Speaker 1: My next days. She's one of my favorite people in
Speaker 1: the world of sports personalities. Say I'm would say that
Speaker 1: Sam saying, have y'all ever heard me say that? Okay,
Speaker 1: I think so. She in her seventh season as an analyst,
Speaker 1: host and reporter for ESPN. She juggles ESPN College game
Speaker 1: day duties, sideline reporting though college game days, and nights
Speaker 1: where I host an NBA countdown. Please welcome to money
Speaker 1: making conversations. But girl, Maria Taylor, thanks so much for
Speaker 1: having me on our son. It's good to be talking
Speaker 1: to you again. Well, you know, it's it's You're always
Speaker 1: amazing that. You know, it's the beauty of the last
Speaker 1: time we talked you was you was there, was the
Speaker 1: doing the finally was doing the championship hered for the
Speaker 1: women's Uh. I remember talking to you and I was
Speaker 1: literally in a tunnel. I must have been at a
Speaker 1: men's basketball get maybe the act I think I was,
Speaker 1: And I literally was talking to you, and it's like
Speaker 1: Coach k Is going by, that goes Roy Williams, and
Speaker 1: I'm like hiding behind where the characters get dressed or
Speaker 1: all the mascots get dressed. Well, you're not what you
Speaker 1: may hide but people know who you are nowadays is
Speaker 1: let's let's talk about that. You know you you you
Speaker 1: went to the University of Georgia. You as an athlete, Um,
Speaker 1: you volleyball player, basketball player, correct and uh so so
Speaker 1: much as she was All SEC volleyball player, uh with
Speaker 1: three times she was All SEC. Remember number of things.
Speaker 1: My girl here and so so I mean that you
Speaker 1: you So that's that's a drive. I think the reason
Speaker 1: I bring it up that that that as an athlete,
Speaker 1: that that means that you have to push yourself and
Speaker 1: you have to be challenged and you had to especially
Speaker 1: you you were performing at a high level to an
Speaker 1: All SEC UH volleyball candidate. So how does that play
Speaker 1: that that that that that athletic side of you play
Speaker 1: into your in this competitive world of being on sport's personality,
Speaker 1: because really the world sports has exploded and there is
Speaker 1: a path out there and it keeps growing every day
Speaker 1: and you are right in the middle of it. Yeah.
Speaker 1: It's funny. When I was in school, um, I told
Speaker 1: my professors, Hey, I want to work in sports broadcast
Speaker 1: and they're like, great, you'll never make any money and
Speaker 1: you'll never get a job. It's like, doesn't exist and
Speaker 1: now the University of Georgia has a sports journalism certificate program.
Speaker 1: It will probably become a degree, and it's just changed
Speaker 1: so much. But for me, that's how I learned to
Speaker 1: compete was on a court, Like you're always competing against yourself,
Speaker 1: Like it wasn't even always about the person that you're
Speaker 1: going up against. It's like, how can I get better
Speaker 1: every single day? And I've really been a perfectionist, but
Speaker 1: I think that evolved definitely on the court because I
Speaker 1: always wanted to put my best performance forward and you know,
Speaker 1: you've got your team relying on you, um, you want
Speaker 1: to do well for your family. But ultimately, for me,
Speaker 1: like I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if
Speaker 1: I felt like I didn't play my best, or I
Speaker 1: would want to go back to the court and practice again,
Speaker 1: or I wanted to talk to my coach and figure out, Okay,
Speaker 1: how do we x whatever I think is wrong with
Speaker 1: my volleyball sling or my shot if I was playing basketball.
Speaker 1: So that's something that kind of drove me in and
Speaker 1: I don't I think it's kind of imparted that in
Speaker 1: my personality now where I'm satisfied with my last performance
Speaker 1: or I'm always picking a part of the things. I'd
Speaker 1: be wrong to the point where my mom is like,
Speaker 1: you don't even watch yourself. Like she she's like, you
Speaker 1: can be mad for twenty four hours, but that's it,
Speaker 1: Like you're moving on. You didn't like whatever you said.
Speaker 1: And she's like, and by the way, I didn't notice.
