Olympian Natalie Wideman - Chasing Lions With No Regrets Artwork

Benchmarked

Welcome to Benchmarked with Marc Messier and J-G Larocque. We are all in on Leadership, Coaching, Mental Performance, and overall support of those seeking to be the greatest version of themselves. It's all about leading the players and coaching the coaches. We will venture through our 9 Elements of Successful Leadership and bring you interviews with powerful leaders and influential athletes, as well as interesting stories from our time on the bench and in the classroom. Being a good leader requires a continued evolution and growth. This show strives to provide you with the tools necessary to grow and become the best possible leader and have the greatest possible impact on those you lead. Are you ready to level up your leadership and coaching game?

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Olympian Natalie Wideman - Chasing Lions With No Regrets

May 10, 2022 • Messier Larocque Performance Group • Season 1 • Episode 19

Today we talk with Olympic Bronze Medalist and Team Mizuno Member Natalie Wideman. Beyond being an outstanding athlete for Softball Canada and brand ambassador for Mizuno, Natalie is an entrepreneur, a speaker, and is completing her studies in Naturopathic Medicine . Saying she is a role model for younger athletes is an understatement as she travels around providing clinics, camps, and guidance for young ball players. Her amazing mindset and varied skills make her a swiss army knife for the national team and has propelled them to several international medals within her time with Team Canada. Overall, this energetic, thoughtful, and inspiring athlete will have you wanting to get after it and get into pits with your own lions!

What we discuss:
-How to be a great teammate
-Learning to win as a team after challenging times
-Forging a championship mindset as an individual and as a group
-Exposing yourself to failure early in life as a learning opportunity
-Growth mindset and how being a lifelong learner leads to greater opportunities for success.
-Getting into pits with lions to open yourself up to big opportunities in life

Connect with Natalie:
https://linktr.ee/nataliewideman

Connect with us:
https://linktr.ee/BenchmarkedPodcast

Thanks for listening to our show. We want to hear from you! Leave us a comment and/or a review.
KEEP CRUSHING IT!

Mizuno

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00:00:00:04 - 00:00:29:01
Speaker 1
Hey, team. Welcome. To Benchmarked. The Leadership Coaching and Mental Performance Podcast with Coach Mess and Coach Larocque. What a treat. We have for you today. With us is a very special guest who we cannot wait to chat with in her career with Softball Canada. She is not only won gold in silver at the Pan Am Games. She propelled Canada to an Olympic bronze medal in 2020 at the Tokyo Olympics.

00:00:29:16 - 00:00:49:11
Speaker 1
However, I think the most exciting part of today is that like JG and I, she's also a catcher just way better and way younger I am speaking of none other than Team Canada's own Natalie Weidman. Natalie, thanks for joining us tonight. Appreciate you being here with us.

00:00:49:22 - 00:00:53:07
Speaker 2
Thanks for having me. I'm excited and I'm glad I can be with my fellow catchers.

00:00:54:18 - 00:01:04:21
Speaker 1
Now, the other thing, as they and I know I did an advance scouting report, I know you don't just catch you play pretty much anywhere. Like, I know you're all over the field. You play shortstop as well, too.

00:01:05:16 - 00:01:23:04
Speaker 2
On the junior national team. I played shortstop a bunch but it was kind of like not necessary. It happened really randomly. So on the senior team, that's not my forte everywhere. Other than that, on the infield, I am very comfortable with. But shortstop. I'll leave that to Janet. She's a stud there, so she's got it handled.

00:01:23:22 - 00:01:26:01
Speaker 1
Outfield and do we venture out there.

00:01:27:22 - 00:01:29:06
Speaker 2
I'd rather not. I could.

00:01:29:19 - 00:01:30:01
Speaker 1
Walk.

00:01:30:01 - 00:01:34:11
Speaker 2
Over after if you need me, but it's not my preference. I love the dirt.

00:01:34:11 - 00:01:50:00
Speaker 1
So as as a catcher, it was for me, it was a tough transition at the towards the end of my career, like I played up until I was 40. And the guys I was playing, we were still really good competitive. And I my I remember they're like, yes, you're getting older to save your legs. You want to pitch a little bit.

00:01:50:20 - 00:02:17:03
Speaker 1
So they put me out in less field. And the center fielder, Scott Rainey, was a Team Canada Center fielder. He was an absolute rock star. So I would stand about three feet from the foul line and I'd say, Scotty, I'll take anything to my right. You take in. And yeah, I mean, he had range and I don't know, mentally being a catcher and being so close to the action, being out there, I was struggling mentally.

00:02:17:03 - 00:02:21:20
Speaker 1
I didn't I just I didn't like I probably wasn't very good, but I just didn't enjoy it being out there.

00:02:22:13 - 00:02:35:15
Speaker 2
Yeah. Well, when I was growing up, I was pitching and then I was like, this is not for me, but I still want to touch the ball every single time. Yeah. So even going to like second base or third base and like the ball like I would love that place.

00:02:37:11 - 00:02:53:20
Speaker 1
I was playing. I was InterCounty was playing for Branford. I was in right field and that's what I was doing in the outfield. So in my head, I'm like, Okay, there's a runner on second. If you get a fly ball, if you go this way, it's going to tag throw the third. If it's a base hit, throw your cut off, man.

00:02:53:20 - 00:03:02:07
Speaker 1
All these things are going through my head next pitch. The ball's hit to me. I forgot everything. I was just like, Get rid of the ball. Just throw it somewhere. Like, give it to.

00:03:02:07 - 00:03:03:23
Speaker 2
Them, you know? Let them do it.

00:03:04:02 - 00:03:23:03
Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah. So let's start out. How did you know your family? Like, on one of our the big cornerstones of our show is talking about family and sports and the influence of family on us. Your failure, you come from a ball family, so your brothers both played. Tell us a little bit about that. How were you influenced by that?

00:03:24:00 - 00:03:39:23
Speaker 2
I mean, right out the gate, I was always at the ball field. I mean, both my parents, one of them would be taking one brother to one field. One would be taking the other to the others. It's like not like you're tagging along and eventually it was like, hey, I think I should be doing this, too. Like, it doesn't seem too difficult.

00:03:39:23 - 00:03:58:17
Speaker 2
Like what? So I would play with them. I'd throw with them. They would always try to throw it as hard as I could so that they could make it more difficult on me. And they would just tell me to toughen up. And I was like, Okay, that's it. I'm going to be better than them. That was kind of like my motivating force from the get go, and they finally accepted that I am.

00:03:58:17 - 00:04:20:04
Speaker 2
So it's really, really nice. Oh, yeah. So I mean, it's that was always involved in our life. We were always considered the baseball family. Parents were always like, How do you do it? And my, my parents loved the fact that we were so tired that we couldn't get in trouble. Yeah. We were occupied. We were focused. We were learning these skills that were going to be valuable in other areas in our life.

00:04:20:04 - 00:04:22:12
Speaker 2
And they, they thought that was worth the investment.

00:04:23:01 - 00:04:46:23
Speaker 1
Very cool. Now, how did. So to me, people don't necessarily volunteer to be I Sutton when you said I wanted to be part of every pitch for me, that's how I started catching. I think it was eight and I wanted to have an influence if I wasn't pitching, I wanted to catch I wanted to be So can you tell us a little bit of how that happened for you?

00:04:47:24 - 00:05:13:12
Speaker 2
So my oldest brother, Aaron, was a pitcher and my middle brother was catcher. Jordan and I knew that I just wasn't built for the pitching side of things. I'm solid five to don't have the levers for that. So I knew that wasn't really it. And I loved how tough my brother was. I always thought he was the most hardworking individual and I base that on his position a lot.

00:05:13:12 - 00:05:33:03
Speaker 2
But really it was him. But I was like, Man, he's really tough. I want to be tough. I want to do that dirty work and and just like block balls and make the pitcher look really good. All those things were just really interesting to me. And it was very foreign because not a lot of girls in my age category on my team wanted to do that.

00:05:33:03 - 00:05:42:14
Speaker 2
I was like, I'll do it. No one else. I want to do it all year. Like, I was ready for that unknown of the challenge of what catching really meant and brought. So that was cool.

00:05:42:20 - 00:05:47:08
Speaker 1
And besides your your brother, who was your mentor when you started getting into the position.

00:05:50:05 - 00:06:18:17
Speaker 2
I think as a coach, Roger Davis was a really big influence because of his ability to teach me the mental side of the game. At a pretty young age. And I liked him allowing me to fail and try different techniques for calling games and whatnot and talking to me in between innings. I thought that was huge. And then when I first saw Softball Canada play, I was in awe of Kaylee Rafter and Aaron comes down, the two starting catchers with Team Canada.

00:06:19:11 - 00:06:41:24
Speaker 2
And I was just they had such different styles, but I thought that was really cool that you didn't have to be the same size, the same strengths in certain areas, that you could kind of be your own individual back there and utilize your strengths to your advantage. So just seeing those differences was really inspiring for me to kind of take on and 52 and I can still be a really good catcher.

00:06:41:24 - 00:06:44:01
Speaker 2
I just have to learn what my strengths are behind the dish.

00:06:44:09 - 00:06:55:13
Speaker 1
How were you mature enough to have that conversation with you literally saw two different styles and you're like, Oh, I don't have to be like that. That come back to the team. You're talking about that kind of introduce the mental part of the game.

00:06:56:06 - 00:07:23:00
Speaker 2
Yeah, I think that was huge. I also was playing with a lot older women when I was young, so I think I was in grade eight or nine and I was playing with girls coming back from their first year university so I was exposed to a lot of mature aspects, and I've always been kind of an old soul, but having those women around me and teach me things I had to catch up, I had to ask questions, I had to learn what it took, what it took to get to the next level.

