Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie. Oh yeah, in Samantha, and welcome
Speaker 1: to stuff. I've never told your prediction of I hiar radios.
Speaker 1: How stuff works. Did you play soccer as a kid, Samantha. No, No,
Speaker 1: Well I came up a very small town, so the
Speaker 1: only sports we ever had were baseball, softball, football, basketball,
Speaker 1: end of story, and maybe some tennis. I guess. Yeah,
Speaker 1: soccer was no, no soccer and el soccer and l J.
Speaker 1: That's funny. I do remember, Um, I played soccer, and
Speaker 1: I remember it being this kind of battle to even
Speaker 1: get funding because all the funding goes to football, right,
Speaker 1: which is confusingly North American football. Right again. I think
Speaker 1: I think people know what we're talking about, um, and
Speaker 1: it's it's sad because I was really competitive for a
Speaker 1: while when I played, but when I became like a teenager,
Speaker 1: I was so insecure about my body and my ability
Speaker 1: that I quit. It kind of goes back to the
Speaker 1: impossible goal, but also just yeah, pretty much I got
Speaker 1: breast and then I was like, no, I'm embarrassed, and
Speaker 1: it still bums me out. But in college, my roommate
Speaker 1: had a poster of Mi a Ham Yes, and I
Speaker 1: remember occasionally just being really happy like that that post
Speaker 1: was there. Yeah, I'm feeling like, yeah, get it, get it,
Speaker 1: I mean, bend it like Beckham. It was fantastic, one
Speaker 1: of my favorites. I haven't seen that so long. It's
Speaker 1: been a while. Yea. Um, but yes, the reason we're
Speaker 1: talking about this is the U S women's national soccer
Speaker 1: team just won the Women's World Cup. Let's get equal pay. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's what people started chanting. And the team and the
Speaker 1: USA they're they're about to meet up with some of
Speaker 1: the female senators. Yeah that awesome. Well, congratulations to them.
Speaker 1: So number four, number four, number four one. Oh, it's like, no,
Speaker 1: they're number one. Therefore World Cup wink, they are number four.
Speaker 1: And yeah. While this has been happening, while everyone's been
Speaker 1: watching this, a lot of issues around equality and sexism
Speaker 1: have played out. Um. I remember there's all the talk
Speaker 1: that they celebrated too hard. It was like not sports
Speaker 1: and sportsman. Yeah, uh huh. And then um, immediately after
Speaker 1: they won the equal pay chanting um. And there have
Speaker 1: been so many reasons for so long that are untrue
Speaker 1: about why the women on the team don't get equal
Speaker 1: pay and number one being the women's team doesn't generate
Speaker 1: as many viewers as the male team, but the final
Speaker 1: game of the nineteen Women's World Cup rated as one
Speaker 1: of the highest in soccer history when it comes to viewership.
Speaker 1: I think one of the other recent reports they've made
Speaker 1: more money, yes, they did, for than any than the
Speaker 1: men's team. They absolutely did. UM And you know, you
Speaker 1: know when the last best showing for soccer in the
Speaker 1: US was, I'll tell you the FIFA Women's World Cup
Speaker 1: final UM And this year's viewership is higher than the
Speaker 1: men's final. UM And the US men might not have
Speaker 1: been in that game, which is another point we could make, UM,
Speaker 1: but that's still pretty huge, right yeah. The team filed
Speaker 1: a class action lawsuit, the women's team against the US
Speaker 1: Soccer Federation, asserting they get paid less than their male
Speaker 1: counterparts for the same work and that they were expected
Speaker 1: to work under worst conditions quote for substantially equal work
Speaker 1: and by denying them at least equal playing, training, and
Speaker 1: travel conditions, equal promotion for their games, equal support and
Speaker 1: development for their games, and other terms and conditions of
Speaker 1: employment equal to the m n T the prize. Let's
Speaker 1: talk about that. The prize for the men's World Cup
Speaker 1: was four hundred million dollars, while female players will receive
Speaker 1: thirty million dollars this year. That's I mean Snoop Dogg
Speaker 1: said it paid women. He said, if Snoop dogs, I
Speaker 1: mean snoop Dog chimed in, He's like, what the hell, y'all?
Speaker 1: That was my impression. I'm sorry, this is all right,
Speaker 1: me just saying it as me pretending like it would
Speaker 1: have been something Snoop dog would have said. But it's not.
Speaker 1: But Snoop Dog, I get you. I hear you. I
Speaker 1: got you. That same year, women's matches generated over a
Speaker 1: million more dollars in revenue than men's. The US men's
Speaker 1: team failed to even qualify last year and doesn't have
Speaker 1: the same record of success that the women's team does.
