The Fight for Women’s Soccer in Colombia

Cami and Meli welcome a very special guest: former pro footballer and Meli’s bestie Isabella Echeverri. For the first time together, Isa and Meli publicly discuss their fight against gender discrimination in Colombian football, from how the idea came about and the viral video that started it all, to the changes that followed and what they hope to see in the future. Isa also tells us about her routine after retirement from soccer, the success she’s found in the broadcasting world and shares some interesting tidbits about Meli!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hi, I'm Kamila Ramon and amily sorties, and this is Astavajo.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Today we have an incredibly important guest and I'm just
about to hype the ship out of this one, because y'all,
not only is she one of my best friends in
the world, not only have we lived incredible moments together
both on and off the pitch, but she also represented Colombia.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
She represented Sai.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yeah, she represented Monterre, she represents the world. Okay, football,
pero tolmundo, grana, plaoso, benina, Isabela Eriam.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
Thank you for being.

Speaker 4 (00:57):
Here, putting Thank you, guys, I'm so excited to be here.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
First, I don't even know what language to speak right
now because now we're like really going to be engaging
in full on Spanglish.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
Yeah, whatever comes feels good for your soul, that's what
you go with. And now Melly also, like she did hype.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
Her up because she is her bestie.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
She didn't exactly say like, this is my bestie, but
there are just like girly pops in the game together.
I need to know a couple of things before we
get into things.

Speaker 4 (01:27):
You guys.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
First off, against the Columbia Federation, you fought for equal pay,
for a lot of discrimination that was happening, and then
Mona at football, which I have mad respect for.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
And we will dive into.

Speaker 4 (01:38):
A little bit later.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
We'll get down into the nitty gritty the details. Melly
was telling me that this is probably the first time
that you guys have spoken about this together.

Speaker 3 (01:45):
Am I right? Correct? Yes? Wow? Exclusively?

Speaker 1 (01:51):
But I want to know if you guys remember the
first time that you met and what your first impression was.
To start, Maley, do you want to answer that.

Speaker 4 (01:59):
I don't remember?

Speaker 3 (02:00):
Uh yeah, I like nut meged the ship of her
on the perch. No, no, no, no, no, I just remember,
you know.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
Okay, So, long story short, I played on the national
team and I am what four and a half years
older than you.

Speaker 3 (02:25):
She's catching up, she's catching up, okay.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
And so I was already on the full national team
and Issa was on the youth national team level.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
So the youth six, you seventeens, and you twenties, and
then once.

Speaker 4 (02:41):
Well she got.

Speaker 3 (02:44):
She got her period.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
When she got a little older, she joined the full
national team. And I think what you said, you're probably
like twenty at the time.

Speaker 3 (02:54):
How old were you?

Speaker 4 (02:55):
Yeah, I should be twenty twenty one.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah, and so at the time, I was around twenty
four twenty five, and she came onto the team, and
I didn't know about you said beforehand. You know, there
wasn't a lot of coverage of the youth teams before that,
so we didn't really know until those younger players really
joined the full team. And so we already shared some
friends in common when she came onto the team. And
what I liked too much about us at the time

(03:19):
was she also was getting her degree in the United States.
She was studying at University of Tolo, Toledo, Ohio.

Speaker 3 (03:27):
Andalo Tolao, Tolio. Nobody has ever called it Tolo before.

Speaker 4 (03:33):
Dude.

Speaker 3 (03:34):
At first time.

Speaker 4 (03:37):
You said, you.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
Said, you said, you said, speak from the soul, that
came on of the soul. Dude, I felt it.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
And so she also, you know, spoke both languages, English
and Spanish, and she already had that like life experience
of what it's like to live in the States and
also play in Columbia. You know, she was born in Colombia,
and so we already you know, kind of was found
that liking to her, meaning like because of those commonalities.
And then once we started like hanging out with each other.
Then we realized quickly how scary similar we are.

Speaker 4 (04:13):
You know, let's like something, Let's let's make something clear here.
Melita back then didn't speak a lot of Spanish.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Well when you when you arrived, When you arrived, I
spoke more when you were there.

Speaker 3 (04:29):
Yet that's when I really didn't speak that much.

Speaker 4 (04:32):
So because I could speak English with her, and it
made the transition and the friendship a little easier for us.
But I think we click right away. It was it
was very easy, and as Mellie said, we are so
similar in so many things that it got scary. Really.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
I mean, I was hanging out with you guys the
other day for the first time that I hang out
with you, even though I feel like I've known you
for as long as I've known Lisa, because she always
talks about you. And I was like, yo, even like
have the same hair, like you do?

Speaker 3 (05:05):
Look like sisters?

Speaker 1 (05:07):
So Dad asked her sight.

Speaker 4 (05:11):
Someone asked us a few months ago if we were sisters.

Speaker 3 (05:15):
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, mm hmmmm. They're like, are your sisters?

Speaker 2 (05:21):
It's kind of like commie When you and I went
to an event once and they asked if we were dating,
we were partners, no joke.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
And me No, yeah, I have I have this game
that I want to play and it's called Expose your Bestie.
So we'll start with We'll start like the first question
is what is the best thing about Melie And what's
the best thing about Melissa? Who wants to start We'll start.

Speaker 4 (05:49):
Cute, We'll start cute. She's always laughing, she's always having
a great time, and she always wants to go out
dancing with me. So Melee, that's the best part.

Speaker 3 (06:02):
Okay, that's spot on.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
The best part about Lisa is that when she really
really wants to do something, like she's gonna fucking do it,
you know, like whether it's we're going out or it's
like we're not. Like she's dedicated. Like right now, we'll
get into it. Lisa has been eating very, very healthy.
She hasn't been drinking for months now. But it's not

(06:26):
just that, it's like different things. It's like if she
wants to make a team, if she wants to work
on camera, if she wants to do X, Y and
Z with her career or whatever, like she puts her
mind to it and she does it, and that's what.

Speaker 3 (06:36):
She makes shit happen.

Speaker 4 (06:38):
We love but I was so superci.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
Don't worry, You'll have time to get her back. Okay,
what's the most annoying thing about Melissa? Lisa that's creamy?

Speaker 2 (07:04):
Well, well come especially now like before.

Speaker 4 (07:08):
It's like I'm speaking Spanish, so she's mad.

Speaker 3 (07:11):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know.

Speaker 2 (07:13):
It's more because you know, before it was the two
of us, like, hey, you know, it's Friday, you want
to have a wine, you want to go around, you know, guys.

Speaker 3 (07:22):
For our listeners, I just want y'all to understand this.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
Lisa and I have never lived in the same city
in our lives, okay, and we've known.

Speaker 3 (07:28):
Each other for I don't know fifteen years now.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
Yeah, and since December, I moved to Miami and Lisa
also now moves lives in Miami, and so we lived
ten minute walking distance from each other, so as dangerous.
So these past six months, like especially the first month,
have been a little wild, which was great.

Speaker 3 (07:46):
It was much needed. It was much needed.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
Yeah, and so that's why she says, like I, I,
you know, try to get her a drink, but because
she hasn't been drinking, so I'm always like, you know,
you want a little drink you want to let you know, like.

Speaker 4 (07:57):
At Tuesday five pm, Sheshai and.

Speaker 3 (08:01):
Wine and cold Plunge, Cold Puny.

