December 4, 2025 • 36 mins
On this episode of Levels to This, Sheryl Swoopes and Terrika Foster-Brasby get real about the messy middle of doing what you love for a living. From Sheryl’s years of championships and pressure to Terrika’s rise in sports media, they unpack the unseen side of “dream jobs”—the exhaustion, the expectations, and the fear of letting go. They also shout out the women who lift them up and dig into how to protect your joy, reclaim your purpose, and know when it’s time to step back or start fresh. It’s honest, funny, and full of gems.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Levels To.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
This is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with
Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
You can find us on the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Hey, what's going on?
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Everybody? It's your girl? Srika Foster Brasby.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
What's up, y'all?
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Is your girl? Cheryl swoops a stuffy one, but it's
me ay And this is levels to.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
This podcast is the show where we share that it
is levels to the ship that women go through. And honey,
we have got a very fun show lined up for
you today. But first, schul it seems like you can't
briefe what you got going on over there.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I'm here, I don't know. It's knock on wood. I
very rarely get sick like this stuff. But I think
it's that time of year. Like the weather, first of all,
have been really beautiful, and then the last few days
it got in the thirties here in Houston and raining,
(01:07):
and I don't know, I thought I could still walk
outside with flip flops and shorts, and yep, two days later,
I'm sniffling and shitting and coughing and all things.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
And now I'm stuffy.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
I don't even throw bath. You Tomo, listen and you
tell the people what you got to do. When you
tell the people where you going and.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
What you're about to do, listen here, listen. We don't
even need to talk about me what I'm about to go.
Do you see what I'm about to have on?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Though?
Speaker 4 (01:39):
A whole lass sweatshirt, sweater, sweater and the spirits with beans.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
What does that means?
Speaker 4 (01:48):
I recognize when it's thirty degrees outside them with some
damn clothes on, That's.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
What that means.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
I had clothes on.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
It was like a quick let me run outside and
do something like I was putting all my Christmas lights
up things and a girl. I really don't know what
I was singing. That is crazy.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
I lost my mind. Okay, that is crazy. Let's tell
the people what's what's on your agen? Yeah? I have to.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
I have to cut my recording short today because I
have I have an obligation. I have a photo shoot
and some people are gonna judge me for this photo shoot.
But you know what, I don't care because I am
who I am. I'm going to take pictures with Black Santa.
Now listen, Black Santa only comes to the mall twice
(02:32):
a year, right, So it ain't like I got smissing
when No, like during the Christmas season.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
He only comes twice a year.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
So he already came in November, and so today it's
the only day that he's gonna be here for December, right.
And I made a promise to some children that I,
because you know the service Sigma, I do what I
do to the kids.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Of course you're gonna bring Nick, Yeah, you're gonna bring me.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
The children that I would take them to take pictures
with Santa. What I did not realize was that I
would also be obligated to take pictures with Santa. Now
my husband over here talking about you better not be
sitting on that man up, don't be sick.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
That was my next question. That was my next question.
My next question was are you putting all that.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Thing Staa's ass up?
Speaker 4 (03:30):
Santa, stat your ass up and put your arm around
this hell waist and let me tell you about all
this money I need for this mortgage that I need
you to bring me for Christmas because I believe as
long as you post out the pictures I needs to
see and I ain't mad a gred because that's some ship.