00:07:23:15 - 00:07:40:13
Speaker 1
They're super cool. You mentioned calling pitches, which like a foreign thing for Sun because at some levels it's just like the coaches are calling pitches and the catcher said, No, I get a feel like my personal opinion. I would love for catchers to call their own games, and I think that's super cool that your coach would let you do his thing and then you'd have the conversation, you know?

00:07:40:14 - 00:07:51:17
Speaker 1
Why did you call that pitch to Oh, what did you see in the, you know, the hitter swing that made you think that this would be the right pitch to call, but you get to learn from it. So can you speak to us a little bit about that, about calling pitches in that freedom I guess you had or have?

00:07:52:10 - 00:08:14:05
Speaker 2
Yeah, like I think back then it was incredible to to have that time in between innings that he was investing in me and my pitcher to have those conversations. And I think it's even relevant today at the age of 30. I'm still doing it in between innings. Hey, Kailey. Hey, whoever. Coach, what do you think I should have done here or why did she hit this one?

00:08:14:05 - 00:08:39:10
Speaker 2
I thought that was the best pitch. Like, what's going on? And just kind of always having that growth mindset because as we spoke to before, it's it's about evolving. And like, the hitters are evolving, the pitchers are evolving, and everyone's evolving. The game in general is evolving. So I think having that freedom at a young age and being exposed to sailing and it being okay and sailing really quickly was huge for my development.

00:08:39:17 - 00:08:43:05
Speaker 2
Like mentally and in the game of softball in general.

00:08:43:23 - 00:08:48:21
Speaker 1
You just summarized like six of our goals in six sentences. Literally wrap it.

00:08:48:21 - 00:08:49:22
Speaker 3
Up. Wrap it up.

00:08:50:13 - 00:09:12:04
Speaker 1
Natalie, thanks for having us. All right. Not everybody keep going on your show. Oh, man. Wow. So we always say failures, fertilizer for for your future. So if you call a pitch and somebody hits it out of the park and you're like, okay, I'm going to you I would say as a as a as a catcher, you're as close to air as you could possibly be because you always have to adapt and learn and evolve.

00:09:12:04 - 00:09:28:04
Speaker 1
And you got everything going on in front of you. It's a that's why I fell in love with the position and studying. You have to study and evolve as a catcher because otherwise you're not going to you're not going to grow. You're not going to develop to be the best you could be at that position, right?

00:09:28:18 - 00:09:40:17
Speaker 2
Yeah. I always tell the younger generation when I'm coaching them, the only difference between me and you is I've failed way more times. I'm like really good at feeling and then keep continuing to go.

00:09:41:05 - 00:10:00:23
Speaker 1
So we I mean, just because you're talking about UTI this UPS, I'm just going to hit it out now. So we talk about you remembered for your successes, not your failures. And then the conversation is, you know, the person who's most of the missed the most shots in NBA history is Kobe Bryant. Leave it at that. The most out in Major League Baseball history is Pete Rose.

00:10:00:23 - 00:10:20:07
Speaker 1
But people who remember for what the most hits a Major League Baseball, Cy Young has the most losses in Major League history. He also has the most wins and we name an award after him. So the whole conversation we have with people is like, you're remembered for your successes, not your failures and your successes or direct correlation from how many times you failed.

00:10:20:11 - 00:10:36:02
Speaker 1
But people don't look at that. They just like I'm not really going to practice today. And I'm you know, I'm in grade eight and I'm calling bad pitches or I didn't catch that ball or I didn't block it or I went over for that's part of that. Like Mark said, the fertilizer. So can you dig into it? I'm jacked up about it now.

00:10:36:02 - 00:10:40:18
Speaker 1
But can you dig into some of those failures, though, that you've had that helped you grow.

00:10:41:10 - 00:10:57:08
Speaker 2
One of the pivot moments in my softball career was there was a junior women's national team trial. So that was like a 19 new team. And like I said before, I was in grade eight or nine playing with these girls that were that age category. And I said, Well, they're all going to the tryout, I want to go.

00:10:58:03 - 00:11:23:07
Speaker 2
And the coaches that were doing the sign up or the online application were like, No, you're in grade eight. I think it was a summer of great age. Grade nine, they're like, No, I'm like, No, no, no, I want to come like, no, it's not an option. I would like to come even if I fail if I fall flat on my face, I want to know what it takes so that four years from now, when it's my time for the 19 you and I'm at that crime age, I've already done my homework.

00:11:23:07 - 00:11:48:00
Speaker 2
I've already failed before the time comes. And it was an incredible experience to just be in that atmosphere we had national team coaches that were volunteer coaching throughout the thing and I was like, Aaron McClain, what? Why do you do that at third base? Or like, why do you recover like this? And do have cold showers? I was just wanting to soak it up and I went into it expecting to fail and being okay with that.

00:11:48:09 - 00:12:09:05
Speaker 2
But I think that was that. That was back to that male coach that I had that allowed that to be an okay situation. And for me not to feel uncomfortable and insecure in moments like that, but to embrace it because it was only going to propel me forward and forward and forward to where I ultimately wanted to go, which is wearing this word across my chest, Canada.

00:12:09:14 - 00:12:17:17
Speaker 2
So that was by far the best failure I planned and embraced by far by.

00:12:18:05 - 00:12:40:14
Speaker 1
But you've just blown me and I don't even know if I can spit this out properly. Usually I'm the one that's talking and I'm at a loss for words to say. I don't know many people who would have accepted that and be like, and put themselves in a position of risk to fail with the foresight to think this is going to help me down the road.

00:12:40:19 - 00:13:01:18
Speaker 1
What am of age? Because we run into like J.G. and I work with a lot of teenagers now and a lot of athletes that don't want to they don't want to risk looking bad but you you not only risks you embrace that idea, which is mind blowing, which wins. You got an Olympic medal, you got Pan Am medals like like you're wearing that shirt.

00:13:01:18 - 00:13:08:21
Speaker 1
That's that tells you what you need to do. People say all the time, what do I need to do to get to the next level? Accept failure.

00:13:09:17 - 00:13:25:24
Speaker 2
Yeah, and it was it was definitely tough luck. Even when the weekend was over and my name was on the next thing, like, I'm a gamer. I wanted to be on that team even if I wasn't great. And I was like, I still think I did pretty well. I threw out some girls. I picked someone off a third, like I stood my ground and then I was like, okay, well, like, now what?

00:13:26:04 - 00:13:39:00
Speaker 2
Like, it's still it still stung a little bit because, yeah, I wanted to play and the I wanted to represent in the Great Eight category, but you work from it and you learn from it and you move forward. And for years down the road, I was ready. So it was worth it.

00:13:39:12 - 00:13:44:18
Speaker 1
I where you're how were the players? You said you talked like, why do you do this? Why do you how were the players with you?

00:13:45:17 - 00:14:08:14
Speaker 2
Oh, man, they were they were enthused to this day. The one female coach, Aaron McClain, who is at that time representing Canada and went to Beijing for 2008 to this day. She was like, no doubt in my mind, where you going? To be on this team for the Olympics? She was one of the first people that messaged me on Instagram once we had gotten home from Tokyo and said, I knew it the second I met you.

00:14:08:23 - 00:14:35:16
Speaker 2
And I was like, Wow, that is so cool that she was so willing to help me even way back then. And she kind of realized what I was trying to accomplish. Even when I was so young. And I didn't really fully probably understand what I was trying to accomplish. But they were they were eager to to help and to level up my learning because the whole point it for them to come back is to give back to the sport and to continue the legacy of the sport and to grow it moving forward.

00:14:36:11 - 00:14:59:09
Speaker 1
So, yeah, I would just say, okay, you, you know, you. Oh, man. But so them allowing opening their arms, let's just say to you, I'm guessing that's the role you've kind of embraced right now is it's full circle with yourself. That's how you yourself see their selves. An ambassador, I guess for the sport at the same time in our country.

00:15:00:01 - 00:15:26:04
Speaker 2
Yeah, there's I've always felt a sense of pride and a beautiful responsibility went with wearing this this word across my chest. It's been my ongoing way that I hold myself to another level because I know there are girls and boys looking up to me. And if I strike out or hit a double or roll over, whatever the case may be, they're watching how I respond.

00:15:26:09 - 00:15:47:04
Speaker 2
They're watching how I hold myself and my body language when I come out for defense. Like, there's more to it than just the stats. How do you hold yourself? Because I remember being 11 and watching how Team Canada players held themselves. I remember the confidence, I remember the strength and the discipline and the resilience and also the kindness that Team Canada athletes represented.

00:15:47:15 - 00:15:55:03
Speaker 2
And I wanted to be a part of that as well as being part of the sport. I knew there was like both sides of it that I wanted to fully embrace.

00:15:56:00 - 00:16:32:06
Speaker 1
I want to tag on to that idea. And you've talked about the development since you've been in the program now for over ten years and like, which is and you're still a very young, young 30. Yeah, I so how have you how have you seen the sport develop for, specifically for females since you've entered since your Grade eight experience like you would probably like it was, I don't want to say niche, but it was, it is now it's popular like you guys it's really grown a lot.

00:16:32:06 - 00:16:37:16
Speaker 1
Lots of kids are playing all over the place. It's really good. How have you seen that development over your time?

00:16:38:10 - 00:17:04:18
Speaker 2
I think it's really cool to see Softball. Canada want to give back as a collective unit to the grassroots because they see the importance of fertilizing that younger generation because they're going to eventually take over. But also there's a level of like social media plays a huge role in us being able to share our journeys and share our training and do all those things to kind of hype it up and get it excite, get some sort of excitement around the sport.

00:17:04:18 - 00:17:33:24
Speaker 2
Like, This is cool. Like you want to do this, this is fun, this is hard, this is a learning experience. Like all of those things play a role, but it's cool to be able to give back, go out to do different events, whether it's with Softball Canada specifically or with some of my teammates, and see how much excitement there is about sport, especially after COVID, that the young females are like hand like, I've missed this, I've missed things, my teammates, I've missed being challenged, I've missed trying new things and like learning.

