2ndwind Academy Podcast
2ndwind Academy Podcast
133: Rachel Howard - What is a Dual Career: International Goalkeeper and Adidas Leader
What do you do when life throws 25 shots your way? If you’re Rachel Howard, you save them, earn MVP, and rewrite the playbook for success on and off the pitch. From New Zealand’s national goalkeeper to General Manager of the Pacific Region at Adidas, Rachel has mastered the art of rising to the challenge and leaving a lasting impact wherever she goes.
💡 What You’ll Learn:
- Balancing dual careers: Discover how Rachel managed a professional football career while working full-time at Adidas, flying between Germany and New Zealand for training camps.
- The climb to VP: Hear Rachel’s journey from unpaid intern to Vice President at Adidas, driven by adaptability, curiosity, and a relentless hunger to learn.
- Turning setbacks into comebacks: Learn how Rachel transformed the toughest moment in her career—losing her job contract—into a defining comeback.
- Leading with purpose: Explore Rachel’s leadership philosophy of fostering safety, respect, and belonging in diverse teams across the globe.
- Championing women in sports: Get the inside story of the Northern Kahu women’s basketball team, where Rachel is making history as part of an all-women ownership team, setting a bold new standard for sports leadership.
- The goalkeeper mindset: See how Rachel’s calm under pressure, sharp anticipation, and clarity drive her success in the corporate world.
🌟 Why This Episode Matters:
Rachel’s story is a masterclass in resilience, leadership, and breaking barriers. From navigating the challenges of women’s sports to paving the way for the next generation of female leaders in business and athletics, Rachel’s journey is proof that bold risks and a commitment to growth can create lasting impact.
🎧 Key Takeaways:
- How saying yes, taking risks, and embracing opportunities can transform your career.
- The importance of balancing ambition with adaptability and a growth mindset.
- Insights into fostering belonging and empowerment in teams.
- Why the future of sports leadership is bold, inclusive, and transformative.
🎧 Tune In Now:
This episode is packed with powerful lessons and inspiration for anyone navigating their career journey. Whether you’re an athlete, a leader, or someone looking for clarity in your next step, Rachel’s story will motivate you to seize opportunities and create meaningful change.
Let’s Connect:
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:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelahoward
- Instagram: @theordinaryolympian
- Instagram: @kahubasketball
- Website: https://www.kahu.basketball/
Hi, I'm Ryan Gonsalves 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.
Speaker 1:I'm delighted today to invite Rachel Howard to join the show. She's a former professional footballer for the New Zealand National Women's Team, having played in World Cups and at the Olympics. She joins us today as a VP based out of Dubai, working for global sporting firm Adidas. Now when we spoke, she was in Dubai, but since then she has moved to Australia, where she's the general manager for Adidas in this Asia pack region. We're going to delve into her story about how she started over two decades ago and has managed to use her athletic skills to support her in her professional career. After the game. Rachel, welcome to the Second Wind Academy podcast. It's great to have you on here today.
Speaker 2:Thanks, Ryan. I appreciate the invite. It's been a long time coming, I guess.
Speaker 1:It has, which means that it's going to be an even better show, because now we've built up the anticipation ourselves. No pressure, no pressure, none at all, none at all. Well, I think I nearly always start the shows with saying how much I'm looking forward to the conversation, and I think I do have. Well, I know I have a genuine interest in understanding that. That career journey and for you, really, I think, fantastic in the sense of coming from a sport I of course love in football as well but then also how you have traveled the world and you and you with a brand that that I certainly admire and sort of wear myself. So those are three absolutely wonderful things. Hence I'm looking forward to stepping into how, essentially how, you've got to the room, you know, to where you are today yeah thank you, look, Rachel, for those listening and watching who are like okay, Rachel Howard, they may have heard from you previously.
Speaker 1:Just let everyone know who are you and what are you up to nowadays.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sure. So I think, first and foremost, the most important thing that I say about myself is that I'm a Kiwi, so a New Zealander who is a citizen of the world who's happened to have a fantastic life I guess not even I wouldn't say career, but life in terms of being able to play football for my country, represent New Zealand, play, let's say, play professionally ever paid like a professional, and I think we'll talk a bit about that in Germany in the first division of the Women's Bundesliga. So that was amazing. And while I've been doing all of that, I've been working for one of the best sports companies in the world, so with Adidas, and started as an intern, actually at Adidas New Zealand 23 years ago, which makes me sound a lot older than I like to admit. And then since then, I've been traveling around the world.
Speaker 2:I tell everyone Adidas is paying for my world tour. I just happen to work along the way and really it's been an amazing journey to get where I am today, which is in Dubai, and I'm currently the VP for brand for Emerging Markets, which covers a very vast and interesting region. So it's around 127 countries all the way from New Zealand now, which is nice, to have my home country part of the region I'm working in all the way through, I guess, the bottom half of the world and then up into the caucus regions around the former CIS markets. So that's what keeps me busy on a day-to-day, and up until December and then January I'll be moving actually down to Melbourne to take on a new role with Adidas, which I'm very excited about, which is to be the general manager of Adidas Pacific.
Speaker 1:Wow, wow, that's quite an amazing well, actually quite an amazing story from be it football internship 23 years in one organization and counting is rare. Yeah, it's definitely rare, yeah, but yeah, so even that is super, super interesting. You mentioned two roles there, one that you're in today and one that you're moving on to. Just talk to me a bit about what you mean by your current role VP of Brands and Emerging Markets. There seems like a lot of, well, to me, complexities that sit within that job.
Speaker 2:Yeah, complex, and you know my friends of mine joke that I'm the vice president of the colouring in department, because you know marketing all we do is make pretty pictures and you know social media these days but it does have its complexities. So, for example, what I'm officially responsible for is my team's work on the product selection from our Adidas range globally. We have thousands of products that we make for each season. That works for every six months, and then my team's responsible for one, selecting those products for the countries in our region. Then we're also responsible for making sure that we sell them. So the marketing side of things as well, covering everything from sports sponsorships all the way through to media, social media and our in-store communications as well.
Speaker 2:So quite varied, and the fun of the job is there's never two days the same Absolutely not, especially the region we live in and then, of course, with the emerging markets unfortunately, at the minute we are the region that had the two world's biggest conflicts that are going on between Russia and Ukraine is one. Then obviously, the Middle East situation with Israel. So that means also that we have a responsibility to protect the brand and as part of that is, of course, most importantly is protecting our people across the region, who either are consumers or part of our brand as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I guess it's interesting you actually talk about the human side of things. I suppose. In asking the question, my focus was very much, I suppose, on the tasks or the job in itself. What you've also identified there again is the human, is the people. Is that something, that focus or that awareness of running teams and how individuals are actually just living their life? Is that something that has grown as you've gone through your career?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. If you start as an intern, you're luckily hopefully managing to get yourself to work on time because you're quite young. In that process and throughout my career, of course, more responsibility you take on and part of that is leadership and, for example, I was leading a team in Russia, so I was in the head of marketing there for three years. I had a team of 120 people and when the war broke out, obviously the amount of impact that had on my team and how do I manage through that. So that's one here in my current role, I have an immediate team for my regional team, which is around 90.
Speaker 2:But across the region in marketing we have probably close to 300 people. So that influence and leadership is super important. And I guess one thing I would add to that is the cultural elements as well. So leading different cultures even now within my team I have some Israelis, I have some people who are Lebanese, I have people who have Jordanian and very strong links to Palestine you make sure that you're trying to create an environment where people feel safe, respected and valued, and that's probably where I spend most of my time now is actually on the people side of things always, always interesting just to hear of, quite simply, the roles people are doing.
Speaker 1:I just find that I always remember, as a young chap so I'm raised in Leeds, new Yorkshire I always remember going on a visit early probably I was a footballer actually but walking through the streets of London and I was amazed at how many people were there and I was thinking, well, what are they all doing? And they're all having these jobs and things like that and just the pure tasks. And as I've come through my, I suppose my career, even from a corporate perspective as well, it's been so much more aware of that people side, that progress side, that motivation that we as individuals have, as we, I guess, as we which you know, basically two times the size of my country or the district I lived in Shanghai was the same size as the population of New Zealand.
Speaker 2:So I hear you on the amounts of people and what are they doing? Yeah, everybody's living, I think that's the best way to describe it. And how do you? As a leader, you have a moment in time where you're fortunate to be able to lead people or to have an influence in their life as part of their journey, and I always say there's nothing more rewarding now for me when I see people that I might've hired or have been interns or are moving through their careers and knowing that you've had an opportunity to hopefully positively impact them and knowing that you've had an opportunity to hopefully positively impact them it's not always the case, but definitely hopefully positively impacting their career journey and helping them achieve what they'd like to do in life, so fascinating.
Speaker 1:Well, let's actually go back to you in New Zealand, because where you are today, well, a million is probably an over-exaggeration just because of the size of the world, but you are thousands of miles away from where you started right now, and probably even that you know we've just spoken that global citizen or global perspective that you now have. So for you sort of growing up and with that and with sport. So where did sport come into your life as a young lady growing up in New Zealand?
Speaker 2:I was very fortunate that both my parents were into sports and neither one were. Well, my dad was. He played tennis to a reasonably high level in New Zealand was New Zealand age group level. But just both of them were very active and into sports and so they kind of instilled that, I guess, interest in it. And then as a young five-year-old I guess I had a lot of energy. So I remember going, my mum taking me along to my first football game and that's how I really got involved in football. I know my dad played a little bit when he was younger. I think my mum would have loved that. I played netball instead, but that wasn't the sport for me. I needed to have a little bit. I had a little bit more energy that needed releasing than on a netball court.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's actually quite funny. I can imagine you running across all of the lines and give it to me again quick, I'm in, I'm open, I'm open, exactly. So then, yeah, oh so then for you. So, as you sort of progressed and you know you're finding, then, well, if, how did you find an enjoyment?
Speaker 2:or at least a love of football? Um, cool, that's a great question, I think. I mean I love the sport itself, right, the, the passion, the energy, um, the skills that you learn with it. But I think it was a lot of it and I think that's why I enjoy what I do today. Is this team element of it? Um, this camaraderie? You know one of my best friends, we played in the national team together and that's how we met um, so the opportunity to meet new people and and just have fun, I mean, as a you don't really think so much around, you know the tactical things, you know honeybees to a pot, chasing a ball around it's just that fun element of it and it just always brought me a lot of joy, even right up when I was playing professionally. It was the joy of playing and joy of meeting new people and sharing, I guess, a shared goal together with a group of people and trying to achieve that.
Speaker 1:So for you, as football sort of continued in your life, you had, you know, developing this sort of super enjoyment of it. Back then. I'll just say back then we don't need to put a date on it, but back then what did you hope to accomplish in football?
Speaker 2:I think it was around. I know back then. I know it was around probably I was starting off at high school because I remember sketching in an art book actually around the idea of playing for the national team and that was I think I was around 12 or 13 when I actually learned there was a women's national team and at the same time the Sydney Olympics were coming up and you know, it wasn't just football that I played as a kid. Growing up I was playing cricket, tennis, any sort of physical activity, and generally if there was a ball ball involved, I was generally trying to play the sport. I dabbled in rugby for a while as well.
Speaker 2:So the idea of sports and the Olympics was always a big topic, especially with my dad to be able to. I remember getting up as a kid, I think it was. I don't know where it was in the world, but I remember sitting there as like a little seven year old or so, just putting water in my eyes to try to keep myself awake at 3 am in the morning to watch the Olympics or watching the Wimbledon final when Chris Lewis played against John McEnroe. So these were important moments and that passion for sports. So the idea of the Olympics was a big thing for me.
Speaker 2:And I actually stole a beer sign from somewhere I think it was Heineken on the sign and then printed out oh my mom's princess, sydney 2000, and stuck it onto the sign and stuck it above my window in my room and I was like I want to go to the Olympics and of course, love to go to Sydney, and at that time women's football wasn't even an Olympic sport. So I was just thinking, I course love to go to Sydney. Um, and at that time women's football wasn't even an Olympic sport. So I was just thinking I just want to go, I don't care what sport it is, um, and then I was still found my my place playing football well, I love that, I love the, that, that dream.
Speaker 1:There's so many stories I hear with athletes on here of these sort of yeah, I want to make it to the Olympics, don't care what I do, I want to make it to world championship. I want to do all of these sort of yeah, I want to make it to the Olympics, don't care what I do, I want to make it to world championship, I want to do all of these things. And there's just and it's the, I guess, the birth or the, the ignition of that fire that you know where that dream becomes really clear. So for you, when did you know, when did you start to realize you were good at football?
Speaker 2:I think it was really around a similar time. I was around 13 or so. I was just old enough to be able to play, start playing women's football because there was the age limit and I'd been playing with the boys and I'd learned there was a women's team. So a coach had seen me playing with the boys. He asked me to come and train with his women's team, even though I was too young, and they were trialing for the. There was trials for my local regional team.
Speaker 2:It was under 19s and at that stage I wasn't a full-time goalkeeper, I was part-time goalkeeper, aspiring midfield player, and so, yeah, I think I was around 14 and I trialed for the under 19s and obviously competing against 18-year-olds, 19-year-olds, all positions, and I actually ended up making the team as left midfield, which also was quite ironic because I couldn't really kick with my left foot. I just noticed on the list that not many people have put themselves down from that position and as I just got out of the car to go do the trial, my mum said to me don't be disappointed if you don't get in. Which is like putting a little red flag in front of me and I'm like I'll show you. So, okay, not many left midfielders. I'll try that. I got the team and then I ended up playing right midfield anyway at the tournament.
Speaker 1:So there you go and then I ended up playing right midfield anyway at the tournament. So there you go Again. You know it's so funny. What I love, what's so good about that one, is it's that desire to get in and any way in. It's just get me on the field and then the rest of it will work itself out, if the talent's there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, and you can liken it to a career as well. Right, a lot of people are always searching for, you know, the perfect job and a perfect company, but sometimes you just take what job you can and then you go from there. Like my internship I was. I call myself intern 001 for Adidas New Zealand. I was their first ever intern and they couldn't. They said, look, we can't pay you a salary, but are you okay to be paid in product?
Speaker 2:Now I'm not sure if that's legal these days, but as a young, as a young goalkeeper, and when you're trying to buy goalkeeper gloves which are super expensive, you're a student. So I'm like yeah, I'm in. Luckily I had a part-time job as well that paid some bills. But just taking that job, I mean easily, I could have role, the internship at Adidas was it with the intention of being there for 23 years, or was it more?
Speaker 1:I'm going to get some great gloves here.
Speaker 2:No, it definitely wasn't the intention of being there for 23 years. The intention was to get in there and learn about the sports industry and try, I guess, get a full-time job out of it. But the internship was 12 weeks and then afterwards they did put me on a temporary contract for nearly a year and I just hung around enough that eventually they're like, okay, we better create a job for her, she's adding some value. And then I got a job.
Speaker 1:Yeah, which is excellent. I really like that. I'm going to come back onto that. So for you recognizing you were good as a footballer, thinking yeah, want to go Olympics in some shape or form, Considering the professionalism of football, back then, what did you have? I mean, did you have a plan? What did you think you were going to be able to achieve?
Speaker 2:I don't know if I had a plan per se. I knew that if I wanted to play the high quality football and I went through all the representative levels in my region, I was playing in the senior women's team when I was 17, 18. And then in New Zealand the best teams were playing in Auckland. So I made a decision to move to Auckland, One to go to university, which I took a year off actually and worked, then went to university and then tried to trial or got into some of the best teams that playing in Auckland at that level, which then just the quality was better in your exposure and because of that, I guess by a happy accident, is how I ended up in the national team at 20 years old.
Speaker 1:I mean you say happy accident. I think there's a couple of bits of getting you there. And, as one of my old managers used to say, if you don't buy a ticket, you can't win the lottery. And so, in that view of making your own luck, you made the move to Auckland. You consciously thought better quality of football, but then also from a university perspective, you could study. I'm curious, what did you study?
Speaker 2:I studied marketing and accounting as a business degree, majored in marketing, scraped through in accounting.
Speaker 1:So, with that move and with that belief, you then started moving through the squads. It sounds like it was quite a rapid sort of escalation for you going through the teams, but you got yourself in the right place at the right time. Talk to me about what that lucky circumstances are for you in that regard.
Speaker 2:So I was playing when I was in my hometown I actually made the New Zealand school girls in New Zealand under-19s, under-20s, so that already put me on the radar from a national perspective.
Speaker 2:But then, moving to Auckland, what I mean by happy accidents is I was playing with some of the top clubs and there was two other goalkeepers who were playing for the national team. One of them is actually my good friend from school. We both went to the same high school, so she was the goalkeepers who were playing for the national team. One of them is actually my good friend from school. We both went to the same high school, so she was the goalkeeper and she was also a white fern, so actually playing cricket for New Zealand as well. So she made the decision to play cricket for New Zealand, which meant she stepped away. The number two goalkeeper, had her first pregnancy and so was pregnant with her first child, which meant at 19, 20 years old I was number three on the list and then got selected for the team. So I guess unexpected, I would say looking back at my career, maybe a little bit early, but you take what you can get and I wouldn't change my career in terms of that.
Speaker 1:No, I think we often forget how important luck is our circumstance in any career, be it on field or off field, and you know, we can probably think of other examples where you know, post football, a lot of it is just well, they made that decision, that meant this happened, and next thing, I knew this was the opportunity. At that moment, did you feel ready, though? How ready did you feel to step in as the national goalkeeper?
Speaker 2:it's. It's hard to think now, but I'm trying to remember the feelings. I definitely was petrified at some point. I, of course, very excited about the opportunity, um, to be able to to represent your country and, of course, all the feelings that go with that. But also, being a 20-year-old goalkeeper, you know goalkeepers you can be the heroes or the villains, and I've certainly been both in my football career.
Speaker 2:And we went on our first tour and I ended up playing my first, let's say my debut, game for New Zealand against the American, the US women's team, in 1998, which is the year before they won their first World Cup, the 99ers, which are quite famous and literally it was the same team. So, yeah, we lost. Not surprisingly, we lost 5-0, but they had 25 shots on goal. So, out of miraculous, I got the MVP award. I still have the trophy. I've carried it with me around the world the MVP award.
Speaker 2:But it's also the first time I realized there's a massive difference in terms of the investment and interest in women's football in New Zealand versus the US. When Mia Hamm and I'm sure that's the name a lot of people know from women's football in the US when she gets given a Corvette at halftime for player of the year and literally everyone on my team was either taking vacation or unpaid leave to be able to play for the national team. We didn't receive allowances while we were traveling or anything like that. You realize there was a bit of a different world out there.
Speaker 1:Do you know I was. Well, my first question was going to be so did Mia Hamm score against you? That was one, and then, even better than that, you must have saved some shots from Mia Hamm as well. So that's probably the bit.
Speaker 2:I think so. It was a bit of a blur. The US men's team were playing after us, and so by the end of the game there was a bit of a crowd behind the goal and all I quite often remember is hearing how would you suck from behind the goal? So yeah, that was really encouraging. What are the memories of that game?
Speaker 1:Yeah, there you go. That's quite funny. The pleasures of being a goalkeeper at the away end, that's it yeah absolutely yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, also interesting is the difference, that disparity or the gap you talk about, between the New Zealand women and the American women football team, national football teams, and I think about well, I guess documentaries and everything on the disparity between the women's American team and the men's teams and sort of men's football or soccer in general. So even that just sort of helps to paint a picture as to, like you say, the sacrifice or decisions that you had to make as a player, a dual career athlete, to to make your way out there as well, or certainly the teammates did. There are too many stories of bankruptcies, mental health issues and, unfortunately, suicide, and so I think it's time to act. Every year, we see thousands of athletes that reach a point where they need to consider their life after each sport. This might be a retirement injury or they need to juggle dual careers between sport and a job.
Speaker 1:As a former english professional footballer, I have somehow managed to transition from sport into banking, strategy, innovation and now life coach, career practitioner and founder of the second wind academy. So I want to help those around me find their career. Second wind. Find me on Insta or through my new Facebook group, second Wind Academy, where I'd love to know your thoughts and suggestions. So when you think, then, of so coming back to that time, I'm interested in your balance at this moment. So, university and playing at the same time, and then, well, I guess, trying to figure out the world of work, did you consider to what extent did becoming a full-time paid footballer start to become a reality to you?
Speaker 2:I think the idea of it became a reality actually once I moved to Germany, because I was playing, obviously, in a league where there were full-time players. My best friend, who plays, was playing in a national team. She had also moved to Germany and was being paid to play. I would say at that stage it was being paid enough to live, certainly not enough to make a retire on, for sure. But for me myself I've never played full-time as a professional. So I often get the question like if you've been working for Adidas for 23 years, when did you stop playing football? And I'm like how old do you think I am? So in reality, I was always doing both, and which is especially for my generation and it's still for a lot of women today in sports you were doing both. You were working or you were studying, or, and you were playing the sport that you loved and trying your best to excel at it. And you were playing the sport that you loved and trying your best to excel at it.
Speaker 1:How did you get the internships? Well, I'm not sure if that was your first experience. I should go back and make sure everyone's with us in this sort of timeline. What was your first then, working experience?
Speaker 2:So when I moved to Auckland to play football, I took a year off from university and I actually worked in a bank in New Zealand. I did that for a year, but I think about six months in. I looked to my left. I saw my bank manager, who's probably about my age that I am today. I look to my right. There was a lady who was a bit older and I'm like I don't want to do this for the rest of my life.
Speaker 2:And that's when I decided to go to university to study business. And then that's how the internship came about, is we had to find an internship as part of the degree, to complete the degree. So I just sent my CVs to all the sports companies in New Zealand. I was super you know, super innovative in the 90s. I burned my CV to a disc CD disc printed out a cover to put into it and then sent it out. And I was fortunate enough to hear back from AnyDesk. They were the only ones that came back to me. So I was pretty excited to be able to go in and at least try and get an internship with them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's pretty good. So I just have to ask you put your resume onto the CD so they would pick up the CD, put that in the computer and be able to see it.
Speaker 2:Oh wow, Taking me back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's it. Yeah, Half the group are listening saying what do you mean post? What do you mean? No, it's not, that's it. Yeah, Half the group of listeners said what do you mean post? What do you mean? It's like no, it's not an email.
Speaker 2:What's a CD?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's good. So, anyway, they came back to you and, well, I guess that's to an extent where some of the magic began. But you were then playing and you said at the end of your internship that they then offered you a role. What was the internship doing and what role did you get offered afterwards?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so the internship I was working for the marketer, the woman, tonya, who was heading up marketing, and then I was working for two product managers, as well as supporting on the All Blacks brand manager. So Adidas had signed the All Blacks in 1999. And so I was fortunate enough to be able to do some of that work. So as an intern I was just basically doing everything. One of my first jobs in my first week was actually going to a photo shoot and there was a very famous rugby player in New Zealand called Jonah Lomu at the time and my job was to put baby oil on him for a photo shoot. So some interesting parts of the career. But that's how I started and then I got to know him and that was actually quite, I'd say, one of the special things I've been able to do with this career.
Speaker 1:That is an internship story of the ages. I'll give it that Amazing was John Alopu. Yeah, oiling him up ready for a photo shoot is definitely random, one of the more random aspects I'd expect. Yeah, any marketing intern, there we go.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. I don't know if these days it would be um, if there would be any HR violations or anything from that respect, but that's what we needed to do back then, and so we did it, yeah that's it, and the fact that you were getting paid in goalkeeping gloves even better.
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, exactly so. So then what role did you then move on to from from that internship?
Speaker 2:so from the internship I kind of still was a marketing assistant, but then I also took over responsibilities, for we call ranging the products for rugby, um, so I was making sure we got. At that time we sponsored super rugby in New Zealand as well, so working with all the super teams, the, and making sure we got all the product into the country that we needed for them to play and then for, obviously, adidas to be able to sell to all the fans that we had.
Speaker 1:When you look back at that role, how much did you enjoy it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I loved it. The facts I mean so many great stories of when you get to work with the All Blacks and everything. Of course the All Blacks are the national icon right in New Zealand and when you're driving the company car and you see one of the All Blacks waving to you as you're driving down the street, you're like, okay, that's a whole different experience. But yeah, so it was really enjoyable. It was again so much variety. I'd be at photo shoots, I'd be arranging product, I would be working with NZR on what's the next designs for the All Black jersey.
Speaker 2:It was the time when tight-fitted jerseys were becoming the thing in rugby and the All Blacks, yeah, and we had a few jerseys rip in a few games. So I was taking jerseys off. I was having fun playing rugby a little bit as well and take the jerseys to my girls' rugby training and literally we're trying to have three or four girls trying to rip a jersey off somebody to see if we can make sure the next ones don't rip, while Sonny Bill Williams is wearing a jersey. Even though half of New Zealand was very happy about that, the other half probably not.
Speaker 1:Yeah, do you know? Probably not. Yeah, do you know? It's funny. I remember at that time I was working part-time football and I was working in a hotel in Leeds and the All Blacks were staying. So 2000, 2001, something in around that time, and I just remember I had to go up in the lift I would have been doing room service or something and I think there's probably only two, maybe three players in the lift and it's like I couldn't get in. They just consumed the whole thing. But yeah, so I know the time and the kits and things like that that you'd have certainly been working through um as well. So look, so during this time you're playing, you are aiming to qualify for world cups. Olympics start to become a possibility for you. How did you manage, if anything, mentally, this hey, I'm really enjoying my job. Hey, I'm really enjoying football. How did you manage, if anything, mentally, this hey, I'm really enjoying my job. Hey, I'm really enjoying football. How did you find that process?
Speaker 2:At that time. So it was a bit later in my career. The first time we went to the World Cup was in 2007, and that would have been the first time New Zealand had qualified. So by that stage I was living and working in Germany. So from that point of view, I was so actually in Germany. I was working with Adidas, of course, and I was doing rugby and worked in football. So I had all of this.
Speaker 2:So literally my life looked like a get up at 6, go to the Adidas gym, train in the morning, work through till 5.30. And then my club team was about 100 kilometers away from where we worked. So three times per week, jumping in the car, driving training, get back at 11 pm in the evening and eat, sleep, repeat. So that was kind of in Germany. And then to be able to make the New Zealand team so that was kind of in Germany. And then to be able to make the New Zealand team, I was videoing games, because we had a new coach in the games back as well, as we would travel back to New Zealand for training camps.
Speaker 2:And when you live in Germany you're not flowing business class back, you tend to fly all the cheapest routes. So there's quite a few stops on the way and then end up back in New Zealand for training camps. So that's kind of how life looked like from a mental point of view. Actually, I mean it was tiring, but you get used to the rhythm of everything and I got so used to it. Actually, when I started playing football which is also when I was in Germany I went cold turkey and I mean I completely stopped playing altogether. I literally sat there one evening at home in my apartment in Germany, went okay. So what do normal people do in the evenings? Because I was just so used to this rhythm and, ironically, after six months I went back and played at a much lower level for fun. But yeah, just that going cold turkey is something that I probably wouldn't recommend anybody doing if you've been doing so much for. So long.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, suddenly you're not doing well, just quite simply, the training and the purposefulness of the training drops away. So you know well, I assume you must have. Just well, either you starve yourself or you put on about five kilos in a couple of weeks and it's like what on earth is this?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I enjoyed a glass or two of more of red wine more than I did previously, for sure without the training regime and my German got immensely better from watching German soap operas in the evening.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I could imagine. I know, I know when I it's odd though when I played, when I played in France, I think. Well, actually, I suppose certain parts of my vocabulary would have improved when playing football, um on the field with the players and things like that. But yes, tv probably gave a a broader or more more balanced vocabulary, perhaps when that's more appropriate probably more articulate, maybe as well less choice words.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah yes, I would say so, Something like that. So look for you then, that decision, I suppose. What was the decision that led you to think okay, I'm going to stop playing now, I've done enough. When was that?
Speaker 2:I don't know Psychologically, I always had in my head somewhere around 30 was probably the time that I wanted to retire. I was fortunate. I mean I had injuries in my career, but nothing serious. That was career ending. So from a physical point of view you know nothing major.
Speaker 2:I just remember being at training one time with my club team, which was the middle of winter in Germany, I think it was two or three degrees, snow had come down, it was packed to ice and we trained on artificial turf and as a goalkeeper, shooting practice that takes a lot out of your body.
Speaker 2:I just remember picking myself up the ground at one point and going, yeah, okay, enough is enough now. And that's when I went okay, I'm not enjoying this as much anymore. And as I said when I was a kid, all the way through it was about the enjoyment of football and just be able to do that and enjoy what I'm doing. And if I wasn't enjoying it anymore and I was putting so much time and effort into it, I wasn't going to be in the best place for the team, which is unfair on the team and also for myself. From a mental perspective. It becomes a grind in why are you doing it anymore. So that's kind of where I decided to retire, which I was lucky enough to be able to go to the Olympic Games in 2008, be part of the team, and then I already knew that after the Olympics that was when I would put the gloves in a box and say, okay, it's time now.
Speaker 1:I mean, you spoke then about going cold turkey in terms of football. After that, what happened, career-wise, job-wise, what sort of shift did you see there, you know, with yourself in the office.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's an interesting one because, as we talked about all through my career, I saw this at school part-time job, playing football, working, playing football and then suddenly just I had work. So I love what I do. I guess I put a lot more passion into this and this is where I get my enjoyments and my sense of purpose, as well as sense of achievement and a lot of things. Um, so you know, I'd started I wouldn't say I put a huge amount of hours. There has been times in my career where it has been quite stressful and a lot of hours I put into the job, but, um, I kind of put all my efforts into this and then also, I guess my, my football team now is is my team that I work with on a day-to-day basis, that we, we go through things together. So, yeah, I put a lot more effort into work and in that respect, yeah, yeah, and look, you know you talk about that balance.
Speaker 1:Before you were used to managing playing, career, work, study and the travel and even did that. That I'll say that mental shift as you switch between I'm a goalkeeper, um, as a goalkeeper, I suppose it. You know what type of goalkeeper were you? In the sense, I'm trying to think how did you go from that shift in communication style that you'd have as an on-field player and how do you sorry, a goalkeeper? How do you bring that into sort of this work environment?
Speaker 2:I think, being a goalkeeper, if you think about it, most people see you as the last line of defense, which is true, but often you're the first line of attack because you're the one who starts off with the position of the ball, but you're also you need to be a very good communicator to be able to instruct players. Often they can't see things and it's your responsibility to be able to help them and instruct them, and you need to be pretty clear and precise and you need to try and stay calm under pressure. The other thing I would say is because you can see the whole field, you get quite good at reading the game and reading body language and the way that people, you know different moves and how you see the game. So I think that helps me immensely in what I do as a leader today body language and the way that people, you know different moves and how you see the game. So I think that helps me immensely and what I do as a leader today.
Speaker 2:I see myself, as you know, the last form of defense for the team if there's high risk, but also the first form of attack to go. Okay, these are the opportunities. How do we get after these things, as well as clear communication, staying calm under pressure, be able to try and anticipate things before they happen. Based on your experience that you have and you've been through things before and, of course, as I said, you can either be the hero or the villain.
Speaker 1:You try to be inspirational and aspirational as a leader, and so that hero elements of trying to lead the team and and help them grow and develop is important as well and one of the things that I've always seen in the goalkeepers is that letting a goal make a mistake um, you know the spotlight is on them as as that individual, and then having to overcome it and carry on for the, you know it could be in the first minute you make the mistake and you've got another 89 minutes to go, or part of a tournament. When you think of your career at Adidas as well, you know how have you had, to what extent have you had, moments like that where, well, it might not necessarily be an own goal, but you've had those challenges and you've had to sort of come back? Is that something that you've had to witness or go through yourself?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I have. So I think to your point around resilience, as a goalkeeper, I was recently with the move to Australia as addressing the whole team, the new team down there, and we talk about agility, resilience and actually in emerging markets we have an award called the Courageous Failure Award. We like to encourage people to get after things and try things and even if it fails, you know you've had a go at it. So I said, as a goalkeeper for the New Zealand national team, you know our world rankings around 20th in the world, I think 20th to 20th in the world, I think 20 to 25th in the world. You learn resilience because more often than not you are picking the ball up out of the back of the net and quite a few games, especially when I was playing the team, is much better now. So you know that's part of it and so from a resilience perspective, you learn that. And for me personally, my career, actually, when I was in Hong Kong, I was the brand director there and I had a three-year contract. Two and a half years, or just before my three-year contract was at its end, I got taken for a a coffee by my boss and said look, we're not going to renew your contract. Now there's a long story behind all of it, but essentially, yeah, I was told that I'm no longer needed and, in the same conversation, asked if I knew anybody who would be a good successor for me, which was quite an interesting conversation and you learn a lot. You learn everything from people. What to do as well is important.
Speaker 2:Physically, I felt I was devastated. I never thought I would be in a situation where anywhere in my career Adidas that they would say to me you know, thank you, but no, thank you. It physically felt like I'm being hit by a bus. Emotionally, it was very tough to be able to go through it. I had some very good support, fortunately through a few friends who helped me through the situation and so dealing with that, and I tried to explain to people, especially young people who join our company here. They look at my career and go oh my God, it's amazing. Everything was shiny and bright. I'm like, no, there's definitely been some tough times and the point where, literally, I was asked to leave the company and then I was able to find a different role in the organization with different leadership, which then has helped me to be where I am today. So I'm very grateful for that.
Speaker 1:That resilience is necessary in sport. It's certainly not necessary in sport. It's certainly necessarily after sport. What's really insightful there is when you talk about those people who look at your career, who read it. You know chronologically, and you're right. It would just be amazing. It's like role after role and more and more experience and these types of things coming through. But, as you say, when you look into it, there are the moments where you've had to overcome. You know different challenges that people just might not be aware of.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. And as you talked earlier about my TED Talk, I actually gave that TED Talk four days after that conversation. So, having to yeah, having to yeah, having to turn up um to commitment and be able to deliver what I was, you know, asked to do, that's also part of it, right? Um, we all have stuff going on, but as a leader or you're representing your company at something, sometimes you just have to learn how to pick yourself up and and keep going that was a good TED Talk.
Speaker 1:Now I'm going to have to re-watch it with that context of the conversation you had four days before. That makes it even more compelling. So now, one of the bits you mentioned there was this you know, you just mentioned there, you're in Hong Kong. You know, in Dubai, you've been in Germany, Back again to Australia this how do you get the courage to take roles overseas and do that? I mean that takes a lot, doesn't it?
Speaker 2:yeah, it does, it's. I discussed this once with a colleague of mine and I think for me, my comfort zone is going and exploring new things and the security. I say this just after we talked about not having that security from Adidas, but my security in all those moves is I'm moving with Adidas, so that financial security, the support network, has always been there. And the other thing is and this is when I made my first move from New Zealand to Germany I was 26 years old at the time and I had friends say to me you know what happens if it all goes wrong. And I'm like, well, if it all goes wrong, I can just come home.
Speaker 2:And so I'm very fortunate that I have a very you know my parents, my mom was very supportive. I called her my hero in terms of how she's helped me grow and develop. But she gave me the key to the house when I left New Zealand and said you know, you can always come home if it doesn't work out. Now she lives in a different house now, but I still have a key to the original one. So I don't know if they'd be happy if I turned up, but yeah, that safety has been the the end, that support for my family.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it is one of those that having that environment, that comfortable environment, kind of gives you an energy, like a elastic band theory, where you know you can just stretch it but you always know, well, I have a place that I can go back to and you know it's having people create that for you. And it sounds like adidas, as an organization, has done that for you and I don't know. I suppose I'm not sure what the question is. That's formulating my head, but it's something around. What is it? What is it about the adidas culture that gives you that sense, that sense of home or sense of security?
Speaker 2:The one thing that you hear about and I talk to a lot of new people coming into our organization that they love about the company is the fact that we just really care about people, and I think a good example of that is during COVID and even in Russia at the time I was there with the leadership team is we collectively all took a reduction in our salaries so that everyone could still stay employed.
Speaker 2:We didn't do any mass layoffs during COVID. We're always trying to find ways to make sure that we look after people, and I know in different companies in the industry may not have the same approach. So that's, I think, one of the great things about working here. For sure, it's that people first mentality, and then I always say, if you can't work in the sports industry and have fun, you know you get to go to amazing sports events, you get to meet, you know athletes, you get to travel the world and do lots of interesting things, and you know we sell T-shirts, sneakers and socks to athletes and people around the world. So I think we definitely have that fun element and especially here in emerging markets, we definitely like to have that fun.
Speaker 1:Brilliant, brilliant. And again it sounds like finding that environment where you felt like a, an individual, you know a person, um, but it does sound like there's that, that sense of fun and sense of enjoyment that really comes from it. I know there'll be those listening, thinking, yes, this is the right type of environment, that that I'm going to want to be in Before you got into Adidas. So you as an intern, came in sport brand and feeling there, what clues do you think people, what would we see from outside Adidas to enable us to think that would be a good place to work? And the reason I ask that question is for those who are listening.
Speaker 1:They're going to be thinking, yeah, what type of work environment should I go? What? What should I look for in a company that helps me to understand? That's a place where I should go and do any job be left, midfield, left back, right wing, whatever it is. Just getting in there is probably the most important thing, rather than the role that I do. What would? What are the clues that you think people could look for?
Speaker 2:Communications and the athletes that we work with. I think you look and we take Messi versus a Ronaldo, for example. I think that's already a really big clue about who we are as a brand. You know Messi's more humble as an athlete, but high, achieving the quiet leadership, so that already leaves clues on who we sponsor and we work with. David Beckham's probably another great example there in terms of where he's grown in his career and the facts that we're still with David Beckham today. You know we signed him when he was a 14-year-old kid and now he's obviously further in his career.
Speaker 2:But that the athletes want to stay with us for a long time means that they feel that they're treated well. So I think that's always a good way. The Allblakes there's a 25-year relationship as well, so these values, they come together. So I think that's definitely one, a key clue, and it's the most visible one, I think, if you're outside looking in. I think the other one is if you go through and read corporate media and press about the company.
Speaker 2:It's not always smooth. We've definitely had our bumps, especially in the last few years, with different partners we've worked with, but we'll always see around people and the corporate side of things. Like I said, you don't see mass layoffs coming from Adidas, in terms of as a company, how we look at things. And then I think, outside, looking in, if you just go talk to some of our employees or even ex-employees of Adidas, we're all still friends in some way. So I might not see somebody for 10 years who used to work at Adibump and to them walking down the street and you're like, oh, I haven't seen you from here and it's you.
Speaker 1:You know that kind of camaraderie, so I think those are all good clues about the company. That's good, thank you. It is always useful to you know. I speak a lot to athletes when they're trying to find that next career and where they want to go next is very much well, yeah, think about what you value as an individual, so you know how do you want to go next is very much well, yeah, think about what you value as an individual, so you know how do you want to live that life. But then look at the environment that you want to operate in and look for those clues around communication and style and motivation, and and then, of course, that leader who you work for, and it sounds like you would probably resonate, or you know, with with that sort of sentiment as well yeah, and the company.
Speaker 2:The company values, I think, are important To go back to how we started as a company. Eddie Dessler is a cobbler in a small town in Germany and we have Eddie Dessler's standards. There's 30 of them and the one that we always refer to a lot is always the best for the athlete and the athlete. That also is from a people perspective as well, and I resonate with the company values around authenticity and the fact.
Speaker 2:I talk about this a lot in my job and what we do for the brand and I like the connection with the All Blacks is, you know, the All Blacks is Jersey. It's about leaving the jersey in a better place when you play and that the mana that goes with that. The same, from an editor's perspective, our responsibility, or my responsibility, is to leave my brand when I'm responsible for it in this region hopefully leave it in a better place by the end of the year, and then also my team to make sure the team's in a better place, whether that's around psychological safety, around people just feeling a sense of belonging. I think I really see my role to provide that space where they feel like they're valued and they bring value to the organization each day.
Speaker 1:That's great and wonderful. I like the way that value of leaving in a better place works in that sporting environment, that sporting ethos about the number, the position. You know that you, that you are, and how that links uh, into a more traditional workforce role and you know it's. It's probably a good mantra to live by in general, um, but it's, it's great how that is something that really does cut across sport as well. So that's, that's brilliant. Yeah, yeah, um. Look, rachel, I've, I've, I've, I've held you long enough. I know that and um, but I suppose I've got a couple more questions, just to just to go there. One is, um, for those listening, and I guess it's the guidance it's from your perspective, and if you're thinking, you know, looking at young athletes who want to get into sport or, in particular, want to come in and work in an organization like adidas, um, while still playing or competing, what advice would you give to them?
Speaker 2:always ask the question, um, and you know, the worst answer you'll ever get is no, and you're in no worse position than you are today.
Speaker 2:So be curious, put your hand up and say yes, which is what I've done in my career as well.
Speaker 2:There's not many people, I think, in Adidas who have worked in China, russia, the Middle East, and so just the opportunities came up to say yes and if it doesn't work out and hopefully you've got a good support network to be able to do that but at least you've given it a go and ask the question, and I guess the same philosophy for me as well. And now, as I'm beyond, what I do on an everyday basis and something we haven't touched on is, I'm actually a co-owner in a women's professional basketball team in New Zealand. This is something that's been happening for the last, I think the last two months or so. I got asked to join and invest in this team and it was like a heart over head decision and the idea was you know, yeah, let's give it a go If it doesn't work out. We tried, and so it's a new adventure and it's helping me also as part of my career as well, to grow and develop as being an owner and an investor in a sports team well, there you go.
Speaker 1:This was gonna be my, my last question about, well, what is coming next, and you sort of um helped answer that there with already pulling me in and saying wow, well, head over heart, no heart, heart over head, I think.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I can elaborate a little bit more. So, as we understand. So we're five women who own the team. We've all invested in this, including the coach, to bring her in as part of this. The team's called the Northern Kahu Basketball Team. They're playing in the professional league in New Zealand. The league runs from October to December.
Speaker 2:So it's a small league, small teams, but a really exciting opportunity. So we're owned by women, managed by women and coached by women. We know we're definitely the first professional team in New Zealand to do this, but we believe we're one of the first in the world as well to be all in that sphere. So, on, what's next? General manager for Adidas Pacific, which is a new exciting journey to come full circle from being an intern to now lead the organization and try to help women's sport improve to people that are investing in women's sport. I wasn't able to do it in football, unfortunately in New Zealand just yet, so I'll start with basketball and my new passion and be able to show that there is a pathway for girls in professional sports, but also associated with professional sports and ownership as a possibility. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean it is like you say that full circle. It's not even a circle because it's going to wiggle all around, but it's a shape and it's coming back around. What makes about the basketball team? What is it about having the full female ownership and coaching and playing? Having that all female? What do you think makes that so special?
Speaker 2:One, it's never been done, of course, and two, the special side of it is, I think we're in a tipping point moment, a special moment in time with women's sport.
Speaker 2:Having played women's sport all my life, going through everything I've gone through we've talked about today, from having to work and play facilities, the disparity versus where we were to be able to now, or us to be able to try lift that in New Zealand, and New Zealand is a platform to show that it's not just about the Northern Cafu women's basketball team, it's not just about the league, it's about women's sport and general and showing hopefully being started butterfly movement I call it the butterfly effect to be able to show women and girls that it's possible. We have great allyship, I think, with men in the industry and footballs definitely benefit from that. But the opportunity to show that you can do this as a full women's team in an area which has always been traditionally male-dominated in sports, I think it's yeah, we'll give it our best crack and see if we get it right and we'll make mistakes along the way, but we're very positive about it.
Speaker 1:That's great. No, and I say, you know, definitely congratulations on that. You know you're demonstrating it can be done, and I think once that first piece is there, once that first brick is laid, then options. There are loads of other options that then occur, but it's like it can be done, uh, and and it will be done right and and so I think that is fantastic and like I say, congrats on being part of that.
Speaker 2:That first brick being laid, that that legacy huh leaving the jersey in a better place. That's right, absolutely, and look and so Congrats on being part of that first brick being laid that legacy huh Leaving the jersey in a better place.
Speaker 1:That's right, absolutely. And so, rachel, with that, I want to say thanks very much for taking out the time to share your story. To where you are today Absolutely brilliant, thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Second Wind 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 secondwindio for more information or to book a consultation with me. I'd like to thank Claire from Betty Brook 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 Until next time.
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