Speaker 1: No one notices ever. There you go. I love your
Speaker 1: mom really because I have a daughter and I had
Speaker 1: to tell her that, you know, And because she was competitive,
Speaker 1: she was a she's a tennis prodigy, and then she
Speaker 1: blew out of and now she's doing well in college.
Speaker 1: And I'm happy for her. And it's when you let
Speaker 1: let me, let me point out some things about her recently,
Speaker 1: when I said her, I mean Maria Taylor. Seventeen, Taylor
Speaker 1: became the first black female to co host College Game
Speaker 1: Day built by the Home Depot, which is huge, by
Speaker 1: the way. Taylor was also dubbed as a sideline reporter
Speaker 1: for ABC Saturday Night Football and Patrol the Sidelines for
Speaker 1: college football off the National Championship Game Mirror. Taylor's named
Speaker 1: host of NBA Countdown, ESPN and ABC's long standing NBA
Speaker 1: pregame show October of this year. She also have a
Speaker 1: significant role host in NBA playoff editions of NBA Countdown
Speaker 1: across ESPN networks. We're gonna, We're gonna. I want to
Speaker 1: get that out because she is uniquely just I know.
Speaker 1: I when I when I look at Maria, I'm for
Speaker 1: some reason. People always I just gather information. My staff
Speaker 1: always going, well, just you just gather information, just stays
Speaker 1: in your head. I just started watching her when she
Speaker 1: used to do late night pack ten games, so if
Speaker 1: you weren't up, you didn't see her. And I just
Speaker 1: always see just a little just like that. I would
Speaker 1: say the words of the skinny young of the young
Speaker 1: lady won't the screen, but she was just stood out.
Speaker 1: She's just so gifted. And I went and I remember
Speaker 1: I told my wife that girl right there, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a star. She's gonna, said, I just know she's
Speaker 1: going to be a star. But you have you have,
Speaker 1: you have an ability. We are that a lot of
Speaker 1: people can say that people out there that look good
Speaker 1: at people like they're tall, they are people out there
Speaker 1: played the sport. But you're naturally gifted and translating the
Speaker 1: story on the spot, whether it's at the NBA Draft
Speaker 1: when you when you I've watched you interview those players
Speaker 1: who were drafted in the first round, how you pull
Speaker 1: their stories from each one. It was it was just amazing.
Speaker 1: Tell us about that. Can you explain that gift? Though you?
Speaker 1: Can you talk about that talent? Did you naturally have?
Speaker 1: It's so interesting because I mean I hear that, but
Speaker 1: I don't know that I recognize it or see it.
Speaker 1: Like to me, it is in a lot of ways
Speaker 1: second nature. It's like it's just wanting if there's a
Speaker 1: curiosity there. I think I remember um hearing people talked
Speaker 1: about and Robin Roberts says it all the time. It's like,
Speaker 1: if you're a naturally curious person, then you're going to
Speaker 1: constantly be asking people about their selves, wanting to know more,
Speaker 1: wanting to know why. And I think that's how I've
Speaker 1: always been. I mean growing up, like literally my dad
Speaker 1: would have to be like we're playing the quiet game now,
Speaker 1: nor more questions, you know, like strangers and I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go in asking all these questions all what they're doing.
Speaker 1: And if you sit down in order to talk to me,
Speaker 1: if I ran into a stranger on the street, like
Speaker 1: I'm going to ask them a thousand questions until I
Speaker 1: know where they grew up and why they moved here,
Speaker 1: and what are you doing there and how many kids
Speaker 1: do you have? Like that's just kind of how I've been.
Speaker 1: I love people, I'm energized by people, and so I've
Speaker 1: always said that my favorite thing to do is something
Speaker 1: like the draft, or I can have been with the
Speaker 1: player for you know, the last year or two years.
Speaker 1: I've got to know their families and then be there
Speaker 1: in that moment when their dream is essentially coming true,
Speaker 1: like they've been dreaming about that since they were seven
Speaker 1: years old, and to just be that almost the vessel
Speaker 1: that allows them to tell that story or get that
Speaker 1: emotion out. Like, those are my favorite moments in sports
Speaker 1: that I get to be a part of. So that's
Speaker 1: something that I am very proud of. Those moments. You
Speaker 1: should be in the shows. And I think the fact
Speaker 1: that you all are a high level athlete. You know,
Speaker 1: the stress, the physical stress and the mental stress getting
Speaker 1: up and they grind that you have to accomplish, as
Speaker 1: well as maintaining academic standards to stay in school. Those
Speaker 1: are all important in the process. But this is just
Speaker 1: a gift that you have and it's still out so much.