My husband will say was, well, listen, go take all
the pictures you want to take, or say the long
(03:51):
as you.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Ain't you too, you're too big to be sitting on
another grown man's or not.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
We are not that magical in this and that's not
how we roll it.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Hours how we rolling.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Crazy.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Listen, I got to get all of this stuff like
taken care of because you know, Christmas.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Is like my favorite holiday. I it's my thing.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
And I can't be like down and out like this
because I got things to do.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
I got things do.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
I love it. I'm following your lead.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
I actually started pulling out my Christmas stuff so that
I can like decorate, so I've got like fireplace and
stuffer it.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
But I haven't gotten my tree yet.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
So that's what I've got to do over this week
is I've got to get my tree. I actually might
have guessed this year, which I'm excited about. I've not
stayed in my home like you don't have my Halloween parties,
but like hosted family, Yeah, hosted family since we've lived here.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
So if family comes for Christmas, be dope.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
We don't know for sure, but you know, hopefully they
you know, might come through.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
So I'll keep everybody's fingers crossed. Sould be fun. So
I had decided that first I wanted to try and
do this.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Whole like like not necessarily an African thing Christmas, but
I wanted to do like, like all like black decor
for Christmas. I wanted to have like a black and
Goal Christmas, right. But then when I started going through
all of my Christmas stuff, like decorations and like, I
(05:39):
got a whole damn shit full of Christmas stuff, and
knowing how the economy is right now and all the uncertainty,
I said, you know what, don't do it.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
I ain't doing it.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
I'm gonna just use what I got Now, I do
have a black Christmas tree. I got black and Goal
on my Christmas tree, but I pulled out all the
other decor cause is nah, I can't.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
I can't.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
I've been trying to figure out every year I try
to do a different color theme as well. Last year
I did red and green. I mean obviously red and green,
but like I stuck to red and green. I think
a year before that I did red and gold. I
think this year I want to do a green and
gold theme. I'm kind of feeling that foresty kind of
look that green and foresty. So I think I'm going
to do with green and gold this year for like
(06:22):
my primary color for Christmas.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
So that should be fun. I'm excited about that.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
But I was also going to say before I move on,
and before we move on, because we've got a great
show today. I celebrate Kwanza. I'm a Kwanta girl. I
celebrate Quanta every year. So when it comes to like
black decoor and things like that, the best time I
think it's like maybe the week or two before because
you can always get all the Quantsa stuff And so yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Yeah, that's a great idea. Kwansa's great. Quantsas great.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
We'll talk about it later later in this month, we'll
have a show where we.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Can talk about Quanta.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
But we however, have such a fun show today.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
I mean, we'll talk about Quanta in another show, but
today's show is really going to take us outside of
the box because today, you know, we have always talked
about what we love. You talked about you love Christmas,
I talked about it, I love Halloween.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
We always talked about things.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
That we love, and even this podcast things that we love, right,
But at some point sometimes shit that we love becomes
a chore, becomes a job, it becomes an obligation that
we just don't really want to fuck with no more.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
How do we handle that?
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Right?
Speaker 4 (07:31):
So on today's show, we're going to talk about how
we handle our passion kind of turning into pressure. So
let's just go ahead and kick this thing into the
next level. Sure, how often has someone you know that
(07:59):
you've met or come across or spoke to, who have
just come to you and have just been like, you know,
oh my god, I want to do what you do.
I've wanted to play basketball, I wish I had this
career blah blah blah blah blah. And you say to yourself, man,
if you only knew what it took to get here,
(08:20):
you might reevaluate all those things that you think you want,
Like how often have you probably had to deal with
something like daily?
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Seriously almost daily?
Speaker 2 (08:30):
And you know, the crazy thing is, even if if
a person, if someone doesn't come up to me and
say that to me, there are days when I actually
said to myself like, damn, how was I able to
play professional basketball for so many years?
Speaker 1 (08:51):
And honestly and not lose my shit. Yeah yeah, and
that's not you know, and that's not aimed at.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
A particular person or a player, but probably just like
situations and fans at times, are people who aren't fans,
Like yep, I was so excited about this episode because
there's just so much shit that I feel like I've
held on to for so long because I had to
(09:29):
and now to, you know, just to be able to
have a conversation with someone who.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
In different fields or careers.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
But we probably feel so much alike on a lot
of these situations that we've been in.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
So yeah, you almost every day did Yeah, you nailed it.
You nailed it because today we're talking about passion versus sure,
because I think all of us, when we get into
what we're doing and what we want to do, we
have that initial fire and that burning and that excitement
(10:09):
and that.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Passion for it.
Speaker 4 (10:10):
Right, Like, Like imagine being able to say I am
a professional basketball player, like I played this game for
fun and now I get to do this every day
as a job, Like that's crazy, Like it's so incredible. Same, right,
Like I used to talk about sports behind a bar.
I was a bartender for ten years. You know what
I mean, I want make it on real money. I
(10:31):
was just shooting shit with people who was coming to
order beer and wings. And to now have a platform
where this is literally what I do is and to
get paid for it and to get paid for it,
it's amazing. But I think people don't always see the sacrifice,
the time, the stress, the vulnerability, the things that you
have to juggle before anybody claps and wants to see you,
(10:54):
and it becomes at times a blurred line where the
passion that you have starts to feel more like pressure
than it is still feeling like that passion that you
originally ca And I think like that's something that women
more than anybody go through because we have to often
(11:14):
balance so many different things at so many different times.
