first night that I saw him. I was looking, 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:25.600 I was analyzing and looking at his stance and I 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:29.680 remember making my hand in the shape of a bridge 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:35.720 and I just kept practicing because it feels so like uncomfortable, 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:38.800 and I did that. And I don't remember how long 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:41.960 I sat there, because because I would imagine somewhere between 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:44.640 fifteen and eighteen hours, and it was a twenty four 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:49.680 hour place. But there was one straight in there. Oh yeah, 0:09:49.840 --> 0:09:52.520 but and that was normal. But that was my first time. 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:55.520 That was the first time that I just fell in 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:59.400 love with what I was seeing, and so it really 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:03.640 did beca I'm an exception um an obsession. But I 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:07.360 think that anytime you see someone really good at what 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:10.960 they do, it's it's most morizing. That is a vivid 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:13.760 picture that you painted, that kind of the heyday pool, 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:17.600 the glamour days thanks to the hustler, and so this 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:21.520 mix of people, the Wall Street guys full of bravado 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:25.240 and pockets full of cash, the pool hustlers who who 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:28.440 wanted that cash? And they were they were playing their 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:30.520 own games, I mean, and how did you fit in 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:32.439 and what did they make of you when you walked 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:36.080 into that room? As I said, there weren't a lot 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:41.319 of women playing pool seriously, right, So eventually I did 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:44.120 stand out because I was I became that was my 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:46.960 second home, that became my second homes there all the time, 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:51.480 I would say most of the time. I mean I 0:10:51.520 --> 0:10:54.760 would say that I feel like the hustle that I 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:59.160 did was just me being a woman, because I mean, 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:03.320 I was always very competitive, so they could see my game. 0:11:03.559 --> 0:11:06.640 I feel like they could see my general game, but 0:11:06.840 --> 0:11:09.960 just because I was a woman, maybe they had some 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:14.200 blinders on where they didn't really equate whether they could 0:11:14.200 --> 0:11:16.720 beat me well, because most of the times it really didn't. 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:21.200 It didn't take effort or lying so much. It was 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:23.679 that I could see their game for what it was, 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:28.520 and I feel like time and time and time again, 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:32.640 I was underestimated and I read the reward of that. 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:37.080 So yeah, I would say that, And the regular hustlers 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:40.160 didn't really pick on me. If anything, they would make 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:44.200 a deal. Listen, I've been feeding off this fish every 0:11:44.240 --> 0:11:47.280 Friday for the last blil blaiflies, he's only good for 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:50.319 you know, fifty dollars, just said, and blah blah blah blah. 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:52.040 If you want to go in there, then you can. 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:54.320 You know. That's what the mark was called. The fish 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:57.840 was what the it was what the hustlers called the marketing. Yeah, 0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:03.280 usually fish. You know, you pretty quickly had some incredible 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:06.000 success and became one of the most recognizable players. Once 0:12:06.000 --> 0:12:09.000 you reach that, there's no way you're gonna hustle somebody. 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:10.640 They're gonna be they're gonna be looking out for you. 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:13.640 I mean, they're gonna say beware of the black widow. 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:16.680 I mean, when you had this success and you're in 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:19.319 your early twenties and this is the thing, we're supposed 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:22.040 to take years and years to hone skills, to deal 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:26.160 with the pressure of of tournament pool and and being 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:29.360 able to understand how different it is when there's a 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:32.880 title and the money on the line versus being practicing 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:36.520 in the back room. I mean, did this success catch 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:39.480 yourself off guard? You're not supposed to win the Women's 0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:44.199 Nationals and the US Open nine ball at the age 0:12:44.240 --> 0:12:46.480 you were, not only were you female, if you're so 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:48.840 young in the game, is this what did you just 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:50.880 act like? Hey, I expected this, this is what I'm 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:53.600 supposed to I'm supposed to win. No, because no matter 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:57.720 I mean I I will say that. Um, I think 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:00.480 I turned pro in three years, and after a year 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:03.080 and a half of becoming pro, I became number one. 