WEBVTT - Jordyn Poulter 0:00:02.759 --> 0:00:07.000 Hi, I'm timany Oshinsky, and this is Serving Pancakes NOE. 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:10.600 Not a podcast about food. This is a podcast about 0:00:10.720 --> 0:00:14.400 volleyball and more to you. A pancake is a fluffy, 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:18.680 syrup drenched breakfast food, but in volleyball, a pancake is 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:21.560 a high effort move when a player flattens her hand 0:00:21.560 --> 0:00:24.080 against the ground to keep the ball in play. And 0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:28.760 that's us digging into high efforts that are moving sports forward. 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:31.880 Listen in as I talk with people making the biggest 0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:37.720 impacts on global volleyball and women's sports perspectives, insights, and 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:41.080 behind the scenes stories, all with the side of pancakes. 0:00:42.040 --> 0:00:45.840 Today's episode features the best setter at the Tokyo Olympics, 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:50.440 Jordan Poulter. Raised in Aurora, Colorado, Jordan was a two 0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:53.280 time All American at Illinois, where she led the team 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:56.240 to a final four appearance. Jordan has been part of 0:00:56.280 --> 0:00:59.360 the US women's national team since twenty eighteen and was 0:00:59.400 --> 0:01:02.600 the youngest member when they won their first ever Olympic 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:05.720 gold medal in Tokyo, and she'll be back defending her 0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:15.600 title this summer in Paris. Hi, Jordanskay have some pancakes. 0:01:15.840 --> 0:01:18.840 We have to start what's the Jordan Poulter special? 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:20.840 Where are the bananas and the walnuts? 0:01:21.080 --> 0:01:22.720 You know, that's a great question. I didn't get any 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:23.600 think I'm not picky. 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:28.560 That's what we love about. Yeah, yes, So I want 0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:30.959 to start way back when before you ever. 0:01:30.800 --> 0:01:32.759 Played volleyball, what did you want to be when your crew? 0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:35.320 I feel like every kid changes, you know, like each 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:37.640 week they want to be something different. I remember at 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:40.400 one time I wanted to be a vet tam. Yeah. 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:44.800 The idea of being with dogs and animals seemed really fun, 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:50.040 and I think that dream was surpassed by I don't know. 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:52.840 At one point, I just wanted to be someone who 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:56.000 just traveled the world. So I don't know what that 0:01:56.000 --> 0:02:01.040 would have entailed. Flood didn't. Maybe there was always, I think, 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:03.960 for me, a dream of wanting to be in the Olympics. 0:02:04.200 --> 0:02:05.960 You know, when you would draw a photo of what 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:08.600 you want to be. I remember when I was young, 0:02:08.919 --> 0:02:12.080 drawing a picture at the Olympics and then being like 0:02:12.160 --> 0:02:15.840 old official like that might not be yah, teachers saying yeah, 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:18.919 I remember. I remember being like, I don't know if 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:20.200 that's really. 0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:22.679 A tagable, but dream big Jordan, but not that big. 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:25.400 Yeah, that you didn't listen to that teaching. 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:28.920 It's interesting right to think about what you hope to 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:31.360 aspire and then kind of get away from. Like for me, 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:34.520 I don't know that I was ever constantly throughout volleyball 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:37.720 thinking I want to be an Olympian. But I think 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:41.079 at a young age had to have been the four Olympics, 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:44.560 remembering watching it on TV and it's sticking. Not necessarily 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:46.840 wanting to be a volleyball player, but just having that 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:50.120 American flag on your jersey and representing something bigger than 0:02:50.160 --> 0:02:52.560 yourself at the highest level seemed really cool. 0:02:52.560 --> 0:02:54.160 So when did you get introduced to volleyball? 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:57.960 My dad actually coached high school volleyball team. Well, I 0:02:58.000 --> 0:02:59.760 was growing up. My sister and I grew up running 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:04.120 around in a gym and form of babysitting. Yeah, just 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:07.919 well they were practicing. We kept ourselves busy running around 0:03:08.000 --> 0:03:10.799 and playing with different volleyballs or watching. So I think 0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:13.200 I started playing organized volleyball maybe when I was in 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:14.840 third grade and. 0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:17.080 Your dad coached. He coached to you. 0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:19.040 Eventually he did coach me eventually. 0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:21.520 What was that like some stressful car rides? 