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Speaker 1: Growing up, Alyssa Andary loved netball and basketball, but as

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Speaker 1: she describes it, once you get into football, it never

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Speaker 1: really leaves you, and it never did for Lisa. While

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Speaker 1: she started her career in the music industry, Alyssa channeled

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Speaker 1: her passion for live events into sport and never looked back.

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Speaker 1: Now this year, she's been appointed as the CEO of

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Speaker 1: the Central Coast Maritors, making her the club's first female

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Speaker 1: chief executive officer. She's hoping her presence will inspire diverse

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Speaker 1: young women across the country that they can achieve anything

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Speaker 1: if they just go for it. My name's Sophie and

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Speaker 1: I'm the producer here at the Female Athlete Project. Chloe

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Speaker 1: caught up with Alyssa for our last expert interview of

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Speaker 1: the year. It's an intriguing and emotional chat about what

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Speaker 1: goes into becoming a CEO and embracing the diversity of

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Speaker 1: the beautiful game. We hope you enjoy.

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Speaker 2: Itlsa, Welcome to the Female Athlete Project.

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Speaker 3: Thank you for having me. Chloe plas to meet you.

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Speaker 2: It's really nice to meet you too. I'm very much

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Speaker 2: looking forward to having a chat today and I think

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Speaker 2: the opportunity to chat to women in particular in roles

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Speaker 2: not as athletes is something that we really love doing.

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Speaker 2: So really looking forward to the opportunity to hear more

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Speaker 2: about your story and your current role as CEO of

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Speaker 2: the Mariners too.

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Speaker 3: Oh thank you. I'm glad you say not as an athlete,

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Speaker 3: because if you put a ball at my feet, I

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Speaker 3: guarantee I just chip over it and probably embarrass myself

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Speaker 3: in full flat on my face. So I'd just like

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Speaker 3: to put that out there that I cannot play football.

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Speaker 4: She's getting it out there early.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I just wanted to put that caveat.

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Speaker 2: Can you take us back to when you're a little kid,

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Speaker 2: if you weren't good at dribbling of football? Is there

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Speaker 2: a moment you fall in love with sport or with

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Speaker 2: football in particular.

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Speaker 3: Yes, I loved playing netball and basketball as a kid.

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Speaker 3: I tried to play cricket and was just terrible at

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Speaker 3: that as well, but I certainly loved playing playing sport

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Speaker 3: in general. Definitely grew up as an NRL fan. I

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Speaker 3: was a Nights fan from the very beginning in in

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Speaker 3: back in the day. I had every memory really possibly imagine,

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Speaker 3: even hologram sunglasses. I was, Yes, I was gonna say,

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Speaker 3: don't tell anyone, but it's already out there now. But

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Speaker 3: I certainly just loved any kind of sport. But I,

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Speaker 3: I would say definitely more was interested in basketball and

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Speaker 3: netball playing those, but anything that was competitive I was into.

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Speaker 3: But then I wouldn't. I would say that I got

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Speaker 3: into football more because of the the trade that I

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Speaker 3: fell into, and because my husband's actually a die hard

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Speaker 3: Liverpool band, So that's how I got into football itself.

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Speaker 3: And then once you get into football, it sort of

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Speaker 3: catches you by surprise how much you fall in love

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Speaker 3: with it, and it really gets into your heart and

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Speaker 3: you know it just never really leaves you.

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Speaker 2: I love that, going back to you touched on your

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Speaker 2: trade got you into football? Was there a moment when

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Speaker 2: you were younger when you thought that you wanted to

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Speaker 2: work in sport?

