77: Monica Livingstone: From the Football Field to Entrepreneurial Success

What happens when a former professional American footballer swaps the field for the corporate world? Monica Livingston, a former professional American footballer who has on and off the field represented DC Divas, a professional Women's tackle football team. She is also a corporate trainer, culture coach, two-time winner of Comcast SportsNet ‘Funniest Sports Celebrity’ in Washington, And the founder and host of her international podcast The Huddle with Mo and Lo, a hilarious and interactive show that takes an inside look at athletes huddling up the corporate landscape. 

After sustaining a devastating ankle injury that marked the end of her sports career, Monica determined to preserve the closeness with her sports family, took it upon herself to represent them, sharing her story of resilience and power in mindset and confidence, and even birthed a pseudo women's sports company. She has also redefined herself as an entrepreneur in the world of education, sports management, and corporate training using humor to educate, engage, and inspire.

Tune in to learn more about:

- The evolving landscape of football accessibility, sponsorship, and funding to women during her time vs now 
- How she confidently went to the bar and carved out her sponsorship deal
- The wellsprings of her courage and resilience during the post-injury and surgery period 
- What changed for her after injury and the hardest part of this transformative journey 
- Insights from how she has built her career, and strengthens the culture and mindset of elite athletes
- How she is not only serving athletes but making expansive influence beyond her sports family 
- What drives her impactful contributions
- Insights to athletes navigating the trajectories to their next pinnacle of success 
… and so much more! 

Are you looking for Career Clarity for your next step, for more information, or to book a consultancy, make sure you check out

www.2ndwind.io 

Links:

Website: https://www.monicadlivingston.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicalivingston
Instagram: https://instagram.com/livingston3636?ig
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-huddle-with-mo-and-lo/

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

The hardest part, I think, was just trying to figure out how you're going to interact with people. So I'm used to oh, I come off the field, then it's high fives and there's this praise. And then all of a sudden, this praise dissipates and then when it starts up again, it's still way different. You're not on front street, so to speak, anymore. Now I'm in the back. I might be driving it from the back, I'm pushing people and sometimes I'm dragging people along with me, but I'm not the face anymore, I'm not the one that's out there in the front. So I'm starting to say, hey, we should have so-and-so go on this local news station, and it used to be me that was the person on the local news station. And so you really have to spend time with yourself and tell yourself a new narrative. You have to tell yourself like hey, I'm still the exact same person. That pigskin has nothing to do with how many touchdowns I could score. It literally doesn't. I'm the person who used to score the touchdowns. Hi, I'm Ryan.

Speaker 2: 1:00

Gonzalez, and welcome to a Second Wind Academy podcast, a show all about career transition through the lens of elite athletes. Each week, I invite a guest to the show who shares their unique sporting story. Please join me to delve into the thoughts and actions of athletes through a series of conversations. Don't worry, there's plenty to learn from those of you that aren't particularly sporty. Elite athletes are still people, after all. Let's be inspired by the stories of others. Today's guest is Monica Livingstone, a former professional American footballer who has redefined herself as an entrepreneur. An injury ended her tackle football career, but she channeled her experience as a competitive athlete into the world of education, sports management and now into corporate training. She's a multifaceted entrepreneur, and so today she's going to give us a snapshot of how she built a career that strengthens the culture and mindset of elite athletes and companies worldwide. But I'm also intrigued about how she has managed to build a confidence that she certainly exudes, but she also gives that to athletes. Let's get started, monica. Welcome to the show.

Speaker 1: 2:13

Well, thank you, ryan, for having me.

Speaker 2: 2:16

This was a, I think, a show that many people have been waiting to happen, certainly in my household, because, as I've been talking about meeting you and they've been like, oh great, and my boys are just getting into American football, so they've got questions to ask and all this kind of thing of what's going on. So that's it, so we might get sidetracked, that's okay, that's all right.

Speaker 1: 2:37

You weren't talking about real football.

Speaker 2: 2:39

Well, listen, we can go real football where we use our feet and we can talk about that. But my boys have just got started getting interested in American football and my wife and I actually we've just finished watching the show on here. It's on Netflix, quarterback. I think it was last year, must have been 22, or the Super Bowl, so it was. Yeah, it was a good show. So now my wife's getting into it as well.

Speaker 1: 3:03

So I love it. I'm going to tell her to watch another movie. It's different, but it's all women playing tackle football.

Speaker 2: 3:10

Okay, all right, we'll do that. Well, she's me and we've got three boys, so that would be good for her. So three three boys, how old? Eight, 14, 15.

Speaker 1: 3:21

Okay, so you're starting to get on the other side of it, starting to.

