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Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we take

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Speaker 1: our pumpkins, spice in candle and pie form only. Thank

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Speaker 1: you very much. It's Monday, September twenty second, and on

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Speaker 1: today's show, we'll be skipping the need to know and

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Speaker 1: getting straight to my conversation with Round twenty one CEO

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Speaker 1: Jasmine Maeta. I caught up with her last week to

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Speaker 1: talk about leaving the safety of big corporations behind to

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Speaker 1: start her own business, the evolving landscape of independent brands

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Speaker 1: in the women's sports space, and benefiting from advice she

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Speaker 1: didn't take. If you've ever wondered about the behind the

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Speaker 1: scenes process that leads to your favorite merch or if

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Speaker 1: you need a nudge to get that passion project off

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Speaker 1: the ground, this conversation's for you. As for the start

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Speaker 1: of the WNBA semi Finals and the rest of the

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Speaker 1: weekend in sports, don't you worry. We'll be back tomorrow

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Speaker 1: with a full breakdown of all the goings on. Stick

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Speaker 1: around when we come back. A fantastic conversation with Jasmine

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Speaker 1: joining us today. She's the CEO of Round twenty one,

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Speaker 1: a lifestyle brand that partners with artists to reimagine sports

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Speaker 1: products as wearable and collectible art, and works to expand

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Speaker 1: the cultural impact of teams, leagues, and players through products

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Speaker 1: and experiences beyond the game. Formerly an execut spots including Peloton,

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Speaker 1: where she was a global brand VP and under Armour,

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Speaker 1: where she was at a marketing plus Hasbro and Reebok,

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Speaker 1: she was a college hooper at Boden and earned her

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Speaker 1: Masters in economics while also coaching at Trinity College, Hartford.

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Speaker 1: She's been known to wear a helmet to watch her

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Speaker 1: beloved New England Patriots play, and she needs to drop

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Speaker 1: the deets on the leather pants she wore a WNBA

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Speaker 1: All Star. It's Jasmine my ed.

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Speaker 2: Leather pants as part of my intro. That's a first.

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Speaker 1: I mean those were so fire though. Can you tell

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Speaker 1: us where you got them? Because you paired them with

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Speaker 1: a sick round twenty one top.

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Speaker 2: At that top was what we call courk couture by

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Speaker 2: any yes, exactly. I went to Neeman's and said fit me,

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Speaker 2: and they threw on leather pants. I was not expecting that.

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Speaker 1: Okay, well, if you find the label, shoot me a

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Speaker 1: DM because I want to try those suckers on before

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Speaker 1: we get to around twenty one. I want to start

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Speaker 1: with your sports bona fe des because there are pretty

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Speaker 1: legit star point guard in high school back in Oklahoma,

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Speaker 1: college ball at Boden, and you even spent some time

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Speaker 1: in Spain playing pro. So tell us a little bit

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Speaker 1: about your pro experience in Madrid. What was that like.

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Speaker 2: Well, that was back in the nineties, so it was

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Speaker 2: a different era for sure, but it was great. I mean,

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Speaker 2: to go and play overseas in a European league that

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Speaker 2: really equally appreciates the female and the male game at

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Speaker 2: the time was a real dream. But I always knew

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Speaker 2: that sport was a jumping off point for me. It

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Speaker 2: wasn't something in my family that was a professional endeavor.

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Speaker 2: So it was great to learn a new language and

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Speaker 2: go over there. But after a year, I was ready

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Speaker 2: for what was next. Still couldn't retire from the game,

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Speaker 2: but knew I wanted to come home.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, you went on to coach. You coached at

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Speaker 1: the high school level and at Trinity College, Hartford. While

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Speaker 1: you're studying there, you also got certified and worked as

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Speaker 1: a strength and conditioning coach. So at that time was

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Speaker 1: a lifetime of being a coach.

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Speaker 2: Kind of your plan one hundred percent my plan. I

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Speaker 2: felt like it was a way to stay close to

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Speaker 2: the game, and I really didn't have any confidence doing

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Speaker 2: anything else. I wanted to play as far as I could,

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Speaker 2: and then I wanted to coach as far as I could.

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Speaker 2: And this idea of strength and conditioning was a new

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Speaker 2: part of the coaching staff, and I always liked doing

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Speaker 2: things a little bit counterculture, so I wanted to see

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Speaker 2: if x's and o's versus strength and conditioning were the

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Speaker 2: path to take. So I did both for a while

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Speaker 2: and really ended up taking the strength and conditioning path

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Speaker 2: to be able to train athletes of all different sports

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Speaker 2: and to continue to give me a sense of i'd

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Speaker 2: say challenge as I matured in my career.

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Speaker 1: So you studied anthropology in school, and also you mentioned

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Speaker 1: that sports wasn't necessarily organic to your family. Your parents

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Speaker 1: were immigrants from India. I've spoken to so many first

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Speaker 1: gens and they all have the same story of doctor, lawyer, accountant.

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Speaker 1: Did you have the same expectations and when you said

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Speaker 1: all right, coaching, what was the response for mom and dad?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? I think they knew basketball was my identity even

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Speaker 2: from a very young age, so they didn't successfully change

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Speaker 2: that which there were i'd say natural encouragement moments like

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Speaker 2: how much can you go and play? You need to

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Speaker 2: stay true to your studies. That's kind of the way

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Speaker 2: that parents from India talk about school. And when I

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Speaker 2: went on to then play in Spain, I think they

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Speaker 2: recognized that this was actually a real important piece of

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Speaker 2: my identity that I wasn't going to easily change. But

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Speaker 2: when I came back, there was encouragement to try medical school.

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Speaker 2: There was encouragement by way of like, we'll pay for

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Speaker 2: you to go to medical school. I even sat, I

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Speaker 2: think for the l sat and never really you know,

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Speaker 2: took it seriously. But it wasn't It just wasn't natural

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Speaker 2: for me to leave the game. And I really do

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Speaker 2: think it was from a position of insecurity. But I

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Speaker 2: knew that if I could be the best at what

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Speaker 2: I could do, even if it was coaching, that I

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Speaker 2: would get a lot of fulfillment out of it. I

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Speaker 2: very famously in high school said, even if I become

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Speaker 2: a janitor, I'm going to be the best janitor. I'm

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Speaker 2: going to make brownies for the kids when they get

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Speaker 2: ready for championships. It was just always something that I

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Speaker 2: felt like that was what I had learned from my

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Speaker 2: parents was no matter the job, try to be the

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Speaker 2: best at it, and that I think they appreciated and

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Speaker 2: definitely saw that I was going to, you know, throw

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Speaker 2: the kitchen sink at whatever I did, and coaching was

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Speaker 2: going to be it.

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Speaker 1: But it wasn't because you end up pivoting into marketing.

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Speaker 1: So how did you decide to make that switch? And

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Speaker 1: then what did you learn from your time at places

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Speaker 1: like Reebok and under Armour about the sports apparel brand space.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so as a coach, I was a yeller like

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Speaker 2: I really was a yeller like Veins, and I would

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Speaker 2: come home just exhausted, and I felt like, in some

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Speaker 2: cases I felt like I wanted it more than the

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Speaker 2: players in a way, because I was coaching at the

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Speaker 2: Division III level and you know, they are there for

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Speaker 2: their studies. And so it was through the lens of

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Speaker 2: recruiting that I felt this is marketing. I'm expressing the

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Speaker 2: school's value to the mom and the dad. Differently, I'm

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Speaker 2: talking to the kid about the value. Differently. That's brand positioning.