Speaker 1: So I'm just, uh, they're so awesome and like seeing
Speaker 1: them and being vocal and like all about equality and LGBTQ.
Speaker 1: Plus it's been such a trail and him so's it's
Speaker 1: like seeing that me a hand poster all over again,
Speaker 1: and I'm so happy and they're inspiring and congratulations, congratulations,
Speaker 1: but let's get them some equal pay, equal pay. Welcome
Speaker 1: to stuff Mom never told you. From House Supports dot Com.
Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to the podcast I'm Kristen and I'm Caroline,
Speaker 1: and to celebrate Women's History Month, which is March, by
Speaker 1: the way, Yes, and also to explore questions that we
Speaker 1: hear directly from stuff Mom Never, all the listeners, and
Speaker 1: also just from ourselves about how to become female trailblazers,
Speaker 1: gender equality instigators, and fearless rabble rousers. We're presenting this
Speaker 1: month long mini series we're calling change Makers, and before
Speaker 1: we get to today's fabulous and inspiring change maker, we
Speaker 1: want to give you a little bit of background about
Speaker 1: how this series came to be. Yeah, let's talk about
Speaker 1: the makers and change makers, because all of this was
Speaker 1: inspired by our trip to a women's empowerment conference hosted
Speaker 1: by Makers, which is a platform from a O. L.
Speaker 1: Glorious dynam Is. It's godmother of sorts and Makers is
Speaker 1: the largest video collection of women's stories. And at this
Speaker 1: fantastic conference, Caroline and I had the opportunity to chat
Speaker 1: with a few of those makers who were personally driven
Speaker 1: to change your environments and ultimately change the world hashtag
Speaker 1: in BG. But we realize how change making can seem
Speaker 1: in timid dating. I mean, how do you start? What
Speaker 1: if you earnt a celebrity or a corporate superstar. What
Speaker 1: are the transformative tools that we all have, regardless of
Speaker 1: where we are in life, regardless of whether we're podcasters
Speaker 1: or not. Well, thankfully we have resources like Makers that
Speaker 1: showcase all of these female role models whose stories and
Speaker 1: insights demonstrate not only what incredible societal impacts women can
Speaker 1: create even today, but also how each of us can
Speaker 1: find our voices and our authentic paths towards success for
Speaker 1: today and for the future. So with that, let's get
Speaker 1: to change making. So, Caroline, the theme for this mini
Speaker 1: series episode is Motivation Matters. Yeah, we're talking to the
Speaker 1: incredibly motivational Abby Wombach, and I find her to be
Speaker 1: incredibly motivating because I don't know when the last time
Speaker 1: was that I heard someone who was just so determined
Speaker 1: to make waves. Yeah, I mean, she's motivating, but she's
Speaker 1: also one of the most motivated people I think I've
Speaker 1: ever met. And the combination of her motivation and the confidence,
Speaker 1: the sheer confidence that she has to back it up
Speaker 1: is something I think that we all can learn from
Speaker 1: because for those of you who don't know, Abby Wambach
Speaker 1: is one of the best soccer players in the sports history.
Speaker 1: She scored more goals in international games than any other player,
Speaker 1: male or female. She's incredible, and she recently retired, and
Speaker 1: she has this massive platform and the kind of platform
Speaker 1: and connections that seem so out of reach for folks
Speaker 1: like us everyday folks. Um. But when we talk to her,
Speaker 1: she also offered so much practical insight into the things
Speaker 1: that you and I can be doing every day to
Speaker 1: kind of become our own Abbey wandbox you know what
Speaker 1: I mean? Well, yeah, and I mean Abby Wamba. Part
Speaker 1: of how she became Abby Wambach has to do with
Speaker 1: her upbringing. She's the youngest of seven kids, and so
Speaker 1: she really pushed herself not only to just keep up
Speaker 1: with her siblings, but to be able to get any
Speaker 1: attention in that huge group of people. Yeah, as the
Speaker 1: youngest of five kids, I could relate to this. Um.
Speaker 1: She talks about how she has a bunch of brothers,
Speaker 1: and I think she has four brothers, and she would
Speaker 1: kind of have to endure harassment, sibling harassment from them.
Speaker 1: They would often play hockey and she would be the
Speaker 1: keeper and they would just like pelt the hockey pucks
Speaker 1: with them. They would also pull pranks on her. But
Speaker 1: she had this drive growing up that resonated completely with
Speaker 1: my experience as the baby in the family, where she
Speaker 1: never wanted to win just because they led her. She
Speaker 1: always wanted to win fair and square, and so that
Speaker 1: competitive edge was there in her from the get go,
Speaker 1: and not surprisingly, that translated right to the soccer field,
Speaker 1: where she started playing when she was a kid and was,
Speaker 1: you know, immediately at the top of her game growing up.