Speaker 2: 3:25

We're seeing it, we can see that path. Yeah, whether we want to or not, we can see them developing and moving on, without us, I suppose.

Speaker 1: 3:32

You sound a little sad about it.

Speaker 2: 3:33

Yeah, you know what I like the noise, I love it you do yes, it's a good thing to me.

Speaker 2: 3:40

I really appreciate that noise. I think it's what keeps us going. It gives me that motivation as well, so I truly enjoy that. But look, today we're going to kick in. We're going to chat a bit more about you and look your career and you know this is all about second wind. This is all about you know, shifting up, changing gears, coming out of sport, and I think you've got a compelling story and I'm really intrigued to, as we go through your story and we talk about where you are today and where you're heading is also focus a bit on confidence, because confidence seems to be something that really transcends through your story and, you know, finding it and building on it and helping give that to others, and that is a real important skill that I see athletes have, and then they struggle to refine it once they step off the field into that career.

Speaker 1: 4:30

Yeah, it can be tough. It can really be tough. Transition when you're known for this and you kind of identify and that's like your brand, and then all of a sudden it's like it's gone and literally in my case it was an injury and it was all of a sudden. Then you have to go through kind of this metamorphosis or this rebirth, so to speak, of like okay, who am I? What am I going to do? Nail, Am I totally walking away from this, or is there something still in this space that I can do? So it can be tough, tough, tough.

Speaker 2: 5:02

Before we sort of step into that bit for your journey, take me back a bit for you in American Football. Talk about how you got into that and sort of taught me through that progression. What was that like for you?

Speaker 1: 5:13

Yeah. So to be very honest with you, women weren't? They don't play tackle football. I grew up with that narrative my entire life. But, ironically enough, ryan, the funny thing of I was playing football.

Speaker 1: 5:24

I have a younger brother. He's three years younger than me and we excelled at sports. My parents both played sports in high school. My dad played in college. He also was a coach at the high school and collegiate level, and so this was a thing that we were, our family was involved in sports, and we used to play just pick up out front in the yard.

Speaker 1: 5:47

We lived in the flattest part of the neighborhood, so it was literally mailbox to neighbors, up mailbox in the flat part there, and we would go out and play and I would get picked before my brother. He used to burn him up he's three years younger, right, and he would. When he hears this, he'll probably be like I don't remember if you got picked every time before me, but the truth is I got picked every time before him. Okay, but? And so I loved the game, I loved football. We sat around, we watched it on Sundays, but still it wasn't available to me. It was like you know, women don't play. At that particular time, women were I'm old, right, so I'm 53. So we're talking, you know, 70s, 80s, man. The only thing that women could play we were allowed to play tennis and basketball. Basketball was coming, you know, of the age, just right before WNBA there was another league, I think it was the ABL, so that was acceptable, you know, women to play basketball and tennis and golf, and I call them these sports, not that the people that play them are soft, but softer sports meaning no contact or very little contact when you're talking about soccer and basketball. And so I played basketball in high school, did well, played basketball in college.

Speaker 1: 7:04

After that started to be an athletic director. That was the natural trajectory If I wanted to stay in sports, especially as a woman. And at this point now I'm coming out of colleges 1994. I'm not done playing, but I'm done playing right Colleges over. So now what? So they're rec leagues. That's what I would have to leads to, especially women. The WNBA didn't exist. I wasn't going overseas to play. So I'm like shoot, I'm finished. I'm trying to get this angst about sports out through coaching, through being an athletic director, still trying to work out and be in shape. But it's not the same. You know I don't have that competitiveness, you know. And so I started playing women's flag football. Now, this isn't like every day like flag, like one Mississippi to Mississippi, no weekend warrior type stuff.

Speaker 1: 7:58

I heard a full field, it's 11 on 11. There's some contact because there's downfield blocking. And from that field I was recruited to play for the DC Divas women's professional tackle football team. Full disclosure Divas had already had one complete season. I knew I'd heard about this new league. There were some talks that have me play before that and I was like I don't know what that is. I fell into the narrative of everybody else Women tackle, I don't know about that. And then I went to a game and I saw the game and the people in the stands and I went oh wait, a minute, this is for real, I can be a part of this. So they, we finished the talks in the very next year.

Speaker 1: 8:41

I decided to play and it changed my life. We are on 20. To 23 seasons the Divas have been around and I am still affiliated although not on the field with them, highly affiliated because it was a game changer, because it literally impacted my life. My introduction to tackle football was by accident and on purpose, because I had to do something. I had to find some way to have this outlet and still have this competitive nature no place to put it. The Divas is kind of a tagline, if you will. When you talk to other players we typically say it saved our life. For some people they literally mean that I was doing these types of things and now I'm not. For me it just meant it not that serious, if you will, but it gave me an opportunity to still have that competitiveness and put it someplace. That's how I got into tackle football.

Speaker 2: 9:39

That's amazing I love the way how you describe it changing your life, giving you that outlet, essentially that continuation of what you were looking for. You found it by well, I guess by smashing people, getting that competitive edge going.

Speaker 1: 9:55

Well, I was running back so I tried to run away from people. I was trying not to get smashed. It was a little different.

Speaker 2: 10:04

As I've been looking, I've been reading and I'm like, well, you're running back. Who took impact? You were cool with getting people to move out of your way if they were in the way.

Speaker 1: 10:13

Oh yeah, I'm dropping a shoulder right now, I'm good.

Speaker 2: 10:19

Listen, I think that is really good. You talk about it changing your life. I'm interested in sort of practically. Did that mean when you say it was professional, so that was full time like during the season, or did you have to balance at the same time?

Speaker 1: 10:33

So here's the thing women don't get paid to play tackle football, not here in the States. When I was playing, this was 2000, early 2000s and what we could do is get sponsorship. So we have some players that would have to pay out of pocket a player fee tune of anywhere over the years it could be anywhere between 700 and $1,000 to be able to just have the right to participate in the sport Not playing time, not any of that, but just to cover the uniforms and stuff. See, ryan, we had an owner. The teams are individually owned. There are 48 teams across the country. There are different leagues also, but in this, particularly when I was playing, there were about 16 teams and so we would have to travel to play other teams and so there were expenses hotels, a bus or plane or however the team chose to get there so you could pay out of pocket or you could raise that money, and my fellow teammates know this. I was not going to be a player. I wasn't doing a car wash. I'm not baking no baked goods. I'm not doing selling the candy bars. If I want to be treated as a professional athlete, you're not going to have me standing on the corner with a sign to let us wash the car for $5 to make our player fees.

Speaker 1: 11:57

So I kind of took a different approach. I went out and found sponsors and this is way before NIL and before this was even a big thing and sponsorships particularly with this sport. I went to our local sports bar. I said hey, I want you to cover me my season. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to bring the team here for after party. We'll watch a game film here. Put our games up on the screen. It will bring fans with us. It will drive some traction to you. I want everybody to get a free appetizer. And then this is back in the day when people were drinking beer and kegs and gosh the thought of it. Now it's not my taste anymore. But give us a keg, let us resell, and then split some of the profits at the end. And they were like huh, okay. So for my athletic experience it was different than some of my other teammates because I chose to really make sure that, like I said, I'm not baking it. Well, first off, no one wants to eat my baked goods, that's the first thing. So I was still going to be in trouble. I wasn't going to make it out of dime off of that.

Speaker 1: 12:59

So yeah, in terms of full time, you had to have a full time job. Still, everybody worked, and then we trained when we weren't working. So you would typically go to your nine to five. Three to four nights a week were together. Three nights of practice, seven, 30 to 10, 10, 30 at night, and then there's film day and then you've got to get off work early Friday because then we hit the road on the bus. We leave it noon to drive to wherever we're going. You can't have a weekend job. This is your weekend job Because we play games Saturday night and then we have to travel back Sunday to get everybody back. Women would bring their kids on the road with them. It was a very tight, close knit family because we were literally together all the time. So, in terms of full time job, no, it wasn't full time commitment. Heck to the. Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 13:52

That differentiation full time commitment to full time job. You know that, you know it's the right phrase, it's the right phraseology to get an understanding of. You know mentally, what the type of commitment you had to put in there. I love the way you said what you chose to do. You chose to innovate. You chose to bring that sponsorship in the local bar by bringing their business and getting the profit share. I think you know how did you figure out that was a thing to do? Where did you see that? Who did what was that for?

Speaker 1: 14:20

And, ironically enough, I was a sports management major in college, right, so I started exploring women's soccer, who was doing and having some success at the 99ers, and how their Jersey sales went through the roof and there was this craze around. That particular team in women's soccer exploded on the scene, so to speak, and in terms of viewership and fans.

Speaker 2: 14:44

What fascinated me? You going into the bar and carving out your sponsorship deal, the steps you went through. But where did that come from? How did you know that was a good thing to do?

Speaker 1: 14:55

Yeah, it came from my schooling I would say, right, like I'm studying sports management in college, but it also came, I would think, for my parents and sports that I have played, and what I mean by that is the confidence. I think that's one of the things that sports, one of the many things that sports can give you is this level of confidence, and it made good sense to me. But I will tell you that I was one of few 52 members on the team, and I'm one of two or three that took that same approach, which shows that it wasn't the current narrative, right. The current narrative is you pay out of pocket or you raise this money through these. You know these events as if you were the fifth grader trying to play an after school sport, and so I think it was a combination of things.

Speaker 1: 15:42

I had also a good relationship with the bar owners and had been doing that, some kind of events and things like that, with them for some years with my flag football team, prior to the Divas.

Speaker 1: 15:53

So, and I'm a firm believer that everything is relationship based, I don't care what you do, what industry you're in, and if you treat people well, then when it's time for you to ask them to do something, you're more likely to get the response, the desired response you want, which is a yes. And so it was a bunch of different things, like schoolwork said hey is a sports management major, this is a possibility the influence from the women's soccer at that time, seeing that they're getting commercials and visas stepping up to the plate how can I replicate this? And then just that inner confidence going well, let me put this little packet together and see what happened. Let me walk in here with confidence and demand this, and then the relationship carried it over to the yes. So a couple of different pangs, if you will, to make it be what it was, which I was grateful that it happened that way.

Speaker 2: 16:42

That's really good, that's interesting and, like you say, it's something that you learn through schooling, but then you could also see this wave of change happening from in women's sports, in, I guess, media interest or at least corporate interest in terms of providing that and that was able to help you move forward. It's something I speak a lot to the athletes that I work with who are currently competing is sponsorship. It's not just going to come to you, it's not just going to come because you walk down the street, even if you're playing, you're doing well, you still need to be present, you need to be active and out there and know how to engage.

Speaker 1: 17:18

Yeah, Well at this day and age, especially in this day and age, right Like now with social media. I mean, like I said, remember back in my day we had MySpace. Like you, two young people didn't even know what MySpace was, right, so that's it there was. You know about MySpace? Okay, somebody told me the other day that it's still out there somewhere. I'm like I hope not. I got to go back and see what kind of pitches I didn't post it, okay. So right after this I'll be checking to see if I can find my MySpace. Any listeners out there got any help for me? Let me know how you can dig in and find an old MySpace.

Speaker 1: 17:49

I'm so nervous, but we didn't have those eyeballs like you do now with social media, and so in some ways, I think it's a little hot, easier to get sponsors and to be seen, and then in some ways, it's like be careful what you wish for, because your every single thought and move is you know, somebody's got a camera somewhere, so you have to be exceptionally careful to be one brand all the time, which then I think, can make us have a society of athletes that are less than authentic unless they have really good people in their corner.

Speaker 1: 18:27

So the imagery that we're getting from social media normally isn't even the truth. And so there's this balance that you have to constantly be thinking about. Why am I posting this? Is it for benefit, or is it just to feel some need, or to show off or what? And I struggle with my social media because, at my core, I don't know why people care what I had for breakfast. Like this is like. At my core. I'm like, obviously I'm eating. I mean, you know what I mean, like so. But yeah, social media is a game changer in sports right now, for sure.

Speaker 2: 18:59

Yes, it has, and it seems to evolve, and you can see athletes, corporates figuring out what's the best way to make that play. Now for you as a player granted, there wasn't the social media, but you know you work through the sponsorship what was your hinted at? Your career ending perhaps ahead of plans? So where were you then? What was happening in your career? What took place?

Speaker 1: 19:21

Yeah, so I had a devastating ankle injury. We were playing in a game and I think it's July 22nd 2016. And it's like 6.05 PM, not that I really remember. But I go out for a pass and I catch the ball and I go to spin around away from the defender. And as I dropped my shoulder to try to spin away from the defender towards the sideline, I had to turn around and catch the ball. The spun back in and was going upfield, saw the defender dipped my shoulder and was going to spin away from her. She kind of caught my shoulder at the last minute and then it made me fall backwards.

Speaker 1: 19:58

Positive yards by the way, I just want to point that out to everybody, we still have positive yardage but it made me kind of put me in a tailspin. I fell back and my foot was caught under me and so I was like I felt it. I didn't feel it immediately. It's really funny because so now I'm on my back and my feet are supposed to be this way in front of me, pointing their toes forward, and one is it's on the ground and the other one is up in the air. My ankle is completely twisted 360 degrees all the way backwards, the wrong way and it is hanging, dangling, and when I saw it I felt it. That's why I always tell people your brain is a very powerful thing, because, until it processes, it can move pain from you. It's your receiver, so to speak, of how you're going to feel, what your senses are, and all that. And as soon as I saw it, I went uh-oh, not exactly, but I don't know what type of show this is, so we'll just say that's what I said. It was serious though. So they came onto the field the EMTs and everybody was there and they literally said hey, monica, you're going to lose your foot unless we turn this back around, because you don't have any blood flow to your foot. And I said what? And they're like yeah, we got to turn around on three. And they go one, two, three and they go to twist it completely back around. And I remember it was excruciating, but I'll tell you after that would happen is what stays with me.

Speaker 1: 21:30

It was two surgeries, 18 months of rehab, no weight bearing off my foot for three months in a cast, and the thing that I love about the injury is what happened after it. Every single one of my teammates shows up at the hospital, my offensive line I was running back. My offensive line has coordinated meals so that I don't have to cook because I can't be around up in my kitchen, and they've coordinated meals and deliver them daily. This is before DoorDash Uber Eats. I mean, they're in their car, they're cooking at their house.

Speaker 1: 22:05

Okay, there's a tupleware with a little piece of tape on the top that says pork chops and beans for me to freeze and then hop and then be able to eat when I wanted to. They took me to every single doctor's appointment, the facility where I used to work out. They started sending an intern to pick me up so I can continue to get physical therapy and then, when I was stronger, I began to work out again. So when I talk about the Divas in football, it's the lifestyle, it's the family, it's the. That is what also gave me the courage and the ability to be able to go back out there. So after 18 months of rehab, after two surgeries, I went back out there, scored one more touchdown and then retired at the end of that play, not at the end of the game, the end of the play.

Speaker 2: 22:52

An amazing, amazing story of, well, first of the pain. You describe it too well. You describe it for just too well, I just got to say, but, like you say, the bit you remember most is the way the team came to support you and got you through that period.

Speaker 1: 23:11

Yeah, and we're still like. You know, I haven't played in I don't even know how many years. Actually, I'm terrible at math, but what I know is that I haven't played in the last 17 years and I am. My phone will ring later today and it will be three or four of those teammates and we're in a group chat and we'll go camping this weekend and so that camaraderie that we had on the field, which is why we were able to be successful and still one of the top women's football teams in the world the Divas are up there and either three or four now, and that's because of new leagues, but for a while, we were the one in this football team in the world and what made us able to do that is the work that we put in in the relationships, in the time with each other, not the sports.

Speaker 1: 24:01

You know, the scoreboard will take care of itself if you do your due diligence in terms of giving maximum effort in your position and then are open to receiving people in your life and make space for that goodness. And that's why we were a championship team on the field. But we're still kicking butt because I've got championship friendships too. So I'm winning still. I'm still winning.

Speaker 2: 24:24

Yeah, very much winning. And I was going to ask what is it that created such a bond for you as a team?

Speaker 1: 24:30

It's hard to put it in a bottle, because we talk about this now with the new team and some of the young people, and this is when you know you're getting old, when you start saying stuff that you promised yourself you weren't going to say. That your parents say, and I've caught myself saying these youngins, they just don't get it. You know, when we were a team and I thought who is that? Who am I Like? All of a sudden, I'm 90, but I do think there is something to the fact that when we were a team, the sport was new, right, so it was year two of women's football, and so we were figuring out everything together and now you have these athletes that have grown up with women's football. In fact, there was a running back recently, I'm going to say about three seasons ago that came to me and she was like I used to watch you in the stands and now I'm playing. And I said, oh, wow, that's cool. And then she was like, yeah, my elementary school team, I mean class would come. And I was like, oh, okay. Then Harry up and told me how old I was. I thought she was just a fan that decided to play. She wanted to let me know that she can play now because she reached her 18th birthday and she'd been watching me and I was like, okay, thanks for making me feel old real quick there. But they grew up with it and so I think they approach it differently. We were trying to figure out how to put shoulder pads on.

Speaker 1: 25:56

Now, not to say that the women that I played with didn't warrant stellar athletes we didn't have any experience in football, but we were stellar athletes. Our team was comprised of division one athletes in basketball. We had someone, two players, that went to the Olympic trials, like so the sports that we had been playing we excelled at. So all you had to do was teach us football and then we would take that same mindset where we were excelling in these other sports and turn it to football. So I think that you can't redo some things, and I think part of what it was for us is that we were the first, we were the trailblazers and what that meant at that particular time.

Speaker 1: 26:36

But football in itself will do it. You know, if you're spending that amount of time with people intentionally, not because you're getting paid, then you're going to have a bond. That, I think, is very different than some of these guys that make millions of dollars Because for them it's just like any other job. You have people that are going to show up to work and do their best job and they're the life of the party and everybody can count on them. And you have some people that show up to work and go. I get offered four and they're in the car, you know, walking towards their car at 345. And so there's a pureness with us that people are there because they're making so many sacrifices to be there. They're literally for the love of the game and the teammate next to them and not all these other influences, so to speak.

Speaker 1: 27:24

Do I hope that changes? Yeah, it'd be nice if women were fully compensated for playing a sport that the world seems to love, because they watch it when men do it. So it would be wonderful. Am I a little worried? You know, I guess it's the nostalgia in me. Am I a little worried that it won't have that purity? That's okay, we'll pay the bills and then we'll figure out purity.

Speaker 2: 27:45

So one problem at a time. If getting the recognition, the eyeballs on it. I've seen the impact of that through football, through soccer, you know, through women's game From. Actually, you know I was, I'd have been in the US coaching soccer in the early 2000s, probably around that time, as a young boy, and that was where the game was truly emerging. And you know, and now you know, we've just had the women's World Cup take place in my backyard in Australia. I went to far too many games but, you know, absolutely loved it and you know the quality was there. And that quality comes with investment and time and that ability to focus and, and I guess to, to commit to excellence in that way.

Speaker 1: 28:25

Yeah it's a phenomenal thing, like when you sit and you're able to watch it literally change, right. The people's perceptions and the acceptance level of women in so many diverse sports now is amazing for someone like me. You know, some people thought Title IX changed everything, and I grew up where I was like, oh, title IX, okay, that's cool, that means we get the order, new uniforms, like the boys team does, right and and I still remember, though, over at UMBC, university of Maryland, baltimore County, playing basketball, and we would have to practice in the old gym and the boys got to practice in the new gym, and to me I just didn't understand. I was like I don't understand this. Because what? Because they're taller, they don't. They don't even win like we do. You know what I mean. Like how are they in the good gym? It seemed like they need to be in this gym, right here.

Speaker 1: 29:19

It's fun. It's fun to watch it change. It's fun to watch. You know just the acceptance. I happen to be at US Open and see Cocoa Golf win and be in that stadium, and just you know how people it was packed and people cheering and the turnout and the money, the prize money was the same. It kind of gives you a as an older female athlete, it does give you some pause to go. Ah, this is nice. You know, this is nice. Long way to go, long, long, long long way to go, but you can feel some traction.

Speaker 2: 29:53

Yeah, absolutely you can. It's palpable. And what's interesting is you mentioned your team was made up of athletes who excelled. They were athletes, they'd excelled in other sports before you know adapting their commitment, their that focus, that drive that they had as athletes into into tackle football, and so that's adaption number one that you went through as well With injury. What had to change for you after that?

Speaker 1: 30:25

Mind set like real talk. You know I'm laying there. So I was a leader on the team I was doing. Well, you know, at this point I have a record on the team that actually stood for 19 years the longest kickoff return, and for 19 seasons that record stayed. So and I only mentioned that to give you kind of a sense of the profile that I was, you know, for this team and then immediately, literally in one catch, one tackle, one spin, move, it's done.

Speaker 1: 30:56

And so I then have to sit there and go who the heck are you Right? And so you have been this athlete all of your life high school, college, now here, different sports, but always like giving it to him. I'm not going to lie to you, rana. I was like that. I was nice, okay, and now what are you? Who are you? And so there was this redefinition, right, there was this like rebirth. There was this, but there was also some just sitting and thinking and being introspective and setting new and different goals. Like I noticed that my goals were attached to my play and not my life, not the second phase, not the next thing, and so I had to get my second win. I had to get my second win right, and that took a lot of good support. I had a lot of people and that still wanted me affiliated with the team and so I just had to say, hey, I'm going to change a role here. I'm still going to be these things, but it won't be on the field.

Speaker 1: 32:01

So I started doing more speaking, representing the team, radio stuff and talking about my injury, talking about resilience, talking about bouncing back. I did a lot of the retreats for the team where we would go away and I would kind of MC and lead that as the facilitator, and I threw myself into sponsorship sales. I'd had success, as we talked about earlier, in getting myself sponsored and I thought, wow, these women deserve this, so let me get a couple of them. So I took a couple of my teammates and formed this pseudo women's sports what do you want to call it? Company, where I then loosely represented them. But really it was just me selling sponsorships and I think I was one of the first for the influencer, if you will.

Speaker 1: 32:51

It was in my mind. I didn't know that's what it was going to be called years from now, but I'm like, hey, I got four superstars on our team. Don't you want them to wear this shirt of yours. Don't you want them to eat at your restaurant? Don't you want them to come to your event work out at your gym?

Speaker 1: 33:06

And so that's how it started, slowly, and I found that my skills that I have been working on my entire life through sports still worked into this business world, into this corporate space, if you would. And so it was organic, but also not necessarily natural in the safe sense. I know those words are interchangeable when we're talking about food organic and natural but I mean organic in terms of it slowly happened in one step, built on the next step of the plan, not natural in the sense that there wasn't the outlet that I was used to in terms of the sports playing. So I had to try to take these skills and make them fit in this new life that I was building for myself. And so, yeah, that's how it started. It was tough, it was hard, but I wouldn't change a thing. Eventually you're going to have to stop playing. We all do.

Speaker 2: 34:03

That's right. Keep it so you know. You talk about that unnaturalness. What was the hardest part of that transition phase for you?

Speaker 1: 34:11

Yeah, the hardest part, I think, was just trying to figure out how you're going to interact with people so like I'm used to. Oh, you know, I come off the field, then it's high fives and there's this praise, and then all of a sudden this praise dissipates and then when it starts up again, it's still way different. You're not on front street, so to speak, anymore. You know, I'm in the back. I might be driving it from the back, I'm pushing people and sometimes I'm dragging people along with me, but I'm not the face anymore, I'm not the one that's out there in the front. So I'm starting to say, hey, we should have so-and-so. Go on this local news station and it used to be me that was the person on the local news station. But and so you really have to spend time with yourself and tell yourself a new narrative. You have to tell yourself like, hey, I'm still the exact same person. That pigskin has nothing to do with how many touchdowns I could score. It literally doesn't. I'm the person who used to score the touchdowns, which is different, right? So that means, if I believe that I'm that person that gave maximum effort, turned into peak performance, if I'm that person that can score, all I need to do is still be able to score, but we're not going to do it on a football field. We're just going to take this mindset and put it someplace else.

Speaker 1: 35:32

So it's constant self-talk, constant self-talk, constantly bouncing ideas off of a trusted support network. Hey, I think I'm going to do this, and not having haters where people go oh, you're going to do that. Oh, no, that's not going to work. No, I put people around me that would go. I think that'd be amazing. That's going to be hard, man, but I think you can do it. And you start to hear these cheerleading in a different way about different things, and then you can go out there and excel, just like you did in whatever sport. So constant self-talk. Man, you got to watch who's around you. Anytime you're going through a transition, you better have good people around you, because you're already going to be in this uncertain space, and so you need solid folks around you that are still your champion, still cheerleading for you, wow.

Speaker 2: 36:17

No, I think those are great points. Great point is because I know for many who are going to be listening is to capture some of that insight from you. So thanks for sharing those nuggets. I'm curious then how did you know, or did you know, the path that you were on was the right path?

Speaker 1: 36:35

You get these signals along the way, right. You get these signals of acceptance. You get these cheers from people. You get this feeling in your gut that says, yeah, you're doing the right thing. The monetary you're paid in in smiles, you're paid in high fives, you're paid in tears of people going. Oh my gosh, this changed my life. I appreciate it. When you came to my school and you said this so your currency just looks different. It used to be game ball at the end and it used to be trophies and MVP jerseys, and now the currency is different. So now I get paid, you know, now it's in my emotional bank account or when I can move people and make impact in their life. I just change the currency and sometimes I got to be honest with you. This one feels a lot better because a lot of times a touchdown you score, people cheer, it's over, something else is scored and guess what? They go cheer just the same, and it goes back and forth, right?

Speaker 1: 37:35

This is real talk, but now this is lasting right, this is lasting currency, if you would, it's you know. And now what I get to do travel in the country and speaking about the power of positivity in sports and growth mindset and neutral thinking and positive and negative and good leadership skills, and all of that that is great impact. That's a lasting impact, and I'm not sure that touchdowns have the exact same lasting impact. So I'm okay in this new position. I'm okay being this team captain.

Speaker 2: 38:13

So successful and sustainable You've articulated that so wonderfully that, yeah, there are successes, but now it's got a sustained success and in many respects that's more beautiful, more meaningful in the way that comes through.

Speaker 1: 38:27

Yeah, I think so. I mean, the impact just seems like it's longer. And when you go and you meet people and they tell you I remember one time I was speaking to a bunch of athletes youth athletes and a lady comes up to me afterwards and she says I was really ticked off that I had to be here and it was mandated by the school that her son listened to this talk about parents and you know what, not that she thought it was going to be what not to do on the sidelines and all of this. But they had to attend my session in order for her son to be able to play baseball that season. And she's like I rushed here from work. She's coming up to me after my talk and I'm like she's like I was really mad when I got here and I thought, okay, normally people standing in this line to tell me what a good job I did, but I don't know what this is about to be Right, so I kind of take a step back. I'm like, well, I'm sorry to hear that. And she said no, no, no, I'm happy now.

Speaker 1: 39:19

She said I thought I was here for him, but I realized, for your message, that I'm here for me, and then she said my law firm actually needs this exact same talk. Do you do that? Could you come and talk to my law firm? And I said what I always say is heck, yeah, right, because when it involves people building relationships and possibly make an impact, the answer is always yes. So I said yes to her and those moments again, that's the currency.

Speaker 1: 39:44

I got paid, right With that comment. I got paid with that. I mean, I got paid when I went to go speak at the law firm to trust and believe. But I also got paid in that comment which then filled my bank to go. You know what, monica keep doing, this, you are, you're doing something here. And then from that law firm, she referred me to someone else and it became this thing. I think sometimes, as athletes, we think our contribution is really only in our performance on the field and the court and the pool, wherever it is that we compete, and I think that those things allow us just a platform and an opportunity to make the actual impact that is longer lasting and I think that's true.

Speaker 1: 40:28

You can look at athletes and tell their athletes that have had great feats in sports, but the ones that we remember are the impact, the other things that they do. There are kids right now, ryan, that don't even know that Shaq played basketball or even have seen Shaq ever play basketball. And yet still he has a presence and they know him because of all the other things that he does and all the other, with his philanthropy, work in camps and clinics and then still being out there and how he talks about other athletes on podcasts and on TV. They know him not from basketball. That's lasting impact. I was, I'm trying to do a little something like that. Wouldn't mind Shaq's money either. Shaq, you listening, I'm listening.

Speaker 2: 41:15

I hope it was just philanthropy our way. You know, I was going to ask you what drives you. I think you've answered that question already.

Speaker 1: 41:21

Yeah, people, people. I'm a collector of people. I like hanging out with people, I like talking to people, like exchanging ideas. I get energy from them and I'm hoping I'm leaving some energy. You know I choose to be. I try intentionally every day when I get up and put my feet on the ground to think about the impact that I could possibly have in someone else's life. One of those things I want it to be is always positive and a little bit of humor. If I can do those as many times a day as possible, all day long, it's a freaking good day for me.

Speaker 2: 41:53

Yeah Well, that's great. Listen to me, you've started your day very much on that with the positivity and humor, and the impact is, for me, is definitely long lasting. I'm interested, then, perhaps one more you know, one more question or you know area of thought is for you. You talk now about this drive, this passion for meeting people and making that impact. We've got athletes now who are looking to find that next impact, their next currency. What guidance would you give to them and what steps could they go through to find that?

Speaker 1: 42:23

Yeah. So one of the things is to think about what you're messaging you want it to be. If you never played another down another, if you never took another swing, what does it look like? Because I think we wait too late, till when it's gone and it's over, and then we go wait a minute. Who am I? Who am I Right? And so I think the first thing they do is think if I stopped playing literally right this second, what would I be passionate about doing Now? What could I do? Well, I guess I could work a target, or I guess I could go into broadcast. It would make you insanely happy and start to work.

Speaker 1: 43:03

What's driving your passion? If you could snap your fingers or if you had a magic wand, what would you do if it wasn't sports? If, when you get the answer to that question, then you start to build your life around that, the transition is going to be easier. You're even going to see the overlap. You will be prepared and you won't have to go through some of the down time, the depressing times that come from that transition. So get in touch with yourself and your passion sooner than later. Don't surprise yourself. Don't surprise yourself because the injury will do that the injury, you say, oh, I'm retiring three years, I'm going to stop playing in this group. You won ankle injury away from deciding on the spot, wouldn't it be nice if you already had that prep and some of that information to help drive those next steps to the next impact? I think it would be.

Speaker 2: 43:52

I think that's great I think it would be. Me too. Thanks for sharing that, and I think that's a really tangible thing for someone, for an athlete, to do, in fact for many people to do, for how they want to live the rest of their life Get busy on you, get busy on you.

Speaker 1: 44:08

Work on what's next. I always say, ryan, when you're good, you should be striving to be great. When you're great, you should be striving to be exceptional. When I figure out exceptional, I'll let you all know what it is. I don't know that yet. I'm somewhere caught between great and exceptional. No time like the present.

Speaker 2: 44:26

Absolutely, Monica, look. Thank you very much for joining me today and sharing your perspective on how to transition careers and find that second win.

Speaker 1: 44:36

Hey, thank you for having me. I'm so glad that we got to talk. I hope this is the first of many conversations, and certainly I've got to have you on my show, so we will keep talking, keep dialogue and keep making impact.

Speaker 2: 44:48

Absolutely Wonderful, Monica. Thank you.

Speaker 1: 44:50

Thank you.

Speaker 2: 44:52

Thank you for coming to the Second Win Podcast. We hope you enjoyed hearing insights from today's athlete on transitioning out of competitive careers. If you're looking for career clarity for your next step, make sure you check out secondwinio for more information or to book a consultation with me. I'd like to thank Claire from Betty Book Design, nancy from Savvy Podcast Solutions and Cerise from Copying Content by Lola for their help in putting this podcast together. That's all from me. Take it easy. Thanks for having me.