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:07.080 So it was But that's crazy, Jeanette, that everybody, a 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:09.160 million people must have told you that's just not supposed 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:11.839 to happen. That's just great put to put in perspective 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:15.960 for folks. How unusual that is to skyrocket that quickly 0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:18.960 in your sport. Yeah. I still haven't met anyone that 0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:24.080 has attained anything like that in my lifetime, let alone 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:27.319 Before that, you go from being here's this new sensation. Wow, 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:28.960 this is going to be good for the sport of pool. 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:32.160 We've got a new star too. Now you're on top 0:13:32.920 --> 0:13:35.559 and all the stuff that comes with that. Now you're 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:38.559 a target, you're the one to beat. It's natural in 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:42.320 a sport that jealousy and resentment are part of that 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:45.720 because you're achieving things that are beyond just the success 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:48.520 and the tournaments. You're obviously getting noticed, you're getting endorsements. 0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:52.439 How was the climate and what kinds of things did 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:54.559 you have to deal with there? You find the sport 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:56.600 to get you out of being an outcast, main bullied, 0:13:56.600 --> 0:13:58.280 and now there's the pressure of being at the top 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:00.480 and there's all people want to take a run at there. 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:04.160 It was that there was some jealousy. I think that 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:08.120 a lot of people didn't think that I earned the 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:12.480 attention I was getting. And I did stand out because 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:16.000 I was the only minority or actually there was Vivian Balurial. 0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:20.400 It was Latino, but it was otherwise fully Caucasian, you know, 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:24.240 all the players and me being from New York dressing 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:27.520 in all black, which for New Yorker is very normal, 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:31.360 but um, I just really stood out and so getting 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:34.600 all that attention and I felt very alone. I remember 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:37.120 my first title, the first time I won a major. 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:41.840 Um After I won, I mean, everyone cleared out, and 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:45.400 I went into the restaurant attached to that club, and 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:47.600 and everybody was sitting down and eating and not one 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:50.760 person congratulated me or asked me to join them at 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:53.840 their table. And I went to my hotel room and cried. 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:57.760 And that was my first major win. So it was 0:14:58.520 --> 0:15:02.160 it was very, very low at the top because of 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:06.000 how I started. Whenever I play in tournaments, I make 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:09.560 a point to go out of my way to any 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:13.640 players I don't recognize that are new and introduce myself 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:16.640 to them and say, hey, do you want to sit together, 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:18.960 you want to grab a coffee, you want to practice together? 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:24.840 And they're all like, oh, I want to intentionally make 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:30.240 a difference based on my bad experiences, So I go 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:35.400 out of my way to to recognize and encourage new 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:38.360 players on the tour whenever I can, for those of 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:41.400 us that will never experience it. And you've talked about 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:43.880 the importance of confidence in this board. You can be 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:46.880 technically clean, you can you can be fine tuned for 0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:50.120 a tournament. When you walk to the table. That feeling 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:52.480 of confidence in the role that it plays, and and 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:55.520 kind of getting in the flow state or the zone 0:15:55.800 --> 0:15:59.520 or whatever you want to call whatever athlete expression is 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:06.000 used describe everything clicking. It's relaxed intensity together, which is 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:10.120 how a lot of athletes describe it. That's exactly right. Yeah, good. 