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Speaker 2: Trying to make sure that the school was considered better

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Speaker 2: or at least a competitive choice relative to another school.

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Speaker 2: That's marketing, and so having recognized that, I felt like

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Speaker 2: they stay eighteen to twenty one. I kept getting older.

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Speaker 2: I'm a yeller. I'm tired, like there's got to be

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Speaker 2: a way to continue to grow in my career versus

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Speaker 2: just staying in kind of x's and o's. And so

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Speaker 2: I applied at Rebok. I applied famously for me three times,

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Speaker 2: and it was in a very short time. So it

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Speaker 2: kept feeling like they were bringing me in. And the

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Speaker 2: last time they said, we feel like we want somebody

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Speaker 2: like you, but you've never had your twenty six, you've

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Speaker 2: never worked in corporate. We just don't know. And finally somebody,

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Speaker 2: Marcus Wilson, took a chance on me and gave me

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Speaker 2: a position, and I stayed in kind of corporate global

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Speaker 2: roles after that for almost twenty years.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, twenty years working for as I mentioned, Peloton under

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Speaker 1: Armor hasbro Rebock. You're learning the space and many different

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Speaker 1: assets along the way, and then you decide I want

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Speaker 1: to branch out on my own. Months ago, you just

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Speaker 1: celebrated the five year anniversary of Round twenty one. So

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Speaker 1: tell us about starting the brand and why you wanted

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Speaker 1: to go out on your own instead of continuing to

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Speaker 1: have the safety of working at a big time brand.

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Speaker 2: Safety is true. Actually, that is something that you get

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Speaker 2: with that, and it's a great experience in your career

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Speaker 2: to work for a well established, mature corporate entity. When

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Speaker 2: I was at under Armour is where I recognized that

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Speaker 2: there was an alternative available that at least that I

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Speaker 2: saw that I wanted to see in sports, which was

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Speaker 2: at the time I was positioning it more as like

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Speaker 2: a brand for the people versus you know, just the

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Speaker 2: IP owners, the teams, the leagues. But I saw every

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Speaker 2: single season I would go and show kids shirts and shoes,

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Speaker 2: they cared more about their personal brand than the brand

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Speaker 2: that they were putting on. And I started to understand,

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Speaker 2: and I think this is the anthro legacy from my

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Speaker 2: college years, just observing they the brand wasn't the end goal.

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Speaker 2: The brand was actually arm or Nike or Adidas was

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Speaker 2: saying something about them, and I thought, well, why can't

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Speaker 2: they have brands. It ended up being three years before

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Speaker 2: I went and started round twenty one when I was

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Speaker 2: at under Armour, but I kept trying to figure out, well,

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Speaker 2: what would it mean if a brand was made with

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Speaker 2: the people for the people in sports? And tried to

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Speaker 2: think about a way to be what I would consider

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Speaker 2: of the times versus timeless, which so many brands in

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Speaker 2: sports are timeless and feel really good about being timeless.

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Speaker 2: I just wanted to do the antithesis of everything in

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Speaker 2: sports that put the value, proposition and power in the

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Speaker 2: hands of the people. And it was when COVID hit.

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Speaker 2: It was nothing to do with Peloton. At the time,

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Speaker 2: I was VP Global Brand at Peloton. The brand was

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Speaker 2: on its rise, the company was, you know, going into

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Speaker 2: amazing places. But I knew everyone was starting a new company,

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Speaker 2: from the most mature to the brand new, and I thought,

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Speaker 2: what a great time to start a new company, because

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Speaker 2: even if it fails, it's like this era no one's

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Speaker 2: lived in before. And it gave me the confidence to

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Speaker 2: go and see what would happen.

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Speaker 1: I want to get back to the COVID thing a

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Speaker 1: little bit, but I want to get to the start

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Speaker 1: of Round twenty one, because you're not the only female

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Speaker 1: founded brand that was sort of changing the space around

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Speaker 1: that time. We're big fans of Esther Wallace and play

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Speaker 1: a Society here and she launched that just a couple

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Speaker 1: years before Round twenty one, so obviously you both saw

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Speaker 1: that there was a space begging for change beyond what

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Speaker 1: you said about realizing that the consumer might have their

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Speaker 1: own brand or their own identity that they want to project.

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Speaker 1: In addition to this timeless sort of coverings that everyone

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Speaker 1: was offering, what else was missing in the industry And specifically,

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Speaker 1: why did you want to speak to fans of women's sport?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so, I mean, I think because I am a

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Speaker 2: woman and I played in the spirit of women's sports,

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Speaker 2: which is highly entrepreneurial. I mean even I remember as

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Speaker 2: a high school and college student, like the difference between

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Speaker 2: playing versus the boys team or the men's basketball team.

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Speaker 2: You don't even think about it, sadly, because it's so

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Speaker 2: expected that things are just going to be different back then,

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Speaker 2: and so recognizing that, I think there was a an

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Speaker 2: unconscious expectation that whatever Round twenty one would be was

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Speaker 2: going to be for all. That was really the operating principle,

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Speaker 2: including like the power in the hands of the people,

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Speaker 2: but also we were going to be for all men, women,

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Speaker 2: all in gender inclusive, and I think the vantage point

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Speaker 2: of starting something with that is that everything should be

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Speaker 2: for all, And so there wasn't a decision am I

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Speaker 2: going to start in men's sports and women's sports. It

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Speaker 2: was what's going to come naturally to me, and obviously

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Speaker 2: the basketball game came naturally to me. My network in

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Speaker 2: basketball came naturally to me. And when we started, I

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Speaker 2: knew that we weren't going to be writing big checks

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Speaker 2: the way big endorsers do to get into sports, like

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Speaker 2: a brand or you know, a licensed fee or something

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Speaker 2: like that, because I didn't have the money. I wanted

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Speaker 2: a place where the players came together that was unbranded,

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Speaker 2: and we started with ping pong. I don't know how

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Speaker 2: many people know that. I felt like, if you know,

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Speaker 2: you know, if you've spent time in locker rooms in

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Speaker 2: the NHL, the WN, the NBA, FIFA, there's a locker

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Speaker 2: room vibe around the ping pong table, and it's where

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Speaker 2: the players connect on their terms, and it's very laid

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Speaker 2: back and it's completely unbranded. So we started there and

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Speaker 2: our first ever order was from the NBA for the

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Speaker 2: Bubble season, and that Bubble season was, you know, incredibly

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Speaker 2: weighted with the conversations around social justice, and so the

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Speaker 2: artist we partnered with brought their lived experience through the

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Speaker 2: paddles and the ping pong table in the bubble and

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Speaker 2: created a forum for conversation around social justice. And so

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Speaker 2: it was a perfect manifestation for the values of Round

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Speaker 2: twenty one and now such a distant part of our history.

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Speaker 2: But it gave us access into the NBA, and our

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Speaker 2: first license was actually two on the same day with

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Speaker 2: the NFLPA and the WMBPA, because I really wanted to

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Speaker 2: make sure that we stood for the players, particularly as

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Speaker 2: you know we went into twenty one and you know,

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Speaker 2: Britney Grinder's situation was unfold. It was very important to

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Speaker 2: me that we were standing with the players for the players.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it feels strange for it to be

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Speaker 1: ping pong, but good and accurate that it would be

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Speaker 1: around this issue that was bringing people together, like you said,

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Speaker 1: a sort of a space that brings the athletes together.