Speaker 1: You know, I was looking at you know, I don't
Speaker 1: care about the draft. Listen, you get there. Let me
Speaker 1: just use you in there. I was just watching each
Speaker 1: interview is unique. You know what I'm saying. Each interview
Speaker 1: was very unique and it stood out, and uh, this
Speaker 1: is uh. I don't want to be overly complimentarybody, but
Speaker 1: I gotta just tell you the truth. You're able to
Speaker 1: pull stories out of individuals naturally, and that is something
Speaker 1: that is going to carry you a long way in
Speaker 1: this business, a long witness business. Of course. You know
Speaker 1: the only thing that she's she's changing her career that
Speaker 1: she knew when she hosted the SEC Countdown with Tim
Speaker 1: t Bow, Marcut Spears, Paul fine Ball, and Maria Taylor.
Speaker 1: That was the greatest show on Saturday. I love that show.
Speaker 1: I love that story. College Game Day was just way
Speaker 1: bigger without respect. But that was that. That was something
Speaker 1: that you That was your show. That was your show.
Speaker 1: That was another that was that was another level of
Speaker 1: being able to hang out with the boys Club and
Speaker 1: being able to feel natural in that. And we come
Speaker 1: back from the break, we're gonna talk about that because
Speaker 1: you are in a sport where a female is being
Speaker 1: put in position to be able to look natural, talk natural,
Speaker 1: be able to communicate with men and in these different
Speaker 1: levels and being able to be able to pull it
Speaker 1: off on a on an ongoing to the high profile,
Speaker 1: successful level, and you're doing them real. Be right back
Speaker 1: with more. Mural Taylor on money making conversations. Hi, this
Speaker 1: Sean McDonald. You're listening to money making conversations. As I
Speaker 1: stated earlier, she juggles ESPN College Game. They duty sidelide
Speaker 1: reporting the college game days and nights while hosting m
Speaker 1: p A countdown. Where's back. NBA's bigger, better players are
Speaker 1: all over the league. I really real the NBA has
Speaker 1: to be No. I'm I'm a fan of the NBA.
Speaker 1: I'm way back when Magic was tossing, when when Burry
Speaker 1: was hit three partners, you know, the Cooper Loop. I'm
Speaker 1: way back there. But the NBA today it's a different league.
Speaker 1: It's a lot of energy. The players can pick where
Speaker 1: they want to go, they can tell other players to
Speaker 1: follow me. But for some reason, I feel that this
Speaker 1: this year, other than Kevin Durant being injured, it's incredible.
Speaker 1: I'm excited about it. I'm also excited that the Golden
Speaker 1: State struggling too. It's a new blood in there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know what's the good. The best thing about the
Speaker 1: NBA right now is that the players have the power
Speaker 1: to create their own dynasties and their own legacies, and
Speaker 1: we're watching it happen, Like we're watching these guys write
Speaker 1: their own stories. And so it's so cool that a
Speaker 1: year ago people would have just like scoffed at you
Speaker 1: if you talked about the Clippers winning the title, and
Speaker 1: now it's like, oh, that's like a foregone conclude, Like
Speaker 1: that's exactly what's gonna happen if you believe that Paul
Speaker 1: George comes back and it's healthy enough and him and Uiet,
Speaker 1: that's what's gonna happen. And oh, by the way, it
Speaker 1: will happen in the same arena that Lebron James plays
Speaker 1: in for his home games. Like these are storylines that
Speaker 1: you can't make up that ends up being thirty for
Speaker 1: thirties down the road, and it's so cool to be
Speaker 1: in the midst of it, in the middle of it.