You had to balance, be it a professional basketball player,
being a woman, being a.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Mom, all a wife being a wife. Like, huh, it's
a lot of hats that we wear. And so you know,
with our podcast, when we talk about every episode pretty
much all the not only the shit that we go through,
but all the different hats we wear and all the
responsibilities that we have that people don't necessarily see.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
You know, when people come.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Up to me and they're like, oh my gosh, you're
so lucky that you get to play basketball for a living,
or you're a professional basketball player for a living.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
And you know, I say, listen, don't get me wrong.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
I loved every second and minute of what I did
as a professional basketball player. But just because I loved
it doesn't mean I necessarily liked it all the time, right,
the pressures that came with it, the questions that came
with it, And what I oftentimes say to people is,
(12:22):
you know, as athletes, we're entertainers, right, Like people are
paying their money to come watch us entertain them.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Right.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
We're gonna compete, We're gonna play hard. It's fun to
watch all the things. But what I oftentimes say to
people is what you all get and what you all
see is you see the finished product, right, you see
what we've been doing, all the hard work on behind
the scenes so we can bring this to you. You
(12:55):
have no idea what my day was like, what my
week was like. You don't know what my Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday was like.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
For me to be able to.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Come out here and give you everything I got on Saturday, right,
I haven't even put in the fact that me being
a mom, right, all the things that I have to
do off the court. So when they say that, I'm like, yeah, like,
I was very blessed to have the type of career
(13:25):
that I had as a basketball player.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
But at the same time, you don't have a.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Clue at how hard this shit was. Yes, you be
able to get to get through it, so you could
come up to me and say that, right, yes.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
Yes, and you hit the nail on the head when
you said I love it, But I didn't always like it,
because doing stuff that you love doesn't necessarily mean it's
not training. Sometimes, like sometimes this shit is your training
and tiring. And you knowimilarly, people think it's really easy
(14:03):
to get on TV and talk about sports.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
I mean they're like, shit, I could get up there,
no doubt, no doubt.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Sure, I'm sure you think you could. Sure, I'm sure
you think you could.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
Let's add in the actual timing that you have to speak.
Let's add in the cadences that you need to learn.
Let's add in voice inflections. Let's add in you got
three people speaking in your ear at the same time
that you're trying to provide a yes, There are some
folks who literally can't stand for someone else to talk
over you. If you can't make your point because you
(14:39):
can't stand somebody else's talking over you. Can you imagine
having a producer and a director in your ear at
the same time that you're trying to carry on a conversation.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
There the teleprompter hello, And let's also talk about you're
supposed to be reading something on the teleprompter and the
teleprompter just messes up.
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Yeah, yep, And you got to do all this in
thirty seconds because you ain't because you don't have You
ain't got twenty minutes. You got thirty seconds to make
this point that everybody is supposed to agree with or
disagree with, depending on the point.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
It is not as easy as it looks.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
And as much as we love what we do, at
times it becomes jerining and you ask yourself, like, am
I doing this because I love it still? Or am
I doing this now just because it feels like it's
a damn job? And I think like that is something
that we have to try to figure out how to balance,
no matter what your career is like, when do when
(15:36):
does what we do stop or start creating unrealistic expectations, right,
because say, and you've done this, right, y'all won four championships,
So it then becomes unrealistic to think that you guys
could ever lose.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
No, y'all can't ever lose a game.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
Y'all can't ever lose because they've won four straight championships.
And the moment that you might have a bad game,
or the moment that you might lose, or the moment
that something doesn't goes the way that folks think it's
supposed to go, you've now become the enemy of the world.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Or you see, she wasn't as good as y'all thought
she was. That part, I'm like, we just what technician?
How many MVY people do? I mean, yeah, but it happens,
And that's when t that's when I'm like, what what
more do y'all want? Right? But this is what I
(16:36):
said to somebody when I retire. I never wanted to
be that athlete that.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
One played way too long, meaning your your body wasn't
doing the things that you're used to it doing, your
mind what like, you just couldn't be that player anymore.