Speaker 1: And I think it was in high school that she
Speaker 1: really started developing her signature style of heading the balls.
Speaker 1: She's known for scoring via heading, which as someone who
Speaker 1: played soccer for a couple of years and I grew
Speaker 1: up with soccer players all in my family, that just
Speaker 1: amazed me, because I mean, I'm just not great at
Speaker 1: heating the ball. To be able to do what the
Speaker 1: kind of force that she does, you literally have to have.
Speaker 1: You have to be um hard headed, hard headed, yes,
Speaker 1: thank you. I was like strong, will, No, that's not right,
Speaker 1: hard headed. And thanks to that hard headedness and that
Speaker 1: incredible innate ability. In two thousand four, she was further
Speaker 1: motivated in Athens, Greece to lead the US women's Olympic
Speaker 1: soccer team to an overtime gold medal victory against Brazil.
Speaker 1: And four years later she was motivated again to heal
Speaker 1: from a fractured tibia and fibula, and that sidelined her
Speaker 1: at the Beijing Olympics and she had to sort of
Speaker 1: learn to be able to sit back and let others
Speaker 1: take the lead. And for those of you who didn't
Speaker 1: tune into that Women's World Cup, in the semifinals, the
Speaker 1: US was playing Brazil and they were down, and Abby
Speaker 1: Wombach and her incredible heading skills and just general skills
Speaker 1: was able to score and tie things up, sending the
Speaker 1: game into overtime, and then I think it went into
Speaker 1: penalty kicks, and of course the US won. They were
Speaker 1: later defeated by Japan, But that US Brazil game was
Speaker 1: just stunning to watch. Yeah, I mean, And in just
Speaker 1: a year later she was named FIFA's Women's Player of
Speaker 1: the Year, so I mean, which is honestly no surprise
Speaker 1: because of all of her internal dry have all of
Speaker 1: that motivation that led her up to that point, and
Speaker 1: ever since announcing her retirement in October, Wamback has a
Speaker 1: new and even boulder motivation. Um She's talked about how
Speaker 1: her life was so shaped by Title nine, um which
Speaker 1: a lot of people might not realize that Title nine
Speaker 1: was actually not intended to even the playing field for
Speaker 1: girls and women's sports. But because of that outcome, you know,
Speaker 1: it enabled her to go to high school and play soccer,
Speaker 1: and then go to college and obviously continue playing and
Speaker 1: have access to soccer or for our European listeners, to football,
Speaker 1: having access to those kinds of sports. And so now
Speaker 1: she's been through the system, she was at the top
Speaker 1: of the professional sport, and now that she's retired, she's
Speaker 1: described her next big thing that she's clearly still to
Speaker 1: eloping as titled ten. Yeah, she has had the chance
Speaker 1: to meet now that she's retired. I mean, I don't
Speaker 1: know if she's actually sat down or or like rested
Speaker 1: for a minute, but she's had the chance to meet
Speaker 1: all sorts of executive politicians, just leaders in this country
Speaker 1: and in the world who have helped sort of open
Speaker 1: her eyes to things like the gender gap. And she
Speaker 1: even visited the White House and when Obama met her,
Speaker 1: part of what he told her was that playing like
Speaker 1: a girl means playing like a badass. Obama, Yeah, spoken
Speaker 1: like the father of two daughters. Caroline, I'm sure that
Speaker 1: meeting President Obama was quite a thrill, but I mean,
Speaker 1: I would think that her opportunity to meet a couple
Speaker 1: of lady podcasters was I mean, so far the highlight
Speaker 1: of just I'm gonna just say everything. You know, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I can see how we we can really play a
Speaker 1: role in her continued motivation. Absolutely congred urban pushing Wombach
Speaker 1: to be even more incredible. But you know, we we
Speaker 1: loved the chance to talk to her. She's a fantastic
Speaker 1: woman who's again and Kristin already said this, but I
Speaker 1: think it bears repeating. Her confidence is is out of
Speaker 1: this world. It's it is really inspirational to see a
Speaker 1: woman who just absolutely has and I'm apologizing for this
Speaker 1: this pun, but she's got her eye on the ball.