Speaker 1 (08:06):
Mellie is a bad influence, okay, okay, noted, okay, now
something that nobody Mellie's shaking for people who are listening.
Nelly's shaking her finger no, and Lisa has a very
guilty face on. So we know that deep down inside,
Lisa has done some ship in the past that maybe
is not quite a popey for.

Speaker 3 (08:25):
Us to discuss on this podcast.

Speaker 1 (08:26):
And that's okay, you know, we can, we can draw
the line here. But however, I still need to know
something that nobody knows about Melie, nobody knows about Lisa
that they need to know.

Speaker 4 (08:39):
Oh shit, quiau Vince was Gin's come back to this one.

Speaker 3 (08:49):
I gotta think about it, dude, Okay, think about it.

Speaker 4 (08:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (08:55):
In the mid in the MEANTIMESA Melly wanted me to
ask you how your December was.

Speaker 4 (09:02):
So fun dude Miami. Yeah. So we've been besties for
many years and all of a sudden, She's like, Dude,
I'm moving to Miami at the same time that I've
been living in Miami for six months. So I was like, Okay,

(09:25):
come on, I help her pick her apartment, which you've
been there, you know how amazing it is.

Speaker 3 (09:29):
Yeah, you did a great job.

Speaker 1 (09:30):
I walked in there, I started crying because of the
view you did.

Speaker 3 (09:34):
I was like, I wish I could live here.

Speaker 1 (09:35):
There's might as well have been fucking dolphins jumping out
the ocean, and like there was like a manatee festival
happening downstairs that you could see from her apartment. I
was like, fuck, man, New York is cold, amanite festival.

Speaker 4 (09:48):
I'm dead. And then and then what you guys have
to understand is that we have pretty similar schedules. So
we're not two people that work from nine to five
every day, right, we moved.

Speaker 1 (09:59):
That's why Tuesday five pm one is appropriate.

Speaker 4 (10:01):
Yes, yes, that's why you know. So it's like we
work on the weekends, we travel a lot, and we
have a lot of free time during the week So
it all started by, hey, what are you doing, Let's
go for a walk. And then it was Tuesday ten
am and Melly and I were walking in the middle
of Brickle and then that turned into La Fiesta that

(10:24):
is like a really nice Colombian party, and then that
went to going to the party here, going to a
boat there, going for a runa right, But December was
like that moment where we finally, like after fifteen years

(10:44):
of being best friends, it was like actually being best
friends living in the same city. Like it was like
sex and the city in our lives. I need say.

Speaker 2 (11:19):
Issa, like also for our listeners to understand this, Like
Lisa and I known each other for fifteen years, and
you know, best friends for fifteen years. But when you're
an athlete, when you're a player, like that's all you do.

Speaker 3 (11:31):
You know, the bonding is crazy. Yeah, the bonding is crazy.

Speaker 2 (11:35):
I mean everything that you live on and off the pitch, moments, wins, losses, drama,
like everything, right, And so we also lived like a
lifestyle there where like all we did was eat, sleep, everything, soccer,
you know, footboard. You know, we didn't have many moments
to go out to party to drink. I didn't drink

(11:56):
much when I was playing, you know, only when we
were you know, after a torn we would go out
and celebrate or something like that. So that's why I
think after accumulation of fifteen years and after everything that
we've been through and now as like women in our thirties.
You know, women with paychecks, you know to spend because now.

Speaker 1 (12:14):
You're getting paid comparts up before because they were paying
you a nice salary of zero dollars.

Speaker 2 (12:20):
Literally, And so now that's why, Like I think December
when when we were here and like Lady Santos came
down for vacation. She plays for the Washington Spirit, she
played with US San Colombia, still plays for Colombia.

Speaker 3 (12:31):
That's I think.

Speaker 2 (12:32):
Why, Like December for us was like just so epic.
It was just like I didn't even know what was coming.

Speaker 3 (12:37):
To be honest, I.

Speaker 2 (12:38):
Hadn't Like you couldn't even have planned this, and if
you would have planned, it would have sucked. But like
to all y'all, like we went out, We went haym
in Miami, but in a nice way, in a good way.
Salt shout out, shout out Al Patio Miami Estampion and an.

Speaker 1 (13:03):
Hour patio is crazy because I used to go to
a patio when I was in high school.

Speaker 3 (13:08):
It really did make a comebacky.

Speaker 1 (13:11):
Okay, but people are going to think that you guys
like are just going out at night all the time,
and that year like crazy so much somal like these
are two olympians that we're talking to right now ex
pro footballers and Issa. We want to I personally want
to know about your morning routine as like somebody who's
so driven, uh so active, like Melia has been telling me,

(13:35):
you've been training like crazy, Like what is the typical
morning for you look like from the moment that you
open your little eyeballs.

Speaker 4 (13:41):
Cammie, I woke. I wake up at five to twenty
five am every morning. Oh god, I have ten or
fifteen minutes to leave my apartment. So I usually eat
a small amount of food before going to the gym.
What do you eat? I eat grape yogurt with the almonds,
and then I go out and I train with my friend,

(14:02):
our friend Natcho. Shout out to Natcho, who's training me
since January. So we usually do weight training.

Speaker 1 (14:11):
And how many times a week do you do weight training?

Speaker 4 (14:15):
Five days a week? Wait? And Saturdays is my cardio
type of day, So I do on Saturdays, I do
one minute on the treadmill, one minute of exercise with
light weights, and I do that for forty forty three
minutes forty five minutes. The other days are two leg days,

(14:36):
three upper body days. So it's an hour and a
half at least in the gym doing weightlifting. I do
twenty minute cardio after, and then I do thirty minutes
in the sauna every single morning. So that's the space
where I like meditate. I take my phone off like
everybody's with their phones, but I'm not. I'm closing my eyes.

(14:58):
I'm thinking about what is it that I need to
do that day, what is it that I need to
do the next day, and kind of manifesting my my
goals and dreams within those thirty minutes every day. And
then I come home and I have breakfast.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
Okay, I have, I have. I want to backtrack a
little bit. You're a weight training situation. As somebody who
you know plays football for a living, it's very cardio focused, right,
Did you make a transition from more cardio when you
were playing to now more weight training focus? And if so,
why is it that you're prioritizing weight training?

Speaker 4 (15:30):
Dude? I was so lost when I retired, so lost,
and one of the biggest challenges was mi re lacion
from working out like that was the biggest thing that
I had to figure out for myself. It was at
the beginning I was obsessed. When I was player playing,
I was obsessed with working out. Then it got into
a period that I would call my mom and ask

(15:52):
my mom, mom, ba, I'll fucking him Naty, Like I
don't understand, you know, like what is the motivation here?
And yeah, healthy? And I'm like, no, I eat well
to be healthy. I don't go to the gym to
be healthy, you know, because going to the gym was
my work. It was part of my like, yeah, daily
tasks of being an employee for a football club. So

(16:17):
I retired and I was lost for four months. I
went to the gym. I didn't go to the gym.
I ran, I didn't And after I was like, okay,
I need to do something that makes me very uncomfortable.
What was that running?

Speaker 3 (16:30):
That is such an athlete's.

Speaker 1 (16:33):
I want to be as uncomfortable as possible.

Speaker 3 (16:35):
Because now I'm retired, I'm bored.