So I never wanted to be that athlete. But I
also didn't want to be the athlete that retired and said, damn,
I still got two more years to come back then
(17:01):
retire again. So for me, when I retired, I knew
it was it was time, and so I never had
one single regret when I retired. For me, I started
playing basketball when I was seven years old and I
played thirteen years in the W But every year there
(17:24):
was a challenge there for me, right, and that was
my passion. But every year I was like, all right,
I'm gonna be better at this, or our team's gonna
be better at that, or I'm gonna win this individual award,
or we're gonna do this with a team. There was
always something that challenged me every single year. When I
(17:46):
got towards the end of my career, after we won
four championships, I won three MVPs, I won Defensive Player
of the Year, Olympic gold, met all those things, I
was like, honestly, there is nothing left for me to
accomplish as an individual player in this league. Yeah, And
(18:07):
it went from being fun and basketball and my passion
to now, honestly, I was like, damn, oh, I won't
go to work today. And that's when I knew that
it was time for me to step away and find
something else that I was passionate about that challenged me
(18:27):
that I woke up every single day saying, all right,
I get to go do this, not I have to go.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
I have too.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Mm hmmm mm hmm.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
That's it right there. Yeah, that's when your check engine
light comes on. Yeah, when your check engine kind light
comes on. It's like, I'm not here mentally, I'm not
here emotionally. I might still be here physically, but I mean,
truth be told, what am I really doing and what
am I really gaining? If I really don't want to
be here? Yes, right, Like that's the moment that your
(18:58):
passion kind of turned into pressure where you was just like.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
I'm just doing this because this is my job at this.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Point, and you know what, and I'm getting a pay check.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
And I'm getting a check.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Yeah, right, because not only was I hurting myself, I
was hurting my team, right, because you're not getting the
best out of me anymore.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
And I knew it was time, and.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
So I was I was okay with saying this is
it for me, But there are so many people they
want to hold on to something that's no longer there
or or not only not only is it no longer there,
You're holding on to something that you no longer want
to be at.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
Yes, yes, And why do they do that? And that's
the thing, right, it's the why it could be because
I had this attitude for a long time. Sure where
it was like, I'm from the east side of Detroit
and people where I'm from don't make it, and so
I can't fuck up.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
I can't.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
I can't be you know, I can't be that person
that you know called me crazy. But I grew up
a church girls, so it was like, I'm the minister's daughter.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
I can't get pregnant before marriage.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
I can't do this, that and the third because these
are the things that other people see if you I
can't and like that is kind of one of the
things that makes people continue to do stuff that they
really don't want to do anymore because they feel the
pressure of I gotta make my family happy, I gotta
make my community happy. I got all these people, and
(20:27):
now let's add in social media. All of these people
on social media expect me to do a B and C.
So now I gotta do a B and C even
though I really don't want to do it anymore.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Pause.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
No, like your passion needs to be your passion.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
Yeah, if that means I need to take a break,
I need to stop, I need to switch gears, then
do that. But here's the other thing. And I'm gonna
take a quick break right after we drop this. And
that's changing your passion doesn't necessarily mean changing your purpose.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
It's not the same.
Speaker 4 (21:01):
And we'll talk more about that after this quick break.
So I have a really good friend who is also
your good friend, and her name was La China Robinson.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
And let me tell you what I love about La China.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
The China has always had the purpose of being in
the basketball space, and at one point in time, her
passion was, you know, calling games. She was you know, hosting,
she was playing basketball. She understood, maybe this isn't the
right path for me, but I still want to uplift
women in this game. So she started working in the
(21:48):
NCAA office and then she started calling games, which she
currently does.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
And now my.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
Friend and your friend, our friend has a new venture
that she's started calling the Rise with the China, and
it's all about uplifting women and giving them opportunities to
be successful in this space. And that is her purpose,
and that purpose has been the same purpose the entire time.