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Speaker 1: And then the conversation matched sort of the message of

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Speaker 1: your products. So you start with ping pong. Do you

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Speaker 1: remember any of the other first products you launched with.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So we thought that why is the world only

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Speaker 2: collecting trading cards? There should be other things that reflect

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Speaker 2: our sports history in our life beyond the trading cards.

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Speaker 2: So we started with collectibles that were the thing you

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Speaker 2: played said something about who you are and this spirit

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Speaker 2: of like inflatables were new home goods, and so the basketball,

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Speaker 2: the WNBA Players Association basketball was one of our most

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Speaker 2: successful products in twenty twenty two, and that I think

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Speaker 2: was a success. It was widely distributed. Exporting goods took

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Speaker 2: the product, fanatics took the product. It was widely representative.

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Speaker 2: Leisha Clarendon was on the products superd Diana Trossi, Canvas Parker,

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Speaker 2: So that was like, oh, it's representative and there's a

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Speaker 2: commercial value, let's go. But quickly people who got that

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Speaker 2: basketball and put it on a shelf were like, how

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Speaker 2: many basketball am I going to collect? Do you have

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Speaker 2: a pail? And I just started to listen to where

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Speaker 2: they wanted to take the business, and we went where

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Speaker 2: they wanted.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know you mentioned too. There's this feeling, and

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Speaker 1: particularly I feel fans of women's sports so often conflate

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Speaker 1: their fandom or relate their fandom to the social issues

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Speaker 1: that they care about, and they want to wear the

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Speaker 1: message it is about who they are as much as

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Speaker 1: it is about who they root for. So it makes

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Speaker 1: a ton of sense that they would say, Okay, I

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Speaker 1: love this basketball and what it means, but only people

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Speaker 1: who come to my house get to see it. How

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Speaker 1: do I bring that message and that thing that I

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Speaker 1: want to share about myself out with me everywhere I go?

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Speaker 1: Which takes us back to your original sort of ethos

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Speaker 1: and seeing how people wanted to represent them and present themselves.

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Speaker 1: So with those things, and I wonder what you learned

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Speaker 1: about yourself in those early days of leaving the comforts

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Speaker 1: of corporate America to start something yourself.

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Speaker 2: Well, I learned that I don't know everything. Holy moly,

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Speaker 2: what a learning curve from everything to setting up quick

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Speaker 2: books properly in our first year, doing taxes as a

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Speaker 2: small business, to changing from LLC to INC too.

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Speaker 1: I just did that. You can ask my producers. I

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Speaker 1: would just come in and they'd be like, how's your

291
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Speaker 1: damn Like, I hate taxes so much. Why is it

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Speaker 1: so hard to just go from an LLC to an escorp?

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Speaker 1: It shouldn't be this hard. I can't even get the

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Speaker 1: people who do this for a living to tell me

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Speaker 1: the right answer exactly.

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Speaker 2: And I think that, you know, I didn't realize I

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Speaker 2: had to understand tax law to be an entrepreneur like

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Speaker 2: you actually do. So regardless of what happens to around

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Speaker 2: twenty one, Like the learning is the value at this

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Speaker 2: point because and then also setting up it, like it's

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Speaker 2: scarred in my soul how to get around twenty one

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Speaker 2: dot com email that doesn't go to people's spam. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: it took us about seven months for that to happen.

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Speaker 2: But all that said, I'd say I also learned that

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Speaker 2: I just keep going. And I've had a lot of

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Speaker 2: people tell me like it's because my parents. My parents

307
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Speaker 2: are equally hard working value productivity, want to go and

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Speaker 2: do it and want to do it on a lot

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Speaker 2: of times their terms and do it for the community.

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Speaker 2: Like there's a lot of that in me, and I

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Speaker 2: think because we built this business with the people, there's

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Speaker 2: a lot at stake, Like everything we do gives back

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Speaker 2: to the league or player because of the royalties. There's

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Speaker 2: a sense of every product pays it forward. But also

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Speaker 2: the artists and every product has an independent artist behind it,

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Speaker 2: so they're getting a part of their lifeblood from around

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Speaker 2: twenty one. So there's a lot of motivation too. So

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Speaker 2: that keeps us going. But it has been very hard,

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Speaker 2: but we're still up for the challenge.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, So that makes a lot of sense. You learned

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Speaker 1: that about yourself and you see yourself from the lessons

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Speaker 1: maybe that came from your parents. What did you learn

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Speaker 1: about business that maybe you even looked back at working

324
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Speaker 1: at corporate spots and thought, oh, that would have been

325
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Speaker 1: interesting if I had known this about the bigger picture

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Speaker 1: when I was at those places playing a smaller role.

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Speaker 2: I mean, I think there's one thing about business I

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Speaker 2: learned that most people said to not do that We

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Speaker 2: did do that worked out and I didn't know if

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Speaker 2: it would, which is to diversify. Early, most whether it's

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Speaker 2: investors or people who were champions and still are of

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Speaker 2: me in round twenty one, were like, God, you have

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Speaker 2: to focus. I mean even other founders are like, I

334
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Speaker 2: don't know how you do it. All the teams, all

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Speaker 2: the products, all the leagues, NFTs, at one point, n FC,

336
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Speaker 2: chipped apparel, And the reason we did it was because

337
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Speaker 2: we didn't know what was going to hit right, so

338
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Speaker 2: I knew play the field. That's just kind of in sports,

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Speaker 2: you'd take as many shots as you can because you

340
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Speaker 2: don't know which ones will go in. It's exhausting, but

341
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Speaker 2: actually created a very durable company in a very fast

342
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Speaker 2: changing environment and yes, we were intentional about the leagues

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Speaker 2: we partnered with early, but we could not have imagined

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Speaker 2: what the WNBA would become in the five years Round

345
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Speaker 2: twenty one has been around, So we also always did

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Speaker 2: it from the heart, and so yes, we don't do

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Speaker 2: as many collectibles now. Yes we don't do NFTs now,

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Speaker 2: But would I do it differently Probably not. It kept

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Speaker 2: us of the times, which is what we want to

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Speaker 2: be and has made us really really strong as a

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Speaker 2: team as well.

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Speaker 1: There's a flexibility and an agility to being smaller that

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Speaker 1: can make things really difficult to scale up, but also

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Speaker 1: means you can react in the moment, and like you said,

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Speaker 1: you wanted your brand to be of the moment instead

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Speaker 1: of sort of timeless. A lot of women's sports fans

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Speaker 1: have experienced throughout their time of rooting for teams that

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Speaker 1: merch brands fail to meet the moment. They don't have

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Speaker 1: merch available, they don't have jerseys for all the different players.

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Speaker 1: The jerseys come in at the end of the season

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Speaker 1: and you wanted to wear them for the season. These

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Speaker 1: problems continue to exist no matter how much we complain

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Speaker 1: about them, and so do these issues of quota quote things,

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Speaker 1: selling out in day one and you're like, that's not

365
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Speaker 1: a positive, it's actually bad that you didn't plan ahead

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Speaker 1: for the demand. You're leaving money on the table. Now

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Speaker 1: that you've worked both for yourself and for these major brands,

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Speaker 1: Why does this keep happening. Does it feel like the

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Speaker 1: big brands still just don't care and don't know the space,

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Speaker 1: or are there legit complications behind the scenes that these

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Speaker 1: big Nike fueled league, you know, partnerships and things like

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Speaker 1: that that actually contribute to why that still happens.