Speaker 4 (16:37):
I'm bored. What is it that I'm going to do?
So I called my I call a friend and I
asked her who her running coach was. And I called
this guy and I was like, look, I don't I
don't want to run a marathon. I don't want to
run a half marathon. I just want to learn how
to run long distance and enjoy it. I want to
enjoy running. So I started running. I did running for

(17:01):
six seven months, like every day, like really conscious of
the running part. And then, to be honest, I got bored,
so bored. I was like, I'm running through the same
paths every day, like this is not for me. But
I learned how to run, and I learned how to
enjoy running. So check on the goal. Then December came alone,

(17:22):
the parties came alone. January came alone, and I was
so lost, and I called. I was on a on
a meeting with some friends. I met Natcho, who is
my cousin's boyfriend, and he's like.

Speaker 2 (17:34):
Ripped, ripped, y'all, y'all gotta look at him on ig
it's I just pulled it up. So it's Natcho, n
A C H O. Were under under underscore, H underscore.

Speaker 4 (17:46):
He's ripped. So I was like, I was telling him
how lost I was, and he said, come train with me.
I'll train you. I'll train you for free, Come with me.
And I was like, okay, why not. So I started
going every morning with him, doing weightlifting, and I started
getting stronger, feeling stronger, and I fall in love with

(18:09):
the gen all over again. I do think it's a lot.
It comes a lot with the company. So I have
someone there every morning who's waiting, Mario Connell. We talk shit,
we work out. It's a fun kind of social interaction
plus working out. So that's yeah, I don't know if
I answer your question, but yes, no, yeah.

Speaker 1 (18:30):
I think that you did something that I talk to
people about very often, which is finding something that works
for you and finding something that you enjoy. You tried running,
you liked it for a little and then you were like,
I don't like it anymore, Like I want to do
weight trading, And actually, you know, I love the fact
that you are incorporating so much weight trading into your routine.
Is it necessary for people to be everybody to be

(18:51):
trading five times a week at six in the morning
every day. No, But the fact that you're prioritizing weight
training is going to keep you strong, especially as we
age you start to lose bone density, muscle mass, et cetera,
et cetera. So it's just really dope to see you
as somebody who you know is a retired pro athlete,
like prioritizing the right things because they just naturally feel

(19:12):
good to you, and not even necessarily because it's like
I need to do it because it's good for me.
It's just because it's something that you love and that
you enjoy. PSA to everybody listening to start weight training,
think so much.

Speaker 2 (19:24):
But really I've seen ESA's results over the past few
months because I think you've done this religiously since February,
right Zi, Yeah, between weight training, between eating health like clean,
very clean, not drinking a sip of alcohol, and guys
believe me as her best yeats, it's been frustrating now.
But to see her results like live like Esa was,

(19:46):
you know, my teammate for a long time and we
would do double sessions, we would do weight training, we
would do everything, and for Esa to like get like strong,
you know, muscle mass, it was hard for her. And
now I actually sing like the other day I grabbed
her arm.

Speaker 3 (20:01):
I was like, dude, this and I grabbed her arm.

Speaker 2 (20:05):
I'm like, dude, this basalien though, Like honestly, so it's
showing like that routine, that dedication, the commitment to actually
like committing to the plan.

Speaker 3 (20:14):
And sticking with it. It's it's it's showing results.

Speaker 2 (20:16):
So any listeners who are feeling inspired from this, you know,
definitely go for for for something that you enjoy, like
Lisa did, you know, it's all about trial and error
what she like. But also once you grasp onto something
like commit to it, stick with it, don't get out.
If I know things get boring after a week or two,
keep going. She's been doing this consistently for three almost

(20:36):
four months now.

Speaker 4 (20:38):
Yeah, and I think that that is different for everybody,
Like as you said, come, you know, everybody has to
wake up at five in the morning to work out.
For me, I'm a morning person. I need to do
stuff in the morning because at five pm, my brain
and my useless Yes it doesn't work, you know, but
some people work better at five, six, seven pm. So
it's it's more of a journey of under standing what

(21:00):
is it that you enjoy and move a bit more
and need more clean and stay consistent, because that's the key.

Speaker 1 (21:08):
Love that so much, and I loved, you know, showing
people a little bit more of your friendship.

Speaker 3 (21:14):
We're going to toss the break right now.

Speaker 1 (21:16):
When we come back, We're going to talk about your
battle against the Colombian soccer federation and everything that you
had to endure, also sacrifice, give up and push through
to change the narrative for women in sports and many
girls that are going to be, you know, fighting continuous

(21:37):
battles for many years to come.

Speaker 3 (21:39):
Okay, we'll be right back.

Speaker 2 (21:47):
All right, y'all, and we're back with Asta our whole podcast,
alongside my co host Kamila Ramond and Isabel former Colombia
national team player, and Lisa and I have a really
unique and special story moments, life moment that I really
want to talk about because actually we've never talked about

(22:11):
it in public, the two of us together. You know,
we've been on so many podcasts, so many interviews, even
programs on TV and talked about what we did in
twenty nineteen, but never together. And now it's even more
special because it's obviously on on Camilla and I's podcast.
But long story short, in twenty nineteen, East and I

(22:33):
we fought against the Colombian Federation and as we think back, now,
what six years it's been since that moment, a little
bit over six years, let's talk about that to our audience.
Let's like, let's depict that moment where I guess leading

(22:55):
up to that moment, like why we fought against them,
and then I'll expand more into what happened. So talk
to us about like that journey is to like all
the things that really got us to be like you
know what, we're about to just go hay on the federation, dude.

Speaker 4 (23:11):
So many different stuff happened when we were inside the
Columna national team. And I don't want to start complaining
about our conditions in the national team because we I
think we've talked about that a lot, but.

Speaker 1 (23:26):
For a reference, for reference, they were getting paid nothing,
and then they were They got their salary raised to
about ten dollars a day and then up to twenty
dollars a day. Without notice, they removed their salary completely.
They had to play, pay for their own flights, they
had to wear use jerseys, pay for their own jerseys,
where use socks that were handed down from other teams,

(23:46):
maybe the male team, maybe the female team. We didn't
really know where they were coming from. And there was
a the gym didn't have equipment, and when the male
team would come in when it was their season, they
would rent equipment fill them with every single possible kind
of equipment that you could possibly imagine when they had
maybe like a couple of medicine balls and like a
random box made of wood, probably level sticking out the

(24:09):
side that you guys had had to jump on and
figure out to train.

Speaker 4 (24:12):
And Dad with Dad, we went for to the twenty
fifteen World Cup. Two medicine bowls and a box made
out of wood with sticky things outside. You know, we
were doing sit ups like I was carrying Melli to
do a sit up because we didn't have any weights.

Speaker 3 (24:31):
Yeah, and squats.

Speaker 2 (24:33):
We would put each other on our on our back
like this and do squats because there was no racks
to do squats with anyways, Goma, you nailed it.

Speaker 1 (24:42):
Me.

Speaker 3 (24:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (24:44):
I read up a little bit and I listened to
a couple of the podcasts that you guys were on
for sure, and I think this is very important. It's
very important for people also to know, like the types
of things that you guys were dealing with. I know
that you guys maybe don't want to repeat it a
million thousand times because you've said it so many times,
but it's important for people because people are listening to
this for the first time, believe it or not, not
everybody knows about your story. So having insight and like

(25:07):
an understanding of what the setting was is so important,
especially when you know that these federations are starting these teams.

Speaker 3 (25:15):
And yes, for.

Speaker 1 (25:16):
Example, they they they might make an argument that in
certain countries, like the female teams are not watched as
much as the male teams, but they are starting these
these teams first off very consciously and with money and
with backing, So you do have to be able to
pay the athletes that you are hiring to do a

(25:39):
job for you under your team period. And then number two,
the conversation that I've had with you many about you know,
positioning and the reasons why, like females are women in
sports were in the past not watched as much because
there was no backing behind it, there was no marketing
behind it.