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:28.160 No, I I think that we both agree looking back 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:31.480 that if it had been at any other time past 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:33.960 the age that I was thin. He coached me when 0:03:34.000 --> 0:03:35.960 I was twelve for a couple of years, and then 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:38.760 coached me when I was fourteen per year, and I 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:41.840 think if we had gone beyond fourteen years old, it 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:43.960 would have been Nah, it would have been some some 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:47.600 kas in the house. Does he still coach? He does, 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:50.680 on and off. He just finished coaching a club season 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:53.040 for a Beleague fourteen see it all right? 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:53.200 Up? 0:03:53.320 --> 0:03:56.680 Yeah, So when did you know that volleyball wasn't going 0:03:56.720 --> 0:03:57.400 to be your sport? 0:03:57.720 --> 0:03:59.360 What was it that clicked? 0:03:59.560 --> 0:03:59.760 You know? 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:01.720 I feel like a part of it had to have 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:03.840 been that I grew up around it and just saw it. 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:07.720 And I think being always in a gym with older 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:11.240 girls that I could look up to and aspire to 0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:13.600 try and get to where they were kind of was 0:04:14.240 --> 0:04:17.120 the thing in front of me. But I love anything 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:20.200 that involves a ball, So my sister and I would 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:23.400 play every sport imaginable in our backyard and try everything 0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:25.640 and had a lot of fun with it. But I 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:28.360 think because volleyball was so accessible to me was what stuck. 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:30.600 But I always say that if I had had the 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:33.120 chance to play basketball, I think I would have liked 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:36.039 the physical interaction with the other team, like you don't 0:04:36.040 --> 0:04:37.240 get much of that in volleyball. 0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:39.480 No, It's funny because a lot of your teammates who 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:43.159 did play basketball preferred not to do the physical anymore, 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:45.240 which is why they enjoyed playing volleyball. 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:47.360 When did you know, though, that you were going to 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:49.320 be not just good but good. 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:52.240 I had the fortune of playing up a lot, so 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:54.400 I was always one of the younger ones on the team, 0:04:54.640 --> 0:04:56.800 playing with older girls who were either one or two 0:04:56.839 --> 0:04:58.320 years older than me, And so I feel like you 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:01.960 learn pretty quickly. You're humbled quickly, and you learn faster 0:05:02.080 --> 0:05:04.520 honestly when you're in an environment that forces you to 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:07.520 be better or you know you won't thrive or you 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:10.760 won't make it. So I think probably sometime early in 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:14.000 high school as a freshman came in and made varsity, 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:16.279 like a lot of my teammates, and you kind of go, well, 0:05:16.400 --> 0:05:19.000 this might be something that I could run with or take, 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:21.160 and I think I speak for a lot of us, 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:24.000 when you just constantly tried to get to that next thing. So, 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:27.839 you know, freshman making varsity, then it's like you're in 0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:29.920 high school and you're trying to see if you can 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:33.040 get a scholarship somewhere to play in college, and that 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:35.599 what's next, what's next, What's next? And so we have 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:40.320 such a large pool of athletes in this country with 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:43.679 our college system for volleyball, and I know our national 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:47.640 team staff watches a lot and wants to make our 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:49.920 program the best it can and bring in the best 0:05:49.960 --> 0:05:52.800 talent they think might be suitable for the future. And 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:56.240 so when cors calls, you know, you answer and you 0:05:56.240 --> 0:05:56.680 you come. 0:05:59.400 --> 0:06:00.960 They look good. Yes, exactly. 0:06:01.320 --> 0:06:03.599 So it was fortunate to get the opportunity to get 0:06:03.600 --> 0:06:05.320 my foot in the door, and I'm lucky to still 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:05.760 be here. 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:08.719 We're born in Illinois. It was Yeah, when did you 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:09.640 move to Colorado? 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:12.840 My parents moved out to Colorado when I was two, 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:15.760 I think, so I'm high. Yeah, so all of our 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:20.240 families back in the Midwest, but I grew up in Denver. 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:25.279 Hey, guys, I wanted to give you a quick fact 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:29.719 about volleyball in Colorado to set the scene. The Midwest 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:32.360 is a hot spot for girls and women's volleyball. That's 0:06:32.400 --> 0:06:36.719 why places like Nebraska and Wisconsin are almost always in 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:39.440 the conversation when you talk about the best players, clubs 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:43.760 and schools for the sport. But Colorado is gaining momentum 0:06:44.040 --> 0:06:47.520 and has amazing athletes thanks to players like Jordan and 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:52.240 her USA teammate Haley Washington, who's from Colorado Springs. When 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:55.240 Jordan was a senior, her club team front Range eighteen 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:59.320 Black was ranked eleventh in the nation and going back 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:02.719 to Team US, Jordan and Haley made up a sixth 0:07:02.920 --> 0:07:05.640 of the gold medal winners in Tokyo and both will 0:07:05.640 --> 0:07:09.200 be heading back to Paris. The Rocky Mountain region doesn't 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:12.520 look so i rocky to me. Now back to the interview. 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:17.240 Beautiful Tenver. So what drew you to Illinois for college? 0:07:17.360 --> 0:07:20.560 I think a mix of who that coach was at 0:07:20.560 --> 0:07:22.560 the time, Kevin Hanley, who is now the head coach 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:26.840 at Stanford and in combination with the team at that 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:29.720 time made the championship against UCLA. I think it was 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:31.920 twenty eleven. So it was just a lot of right 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:35.480 things at the right time in that regard, and having 0:07:35.640 --> 0:07:39.200 had grandparents from central Illinois, my mom's from Central Illinois. 0:07:39.200 --> 0:07:42.040 You know, both my parents growing up were Illinois fans. 0:07:42.120 --> 0:07:44.720 A lot of yelling at the TV during basketball games, 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:46.560 so it just seemed like a great foot for me, 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:50.960 and I loved my time at University of Illinois and 0:07:51.480 --> 0:07:52.880 wouldn't trade it for anything. 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:56.800 You were the top three recruit in the nation, the 0:07:56.880 --> 0:08:01.040 top setter when you graduated high school. But how did 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:04.160 you decide on becoming a setter. 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:06.320 I've got to say that it was one of those 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:09.600 things that wasn't my choice to start. You know, I 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:12.320 was one of the smaller ones when I had first 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:15.280 started playing volleyball, so I was eight years old playing 0:08:15.280 --> 0:08:17.320 with twelve year olds, so it was four years younger, 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:19.960 and it was kind of like, oh, well, you're definitely 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:22.000 not big enough to be one of our hitters, and 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:23.920 we need somebody else to say because we've got our 0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:27.320 libro set. So it just, you know, by lucky, the 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:31.360 draw was kind of what I was led into, and 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:35.199 fortunately enough for me my personality and my want for control, 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:39.480 it fits well when being a setter. No, I'm just giving. 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:43.840 Apparently makes for the best setter in the country, I suppose, 0:08:43.880 --> 0:09:02.200 so it helped. So being that highly touted going into college, 0:09:02.280 --> 0:09:05.240 did you find yourself humbled a bit or did you 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:08.560 fit in immediately? What was kind of your transition from 0:09:08.679 --> 0:09:10.360 high school club to college. 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:15.120 I went to Illinois and earned the starting spot, and 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:17.760 the current center at the time was a senior. So 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:21.640 was a freshman coming in and taking a senior's position, 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:25.400 and that had a learning curve to it for sure, 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:28.600 and kind of had some ups and downs through the season. 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:31.960 Was benched for a brief period of time, and then 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:34.800 re earned my spot and we finished out my freshman 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:38.480 year going to the Sweet sixteen. But every level there's 0:09:38.520 --> 0:09:42.640 a jump in physicality, there's a jump in IQ and 0:09:43.440 --> 0:09:45.920 I think for me, trying to get to know women 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:48.360 who have played together for a long time in the 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:50.480 short amount of time, had to figure out how to 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:53.600 ford relationships quickly, you know, similarly to when you come 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:55.800 to the national team and those girls who've been playing 0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:58.760 together for ten plus years and you come in Brennan 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:02.679 bushytail just you know, have to have to form these 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:06.480 relationships and build trust and equity as authentically and quickly 0:10:06.520 --> 0:10:06.920 as you can. 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:10.400 Mentally, when you're going through that initial phase freshman year, 0:10:10.600 --> 0:10:14.640 bench not bench starting, taking over senior's position, how did 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:17.360 you mentally prepare yourself and get through that. 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:19.840 I don't know that there was anything that could have 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:22.520 prepared me. I think It's one of those life lessons 0:10:22.679 --> 0:10:24.319 until you're in it, you know. The only way I 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:28.800 was through because I wasn't, you know, necessarily satisfied with 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:31.360 what was happening in the gym. I kind of self 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:34.480 taught piano in my dorm room. Oh wow, yeah, our dorm. 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:37.600 Our dorm had piano rooms, and so I was like, 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:40.160 you know what, this sounds kind of fun. We could 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:42.640 rent the rooms for an hour for free, and so 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:45.520 I just take an hour almost every night and sit 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:49.280 and try to equivalate, you know, the chords that you 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:52.480 learn on guitar and figure out the ham positionings on 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.440 piano and sort of that's kind of how I self taught. 0:10:57.720 --> 0:11:01.400 Okay, can we take a second to just commend Jordan 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:06.920 for teaching herself piano, because wow, that takes a lot 0:11:06.960 --> 0:11:11.400 of patience and dedication and just amazing. But I also 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:14.560 want to point out that playing an instrument could help 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:15.920 you become a better athlete. 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:16.840 I mean, think about it. 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:21.760 Both playing a sport and instrument need coordination, collaboration, and 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:25.920 self confidence, and both skills can help each other. When 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:29.000 you're stressed or anxious about your athletic performance, you can 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:32.840 relax by playing an instrument like music therapy or if 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:35.960 you're frustrated after trying to learn Hotel, California after the 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:39.000 nth hour, you can take that frustration out on the court. 0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:43.280 But the biggest issue is time management. When can you 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:46.040 find the time to practice an instrument while still training 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:49.000 and performing at a high level. Well, Jordan was able 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:51.720 to find that while competing at a high level in volleyball. 0:11:52.040 --> 0:11:55.400 And if Jordan can do it, so can you. Are 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:58.160 you a chord player or can you read the notes? 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:01.560 I can't read music, but I and tabs and chords. 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:04.320 See, that's actually the fun way because that's like piano 0:12:04.400 --> 0:12:07.760 bar playing, and you can play anything. 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:09.960 That's the more social way, right, And that's what I 0:12:10.040 --> 0:12:13.640 use it for as like a fun hobby social you know. 0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:16.240 So did you find that cathartic or was it just 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:17.760 sort of a distraction? 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:21.120 I think both. Actually cathartic in the sense of I 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:26.320 was doing something that was enjoyable and challenging and I 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:28.920 was getting better and learning, and yeah, it was a 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:31.000 good way to detach and it was something that I 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:34.640 could do solely by myself and control the pace at 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:37.280 which I tried to attack it. There was just a 0:12:37.280 --> 0:12:39.800 lot of fun, creative freedom in it that I don't 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:41.400 think that I could have found anywhere else. 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:44.160 And you were a film major at Illinois, it was 0:12:44.559 --> 0:12:45.520 how did that work? 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:47.720 So as I ended up becoming a film major. 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:50.600 I think, like a lot of people who here, when 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:55.720 you're a film major or media in cinema studies, it's like, oh. 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:57.320 Nice, so you're going to work at a restaurant. 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:02.319 But you know, being in the fortunate position of getting 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:05.640 a full Red scholarship, I wanted to do something that 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:08.920 I enjoyed. I wanted to be in classes that I 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:10.679 wanted to go to and I and. 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:13.080 That's what college is kind of I think so too. 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:15.480 But I did start out in the business school, and 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:17.160 after you can one O two. 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:17.360 I. 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:19.640 Tailed it out of there. 0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:23.400 The opportunities are endless when it comes to that. 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:27.439 You said this before, but senior year, the US women's 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:30.760 national team game calling and brought you on board. And 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:34.720 so what was it like playing with these women who 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:39.120 now their life is just volleyball and professional sports? Did 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:42.400 you learn a lot about the next phase in this 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:44.720 world if you wanted to go pro again? 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:48.400 It's such an interesting jump for US Americans to go 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:52.800 from college to professionally, which you know, up until this 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:55.280 year you had to go abroad to play and make 0:13:55.320 --> 0:13:57.839 a decent amount of money. And so for me, coming 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:01.440 out of college, I fell I had the perfect balance 0:14:01.559 --> 0:14:05.719 of school, social and sport. Then you leave all that 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:09.320 and it's all volleyball, and it's all just Yeah, you're 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:12.120 having to figure out how you find that balance in 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:15.680 other aspects. And for me that was pretty challenging, or 0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:18.760 a pretty rude awakening, I would say, But kind of 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:21.160 like I touched on earlier, I think in life you 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:24.440 have to go through some hard things to grow as 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:27.240 a human and be better moving forward. As hard as 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:30.840 that experience was for me, I think I'm better for it, 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:34.640 I guess now in hindsight. But if young girls don't 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:38.320 have to leave America to experience high level volleyball, that's 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:39.720 one of the reasons that I think a lot of 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:42.360 us feel so compelled to to be a part of 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:45.520 League One, you know, is to provide that choice and 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:48.000 have the option because we never had the option before. 0:14:48.080 --> 0:14:50.640 Did the girls give you advice since you were still 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:53.400 in college, did they give you advice on the next 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:54.200 step in life? 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:57.200 I think as much as they could. People are very 0:14:57.200 --> 0:15:00.520 forthcoming with their experiences and things that they've learned. But 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:03.040 I think the essence of it all is really finding yourself. 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:05.760 And the more the more that you become comfortable with yourself, 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:09.640 the easier, and that everything else becomes both inside and 0:15:09.680 --> 0:15:11.600 outside the gym. You know, when you make that jump 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:15.200 from college to pro there's a lot of imposter syndrome 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:18.400 or just feeling like what am I doing here? And 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:21.920 the growth curve is pretty big. But controlling what you 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:25.840 can and being open to learning and growing and keeping 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:28.520 yourself curious, I think would be my advice if I 0:15:28.560 --> 0:15:32.040 could go back and tell my former giving. 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:34.520 Yourself when did you know, yes, I'm definitely going to 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:36.800 be playing professionally, that this is something that I want 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:38.320 to continue doing and pursuing. 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:42.200 Probably my junior and senior year of college was one 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:46.240 in those conversations with both my coaches at Illinois at 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:49.360 the time and with national team staff were happening. 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:50.600 Did you know where you wanted to go? 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:53.120 So I graduated in December of twenty eighteen, so I 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:57.440 graduated a semester early from my graduating class, and that's 0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:01.560 the middle of the overseas season. So I was not picky. 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:05.000 I was very lucky that a team who was doing 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:08.760 very poorly in Seri one of the Italian League wanted 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:11.000 to make a change to try to save themselves from 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:14.040 a relegation, and they took a chance on a young 0:16:14.120 --> 0:16:16.560 center out of college. So I then spent the next 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:19.600 four years after that playing in the Italian League, and 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:23.560 it was a really great place to learn and to 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:27.480 get better and to meet friends and people from all 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:30.800 walks of life and countries that I never would have 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:33.360 had I not gone. I don't know, it's weird for 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:35.600 all of us now. I think kind of being on 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:39.360 the other side of our overseas life, you know, kind 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:41.120 of mourn it in a way because for as hard 0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:43.200 as it was, there were so many beautiful things in 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:45.520 friendships and memories that come out of it. It's a 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:48.560 bittersweet thing, but I'm really excited for the picture. 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:52.280 Yeah, for sure. So let's talk about Tokyo for a second. 0:16:52.920 --> 0:16:56.040 Because you were the onest player on the team during 0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:58.239 that run. You get named. 