00:17:34:06 - 00:17:51:23
Speaker 2
So that brings myself and my teammates so much joy to see people hyped up about it, especially because we are put on this pedestal with the Olympics. We had that availability to showcase how cool it is and how fun it is, and I think we did a really good job showing that fun aspect of our sport.

00:17:52:18 - 00:18:14:21
Speaker 1
We had an interview with a friend of mine, Dan Dawson, who plays for the Toronto Rock, and one of the things that he said, which has changed a lot, especially in the last couple of decades, is the accessibility to athletes like yourself. Like in back in the old days, I would not have been on Instagram and I would not have been able to see all the wonderful things that athletes are doing across Canada.

00:18:15:10 - 00:18:38:05
Speaker 1
And you posted a picture not long ago of you and you were running a clinic and there was you and about five or six younger girls in catcher's equipment. And I thought, that's it right there. That to me is just an amazing indication of the type of person this is that, you know, you it was position specific as what you know, you're not just going to a general clinic.

00:18:38:06 - 00:18:58:14
Speaker 1
You're like, I'm going to this is a tough position to get good at. That's what people don't realize. It is I would say catching is one of the hardest positions to play in any sport. Reach Mark, preach. Keep going. Keep going to all the catchers out there until you've done it. It's well, I was talking to some kids at school and they're talking about like, yo, yo, what about this?

00:18:58:14 - 00:19:15:02
Speaker 1
And we had this argument like, what's one of the hardest things to do in sport? We said hitting a baseball and then and they're saying, well, what positions are hardest? We start talking about different things and goalie in hockey or whatever. And I said, Try to do 100 plus squats in a game. And that's just the game, not warm ups and all that stuff.

00:19:15:02 - 00:19:28:20
Speaker 1
So you think multiply that over the career, how many bodyweight squats you're doing and hold the bottom for 15 seconds before you get the ball back and have an umpire leaning on your back. So I know I've got a little soft spot for catchers, so it's okay. But anyway, we.

00:19:28:20 - 00:19:45:08
Speaker 2
Chose this, by the way, which is. Yeah, yeah. I always tell the girls I work with like we are advanced infielders. Okay, we need to know that it takes a little bit more. We have that much more. We have to learn that much more time we have to put into it. We usually have that much less specific trainings.

00:19:45:08 - 00:19:49:14
Speaker 2
We have to do it on our own. We need to empower our selves to go out and go above and beyond.

00:19:50:08 - 00:19:53:16
Speaker 1
To get shortchanged on swings because we're doing bullpens.

00:19:53:16 - 00:19:54:18
Speaker 2
Yeah, exactly.

00:19:55:04 - 00:20:11:06
Speaker 1
Oh, oh my God, I'm going to be going. So on that then. So tell us a little bit about your five, four, five. We're speaking about what you're doing with your teammates and for the younger generation, this is just an outstanding initiative. You want to talk to us a little about the five, four, five?

00:20:11:20 - 00:20:36:07
Speaker 2
Yeah, we we realized that we wanted to continue the momentum after the Olympics. We thought we we started a little wave and we wanted to continue that. We didn't want it to just kind of flatten and, and go deadlines. So we decided that as a unit, we have more impacts than we do individually. That was kind of Team Canada's culture going into the Olympics, that collectively we can make a huge impact as a team moving forward.

00:20:36:07 - 00:21:01:11
Speaker 2
We work great together, and that was kind of our thing. How can we gel and communicate and kind of thrive as a unit in tough situations? And we were like, Okay, we could do this together. We could be talking to people. Each of us have different lessons. We've learned different skills, we have different stories to tell. And and that's going to be how we impact other people down the road as a unit and how we connect with one another.

00:21:01:22 - 00:21:22:18
Speaker 2
So it's it's been a fun challenge to kind of figure it out and see what it's like to be a somewhat business because we're all kind of athletes. But learning how we can reach the most amount of people we can moving forward is kind of our ultimate goal and create a little bit of fun, a little bit of wisdom, a little bit of skill work, all the above.

00:21:23:19 - 00:21:38:06
Speaker 1
Mar jump on the preshow about make make your bed with the impact. If you've got to bust out the book, bust out the book. Is this exactly what what Natalie's talking about, about impacting other people? Natalie, we just talked about this pre-show. Mark, please read that to me.

00:21:38:06 - 00:21:38:15
Speaker 2
The book.

00:21:38:18 - 00:21:55:14
Speaker 1
Oh, this is this is the section that you're going to bed. So I'll read this out because I was just saying this is so this is Admiral McRaven. And if you haven't seen, I'll send you the link to the YouTube video. It's just outstanding. But this is what he says the average American person will meet 10,000 people in their lifetime.

00:21:56:15 - 00:22:20:01
Speaker 1
That's a lot of folks. But if every one of you change the lives of just ten people and each one of those folks change the lives of another ten people, then just ten, then in five generations, that means you will have changed the lives of 800 million people. So just the idea of what you're doing is it's fertilizer. You use the word fertilizer.

00:22:20:01 - 00:22:28:20
Speaker 1
We use the word fertilizer forever. And it's just the idea of just passing it on is just it's inspiring to hear that, which is super cool.

00:22:29:07 - 00:22:30:23
Speaker 2
That's awesome. I love that. Cool.

00:22:32:07 - 00:22:53:01
Speaker 1
I had a change here. I mean, get philosophical because you, you brought it upon. You said this earlier. You said you're why I've been trying. I think I've found my way. I'm not sure yet. And and someone had asked me the question and it's not something you can just kind of like, oh my way is and you just blurted out in 30 seconds, you really have to dig into your your soul.

00:22:53:01 - 00:23:04:02
Speaker 1
If I'm getting deep on that one, you're really, you know, you're not getting superficial, this answer. And it seemed like at your age you found your why is that makes sense. And if you have what is it and how did you get to that point?

00:23:05:24 - 00:23:19:23
Speaker 2
I think it's it's important to note that my way has evolved and I'm sure my wife will continue to evolve, to evolve and maybe be layered a little bit. The deeper I go and the deeper I reflect, the more will come out of it.

00:23:22:06 - 00:23:44:24
Speaker 2
The first and foremost, most foundational lie that I've come to is that I want the younger generation to know that you are capable to do what ever you want to do. And it's your actions day by day and your choices day by day that will lead you to that goal that you're looking for. And it's it's how you act, how you do anything.

00:23:44:24 - 00:24:00:19
Speaker 2
It's how you do everything. So it's the little things that add up to where you ultimately want to go. And I live by that, whether it's making my bed in the morning, putting each dish away perfectly in the dishwasher, which my husband hates, or like, there's a system. Yeah, yeah.

00:24:00:19 - 00:24:01:22
Speaker 1
There is a dishwasher system.

00:24:01:24 - 00:24:22:10
Speaker 2
System. But just making sure that they realize that there's a there's a way to do it and you have to hold yourself accountable to that. And I think if I can lead by example with the way I train, the way I interact with people, the way I study everything, then hopefully that will impact one to ten. Whoever it does impact.

00:24:22:10 - 00:24:48:20
Speaker 2
That's a win in my in my books. And it will, like you said, kind of ripple effect to whoever's next. Recently, I found out that another way for me is just for the love of the game. And I kind of got away from that for a little bit because it was so demanding and it was it was this dream was so intense, but now it's just like re falling, falling in love with it and what the sport has given me and, and enjoying that.

00:24:49:22 - 00:25:10:11
Speaker 1
It's a beautiful game. It's so two things that I want to go with. We talk about a lifetime. So we talk about a lifetime of excellence in small things is excellence in all things. Sidebar. Mark and I had a conversation about how we put shams on the bed. That's how detailed we talk about things. I don't even know they're called shams.

00:25:10:11 - 00:25:31:04
Speaker 1
I just call them pillows and Mark like there's a name for them. But anyway. Yeah, and there's zero. I didn't know this Lisa. Correct. My wife Lisa corrected me early retirement changes. Like, Oh, that's just a euro sham. I didn't know there's a difference there. Bigger I got â‚¬2, â‚¬3, and I can say so and then come back to a lifetime.

00:25:31:18 - 00:25:49:21
Speaker 1
And we talk about if you want, I have a great lifetime. That means you have to have great years. Great years. You have to have great months, great months. You have to have great weeks, great weeks. You have to have great days and great days. Then you have to have great moments. And in that great moment, it's exactly what you're saying, what you're doing on a daily basis, the decision you make now or the next minute or two is going to dictate.

00:25:49:21 - 00:26:08:12
Speaker 1
That's that's kind of cool that you came to that revelation. I guess and then the other one, the love of the game when I'm going to lose myself in this example, said, Mark, I'd love to hear from you. And same thing with Natalie. When I find the games either it's speeding up or I'm like, you, like the training's gotten too crazy and it's just you're losing yourself.

00:26:08:19 - 00:26:23:09
Speaker 1
I literally smell my glove and it just kind of resets, like, man, you know, what's that sound of playing catch in the morning there? You're like, Okay, this is why I'm doing this again in this way and wake up early. That's why I went to bed early. That's why I'm eating stuff that I really don't like eating and all this other stuff.

00:26:23:09 - 00:26:35:02
Speaker 1
But for me, my recess sometimes is literally smelling my two catches. I was like, Oh, man, that was the best thing ever. Do you guys have, like, a thing that kind of resets you for that environment? You first. Natalie, you're the guest. You go.

00:26:35:02 - 00:26:59:12
Speaker 2
First. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, I love that. That you kind of just ground yourself back into your senses. Really? So I would say my thing I have the honor of listening to the national anthems before most games. My go to thing, whether it's the American Anthem, the Canadian anthem is I Sway. And I'm always looking at the flags and I'm thinking of what I'm grateful for in that moment.

00:26:59:21 - 00:27:16:10
Speaker 2
The wind on my face. It's my cleat in the dirt. Like I get to be here. The other day at practice, I said, Wow, I'm 30 and I'm hanging out with my friends in the facility playing catch like what a dream. Right? So just taking a moment to be grateful is what kind of brings me back to that.

