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Speaker 1: Welcome back to She Pivots, the podcast where we talk

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Speaker 1: with women who dare to pivot out of one career

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Speaker 1: and into something new and explore how their personal lives

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Speaker 1: impacts these decisions. I'm your host, Emily Tish Sussman. Today

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Speaker 1: We've got something extra special for you. We're dropping not one,

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Speaker 1: but two incredible episodes from good Night Stories for Rebel

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Speaker 1: Girls right here in our feed. One from the one

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Speaker 1: and only yah el Aberbush West, the general manager of

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Speaker 1: Gotham FC and former US national team soccer player, where

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Speaker 1: I got to narrate her incredible story. Then you'll hear

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Speaker 1: my conversation with Kira about me and my background. If

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Speaker 1: you love the stories we share about women making bold

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Speaker 1: moves and rewriting the rules, then you are going to

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Speaker 1: love what Rebel Girls is all about. So if you

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Speaker 1: haven't heard of them, let me introduce you. Rebel Girls

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Speaker 1: is on a mission to raise the most confident, inspired

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Speaker 1: generation of girls. They create books, video content, events, apps,

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Speaker 1: and of course a podcast. All are designed to equip

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Speaker 1: girls with the knowledge and tools they need to thrive

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Speaker 1: and inspire them to dream bigger. With the community of

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Speaker 1: thirty eight million self identified rebel girls in over one

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Speaker 1: hundred and fifteen countries. They're making a huge impact, and

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Speaker 1: now they're taking that mission to the world of sports.

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Speaker 1: Enter Rebel Girls Sport, their newest vertical that's all about

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Speaker 1: celebrating women athletes and building a space where girls can

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Speaker 1: see themselves in sports, build confidence and become lifelong fans.

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Speaker 1: Because let's be real, the world of sports hasn't always

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Speaker 1: made space for women the way it should. In fact,

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Speaker 1: are two times more likely than boys to drop out

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Speaker 1: of sport by the age of fourteen. I love what

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Speaker 1: Rebel Girls is doing, and Gotham FC has created our

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Speaker 1: own initiative to address this exact issue. We created Keep

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Speaker 1: Her in the Game, which offers curated resources and programs

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Speaker 1: to empower youth players on and off the field. And

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Speaker 1: that brings us to today's special episodes. First, you'll hear

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Speaker 1: an amazing episode featuring the incredible story of Yael. The

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Speaker 1: episode is narrated by Yours Truly and is one of resilience,

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Speaker 1: leadership and paving the way for the next generation of

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Speaker 1: women's soccer. Then I sit down with Kira, a Rebel Girl,

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Speaker 1: for a get to know episode where I share a

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Speaker 1: bit about my own pivot story, what sports means to me,

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Speaker 1: and why I'm so passionate about lifting up women's voices.

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Speaker 1: If you love what you hear today, make sure to

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Speaker 1: check out good Night's Stories for Rebel Girls for more

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Speaker 1: inspiring episodes featuring fearless women breaking barriers in sports, business, science,

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Speaker 1: and beyond. You can find them wherever you get your podcasts,

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Speaker 1: including a video version on Rebel Girls YouTube channel. All right,

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Speaker 1: let's get into it. It was game day, and yeah

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Speaker 1: Elle Aberbush was wrestling with the usual nervous energy before

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Speaker 1: a match, a midfielder for the University of North Carolina

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Speaker 1: tar Heels women's soccer team. Yeah, Elle knew the game

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Speaker 1: inside and out. She tried to push the self doubt

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Speaker 1: out of her mind. Yeah, you've got this, You've got this.

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Speaker 1: The tar Heels were playing their fifth game of the season.

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Speaker 1: The winning team would inch a little closer to the

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Speaker 1: Women's College Cup, a prestigious title in college sports. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Elle squinted in the sunshine, the ball waiting patiently at

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Speaker 1: the midfield stripe. Then she took a few quick steps

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Speaker 1: and damn, a powerful kick. The ball soared through the air.

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Speaker 1: One second two seconds it floated over the heads of

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Speaker 1: the astonished defenders three seconds and then over the outstretched

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Speaker 1: hands of the goalie and into the net four seconds goal.

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Speaker 1: And just like that, in four seconds, Yea l Aberbush

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Speaker 1: had set a record for the fastest goal ever scored

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Speaker 1: and the NCAA Women's Soccer cheers from her teammates and

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Speaker 1: the crowd rose through the air, beaming in triumph. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: Elle knew she wanted to keep setting records and scoring goals.

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Speaker 1: She wanted to be the best soccer player in the world.

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Speaker 1: I'm Emily Tish Sussman, co owner of the soccer team

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Speaker 1: Gotham FC and host of the she Pivots podcast. And

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Speaker 1: this is good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, a fairytale

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Speaker 1: podcast about the real life rebel women who inspire us.

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Speaker 1: On this episode, yah Elle Aberbush, West, professional soccer player,

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Speaker 1: Gotham general manager and leader in women's sports competition was

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Speaker 1: always a part of yah Elle Aberbush's life. She put

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Speaker 1: her full attention on everything she did, even if it

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Speaker 1: was just coloring at school with her friends. Growing up

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Speaker 1: twenty miles from New York City in montgree in New Jersey,

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Speaker 1: she and her little sister, Shierra watched their parents train

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Speaker 1: for their next big run, and listened to their dad's

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Speaker 1: stories about being an Olympic marathon qualifier. Yeah Elle was

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Speaker 1: a serious kid, so when a friend introduced her to

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Speaker 1: soccer when she was seven, she naturally became very serious

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Speaker 1: about that too. But soccer, with all its running and strategy,

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Speaker 1: was also really fun. She joined the soccer team in

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Speaker 1: her town and soon it was all she could think about.

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Speaker 1: Once the referee blew the whistle. She was often running,

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Speaker 1: dribbling the ball down the fields, dodging opponents from all sides,

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Speaker 1: eyeing the goal, and kicking the ball so powerfully that

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Speaker 1: it sent ripples through the net. Even from her earliest games,

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Speaker 1: yeah Elle caught people's attention with her skill. She liked

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Speaker 1: being on a team and helping the group win. But

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Speaker 1: for Yaelle, training as a team sport, she liked to

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Speaker 1: practice on her own, away from the group, whether on

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Speaker 1: a field or in the streets. Being alone meant that

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Speaker 1: she could focus solely on improving her technique. She was

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Speaker 1: a lone wolf, and she liked it that way. After

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Speaker 1: two years of learning the game, yeah Elle knew what

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Speaker 1: she wanted to be when she grew up. She wanted

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Speaker 1: to play for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels,

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Speaker 1: known as UNC. This was the best college soccer team

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Speaker 1: in the country. Being on that team would be her

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Speaker 1: ticket to her ultimate goal, playing professional soccer for the

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Speaker 1: US women's national team. By the time she was eleven,

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Speaker 1: yeah Elle was the only girl on an all boys team.

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Speaker 1: The group was fast and a little rough, but yeah

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Speaker 1: Elle didn't back down. The struggle made her even more

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Speaker 1: serious and focused. I need to keep doing things that

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Speaker 1: feel really challenging, yah Elle thought to herself. That's how

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Speaker 1: I'm going to be the best. She spent her summer

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Speaker 1: vacations at soccer camp, training from dawn till dusk. Then

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Speaker 1: when it was quiet, she'd write down everything she'd learned

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Speaker 1: that day, every play, every strategy. It all went into

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Speaker 1: her journal. When she got back home, she'd pull out

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Speaker 1: her notes and practice what she'd learned at camp. One day,

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Speaker 1: she thought to herself, all this practice is going to

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Speaker 1: pay off. I just have to work a little harder. Finally,

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Speaker 1: after nearly ten years of playing on traveling in national teams,

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Speaker 1: and training on her own, eighteen year old yeah Elle

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Speaker 1: got the biggest news of her life. The UNC Tar

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Speaker 1: heels wanted her. She made the team, she would be

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Speaker 1: number seventeen, playing midfield. She had accomplished the first of

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Speaker 1: her two biggest goals, but when yeah Elle got to

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Speaker 1: UNC and started training, she was in for a shock.

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Speaker 1: She was good, but her new team was even faster

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Speaker 1: than she expected. For the first time, she couldn't always

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Speaker 1: keep up and something was happening. Yeah Elle was used

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Speaker 1: to training alone, away from the group. Now she was

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Speaker 1: training with the team. One day, her younger teammate, Casey,

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Speaker 1: asked her if they could train together on free kicks.

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Speaker 1: Yeah Elle shrugged and agreed, even though she'd much rather

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Speaker 1: practice free kicks on her own. She and Casey he

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Speaker 1: started meeting every week, kicking the ball over and over

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Speaker 1: trying to hit a two inch red flag hanging from

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Speaker 1: the corner of the net. Hitting that tiny flag was

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Speaker 1: not easy. They agreed that whoever hit it during practice

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Speaker 1: would automatically win. Little by little, yea Elle started to

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Speaker 1: look forward to free kicks with Casey. It was fun

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Speaker 1: to hang out and train before the rest of the

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Speaker 1: team showed up, and it felt good to encourage Casey

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Speaker 1: and give her pointers. With ya Elle's help, Casey got

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Speaker 1: better and better at hitting that red flag. Weeks passed

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Speaker 1: and finally it was game day again. This time the

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Speaker 1: UNC Tar Heels were playing the Notre Dame, fighting Irish.

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Speaker 1: As the minutes clicked by, the game seemed to be

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Speaker 1: slipping away from yeah Ell and her team meets. It

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Speaker 1: was Tar Heels zero eating Irish one. Then Casey got

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Speaker 1: a free kick. All their free kick sessions raced through

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Speaker 1: ya Elle's mind. Casey knew this kick like the back

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Speaker 1: of her hand, but could she make it? Casey eyed

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Speaker 1: the ball, then a powerful kick and swush into the

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Speaker 1: back corner of the net, exactly where the red flag hung.

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Speaker 1: Pure joy a rough inside of ya Elle. She'd never

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Speaker 1: known this kind of camaraderie. She screamed at the top

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Speaker 1: of her lungs and took off running, happy, tears blurring

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Speaker 1: her vision as she jumped a join the pile of

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Speaker 1: her teammates. That goal was the push they needed. The

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Speaker 1: Tar Heels went home victorious that day, winning two to one.

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Speaker 1: As a hardworking United team. Casey even snags the red

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Speaker 1: flag for Yea to keep as a reminder of their

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Speaker 1: perfect goal. Now for a quick break. During yeah Elle's

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Speaker 1: four years at UNC, the Tar heels, racked up awards

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Speaker 1: and won two national championships, and she set personal records too.

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Speaker 1: Like the four second goal. Yeah Lle was known for

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Speaker 1: her solid, consistent play and set another record as a

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Speaker 1: starting player in one hundred and five consecutive games. She

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Speaker 1: even got to play with the US women's national team

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Speaker 1: at a big tournament in China. With all this success,

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Speaker 1: yeah Elle was on her way to achieving her second

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Speaker 1: life goal, playing for the US women's national team full time.

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Speaker 1: After college, yeah Elle was drafted to her first professional

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Speaker 1: women's soccer team, Skyblue FC, based in New Jersey. Returning

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Speaker 1: to her home state, she felt like she'd come full circle,

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Speaker 1: but not for long. Yeahelle played with sky Blue for

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Speaker 1: a few seasons, and then in twenty ten, her second

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Speaker 1: major dream became a reality. Yeah Elle was drafted as

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Speaker 1: a permanent member of the US women's national team. Everything

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Speaker 1: she'd worked for had finally paid off. As much as

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Speaker 1: she wanted to enjoy it, there was something that continued

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Speaker 1: to nag at yah Elle. Sure she was competing with

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Speaker 1: the best soccer teams across the US and the world,

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Speaker 1: but she knew she wasn't yet the best player on earth.

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Speaker 1: She was too ambitious to be satisfied, kept pushing herself

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Speaker 1: to do more. The stress of the game and her

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Speaker 1: own high expectations were fraying her nerves. Yeah Elle's body

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Speaker 1: started responding to the stress in negative ways. She developed

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Speaker 1: ulcerative colitis, a painful illness that made her stomach very

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Speaker 1: uncomfortable and unpredictable. She had to go to the bathroom frequently,

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Speaker 1: sometimes in the middle of games, and often felt too

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Speaker 1: sick to play. Still, she kept pushing herself harder and faster.

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Speaker 1: She signed on to play with a new team in Seattle,

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Speaker 1: but the pain of her illness was too much to bear.