The purpose has always been to uplift and to grow
(22:13):
and to grow the sport and to grow to women
around it. But the way that she's been doing it
has been different after so many years.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
And I think it just she's such.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
A great example of your purpose doesn't have to change
even if your passion does. Right And so at one
point for you, your passion was on the court, and
now you're still connecting with basketball and still connecting to
this league. That doesn't necessarily have to take place on
the court, And like that is so important for people
(22:43):
to understand, like it's okay to pivot. You don't have
to you don't have to change what your goal and
your purpose is just to necessarily appease the pressure in
the people from the outside world.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
God, you dropped so many gems there.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Let me go back and say something about let's I
just remember watching well the Robin Roberts and all of them,
But there was something about me watching the China Robinson
cover games on ESPN.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
That I was like, huh, I could never do what
she does.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Like I really felt that and believed that don't ask
me why I felt that way, But just watching her,
there was something about her.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
I was like, damn, she's so good. She's so good.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
But what I really loved about when I watched her,
I could not only hear her passion and what she
was doing, but I felt it. And so when you
talk about what her purpose always was covering the game,
covering the games and has always been about uplifting women,
(23:52):
empowering women, women in this space, in the media space,
she shows that in everything.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
That she does everything.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
I am very confident in who I am as a
person and as a black woman and in the space
that I walk in. But when I got my first
opportunity to work with La.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
China on it was the halftime show.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
She was doing a WBA countdown.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Yeah girl.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
When I tell you, I was like, Hella nervous. One
because it was Latina Robinson and I was like, I
gotta be on my shit, I gotta be great. And
two because it was a different space for me, Like
I could talk basketball with the best of them every
every day, all day. But going back to something you
said earlier, not everybody can be on television and talk
(24:42):
about basketball, right, you got a certain window amount of
time that you got to get shit covered in like
that's stressful. Latina Robinson said to me, she said, just
be you, that's it, and I got you. And just
hearing those words from her at that point, I was like,
(25:04):
I can do this, and I can and I'm very
confident in being able.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
To do it.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
I say all of that to say this, all of
us are on our own path and our own journey,
and that journey is gonna take you where you're supposed
to be because what's for you.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Is for you.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
But it's always nice to have somebody along that path
or journey that will hold your hand or grab your
hand or lift you up and say, cis I got you.
My gosh, I'm not gonna let you fall. I'm not
gonna let you fail. And that's exactly what La China
did for me. That's what she continues to do. And
(25:46):
I'm gonna say the same thing to you te that
that's who you are.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
No.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
One hundred, Like, I'm gonna.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Say this because we're having a real conversation even during
the podcast, like doing this podcas, I was like, oh no,
me and T will be great. We're gonna be great.
And because I know who you are like as a
person and your passion and what you're great at. That's
that's why I feel like this podcast like you and
(26:15):
I where we're so much alike, so much a like,
but we're different in some aspects, but we're so much
alike that like this this had no option but to work.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (26:29):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
But the last thing I want to say on this
topic though, is when you said, why do people oftentimes
stay right when when when they know it's time to move,
but maybe they're not ready. A lot of it is fear,
like fear of the unknown. I was there for so long,
(26:52):
Like when I retired, it was like damn, like what's next.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Because for so many years basketball was.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
My passion, Like this is like I have to have.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
This in my life.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
And so when you know that your day to day
is going to change and it's not going to be
what it.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Used to be, like that shits scary. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
So it's that fear of the unknown of what's next
for me. But the only thing I will say to
anybody who may be out there listening and they're like
I don't know, like.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
This or bro, you gotta do it. You have to
do it.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Be confident in who you are, and again make sure
you have the right people behind you that are not
going to let you fail.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
That is so important.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
Your network and your community has to be the kind
of community to support you. And the other thing I
want to add on to that before we end, this
is a couple of things.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
One, taking a break and being burnt out.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Is not failure. Oh no, not at all.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
Like it's not like some people honestly, because even I
have had this and like we had a recent episode
with my girl Sharanna, she's a sore of ours who's
a therapist who gave us a whole rundown on boundaries.
And boundaries are so important because if you don't set them,
you will get burnt out. And burnt out means you
(28:21):
need to take a break. But it is not a
failure to take a break, like if you need like
they whatever. This thing is that people got out here
about black women in rest that when women in general
and rest like, we can't never stop. We have to
always continually be going and going and going and going
and going. No, that's why I take a break last
week and went on a good.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
Old Fiday vacation and.
Speaker 4 (28:45):
Going anyway, listen, listen here, and you know why because
after that w NBA season we just had. It's true
out of here. I'm out of here. Don't ask me
for nothing. Fact I will never tell somebody no, I
won't come on they show. But baby, how let me
December first because at this point, between now and all
(29:07):
of November, I have nothing for you. I'm not doing important.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Nothing is important.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
I have to I do not want to get burnt
out because this is my passion.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
I don't want to hate doing this.
Speaker 4 (29:20):
And if I keep doing it, doing it even when
I don't feel like it, I'm gonna start to hate
doing this.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
So I need a break. We have to take a break.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
And the last thing that I will also say for
people is that you can reconnect with whatever your passion is.
Sometimes folks just need to step away and try something
different and come back. I'm gonna give my husband as
an example. My husband's a chef, but it was getting
overwhelming in the restaurant for a little while and he
was like, I can't do this, Like I need to
(29:50):
just back up, maybe try something else.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Now.