00:27:16:10 - 00:27:18:06
Speaker 2
That love in that moment.

00:27:19:08 - 00:27:45:16
Speaker 1
Very cool. Yeah. Well, I mean, I can I can't nail all of it. The sights, the sounds, but it's for me, it's everything. Like, I grew up playing. All I loved baseball was my main thing that I excelled at. But the sights sounds and smells like this little sensation. Like you said, the for me, catching was that ball hitting the sweet spot and making that that pot in the pot that made my pitcher feel good about what they might have just thrown like a little.

00:27:46:18 - 00:27:53:11
Speaker 1
Well, like nothing. And it popped the glove, and I'm like, dude, you're throwing gas. Like, you're just. And he's throwing 60.

00:27:54:07 - 00:28:03:15
Speaker 2
Right? It is not this is not a promotional moment, but my my zero glove is like well known on the Team Canada stuff like can you just, like, put that glove on? Because, like, I feel so.

00:28:03:15 - 00:28:03:23
Speaker 3
Safe.

00:28:03:23 - 00:28:08:16
Speaker 2
Before I go into a game, I'm like, I got you guys. Don't worry. The snap, you're going to feel great.

00:28:08:20 - 00:28:27:21
Speaker 1
Okay, well, let's get on this because Adam's our Mizuno guy. Between the three of us, he covers us on so many things. And he told me, he says, you got to mention how you are a glove and sneaker head, apparently. And obviously, he says she cost us a lot of money because she has to have so many gloves because she plays so many positions.

00:28:27:21 - 00:28:45:02
Speaker 1
But, yeah, you do have some sick gear. And so talk to us a little bit about you're like, how do you like your gloves? Like, for catcher, the way it closes is so critical and feel like I've had I've had I got an infield glove to that I like, but it's not the same as my catcher's mitt for you.

00:28:45:07 - 00:29:02:01
Speaker 1
Like, and they say they listen to you. You're a huge and we'll get back to the idea of what you do for Mizuno and being a brand ambassador. But you have a lot of influence on product design at Mizuno, and they listen to you because you cover so many positions and you're good. So they're going to listen to what you're saying.

00:29:02:01 - 00:29:05:00
Speaker 1
So talk to us a little bit about your your equipment set up.

00:29:05:13 - 00:29:25:23
Speaker 2
Well, first, I'm a leather snob, so I my parents owned a luxury leather goods company when I was growing up. So it was like handbags and briefcases and all those things. But from a very early age, my parents were like, no, no, you have to get the highest quality clothing. It's got to be nice leather. And I was like, Okay, I'm like 12, but cool that I'm good with that.

00:29:26:06 - 00:29:52:09
Speaker 2
So from a very young age, I had like really high standards, and then I fell in love with Mizuno and the quality of their product. One of the biggest things for me that is kind of new to the softball world is I wear a baseball first basement behind the dish, okay? So it allows me to have a little bit more reach at the sturdy size of 52 I feel the ball in my pocket a little bit more and there's a little bit less padding.

00:29:52:09 - 00:30:11:00
Speaker 2
So I have a better feel. And then it feels a lot lighter for me in terms of moving for picks for blocks for reaches, whatever that looks like. But I'm picky in the sense that I like minimal movement. I like it being pretty tight, like I get it out at the bag and that day I'm wearing it for both ends and I'm pretty happy with it.

00:30:11:14 - 00:30:33:05
Speaker 2
I figure if I catch it in the right spot, I should be good, and that's on me at that point. I mean, it's it's less about the shape and it's more about the leather. Yeah. So I've always just loved that about Mizuno that I know that I'm going to get a stiff hard quality leather that's going to last me because I do put in a lot of reps and I am here, there and everywhere.

00:30:33:05 - 00:30:42:24
Speaker 2
So I need that I do give Adam a lot of feedback, and he knows he can trust me because I'm pretty blunt with him, which I think is good. We've built that rapport.

00:30:43:07 - 00:31:04:03
Speaker 1
Well with their custom program now. It's like it's pretty exciting to this didn't exist when I was playing. I was like, You got what you got off the shelf. I wasn't obviously on the national team, so it was like, whatever I could get, but the custom stuff is really cool. Now what you can do, not just like the look in the color, but just how it feels.

00:31:04:03 - 00:31:10:13
Speaker 1
How close is all that stuff in the weight and all that. It's just such a great move for them as a company to, to offer that.

00:31:11:02 - 00:31:27:17
Speaker 2
Yeah, and I think the whole trend right now is build your own this build your own this. So I think it allows a little bit more excitement for the younger generation even that they are looking for in a lot of areas in their life. So if they're happy then you're not going to be happy. So give them what they want.

00:31:28:06 - 00:31:48:13
Speaker 1
Now, it's pretty cool. I always tell I told the story. I think in our first episode I've been using Mizuno stuff as far as I can remember because of the quality of the of the cleats. I was always Mizuno and I told the story, I think it was in our, our trailer episode and I had this red maple Mizuno Bat, and that was my baby.

00:31:48:13 - 00:32:07:23
Speaker 1
I loved that thing. And it was it was a call in October. I would sometimes switch away from Maple. Like later on, we're playing in the playoffs. I'd switch away from Maple and go to Ash or something like that. So a friend of mine, I was putting my catcher's stuff on Mormon up, a guy for the bullpen and one of my buddies, I don't know, whatever, he couldn't find his bat.

00:32:08:01 - 00:32:17:10
Speaker 1
He takes my red Mizuno out of my bag and goes and he smashed. It's like shattered into bits. It was I was like, You don't do that, man.

00:32:17:23 - 00:32:18:15
Speaker 2
Don't move.

00:32:21:21 - 00:32:40:20
Speaker 1
The look. I just remember he's like, somebody kicked my ice cream off my hands or something. I'll never forget that as long as I live. It's that guy and I. We're not we're not friends anymore. No, no, I wouldn't be either. So, Natalie, I did a little bit of I did softball for a while also. And the community I met softball was like a thing.

00:32:41:08 - 00:32:54:18
Speaker 1
We're not far from two same reaction. We're Markstrom. So Darren, Zach, I'm sure you're familiar with that name in the softball world for pitching. So we got to see a lot of good pitching. It was it was huge. One summer I came back home from playing collegiate baseball, and I just wanted a summer. I just wanted a break.

00:32:54:23 - 00:33:13:01
Speaker 1
So I went to softball. The competitive, I guess, enough environment for softball and it it helped me so much. My I have a two strike approach. I like using four for hitting in baseball, but I basically use that approach the entire summer for softball is just last time to react and the different types of things that are happening offensively with that.

00:33:13:13 - 00:33:29:02
Speaker 1
But at the same time, the pitching. So like I was I caught again in softball. It was just like a different where everything's coming up and then a drop and I'm just looking left right fastballs here and then I have to with just a low rise and then it rises like over my head like what is going on right now than a drop.

00:33:29:02 - 00:33:45:09
Speaker 1
And I'm like, what's your fastball? And I just want something straight. So we just get something straight like one on one up Tuesday. And I was like, Oh, man, this is so complicated. Yeah. But that whole like, did you have to go from baseball to softball or right from the get go? You're right. In softball.

00:33:45:23 - 00:34:07:03
Speaker 2
I was with softball right off the bat. And then I remember when I was about like ten. It's like, I'm bored. Can I play with boys? Like, I told my parents that, and they're like, well, it's, it's a rough time to change now because the opportunities within softball, right? So I went to their tryouts and I got to, to catch bullpens and I was like, this is kind of boring anyways.

00:34:07:04 - 00:34:31:07
Speaker 2
It's really slow. I guess that was my impression of it because of like what you said, the reaction time was so different. So then instead of playing with the boys, I ended up just going into like a higher each category with the girls. But I always grew up catching bullpens for my brother. So he'd be, he'd be throwing and I was like, man, this is so he's like, What do you oh man, I'm hitting 89 you're just like so far away.

00:34:31:07 - 00:34:37:16
Speaker 2
But don't get me started on the curveball. I couldn't catch the curveball if my life like if my life was on. Oh, yeah, it was bad.

00:34:38:00 - 00:34:55:12
Speaker 1
And I was I came home that summer and I'm hitting and I did a decent job at the drops and low rise. Like I can handle those and but I couldn't handle the rise bys like I couldn't hit it. So and the game of softball is so amazing. Like, I'm playing in some pretty good tournaments, and it's just such a tight knit community.

00:34:55:18 - 00:35:17:23
Speaker 1
Like you're talking after the game about whatever happened. You're not like, I hate you because you're on the opposite team. Like, it's a really, really cool culture. And I'm walking away, like, rolling my, my my maybe I'm is, you know, back, I don't know, a way to my vehicle. And I'm, like, super depressed. This guy gave me, like, I think three times in a row, and he comes up to me and he's like, You're a baseball player, aren't you?

00:35:17:24 - 00:35:33:17
Speaker 1
I said, Yeah, how do you know? He goes, Because I watch some of your games. And he goes, That's the reason you only got rice balls, because I know you can handle them. You wanted everything down as like like they just pay attention and you just and it's just such a different environment, and you're like, this ball is like a meat ball.

00:35:33:17 - 00:35:41:07
Speaker 1
I'm ready to go. And next thing I it's like, over my head, like, what am I swatting at this thing? But you must see that often at the beginning when people are just getting used to it, I guess.

00:35:41:20 - 00:36:02:23
Speaker 2
Yeah. And even when we first got introduced to the men's side of the game, we were kind of training with them here and there and watching them at Pan AMS in 2015. And their ability to to pinpoint a weakness of a batter and then set them up is just like astronomical. They will make you look silly. And hitters risk everything to try to pick one pitch and sit on that one.

00:36:02:23 - 00:36:23:20
Speaker 2
It like it's just such a mental game and they can, they can pick like fingers or like where their glove is, like they are so involved and each little teeny moment to try to maximize their at bat because like you said, there's like this, there's like so little time when the ball gets out of the pitchers and they're curl hopping, you know, it's like, oh.

00:36:24:03 - 00:36:24:23
Speaker 1
That was so.

00:36:24:23 - 00:36:25:13
Speaker 2
Unfair.

00:36:26:05 - 00:36:46:13
Speaker 1
That was so offside. And some of the guys were doing that. I had this like I faced thereand Zack did you oh, one game, one of my teachers in high school was playing and they like it was like you said, they're like, we need somebody come and play my guys like a legend. Yeah. Probably one of the greatest fastball pitchers got to be the greatest he's got to be, period.

00:36:46:16 - 00:36:51:17
Speaker 2
Yeah. So did you fail? Did you fail really well that do you learn from your failures?

00:36:51:21 - 00:36:55:19
Speaker 1
I said to my teacher, I said, how does she twist that on? Yeah, thanks. Nice job.

00:36:56:00 - 00:36:57:08
Speaker 2
Learning opportunity.

00:36:57:08 - 00:37:08:01
Speaker 1
I appreciate that lesson. Not one was not a confidence builder, but like, I was like, hey, I'm a baseball player. I can handle this, like, all right. And I was like, now I I think I struck out in two pitches. That's how bad it was.

00:37:08:21 - 00:37:11:12
Speaker 2
Yeah. I'm just going to walk back to the dugout now. I'm good.

00:37:11:12 - 00:37:29:19
Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But on the catch in perspective, when you have some of those pitchers on the national team, when you have the opportunity to like at any level, I'm just picking your specifically when you have the opportunity as a catcher to set up a hitter and you have one of those pitchers like you're sitting on the couch and like, I want it here and it's here.

00:37:29:19 - 00:37:38:11
Speaker 1
I want this pitch here and it's here is not just like a thrill of like, this is going to be fun. Embarrassing. This line up today. You have some of those arms on the on the staff.

00:37:38:24 - 00:38:00:14
Speaker 2
Oh, all of the arms. Well, like going into 20, 20, Tokyo, 20, 20. I felt like at any moment I was just like, here's my glove, boom. Hit it. Like it was just I always tell the younger catchers I'm working with like my job is easy. Yeah. I just set up and my girls hit me like in that spot, like they missed by like two centimeters are like, are you, are you like your good man like a guy?

00:38:00:14 - 00:38:24:12
Speaker 2
You're like, it's fine. So then it becomes yeah, the beauty of the game inside of the game and really setting those batters up. And what are they thinking? What am I thinking? How am I going to beat them not only for the bat, but the second or right? So that's it's been huge working with Kaylee Rafter. She's her mind is just the most beautiful mind I've ever gotten to dissect, if that makes sense.

00:38:24:12 - 00:38:39:04
Speaker 2
And I'm I'm pleased to say that she's our head coach and that I'll continue to learn from her. But the way her mind works is just like art. And so learning from her and trying to adapt and get that get that into my brain moving forward, it's just a pleasure.

00:38:39:20 - 00:38:59:22
Speaker 1
I think both you'll appreciate this story. So Greg Maddux goes into the Hall of Fame and they interviewed Lopez, I think was his catcher at the time, or Perez, I can't remember who the catcher was right now. I've talked my head, but this is like the game within the game with catching. So he said they are playing the Houston Astros in late July and the Astros and Braves at the time.

00:38:59:22 - 00:39:17:04
Speaker 1
They're kind of battling, but they're going to win the division. And the word on the street was Jeff Bagwell. You do not throw him fastballs in the inner half. And he said the Braves are up probably for one at the time, like the sixth seventh inning. Lopez calls fastball away, breaking ball away, changeup away and Maddox like, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.

00:39:17:15 - 00:39:34:18
Speaker 1
Fastball in yeah. And then Bagwell hits it on the park. The game's over. Braves when they're in the clubhouse and he goes the max. Like, What are you doing? Because you guys appreciate this. He goes, the max, like, what are you doing? He says, the Astros are probably going to make the playoffs. We'll probably see them in the first round.

00:39:34:18 - 00:39:37:17
Speaker 1
And Bagwell is going to be waiting on that pitch in October.

00:39:37:23 - 00:39:38:20
Speaker 2
And he's Bagwell.

00:39:38:20 - 00:39:54:00
Speaker 1
Was like he was over when they played the plays in the playoffs is over the whole series on them like that. I know what you're thinking months ahead. It's not like you're just talking about right now, like we're not just talking with first at bat. We're going to let you see what's the second about the third at bat, when are you coming up?

00:39:54:00 - 00:40:07:22
Speaker 1
What type of situation? But I like to think months ahead of time. Like that's from a pitching perspective, which those people aren't necessarily the smartest people at all times. But yeah, but like that, that's just amazing. Like you're saying, the game within the game.

00:40:08:10 - 00:40:35:03
Speaker 2
And our team was super similar in that sense. Like we had a mission outlined going into Tokyo. 20, 20. If we're going to see this team three times before, how are we going to beat those batters, those three games while also holding in our back pocket, how we're actually going to beat them when it counts, right? So we had a game laid out four months in advance, similarly, and it was just like exciting to be like, Oh man, we use our Plan C grounded out to second.

00:40:35:12 - 00:40:52:05
Speaker 2
Okay, that's great winning. We still know with plenty she strikes me or she's rolling over or whatever that looks like. So it was really fun to set that up and to plan accordingly and then to execute. And even if we failed to like trust the plan and the process of it and continue.

00:40:52:23 - 00:41:24:02
Speaker 1
So and this is going to this brings me into the next part I want to talk to you about because we've talked about positional stuff, team stuff like you've played on some strong team, some amazing teams and what makes the what what can you say and forget about being good baseball players what in the locker room goes on to get you guys a bronze medal, PanAm silver and go like what are the things that are people bringing to the table in the locker room?

00:41:24:13 - 00:41:32:17
Speaker 1
Oh, obviously, everybody's super talented softball players and that's without question. But what do you see? You've been there a long time. Is that winning formula?

00:41:33:24 - 00:42:01:10
Speaker 2
Our team has invested a lot of time and energy into our culture, and it was a process. It started well when I first arrived in 2012, it was about who are we? How do we do things, what are our strengths? We were very preoccupied on what other people do and how are we going to defend that. And we didn't really have any idea what's Team Canada, how do we play softball, how do we communicate, what does that look like?

00:42:01:11 - 00:42:29:07
Speaker 2
So that was our starting point and it took a lot of tough conversations and building trust through vulnerability and opening up spending time outside of the field to build those relationships because we knew that we had some good athletes. But the thing that was going to make us a great team was how we connected and how we handled tough times because the mud was going to come and it was going to get yucky and we were going to have to kind of deal with that.

00:42:29:07 - 00:42:50:18
Speaker 2
Like all hands on deck walking through it together. We're an army, let's go. And usually with a team that doesn't have a culture, it's just everyone kind of splits away and does their own thing and kind of crumbles. And we were like, That's not what we want. So how do we how do we intertwine our arms and go forward it was it was, okay, we're going to be accountable.

00:42:51:11 - 00:43:05:22
Speaker 2
This is how we're going to do things. This is the expectation that we're setting. We're going to have the tough conversations right when they need to be had. We're not going to go round and talk about things behind things. We're going to just put it all out there and be super clear, because if we're clear, we know what we need to work on.

00:43:05:22 - 00:43:26:03
Speaker 2
We move forward we we go past it. And I think that was just like an incredible moment for our team to realize that it's going to be hard. We're going to fail we're probably going to screw up. We're not always going to be perfect with the expectations, but like, what do we do when something bad happens? What do we do when we fail individually or collectively?

00:43:26:03 - 00:43:45:15
Speaker 2
How do we reflect on that? How do we move forward from that? So that was really important. We always talked about how do we build this championship culture and what that looked like for us was. If you are really good at your sport, but you're also really good at the relationships within the sport, you'll be a championship culture if you're just really good.

00:43:45:15 - 00:44:10:00
Speaker 2
Was relationships and you have no skill, then you're a bunch of friends, just like we don't want to just be friends. We want to we want to win goals. That's our goal. And if you are just really good at your sport and you have no relationship, we all know what happens then it kind of crap. It's often things get tough, there's pressure on the line and you don't thrive so we wanted to make sure that in those moments we thought and that was team bonding.

00:44:10:00 - 00:44:24:21
Speaker 2
Zoom calls like there's just endless amounts of hours doing book reports like you name it. We did it because we knew that that was going to take us above and beyond the strength and the skills and the daily work of grinding.

00:44:25:09 - 00:44:47:03
Speaker 1
So let me jump in for a sec. So teams have to go through adversity or an individual have to go through adversity. You literally have to go through the fire together for you to get to the next level. I firmly, firmly believe that you have an example or a few examples of the fire you had to cross as a group like that adverse moment, and then you dealt with it.

00:44:47:15 - 00:44:54:02
Speaker 1
You the heal the wounds, healed it and that, and it just made you like, wow, like we're way stronger right now.

00:44:54:22 - 00:45:15:05
Speaker 2
Yeah. So when softball first got put back into the Olympics in 2016, we were like, Yeah, like go in. We have a four year cycle, let's go. Olympics like this is we're amped up. People are kind of some people are taking time away from their schooling or their work or whatever that looks like. And then 20, 17 season comes around and we got way ahead of ourselves.

00:45:15:13 - 00:45:32:24
Speaker 2
We had the worst season we had ever had. We went to our home tournament at Canada Cup. We were out really early. It was just not a good showing. We went to Japan for some exhibition games late in the season. I don't think we won one. We got back from that season and we said all.

00:45:33:14 - 00:45:33:21
Speaker 1
Of.

00:45:34:10 - 00:45:53:02
Speaker 2
We have a lot of work to do, not only physically but mentally. We were thinking 20, 20 and we weren't even handling business in this moment. So at that point it was like, Okay, readjust. So we started working. We started leveling out these expectations of what is our strength program look like? What do our gold standards look like?

00:45:53:02 - 00:46:15:19
Speaker 2
For softball and, and communication and all of those things and things are kind of slowly starting to propel and move forward in the direction we wanted it to go by. 2018 we placed third at the Worlds and not only third in the world. We'd always been, it would been like Japan and us. And then like Canada was kind of going back and forth of Australia but we came third.

00:46:15:20 - 00:46:38:24
Speaker 2
We slapped Australia and did it with like oomph behind it, like we owned that game. So that was a big step for our confidence. That being said to us, 19 comes this is the biggest season going from this point because it's the, the qualifiers for the Olympics. So if we don't qualify, the Olympics don't really matter. We had the opportunity to do it on home soil.

00:46:38:24 - 00:47:00:06
Speaker 2
We are in British Columbia and when the opportunity came we were playing against Mexico and whoever won that game was going to be qualified. Whoever didn't, we'd have to win the following game the next day or two days after to qualify for the second spot. And when pressure was on us and we had our fans around us and the opportunity was there, we did not perform.

00:47:00:15 - 00:47:23:18
Speaker 2
We couldn't handle the pressure and after that, it was a very, very bitter moment. Like all we put in all this work and like we still couldn't show up when it mattered. Thankfully, we had the next stage of qualifying. We did. But again, that time of reflection after that season was like, Man, we've been working really hard, but are we working smart how do we reevaluate this?

00:47:24:01 - 00:47:44:18
Speaker 2
Where we're putting in wraps, we're lifting the weights, but are we putting pressure on ourselves in training? Are we holding our teammates accountable when maybe they take a rip off? Like what? Where can we get a little bit better? How can we lessen that gap of where we are and where we want to go so that was like the big moment of it hurt a lot.

00:47:45:05 - 00:48:02:11
Speaker 2
And then we had to revamp and we had to have tough conversations that much quicker because we only had a certain amount of time before the Olympics came. And if we couldn't handle the pressure at home for a qualifying event, how are we going to handle the pressure of the biggest moment in our entire careers in front of what we thought was going to be 30,000 plus fans?

00:48:03:02 - 00:48:32:19
Speaker 2
So that was a big aha moment with our culture and being able to like, Hey, you need to be better. And I'm saying this out of a place of love, but you need to be better. You good, good. Got it. Let's go. Not of Oh my goodness, she said this and everything like which not it didn't always happen, but people have feelings and we had to eliminate those feelings and just trust the intention of the people we were around and trust that those relationships were solid and foundational and we all wanted the same thing on our mission.

00:48:34:00 - 00:48:56:11
Speaker 1
JJ You know, I talk about this to like we said it just in a show is going to be coming out in a couple of weeks at growth and Fulfillment Austin lie on the other side of going through hell. Yeah. And as a team, sometimes you have to go through that adversity to forge those bonds like you said, like you guys completed marathons with friends and I've done that with friends and just just done like endurance races.

00:48:56:11 - 00:49:17:24
Speaker 1
And after that, like, what did you say you got like a bond that is unbreakable. Oh, yeah. You can't, right? Yeah, you can't. You can't. And so same thing. Like, sometimes I find you have to hit the lows to find the highs. It sounds like you guys you identified it, you corrected it, and you took the measures necessary to end up where you guys are dead with with the bronze medal at the Olympics, which is amazing.

00:49:18:14 - 00:49:35:21
Speaker 2
We even went to the extent of purposely trying to put ourselves in a pit as a group. Like, let's find the lows really, really quick. Let's get there, let's be mentally exhausted, let's be physically exhausted and let's get better because of it and deal with it when things are tough and then move forward like we were in Florida training.

00:49:36:06 - 00:49:51:01
Speaker 2
We'd have like a practice all morning and it would be like two or 3:00. We are gas. We like let's do conditioning right now. It's the hottest part of the day. Tokyo is going to be like that. Let's get through it. And some people are like, like, let's go like let's go. This is going to suck, but it's going to suck together.

00:49:51:14 - 00:50:06:08
Speaker 2
We're going to get through it and then we're going to be better tomorrow because of it. So those moments, once we hit Tokyo and there would be a tough moment where it'd be we're down by one. It said, we don't have things. It doesn't faze us. Now what do we do next? What do we do in this moment?

00:50:06:08 - 00:50:11:10
Speaker 2
What can we control here? Not, Oh, this is really tough. Tough doesn't matter. Tough doesn't faze us.

00:50:11:19 - 00:50:27:21
Speaker 1
I'm so proud right now as a Canadian to see our national teams grinding that out. Like that. Like, I'm just hearing you speak, man, and I wish I was more involved in that. I listened more and paid attention more, but it just makes me so proud that you guys kind of like you got at it out basically in a sense.

00:50:27:21 - 00:50:29:06
Speaker 1
So good on you guys. That's amazing.

00:50:29:14 - 00:50:38:03
Speaker 2
Well, what made the Olympics fun? We'd already done all the hard stuff. Then we could just play like we could just enjoy what the work had brought us to.

00:50:38:15 - 00:50:58:02
Speaker 1
And I think that's what's missing sometimes is and hearing your back story to me is, like I said, you know, a lot of people would say Olympic medal, PanAm medals, like you guys have the success, but they very few people probably get to peek behind the curtain and see those downtimes, which is like, why is it that you guys enjoyed that so much?

00:50:58:02 - 00:51:20:01
Speaker 1
Because you suffered together and that made that moment worse. All of that suffering. Right. So a lot of people don't understand that. Like, that's why it goes back to the original part of our conversation is that failure that stinks, that brought you forward, which is pretty, pretty amazing. Now, talking about getting there, one of the core elements of our show is leadership.

00:51:20:09 - 00:51:42:03
Speaker 1
When you're talking, it takes a leader to say, let's go run when it's 45 degrees outside right now, let's go run. How does leadership play a role in your team and not just necessarily the coaches where we say it's better to be player led, not coach fed? How is it in your team? How is that handled in your team, in leadership and stuff like that at your level?

00:51:42:03 - 00:51:45:17
Speaker 1
I would imagine there's a lot of people that are good leaders yeah.

00:51:45:17 - 00:52:08:05
Speaker 2
I think everyone in our program leaves leads in their own way, and I think that kind of shine through throughout our journey. Sometimes it was someone stepping up and starting that rally to run at 3 p.m. when no one wanted to. Sometimes it was someone initiating something else or a conversation or checking in on someone. So I think it was allowing each person to be a leader in their own way.

00:52:08:05 - 00:52:28:06
Speaker 2
That allowed us as a program to to move forward because each of us had our strengths. Like that was that was a given and that was on the field and off the field as a team. We had created this environment that that allowed leadership because there was there was no judgment. There was openness, there was the ability to adapt and continue to grow.

00:52:28:06 - 00:52:54:01
Speaker 2
There was an ability to fail. And that being okay, because we are like embracing a growth mindset there is the ability to to be vulnerable and say something, even if you're not someone that usually steps forward and says something. But the biggest thing for our program with leadership was being very clear and open and transparent with what we were doing when we were doing how we were doing it.

00:52:54:01 - 00:53:15:05
Speaker 2
And I think because there was that transparency, we knew where we are going. We knew we were all leading in the same direction because we were so clear on the expectations and the mission at hand. And we were blessed with a bonus year with COVID to be able to set that standard and work through that via Zoom calls, the individual conversations all of those things.

00:53:16:13 - 00:53:24:08
Speaker 2
But like the the ability to be that open so that everyone's on the same page was mind, like mind boggling.

00:53:25:01 - 00:53:50:15
Speaker 1
So I want our listeners to pay that. You just said COVID was a blessing in a way, right? Which is like if for some people that go COVID and I get that, but you know, I had the conversation with my own kids who were both athletic and studious and stuff, I said like, there's you got two options come out of this ahead or fall so far behind is going to take you half a decade to catch up, both athletically, intellectually, socially, whatever.

00:53:51:04 - 00:54:08:07
Speaker 1
So that's the growth mindset because you could have said, Well, this is shitty because we're not practicing, we're not playing, we're not doing this. But you took that opportunity and you flipped it and you got it. You took it to the chance to learn more about each other and develop that culture, that championship culture, which is amazing.

00:54:09:02 - 00:54:34:17
Speaker 2
Let me be clear. There were moments where it was tough it's like I'm not perfect, and there was challenging moments mindset wise, but as a whole, we did a really good job utilizing that year to our advantage to say we are going to outwork our competitors and be smart with how we're training with this time, whether we're in different countries, different whether temperatures lack of facilities, whatever that looks like, we're going to make the most of it.

00:54:34:17 - 00:54:54:04
Speaker 2
We did like a six week virtual camp and we played every single game in our head together. We gameplan every single batter. We're going to face how we were going to pitch them, how we were going to shift our defense. We knew everything. So when we got into the Olympics, it was just like clockwork, just like we've done this before, like we've already played this tournament.

00:54:54:04 - 00:55:10:17
Speaker 2
We know what we're doing. So that was really cool. And and not only that, we just adapted and made the most of whatever we had. We had girls throw their chocolate lab on their back to do backs was like, Whatever it takes, we'll get it done. Like, it's going to be pretty, but we are going to be ready when the time comes.

00:55:10:17 - 00:55:33:08
Speaker 2
And I think collectively Team Canada, not just softball Canada showed up with that mindset come Tokyo 20, 20. They were ready and it showed based on the way people perform the medal count, all of those things. So it was really cool to see. It wasn't just Softball Canada, it was like the mindset of Team Canada in general. And that made me proud to see all these other athletes in the same grind mode mindset.

00:55:33:08 - 00:55:34:16
Speaker 2
Like they were ready.

00:55:35:20 - 00:55:58:22
Speaker 1
Use the word excuse me earlier, vulnerable. How hard was it for you specifically to be like for me vulnerability I hope in that. But BrenÃ© Brown on on Netflix, I watched that episode and that was like, man, this like I didn't even look the things that when you mention that word because vulnerability is a tough, tough go, it's like you're going to sound weird, but I feel sometimes like you're walking around naked.

00:55:58:22 - 00:56:09:06
Speaker 1
You're like like I'm going to get judged, like what's going on here? So as a team or as an individual, like I'm circling back to you. How was it to be? What's that look like being vulnerable to your teammates?

00:56:09:17 - 00:56:29:07
Speaker 2
But it was really hard, but it was needed for our team. And so as a as a group, we decided that we were going to take on that hard. I remember one particular moment, so I don't know if you guys know my roller team Canada. I'm the blank Scrabble piece. I play all these positions. That doesn't necessarily mean that I'm like, you like that, right?

00:56:29:18 - 00:56:30:02
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:56:30:03 - 00:56:50:01
Speaker 2
I do. I'm not necessarily always the starting catcher or the starting third baseman. I'm in my coach's back pocket and he's like, Man, you are so valuable because when I need you, I can put you in where it helps with the team. And so throughout our training camp in 20, 20 before the world kind of shut down, I remember we are in Halifax, we're living in an army base.

00:56:50:01 - 00:57:12:17
Speaker 2
It was kind of like the grind time. We were in the pit. It was really tough. And we were talking about all these vulnerable conversations. And I remember going in to Kaylee Rafters room. I hi was like, Hey, what's up? That I did on our team for whatever. But I idolized Kayla. I think the world of her as a human, as a teammate, as a softball player, all the above and I said, I'm struggling.

00:57:13:04 - 00:57:30:22
Speaker 2
I want to be my best self for you because if I can save you some some games and be those legs and you're going to be better off come that final game or whatever big game you may be in. But I also want to be as ready as possible that if anything happens and you need me, I can fill in and like we're good as a catching unit.

00:57:31:14 - 00:57:50:09
Speaker 2
And that was really hard to accept because it's hard to accept that you're not the starting person. I'd always been the starting person with every team growing up, I was always like the star. And then you come to Team Canada and you're one of many stars, which is a beautiful problem to have. She she said, Sit down. Okay.

00:57:51:20 - 00:58:14:22
Speaker 2
She's like, Did you know in oh, eight I was you like, what do you mean? Just like I was the backup catcher. The pinch hitter, the pinch runner, the third baseman, the first baseman. I was you. I get it. It's it's hard. Your job is hard, and I want to be there. For you if you need anything. And I want you to be there for me, which I can feel moving forward.

00:58:15:01 - 00:58:34:11
Speaker 2
And we're going to tag team this and we're going to we're going to handle it. We're going to dominate because we have one another. And that moment of risk to go into a room and expose how I was feeling when she's someone that I should be supporting nonstop I was like, so tough. But that moment to connect and be like, hey, we got this together.

00:58:34:23 - 00:58:54:14
Speaker 2
Made it so cool down the road. To, like, rest. I got you four innings, five, six and seven, rest your legs so we can go crash tomorrow. And I remember we did like runs, like relay runs the same way. And her and I would be partners and it was just like, I got you this lap and I'm going to give you 100% and then you're going to go for your leg.

00:58:54:20 - 00:59:21:24
Speaker 2
And it was just this ability to connect that much more as a catching unit as our little like bullpen love right there that made it, that made it just that much better and easier to be able to be with her. And she understood what I was going through and she understood I had her back. There was just so many benefits moving forward, and that was one of hundreds of conversations our team had that just kept building those networks between each other to strengthen that bond.

00:59:21:24 - 00:59:32:15
Speaker 2
So when things were really hard and the game, I looked at her and we already knew you were on the same page. There was no words that need to be spoken. It was like, Keep going, like, I got you.

00:59:32:24 - 00:59:54:03
Speaker 1
We call those courageous conversations. Now I'm listening to you tell the story and I'm thinking the other side of that, the opposite side. So you made a choice to go knock on her door and have that conversation. The that's the hard the easy is you as a star player, top athlete, one of the best athletes in where you're going with this.

00:59:54:06 - 01:00:17:03
Speaker 1
Right. You want to finish my thought on this blame, complain and defend. Yeah. It's blame, complain, defend. And you're like, I should be the starter. You could have become an arsonist on Team Canada and burned down from the inside with the wrong mindset. But for people that are listening because I know we have some young listeners, it's the idea of not being selfish and then you know, look what you accomplished as a team.

01:00:17:03 - 01:00:39:13
Speaker 1
You went way further as a team. If you were have taken an individual approach, maybe you guys don't go as far as you did. So to me, these are these are important. This is why we do this. This is what the the purpose of our show is, is to show people what takes to get to there. That's leadership vulnerable bility is a part of leadership some people consider well, that's a sign of weakness.

01:00:39:13 - 01:00:56:14
Speaker 1
You walked onto somebody's room and said, well, I'm not okay. That that is not a sign that's a sign of strength and that's a sign of leadership. And some people don't get that, which is which is frustrating. The people that don't get that are probably not listening to our show so.

01:00:56:18 - 01:00:57:07
Speaker 2
Very true.

01:00:57:15 - 01:01:15:19
Speaker 1
Yeah. Which is amazing. So just kudos to you, which is like it's just awesome. So I want to talk to the blank piece on Scrabble here for a second. So I'm never going to be able to look at that little team. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to draw your Jersey number on now it's like, why is this?

01:01:15:19 - 01:01:49:22
Speaker 1
And I'm here. Yeah. So I'm going to go back to you and then do what you got to do after this one. But how did you deal with being a piece of the puzzle? Because I've been in a few of those situations, but you're at bat when you go an example in, and at bat you're at bat means almost like ten at bats for a regular, quote unquote starter because like it's microscope the innings, you come in during the game or microscope because if you have a I don't call them pass balls, they're all wild pitches in my opinion.

01:01:49:22 - 01:02:03:17
Speaker 1
But anyways, if any of those good bye, it's like magnified because like I only got to three innings to prove myself and then it looks everything gets magnified for those types of situations. How are you able to deal with those types of situations? Or environments?

01:02:05:15 - 01:02:10:18
Speaker 2
It's a really good question. I think I try not to make it too big of a deal.

01:02:11:00 - 01:02:11:07
Speaker 1
Good.

01:02:11:17 - 01:02:35:03
Speaker 2
Like I try to make all the time elsewhere as proprietary and I'm ready for this. So part of my journey with kind of accepting, embracing that blank Scrabble piece was what is this piece? What is its value? How do I own that confidence and how do I own what I'm doing in the role? But also be ready if my role changes and pivots and switches to this or switches to this.

01:02:35:09 - 01:02:55:22
Speaker 2
So that being said, when I'm called upon, whether it's in the second inning, the sixth inning for one at bat, for one pitch run, whatever it is, it's like, I'm ready I'm ready and just kind of rolling with it and just being in that present and giving my best quality moments in that in that moment not expecting that I need to be perfect for three innings if I'm in for three innings.

01:02:55:22 - 01:03:20:03
Speaker 2
But what can I do in this pitch? Okay, what can I do in this pitch? And just really like breaking it down as much as possible and we had a fantastic mentor, performance coach Wade Gilbert that I will brag about for the rest of my life that that honed in on that for us so that our mindset was one pitch, one pitch and just like very calm blue had no red at blue had one pitch, one pitch, one pitch release, one pitch.

01:03:20:09 - 01:03:25:22
Speaker 2
So that was really cool. And I had confidence in what I could do. There were passed balls or anything.

01:03:26:16 - 01:03:49:03
Speaker 1
No, Roger that. Roger that. Well said. Now there's Natalie. We've talked a lot about the athletics part, and you talked to us before the show like you're you're a student as well, and you're studying to be a natural pass. Like this is like this. You know, it's not just an athlete, right? There's multiple facets so away from the field.

01:03:49:03 - 01:03:56:10
Speaker 1
If you have the opportunity to tell people that what they want to know about you, if the game stopped tomorrow, what would people say about Natalie?

01:03:57:12 - 01:04:28:22
Speaker 2
Oh, lots. Hopefully lots of good things. So, yeah, so yeah, I'm going to go back to school in September and finish my naturopathic medical degree. I am also on the verge of buying a gym with my husband and opening that. So an entrepreneur on the side, I guess. And I also love to coach and speak. So I do a lot of speaking, whether that's in elementary schools or high schools or at a sport, specific groups or organizations, businesses, anything you can think of with team dynamic and culture.

01:04:28:22 - 01:04:43:07
Speaker 2
That's my bread and butter I love that. I love making people work or helping people work better together and utilize their individual strengths and see those individual strengths. To help the collective group. Really?

01:04:44:11 - 01:04:46:00
Speaker 1
Wow. This isn't.

01:04:46:07 - 01:04:48:01
Speaker 2
A dog. I also have a dog. Luna.

01:04:48:04 - 01:04:54:10
Speaker 1
Luna, I hear you like donuts too. That was another part of our scouting report. Good donuts. Doing good doing.

01:04:54:15 - 01:05:02:16
Speaker 2
A good donut and some good peanut butter. Like, those are my go to guilty pleasure. Anyone wants to holler at me with some good suggestions, but you.

01:05:02:16 - 01:05:02:23
Speaker 3
Know.

01:05:03:17 - 01:05:23:12
Speaker 1
I love it. Mood. Yeah. So I asked us to every one of our guests, no matter how veteran they are. You're young. Still it. Let's take you back. Let's let's say if you could go now. You started talking like big time. Important stuff. When grade eight. So I don't even know how far back to take you with this question.

01:05:23:12 - 01:05:38:09
Speaker 1
But let's just say back to your first year in the national program, if you can go back in time and talk to 20 year old Natalie, what would that conversation look like? If you can give her one or two pieces of advice, what would that conversation look like?

01:05:40:11 - 01:06:03:19
Speaker 2
Who I wish I could could tell Natalie 20 or 20 year olds Natalie that that Scrabble piece is something that not many people have that blank the ability to be a blank Scrabble piece. And I should hold tight to that and I should learn to love that role a little sooner. I was very insecure about it when I first started with the national team.

01:06:04:15 - 01:06:23:06
Speaker 2
I was also very excited to be on the national team, but I also didn't know what that role was or the beauty in it. So I wish I could have just like your really cool, like you do a lot of things really well and you need to own that so yeah, I would have just kind of gave her a shrug and a little confidence boost, hopefully.

01:06:24:12 - 01:06:27:08
Speaker 2
Thankfully, I did learn about it, but I wish it would have been sooner.

01:06:27:14 - 01:06:48:02
Speaker 1
So there's a message to our young athletes listening to the show. If your coach asks you to step away from your comfort zone and play a different position, the answer is yes. Always yes. And I've always said to my kids, I was like, If the coach asks you if you'll play different positions, say, Coach, I'll drive the team bus if you want me to, like just put me wherever that's the correct answer.

01:06:48:02 - 01:06:48:09
Speaker 1
Right.

01:06:48:09 - 01:07:08:07
Speaker 2
So in 2015 we are in the Pan American Games in Toronto. And it was a similar situation where Kelly was the starting catcher I would catch certain games when she needed rest and whatnot. And then the night before the playoffs started, my coach had an individual meeting with me. I'm like, What's going on? Like what it's like, so here's the deal.

01:07:08:07 - 01:07:28:20
Speaker 2
You're going to play first base tomorrow. And I'm like, I just have a quick question here. I've actually never played first base. So what are we doing here? Yeah, your catcher. Just get the ball. You're good, like, okay, so tomorrow's the playoffs, all right? Okay. I'm like, Oh. So I ended up playing a position I never played for, I think, three playoff games, and we ended up winning gold.

01:07:28:20 - 01:07:42:09
Speaker 2
And I remember my teammates being like, That was cool that you were ready and just kind of willing to roll with it. And just give it your all. And in a weird, uncomfortable situation, when everything was on the line, I'm like, Yeah.

01:07:42:09 - 01:07:52:12
Speaker 1
I like bunt situations. You're up front and center and you got no gear now. Like, it's like my first and third in softball is like, you got to be nuts. At least behind the dish. We got to gear. Like, you're like.

01:07:52:23 - 01:08:01:02
Speaker 2
We're the lefties, the lefties that like hit your power but also drop a bomb. I'm actually just going to stay back here. If you pitchers can just handle those guys.

01:08:01:10 - 01:08:25:10
Speaker 1
Think, come on, get over on a right. On the left, I get over. Yep. Oh, my God. Amazing. So I want to ask one here. Sorry about before we. Yeah, tough, tough out. I read this about you. I think that was the the greatest compliment I think any hitter could receive as being a tough out. I literally like you can have your power, you can hit your average, but when you become a tough out, you're like, I hear that is that you're a team player.

01:08:25:10 - 01:08:44:12
Speaker 1
Really? When I hear a tough out because you're seeing more pitches, you're grinding things out, you're setting the table for everybody else. That's what I hear when I hear a tough out we've heard that about you specifically that that's a mindset. Like, I'll just I firmly believe that that is a mindset. So what is your mindset to be such a tough Oh.

01:08:45:03 - 01:09:05:09
Speaker 2
I am going to be as annoying as possible to this pitcher and I'm going to tire you out until you give me what I want. That's always been my thing is that I will just until I get the pitch I want and I can do something with it. But that being said, it's it's about having a quality at bat.

01:09:05:13 - 01:09:20:18
Speaker 2
And what does that look like? Grinding, even if you're 02 and it's not the place you want it to be. Okay, I'm not done. What can I do now? Okay, I'm gonna work it to three, two. Now I'm going to have three more foul balls, and then I'm going to drive something up the middle. I don't care if it's a jam shot up the middle.

01:09:20:18 - 01:09:39:15
Speaker 2
I don't care if it's a blue brown curve. It's a double in the gap. I'm going to make something happen and outwork whatever situation I may have gotten myself into or circumstances got me to, but I'm going to make the most of that to finish with a quality about even if that's ten pitches. I learned a lot about the pitcher, and I pass that on to my batter on deck.

01:09:39:20 - 01:09:45:00
Speaker 2
That's a win in my books. I'm not looking for perfection. I don't expect that from myself or anyone else.

01:09:46:05 - 01:10:07:10
Speaker 1
That'll be perfect. Be present. I love it. I don't want this to end. So what we give homework to our listeners every week, something for them to think about and ponder before the next show in between shows. And we ask our guest to provide them with the best piece of leadership advice or anything that they think they should pass on.

01:10:07:22 - 01:10:21:15
Speaker 1
You'd already kind of segregate this, talking about how you'd like to go out and speak and coach and speak to like younger players and coaches and businesses. What is their main message? What would you want to leave with our listeners? Is your main message.

01:10:23:10 - 01:10:49:16
Speaker 2
I think what resonates with me the most and what brings me the most passion and joy is to empower others, to empower them to own their choices. And their decisions, to empower them to own their mindset and how they choose to see things day in and day out and to empower them to to take that strength and use it to their advantage and not worry so much about maybe their weaknesses just to see that strength and keep it close.

01:10:50:11 - 01:11:01:21
Speaker 2
But I want them to individually wake up each morning kind of own who they are and what they do on a daily basis. That is my favorite thing. And hopefully it makes an impact with the speaking.

01:11:01:21 - 01:11:18:19
Speaker 1
I do J anything else? This is like I want to I want to have been waiting for this one. You talked about you had to do book reports. So if you could also recommend to our listeners a book, a must read book, what would that book be for our listeners?

01:11:18:21 - 01:11:20:10
Speaker 2
Just one. Just one.

01:11:20:12 - 01:11:24:17
Speaker 1
Oh, one, two, three. Go ahead. Now you're the guest. We got to be nice. Well.

01:11:25:22 - 01:11:28:23
Speaker 2
I have three, but I'll say one. And then if people really.

01:11:29:00 - 01:11:30:00
Speaker 1
Just to give.

01:11:30:00 - 01:11:30:22
Speaker 2
Us three, give us.

01:11:30:22 - 01:11:31:08
Speaker 1
History.

01:11:31:18 - 01:12:09:05
Speaker 2
Okay. My number one would be a book called The Four Agreements. I remember my strength coach at college gave it to me when I graduated. And it's it's the four be impeccable with your word. Don't take anything personally, don't make assumptions and always do your best. And that's like softball field school relationships all the above. I think I read it once a year and then this one's kind of fluffy, but I really liked it and what it did for me, it was the Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes and encouraged me to say yes more often to opportunities and have a fearless approach to where things could take me.

01:12:10:02 - 01:12:11:19
Speaker 1
I just said yes to this next.

01:12:11:19 - 01:12:34:10
Speaker 2
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It has led me down some very important networking opportunities, but just like personal growth, like, unbelievable. And then my final one is in a pit with a lion on a snowy day. So it's all about you chasing lions when they're scary, usually run away from them, but chasing big opportunities and leaving no regret at the door, just like going after it.

01:12:34:10 - 01:12:44:13
Speaker 2
So something my teammate and I always say to each other is like, Are you being a lion chaser right now? Are you a lion? Like, are you going for it? She's like, Right, let's go. So those are my three favorite.

01:12:45:03 - 01:13:07:15
Speaker 1
So cool. Love it. Love it. I'm good. I'm good. I'm not good, but I'm good now. I know. I just want I keep doing what I can to drag this on. It's a school night for James Earl. So here we go. Here. Listen, honestly, it's been amazing to have this opportunity to get to to talk to you and know you more a little bit like this and obviously and see what you do and for Team Canada.

01:13:07:15 - 01:13:30:12
Speaker 1
But this is amazing. And what you're doing not only presently for the this the team and our country in terms of representing it. But what you're representing for the future generations of athletes out there and not even necessarily softball players, but anybody looking to be the best they can be. But good for you. That's amazing. And you yeah.

01:13:30:12 - 01:13:48:20
Speaker 1
And good luck with your sport, your your studies, your business endeavors. We wish you all the luck and hopefully you'll still come and talk to us another time. We always like doing a follow up show with people down the road, see how they're doing and catch up. So hopefully you're not too you'll get too busy for us. So we appreciate it.

01:13:48:20 - 01:13:51:09
Speaker 2
Maybe we can do it. Maybe we can do it in the Mizuno office.

01:13:51:16 - 01:14:04:08
Speaker 1
I know that would be Adam's dream. He would be awesome with with donuts and gloves and shoes. And we can have Luna on this show. We'll do that. We'll set that up with Mizuno for sure. And before 9 p.m. and before 9 p.m..

01:14:04:08 - 01:14:07:08
Speaker 2
Absolutely. Yes. For all of you listeners, I'm a morning person.

01:14:08:18 - 01:14:20:21
Speaker 1
Well, that's a good book to winning back your Mornings is a really, really good book. That's for some people. And it's all about using that time early in the morning for yourself to do what you need to do. And it's really it's a really powerful book. It's a good message.

01:14:21:17 - 01:14:23:00
Speaker 2
I'm going to look that up for sure.

01:14:23:05 - 01:14:35:14
Speaker 1
Well, that sadly, yes, I was waiting for that. I was going to throw that tag. And this it is sadly. Yeah. Well, that does it for this episode of Benchmark. Thanks for listening. Until next time.

01:14:36:05 - 01:14:37:02
Speaker 2
Keep crashing it.

People on this episode

Jean-Gilles Larocque

Host

Marc Messier

Host

Benchmarked

Benchmarked

Olympian Natalie Wideman - Chasing Lions With No Regrets

People on this episode

Jean-Gilles Larocque

Marc Messier

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