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Speaker 2: I know for a fact that inventory is like blood,

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Speaker 2: you have too much or too little, you die. So

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Speaker 2: I do think there's a real business reason people plan

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Speaker 2: their inventory a certain way. The challenge within women's sports

377
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Speaker 2: is that there's an expectation that it won't sell, and

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Speaker 2: that is a leadership problem, not a business problem, because

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Speaker 2: there is absolutely no question that fans of all sports

380
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Speaker 2: continue to seek out ways to connect in and beyond

381
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Speaker 2: the game. One of the most durable, recession proof entities

382
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Speaker 2: in the world. That's bringing people together when the world

383
00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:09,120
Speaker 2: is looking for more ways to come together. Then, regarding

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Speaker 2: women's sports, the challenges of where do I watch it,

385
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Speaker 2: how do I find it. The conversation around the media

386
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Speaker 2: exposure has been I think now quite well in the

387
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Speaker 2: spotlight for ten years, and people like you have been

388
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Speaker 2: around for more than that trying to build the narrative

389
00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:29,399
Speaker 2: and the sustainability of access that has now hit, I

390
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Speaker 2: think a maturity we hope to continue to see grow.

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Speaker 2: Merch is a billboard for people to wear when they're

392
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Speaker 2: part of a piece of culture, and is proven in music.

393
00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,520
Speaker 2: It's proven in so many different facets of mature sports

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Speaker 2: that it is a sure effing thing that women's sports

395
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Speaker 2: is going to be a major business for merchandise providers.

396
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Speaker 2: The people that are here building it and sustaining it

397
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Speaker 2: since five years ago, seven years ago, ten years ago,

398
00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:04,320
Speaker 2: are in my opinion, unfortunately starting to be overshadowed by

399
00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:07,480
Speaker 2: big checks and big companies coming in because they can

400
00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:10,000
Speaker 2: write a check and have supply chain even though they're

401
00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:15,600
Speaker 2: slower moving, and we are still filling those gaps when

402
00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:17,960
Speaker 2: they sell out, and that's the disappointing thing to me.

403
00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:21,880
Speaker 2: So as we build ahead, you know, we're very bullish

404
00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:25,200
Speaker 2: on women's sports. We've I just did another podcast where

405
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Speaker 2: I said WNBA is our core, not a category, it's

406
00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:33,159
Speaker 2: our core. And we have an NWSL partnership coming up

407
00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:36,200
Speaker 2: that's breaking news on this podcast right We're very excited

408
00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:39,560
Speaker 2: about it and are also building with players. We have

409
00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:42,120
Speaker 2: a basketball player in the college ranks right now who

410
00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:44,760
Speaker 2: wants to be a fashion designer. It's not even with

411
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Speaker 2: the team marks, and she came to around twenty one

412
00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:48,760
Speaker 2: to build her you know, to help build her brand

413
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Speaker 2: or the beginning of her brand, and we're here for it.

414
00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:55,040
Speaker 2: So it's a problem from a leadership perspective, not from

415
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Speaker 2: a business perspective.

416
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Speaker 1: Yeah, there was a Sports Innovation Lab research partnership with

417
00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:03,080
Speaker 1: clarn that said that major brands are missing out on

418
00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:08,040
Speaker 1: four billion dollars annually in women's sports merchandise due to

419
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Speaker 1: lack of variety for availability compared to men's sports. So

420
00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:14,000
Speaker 1: there is plenty there to get after if the right

421
00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:16,000
Speaker 1: people are in charge to make it happen. Tell me

422
00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:18,000
Speaker 1: about your Shark Tank experience, because that happened kind of

423
00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:20,960
Speaker 1: early in round twenty one. Why didn't you ultimately decide

424
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Speaker 1: to move forward with the deal you agreed.

425
00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:25,760
Speaker 2: To, Well, it was very clear that the final shark

426
00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:28,440
Speaker 2: that was willing to take a chance with Round twenty

427
00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:32,000
Speaker 2: one his character Obviously I don't know the person, but

428
00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:35,920
Speaker 2: his character is misaligned to Round twenty one's values. Kevin

429
00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:40,800
Speaker 2: O'Leary has built his character around being ruthlessly chasing the dollar,

430
00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:45,879
Speaker 2: being really rooted in kind of a cutthroat environment. That

431
00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:47,560
Speaker 2: is the ante. This is a Round twenty one like,

432
00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:50,359
Speaker 2: we're here to really serve first. We are for the people.

433
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Speaker 2: We have an absolute emotional connection to everything that we do,

434
00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:57,840
Speaker 2: and so it just didn't make sense coming off Yeah,

435
00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:00,919
Speaker 2: the show, but I wouldn't take that experience away from

436
00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:03,919
Speaker 2: Round twenty one's history. Ever. It was a wonderful experience

437
00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:07,280
Speaker 2: and has definitely paid dividends in terms of exposure and

438
00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:11,480
Speaker 2: support for us. You know, since twenty twenty two, we.

439
00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:13,240
Speaker 1: Got to take a quick break more with Jazz and

440
00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:24,199
Speaker 1: Maetta right after this. You've talked a lot about the

441
00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:26,919
Speaker 1: idea of community in creating Round twenty one and in

442
00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:30,520
Speaker 1: expanding it, the importance of co creation. How do you

443
00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:34,120
Speaker 1: let go of a little bit of control to embrace

444
00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:36,800
Speaker 1: the ways that others can help your brand expand or

445
00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:40,399
Speaker 1: reimagine itself and grow. Because I think we all agree

446
00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:42,560
Speaker 1: with the idea of community, of course, but for some

447
00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:44,399
Speaker 1: of us it can be difficult to let go of

448
00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:46,680
Speaker 1: our baby or to feel like we can trust others

449
00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:47,040
Speaker 1: with it.

450
00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:50,639
Speaker 2: Yeah, we define community as those we co create with.

451
00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:55,399
Speaker 2: So I think community in some situations is defined more

452
00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:59,680
Speaker 2: as how do we let the people vote, give them

453
00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:04,040
Speaker 2: decision making power, etc. For us, community is curation first.

454
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:06,160
Speaker 2: You know, we do. Round twenty one has a set

455
00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:08,240
Speaker 2: of values. We have a set of beliefs. We want

456
00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:10,159
Speaker 2: to make sure that we stand for the people and

457
00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:13,000
Speaker 2: make standing out the new standard and sport, and we

458
00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:15,720
Speaker 2: have an optimistic point of view. We want to be

459
00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:20,600
Speaker 2: there bringing people's emotions up and uplifting and all of

460
00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:23,760
Speaker 2: that is available in art and sport. But a lot

461
00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:28,080
Speaker 2: of art and sport is about like the agony of defeat,

462
00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:32,440
Speaker 2: or art has messages about death and destruction. That's not

463
00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:34,760
Speaker 2: for us. So we start with what we believe and

464
00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:38,880
Speaker 2: then we curate, and we curate particularly like minded artists,

465
00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:42,320
Speaker 2: because artists, we believe, are capturing history as it's happening,

466
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,280
Speaker 2: since the dawn of time, since before the dawn of time.