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Speaker 3: So I guess I actually started out in music. So

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Speaker 3: I went into music management, which was you know, I

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Speaker 3: guess in a way, I always knew I wanted to

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Speaker 3: be in entertainment, so I loved the life side, the

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Speaker 3: live element, delivering live How could I bring you know,

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Speaker 3: products to life? And then I fell it into it

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Speaker 3: that way. And then when I left music It was

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Speaker 3: the only role outside of music that I applied for,

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Speaker 3: and I met up with someone at FA in the

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Speaker 3: media and marketing space and we really clicked and he

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Speaker 3: actually offered me the role on the spot, and that's

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Speaker 3: how I got into football. And then I went home

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Speaker 3: and was like, oh my god, I know nothing, and

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Speaker 3: my husband was like, you're going to need to get

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Speaker 3: a very quick crash course. And so I was teaching

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Speaker 3: me very quickly about offside rule and this and that,

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Speaker 3: and I was calling you know, back of house, backstage

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Speaker 3: for a very long time, but you know, quickly I

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Speaker 3: picked it all up. And then all of a sudden,

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Speaker 3: you know, beefa REGs felt like very normal to me,

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Speaker 3: and you know, I fell in love with every aspect

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Speaker 3: of it. So yeah, it was it became second nature.

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Speaker 2: Can you touch on that part of it, because I

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Speaker 2: think we often, and probably me as an athlete, I

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Speaker 2: see sport as wanting to win and compete. But at

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Speaker 2: the end of the day, sport is a business and

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Speaker 2: it's it's entertainment. So what parallels did you find between

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Speaker 2: those two things.

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Speaker 3: Between entertainment and sport. I guess it's the live element, right,

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Speaker 3: It's the for a for someone who is watching it

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Speaker 3: is that it is the It is the turning up

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Speaker 3: to an event.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 3: Obviously there is the the win and lose factor, which

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Speaker 3: is you know, for we don't have in like a

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Speaker 3: say you're turning up to a concert. It's it's very different,

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Speaker 3: but there is you're turning up to a spectacle and

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Speaker 3: a product that you go and see, and you're you're

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Speaker 3: watching something that is dramatic and has the ebbs and

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Speaker 3: the flows, and there's lights and colors and music and

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Speaker 3: entertainment side of it as a as a spectator, and

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Speaker 3: for those who are running it, there's the you know,

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Speaker 3: it's you're on for ninety minutes and it's that adrenaline,

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Speaker 3: and all the people who are running it behind the

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Speaker 3: scenes the same feeling of you know, you've got to

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Speaker 3: put all the things that are behind it. There's still

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Speaker 3: all those things that we've got to do and put

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Speaker 3: in place, which I was loving the logistics side of it,

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Speaker 3: which I really enjoyed, as well as obviously the football

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Speaker 3: element which I also loved as well. So it was

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Speaker 3: kind of marrying those two worlds.

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Speaker 2: And so you end up in this role at Football Australia.

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Speaker 2: What did you do, reflecting back on that, to upscale

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Speaker 2: yourself when you didn't know a huge amount about football

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Speaker 2: at that point in time.

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Speaker 3: I watched so many as I read so many rules

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Speaker 3: and regulations, which I have become such a nerd in

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Speaker 3: most people who know me. Often I will say, I

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Speaker 3: love my CPPs, I love my regulations.

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Speaker 4: That's exciting stuff.

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Speaker 3: It's very embarrassing, but I do. I love I love

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Speaker 3: going through all the rules and rags and learning about

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Speaker 3: all the reasons why behind it. And I have been

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Speaker 3: moved from media and marketing into commercial for many years,

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Speaker 3: so I was doing all the commercial operations and the

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Speaker 3: signage and the led and the all the logistics behind

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Speaker 3: a match day. So I sort of upskilled myself in

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Speaker 3: the background on all the who's in the house and

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Speaker 3: the whys behind the scenes as well. So I did

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Speaker 3: a lot of background work, I guess. And is what

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Speaker 3: I'm trying to say.

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Speaker 2: And did you have a moment where you started to

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Speaker 2: feel like, Okay, I think I'm I think I'm I'm

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Speaker 2: feeling comfortable and confident in what I'm bringing to the table.

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Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, yeah, I would say, I'd say a few

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Speaker 3: years in when I started to run the from a

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Speaker 3: commercial operations perspective, I was leading those from from an

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Speaker 3: apl F A perspective. I was leading them, and then

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Speaker 3: I sort of kind of felt comfortable in my own

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Speaker 3: skin and I was given the reins a bit more

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Speaker 3: to be like right, okay, I was leading certain products

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Speaker 3: and certain partners, and then I was was able to

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Speaker 3: sort of step into my own a little bit coming

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Speaker 3: through the ranks.