Speaker 4 (29:52):
I ain't gonna tell you this food. Went to go
drive trucks for FedEx. I don't know why you thought
that that was the other.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
Thing that you wanted to too.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
But the man was like, you know, very different, that's
very chef.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
Not it was not in the kitchen, he was not
doing whatever, lo and behole. He got an opportunity, which
is where he is now at MGM. And and it
was coming back where it was a better opportunity, where
it was the realization where it was like, it's not
that I did not want to cook anymore. It wasn't
(30:26):
that I fell out of love with the culinary industry.
It was that I had given so much with so
little return that I felt like I just needed to
step away, do something else, find something else, find a hobby,
do something, and then come back. And So if people
need to reconnect with whatever that passion is, and that
means stepping away, trying something different, doing something else, do that.
(30:48):
But you don't have to lose your purpose. Like that's
the entire point. So fans, listeners, friends, good, just you know,
think about that, write it down, honor it, but.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
Don't for you.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Do it for you. It ain't about what anybody else
thinks you should or shouldn't be doing.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
Yep, do it for you. That's it.
Speaker 4 (31:12):
And when we come back, friends, we will go ahead
and level this thing on off.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Yeah. Sure, it's gonna be.
Speaker 4 (31:31):
So much to unpack, to be honest, because you know,
we about to be going into twenty twenty six and
this is kind of the year where this is a
time of year where people are thinking about wanting to
do new things, wanting to explore.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
New things to start the year right.
Speaker 4 (31:45):
And so I'm just really glad that we had this
conversation even before we started thinking about goals and stuff
that we want to do for next year, because I
promise you, the moment that shit start to get on
my nerves and might be like, let me go ahead
and take a break.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
And then let me come, that's just human nature, right,
That's just who we are. And this conversation even reminded
me of our kind of sort of like our Boundaries conversation,
because I do feel like in a way they're very similar.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
And I just think we have to remind ourselves a lot.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
That just because we're passionate about something, it doesn't necessarily
mean we have to burn ourselves out from that thing
that we're passionate about. But I just think it's such
a needed conversation. And I hope we help somebody today.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
I love that.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
I love that.
Speaker 4 (32:38):
And so speaking of helping someone, you always find a
way to help someone with your positive affirmation.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
So what can you level us up with today?
Speaker 2 (32:50):
Y'all can't see my church fingers, but I got my
church fingers going because I'm not selfish all gatekeep you know,
and do none of that stuff.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
And usually i'm when i'm when i'm looking.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
For positive quotes or motivational stuff, I always think about
the people our listeners. This is for our listeners too,
but I gotta be honest with you. This is for me,
okay for me. In it says you can forgive someone
(33:21):
and still close the door. Apology accepted, access denied.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
Oh hit that one more time. That just hit me,
because girls, you can forgive someone and.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
Still close the door. Apology accepted, access.
Speaker 4 (33:46):
Denied that whole part, that whole part, that whole part
like we ain't got no beef, says wish you the best,
but I ain't really nothing else. I ain't got nothing
else for you. I got none else.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
For see bro, I hear you.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
I've shape apology, but uh yeah, forgiving them more access
I'm gonna go this way, You're gonna go that way.
Speaker 4 (34:15):
That's crazy, but it's such a good quote because it
can be really explored so much deeper. I mean, my god,
we just anyway, y'all. Thank y'all for kicking it with us. Honestly,
we love we love y'all, and we really love the
way that y'all support us, and we are continuing to
(34:35):
do our best to support you back. So you guys
have a few more days to get into our Levels
to this podcast giveaway.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
Listen.
Speaker 4 (34:46):
We have received some incredible emails, some great info from
folks that are really trying to win this thousand dollars,
so continue to send you have.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Unto December the eighth. December the eighth is the last
day to submit.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
A few more.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
It's a few more days.
Speaker 4 (35:03):
So make sure you're following us on Instagram at lttpod
and then you also need to make sure you send
us an email about why you should be the recipient
at Levels to this podcast at gmail dot com. But
in the meantime, we are going to be back with
more next level conversation about all the shit and real
shit that we go through. Okay, remember this is not
(35:25):
just our show. It's our show, So while you're sending
an email about why you should win a grand you
should also let us know any email why you love
our show, maybe what topic you want to talk about next.
We love to hear all of that, but at the
end of the day, guys, please keep your mental's ground
level and we will be back next week.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
Hey, listen to Levels to This on America's number one
podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search
levels to this with Cheryl Swoops and Tarika Foster Brasby
and start listening.