467
00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:48,679
Speaker 2: So if artists are capturing history as it's happening, they

468
00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:53,760
Speaker 2: are bringing their lived experience and their craft information. With

469
00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:58,480
Speaker 2: sports because we're giving them that access and reimagining expression

470
00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:02,639
Speaker 2: in sports in a new way. That is giving up

471
00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:06,480
Speaker 2: all the control to the artists. But because they were curated,

472
00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:09,240
Speaker 2: because they aligned to our belief system and our values,

473
00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:12,879
Speaker 2: it typically results in something very wonderful and beautiful. I

474
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:15,600
Speaker 2: am trying to build a company where if you took

475
00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:20,920
Speaker 2: Jasmine out of the equation, the platform would exist sports teams,

476
00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:24,240
Speaker 2: leagues and athletes and independent artists. So I'm happy to

477
00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:26,800
Speaker 2: give up the control as long as the infrastructure is

478
00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:27,680
Speaker 2: set up the right way.

479
00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:31,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, you said in an interview Round twenty one believes

480
00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:33,919
Speaker 1: that being better is good, but being different is better.

481
00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:36,040
Speaker 1: Tell me about that ethos.

482
00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:38,440
Speaker 2: That is from like twenty twenty Your research.

483
00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:44,199
Speaker 1: Team really went research team is me exactly? Not always

484
00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:46,000
Speaker 1: Alex and meshe do a lot, but that today was

485
00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:46,960
Speaker 1: me just digging around.

486
00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:51,200
Speaker 2: I mean, I think I've worked for incredible generation defining

487
00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:56,520
Speaker 2: companies that were motivated of requorter to be better. Better

488
00:24:56,560 --> 00:25:00,159
Speaker 2: than themselves for sure, and better than others that they

489
00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:05,000
Speaker 2: see as competitors, particularly in women's sports. There is enough

490
00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:09,880
Speaker 2: room for everybody today. I have no doubt there are

491
00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:14,200
Speaker 2: ten multi billion dollar companies that I'm like sitting side

492
00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:18,959
Speaker 2: by side with if they want to measure success on money.

493
00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:22,840
Speaker 2: What we are operating on is a position of how

494
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:27,000
Speaker 2: do we be different than the establishment? And I learn

495
00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:31,679
Speaker 2: a lot from early days, you know, when Apple and

496
00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:35,800
Speaker 2: Steve Jobs are kind of being reinvented about how shattering

497
00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:40,560
Speaker 2: the status quo is an emotion. It's not necessarily a

498
00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:43,960
Speaker 2: functional widget in the phone, but it's an emotion that

499
00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:47,520
Speaker 2: you bring people. That is where we start and end

500
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:49,320
Speaker 2: with what we're bringing to people. And we just did

501
00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:51,920
Speaker 2: this US Open thing. I was bummed that it didn't

502
00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:54,399
Speaker 2: get you product before you went yeah to the US.

503
00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:55,600
Speaker 1: I know, and then I was out of the country,

504
00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:57,120
Speaker 1: so I just got home to it and I'm like, well,

505
00:25:57,320 --> 00:26:00,960
Speaker 1: after it's over. But I think on green tennis ball

506
00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:03,399
Speaker 1: felt bag is cool year round and I will be

507
00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:05,720
Speaker 1: using it. I can shop for my honeyduice ingredients to

508
00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:07,439
Speaker 1: make it at home using the bag.

509
00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:12,360
Speaker 2: There you go. But like, the tennis world doesn't need

510
00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:16,199
Speaker 2: a tennis bag. But what the tennis world we believe

511
00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:19,520
Speaker 2: could benefit from is a message of love all and

512
00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:23,040
Speaker 2: particularly in this environment. So that's what being different means

513
00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:26,320
Speaker 2: versus just being better and making a better leather strap

514
00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:29,080
Speaker 2: for a bag. We just don't measure or look at

515
00:26:29,119 --> 00:26:30,440
Speaker 2: the world through that lens.

516
00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:32,200
Speaker 1: Well, And it makes so much sense when you look

517
00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:35,040
Speaker 1: at your products. I mean, I love what you do

518
00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:37,600
Speaker 1: and it stands out and you can almost always tell

519
00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:39,640
Speaker 1: when you're walking around, oh that looks like it's around

520
00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:42,040
Speaker 1: twenty one. Oh that's around twenty one, And especially in

521
00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:45,080
Speaker 1: the women's sports space, where thank god, we're past pink

522
00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:49,560
Speaker 1: it and shrinket. In fact, we've almost like gone so

523
00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:52,400
Speaker 1: far that we can go back. Like when I started,

524
00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:56,280
Speaker 1: I didn't want to wear anything pink or sparkly or

525
00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:58,760
Speaker 1: girly because I wanted to prove that I was a

526
00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:02,359
Speaker 1: real fan. And now we've moved far enough ahead that

527
00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:06,760
Speaker 1: you can wear anything mask, feminine, sparkly, glittery, pink, whatever.

528
00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:10,040
Speaker 1: And it doesn't mean anything about who you root for

529
00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:11,760
Speaker 1: and how you root for them. It just means that

530
00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:14,160
Speaker 1: there's a lot of choices now, which is really great.

531
00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:17,920
Speaker 1: But your stuff, in particular, I think stands out because

532
00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:21,399
Speaker 1: it always screams cool to me. And for such a

533
00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:25,720
Speaker 1: long time, there wasn't a cool factor to wrapping women's sports,

534
00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:28,560
Speaker 1: not just because society shit on them all the time,

535
00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:32,560
Speaker 1: but because the product oftentimes was so infantilized that to

536
00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:35,240
Speaker 1: be a grown person wanting to wear it out, you

537
00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:39,040
Speaker 1: just kind of felt like it didn't mix with your vibe.

538
00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:41,080
Speaker 1: And so to your point, folks who want to go

539
00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:42,960
Speaker 1: out and have their clothes be an expression of their

540
00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:44,919
Speaker 1: identity now have this choice to do so in a

541
00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:46,960
Speaker 1: really cool way. And that's why I think it's so

542
00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:49,879
Speaker 1: fun watching the Tunnel fits, watching WNBA All Star everyone

543
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:52,479
Speaker 1: wearing their fits, because you do get to see women's

544
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:55,639
Speaker 1: sports be the cutting edge, women athletes be on the

545
00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:57,879
Speaker 1: forefront of fashion in a way we never saw before.

546
00:27:58,320 --> 00:27:59,960
Speaker 1: And that comes from a lot of really cool partner

547
00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:02,359
Speaker 1: What are some of the partnerships that you're most proud

548
00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:03,880
Speaker 1: of that you've done with Round twenty one?

549
00:28:04,359 --> 00:28:09,280
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, DoorDash and Chase have been incredible partners

550
00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:11,200
Speaker 2: And I would never have been able to pick those

551
00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:14,000
Speaker 2: two brands out of the hat five years ago. I

552
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:16,080
Speaker 2: would have certainly thought it would have been some fashion

553
00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:20,600
Speaker 2: house or maybe another sports brand. But the trust that

554
00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:25,240
Speaker 2: those two partners have in Round twenty one's creator, community,

555
00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:30,720
Speaker 2: and production value to one create alternative fashion for sport,

556
00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:35,080
Speaker 2: but also bridge their brand with the community through women's

557
00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:39,480
Speaker 2: sports is unlike anything else I've ever seen in my

558
00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:44,520
Speaker 2: career within brand marketing, particularly DoorDash last year and I

559
00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:46,560
Speaker 2: had people in my network be like, how did you

560
00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:50,440
Speaker 2: do that w logo DoorDash Round twenty one? It was

561
00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:54,040
Speaker 2: because of DoorDash. DoorDash was like, probably just want to

562
00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:57,240
Speaker 2: be supportive of the growth of the game. We want

563
00:28:57,280 --> 00:28:59,880
Speaker 2: to find a way that DoorDash feels like we are