Speaker 1: And I love the way that every night in NYA,
Speaker 1: I literally keep getting the lead pass alert and I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: the Bucks are down to who or the Sixers are
Speaker 1: about to beat what? Because every single game it's kind
Speaker 1: of been it's been a toss up. The Heat have
Speaker 1: been playing really good. The Phoenix Suns out of nowhere
Speaker 1: like a team that matter. You know, obviously the Warriors
Speaker 1: aren't playing very well. But there's so many different storylines
Speaker 1: to follow if you're keeping up with the NBA this year,
Speaker 1: And it's been fun to like Delvin and be a
Speaker 1: part of it for the first time this year on
Speaker 1: NBA Countdown, I mean, I loved the new role. Who
Speaker 1: is the NBA Countdown this year? So he's got myself
Speaker 1: Jalen Rose, who has kind of been like he's the veteran.
Speaker 1: We always say he's the one who's been there for
Speaker 1: like the last of into ten years. Um Jay Will,
Speaker 1: we've taken him from college basketball. Used to see him
Speaker 1: on college game day. He's in the studio with us
Speaker 1: in New York. Adrian Warganowski, he's our senior insider and
Speaker 1: untill be there every Friday with us. And then we
Speaker 1: have a rotating chair. So one week we had Richard Jefferson, UM,
Speaker 1: one week we had Paul Pierce and that Will kind
Speaker 1: of continue to rotate. If we have players that are
Speaker 1: in town in New York that wanted to come and
Speaker 1: sit in on the show, we'll use that chair for
Speaker 1: that as well, right right, would would you get you
Speaker 1: know that chair getting more populated is they don't make
Speaker 1: the playoffs? Yeah, you know, we get more and more, Yes,
Speaker 1: more and more and more agents reach out once they're
Speaker 1: guys on TV. We're all for it. Come on, let's
Speaker 1: let's talk about that. You know, you mentioned all guys
Speaker 1: all maidens. Here you are and you gotta hold job.
Speaker 1: You gotta you gotta be able to uh, you know,
Speaker 1: not just be the pretty face on the screen. Talk
Speaker 1: to us about that experiences, share the professionalism that you
Speaker 1: that you not saying. It's question, please don't get there wrong,
Speaker 1: but you know the amount of work that you have
Speaker 1: to put in to be able to be able to
Speaker 1: say this is I belong here, this is I'm here
Speaker 1: for my my talents, my ability to tell a story.
Speaker 1: I know the sport and and and that that's why
Speaker 1: I brought up the fact that you played college basketball.
Speaker 1: Let's go and go back. This is something. This is
Speaker 1: the basketball is not because a lot of people out there,
Speaker 1: this is why I said, this is why I always
Speaker 1: talking about Maria differently when she comes on my show,
Speaker 1: because there's a lot of people are getting hired um
Speaker 1: and don't have a background of it. And then I said,
Speaker 1: you gotta have a background as an athlete. But it
Speaker 1: does help, and it does help when you when you
Speaker 1: were when you're sitting on and when you're sitting and
Speaker 1: talking to a college coach and a major game and
Speaker 1: stopping them and they're looking you in the eyes and
Speaker 1: they they say your name professionally, that's you know, when
Speaker 1: when I see you talk to whether whether his whether
Speaker 1: his whether his uh, you know, with a Georgia coach
Speaker 1: or Alabama coach or l s U coach or that
Speaker 1: less you came outstanding, my man. You know as you coach,
Speaker 1: you know you you them. You are in the midst
Speaker 1: of great, great programming, Maria and now yourn NBA account
Speaker 1: that explain how you bring it all together as the
Speaker 1: host of NBA accountdown. Well, I think the most important
Speaker 1: thing for me is number one. You have to understand
Speaker 1: as a woman in this role that you have to
Speaker 1: be better. It's the same thing as being black in
Speaker 1: this world, Like you just have to be better, Like
Speaker 1: it's everyone else is going to be able to show up,
Speaker 1: and everyone's gonna believe that they belong there. You have
Speaker 1: to prove that you belong there. And I do come
Speaker 1: from that space no matter what, Like I don't care
Speaker 1: you that my mentality will never change in that way,
Speaker 1: Like I don't care how what show I end up
Speaker 1: on or how many times I've done the same thing
Speaker 1: every single time I want to set or a red
Speaker 1: light comes on, I recognize that, Like I'm still having
Speaker 1: to prove myself. There's gonna be someone that turned ontov
Speaker 1: for the first time, and I himself, why is this
Speaker 1: woman on the show hosting? That's just the way it is.