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Speaker 2: And so you've gone from operations to COO to now CEO.

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Speaker 2: What is it about you and your leadership style that

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Speaker 2: has allowed you to progress through those positions?

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Speaker 3: So I think my leadership style is definitely one that

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Speaker 3: I've learned from one of the greatest leaders that I've had.

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Speaker 3: And I think, you know, I've definitely said before you

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Speaker 3: have to have a bad boss and a good boss

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Speaker 3: to learn what a good boss brings. And I've been

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Speaker 3: very lucky to have well both to know what a

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Speaker 3: good boss is and I learn I've learned from one

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Speaker 3: of the best, and I definitely ensure that what I

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Speaker 3: do have in my philosophy and my tool tool kid

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Speaker 3: is to always lead with integrity and compassion and empathy

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Speaker 3: but also respect, but also to make sure that the

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Speaker 3: people who are with me on my bus or all

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Speaker 3: have the scope to to you know, spread their wings

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Speaker 3: a little bit because they certainly have the know how

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Speaker 3: to do what they're doing in their field so well,

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Speaker 3: you know, and to back them so there's never there's

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Speaker 3: never the wrong answer. You just have to pick an

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Speaker 3: answer and go with it, and I'll always back them in.

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Speaker 3: And then it just so happens to be maybe not

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Speaker 3: the right decision, or we'll just work it out together

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Speaker 3: as long as you give it a crack.

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Speaker 2: How much as a leader do you reflect on when

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Speaker 2: you were first starting out in the industry? Like I

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Speaker 2: think for me as a player, I so often go

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Speaker 2: back to now that I'm how old am I thirty one?

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Speaker 2: Like I've been in professional sport for a while, So

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Speaker 2: when these eighteen year old kids come in, I try

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Speaker 2: as best I can to reflect on how daunting it

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Speaker 2: can be to kind of be getting your foot in

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Speaker 2: the door. How much do you reflect on your experience

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Speaker 2: now as a leader?

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Speaker 3: Oh a lot, you know. I have back to and

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Speaker 3: this is actually I'll hark back to music days. So

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Speaker 3: when I first started out, getting my foot in the

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Speaker 3: door was really hard, and it was really hard, extra

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Speaker 3: hard because I was female. And I recall there was

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Speaker 3: there was a place that I wanted to work at

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Speaker 3: because when I left UNI, and then I went and

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Speaker 3: traveled the world as you do, and you're like, go

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Speaker 3: on a big nine month to around the world. And

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Speaker 3: so I left and was like, that's what I wanted

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Speaker 3: to I want to go travel. And I came back

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Speaker 3: and went, oh, I know, I actually want to be music.

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Speaker 3: So I went and did another course and you know,

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Speaker 3: got another qualification. And in this qualification, they were always

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Speaker 3: talking about this place that you know, if you want

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Speaker 3: to make it, you have to go to this place

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Speaker 3: and work. I was like, okay, I'll go do that.

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Speaker 3: So I'll go and work here. And that's what I

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Speaker 3: went and tried to do. And I went for an

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Speaker 3: internship there and there were there were myself and two

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Speaker 3: other boys, and they told me, yeah, well you weren't there.

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Speaker 3: You weren't so great because we're going to they basically

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Speaker 3: we're going to pick the two other boys. Was there

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Speaker 3: long on the short of it, Why don't you try

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Speaker 3: and do something to impress us and come back. I went, Okay,

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Speaker 3: if that's what you want to see, I'll come into it.

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Speaker 3: So I went and put on a gig at the Gaelic,

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Speaker 3: which is even enough, it's still around. It's in Surrey Hills.

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Speaker 3: And I put on a show for up and coming

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Speaker 3: Aussie artists, like you know, little bands, and I got

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Speaker 3: one hundred and eighty paying patrons to come through that door.

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Speaker 3: I went back and put a poster in front of

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Speaker 3: this guy who's a knob by the way, but anyway,

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Speaker 3: I put a poster in front of him. I got

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Speaker 3: one hundred and eighty paying patrons. Here you go. I

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Speaker 3: filled the room. You asked me to do something and

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Speaker 3: show you what I've got. Bam. And then he sort

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Speaker 3: of went, okay, you're hired. So I jumped in front

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Speaker 3: of the interns and got a job. And I stayed

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Speaker 3: there for a few years. And I sort of asked

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Speaker 3: why didn't I get an internship over them, and they said, well,

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Speaker 3: because you're a woman, and I was. I was actually flabbergasted.