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Speaker 1: After just one game with the team, yeah Elle knew

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Speaker 1: she had reached her breaking point. She would have kept

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Speaker 1: fighting forever, working to be the best, no matter the pain,

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Speaker 1: but her body did what her mind would not let

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Speaker 1: her do. She had no choice but to stop, whether

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Speaker 1: she wanted to or not. It was time to walk

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Speaker 1: off the field as a player and take care of

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Speaker 1: her health. So yeah Elle had to embrace a new challenge,

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Speaker 1: listening to her body and learning how to manage stress.

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Speaker 1: She got the care that she needed for her ulcerative colitis,

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Speaker 1: even getting major surgery to remove her large intestine. It

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Speaker 1: was a difficult road, but she finally felt well again. Still,

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Speaker 1: she couldn't leave soccer behind entirely. Yeah, Elle found new

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Speaker 1: ways to lead and put her independent spirit to work,

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Speaker 1: creating her own business and a training app called technev Football.

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Speaker 1: Knowing the struggles of athletes, she also started the National

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Speaker 1: Women's Soccer Lead Players Association to protect players and ensure

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Speaker 1: they're treated fairly. Then, her incredible career as a player,

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Speaker 1: business owner and mentor to other players made her the

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Speaker 1: perfect candidate for another job, general manager for the New York,

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Speaker 1: New Jersey soccer team Gotham FC formerly known as Sky BLUEFC.

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Speaker 1: After a life on the road, Yaelle came back to

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Speaker 1: lead her home team as the general manager. She works

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Speaker 1: closely with the coaches and the team, strategizing and guiding,

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Speaker 1: motivating and supporting, and other parts of her life blossomed

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Speaker 1: around soccer too. She married a fellow player and together

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Speaker 1: they're raising two children. Though she's no longer on the

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Speaker 1: field herself, yet Elle will always be a player in

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Speaker 1: her heart and in her soccer journals. Her whole life,

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Speaker 1: yet Elle had been documenting her training, her thoughts, and

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Speaker 1: her dreams Through it all, one lesson stands out. The

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Speaker 1: training she did on her own made her a better player,

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Speaker 1: but the most fulfilling moments were sharing the joy of

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Speaker 1: soccer with others on the field and off, and that

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Speaker 1: is the greatest victory of all. This podcast is a

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Speaker 1: production of Rebel Girls. It's based on the book series

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Speaker 1: Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls. The episode was narrated

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Speaker 1: by me Emily ties Sussman. It was produced and directed

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Speaker 1: by Hailey Dapkis, with sound design and mixing by Mumble Media.

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Speaker 1: The story is written by Gina Godzill, back checking by

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Speaker 1: Sharon Lucas. Our intern was Arianna Griffiths. Our executive producers

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Speaker 1: were Joy Smith and Jess Wolf. Original theme music was

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Speaker 1: composed and performed by Elektra Barjockey. A special thanks to

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Speaker 1: ya El Aberbush West and the whole Rebel Girls team

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Speaker 1: who made this podcast possible. Until next time, Stay Rebel.

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Speaker 1: When we come back, I chat with Kira about my background.

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Speaker 1: This is good Night Stories.

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Speaker 2: For Rebel Girls, Hi Rebels. This is good Night's George

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Speaker 2: for Rebel Girls. The interview.

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Speaker 3: I'm your host, Kira, and today we're here talking to

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Speaker 3: Emily Tish Sessman. She's a professional podcast host and Gotham

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Speaker 3: FC women's soccer team co owner.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for bringing here, Emily. Can you please introduce yourself.

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Speaker 1: Hi, my name is Emily Tisch Sessman. I'm a co

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Speaker 1: owner of Gotham FC women's soccer team. I'm a podcast

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Speaker 1: host of a show called She Pivots, and I'm a

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Speaker 1: mom with three little kids.

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Speaker 2: Awesome.

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Speaker 3: So, in the past, you describe yourself as a sports enthusiast.

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Speaker 3: What's your favorite sport to watch your play?

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Speaker 1: Well, I'm actually not great at playing sports myself, So

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Speaker 1: when I say I'm a sports enthusiast, it's because I

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Speaker 1: really just like to watch them. I can pretty much

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Speaker 1: get into anything overall. My favorite sports I like to

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Speaker 1: watch women's soccer and NFL. Those are my two favorites.

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Speaker 3: Nice, I'm actually a soccer player myself. What made you

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Speaker 3: want to get involved with women's soccer in the first place.

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Speaker 3: Was wanting to inspire daughters part of your motivation?