Speaker 1: And so you have to be informed. And when it
Speaker 1: comes to hosting, I have to know what everyone else
Speaker 1: in my set wants to talk about or get to.
Speaker 1: So whether that's being on conference calls where the guys
Speaker 1: are breaking down what they love in a game or
Speaker 1: what's been most interesting to them. Um, that's something that
Speaker 1: I have to be aware of. And then I have
Speaker 1: to bring the context to it. So they might want
Speaker 1: to talk about, Okay, this is what the Warriors look
Speaker 1: like without staff. I have to bring into context Okay, Historically,
Speaker 1: we've never seen a season where a team was in
Speaker 1: the finals last year and has lost this many players
Speaker 1: and it is this horrible now this season just to
Speaker 1: bring it together for the viewer. So those are some
Speaker 1: of the things that you're constantly thinking about as a host.
Speaker 1: And then I think when I'm on the road and
Speaker 1: I'm interacting with coaches and players, like you're you're trying
Speaker 1: so hard to make sure you're maintaining like this level
Speaker 1: of dignity, you're getting the respect that you deserve, but
Speaker 1: still developing these friendships. You know, me having the phone
Speaker 1: number of you know, a Georgia coach might sound different
Speaker 1: than Kirk curb Street or someone else because I am
Speaker 1: a woman, and so you always are trying to tell
Speaker 1: these lines and make sure that things aren't getting learned
Speaker 1: and keeping things business. And but this, this is what
Speaker 1: I asked for, and this is what I want, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, Just because there might be an
Speaker 1: extra hurdle or another discrepancy that I have to deal
Speaker 1: with doesn't mean I'm going to slow down. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: and and it shows and being able to and it's true,
Speaker 1: you know, from a person of color gender, you really
Speaker 1: have to put a stronger footfall and do all these
Speaker 1: different things that we were we've we've touched on when
Speaker 1: you come to show your your Your Winning Age Leadership
Speaker 1: Academy is a nonprofit organization that you have developed to
Speaker 1: help student athletes with programs event there through a winning
Speaker 1: age uh thought process. Talk to us about that, Yeah,
Speaker 1: Winning Agge Leadership Academy and we've developed it. Um Infen
Speaker 1: was our first year having a full c. Say uh,
Speaker 1: but I know you're not doing it by yourself when
Speaker 1: you say we who is who are we saying weak? Uh?
Speaker 1: Myself and Karane Million, she's a co founder. We both
Speaker 1: worked at ESPN at the time, so she's working at
Speaker 1: ESPN events and I was working with SEC Network in
Speaker 1: Charlotte and we just kind of kept looking around the
Speaker 1: room and we were like, we are the only minorities
Speaker 1: that we don't want people of color, women. How do
Speaker 1: we get more of minorities into the door working in sports?
Speaker 1: And so we started this academy where we helped women
Speaker 1: and ethnic minorities And basically it's a mentoring program where
Speaker 1: we're not only partnering you with the mentor, but we
Speaker 1: have retreats like the last two years, we've had them
Speaker 1: in Miami and Atlanta where student athletes can come because
Speaker 1: they don't have much time to go do internships and
Speaker 1: stuff like that, so we have a four day experience
Speaker 1: for them mentor they're there. We took them to Turner,
Speaker 1: we took him to the Braves, we took them to
Speaker 1: Jackson Spalding. When we were in Miami, we had Donna Shalela,
Speaker 1: the former Miami president who's probably going to be bringing
Speaker 1: Secretary of State again or something. You know, they're they're
Speaker 1: interacting with people that they wouldn't normally find themselves around,
Speaker 1: and we're teaching them how to be comfortable in that
Speaker 1: space and network and ultimately Karine and I have all
Speaker 1: of the opportunities that we talk to people. We know
Speaker 1: what the opportunities are. We know when there's a job
Speaker 1: available at Michigan State are over here in the NFL,
Speaker 1: and we also know the young minorities and women that
Speaker 1: wants those jobs. So we're just trying to build the bridge.
Speaker 1: So we're working with kids constantly on helping to job
Speaker 1: for job placement, internships, and just talking them through once
Speaker 1: you're there, getting retained, you know, dealing with being the
Speaker 1: only one in the room. Some of the things and
Speaker 1: the hurdles that they're going to have to cross once
Speaker 1: they get into the sports indiship, how does one how
Speaker 1: big is that the class size? When you do it,
Speaker 1: I mean I mean student how do they find out about?