Levels To.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
This is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with
Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
You can find us on the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Hey, what's going on?
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Everybody? It's your girl? Srika Foster Brasby.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
What's up, y'all?
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Is your girl? Cheryl swoops a stuffy one, but it's
me ay And this is levels to.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
This podcast is the show where we share that it
is levels to the ship that women go through. And honey,
we have got a very fun show lined up for
you today. But first, schul it seems like you can't
briefe what you got going on over there.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I'm here, I don't know. It's knock on wood. I
very rarely get sick like this stuff. But I think
it's that time of year. Like the weather, first of all,
have been really beautiful, and then the last few days
it got in the thirties here in Houston and raining,
(01:07):
and I don't know, I thought I could still walk
outside with flip flops and shorts, and yep, two days later,
I'm sniffling and shitting and coughing and all things.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
And now I'm stuffy.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
I don't even throw bath. You Tomo, listen and you
tell the people what you got to do. When you
tell the people where you going and.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
What you're about to do, listen here, listen. We don't
even need to talk about me what I'm about to go.
Do you see what I'm about to have on?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Though?
Speaker 4 (01:39):
A whole lass sweatshirt, sweater, sweater and the spirits with beans.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
What does that means?
Speaker 4 (01:48):
I recognize when it's thirty degrees outside them with some
damn clothes on, That's.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
What that means.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
I had clothes on.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
It was like a quick let me run outside and
do something like I was putting all my Christmas lights
up things and a girl. I really don't know what
I was singing. That is crazy.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
I lost my mind. Okay, that is crazy. Let's tell
the people what's what's on your agen? Yeah? I have to.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
I have to cut my recording short today because I
have I have an obligation. I have a photo shoot
and some people are gonna judge me for this photo shoot.
But you know what, I don't care because I am
who I am. I'm going to take pictures with Black Santa.
Now listen, Black Santa only comes to the mall twice
(02:32):
a year, right, So it ain't like I got smissing
when No, like during the Christmas season.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
He only comes twice a year.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
So he already came in November, and so today it's
the only day that he's gonna be here for December, right.
And I made a promise to some children that I,
because you know the service Sigma, I do what I
do to the kids.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Of course you're gonna bring Nick, Yeah, you're gonna bring me.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
The children that I would take them to take pictures
with Santa. What I did not realize was that I
would also be obligated to take pictures with Santa. Now
my husband over here talking about you better not be
sitting on that man up, don't be sick.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
That was my next question. That was my next question.
My next question was are you putting all that.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Thing Staa's ass up?
Speaker 4 (03:30):
Santa, stat your ass up and put your arm around
this hell waist and let me tell you about all
this money I need for this mortgage that I need
you to bring me for Christmas because I believe as
long as you post out the pictures I needs to
see and I ain't mad a gred because that's some ship.
My husband will say was, well, listen, go take all
the pictures you want to take, or say the long
(03:51):
as you.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Ain't you too, you're too big to be sitting on
another grown man's or not.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
We are not that magical in this and that's not
how we roll it.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Hours how we rolling.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Crazy.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Listen, I got to get all of this stuff like
taken care of because you know, Christmas.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Is like my favorite holiday. I it's my thing.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
And I can't be like down and out like this
because I got things to do.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
I got things do.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
I love it. I'm following your lead.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
I actually started pulling out my Christmas stuff so that
I can like decorate, so I've got like fireplace and
stuffer it.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
But I haven't gotten my tree yet.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
So that's what I've got to do over this week
is I've got to get my tree. I actually might
have guessed this year, which I'm excited about. I've not
stayed in my home like you don't have my Halloween parties,
but like hosted family, Yeah, hosted family since we've lived here.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
So if family comes for Christmas, be dope.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
We don't know for sure, but you know, hopefully they
you know, might come through.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
So I'll keep everybody's fingers crossed. Sould be fun. So
I had decided that first I wanted to try and
do this.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Whole like like not necessarily an African thing Christmas, but
I wanted to do like, like all like black decor
for Christmas. I wanted to have like a black and
Goal Christmas, right. But then when I started going through
all of my Christmas stuff, like decorations and like, I
(05:39):