Speaker 1: I know, I know you love it, Carolyn, I'd say
Speaker 1: that pun was a goal. Thanks. Um, Well, so yeah,
Speaker 1: let's let's jump into our conversation with Abby and and
Speaker 1: find out kind of what's on her mind as she
Speaker 1: enters retirement. Still getting used to saying former and right
Speaker 1: now I am figuring out how exactly I'm going to
Speaker 1: change the world, because that's what I'm gonna do. That's
Speaker 1: who I am. I don't understand why people wouldn't want
Speaker 1: to positively influence our culture. Are our daughters, our mothers,
Speaker 1: our brothers, our sons, um and I think that I
Speaker 1: have a unique opportunity and a platform to be able
Speaker 1: to do that in a really progressive way. That stands
Speaker 1: and uh and so it's going to be an interesting
Speaker 1: couple of years figuring it all out. But that's that's
Speaker 1: the beauty of life, you know, trying to figure it
Speaker 1: all out. So in addition to her massive platform, which
Speaker 1: by the way, now includes her own Barbie Doll, I mean,
Speaker 1: I feel like you know you've made it when you
Speaker 1: have your own Barbie Doll Caroline. Quick question also, I
Speaker 1: don't want to get too far away from Wombach, but
Speaker 1: if you had your own Barbie Doll, Like, what would
Speaker 1: be the Caroline Barbie Doll accessories? Uh, let's see, she
Speaker 1: would be carrying a corgy and a sandwich. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think that would be Corgy in a sandwich like that
Speaker 1: is separate hands though you can't, like, I mean, unless
Speaker 1: it's like a really well behave corky that could put
Speaker 1: the sandwich on its head. Silence it obviously if you
Speaker 1: do it in the same hand, Corky is gonna eat
Speaker 1: the sandwich. But that would kind of be cute to watch.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, well, that's the Barbie Doll Caroline. Um,
Speaker 1: I will preorder when it comes out. Um yeah, I
Speaker 1: considered to be part of it's Lady Power, Lady Power sandwich.
Speaker 1: But back to a wombuck. She has this lofty goal. Obviously,
Speaker 1: she wants to create this thing that she's calling titled ten,
Speaker 1: which is essentially attacking the issue of the gender wage gap,
Speaker 1: which is all around the world alive and not so well.
Speaker 1: And in order to do that, it's gonna take a
Speaker 1: lot of coalition building, obviously, and so we wanted to
Speaker 1: ask her about how team building and also serving as
Speaker 1: the captain of her team on the soccer field will
Speaker 1: translate into starting this movement, because I mean, she definitely
Speaker 1: has the individual qualities of a leader. When she was
Speaker 1: talking to a O l CEO Tim Armstrong, for instance, um,
Speaker 1: he asked for like three words that people who knew
Speaker 1: her would use to describe her, and without missing a beat,
Speaker 1: she just said loud, fearless, and a winner. I need
Speaker 1: a little wombach in my life, but I think, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think we all need a little Wombach in our lives.
Speaker 1: And I like to though that when she talks about
Speaker 1: team building and pulling people together, like she she's very
Speaker 1: clear that we need all sorts of people represented. She's
Speaker 1: been quoted as saying, you know, we need men at
Speaker 1: the table too, we need people of all different backgrounds.
Speaker 1: And so when we asked her about what she was
Speaker 1: going to do in terms of using her team building
Speaker 1: experience to try to change the world, she gave us
Speaker 1: some great insight. But she also corrected me on my
Speaker 1: use of the word try. You have to effectively find
Speaker 1: out what motivates, eats and in each individual and at
Speaker 1: the same time still adhering to the collective goals in
Speaker 1: which you set forth as a collective. And and it's
Speaker 1: not easy by by any stretch. It's it's very difficult
Speaker 1: to um to motivate and find what motivates people. It's
Speaker 1: a hard thing, you know. I know parents are around
Speaker 1: the world struggle to do that themselves. But the truth
Speaker 1: is is the beauty of it all is in that
Speaker 1: form of motivating or trying to find out what motivates people,
Speaker 1: all you are really hoping to do is for them
Speaker 1: to learn about themselves so they don't need external motivation,
Speaker 1: so that they can motivate themselves to be their best,
Speaker 1: best self. And to correct you, UM, I'm not wanting
Speaker 1: to change the world. I'm going to change the world.
Speaker 1: And I think that that's a very very unique and
Speaker 1: important justification because I will not let myself fail at
Speaker 1: that because I think it's too important now. In terms
Speaker 1: of failure, Wombach has experienced it personally obviously losing games,
Speaker 1: sometime getting injured and not being able to go to
Speaker 1: the Beijing Olympics UM, and she's also experienced it on
Speaker 1: the on the receiving end in terms of the failure
Speaker 1: of professional soccer to level the gendered playing field. And
Speaker 1: even before she retired, Wombach was and obviously still is
Speaker 1: extremely vocal, especially on pay equity for female players, because
Speaker 1: the disparity between what male professional soccer player will make
Speaker 1: versus a female professional soccer player UM is so dark.
Speaker 1: If we just look at the World Cup payouts. For instance,
Speaker 1: the total Women's World Cup payout is fifteen million dollars,
Speaker 1: which nothing to sneeze at, but the total payout for
Speaker 1: the men's World Cup five hundred seventies six million dollars.