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:14.000 When I'm playing my best pool, when I'm in the zone, 0:16:14.520 --> 0:16:17.040 all I focused on is the job at hand at 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:21.960 the table. But I helped myself get there more often 0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:25.560 by I actually have a little, um, it's like a 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:29.160 little business card size. And what I did was I 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:32.160 typed on a sheet of paper all of the things 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:37.760 that I do mentally right, um or my attitude. So 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:41.520 it'll say I stopped the table, you know, like a 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:45.200 I think it was like a panther or jaguar or 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:48.760 something like that. It says I stopped the table. Um. 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:56.040 I'm decisive at every opportunity. I look forward to. I 0:16:56.280 --> 0:16:59.800 rise at any case. You know. So basically, if they 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:02.360 and they leave me a crappy shot, I'm not gonna 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:05.399 sit there, piste off and feel like they got lucky. 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:09.040 I'm gonna step up and be like I'm ready at 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:12.280 least I'm here, let's go, you know. And And so 0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:14.879 I think about that, because I know when I'm playing 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:18.040 my best pool, there is no judgment, there is no past, 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:23.560 There's only this moment and an intense focus, but also 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:32.480 an aggressive kind of forward thinking, forward attitude um at 0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:36.000 at everything that I'm doing. You know, each moment to moment, 0:17:36.640 --> 0:17:40.960 it's looking at right now and giving a effort in 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:47.440 focus on getting the result that I want. It's truly incredible. 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:51.359 The Jeanette got the results, shooting to number one so quickly, 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:54.760 then battling to stay at the top while coping with 0:17:54.880 --> 0:18:01.720 constant pain from scoliosis, arthritis and autoimmune disease and surgery 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:06.280 after surgery. I worked so hard to become number one, 0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:09.159 and worked so hard to build this brand and have 0:18:09.280 --> 0:18:13.960 it all just you know, gone taken away so unfairly 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:16.520 and kind of going through again. And now I've had 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:20.879 a total of sixteen major surgeries um on my back, 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:23.639 on my neck, on my shoulder, on my leg. It's 0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:27.439 been a really big journey. And each time I was 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:30.760 miserable and mad, and each time I've grown from it. 0:18:31.119 --> 0:18:33.280 How much of that Jeanette was pushing pain out of there. 0:18:33.359 --> 0:18:36.959 We talked about the numerous surgeries and numerous ailments. The 0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:39.639 constant day to day pain. You're trying to deal with 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:44.879 pain in a sport where balance precision are are essential. 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:47.439 How do you push or how did you push the 0:18:47.520 --> 0:18:51.880 pain away and not have it become an unwanted part 0:18:51.880 --> 0:18:54.200 of your focus in those moments where you couldn't afford that. 0:18:54.520 --> 0:19:01.080 I remember one tournament, the Gentleman Jack's Dallas Shootout, where 0:19:01.720 --> 0:19:07.520 on the final day I was I was waiting for 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:13.880 my match to play against someone, and then right as 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:17.080 we were waiting, it was like ten minutes before we 0:19:17.119 --> 0:19:19.520 got called. Our match got called up, and I'm standing 0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:23.080 by the determined Starrett group and damn right through my 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:26.800 body and it literally knocked me to the ground where 0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:29.760 I would get these spasms, these back spasms, and it 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:34.480 would just that the intensity. And this was before um 0:19:34.480 --> 0:19:38.080 my surgeries in two thousand one, and it was so 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:40.000 bad that I couldn't even see straight, and I was 0:19:40.040 --> 0:19:42.440 embarrassing that all these people over me, and they were 0:19:42.480 --> 0:19:45.359 like calling and called the you know nine one and 0:19:45.400 --> 0:19:47.760 do all this other stuff and I was like no, no, no, no, 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:50.840 just give me a minute. And I was explained, no, 0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:54.119 this this happens, and it was it was normal. My 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:57.880 ex husband saught. I mean it, it happens a lot, 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:00.240 is I go through these pains, but it had didn't 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:03.080 happened at a tournament, and I generally hit it, and 0:20:03.119 --> 0:20:05.439 so it was shocking. And I said, just can you 0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:07.400 guys get me out of here because I was embarrassed. 