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Speaker 3: And the other two interns didn't make it. They ended

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Speaker 3: up dropping out and and I just sort of thought,

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Speaker 3: I think it was that moment that was like it

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Speaker 3: lit a fire in me that I just went I

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Speaker 3: knew I knew that by them telling me sort of

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Speaker 3: you because you're a woman. I was like, I swear

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Speaker 3: on this podcast. I don't know if I can. I

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Speaker 3: was like, fuck you, okay, if you want to. If

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Speaker 3: you're going to say it's because I'm a woman, I'll

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Speaker 3: show you what I got. And it's just I just

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Speaker 3: every day I'm like, women are phenomenal and I will

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Speaker 3: bring it every every day and for every woman behind

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Speaker 3: me in front of me, I will show you what

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Speaker 3: I got and we just we are. We are incredible.

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Speaker 3: We are multitaskers. We have the ability to show up

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Speaker 3: every day and kick it out of the kick it

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Speaker 3: out of the park. So yeah, I can't even remember

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Speaker 3: your question.

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Speaker 4: I don't care what my question was. I love that answer.

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Speaker 4: That was awesome.

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Speaker 2: How did it feel then when you were recently promoted

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Speaker 2: to CEO of a football club, which is a huge achievement.

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Speaker 3: It was, it was fantastic, It was. It was also

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Speaker 3: it was overwhelming as well, because I know we have

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Speaker 3: a lot to do, but it was very special, very special.

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Speaker 3: It's it's it's for me. It's more for the people

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Speaker 3: around me and for future future women and future leaders

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Speaker 3: and future it's an emotional for future in Middle Eastern women.

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Speaker 2: Can you touch on that a little bit further and

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Speaker 2: what that looks like for you now that you're in

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Speaker 2: this role.

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Speaker 5: I think I think it's I think it's about representation.

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Speaker 5: So I think it's very important for women to see

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Speaker 5: I'm a bi racial women. I think it's very important

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Speaker 5: for us to see young professional women who are mixed

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Speaker 5: race or maybe they're not, you know, the cookie cutter

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Speaker 5: women or whatever it is, just to see us at

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Speaker 5: the front, you know, girls to the front and kicking

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Speaker 5: it as kicking it out of the park and supporting

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Speaker 5: each other. And I'm very lucky to have a bunch

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Speaker 5: of very incredible women who back me as well.

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Speaker 3: You know, you know, Jenna, who you've met and who

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Speaker 3: you've met, I have wonderful women in this organization. Who

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Speaker 3: the dean, you know, there's I'm looking at them out there.

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Speaker 3: There's some incredible women who are in sport at the moment.

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Speaker 3: You don't get enough recognition. So I think it's very

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Speaker 3: important for us to be heard because we're all building

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Speaker 3: an incredible an incredible, incredible platform together. And not only

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Speaker 3: that as well, but I think also in this day

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Speaker 3: and Asian just touching on representation, you know, and the

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Speaker 3: world is not in the perfect state right now. I

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Speaker 3: think there's it's a great opportunity for everyone to see,

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Speaker 3: you know, different races and different cultures because it helps

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Speaker 3: I feel little is out there to see Hey, you

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Speaker 3: know that's that's another another another me.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, I think it's very thank you for your

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Speaker 2: vulnerability in sharing that. Sorry, and I do not apologize,

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Speaker 2: And yeah, it's a real honor to have you on

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Speaker 2: the podcast and sharing your story because, as you said,

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Speaker 2: that representation piece is so key. Looking at that further,

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Speaker 2: do you think that what do you think is some

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Speaker 2: other practical steps that can continue to address diversity and

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Speaker 2: inclusion in sport, but potentially in football more specifically.

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Speaker 3: Well, I mean, you know, we are so lucky in

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Speaker 3: that the football is so diverse, right, We're not called

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Speaker 3: the beautiful game for nothing. We have we have the

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Speaker 3: opportunity to share so many different voices. We are an

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Speaker 3: international language in itself, so I think we have the

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Speaker 3: opportunity to share different stories, different different voices, you know.