Speaker 1: That's a difference. That is a difference. I think according
Speaker 1: to our math skills, Caroline, that is a big difference. Approximately,
Speaker 1: that's approximately, give or take a giant difference, a giant gap, yes,
Speaker 1: the giant pay gap. Um yeah, I mean when you
Speaker 1: look at what's going on with women's soccer compared to men's,
Speaker 1: it is a stark difference. Like you said, um, a
Speaker 1: first division women's soccer player makes nine point six percent
Speaker 1: less than comparable professional men's players. And this kind of
Speaker 1: gender discrimination is even reflected in the subpart artificial turf
Speaker 1: of the women's World finalists had to play on. And
Speaker 1: there's even been a gender discrimination lawsuit brought against FIFA
Speaker 1: to get the women on natural grass. And that might
Speaker 1: seem like a quibble of oh, well, who cares whether
Speaker 1: you're playing on AstroTurf or natural grass, And the answer
Speaker 1: is it changes everything. Well, not to mention that there
Speaker 1: was that one recent incident where they showed up to
Speaker 1: play on turf not grass, and not only was it
Speaker 1: not up to par, but I mean there were rocks everywhere,
Speaker 1: scoff's holes. They couldn't play on it. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: it sounds like those kinds of conditions are just flat
Speaker 1: out dangerous. And in speaking again to h A O
Speaker 1: L CEO Tim Armstrong at the Maker's Conference, Wombox said
Speaker 1: it cost zero dollars to treat somebody equally, And that
Speaker 1: fires me up. Why is this still happening? I'm piste off. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, she's really zeroing in on this pay gap
Speaker 1: issue in her retirement. I mean, we well, we keep
Speaker 1: referring to it us her retirement, but it doesn't sound
Speaker 1: like she's slowing down or heading to boker or anything.
Speaker 1: You know. She she's talked about the need for real
Speaker 1: equality for all people and has even pointed out something
Speaker 1: that you know, we've sort of touched on in a
Speaker 1: lot of Sminty episodes, which is the idea that people
Speaker 1: are brought up thinking women are inferior. And so she's
Speaker 1: really kind of putting her flag in the ground, saying
Speaker 1: this is my issue and I'm going to tackle this.
Speaker 1: And we want to get her perspective too on managing failure,
Speaker 1: especially as you're working towards such a lofty goal, because
Speaker 1: the thing is closing that infuriating gender wage gap also
Speaker 1: requires confronting gendered notions of female perfection and learning, especially
Speaker 1: as girls and women who are socialized to avoid risk
Speaker 1: taking and fear to understand how to manage that in
Speaker 1: a healthier and and kind of more successful way in
Speaker 1: the long term. I think that that's a really great point,
Speaker 1: especially because now that we're fighting for positions of power,
Speaker 1: whether it's the oval office or positions on executive boards,
Speaker 1: whether it's the token one female in the executive boardroom. UM,
Speaker 1: women are expected to be perfect and fit this perfect
Speaker 1: quote unquote system, this this image I think that men
Speaker 1: have created for us. My my personal belief is the
Speaker 1: more times you fail, the more you learn. UM. It's
Speaker 1: not easy because because um knowing what society like believes
Speaker 1: in in terms of um perfectionism. From a female's perspective,
Speaker 1: you we all have high standards, you know, uh. And
Speaker 1: I think that that's a positive, but it also can
Speaker 1: hurt us in some ways because when you do fail,
Speaker 1: it's never about what you fail or how often you feel.
Speaker 1: It's always always about what you do when you're when
Speaker 1: the failure happens, How how you react. That's your character,
Speaker 1: That's who you are. You know, when when you feel
Speaker 1: one time you learn, it's experience. You turn the page
Speaker 1: and you move on. And the faster you can move on,
Speaker 1: the quicker the learn will happen, the quicker that experience
Speaker 1: will set in, and the more respect you will get.