0:20:07.440 --> 0:20:11.080 All the fans and everyone was watching. So finally, um, 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:13.600 they carry me to a bathroom and they get me 0:20:13.640 --> 0:20:15.439 a chair and I put my legs up so I 0:20:15.480 --> 0:20:21.800 can rest my back, and I remember my ex husband. 0:20:21.800 --> 0:20:23.280 I said, I don't know what to do. I can't 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:27.120 see straight. My eyes just kept tearing. And he said, 0:20:27.160 --> 0:20:30.280 this isn't worth all this, you know, it's just a tournament. 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:32.640 Just let's go home. You've done enough for your back. 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:35.800 And I was like, you know, one minute, I'm I'm 0:20:35.840 --> 0:20:38.160 calling him and I'm whining and crying, and then he's 0:20:38.200 --> 0:20:40.320 telling me that it's not worth it. Just quitn't come 0:20:40.320 --> 0:20:44.879 home and I and I was like, what, I'm not quitting. 0:20:45.520 --> 0:20:48.000 It's like, I didn't call you to tell me to quit. 0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:50.800 They're gonna have to peel me off that pool table 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:53.600 now that la And he was like, well, that's what 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:55.960 I thought you would say, But I just wanted to 0:20:56.000 --> 0:20:59.400 make sure you heard yourself say it. And he was like, 0:20:59.480 --> 0:21:03.000 if you and get down in pain to miss that ball, 0:21:03.359 --> 0:21:05.840 then you can get down to make that ball, and 0:21:05.920 --> 0:21:09.200 just make every time you put your body through that, 0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:15.000 make it count. Make the ball. And I remember just 0:21:15.119 --> 0:21:17.679 having them carry me up and then me being called 0:21:17.720 --> 0:21:20.879 in and I had like four minutes left on the 0:21:20.920 --> 0:21:24.040 shot clock, because you know you only have fifteen minutes 0:21:24.080 --> 0:21:27.359 before they forfeit you to the table, and I leant 0:21:27.560 --> 0:21:31.440 holding this pool que as my cane and the other 0:21:31.480 --> 0:21:36.119 hand on the table, and I walked um and played 0:21:36.200 --> 0:21:41.000 against Lena and bending down and the pain had tears 0:21:41.080 --> 0:21:44.280 so much that I had to like windshield wipe my 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:47.879 eyeballs and there were drops of tears on the pool 0:21:47.920 --> 0:21:50.960 table as I got down, and I'm blinking, and I 0:21:51.080 --> 0:21:54.600 just made ball after ball, and I beat Lena Shu's 0:21:54.680 --> 0:22:00.440 Vick from Norway, Gerda Hofstetter from Austria, um will send 0:22:00.560 --> 0:22:03.960 Fisher and then Karen Core in the finals to win 0:22:04.040 --> 0:22:07.920 that tournament. And it was the first and last time 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:11.560 I ever cried out of pool match. But I literally 0:22:11.600 --> 0:22:16.040 made that last fault, and the whole time feeling embarrassed 0:22:16.160 --> 0:22:20.080 and read and worrying about what people were thinking, if 0:22:20.119 --> 0:22:24.600 I'm baking this, or maybe I had just such. I 0:22:24.720 --> 0:22:28.160 was so insecure. Actually, if I think about it, and 0:22:28.160 --> 0:22:31.240 and one by one, and I could never have been 0:22:31.320 --> 0:22:36.040 more proud. There is no amount of prestige or money 0:22:36.200 --> 0:22:41.320 or glory that anyone could dawn upon me than me 0:22:41.560 --> 0:22:47.000 fighting through, fighting through that at every moment. And and 0:22:47.960 --> 0:22:50.320 you know, I've just done that for most of my career. 0:22:50.359 --> 0:22:54.720 But I remember that being so hard that my legs 0:22:54.800 --> 0:22:58.200 were like jello. I could hardly hold myself up because 0:22:58.200 --> 0:23:01.359 the pain it makes a somehow it affects my legs. 0:23:01.359 --> 0:23:05.240 I don't know. I just get weak and well, that 0:23:05.240 --> 0:23:07.720 that is extraordinary. I've covered a lot of sports, and 0:23:07.800 --> 0:23:10.120 thirty plus years, I've never heard a story like that. 0:23:10.320 --> 0:23:13.240 Tears of pain dropping onto the pool table. But fighting 0:23:13.280 --> 0:23:17.439 through that, I think you are certainly entitled to feel 0:23:18.320 --> 0:23:23.680 proud about that. Pain is still her constant companion. Jeanette 0:23:23.720 --> 0:23:26.760 says that sometimes getting out of bed is a struggle. 0:23:27.600 --> 0:23:31.520 She repeats this mantra over and over. You don't need 0:23:31.560 --> 0:23:36.040 to feel strong to be strong, That's what I say. Like, 0:23:36.160 --> 0:23:40.399 you don't have to wake up with a big, funny 0:23:40.520 --> 0:23:43.800 smile and be cheerful to everyone. You can be miserable, 0:23:44.920 --> 0:23:47.240 but sometimes the strongest thing you can do is just 0:23:47.280 --> 0:23:51.160 getting out of bed and and to recognize that it's 0:23:51.240 --> 0:23:54.679 just a matter of continue, you know, to keep going, 0:23:55.480 --> 0:23:58.480 to keep going and keep being open. And that's just 0:23:59.200 --> 0:24:03.360 kind of the way that I've learned to get the most, 0:24:03.359 --> 0:24:07.440