Speaker 3 (25:56):
They were we were not we we like I played
food with you guys, we're all part of it.

Speaker 1 (26:03):
We're part of it, right, You guys know where I'm
going with this, and you guys can explain it better
than anybody else. But it's just so important what you've done.

Speaker 2 (26:12):
Yeah, and you're right, Commy, Like, you're absolutely right about that.
And you know, Isa and I lived it firsthand, and
so has thousands millions of women around the world, and
more specifically, like how federations have treated their women's teams
over the course of decades. It came to a point where,
you know, we're living in the.

Speaker 3 (26:33):
Two thousands, right.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
It was already twenty nineteen, and Lisa and I finally
were like, what are what are we doing? Like what
are they doing? And so I had gone from you know,
playing in the Olympics to getting injured five days before
the Women's World Cup, having practically the federation turned their
back on me and me having to pay some medical
bills for it, living this whole crazy year where I

(26:57):
came back with vengeance and I started documenting things. I
started taking pictures. I started taking pictures of the of
the empty gym. I started taking pictures of receipts of
me buying my own tape for my ankles, esparas like like.

Speaker 3 (27:10):
You name it.

Speaker 2 (27:11):
I I already knew in the back of my mind
that at some point down the line, I wanted to
have I wanted to seek revenge. And then at the
same time, Issa went on to play in a tournament
and when I had already kind of like stepped away
from playing from the team, and Lisa came back from
that tournament the Losuegos and Tramedicanos right in Colombia.

Speaker 4 (27:33):
Yeah, I don't remember if it was the Juegos and
Amedicanos or the Copa America in twenty eighteen. But when
I got back, we met, Yeah, we went. We were
together in your house, yeah, on beach. And the funny
thing coming and to every person that is listening to us,

(27:53):
is that we realized in that moment that this ship
has been going on for the last ten years and
we were only realizing everything that was bad with the
national team. Like before, it was like, that's what you
get for playing football, and that's it, that's what you get.
Be grateful, be grateful, be grateful. Everybody in the federation

(28:14):
coaching staff would always tell us, you have to be
grateful just to be here, right, So, the t shirts,
the flights, buying your own stuff, it was you took
that for I don't want to say for granted, but say, well,
you're normal. You normalized bad shit that was going on.
And in that moment when we met, I was like, Mellie,

(28:35):
you know, I was in this tournament and they gave
us jerseys that went on to my knees, like I
have a picture, but I'm fucking mestido Mastino Arahugar football. Dude,
things haven't changed in the last ten years, Like you know,
I actually think, I actually think things are getting even

(28:55):
worse than they were ten years before when we started
playing together. And that's when Mellie, with everything that she
just explained with her injury and me with my latest experience,
said dude, we need to do something about it. And
we started thinking like, what is it that we can't do?
And if it's not us, nobody will ever gonna do it.

(29:17):
Because we were two players that were very different from
the other players in a sense that we like she
grew up in the States, but I grew up in
a high income family in Colombia. We both went to
the US, we both experienced the college system that they
treat you very well. We both went to the same
shitty circumstances in the national team, and it was like,

(29:38):
if it's not us, it would never be anybody else
inside the Columbia national team. What is it that we're
going to do? And we sell it to a video,
you know, And that it started from.

Speaker 1 (29:49):
That, so I want to Right before you made a
decision to make the video, I read that you like
looked at Melle and you said, Medie, We're never gonna
step on a soccer field again. How how did you
feel at that moment before you made the decision to
like press posts or before that you guys like made
that decision, you already knew that like it would change

(30:12):
your lives forever. How did you feel making that decision
and what motivated you to press posts?

Speaker 2 (30:20):
Honestly, in that specific moment, I've never felt like so
empowered like I had like I did in that moment.

Speaker 3 (30:27):
Right, he'sa like it was kind of like push and
never look back.

Speaker 2 (30:31):
You know, it was just like I It wasn't even
a like you kind of thought about it, like and
when when we did look at each other and say,
you know, as soon as we post this, we probably
will never play for the national team again, you know,
Chao Mundiaz, Chao Limpilla's Chao. You know, I don't know,

(30:53):
but we just, like Lisa said, like if not us,
then who And we didn't see anybody else.

Speaker 3 (31:02):
Doing what we did.

Speaker 2 (31:04):
Anybody was going to do what we did, you know,
And we we said we're risking it all because we
know that this is going to have a greater impact
and a long term impact for generations to come, And
this is going to be more important than wearing a
jersey on our back like that. Ever again, you know,
it's going to be more important than stepping out on

(31:24):
the pitch and representing a country. Yeah, that's the best
feeling in the world, but not representing men and old
men who have been controlling women for decades and controlling
our destinies and controlling you know, our our outlooks, our
careers and girls' futures. So really, when we said like,

(31:46):
and we looked at each other and said that, it
was kind of like we felt so empowered because it
almost felt like, at least for Mesa, like the future
was in our hands, you know.

Speaker 4 (31:55):
Yeah, Totaliomi and I think it came from from a
thought and I don't remember who said what, but it
was like, we already played every single tournament possible, right,
We played the World Cup, we played the Olympics, we
played Copamerica. Everything we did. So if they are never
gonna call us back, we have that already, right, But

(32:16):
if we do this, then we're gonna ensure better conditions
for the new generation, and we're gonna inspire change in
a country that really needs people in general to stand
up and tell the truth. Because what we did in
that video, because people tell me like, oh my god,
you're so Baaliente. You know, it's like, dude, I was

(32:38):
just saying the truth.

Speaker 3 (32:39):
That's it.

Speaker 4 (32:41):
We were being honest with the world. And we recorded
that video, which, funny enough, it got lost the first one.
You remember, Yes, we recorded the first video and it
got lost Melie's camera.

Speaker 3 (32:52):
What do you mean I got lost? Yes, Okay, okay.

Speaker 2 (32:56):
So now many people know this that in December of
two thousand nineteen, uh Issa and I recorded a video
like that's the first time and West Bomb Beach and
that was the first time. We're actually we're like, okay,
let's do this. We're gonna record a video. We're gonna
we're gonna sit down and talk about all of the
stuff that the in the ways that the Federation is

(33:16):
treating us.

Speaker 3 (33:17):
Recorded it.

Speaker 2 (33:18):
I had it on my camera and at the time
I started it, just had started doing content as well
for myself.

Speaker 3 (33:23):
You know, I was kind of like new at the
game and so whatever.

Speaker 2 (33:26):
Like I had the video, and I remember like a
month later or something like that, when I went to
get the memory Trip and start like editing it, the
memory Trip was broken.

Speaker 4 (33:38):
Okay, yes, yes it broke.

Speaker 2 (33:40):
It was on it like it you know, like sometimes
that happens to you, like if you have a camera,
people have cameras, like sometimes the file is unrecognizable.

Speaker 3 (33:49):
I'm writing Issa, I'm like, oh my god, our video
and Issa.

Speaker 2 (33:52):
By that time is like long goge, just like traveling
somewhere else. I don't know where she was.

Speaker 3 (33:56):
And I'm like, what do I do?

Speaker 2 (33:56):
I asked a cousin of mine, Prima Mia, who works
in ten. She tried to recover the files. She was like, dude,
it's not even like you can't, like there's nothing you
could do. I was like no, were like no, But
it's crazy how things work out for a reason always,
because if we would have posted it back, like even

(34:17):
months before it, I don't think it would have made
like that much of influence like it did when we did.