Speaker 1: When we do the retreats, we have sixteen and we
Speaker 1: have specifically done student athletes because it's the summer and
Speaker 1: UM we also did a sum in l A and
Speaker 1: that was the same thing. We had sixteen. But we
Speaker 1: also work with kids just as they kind of reach out.
Speaker 1: So if we talk to a kid, we feel strongly
Speaker 1: about their potential or they've shown us you know, okay,
Speaker 1: this kid is really striving for success. They seem really determined.
Speaker 1: Will help those kids too. So overall, we've probably influenced
Speaker 1: a hundred and fifty students across the country and UM
Speaker 1: with our actual retreats and all of our programming, we've
Speaker 1: probably had fifty students come through and spend extended periods
Speaker 1: of time with us. And there's the four days mm
Speaker 1: hmm that's awesome. Now, how can I can I have
Speaker 1: promote that for you? Can I have putting out those
Speaker 1: social media? So when is the next when the next
Speaker 1: one coming up? When is the next one coming up?
Speaker 1: So the next retreat we'll have, we usually do it
Speaker 1: the week after um the NBA Draft. That's the week
Speaker 1: of June twenty. We will start sending out basically like
Speaker 1: emails or you'll see on my social media I'll be
Speaker 1: promoting it that we're going to start taking application. So
Speaker 1: January February is when we start doing that. But you
Speaker 1: can log on to the Winning Edge Leadership dot org
Speaker 1: and that's a great way to follow up about the
Speaker 1: and about the coming What is the future of Taylor.
Speaker 1: I wish you're gonna be busy, young lady running for
Speaker 1: governor or something. Well, you're gonna get a vote for
Speaker 1: very college coach and the SEC. I can tell you
Speaker 1: that for Shore, they're gonna vote for you, and they're
Speaker 1: gonna push push you over the top. You know, I
Speaker 1: wouldn't push politics from being a part of Europe. I
Speaker 1: feel that that you, you know, you are a game
Speaker 1: change in Maria from a standpoint of you understand who
Speaker 1: you are, you understand the role that you have to play.
Speaker 1: You get back and that's and then that's that's really important.
Speaker 1: And when you talk about trying to be successful and
Speaker 1: trying to understand that I am a minority, not only
Speaker 1: from a person of a color gender as well. But
Speaker 1: you don't let that stop you. Why because I know
Speaker 1: that there's some kids out there watching me that needs
Speaker 1: to see it that if I get stopped, and that's
Speaker 1: gonna make them believe that they can't make it. So
Speaker 1: if every time every Saturday kid can turn on their TV,
Speaker 1: a young woman or a young man and say, you
Speaker 1: know what Maria's out there doing and she looks comfortable
Speaker 1: and um people are enjoying being around her, then I
Speaker 1: can do whatever is in front of me tomorrow. Like
Speaker 1: that's really my hope that there's a kid somewhere that
Speaker 1: turns on the TV. It sparked a dream or something
Speaker 1: in them and makes them believe that really they can't
Speaker 1: be slowed down by anything but themselves. Okay, Well, when
Speaker 1: you do the retrieve, you do another one. In Atlanta.
Speaker 1: Last time you came by my house, my wife wasn't there,
Speaker 1: and I will you can you can put me down
Speaker 1: as a dessert stop. Okay, done a dessert stop? Okay,
Speaker 1: because because you came by, you know, you can see
Speaker 1: the back and you could fish, you know, it could
Speaker 1: be a lot of fun. They can sit and relaxed,
Speaker 1: and I got a tennis corterback. They all have like
Speaker 1: our opening meal. Ruse absolutely, absolutely absolutely. I'll just let
Speaker 1: you know, put Rochan down because I believe in you.
Speaker 1: I would support you. Your values are outstanding and and
Speaker 1: keep winning because you are winning, Maria Taylor, And I
Speaker 1: don't say that to every body either. Okay, I'm telling okay,
Speaker 1: if you stroll, we talked soon, Okay from but it's
Speaker 1: serious to put me down for that opening dinner, Okay, Okay,
Speaker 1: thank you so much,