Speaker 1: Because the truth is is most guys out there, they've
Speaker 1: been punched in the face at recess. Right. Where they
Speaker 1: get their respect is if they get up right. Where
Speaker 1: they get their respect is how they get up. Where
Speaker 1: they grow their character is what they do after when
Speaker 1: after getting punched in the face metaphorically speaking of course
Speaker 1: or literally, I don't want to playground violence. We actually
Speaker 1: I think recess is now gone, So bring recess back
Speaker 1: to the schools now. Of course, getting back up is
Speaker 1: easier when you have a good support network, and arguably
Speaker 1: Wombach has had a large one since childhood. You know,
Speaker 1: we mentioned her six siblings already, but we really wanted
Speaker 1: to know what relationships have been critical for getting her
Speaker 1: to this milestone in her career and life. Well, that's
Speaker 1: a huge thing. You are, You are, You are the
Speaker 1: environment you surround yourself with, and you know, as you
Speaker 1: grow older and for me, as I've gotten a little
Speaker 1: bit more famous quote unquote famous, I wouldn't even call
Speaker 1: myself famous. But you know, I've been able to meet
Speaker 1: amazing people, amazing people that that have changed the world, right,
Speaker 1: and so I just picked their brains. I put myself
Speaker 1: in environments where, um, I can learn as much as
Speaker 1: I can. But my support system is is surely my
Speaker 1: friends and family. Um. You know, I'm so lucky to
Speaker 1: have the people that I've had surround me over the
Speaker 1: last four months, you know, even since the World Cup ended. Um,
Speaker 1: it's been a journey. It's been a it's been a
Speaker 1: real journey. Because when you've done something for thirty years
Speaker 1: and then you kind of strip away from that, you know,
Speaker 1: you wonder who you are because I identified so much
Speaker 1: of myself as a soccer player and to shed that
Speaker 1: a soccer player's skin and now recreate and re grow,
Speaker 1: so to speak, the skin of you know this older
Speaker 1: more wise uh more pretty uh woman. It's been it's
Speaker 1: been daunting, and so you need the people around you
Speaker 1: that that that can mirror for you, right. UM, I
Speaker 1: don't need somebody to tell me what to do. I
Speaker 1: need somebody to mirror me so that I can see
Speaker 1: what I'm doing and and from that mirror I can
Speaker 1: then make those decisions moving forward to to be more
Speaker 1: positive and happy. And the thing is, Wombach is so
Speaker 1: motivated and so extremely confident, but she's also logical. I mean,
Speaker 1: she realizes that everything that she's saying is a bold declaration,
Speaker 1: but it is inspiring to hear her breakdown how that
Speaker 1: motivation factor and all of its individual components can ignite
Speaker 1: the Wombach level of passion that all of us can practice,
Speaker 1: regardless of say, our athletic ability or history making talent.
Speaker 1: We don't have to all have our own Barbies as
Speaker 1: much as Caroline. I really do want a Caroline Barbie
Speaker 1: as soon as possible. Um, but we don't have to
Speaker 1: be at that level to start practicing these things and
Speaker 1: fueling our own motivation for the long term. Yeah. Again,
Speaker 1: the confidence and single mindedness is really inspiring from Abby.
Speaker 1: She doesn't settle. This is not a woman who settled,
Speaker 1: she told Tim Armstrong interr Maaker's interview. I know, no
Speaker 1: matter what I do, I'm going to be good at.
Speaker 1: But that's not good enough. Apparently that's not good enough,
Speaker 1: she says, I want to be the best. It's going
Speaker 1: to be changing the world and fighting free quality. So
Speaker 1: everyone has equal opportunities small goals, small goals, small goals.
Speaker 1: But I do I love it. Like you said, she
Speaker 1: really does break down how we can all stay motivated,
Speaker 1: whether it is to become a world a top of
Speaker 1: the world soccer player, or whether it's just to sort
Speaker 1: of motivate yourself moment to moment throughout your day. Caroline,
Speaker 1: do you think that, um, starting now, if I really
Speaker 1: fuel up my Wambach level passion and get on that
Speaker 1: soccer field, I can make it. Yeah, make it. I'm
Speaker 1: sure it's just like muscle memory, right, you know, to
Speaker 1: starting to head the ball again. Well, you know, while
Speaker 1: I was playing soccer though as a kid, I was
Speaker 1: also taking ballet, So I don't know which muscle memory
Speaker 1: will be revived. Okay, well you don't do the pirouetting
Speaker 1: on the field, Okay, to save the pla A is
Speaker 1: for later, which is mode that we should all live.
Speaker 1: So let's hear a boy from Womba. You know, I've
Speaker 1: played I played soccer for thirty years. So the last
Speaker 1: five or six weeks, um, I've been meeting with a
Speaker 1: lot of people. I've been doing things like that, uh
Speaker 1: and and like this. So for the last couple of weeks,
Speaker 1: I've kind of just turned turned my brain off. I've
Speaker 1: had things here and there that I've done, and it's
Speaker 1: been really interesting because if you're out there and you
Speaker 1: struggle to find any motivation or you struggle to figure
Speaker 1: out what your next move or next step is going
Speaker 1: to be, that's okay because I've been doing that also,
Speaker 1: you know, and people look at me as this aspiring
Speaker 1: athlete who overcome overcame challenges and now is going to
Speaker 1: take on and spearhead this change the world equality thing. Um.
Speaker 1: But you know, I'm I'm a human being too. I'm
Speaker 1: not like, I'm not like looking at myself every night
Speaker 1: in the mirror, motivating myself like, come on, how do
Speaker 1: you can do this tomorrow? I don't do that. You know.