564
00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:03,840
Speaker 2: supporting it through merch. We hear merch has a four

565
00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:07,479
Speaker 2: billion dollar gap. Can Round twenty one represent that? And

566
00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:11,480
Speaker 2: we enlisted Shama Love, who's had an incredible fingerprint on

567
00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:14,000
Speaker 2: what Round twenty one's brought to market through her artistry

568
00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:19,760
Speaker 2: and this massive WNBA kind of treatment. But DoorDash covered

569
00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:23,200
Speaker 2: the cost almost entirely for the community, and they said, Yeah,

570
00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:24,880
Speaker 2: the least we can do is help the game grow

571
00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:28,320
Speaker 2: on by getting more product out there, and then chase

572
00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:32,280
Speaker 2: with the US Open and the PGA Championship basically have

573
00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:38,560
Speaker 2: these long time endemic partnerships with mature sports tennis and

574
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:42,680
Speaker 2: golf that have really never had an injection of cultural

575
00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:45,480
Speaker 2: capital the way Round twenty one is bringing, and they're

576
00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:48,480
Speaker 2: giving us a playground to essentially do what we normally do,

577
00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:51,480
Speaker 2: but are bringing the full weight of their brand engine

578
00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:54,320
Speaker 2: behind it to make sure that the people within the

579
00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:57,520
Speaker 2: sports see it, not just our community. And so I

580
00:29:57,560 --> 00:29:59,320
Speaker 2: hope to grow with both of them. But it's been

581
00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:01,720
Speaker 2: an incredible amount of trust that's really set those two

582
00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:02,680
Speaker 2: partnerships apart.

583
00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:05,680
Speaker 1: What's a dream brand or athlete you want to work with?

584
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:10,720
Speaker 2: You know, we love all of our athletes equally, but

585
00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:13,080
Speaker 2: there is a type of athlete that we want to

586
00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:16,280
Speaker 2: work with and you see them, but basically athletes who

587
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:18,640
Speaker 2: have something to say and who aren't afraid to say it.

588
00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:22,000
Speaker 2: And we don't mean that to be like cultural injections

589
00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:26,920
Speaker 2: of like you know, creating water cooler talk, but to

590
00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:30,440
Speaker 2: give to give credit to the collegiate player like she's

591
00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:33,160
Speaker 2: she says, my college career is a jumping off point

592
00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:35,440
Speaker 2: for what I do in my life. And I think

593
00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:37,760
Speaker 2: a lot of athletes know that, and I don't men

594
00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:39,960
Speaker 2: and women. A lot of athletes know that. And so

595
00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:45,760
Speaker 2: we've partnered, i'd say, most famously with Britney Griner when

596
00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:49,000
Speaker 2: she came back from Russia, and you know, Lindsay at

597
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:52,719
Speaker 2: Wasserman essentially was like, you don't make athletes a character

598
00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:55,640
Speaker 2: in the round twenty one story. You give them a

599
00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:59,160
Speaker 2: platform for their story, and that was so powerful to

600
00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:02,400
Speaker 2: me that any athlete that wants to say something and

601
00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:04,840
Speaker 2: wants to use our platform to say it through products

602
00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:09,320
Speaker 2: and experiences, we're here for it. From a brand partnership perspective,

603
00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:14,560
Speaker 2: I would say that there is a crossover culture we're

604
00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:18,200
Speaker 2: entering into. I would love to announce that we're about

605
00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:22,000
Speaker 2: to do a drop on September twenty seventh with Marseille Martin.

606
00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:25,840
Speaker 2: She is the new prototype within Hollywood. She is a

607
00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:31,040
Speaker 2: multi highphenitt producer, director, actor, as well as aspiring fashion designer,

608
00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:34,280
Speaker 2: and she wants to use our platform to express her

609
00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:39,640
Speaker 2: perspective on the WNBA, on players and the fans who

610
00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:41,920
Speaker 2: are here for it. So I'd say that is an

611
00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:46,880
Speaker 2: example of the crossover culture is available for musicians, for actors,

612
00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:49,840
Speaker 2: for people in culture that love what the w stands

613
00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:53,200
Speaker 2: for and want to celebrate it. But that one kind

614
00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:55,160
Speaker 2: of came true here and you know, we're just about

615
00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:57,080
Speaker 2: two weeks away and I can't be I can't be

616
00:31:57,120 --> 00:31:57,680
Speaker 2: more excited.

617
00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:00,960
Speaker 1: Okay, last two questions were running out of time. I'm

618
00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:03,720
Speaker 1: bringing it back full circle. I mentioned five years of

619
00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:05,920
Speaker 1: Round twenty one, which means it was a COVID baby.

620
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:08,720
Speaker 1: You mentioned that, and I wonder if you can look

621
00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:12,040
Speaker 1: back now reflecting, how does the gift of time or

622
00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:15,720
Speaker 1: the gift of change trigger these moments of revelation? And

623
00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:17,800
Speaker 1: do you think we can create these moments or only

624
00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:18,840
Speaker 1: find them organically.

625
00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:22,680
Speaker 2: I think that it's a combination of both. I think

626
00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:27,880
Speaker 2: creating moments is really understanding what you are about and

627
00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:33,000
Speaker 2: building from a source of truth. There's a line in

628
00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:37,880
Speaker 2: a killer song it's actually background vocals, and the line

629
00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:43,160
Speaker 2: is time, truth, heart, and I believe that those three

630
00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:47,840
Speaker 2: characteristics are in a way in our control. Time is

631
00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:51,000
Speaker 2: obviously patients, but there has to be a set amount

632
00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:55,000
Speaker 2: of time for greatness to happen, and so giving I

633
00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:57,760
Speaker 2: guess a mental hack is like understanding that the plants

634
00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:02,880
Speaker 2: you're seeding now may not farther down the road. Truth

635
00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:05,880
Speaker 2: is putting it all in on the thing that you

636
00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:08,960
Speaker 2: believe or that you do and not really holding anything back.

637
00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:12,480
Speaker 2: And heart is, you know, making sure that you're doing

638
00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:14,640
Speaker 2: it at full capacity. I think a lot of people

639
00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:17,760
Speaker 2: think they're working hard, they're not. A lot of people

640
00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:21,880
Speaker 2: think that they've exhausted all options. We haven't, and so

641
00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:27,400
Speaker 2: being you know, truly committed to it and making sure

642
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:30,600
Speaker 2: you surround yourself as well with the people that support

643
00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:33,760
Speaker 2: it is incredibly important. And then I think they talk

644
00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:36,880
Speaker 2: about in business, particularly entrepreneurship and startups, is that there

645
00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:39,720
Speaker 2: has to be typically there has to be some sort

646
00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:43,480
Speaker 2: of external inflection point, whether it was you know, the

647
00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:47,240
Speaker 2: GPS on a phone and Uber, or for us, it's

648
00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:50,360
Speaker 2: the growth of the women's game in many pockets and

649
00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:53,959
Speaker 2: around the world hitting when round twenty one is is

650
00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:56,360
Speaker 2: you know, becoming and coming into formation of I think,

651
00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:59,520
Speaker 2: who we're going to become and hitting another level. We

652
00:33:59,560 --> 00:34:01,880
Speaker 2: couldn't have predicted that, we couldn't have created that, but

653
00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:04,479
Speaker 2: that has to be present for us to reach our

654
00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:09,120
Speaker 2: highest form of potential, and so we are benefiting from

655
00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:11,799
Speaker 2: that time timing and that I think is the luck

656
00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:13,279
Speaker 2: part of it well.