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Speaker 1: Well, there's so much any reasons, but it's my daughter's

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Speaker 1: who I want to be inspired. But it's also my son.

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Speaker 1: My son cares and matters equally as much as my daughters,

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Speaker 1: as seeing these incredible athletes that are young women, that

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Speaker 1: are good people, that are strong, that are confident. The

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Speaker 1: first time I was ever around the team, I was

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Speaker 1: really just struck by how physically strong they are and

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Speaker 1: how not apologetic they are for their physical strength. They

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Speaker 1: have worked hard for this and they earned it and

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Speaker 1: they know it. That inspires me. I hope it inspires

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Speaker 1: my daughter, but I also hope it inspires my son.

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Speaker 3: The Gotham players are amazing.

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Speaker 2: How could anyone watching not be inspired?

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Speaker 3: Do you have any stories to highlight the love the

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Speaker 3: Gotham soccer team has for each other.

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Speaker 1: Two seasons ago, our team was dead last in the

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Speaker 1: whole league, the last team in the league. And then

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Speaker 1: last year our team was doing okay, we were sort

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Speaker 1: of in the middle, we were ranked six, and then

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Speaker 1: our team captain Ali Krieger went through something incredibly personally

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Speaker 1: difficult and the team totally rallied around her, and the

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Speaker 1: team just built momentum from that, and they all kept saying,

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Speaker 1: we're doing it for Ali, We're doing it for Ali.

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Speaker 1: And Allie had already announced her retirement, so she knew

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Speaker 1: that whatever her last game was going to be her

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Speaker 1: last game ever. And even though we were ranked six,

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Speaker 1: they made it to the semi finals, one made it

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Speaker 1: to the playoffs, one made it to the championship and.

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Speaker 2: One that's amazing.

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Speaker 3: Speaking of the team, you brought us the story of

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Speaker 3: soccer player and Gotham FC general manager ya Elle everbuch West.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Elle was an extremely talented and committed player, scoring the

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Speaker 3: fastest goal ever, scored an NC doublea women's soccer and

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Speaker 3: playing on the US national women's team for seven years.

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Speaker 2: What does her story mean to you?

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Speaker 1: Even before knowing exactly how hard ya Elle had worked

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Speaker 1: to get to every stage of being an incredible soccer player,

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Speaker 1: I could just feel her passion like I could just

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Speaker 1: tell there was so much behind it. She has such

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Speaker 1: a steady hand, She cares so much about the players,

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Speaker 1: so much about the game. It really is inspiring to

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Speaker 1: be around Y'aelle. So I was really excited to be

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Speaker 1: able to bring her story to Rebel Girls and work

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Speaker 1: with you guys to get dig a little deeper and

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Speaker 1: find out has she always been this way? And the

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Speaker 1: answer is yes, she always has been. But her four

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Speaker 1: second goal that I did not know that is incredible.

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Speaker 2: Incredible and record breaking.

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Speaker 3: Women athletes often have a harder time getting sponsorships or

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Speaker 3: brand deals.

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Speaker 2: How does owning a.

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Speaker 3: Women's team differ from owning a men's sports team?

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Speaker 1: So, in particular, owning a women's team means that there's

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Speaker 1: a lot of opportunity and a lot of space. Unfortunately,

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Speaker 1: none of the leagues have been treated with the respect

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Speaker 1: and the sponsorships that they have. But it means that

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Speaker 1: I can take my life mission, my life work of

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Speaker 1: uplifting women and bring them into new spaces and bring

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Speaker 1: them into a sports space now for the first time.

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Speaker 1: Even on my podcast, I spend my time telling stories

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Speaker 1: of women who have overcome big things and done big things,

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Speaker 1: and it's incredible to get to apply that same energy

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Speaker 1: to younger women who are forging their way but also

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Speaker 1: breaking barriers because the sport has just not hit the

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Speaker 1: potential yet, but we know that it can and we're

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Speaker 1: working on it.

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Speaker 3: Oh yeah, that's a perfect segue. Can you tell us

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Speaker 3: more about your podcast, she Pivots and the work you

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Speaker 3: do to elevate female voices.