Speaker 1: I'm a person and I have fears and questions and
Speaker 1: curiosities not just about the world, but about myself. And
Speaker 1: I think that that's so important. Too often people immortalized
Speaker 1: and and and put idols and famous people on pedestals
Speaker 1: that we don't deserve. I may be tall, I may
Speaker 1: be a little seem over most women and men, but
Speaker 1: the reality for me is I'm I'm human and I'm
Speaker 1: I'm scared in moments too, and it's not easy to, um,
Speaker 1: to sidestep some of that fear and to go after
Speaker 1: something that you really truly believe in. Because that's my
Speaker 1: my belief is if you're passionate about something enough, you
Speaker 1: believe in yourself enough, then those steps that you take
Speaker 1: towards that passion, towards that goal will will happen. And
Speaker 1: sometimes it's scary to take the first step, but I
Speaker 1: promised that second and third and fourth step will be
Speaker 1: so worth it. Um, take it from me. I've I've
Speaker 1: gotten up, I've I've failed, I've stayed down a little
Speaker 1: bit longer than maybe I should have. But all that
Speaker 1: stuff is good. It's like it's real, deep seated good
Speaker 1: stuff that you will carry with you for the rest
Speaker 1: of your life. And you know, even now I'm talking
Speaker 1: and I'm motivating myself to get excited about working out
Speaker 1: later today. Um, and that's a very trivial thing, right,
Speaker 1: I'm talking about changing the world. But then some people
Speaker 1: have to scale that back. I don't have the platform
Speaker 1: Abby has, Like, how does this relate to me? Listen,
Speaker 1: you have to motivate yourself every day to eat well,
Speaker 1: to sleep enough hours to exercise, and those are really
Speaker 1: really important factors at being a healthy, successful, happy human being.
Speaker 1: Otherwise everybody would be happy, right, everybody would have a perfect,
Speaker 1: beautiful life. Not everybody does because it takes work, It
Speaker 1: takes it takes failure, it takes you know, success, it
Speaker 1: takes all the different things. And once you bundle bundle
Speaker 1: that all up in a little package, hopefully you're older
Speaker 1: and and and wiser and you have and you have
Speaker 1: a good and happy life. And it seems like a
Speaker 1: lot of what underlies Abby wombox success and her confidence
Speaker 1: and motivation moving forward is a lot of self awareness
Speaker 1: to I mean, yes, she has achieved so much. She's
Speaker 1: a world class female athlete with few qualms for calling
Speaker 1: out gender disparities, you know, but she's also an LGBT
Speaker 1: athlete who has been so comfortable with herself and her orientation,
Speaker 1: to the point that when she and her partner got
Speaker 1: married and there was obviously some media buzz over it,
Speaker 1: she didn't really understand because she's like, there was never
Speaker 1: really like a coming out moment for me. I've always
Speaker 1: just really been myself. Um, And even the way that
Speaker 1: she describes herself like she she's clearly able to recognize
Speaker 1: where she might have some faults, but also how that
Speaker 1: feeds into her strengths. Yeah, she admits that she is,
Speaker 1: as she put it, this is these are her words,
Speaker 1: not ours. I'm a control freak, know it all, But
Speaker 1: she says, I'm sneaky about it. I think I know
Speaker 1: what I'm doing. But I'm lucky I have the ability
Speaker 1: to step back. It's important, again, as we've talked about,
Speaker 1: to have that self awareness, and she really considers her
Speaker 1: compassion and her drive to understand others experiences as two
Speaker 1: of her biggest strengths. So all of this is happening,
Speaker 1: you know while really the world is watching, and there
Speaker 1: are so many girls, especially out there, who see Abby
Speaker 1: Wombach as a role model. And I can only guess
Speaker 1: that as she continues her work and doesn't plan on,
Speaker 1: you know, stepping back from her public visibility at all,
Speaker 1: the role modeling will only continue. So we wanted to
Speaker 1: talk to her about the responsibility that she feels regarding
Speaker 1: role modeling and kind of what impression she hopes she's
Speaker 1: leaving with everyone. I'm the number one thing um I
Speaker 1: hope to role model is that you can be yourself.
Speaker 1: You can be excellent at what you do. You can
Speaker 1: win championships, you can break records, you can be literally
Speaker 1: the best in the world at what you do, but
Speaker 1: none of that will mean you're a good person. You
Speaker 1: have to you have to earn that every single day,
Speaker 1: and it's how you treat the people amid being the best,
Speaker 1: the best goal score winning championships. So I always like
Speaker 1: to bring myself down to ground zero and remind myself
Speaker 1: that being a good person is the most important quality
Speaker 1: that you can possibly have. And if you can have
Speaker 1: those qualities within all of the confines of having a successful,
Speaker 1: happy life, then then you've got You've kind of figured
Speaker 1: it all out, you know what I mean. And it's
Speaker 1: not always easy. You know, sometimes people who aunk their
Speaker 1: horns in New York City really annoy me U and
Speaker 1: I get angry quickly. Um. But the truth is is
Speaker 1: that every single day is another opportunity to prove what
Speaker 1: kind of person you are. And and I try to
Speaker 1: prove that I'm a good person every single day, and
Speaker 1: I'm not successful at it. You know, some days I
Speaker 1: I am too lazy, some days I'm too crazy. I
Speaker 1: don't even know what. But um, every every single day
Speaker 1: is another opportunity to prove your worth and and who
Speaker 1: you are and who you want to be. Well, thanks
Speaker 1: you advanced for changing the world. Yeah. Well, Caroline, I
Speaker 1: gotta say that it's comforting to know that Abby Wanpac
Speaker 1: has those those kinds of emotional ups and downs in
Speaker 1: a way of getting angry clearly about issues like maybe
Speaker 1: not being paid as much as her male counterparts and
Speaker 1: just an equality that she sees within society at large,
Speaker 1: but that she can channel it, and that we can
Speaker 1: channel that kind of anger into two powerful things, into
Speaker 1: entire movements. Yeah. And I think if we all could
Speaker 1: have even an ounce of Abbey's single minded confidence and determination,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe we could all feel better about our
Speaker 1: opportunities that we have and seizing our opportunities to change
Speaker 1: the world around us. Yeah. I mean, in terms of
Speaker 1: the theme of motivation matters, it seems like after talking
Speaker 1: to Abbey, yes, there's that threat of motivation throughout her
Speaker 1: whole life that has led her to this point, but
Speaker 1: there's also the connection between self awareness and motivation, So
Speaker 1: it seems like self aware motivation matters. Yeah. Being able
Speaker 1: to recognize your weaknesses or failings and instead of feeling
Speaker 1: bad about them or letting them trip you up, just
Speaker 1: saying I'm just going to compensate for them in other ways,
Speaker 1: or you know, whereas they might be viewed as negatives,
Speaker 1: just viewing almost as a natural part of yourself that
Speaker 1: you know, you're just going to almost work around them. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And and also to the factor of being motivated, yes,
Speaker 1: for yourself, warts and all, but also being motivated for others.
Speaker 1: I mean, it really seems like it was a transformational
Speaker 1: experience for her to have to take a step back
Speaker 1: in two thousand and eight when she was injured and
Speaker 1: watch her team and be motivated for them, and clearly
Speaker 1: that same it's it seems like she's only spreading that
Speaker 1: farther because I feel like Caroline, she's motivated for all
Speaker 1: of us, all of our like girls and women, and
Speaker 1: that's I mean, that's what a leader is. Someone who's
Speaker 1: so driven, but not only driven to benefit themselves, but
Speaker 1: driven to make changes for the better in the lives
Speaker 1: of others. Caroline, I really feel like we are now
Speaker 1: introducing Abby wanback presidential candidate. It sounds like a good idea.
Speaker 1: Maybe she should pinple that in if she's talking about
Speaker 1: all these world leaders Yeah, just go ahead and hop on,
Speaker 1: hop on in that mix. Yeah, and that hots too well.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much to Abby Wombach for talking to us
Speaker 1: and now listeners. We'd love to hear from you, maybe
Speaker 1: about your experience if you're a female athlete or if
Speaker 1: she's one of your role models, or the kinds of
Speaker 1: gender inequalities that you've experienced and what motivates you. Mom's
Speaker 1: Stuff at how Stuff works dot com is where you
Speaker 1: can send us your emails, and you can also tweet
Speaker 1: us at mom Stuff Podcasts or messages on Facebook and
Speaker 1: for links to all of our blogs, videos and podcasts
Speaker 1: so you can learn all of the stuff I Never
Speaker 1: told you. Head on over to stuff mob Never Told
Speaker 1: You dot com. So we hope you've enjoyed this update,
Speaker 1: this classic episode about soccer um. If you would like
Speaker 1: to email is, you can or email is Stuff Media
Speaker 1: mom Stuff at iHeart Media dot com. You can find
Speaker 1: us on Twitter at moms toff podcasts and on Instagram
Speaker 1: at stuff I've Never Told You. I thinks as always
Speaker 1: your super producer Andrew Howard, thanks to you for listening
Speaker 1: Stuff I've Never Told You. He's a protection of I
Speaker 1: hear Radias how Stuff works. For more podcasts from I
Speaker 1: Hear Adio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcast,
Speaker 1: or erever you listen to your favorite shows.