0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:01.680 Best senter in the Tokyo Olympics, which, like that must 0:17:01.680 --> 0:17:05.320 have been so cool. You win gold, but you're twenty 0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:06.920 four at the time. 0:17:07.080 --> 0:17:09.600 Yeah, Yeah, I turned twenty four during the Olympics. 0:17:09.880 --> 0:17:13.480 So you're twenty three turning twenty four during the Olympics. 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:16.560 What was going through your mind when it came to 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:21.320 I just went gold. I'm twenty four years old. What 0:17:21.440 --> 0:17:23.720 do I do now? What's the next goal? 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:27.359 Exactly right. I don't know if dreams are dreams are 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:31.600 dreams because they're this like huge attainable thing that you 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:35.160 hope to one day you know, achieved or accomplish. But yeah, 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:37.720 I don't know. Not you just don't think it happens 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:41.520 that that early, or I feel really fortunate that it 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:44.320 happened at all, because a lot of people don't get 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:46.800 to achieve their dreams. But there was there was a 0:17:46.840 --> 0:17:50.960 period afterward of like, oh, well, okay, no, yeah, no, 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:54.480 what I mean, you try to do it again? Right? 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:57.720 But I think for me, being alongside of the eleven 0:17:57.720 --> 0:17:59.600 other women that I got to be teammates with in 0:17:59.640 --> 0:18:03.280 the took Olympics, I think all of us wished that 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:06.840 for as high a moment that that was winning gold, 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:08.919 that our friends and family could have been there to 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:12.119 experience that with us, or celebrate and relish in that 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:15.119 alongside us. And so for me, the new dream became 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:19.119 to be able to be wearing my country on my 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:23.159 chest and to be competing on the biggest stage in 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:27.080 the world and have my mom, dad, and sister in 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:30.639 the stands in that experience with me. So that's a 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:32.040 good dream. That's the new dream. 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:35.040 So I know you've talked about this a lot in interviews, 0:18:35.160 --> 0:18:37.960 but there's probably people listening to this. 0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:42.080 I don't know the story, so I know you know 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:44.040 exactly what I'm about to ask you. 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:48.639 Yeah, in twenty twenty two, your car got broken into 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:53.520 and your gold medal was stolen. Listening to the interviews 0:18:53.520 --> 0:18:55.920 that you've done, you know what you just did. Now 0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:58.840 you're laughing. You know you got it back, which is 0:18:58.960 --> 0:19:00.480 I did miracle. 0:19:00.640 --> 0:19:01.840 It is a miracle. 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:03.600 But I had to ask. 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:07.600 When it first happened, what actually was going through your mind, 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:08.959 because I don't think you were laughing. 0:19:09.640 --> 0:19:13.520 No, well, no, no, but I wasn't crying either. It 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:16.800 was more like a God, you're so stupid. You're so stupid. 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:17.639 You know. 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:19.919 It was more of a disappointment in myself for a 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:22.760 couple of reasons. How could you forget that you put 0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:23.480 it in your car? 0:19:24.760 --> 0:19:26.960 I would have forgotten too. If it makes you feel better. 0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:29.359 Yeah, well, I you know, I try to spin it 0:19:29.400 --> 0:19:31.359 and say, yeah, I'm just not so attached to it 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:35.480 that I like think about it all the time. No, 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:39.520 I think also just knowing where I was living at 0:19:39.520 --> 0:19:44.320 the time and having been just negligent and understanding, yeah, 0:19:44.359 --> 0:19:48.879 maybe let's not leave your garage open and leave your 0:19:48.920 --> 0:19:51.880 car unlocked, and you know, just things like that where 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:53.760 it's like, oh, I should put a little more thought 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:55.000 into into. 0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:56.280 This very good life lesson. 0:19:56.400 --> 0:19:58.080 It is a good life lesson. You know. One of 0:19:58.119 --> 0:20:01.520 my best friends, Beth, she always told me never to 0:20:01.560 --> 0:20:05.200 leave anything valuable in my car because smashing grabs, and 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:10.160 clearly I didn't listen to her. I had made peace 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:12.040 with the fact that I would probably never see it again, 0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:16.960 which to me, did not take away from the actual 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:20.800 accomplishment itself. You know, as cool as the actual metal 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:24.200 is to me, doesn't mitigate the magnitude of the accomplishments. 0:20:24.240 --> 0:20:27.520 And then, twist of fate. I got a call while 0:20:27.520 --> 0:20:30.000 we were in Canada playing. Actually I was on my 0:20:30.080 --> 0:20:33.200 trainer's massage table getting me some work done. I only 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:35.679 have or something, and I got a call and was 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:37.480