657
00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:16,560
Speaker 1: And I think they also call it lightning bolt moments

658
00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:19,120
Speaker 1: when people change major habits, and they say that those

659
00:34:19,160 --> 00:34:22,080
Speaker 1: are very hard to create. They almost always have to

660
00:34:22,160 --> 00:34:27,000
Speaker 1: happen organically, whether that's a critical diagnosis in your health

661
00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:29,920
Speaker 1: or you move to a new city and it completely

662
00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:32,120
Speaker 1: changes what's around you and that changes your habit. Like

663
00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:34,520
Speaker 1: it's very hard to intentionally do that, but after talking

664
00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:36,440
Speaker 1: to so many people and reading so much about what

665
00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:39,279
Speaker 1: people did to change their lives and to follow their

666
00:34:39,320 --> 00:34:42,919
Speaker 1: passions during COVID because there was that stop, it does

667
00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:44,880
Speaker 1: feel like, if anything, we should at least try to

668
00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:49,399
Speaker 1: microdose that feeling. We can't stop everything again, and thank

669
00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:51,520
Speaker 1: god we won't have to hopefully knock on wood, but

670
00:34:51,600 --> 00:34:54,120
Speaker 1: we can take a lesson from the fact that when

671
00:34:54,160 --> 00:34:56,439
Speaker 1: we all slow down all of a sudden, so many

672
00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:58,640
Speaker 1: people were like, wait, I don't even like what I'm doing,

673
00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:01,040
Speaker 1: This isn't even what I want to be. What do

674
00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:02,359
Speaker 1: I actually want to do? And how do I want

675
00:35:02,360 --> 00:35:04,320
Speaker 1: to spend my time? And it birthed so many amazing

676
00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:07,279
Speaker 1: things like round twenty one. Okay, last question for you.

677
00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:10,120
Speaker 1: You mentioned that you wanted to be the best at everything,

678
00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:12,480
Speaker 1: and part of that came from insecurity, so not wanting

679
00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:14,439
Speaker 1: to be maybe a lawyer or doctor because it didn't

680
00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:18,080
Speaker 1: come naturally. For those who think, wow, I could never

681
00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:20,560
Speaker 1: leave the corporate world and found my own thing and

682
00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:24,359
Speaker 1: not be terrified, do you still have the insecurity of

683
00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:26,279
Speaker 1: I have to be the best, or I shouldn't try

684
00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:28,799
Speaker 1: or do something, or have you found that creating this

685
00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:32,120
Speaker 1: company has let you understand better the risk reward, of

686
00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:35,120
Speaker 1: the potential for failure, of dreaming bigger, of taking a

687
00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:36,920
Speaker 1: bigger risk than maybe you thought you could before.

688
00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:40,279
Speaker 2: I've definitely started to let it go. I think the

689
00:35:41,239 --> 00:35:47,800
Speaker 2: insecurity fear of failure is ego. I think ego is

690
00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:51,120
Speaker 2: a big piece of me not wanting to seem like

691
00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:53,640
Speaker 2: I don't have the answer that I'm not going to succeed,

692
00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:56,960
Speaker 2: And thank goodness, because of time and maybe because of

693
00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:00,640
Speaker 2: truth and heart, because we've been doing it. Literally, I

694
00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:04,160
Speaker 2: can't give any more, Like I literally cannot give any more.

695
00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:07,360
Speaker 2: If it fails, then I've left it all on the court.

696
00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:07,680
Speaker 3: You know.

697
00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:11,960
Speaker 2: I feel very satisfied in that. I also benefited from

698
00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:15,319
Speaker 2: watching two founder led companies at companies I've worked for

699
00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:20,960
Speaker 2: tie their personal identity to their company, and I decided

700
00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:24,200
Speaker 2: day zero, I wasn't going to do that. My identity

701
00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:26,960
Speaker 2: is who I am as an aunt to my niece Isabella,

702
00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:29,400
Speaker 2: as a sister to my brother, as a child to

703
00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:32,839
Speaker 2: my parents, to my friend's network, and so I think

704
00:36:32,880 --> 00:36:37,560
Speaker 2: by decoupling that, luckily, I'm sparing any feeling that if

705
00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:39,239
Speaker 2: this doesn't go where I need it to go that

706
00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:43,719
Speaker 2: I personally somehow have failed. So I've definitely evolved and

707
00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:45,440
Speaker 2: I think that's a good sign too as we all

708
00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:50,160
Speaker 2: grow into new spaces. But it's not something I planned

709
00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:51,760
Speaker 2: on doing, but it did happen naturally.

710
00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:54,120
Speaker 1: You are just a couple years older than me, and

711
00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:56,319
Speaker 1: I am fingers crossed that when I get a couple

712
00:36:56,360 --> 00:36:58,680
Speaker 1: years older, I'll get to that moment that you're at.

713
00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:01,239
Speaker 1: I'm still struggle with a lot of that stuff, and

714
00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:03,800
Speaker 1: the older women I speak to always say bigger risks,

715
00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:07,040
Speaker 1: be willing to fail. I really, I really struggle with that.

716
00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:08,719
Speaker 1: I think you're right. It as a little ego of like,

717
00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:10,360
Speaker 1: I've got d answers and if I don't, I'm not

718
00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:12,239
Speaker 1: going to try it because that I'll be proven that

719
00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:13,000
Speaker 1: I can't do it.

720
00:37:13,160 --> 00:37:16,319
Speaker 2: Sarah, if there's one person in media I don't even

721
00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:19,200
Speaker 2: know how you define yourself that should take great comfort

722
00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:26,439
Speaker 2: in path owned direction mine and if all hell breaks loose,

723
00:37:26,480 --> 00:37:29,600
Speaker 2: who can It's you? I mean you have established an

724
00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:35,520
Speaker 2: accessibility and a very i'd say credibility in everything you

725
00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:38,759
Speaker 2: speak about that. I think accessibility incredibly. I don't know

726
00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:40,440
Speaker 2: what you put your brand values on, but those are

727
00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:43,399
Speaker 2: two big Time brand values that I see you live

728
00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:44,160
Speaker 2: every single.

729
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:46,400
Speaker 1: Day, so that's really nice of you to say. It

730
00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:48,439
Speaker 1: was so great to talk to you. It's so great

731
00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:50,839
Speaker 1: to wear your stuff. Whenever I look at what other

732
00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:52,320
Speaker 1: people wear it, I go, I guess I should wear that.

733
00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:53,800
Speaker 1: I'm not cool enough to know that it's cool. And

734
00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:54,920
Speaker 1: then I wear it and everyone's like, oh, I love

735
00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:57,279
Speaker 1: where you're wearing my oathings. I'm only wearing it because

736
00:37:57,320 --> 00:37:59,960
Speaker 1: round twenty one said it was cool. But thank you

737
00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:00,799
Speaker 1: so much for coming on.

738
00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:02,759
Speaker 2: It was great to catch up you too, Thanks for

739
00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:03,480
Speaker 2: the opportunity.