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Speaker 3: We You know, you look at one team in the

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Speaker 3: A Leagues, women's men's grassroots their field with different cultures,

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Speaker 3: different languages, different diversities. So I think it's important that

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Speaker 3: we use our platform as a way of sharing those

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Speaker 3: so you know, it's it's key. You know, we we

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Speaker 3: have we are in a position to share that, so

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Speaker 3: why not. Why not and make sure that people feel

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Speaker 3: included and represented. And you know, we're also a sport

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Speaker 3: that allows people to feel connected out of the community.

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Speaker 3: So it's it's a very lucky position to be in.

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Speaker 4: Yeah. Absolutely.

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Speaker 2: Taking a look a closer look at the Mariners and

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Speaker 2: the women's side of the program, there's been some real

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Speaker 2: success in the men's side as well, but the team

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Speaker 2: rejoined the A League women's competition in twenty twenty three,

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Speaker 2: which is a really big moment. We saw Kaya Simon

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Speaker 2: return after she'd been at the club in two thousand

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Speaker 2: and eight.

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Speaker 4: Was it that's right, eighteen years before?

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Speaker 2: And what does it mean off the back of the

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Speaker 2: FIFA Women's World Cup to have a women's team on

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Speaker 2: the Central Coast representing the Mariners.

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Speaker 3: Oh, it's fantastic, It's so good. So the girls finished

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Speaker 3: obviously in the semifinals last year, they're building for it,

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Speaker 3: excellent second year back and it's so fantastic. It wouldn't

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Speaker 3: meet a better person than m husband to represent you know,

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Speaker 3: having her as a head coach and with her football

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Speaker 3: staff as well. I think it's great to have all

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Speaker 3: the women's team there. Not only that, but we have

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Speaker 3: a sh huge participation base. A lot of them are

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Speaker 3: female up here, so it gives them the chance to

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Speaker 3: you know, to to build the academy, to have representation

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Speaker 3: for the females up here. So in that respect it's

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Speaker 3: really important. You know, we also have a huge ban

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Speaker 3: base for the women's up here as well, and in general,

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Speaker 3: it's good to have, you know, that sort of gender

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Speaker 3: equality up here for the for the Mariners, but also

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Speaker 3: the team that they're building at the moment, I think

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Speaker 3: they're going to be quite success. Are generally a strong

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Speaker 3: team that they're building this year, so hopefully we're going

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Speaker 3: to have a successful year ahead.

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Speaker 2: And you touched on the participation rates. What are some

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Speaker 2: of the challenges that come with being a team that's

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Speaker 2: not located in a major city.

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Speaker 3: Oh, there's I mean there's a few in terms of

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Speaker 3: obviously travel. You know, some of the girls don't live

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Speaker 3: on the Central Coast, so they are committed to traveling

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Speaker 3: for training, which you know is a commitment in itself.

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Speaker 3: They'll have to travel from Sydney mostly and obviously that's

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Speaker 3: difficult because we're a growing stage where you know, the

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Speaker 3: women have to work maybe part time where they don't

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Speaker 3: necessarily you know, they have to fit in a part

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Speaker 3: time job and then they also commit to working football

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Speaker 3: hours as well. So you know, there are those challenges

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Speaker 3: that we're still up against. I mean, I wouldn't say

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Speaker 3: it's forever. We're hoping that it can change, but right

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Speaker 3: now that's where we are. But yeah, there are some

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Speaker 3: challenges that we're still facing as a league as we're

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Speaker 3: growing the game.

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Speaker 2: Looking at your day to day role, could you give

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Speaker 2: us a bit of insight into what a day might

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Speaker 2: look like as a COO at a club compared to

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Speaker 2: a seat at a club to give people a look

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Speaker 2: into those roles.

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Speaker 3: I guess there's more eyeballs on me, so a lot

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Speaker 3: that I do as a CEO, there's now you know,

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Speaker 3: I have more accountability whereas as the CEO, I could

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Speaker 3: just do my work and not be noticed. Whereas the CEO,

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Speaker 3: anything I do is noticed or scrutinized or especially as

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Speaker 3: a female. But definitely I'm trying to have more of

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Speaker 3: a strategic, more strategic as a CEO and keep everybody

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Speaker 3: on track. And you know, as the CEOO, it was

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Speaker 3: more operational, so I was sort of looking after community events,

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Speaker 3: media marketing and that side of business, whereas the CEO,

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Speaker 3: it's more overarching. But as I said, I'm finding that

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Speaker 3: as in the CEO, and I mean, you know, as

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Speaker 3: soon as I it all came out. I actually, funnily enough,

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Speaker 3: it was the day that I was filming the lego.

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Speaker 3: I didn't even have my phone on me. It all

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Speaker 3: exploded and I didn't even tell my parents until about

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Speaker 3: six years or not.

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Speaker 4: Did they find out through the media before you told them?

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Speaker 3: Actually no, because my parents didn't watch anything or you

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Speaker 3: don't use social media that often. And then I went

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Speaker 3: from filming at the stadium that morning and so at

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Speaker 3: a bunch of phone calls because my phone was going

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Speaker 3: nuts in the car, and then put my phone down

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Speaker 3: filmed lego. When I came back here and we launched

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Speaker 3: PCYC partnership, and then picked up my phone and I

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Speaker 3: can't remember what time. That was, probably about two or three,

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Speaker 3: and it was going nuts and I was like, oh

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Speaker 3: my god, I can't believe I still haven't told my parents,

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Speaker 3: didn't have time to tell them. Told them at six

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Speaker 3: o'clock and then they were like, oh, that's so great.

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Speaker 3: What time was this? I went, oh, I'm so sorry.

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Speaker 3: I think it was about five am. Oh my god

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Speaker 3: that I that it got announced, and they, I mean

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Speaker 3: they understood, but they were like, I could have told

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Speaker 3: us earlier in the day, but they but yeah, it's

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Speaker 3: it's it's been like that every day as a CEO.

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Speaker 3: It's just sort of like bank bank.

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Speaker 4: Do have a favorite failure.

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Speaker 3: A favorite failure? My favorite failure is actually walking into

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Speaker 3: the FA office and applying for a job out of

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Speaker 3: music because it's changed the course of my career and

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Speaker 3: my life.

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Speaker 4: Wow, I would say that amazing. That's really cool.

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Speaker 3: Because if I hadn't, I wouldn't be sitting here with you,

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Speaker 3: and I probably wouldn't be sitting at the Mariners and

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Speaker 3: with an incredible bunch of people who I work with.

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Speaker 3: They can get to call my work family every day.

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Speaker 2: Wow, that's really special. Off the back of that, and

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Speaker 2: we touched on this at the top of the podcast,

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Speaker 2: I love this opportunity to chat to women like you,

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Speaker 2: to show insight into roles that may not have received

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Speaker 2: recognition and spotlight before. For someone who might be listening

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Speaker 2: to this, It might be a young person who wants

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Speaker 2: to get involved in sport. What would your advice be, Just.

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Speaker 3: Go for it, don't hold back, ask questions, challenge everything,

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Speaker 3: ask another girlfriend, give me a call, reach out if

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Speaker 3: you're wondering, oh should I what if I can? Okay it?

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Speaker 3: Go for it?

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Speaker 4: I love that. That is some very very sound advice. Alyssa.

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Speaker 2: Thank you so much for your time today and for

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Speaker 2: sharing your story and your openness and vulnerability. It's been

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Speaker 2: a really special opportunity to chat to you. Thank you

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Speaker 2: so much.

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Speaker 3: You're so welcome. Chloe, you call me anytime.

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Speaker 4: Thank you. I will. I'm going to take you up

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Speaker 4: on that. Thanks so much for listening.

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Speaker 2: If you got something out of this episode, I would

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Speaker 2: absolutely love it if you could send it on to

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Speaker 2: one person who you think might enjoy it. Otherwise, subscribe,

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Speaker 2: give us a review, and make sure you follow us

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Speaker 2: on Instagram at the Female Athlete Project to stay up

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Speaker 2: to date with podcast episodes, merch drops, and of course,

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Speaker 2: news and stories about epic female athletes.