Speaker 3 (34:22):
So finally, timing is everything, yeah, one hundred percent.

Speaker 2 (34:25):
So finally Isa I had moved to New York by
that time, Esa came for a job that she got
for her beautiful smile. She got like some like modeling
smile job of okay, yeah.

Speaker 3 (34:38):
And so she's like, hey, we're gonna yeah.

Speaker 2 (34:42):
And so she came up to New York and I
was like, dude, while you're here, let's try to do
that video again.

Speaker 3 (34:46):
And she was like, yeah, hundred percent, let's do it.

Speaker 2 (34:48):
So then I'm like, okay, we're not gonna We're not
going to fuck up this file. So we recorded it
like in pieces and everything, and as soon as we
finished that, I remember like exporting it like we had
it all under control. But the timing was perfect because
it was more closer obviously to the to the day
that we actually posted it, and without even really like

(35:11):
planning what day we were posting it, it actually landed
the day that we hit post of this viral video.
It was because it was right near right around the
time of International Women's Day, which is.

Speaker 4 (35:26):
No planning, no strategy behind these video at all.

Speaker 1 (35:28):
Yeah, you were just like I'm just going to post
it and see what happened.

Speaker 4 (35:32):
I remember one morning Milly send me the video and
she's like do you like it? And I'm like yes,
and we're like, okay, what's what should the caption be Okay,
what what should the hashtag be? Men Mima's football? Yes,
we like minus Miyama's football. Okay, when do you want
to post? At nine? Okay? At nine?

Speaker 1 (35:51):
You know it was like that, and the video went viral,
and I think that this isn't the first time. I
think Daniella Montoya got cut from the team right after
speaking out in twenty sixteen when she came back from
when you guys came back from the Olympics, and.

Speaker 3 (36:06):
They were supposed to give you.

Speaker 1 (36:07):
A bonus right for making it to a certain stage,
and I think that that didn't make as much news
as what you guys did because, like what you guys
spoke out about because of timing, which is crazy. So
I'm glad that it all worked out.

Speaker 3 (36:21):
So tell me.

Speaker 1 (36:22):
So the video goes viral, it explodes, people start hitting
you up, people start commenting things, sharing it everywhere, and
you start getting calls from media.

Speaker 3 (36:29):
How do you feel then.

Speaker 2 (36:33):
When I tell you, like Lisa and I were just
back and forth like Okay, you're taking this interview, I'm
taking that one.

Speaker 3 (36:38):
I'm taking this when you're taking that. We both got this.

Speaker 4 (36:40):
I had a day job at a working at a
coworking space that I had to call my boss and said,
you know what, I need to go home because I
just released this video and I need to take up
on all these interviews and Mellie, you take the English ones,
I take the Spanish ones, and let's see how it is.

Speaker 3 (36:56):
Yeah, right, It was just.

Speaker 2 (36:58):
Like that, and I was it was it was around spring,
like spring Brickish and I had gone on a ski
trip to like Vermont. We're at a skihouse, and of course,
because nothing's playing, all of a sudden, I don't even
go skiing.

Speaker 3 (37:10):
I stay in this lodge, like in this.

Speaker 2 (37:12):
Ski place, just on the computer taking interviews all day
while my friends are all skiing, while my husband's out skiing.

Speaker 3 (37:20):
Like I'm just like I can't do that right now,
Like there's.

Speaker 2 (37:23):
So much more things going on on this side of
the world. And so it all came down to the reaction,
the response we got when things started going really viral,
and we were literally on We were the first like news,
primetime news comes on, you know, like they open it up.

Speaker 4 (37:42):
All these channels, even.

Speaker 2 (37:44):
In the US, we were the first things that that
was the main subject matter. It was insane, and so
the reaction of the Federation who more specifically his name
is Alberto Gonzalez and he's the vice president of the Federation.
Was he neglect did everything that we were saying, He
denied everything that we were saying. He called us gossipers,

(38:06):
he called us like liars.

Speaker 1 (38:08):
And you were like, well, actually I saved the receipts.

Speaker 4 (38:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (38:12):
Yeah, So I was like, let me get out my papers.

Speaker 1 (38:16):
So so you sat him down and then and then
I was reading that you guys got some feedback from
people in Columbia that were like, oh, these women that
are living in the United States, like they don't even.

Speaker 3 (38:31):
Like, aren't even really here in Columbia.

Speaker 1 (38:33):
So you guys flew to Columbia, met with some attorneys
and set up like a press conference, and then you
had gives me chills just to think about it. You
had like other players standing behind you guys while you
guys had a press conference.

Speaker 3 (38:44):
Can you tell me about that a little bit.

Speaker 4 (38:45):
More, dude. I was in the process of getting my
green card. I couldn't leave the country.

Speaker 3 (38:50):
I forgot about that, you know, and I had.

Speaker 4 (38:51):
To call my lawyer and said, I don't know what
you're gonna do, but I'm going to Columbia tomorrow, and
I don't want to lose my green card. So fixed
we jump in a plane the next day or two
days after, and we sit and we sat down with
the Columbian player union and they called more players, right,
so more players came along and Natalie Gaitan was the

(39:14):
captain of the national team, called as and said I
want to be part of it. I want to sit
down in that press conference with you, which was huge
for us. But then the day before the press conference,
we did some prepping. Remember it was like long hours prepping.
Who's gonna say? What?

Speaker 2 (39:31):
What?

Speaker 4 (39:32):
What is? What are the receipts? We had audios from
these Alberto Gonzales guys saying a lot of shitty stuff.
We got so much proof, and we did some prepping
before the press conference. But at the press conference, like
I think that's I always say this and I mean it.

(39:52):
That moment was the best moment in my entire career.
It was a room full of media, p like, I
don't know how many cameras, manly, how many people were there,
fifty sixteen.

Speaker 2 (40:04):
Liz come of you imagine you have to envision like
a Billie Jean King moment where like, you know, you
have the athlete right there and the media people, and
we had like our lawyers, we had us, we had
the athletes behind us. But then you have you look
into a hotel conference room and it's just lined up
with cameras the whole back wall.

Speaker 3 (40:22):
It's insane. That's insane. It was insane.

Speaker 2 (40:25):
And to think, like, you know, we're in our twenties
doing this, you know, like seeing me like we were nervous,
that's for sure, we were nervous, but like but like
we were we were nervous, we weren't scared.

Speaker 3 (40:37):
You know.

Speaker 2 (40:37):
And that's just like thinking back of like I don't know,
when you are so passionate about something when you really
want to like change something, like you do it sint
benzarre visus smeo.

Speaker 4 (40:51):
You know.

Speaker 2 (40:52):
And oh my gosh, when we when we did that
live press conference, like what's crazy is we had the
audio recording of the vice president and we chopped, we
edited it, I edited it, I put subtitles on it,
like captions like all this stuff, and we aired it
on live television. We leaked an audio of him saying

(41:12):
things he should never have said. Ever, no, and people
picked it up people picked it up, and you know,
it's crazy. So all of these radio stations, television stations,
everything that was everyone that was airing the live press
conference in Colombia aired that audio, except there was one
channel who pulled the transmission because they are the rights

(41:34):
holders of the Colombian national team of the federation. Somebody
like obviously the veederician probably called them and said, hey,
you need to stop this.