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Speaker 1: I host a podcast that I created called she Pivots,

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Speaker 1: where I interview women who have changed their lives in

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Speaker 1: a very drastic way. The way that I started the

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Speaker 1: show is because it happened to me. I spent about

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Speaker 1: fifteen years as a federal political strategist, and then I

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Speaker 1: had three kids in three years, and it turns out

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Speaker 1: those two things are not very conducive. So I was

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Speaker 1: worried that my identity was gone. I needed to hear

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Speaker 1: stories of people who had done something maybe similar, but

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Speaker 1: something even harder to be able to know that I

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Speaker 1: was going to be okay.

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Speaker 3: Your show is all about making necessary changes and starting fresh.

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Speaker 2: What something girls can do to figure out who they

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Speaker 2: want to be.

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Speaker 1: The best thing that girls can do to be able

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Speaker 1: to figure out who they are in the world is

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Speaker 1: to be themselves. Be yourself and try it in a

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Speaker 1: couple of new spaces, and then you figure out what

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Speaker 1: feels good and what feels right. Try out for a

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Speaker 1: sports team, try out for the theater, try out working

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Speaker 1: in the place in town that you've always wanted to try.

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Speaker 1: Just try things and bring your whole self to it. Like,

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Speaker 1: don't hold yourself back because you're worried that you might

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Speaker 1: not fit in. Quite frankly, you won't fit in everywhere.

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Speaker 1: But the only way that you're going to feel good

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Speaker 1: about it is if you've tried, and then you might

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Speaker 1: surprise yourself.

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Speaker 3: I love that trying new things led me to hosting

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Speaker 3: this interview. If you could go back in time, do

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Speaker 3: you have any advice for your ten year old self.

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Speaker 1: I think the advice that I would give my ten

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Speaker 1: year old self is that what makes you feel unusual

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Speaker 1: right now will make you feel unusual in a great

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Speaker 1: way when you get older. It just takes a little

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Speaker 1: while to figure it out.

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Speaker 2: That's right.

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Speaker 3: And I've got so many of the greatest rebbles history

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Speaker 3: fell unusual at one point or another. On that note, Emily,

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Speaker 3: what makes you a rebel girl?

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Speaker 1: Well, I'm a mom with purple hair, so I think

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Speaker 1: I started there. I think I started at a pretty

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Speaker 1: high bar of being a rebel girl. What makes me

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Speaker 1: a rebel girl, I think is that I embrace what

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Speaker 1: really brings me joy, and I embrace what really drives me,

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Speaker 1: and I don't get too bogged down what other people

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Speaker 1: think about it. And actually that's been able to give

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Speaker 1: me a ton of joy.

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Speaker 2: Purple hair and embracing joy. Write that down, rebels. Thanks

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Speaker 2: for sharing your story.

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Speaker 1: With us, Emily, thank you.

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Speaker 2: And thank you for listening.

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Speaker 3: Catch you next time, and stay rebel This podcast is

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Speaker 3: a production of Rebel Girls. It's based on the book

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Speaker 3: series Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls.

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Speaker 2: This episode was produced and directed by Hailey Dapkis, with.

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Speaker 3: Sound design and mixing by John Marshall Media. It was

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Speaker 3: hosted by me Kira Joyce Smith was our executive producer.

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Speaker 3: Original theme music was composed and performed by Aleccha bar Jockey.

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Speaker 3: A special thanks to Emily Tish Sussman and the whole

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Speaker 3: Rebel Girls team who made this podcast possible. Until next time,

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Speaker 3: Stay rebel.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening to this special she

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Speaker 1: Pivots episode featuring good Night Stories for Rebel Girls. Be

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Speaker 1: sure to visit their feed and subscribe. You can also

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Speaker 1: follow them on Instagram at Rebel Girls Talk to you

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Speaker 1: next week. Thanks for listening to this episode of she Pivots.

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Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed it and if you did, leave

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Speaker 1: us a rating and tell your friends about us. To

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Speaker 1: learn more about our guests, follow us on Instagram at

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Speaker 1: she Pivots the Podcast, or sign up for our newsletter

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Speaker 1: where you can get exclusive behind the scenes content on

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Speaker 1: our website at she pivots thepodcast dot com. Special thanks

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Speaker 1: to the she Pivots team executive producer Emily eda Velosik,

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Speaker 1: Associate producer and social media connoisseur Hannah Cousins, Research director

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Speaker 1: Christine Dickinson, Events and Logistics coordinator Madeline Sonovak, and audio

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Speaker 1: editor and mixer Nina pollock I endorse she Pivots