740
00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:08,759
Speaker 1: Thanks again to Jasmine for hanging out with us. We

741
00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:11,640
Speaker 1: got to take another break when we come back. Girls Rule,

742
00:38:11,719 --> 00:38:15,200
Speaker 1: Boys Drule and other T shirts we can blessedly leave

743
00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:25,840
Speaker 1: behind welcome back slices. We love that you're listening, but

744
00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:27,640
Speaker 1: we want you to get in the game every day too,

745
00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:30,319
Speaker 1: So here's our good gameplay of the day. We want

746
00:38:30,320 --> 00:38:33,120
Speaker 1: to hear about your favorite old women's sports merch. Do

747
00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:35,800
Speaker 1: you remember the first women's sports related T shirt you bought,

748
00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:39,440
Speaker 1: or that moment the WNBA jersey ordered seven months earlier

749
00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:42,440
Speaker 1: finally arrived in the mail. We want to hear about it.

750
00:38:42,719 --> 00:38:45,120
Speaker 1: How about you too, Alex Mesh, do you have memories

751
00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:45,480
Speaker 1: of this?

752
00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:48,560
Speaker 4: The first thing that comes to mind from my personal

753
00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:51,680
Speaker 4: athletic career is a T shirt my parents bought me

754
00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:55,520
Speaker 4: from a middle school hockey tournament that said hockey is

755
00:38:55,520 --> 00:38:58,160
Speaker 4: for girls and don't you forget it in all cabs

756
00:38:58,239 --> 00:39:01,239
Speaker 4: and pink and purple writing of course instant classic.

757
00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:03,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, you still have it too. I love that I

758
00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:04,600
Speaker 1: do still have it.

759
00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:06,760
Speaker 4: I also want to shout out my friend Brie, who

760
00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:11,000
Speaker 4: famously wears her two thousand and four Aiming for Athens

761
00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:13,720
Speaker 4: softball shirt. And when she got it in middle school,

762
00:39:13,840 --> 00:39:15,839
Speaker 4: it was huge on her and now it is the

763
00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:17,000
Speaker 4: perfect size.

764
00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:22,120
Speaker 1: First U cure so cute meish? What about you? Oof?

765
00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:26,800
Speaker 3: I have this ancient Christy Tolliver University of Maryland, Jersey.

766
00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:30,040
Speaker 3: And by ancient, of course, I mean circa two thousand

767
00:39:30,040 --> 00:39:32,000
Speaker 3: and six, because I am indeed.

768
00:39:31,719 --> 00:39:38,520
Speaker 1: Oh, in the two thousands is not ancient. Yeah, it's

769
00:39:38,560 --> 00:39:43,319
Speaker 1: ancient to me, baby. I'll show you something ancient, but.

770
00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:46,160
Speaker 3: That's knocking around somewhere in the back of my closet.

771
00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:47,120
Speaker 1: I loved that jersey.

772
00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:49,480
Speaker 3: It was hung up on my wall all sorts of

773
00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:51,799
Speaker 3: stills of Christie in competition too.

774
00:39:51,840 --> 00:39:54,799
Speaker 1: I was obsessed. I was so obsessed. If you want

775
00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:56,720
Speaker 1: to talk about ancient I have stuff in my closet

776
00:39:56,760 --> 00:39:58,600
Speaker 1: that used to be in style, went all the way

777
00:39:58,640 --> 00:40:01,600
Speaker 1: out of style, and it's now back in style. That

778
00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:04,719
Speaker 1: in my closet and I'm like, wait, this is beck

779
00:40:04,719 --> 00:40:09,080
Speaker 1: it again. Yes, honestly, I can't remember any early women's

780
00:40:09,080 --> 00:40:11,160
Speaker 1: sports merch. When I was coming up, it was just

781
00:40:11,320 --> 00:40:14,280
Speaker 1: Jordan all the time. I had the best MJ shirt

782
00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:15,759
Speaker 1: that just had his face on the front and it

783
00:40:15,800 --> 00:40:17,880
Speaker 1: said why Drive And on the back it had just

784
00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:20,359
Speaker 1: his legs and it said when you can fly? And

785
00:40:20,400 --> 00:40:23,480
Speaker 1: I wore it before every single basketball and track meet

786
00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:25,400
Speaker 1: for all of junior and senior year and all of

787
00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:28,200
Speaker 1: college until I eventually had to cut the sleeves off. Y'all,

788
00:40:28,239 --> 00:40:30,239
Speaker 1: remember those shirts that you love so much? You had

789
00:40:30,239 --> 00:40:32,280
Speaker 1: to cut the sleeves off because they got real gross.

790
00:40:33,719 --> 00:40:36,719
Speaker 1: That's it. I just just Jordan Gear, just Jordan Gear

791
00:40:36,719 --> 00:40:39,600
Speaker 1: as a kid, forever and ever and still. If you

792
00:40:39,640 --> 00:40:41,600
Speaker 1: remember yours, hit us up on email good game at

793
00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:44,040
Speaker 1: Wondermedia network dot com, or leave us a voicemail at

794
00:40:44,080 --> 00:40:47,320
Speaker 1: eight seven two two four fifty seventy and don't forget

795
00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:51,719
Speaker 1: to subscribe, rate and review. It's easy watch the end

796
00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:56,480
Speaker 1: of Pinke and shrinket rating zero out of zero, ugly

797
00:40:56,520 --> 00:41:00,880
Speaker 1: ass t shirts with Yankee logos and our closets review.

798
00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:05,440
Speaker 1: Thank goodness for round twenty one play a Society, Breaking

799
00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:08,279
Speaker 1: Tea and all the other creators giving us that good

800
00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:12,280
Speaker 1: merch so we can proudly fashionably rep our favorite squads

801
00:41:12,280 --> 00:41:15,880
Speaker 1: and players. If you like pink Rocket, if you like

802
00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:19,359
Speaker 1: sparkles and sequins, rock them. Now that we have enough

803
00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:22,320
Speaker 1: options to wear anything and everything, we can actually choose

804
00:41:22,719 --> 00:41:25,120
Speaker 1: to lean into our super fem sides sometimes and not

805
00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:27,680
Speaker 1: feel like wannabes are day ones. And when we want

806
00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:30,280
Speaker 1: to rock a big ass double XL jersey and track pants,

807
00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:33,120
Speaker 1: we're going to pull that off too. And when we

808
00:41:33,160 --> 00:41:35,160
Speaker 1: want to wear good game with syrh Spain merch, we

809
00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:38,320
Speaker 1: go to Breaking Tea dot Com slash bin. Yeah yeah,

810
00:41:38,440 --> 00:41:41,560
Speaker 1: nice plug. Now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks

811
00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:44,399
Speaker 1: for listening, See you tomorrow. Good game, Jasmine in round

812
00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:47,160
Speaker 1: twenty one, Good Game. Finding a way to stay in sports,

813
00:41:47,239 --> 00:41:49,960
Speaker 1: even if it means changing your whole career path. Q

814
00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:54,759
Speaker 1: taxes not you know the actual concept of taxing individuals

815
00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:57,880
Speaker 1: to improve in support society. That's fine, I guess, but

816
00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:00,640
Speaker 1: the process of learning the rules and filling out all

817
00:42:00,680 --> 00:42:07,080
Speaker 1: the forms that can go ahead and kick rocks. Good

818
00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:09,920
Speaker 1: Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production

819
00:42:10,040 --> 00:42:12,879
Speaker 1: in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can

820
00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:16,200
Speaker 1: find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

821
00:42:16,239 --> 00:42:19,880
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network, our

822
00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:23,600
Speaker 1: producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers

823
00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:27,640
Speaker 1: are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rutterer.

824
00:42:28,080 --> 00:42:31,480
Speaker 1: Our editors are Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and

825
00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:35,800
Speaker 1: Gianna Palmer. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones. Production assistants

826
00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:38,800
Speaker 1: from Avery Loftus and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain