E4: Setbacks are Opportunities for Comebacks with Julianne Sitch

[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to Shes Big Time Now, a podcast for women who are refusing to play small. My guest today is Jillian Sitch. Jillian is a trailblazer in college sports. Jillian made history in 2022 as the first female to coach a men's soccer team to an NCAA championship.

[00:00:23] And get this, she did it in her first season on the job at the University of Chicago. Proving, you don't have to be a man to coach men's sports. On the show, she shares her advice for mastering a winning mindset.

[00:00:38] How dreaming big can set you up for success and what she learned about managing disappointments that enabled her to bounce back after being cut from the team after making it big as a professional women's soccer player. Let's get into the show.

[00:01:04] Welcome to Shes Big Time Now, I had to have you on the show because when I thought about someone who's been big time, not just once but multiple times, I came across you.

[00:01:32] So I know you're going to have an inspiring story and just insight to give our ladies today. Pedro, well thank you for having me. I really appreciate it and I'm excited. I'm excited to be here.

[00:01:42] Well one of the first questions I love to ask people and it's my opening question for the show is why do you think some people make it big and others don't? Is it faith? Is it luck? Is it mindset?

[00:01:58] When you thought about this, what do you think it is? Yeah, you know I think this is a interesting question because I think there's a lot of different things that can go into it or you can look at it in a lot of different ways and

[00:02:12] do you think a little bit has to do with potentially where you are? Like the timing of things, do timing things fall into place or you at the right time or you at the right place at the right

[00:02:21] time? I think that does have something to do with it. You know we all know I'm sure in our lives or jobs come about and it's the job we really want but maybe the timing just isn't right.

[00:02:30] That's right for the family. It's not right for you. You know so I do think that some of that stuff is timing. I am a big believer in positivity. You know I think just the mindset how we see

[00:02:40] things, how we view things, how we act on things. You know I think that that is a huge part as to what leads to people being successful just in their daily lives. Right? I don't think we need to

[00:02:50] even put it on such a big pedestal of winning championships or getting being seen or present or whatever or jobs. I think also just being successful can come through like our daily

[00:03:01] life. It could be you know something as simple as accomplishing small tasks that we need to do for the day and I think a lot of that has to do with mindset attitude, how we want to you know

[00:03:10] go about our days and I think again a lot of that stuff is there's a lot of things in life that we can't control them and there's a lot of things that we can't control one. The biggest things

[00:03:19] we can control is our attitude and how we want to approach and show up every single day. So I think that definitely ties to a lot of why what some people are successful in some art.

[00:03:29] No you know what I think that's huge because timing you're right. You know timing is everything. You can meet the right person at the wrong time or the right job like you said but then

[00:03:39] I love that you talked about mindset because so many people that I've talked to and I've interviewed a number of celebrities over the years and many of them told me they knew they were

[00:03:49] going to be famous like they knew it was going to happen for them and when I look back at your story what is so interesting to me is as a child you said I'm going to be a professional

[00:04:01] women's soccer player and you did it. How much of that do you think plays into it? Did you always know or have this inkling that you could do it? Yeah definitely I remember telling my dad I'm

[00:04:15] almost positive I was five years old and I told my dad that I want to be a professional soccer player and you know I'm very fortunate and very blessed that I had parents that fostered an environment

[00:04:25] or fostered things for me to be able to go after my dreams. My mom was very big on saying dream big whatever you have go after it what's your dream you know like she was very big on that

[00:04:36] so that's always been one of my biggest little sayings is dream big it sticks with me from my mom and I did I just knew that's what I wanted to do. I just went after it of how to how to do it

[00:04:50] you know and I think it just came from the hours of practice that I put in my parents were not happy that I kicked a ball against a fence in our backyard all the time and got a dirty or okay or whatever

[00:05:01] but you know like they again created that environment my dad went and bought a kick back net so I could be in the backyard so I could play on endless hours you know he would do anything and that

[00:05:11] sense we'd set up fitness stuff in the street in front of my house he'd mark out with a with a measuring tape and spray paint lines on the street so I can practice my fitness so I could go

[00:05:20] after the things that I wanted to do and so I did I just always knew that that was something that I really wanted to be that I wanted to go after and you know you're young so you just kind

[00:05:31] of do you know whatever you play do things and then as I got older I made that decision I played all sports growing up basketball volleyball softball track gymnastics to swim me even a little bit

[00:05:45] but not as much and and so it was really when I got to be a freshman in high school that I was like I want to commit to soccer everything I want to do is going to revolve around soccer and again you

[00:05:56] know I very fortunate and very blessed because my parents spent a lot of nights and a lot of weekends driving me to soccer you know spending a lot of money for me to travel to be in these you know

[00:06:06] in these environments for me to foster that dream so I did I just and I knew that it was going to be a lot of sacrifices and it definitely was but one that I you know never regret looking back

[00:06:16] on the sacrifices and stuff that I made to be to be there. Know what I think is so huge about that is what you said is at five I mean that's kind of amazing when you think about it that at five years

[00:06:29] old here you are thinking I can do this and but I think it goes back to why some people make it big is because when I hear your story I'm like yes you had the vision and you're like I'm going to do this

[00:06:43] but then you put action behind the vision you know it wasn't just like I'm going to do this you you said you spent countless hours doing this and I think that it's so interesting because a lot of

[00:06:54] us when we're young we dream big but somehow disappointment along the way kind of stops us from dreaming big do you think that that is a hindrance as to why a lot of people they start after me big

[00:07:08] but then disappointments or things not happening in the timing they expect causes them to give up. Yeah of course and I think that goes back to kind of what we talked about in the very beginning

[00:07:19] that opening question of where some people are successful potentially not successful is again that mindset of things right and I think having a dream always having a dream right and going and going forward

[00:07:32] with it and there's going to be roadblocks along the way. I don't know one person that has gotten to the top of wherever they want to be or whatever the goal they want to reach and have never had failure

[00:07:42] have never had obstacles to overcome and again I think sometimes that disappointment or certain things maybe deters people and changes their dream which is okay too right like maybe it's a different

[00:07:53] path maybe it's a different dream now knowing that this dream may not happen you know like my ultimate dream was to play on the full national team that never happened for me you know like and

[00:08:03] and so I think again like you can still be okay with potentially not reaching that but like what other steps or what other things can you do to still live out your dream to find it and to go about

[00:08:14] it in different ways so I think to like having a starting spot and then your end goal like you have to really think about the tiny steps and everything that comes in between and I think I asked

[00:08:26] myself a lot of times too like what what I do if I failed what what I do if I didn't make this team or where you know and I didn't make every single team I tried out for you know I had setbacks throughout

[00:08:37] my career and stuff so I think again it's just that perseverance or the attitude of how you want to see that failure right we all know you can fail every day something can happen but I think

[00:08:47] really how do you want to look at that failure is that failure going to hold you back from continuing to move forward or is that failure going to like persevere you and make you maybe change a little

[00:08:56] bit maybe you have to change your dream maybe you have to take another step or sidestep to getting there maybe it's going to take three years instead of one you know and I think just you have to be

[00:09:05] willing to accept those things no I think that's so huge and what you said is very very key about being willing to look at failure to you prepared yourself which I think is key you prepared

[00:09:20] yourself what if this doesn't happen so tell me about a time where you didn't make it big time or you had to set back and how did you process that yeah I remember the same to believe there

[00:09:33] is a program called ODP Olympic Development Program and at the time when I grew up playing it was like the thing it was so big if you made it you were great in the United States team or regional team

[00:09:44] and then at times you got asked to be in with the national team so remember the first time I tried out for this and made the state team and I was like okay like made the state team went to

[00:09:53] regional camp and you know I thought I did really well how to successful camp and at the end of the camp didn't get called to make the regional team and I remember being so devastated I believe I

[00:10:06] cried halfway home with my dad how could this be like this is so unfair like so unfair I thought it was like you know how how could this possibly happen I wanted to make the team I need to be on

[00:10:17] that team and you know and I just remember crying and my dad and I always had a rule after soccer where you know we weren't allowed to talk about soccer unless I brought it up to him I had

[00:10:28] to bring it up I had to ask you know so he wasn't the pressing father that you know got in the car and he said everything to me thoughts the game or how I played and so I just remember being

[00:10:37] extremely upset and wondering well what is going to happen now right like I want to be on the national team and this is my step because at the time that was the step of kind of how you got there

[00:10:48] and you know just sitting and and having that moment and asking my dad well what do I do now my dad's like well you can cry about it for a little bit longer but then you have the decision to

[00:10:59] make like what are you going to do moving forward how is this going to hold you back or you know like there's next year there's next season there's another opportunity so what are you going to do

[00:11:08] to kind of overcome this part because you can sit and cry about it and vote about it for as much as you want but that's not going to help you kind of solve the problem so we kind of talked a lot

[00:11:16] about like it was okay for me to feel sad it was okay for me to be upset about it I was devastated however I have this moment right now that I'm allowed to be upset about it and then now we

[00:11:27] move forward after this after this day and after you know this moment so I think I would just remember that time of being set back and then the following year when on main original team got called into

[00:11:38] you know the youth national team and so I think for me too like it humbled me it was good for me I needed that I needed to see what else I needed to do because I wasn't at the best I was the best

[00:11:50] in my little area but then I wasn't the best compared to all these other people that are coming from Missouri and you know it was constant and India like these so it kind of challenged you

[00:12:00] so that set back was like a setup for a comeback somebody have I know that's the same well that and it's funny you say that because that is one of my you know like one of my quotes and stuff

[00:12:10] where setbacks are opportunities for comebacks and I think you need that stuff and you need into you may be great in your little bubble but in order to kind of get after some of the other

[00:12:20] things you want like putting yourself in those situations where you're going against the other best and you're having that so again I think that just really humbled made it made me realize like

[00:12:29] oh there's a lot of things I need to continue to work on if I want to be at the best of where I want to be. No I think that's huge and I think for a lot of people that's a good mindset because sometimes

[00:12:41] we go after it we want the big thing and it doesn't happen and we think maybe it's not meant to be ooh you know and you didn't say that I love that you had that at such a young age because I can only

[00:12:52] imagine how it's shaped how you look at disappointments and being able to manage disappointments did it help you to be able to take even greater risks in your career? Yeah absolutely absolutely

[00:13:05] I mean I took a big risk you know left my senior year in college to go play overseas because I wanted to pursue my dream like that was a big risk I was leaving and it go live with the host

[00:13:16] family living in another country for seven months and no nobody you know like just those different risks because I needed to do that at a time if I wanted to continue to like pursue my dream of playing

[00:13:29] a lot of different risks and stuff along the way. So we talked about kind of you having this childhood dream did you everything about where it came from because I always often wonder you know

[00:13:39] do we just have these ideas as an exposure that helps us realize our next big dream I know for me it was Oprah. I watched Oprah and I was like oh my goodness I'm going to school for journalism

[00:13:50] this is it and it was that exposure at such a young age I think I was like 10 to 13 when I knew I was going to be in media. What about you did you ever figure out what it was that caused that excitement

[00:14:03] and I don't really know because I just remember being going and playing with my first like team which was all boys and being the only girl but just loving it. I don't know I just loved soccer I

[00:14:16] loved everything about it I think I loved it because you could you know you're running or like hitting people I guess is like an older like I just loved to have like the contact or the excitement of the

[00:14:27] game and stuff so with a like a goal in mind with like a team and kind of getting your team together at Persever but I don't really know like that moment of being young and saying that I just

[00:14:39] I don't know maybe I just knew inside or knew that that's kind of what I wanted to go after and there was I guess I don't know and you did it and you know what's so funny is here you are as

[00:14:50] a young person you said one of your first memories is playing with an all-mail group of guys you know when you're playing soccer fast forward years later you become the first you know female to

[00:15:04] lead a men's soccer team to the NCAA championship talk about full circle moments when you look back on that what goes through your mind yeah it is a full circle you know because that is

[00:15:19] there was even periods in my life where I didn't even know if I wanted to coach you know like after playing I knew I loved so many different aspects of coaching that didn't know what I was

[00:15:28] going to do after I played and you know so it's interesting to have this full circle of yeah I started playing with boys at such a young age I was a competitor I wanted to win I wanted to be

[00:15:39] all the boys in gym class I wanted to just you know I think that's probably part of what going from your last question when I think about it was like I just was a competitor I hated to lose

[00:15:48] I always wanted to win it didn't matter what I was doing I did never let me win and Nerf ball basketball in the bedroom you know like I just was a competitor I always wanted to win and so

[00:15:58] maybe that came from a little bit of why I wanted to pursue and play soccer and you know coaching or being with boys I had always been surrounded by guys you know I just from that first age of playing

[00:16:11] soccer and then in P class I was with the guys playing soccer or some sport like you know just always around them and competing and and so it's interesting to kind of see this full circle come

[00:16:21] around now where I am coaching boys you know because again you kind of alluded to it you saw Oprah and you're like that's what I want to be I want to be that and you know for me even growing

[00:16:32] up I wanted to be that pro soccer player but the people that I followed and look up to and had posters on my wall roll men because at the time there wasn't a woman's professional league there

[00:16:42] wasn't these women posters and it wasn't really until like the 99ners when they won the world cup that I now had me a ham and Julie Foughty and Christine Lillian Brandi Chistamp posters in my room

[00:16:53] so it wasn't until I was older than so to kind of fast forward to being a coach of a men soccer team that's it's not every day that women see that you know there's not all these women on TV coaching

[00:17:04] these men teens you know and we hear about it a little bit more now so it is interesting because like you said you saw that so you believed in that and that's what you wanted to go do and you know

[00:17:15] and you so for me it was also too even for myself I had all male coaches growing up until it was 25 years old I didn't have a female coach you know I did have a high school female coach

[00:17:25] but it wasn't until I was 25 that I actually had like another female role model in my life as a coach so to even think about that for women there's a lot of young girls that go through their whole

[00:17:37] entire plane career and will not have a female coach so I think to have this full circle now of hopefully I can be someone now where young girls can see it like you saw a bro now they can

[00:17:50] believe in it now they can dream in it and go after it so you know I'm hoping that it can just continue to open the doors for young girls especially but also I think it's important to like

[00:17:59] young boys like you can go after things that you want to go after and set those dreams and goals as well but you know what's also very interesting is the signpost it's like you were getting the

[00:18:10] signed even from a young age like you know playing with the boys like life is kind of strategic and are we paying attention you know are we because if you look back you're like yeah I kind of

[00:18:22] always played with the guys and I was competitive and you know I had a male coach so it was like life with setting you up but I wonder if we even often take time to look at those little signposts

[00:18:33] along the way that are kind of guiding us yeah I don't think we do unless we're looking and searching for the signs you know when we're in those states of our life we're like what am I doing what

[00:18:42] I need a sign I need any start paying attention to small things but I think that those signs are moments and stuff around us a lot and it's you know we always I joke with one of my friends

[00:18:54] just about like the things that you put on into the universe even just like the energy that you speak out there and what can come back to you you know but again I think you need to be open

[00:19:02] to those things you need to be open to the changes and being open to seeing things in a different way or having different things because if you don't then I also believe those moments are opportunities

[00:19:13] will pass you up yeah it'll pass you right by and you know something I want to go back to is your pivot from player to coach because you said you know you made it to the top you know you

[00:19:25] wanted to become a professional soccer player you did that and then there's a moment there had to be a moment where you say is this it what's next when did you know it was time to shift

[00:19:38] their pivot or things were about to change for you yeah I would say probably with the last year and a half of my of my playing career probably definitely the last year I just started to have

[00:19:51] different feelings about going to practice or the games like things just started to shift and maybe feel a bit different and I just started to feel what is there something else I should be doing now

[00:20:03] I'm ready to move on into a different stage of my life and I think a lot of that came from to like at the time this stability of playing it's not what it is now you know and so I think a

[00:20:17] little bit of that you know I had in a very positive way I say this like I had sacrificed a lot of things playing I missed friends weddings I missed the birth of some of my really good friends

[00:20:28] and families and and stuff and you know so I think even for that I was starting to feel like I want to spend a little bit more time with my family I want to have a little bit more of this flexibility

[00:20:38] want to be a little bit more stable in my life and at the time I was doing a lot of individual coaching and coaching high school girls team and I had started to really love it and so that was also

[00:20:50] like thrown into the mix too of like okay I'm doing personal training I'm doing individuals with you know young soccer players and then I was coaching the high school team and it just kind of

[00:21:01] all those feelings and emotions kind of started to mix in together so I'd say it was about year or so of my playing career that I started to really feel like there's something else

[00:21:10] I should be moving on to go and and doing which is really interesting because I think a lot of people when they're in that pivot they feel something is off or they feel something like

[00:21:21] there has to be something more but a lot of people stay stuck they have a really difficult time making that pivot how did you get the courage to walk away and make that pivot? Well, interesting enough like unfortunately I had I was lucky enough to make the decision

[00:21:43] that an injury or something didn't kind of derail me. I knew it was at this time I knew it was going to be the last part like last season that I was playing and then just an unfortunate

[00:21:56] turn of events with the league and some of the rules that they make were like if you're heading into playoffs you can only have X amount of players on your roster and it was coming down

[00:22:04] to roster cuts and stuff and so we had a player two players kind of coming back from injury so we needed to cut down our roster to to go into that and so I unfortunately was one of the players I was

[00:22:17] going to be left off for the last like two weeks of the season I believe was two three weeks of the season heading into playoffs and so that decision came and it was brutal it was talk about

[00:22:29] an adversity moment that you have to hit in your life I think that might have been one of the hardest situations I'd gone through but also like a very big blessing at the end of the day

[00:22:40] and so my last year of playing kind of made it easier because I knew I was going to probably be done but maybe what I wanted to come back and play then this situation kind of happened and I was like okay

[00:22:54] then this is the moment that I will come back and play so very hard was that hard it was challenging yeah it was very very hard so it was like I said it was probably one of the hardest

[00:23:07] personally things and just like my actual career that I had to go through but then again I think it also is just a really big blessing as well because I think I learned a lot through those moments

[00:23:20] and what did you learn through those moments if there was one or two things that you think you learn through those moments yeah well I think um I don't want to speak on all athletes so I'll keep this

[00:23:31] like speaking at myself you know at times you potentially judge your worth on minutes played or rosters made or goals scored or assist had and stuff and you really for me at times I did

[00:23:47] right like I think every athlete does a little bit in some way shape or form and so you know like I at times was embarrassed if I didn't travel or embarrassed if I didn't play right because you do

[00:23:58] all this work and then you don't get that moment um it's part of the game it's what happens I'm forever grateful I have those moments because again you've learned through all that stuff and

[00:24:08] so I think I was more embarrassed that that's how I was going to end my career I was gonna end it on a potential cut from a coach that maybe didn't think I was good enough to be in that spot right

[00:24:19] and I think you when I played for 10 years and this is how I'm ending I was like oh my gosh my worth like I've done all this work and this is how it's ending and it was the biggest thing that

[00:24:31] I learned through all that is the outreach from people that had found out like Twitter was the thing now back then so everything was blasted on Twitter at the moment and things being put

[00:24:42] out there that I was being like go in the club making a release and the outreach from people or parents about how I made their daughters feel or what I did for their daughters or my teammates and the

[00:24:52] words and stuff that they said it was just a big reminder of like your you player you as a player and stuff like doesn't define who you are and like I think about the moments that mean the most to me

[00:25:06] are you know like your teammates no one mentioned anything about like oh you played 45 minutes in this game and you scored three go like no one ever mentioned any stats that I had but every person

[00:25:20] mentioned how I made them feel or what I did for them or how I inspired them or how I was a good teammate and I think for me that was like an aha moment big time because again like I think we as people are

[00:25:34] success you know we like to chart up our success or different things in different ways and like well that's great what if I had all the success but then people were saying really crappy things about

[00:25:44] like you know so I think it was just a big moment for me to recognize and understand that it's so so much bigger like we are you know and the game is so much bigger than us in these moments that

[00:25:56] we really share with people and our relationships and how it connects and and how it treat people and how we inspire people what we do really matters more than anything in that situation.

[00:26:07] And it sounds like you digged in deep too to who you really were you know and saying hey me not you know going through the situation doesn't define how good I am it doesn't define you

[00:26:18] I'm as a person I still made an impact what I did still matter and you know hindsight's 2020 but now you look at where you are now in your first season as you know coach you make it to this

[00:26:34] NCA championship and you've had all the success now we look back on that what would you say to yourself in that moment seeing where you are now not having any idea of what was next for you

[00:26:48] I don't know like what I would say to myself I don't know I think it's just you know I think again through every failure or setback of different things that you have like there's a lesson to be learned

[00:27:00] there's something to see in this and and so I think again I could have been better I could have been angry about the situation you know I didn't need to go cheer my team on and the playoffs

[00:27:12] and sit in the stands and I didn't have to do any of that stuff you know and that's what I chose to do I didn't I don't I didn't know what else to do other than I'm gonna be here for my teammates

[00:27:22] this is what I'm gonna do this is bigger than me I have to move on from this and I'm gonna use this opportunity to continue to grow as a person and persevere after new goals and things that I want

[00:27:34] to go after that I think that's so huge but I love what you said because in that moment and I have to reiterate that because I think that speaks a lot to who you are as a person and why you've

[00:27:44] been so successful you could have said okay I'm getting cut from the team I'm gonna have an attitude about this why me and and be in this place but you didn't you said I'm not going to be

[00:27:54] in that place I'm gonna go cheer my team on I'm gonna still show up for them and I'm gonna look at this is maybe I'm being positioned for something greater and I just want to commend you for that because

[00:28:05] I think a lot of us get in that place where we're like why me you know this is it nothing's ever gonna happen for me I thought this was my big break but to see you go on and to have other

[00:28:15] big breaks I think it's truly truly truly instrumental and talks about your ability to do it with adversity and things that come a longer way so I want to kind of caveat into your success mindset

[00:28:30] what do you think it takes to be a trailblazer because you know you've gone on like you said to do something really great in your first season is you know coach at University of Chicago over the

[00:28:43] head coach of the men soccer team and to go to the NCAA championship and I can only imagine what your future is ahead but what would you just say to somebody about what it takes to be a trailblazer

[00:28:54] and to continue to pick yourself up when you get knocked down or life doesn't turn out exactly how envisioned it in that moment yeah I mean I think I would definitely say and this comes just from

[00:29:10] like my earlier career when I was like knocked down for a lot of things but like the biggest thing I think just in general whether it's a trailblazer or going after the things that you want is never let

[00:29:20] someone tell you that you can't and I think you know I was not supported a lot by a lot of people and I chose to go to the Poly University in play because it wasn't a soccer house,

[00:29:30] powerhouse school I mean a lot of people told me that I would never become a professional I'd never go after my dreams my dreams had never happened if I chose to go to the Paul

[00:29:38] and I think that's one of the biggest things is listening to yourself listening to your heart even when everyone else potentially is against you or believing in yourself when potentially no

[00:29:49] one else will and I know that that sounds so basic and we tell people that a lot but I do think that that's a big thing whether you're setting off to be a trailblazer or you're just setting

[00:29:59] off to go after the dreams that is something that you want is like whatever works for you might not work for other people what makes sense to you might not make sense to other people and that's okay

[00:30:11] and I think continuing to believe in that and wanting to go after the things that you want to go after there's nothing wrong with that and even when people might not support you where you feel

[00:30:20] like people are against you continue to persevere and go after the things that you want to do I can't say that I got backlash in terms of like wanting to go into this role and do this so

[00:30:30] as well I say I tie that to like the early part of my career but I think it fits in general just with this with the question stuff you'd asked is you have to be willing to just step out of your

[00:30:41] comfort zone potentially maybe not be supported by people maybe have people look at you funny and that's okay but if it's something that you truly believe in continue to go after it

[00:30:51] and did you experience any backlash or hear people say why would you go to be a min soccer coach did you have to deal with any of that? No I very fortunately I was supported by a

[00:31:02] lot of people you know and I had a lot of people encouraging me to continue to go through the interview process for interview put my name out there put the application in and to do that so

[00:31:12] I think I was very fortunate that I did not have that I also had Kim White who is the head coach at NYU who coaches in our conference she is another female coach in the week and so

[00:31:24] I think to kind of have heard a go-to to speak to about it was great I know that there was a couple other female coaches that are assistant coaches and now head coaches after I had been hired as well

[00:31:33] so I know that there was many more of us now continuing to rise but I never had backlash from the University of Chicago and I never backlash from the kids. Today I have a couple people look at

[00:31:43] me funny when I went to my first recruiting event because I was the only female coach on the sideline watching amends that you know like soccer tournament yes however I don't like that you

[00:31:53] know it's new right it was new for people right they had never really seen a female on the sideline and stuff so in terms of that like no backlash more so quite the opposite I would say in terms of

[00:32:06] that so I think just more fortunate for that and you know again huge credit to the team and to my staff and I know that I was going to be the first female coach that potentially all of them had

[00:32:17] I know I'd be the first female coach that my assistant would probably work with you know when I think it's a huge credit to them because they have nothing but supportive and they have embraced me since

[00:32:27] day one and for that I'm you know forever grateful for. No and I think you spoke to some really good things they are having mentors you know I think about some of the success habits you said

[00:32:37] being able to go to someone else and get wisdom in advice of someone who's in your industry. I also wonder where do you get inspiration from these days how do you keep going where do you

[00:32:48] get that from? Yeah well I'm a big cool person I like quotes I like motivational books are different things I mean we the champion mindset that we used this year was something that I've kind

[00:33:00] of used throughout my life and something that we talked about a lot as a team this year having a champion mindset and again it goes back to the basic just the mindset that you have how do you

[00:33:10] approach every single day how you know like you wake up every day you get an opportunity of how you want to like start your day right you can start off being angry or upset about something or

[00:33:19] you can wake up and say today's going to be a great day and how you approach the day. How you approach potential adversity throughout the day again like what you can control is your attitude

[00:33:28] we all know they are not going to show up and be 100% everyday that's impossible right there's going to be days where you're 40 maybe 70% but like what are you going to give within that 70%

[00:33:37] that you have right are you going to look and be like well I don't feel so great today so are you going to allow that to be an excuse of how you go about your day or are you going to allow

[00:33:45] it to be like you know what I have 70% today and I'm going to give everything I kind of in that 70% so it is like I think just those tiny mindset so those little things of again like the attitude

[00:33:57] and how you can look at the day and overcome certain things and a lot of that comes from like my mom my mom was very very positive you know just again the dream big being positive you know

[00:34:11] unfortunately it's talk about a big adversity I lost my mom when I was a junior going into my senior year of college to cancer so having a person for your person career through that but I think

[00:34:22] the biggest thing too that I learned from her was you know as a kid you see your parents and I'm like why are you talking to that why are you smiling at them that's embarrassing right like

[00:34:31] as a kid it's embarrassing that your parents potentially are smiling at a stranger but like my mom would always say why would I not smile just smell them you never know what kind of day they're

[00:34:40] having this could brighten up their day or you know when my mom had passed away in the grocery store cashiers came to my mom's funeral because she made their day by just asking how were you doing

[00:34:51] and so I think back and so many of those moments where why would we not just say hello to somebody right we are a society filled with always being on our phone or always having headphones in but just say hello

[00:35:04] just smile just give away for something and so that and you know that mindset of that positivity and stuff I mean it comes from my mom and that's the one way that I can continue to live you know my mom's

[00:35:16] memory out every day is just having that positive mindset and my great at it every single day no of course not you know like I still have my days where I have to remind myself of you know these moments

[00:35:27] right like that is also life you know that stuff happens but that is one of the biggest things you know where it came from you know what is next for you we think about you know you've went on

[00:35:38] to pay professional soccer you've won a title now as a you know as a coach with the men's soccer team what is next for you are you still dreaming big of course of course okay I had a

[00:35:54] change yeah you know what that is I think it changes from year to year or different things I think the phases and parts where I'm in my life you know I'm really happy right now you know I'm at a

[00:36:06] great university surrounded by great people so you know for that I think I'm I'm grateful for it and really just want to work with good people want to work and be surrounded by good people want

[00:36:16] to have fun you know I'm very fortunate that I get to you know do what I love you know and and stuff so want to have fun with it want to have fun be surrounded by good people

[00:36:25] I know that you have great things that are you're thinking about in your mind and we wish you much success because you are the epitome of she is big time now you're doing the thing and so my

[00:36:37] final question I always like to ask my guest and you gave a so many golden nuggets about advice that you've received along the way but if you had to think about what is the best piece of advice that

[00:36:49] made the biggest impact on where you are today that's a tough one um does that feel like there's been a lot of different things that I've come in um I think one of the biggest again it is a little bit

[00:37:05] tied to that just the dreaming big and not letting failure or disappointment kind of derail the things that you really want to go after you know it might not be an easy path might be harder

[00:37:19] it might take you longer than you expected to might have to change your path a little bit here and there but really believing in your heart or in your gut what what you really want to do and continuing to go

[00:37:29] after that and make it happen regardless of the timeline regardless of the hard work that comes with it to continue to go after it yeah because did you ever imagine you be where you are today

[00:37:42] that's huge that's huge so thank you so much for sharing your story with us such an enlightenment you gave us so many golden nuggets to think about and that's going to do it for another episode of She's Big Time Now