Speaker 3 (41:44):
All transmission and Columbia right now. Everything.

Speaker 2 (41:49):
So that but then so yeah, so we did the
press conference and you know, we left there just like wow,
like what do we do? And this is also without
sleeping for a few days because we were prepping, we
were traveling to colomb Yeah, and I remember leaving and
there were you know our oh yeah, that's us, and
there were our teammates like right behind us, which was awesome,
Like you know, they also put their face out there

(42:11):
and risked it, risked their careers in doing so, and
supported this, which I appreciate so much because you know,
there were teammates of ours that we had asked for testimonies,
we had asked for support. We had asked because we
knew that they had a lot of proof of paid flights.
We knew that they had a lot of proof of
like things that they had gone through the same as us.
And there are some players that were too scared to

(42:33):
do it, you know, you know, they they just didn't
feel comfortable and putting their face out there because they
knew that they it would risk their careers.

Speaker 4 (42:40):
Some players went to the prepping session and left before
the press conference because they didn't want to put their
careers on the line. They saw how deep this was
going to go and they said, thank you, but no,
I'm going to go.

Speaker 1 (42:56):
And yeah, yeah, you guys made the decision too to
also when you knew actively like you were like ready
to not step foot on the pitch any longer. And
I have a lot of respect for everything that you
guys didn't. You don't even tell you this, but I'm
very proud of you looking back. What changes have you
seen and hope to see in the future.

Speaker 4 (43:19):
A lot. I think it was before and after in
Colombian football, And I don't want to say.

Speaker 3 (43:24):
Thanks to you because of us, but say it.

Speaker 4 (43:30):
Thank you coming by it. It was before and after
after the press conference, the national team started to have
friendly games. The league was on again because it stopped
for months. Now, all of the sudden, Adidas was sending
us a gear like we were opening up new jerseys
and having the right size of socks, new socks for us.

(43:53):
All of a sudden, international players, players living abroad were
not paying for their own flights, you know. It was
The change was pretty soon because they had such a
bad press on their shoulders that they needed to fix.

Speaker 3 (44:09):
Yea, they had no choice.

Speaker 4 (44:10):
They had no choice but to change different things. So
I think everything changed. And they also increased our price
money there, like our daily compensation. It came from zero too.
I think, like what was that nearly eighty dollars when
we were outside of Columbia. I know for a fact

(44:32):
that today they earned the same.

Speaker 3 (44:35):
Yeah, unfortunately, that's for sure.

Speaker 4 (44:37):
You know, But but it wasn't before and after and
and I think players really understood the power, and we
understood the power of our voices, the power of our platform,
and the power of being truth to ourselves and being
able to speak up about what matters.

Speaker 1 (44:54):
And do you have any advice for potentially like women
I want to speak out that haven't found the courage
to do so in similar situations with injustice like this.

Speaker 3 (45:07):
We yeah, I was, I was.

Speaker 2 (45:09):
I was just thinking, like you know, you use you
use these types of stories as inspiration, right, as motivation.
You know, we would look at the US women's national
team as inspiration because we saw how much they fought
for not at the time, they didn't reach equality yet
or equal pay yet, but they have so much support.

(45:30):
It's all because of the pioneers before them, you know,
the nineteen ninety nine ers, And we looked at them
like wow, like why can't we be like them? Why
can't South American teams be like them? Or European teams, Like.

Speaker 3 (45:41):
We need to do something.

Speaker 2 (45:43):
And that's really what like instilled this like motivation as well,
like if they did it, why can't we do it?
You know, and and like the last thing impacted, it
can make not only just for yourself, but for like
the people ahead of you, you know, the girls or
the kids that will come next. You know, our national
team would go two years without a training camp right

(46:06):
before a World Cup or an Olympics, and it wasn't
until six months before that all a sudden, the federals
were like, oh my gosh, so the women's team has
to train, you know, and so now that's those long
days are gone. Now there's every FIFA window, you know,
every month and a half or so, they are getting camps,
they are getting trainings. You know, at least there's like

(46:26):
continuity and support in that sense. But you know, for
women who are going through something similar, I understand there's
a lot of risk involved, depending on everybody's lives. You know,
you're risking careers, you're risking your like you're being like
in your comfort zone too, you know, having a steady paycheck,
having a steady you know, anything life circumstance. But it's

(46:50):
so worth it in the end to make a change
with lasting impact, not only for the people that are coming,
but for yourself. You feel you feel so powerful in
doing something like that, And I think that's something that
Lisa and I have really felt to the point that
we got we got matching tattoos together because of it.

Speaker 4 (47:10):
I would say, and this is something that I realized
very recently. For people and for women who are in
similar situations, you need to find an ally. You know,
if Melli was not in the picture, I don't think
I would ever have done what we did right. And
and I think that's the most important thing when you

(47:33):
want to speak up because it's really hard to do
it by yourself. And someone asked me that question, like
would you have done it without Melie? And I was like, holy,
I I don't think so, Like, yeah, I am a
powerful woman. I'm all about truth and honesty and let's go.
But without my friend there, without a powerful woman like
Melissa standing right beside me saying let's do it. You know,

(47:55):
we have everything in our hands to do it. I
don't think I would ever done it. So find an
ally and that would make the path a lot easier
and a lot more rewarding. At the end.

Speaker 1 (48:07):
Wow, Well, this, honestly is has been extremely eye opening,
also inspiring, So thank you guys for getting together to
share your story. We're gonna take a break. We don't
go anywhere. When we come back, we go FA Mosa
segment and we have two of the most qualified girlypops
to hook you up with the latest and greatest same

(48:27):
women in.

Speaker 2 (48:28):
Sport isab You're now currently a broadcaster for Telemundo, which
I have to say side note, guys, congratulations because Isa
not only is a broadcast for Telemundo, but she also

(48:49):
within like her.

Speaker 3 (48:50):
Debut, let's just say.

Speaker 2 (48:51):
Debut year of her broadcasting career, also won a Sports Emmy. Y'all, girl,
there it is, show that blank, show that bling.

Speaker 3 (49:04):
Insane, so so amazing.

Speaker 2 (49:06):
I remember when Lisa was like trying to transition from
what's next after playing career, and I was like, dude,
get into broadcasting.

Speaker 3 (49:13):
I love it. Blah blah blah bah blah. The next
thing you know, she's holding up at Emmy. I'm like, girlfriend, at.

Speaker 4 (49:21):
He opened all of the doors. Many hates when I
say this coming she gets so uncomfortable look at her,
But she opened all the doors for me, and I'm
super super grateful. And which way, dude, she was the
first I don't want to I don't know if the first,
but the first Latina talking all women's football in the US.
She started huzzling since since the first day doing the

(49:46):
soccer blogger and social media. You know, she hustled her
way through the top and opened so many doors for people,
for women like me to get into the media space,
which was really hard to get into. So Melee, thanks dude,
for real.

Speaker 1 (50:02):
I always I always sing her praises if that's the saying,
but I like when other people do it too, so
in case you didn't catch up like Melli started like
doing a soccer blog.

Speaker 3 (50:12):
I did remember what blogs were.

Speaker 4 (50:14):
Thing. The funny, funny story is that I remember the
day she asked me should I do the soccer blogger
or should we be the soccer bloggers. Yeah, maybe in
another life we would have started together.

Speaker 2 (50:28):
But yeah, yeah, yeah, because when I was transitioning and
saying like, okay, what's next, I did start the soccer
blogger and then Easta at the time was also like
deciding if she was going to continue playing or not,
which she ended up she continued playing. Thankfully. I was like, girl, friend,
you're still young, go out and play enjoy.

Speaker 4 (50:46):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (50:47):
Meanwhile, I had to like figure out what I was
gonna do with my life, and so the soccer blogger
started it. But I don't like I wasn't the first
Latina to cover you know, sports nor football, but there
weren't many before, that's for sure.

Speaker 4 (51:00):
Maybe the first former player that.

Speaker 2 (51:03):
Yeah, there might be one more when a mah Ghana
that I remember and she was amazing, But no, but
it's true, He's like, there's not many. There's not many
like us that are former players Latinas who are now
into broadcasting and calling games and analyzing games and whatever,
hosting and all that stuff. So for us to be
in this kind of similar career path is amazing. And guys,

(51:27):
nobody knows this yet, but they will because by the
time this podcast airs, you'll see it.

Speaker 3 (51:32):
But this is what's crazy.

Speaker 2 (51:33):
Lisa and I have lived so many similar scenarios together,
whether it's on the field off the field, going to
the FIFA World Cup final in Kataru and Argentino one
Commisa and I were there together.

Speaker 3 (51:43):
Yes, we watched the whole final together. We partied afterwards together.

Speaker 2 (51:48):
We've she was at when I when I introduced Messi
to inter Miami.

Speaker 3 (51:52):
Issa was there.

Speaker 4 (51:53):
She got married on my birthday.

Speaker 3 (51:55):
Yeah, like it's the most insane things.

Speaker 2 (51:57):
But now what is so crazy is Esa comes me
a few weeks ago, she goes, maybe you're not going
to believe this. I'm like what She's like, you know
the games that you fly to to cover the US
men's US women's national team on tm T. I was like, yeah,
She's like, I'm going to do the same thing with
Telemundo in Spanish.

Speaker 3 (52:13):
I'm like, that's so sick. So now we're testing it
for maybe you guys.

Speaker 1 (52:19):
Maybe you guys are actually like the same person but
in parallel universe, and somehow you cross into the same universe.

Speaker 3 (52:24):
I think that might be what happened.

Speaker 4 (52:27):
We ress the same like gummy, when we go out,
we have to text each other like what are you wearing?
Because we would wear the same color, the same outfit.

Speaker 3 (52:37):
Everything. That's cute.

Speaker 4 (52:39):
It's crazy.

Speaker 2 (52:40):
So if we match, if we match on, if we
match on TV, y'all know why, it's because it's because.

Speaker 1 (52:49):
That's Okay, I like matching with my friends. Okay, So
you guys are going to be working a lot together
this summer, this next this next year, right year and
a half kind of situation. What is it that we
need to be on the lookout for in women's football
or well, yeah, and women's football. But in case you
missed it, this is officially your Agamefamosa segment.

Speaker 3 (53:11):
Because I didn't intro it.

Speaker 1 (53:12):
If you don't know what it is, it's where we
hook you up in the world of sport and in
the world of music. So Melianisa going to hook you
up and then I'm going to give you a quick
music rerec and ask Exa.

Speaker 3 (53:23):
For some too.

Speaker 4 (53:24):
Okay, I would say, right now, the biggest news for
Agamefamosa would be that Mexico will co host the FIFA
Women's World Cup in twenty thirty one. So we thought
it was only going to be in the US. Now
Mexico is in the picture. And I don't know if
this is truth or not, but I heard it's actually

(53:44):
the same amount of games in Mexico that in the US. WOW,
which is going to be absolutely crazy, So be on
the lookout for that. The League i MEG is the
professional soccer league in Mexico, has been doing amazing stuff
for the last seven years. So this I think comes
on to be the best World Cup in two of

(54:06):
the countries that are doing the best in terms of
conditions and quality and leagues around the world. So congrats
to Mexico.

Speaker 2 (54:15):
In the US, that's gonna be lit.

Speaker 3 (54:18):
It's gonna be lit.

Speaker 2 (54:19):
And then for me, by the time this episode airs,
which is around later June, the Women's euro is coming
up just in a few weeks, y'all, and it's gonna
be huge. If the last Women's Euro was massive, especially
with England taking home the title, this one's going to
be even bigger because I think now the players are
getting even more of a built rival rivalry, especially in

(54:41):
Champions League, and I think Spain is going to want
to come, you know, with vengeance. Germany is going to
want to come with vengeance. France as well. These are
the bigger powerhouses in women's European football and it's gonna
be hosted in Switzerland. And I'm going to keep on
talking about it because I think this is also going
to be a big moment in women's football, specifically in
Europe too. And we've already seen the attendance rise in

(55:05):
in in fans attending these matches around the world, but
also in England. The Champions League final that we just
saw a few weeks ago sold out, Like this is
gonna be massive in Europe and it's gonna be really
great to be able to witness and watch some good football,
most importantly.

Speaker 3 (55:21):
Iconic iconic.

Speaker 1 (55:22):
And I would like to say that the warm up
soundtrack for the summer is gonna be Ladina Forever, which
is the new track that gott Og drops.

Speaker 3 (55:30):
All right, you heard it?

Speaker 2 (55:32):
We have.

Speaker 3 (55:33):
I have my thoughts on it.

Speaker 4 (55:34):
What do you don't like it? Why do you think?

Speaker 1 (55:36):
I mean, please, I think it's like it's one of
those songs that it's like, it's it's it's gonna be
the song of the summer, I think, and I think
that it's like bad in a way that's good. Like

(55:56):
it's like you know what I mean, Like it's like
it's like it's like eating junk food, Like it's like
your body craves.

Speaker 3 (56:02):
It and you need it.

Speaker 1 (56:04):
Like don't don't fucking lie to me and tell me
that when you're at a batio on a Saturday night
at two in the morning and that shit comes on,
you're not gonna be dropping it lot.

Speaker 3 (56:14):
Both you guys cannot look at me in.

Speaker 1 (56:15):
The face, especially after the conversation that we had earlier,
and tell me that that's not what's gonna happen.

Speaker 3 (56:20):
It will happen. It will happen, It will happen, It
will happen for sure. You're welcome. I don't know. I like,
I like I love Cattle g Oh the yeah, that's
my girl.

Speaker 2 (56:34):
Yeah, love love Cattle g out of all the songs, though,
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (56:38):
I just it's gonna hit. It's gonna slap.

Speaker 2 (56:40):
It has slapped already, you know, because it's the beat
and everything for me, for like the lyrics.

Speaker 3 (56:44):
I was just like, Oh, I don't know if I
really like this that much, but just like you said, like,
it's junk food, it's junk food and we need it.
We need it.

Speaker 1 (56:51):
Isa, what's your go to warm up hipes track? I
love to ask athletes that's.

Speaker 4 (56:58):
Good right now? Yeah, I would say right now. And
it was a guest here in a show couple, Oh
my god, I would say, Mahina, it's yes. Yes, that
is like a slow song that gives gives me going

(57:19):
and like it is it is the perfect way to
start to start my warm up.

Speaker 1 (57:23):
Love love love, and this is this is a question
whereas as we wrap up a question that we like
to ask all of our guests here that what do
you think has contributed to success?

Speaker 3 (57:35):
Your success in your life.

Speaker 4 (57:38):
The success in my life growing up in the family
that I grew up with, having my grandma there as
my grandma is a big figure in my life. She's
a very powerful woman who widowed when she was twenty
three with five kids and managed to get them all

(58:00):
to school, managed to get them all in life. She's
now eighty and she says she's better off now than
she when she was twenty years old. So she's the
one who dances the most, drinks the most, has a
good time. She always has an amazing energy and I
need her.

Speaker 2 (58:20):
Yeah, like you says, I'm the bad influence Agia. Yeah,
that's where it's coming from. Goals.

Speaker 3 (58:30):
That's gonna be me as straight up. So literally, she
like she like's.

Speaker 2 (58:34):
Not that I don't want it, Pico, She's like, she
like blinks at me like that. She's like and she
gives me a shadow guado. It's so funny.

Speaker 3 (58:41):
She's the best. She's honestly the best.

Speaker 2 (58:43):
So what what is what is our favorite quote or
your favorite qute? Is so that she always says la plata.

Speaker 4 (58:51):
And that's my life motto too. You can't go everywhere
plata not always right.

Speaker 3 (59:00):
Oh my god, wait, I love her. Okay, I'm going
to meet her. That's my goal.

Speaker 1 (59:04):
Okay, Well I did not forget something nobody knows about
you guys.

Speaker 3 (59:08):
Split it outa dude.

Speaker 4 (59:11):
I want to say. I want to say one thing
that nobody knows about Melle is that she likes to
buy a lot of she especially shoes. Like if you
go to her house, she has so many shoes and
she has so many football jerseys like are gifted, gifted.

(59:32):
Over one hundred football.

Speaker 3 (59:33):
Jerseys she has like twelve behind her.

Speaker 4 (59:36):
How many, Melle around five hundred?

Speaker 3 (59:37):
No, no, no, I'd say I'd say over I'd say
over two hundred.

Speaker 4 (59:42):
Yes, over two hundred jerseys in her closet.

Speaker 2 (59:45):
But I said, know a lot of them are gifted,
like throughout the years, all these brands.

Speaker 4 (59:50):
He likes to collect. But let's say she likes to
collect a collector, you will, of jerseys.

Speaker 3 (59:56):
And she likes fine shoes.

Speaker 2 (01:00:01):
I do love I do love shoes. I do love
me some good kicks. I do like collecting things that
I like just enjoy. Hats, shoes, and kids. I think
those are the three.

Speaker 3 (01:00:10):
Okay, what.

Speaker 2 (01:00:13):
I feels asa Okay. One of the things that is
so funny about Lisa, I mean, I can't, I can't.
I know, I can't find anything like Okay, two things.
One thing is like Lisa went through a really awkward
phase and that was when and I'm going through it
right now. With your hair, because Lisa has naturally as
you can see, curly hair is beautiful, but she also

(01:00:34):
used to get it chemically straightened, and so did I.
She got me onto the straightening game since we were
like twenty and so during COVID she stopped that and
she's like, you know what, like bucket, I'm gonna grow
my hair natural, like natural curly girl.

Speaker 3 (01:00:49):
And she went through this face.

Speaker 4 (01:00:52):
It was so bad.

Speaker 3 (01:00:54):
We're literally.

Speaker 2 (01:00:57):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, go go back to those to
those photos please. But another thing about Lisa is like
when she gets in giggly mood and I get on
giggling mood, it's like it doesn't stop, okay, and she
starts crying, but so do I.

Speaker 3 (01:01:11):
So like shoot, so one there's this one.

Speaker 2 (01:01:13):
There is one time and I can't get too specific
to detail, but we watched the World Cup final in Qatar, Okay,
in Dohap, Argentina won it. We went to the after party,
like FIFA after party was so much fun. Of course
we're the last ones to close down the party, right.

Speaker 3 (01:01:29):
That looks worried.

Speaker 4 (01:01:30):
I know, I don't know how much details she will
give up this.

Speaker 2 (01:01:33):
Story, but this is like this is like like this
is healthy party, Okay, it's not crazy shit, Like we
are also very responsible. But the funny thing is that
we're in the middle of like this like it was.

Speaker 3 (01:01:45):
Like this palace, it looked like a palace.

Speaker 2 (01:01:48):
At this after party? Was it Who was the DJ
Lisa at that party?

Speaker 3 (01:01:53):
Bresh was a DJ dude.

Speaker 2 (01:01:54):
It was sick and we are kind of like stranded
because we don't have a ride of picks up. The
sun's coming out and there's no ubers, okay, and so
in Qatar, yeah, well there are ubers. There are ubers,
but like all the ubers were taking because it was
the last day of the tournament. Everybody's going to the airport,
they're all booked. We're literally like it was kind of

(01:02:16):
like when you have like the Walk of Shame, but
there was no Walk of Shade. It's just like being
esa like after a party. But like we're like stranded
in this hotel lobby like waiting. We're walking outside like stranded,
trying to find a ride back to where our hotel was.

Speaker 4 (01:02:28):
And some guys were saying, you guys want to ride
and we.

Speaker 3 (01:02:31):
Were like, no, no way.

Speaker 2 (01:02:33):
Keep in mind is like the safest country in the world,
Like nothing would happen, but either way, like longstters are.
Then we finally got an uber, like I want to say,
like an hour later, and we're just like, I mean, guys,
we pulled an all nighter.

Speaker 3 (01:02:44):
We pulled an all lighter.

Speaker 1 (01:02:46):
H rusty bitches, I know, but it was.

Speaker 2 (01:02:52):
But then once we got into the ride and to
the uber riding, we're finally on our way home, that's
when the giggles hit and we were.

Speaker 3 (01:02:57):
Just like crying, laughing, like what did we just live?

Speaker 4 (01:03:00):
The driver was praying while we were giggling and laughing
and crying.

Speaker 3 (01:03:06):
Yeah, it was just good best.

Speaker 4 (01:03:08):
It was one of the best memories of should have
been praying for US World Cup coming.

Speaker 1 (01:03:12):
Of course it was my birthday too. I'll never forget it.
Birth That's birthday of my life.

Speaker 4 (01:03:18):
Guys.

Speaker 1 (01:03:19):
This has been so fun, honestly said, I feel like
we have to have you back like this has just
been amazing.

Speaker 4 (01:03:25):
Isa.

Speaker 1 (01:03:25):
Where can people find you if they want to continue
to connect with you.

Speaker 4 (01:03:29):
They can find me on social media ally eleven. They
can find me on telemuning the Premier League and the
US woman's national team and the World Cup next, let's go.

Speaker 3 (01:03:41):
Amazing.

Speaker 1 (01:03:42):
Well, thank you so much for joining us. I had
a blast.

Speaker 4 (01:03:46):
Thank you, commy, thank you, Mellie.

Speaker 3 (01:03:48):
So I'll see in a few minutes.

Speaker 1 (01:03:54):
They're they're actually in the same house, separate rooms. Well,
thank you guys so much for joining us.

Speaker 3 (01:04:00):
This is our episode of.

Speaker 1 (01:04:03):
I Hope you guys are feeling inspired, you are feeling
challenged to go out there and chase after your dreams
and fight for what you know is right. It's been
an honor for me to talk to these two women
that I admire so much. Do now forget to send
us your messages. We love hearing from you, and subscribe
to the podcast so you do not miss any new episodes.
Drop a comment, let us know what you thought, and

(01:04:25):
we'll see you all next week.

Speaker 3 (01:04:27):
Bye hey By.

Speaker 1 (01:04:33):
Is an iHeart women's sports production and partnership with Deep
Blue Sports and Entertainment.

Speaker 2 (01:04:37):
For more podcasts, listen to the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,