got a whole damn shit full of Christmas stuff, and
knowing how the economy is right now and all the uncertainty,
I said, you know what, don't do it.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
I ain't doing it.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
I'm gonna just use what I got Now, I do
have a black Christmas tree. I got black and Goal
on my Christmas tree, but I pulled out all the
other decor cause is nah, I can't.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
I can't.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
I've been trying to figure out every year I try
to do a different color theme as well. Last year
I did red and green. I mean obviously red and green,
but like I stuck to red and green. I think
a year before that I did red and gold. I
think this year I want to do a green and
gold theme. I'm kind of feeling that foresty kind of
look that green and foresty. So I think I'm going
to do with green and gold this year for like
(06:22):
my primary color for Christmas.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
So that should be fun. I'm excited about that.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
But I was also going to say before I move on,
and before we move on, because we've got a great
show today. I celebrate Kwanza. I'm a Kwanta girl. I
celebrate Quanta every year. So when it comes to like
black decoor and things like that, the best time I
think it's like maybe the week or two before because
you can always get all the Quantsa stuff And so yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Yeah, that's a great idea. Kwansa's great. Quantsas great.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
We'll talk about it later later in this month, we'll
have a show where we.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Can talk about Quanta.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
But we however, have such a fun show today.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
I mean, we'll talk about Quanta in another show, but
today's show is really going to take us outside of
the box because today, you know, we have always talked
about what we love. You talked about you love Christmas,
I talked about it, I love Halloween.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
We always talked about things.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
That we love, and even this podcast things that we love, right,
But at some point sometimes shit that we love becomes
a chore, becomes a job, it becomes an obligation that
we just don't really want to fuck with no more.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
How do we handle that?
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Right?
Speaker 4 (07:31):
So on today's show, we're going to talk about how
we handle our passion kind of turning into pressure. So
let's just go ahead and kick this thing into the
next level. Sure, how often has someone you know that
(07:59):
you've met or come across or spoke to, who have
just come to you and have just been like, you know,
oh my god, I want to do what you do.
I've wanted to play basketball, I wish I had this
career blah blah blah blah blah. And you say to yourself, man,
if you only knew what it took to get here,
(08:20):
you might reevaluate all those things that you think you want,
Like how often have you probably had to deal with
something like daily?
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Seriously almost daily?
Speaker 2 (08:30):
And you know, the crazy thing is, even if if
a person, if someone doesn't come up to me and
say that to me, there are days when I actually
said to myself like, damn, how was I able to
play professional basketball for so many years?
Speaker 1 (08:51):
And honestly and not lose my shit. Yeah yeah, and
that's not you know, and that's not aimed at.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
A particular person or a player, but probably just like
situations and fans at times, are people who aren't fans,
Like yep, I was so excited about this episode because
there's just so much shit that I feel like I've
held on to for so long because I had to
(09:29):
and now to, you know, just to be able to
have a conversation with someone who.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
In different fields or careers.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
But we probably feel so much alike on a lot
of these situations that we've been in.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
So yeah, you almost every day did Yeah, you nailed it.
You nailed it because today we're talking about passion versus sure,
because I think all of us, when we get into
what we're doing and what we want to do, we
have that initial fire and that burning and that excitement
(10:09):
and that.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Passion for it.
Speaker 4 (10:10):
Right, Like, Like imagine being able to say I am
a professional basketball player, like I played this game for
fun and now I get to do this every day
as a job, Like that's crazy, Like it's so incredible. Same, right,
Like I used to talk about sports behind a bar.
I was a bartender for ten years. You know what
I mean, I want make it on real money. I
(10:31):
was just shooting shit with people who was coming to
order beer and wings. And to now have a platform
where this is literally what I do is and to
get paid for it and to get paid for it,
it's amazing. But I think people don't always see the sacrifice,
the time, the stress, the vulnerability, the things that you
have to juggle before anybody claps and wants to see you,
(10:54):
and it becomes at times a blurred line where the
passion that you have starts to feel more like pressure
than it is still feeling like that passion that you
originally ca And I think like that's something that women
more than anybody go through because we have to often
(11:14):
balance so many different things at so many different times.
You had to balance, be it a professional basketball player,
being a woman, being a.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Mom, all a wife being a wife. Like, huh, it's
a lot of hats that we wear. And so you know,
with our podcast, when we talk about every episode pretty
much all the not only the shit that we go through,
but all the different hats we wear and all the
responsibilities that we have that people don't necessarily see.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
You know, when people come.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Up to me and they're like, oh my gosh, you're
so lucky that you get to play basketball for a living,
or you're a professional basketball player for a living.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
And you know, I say, listen, don't get me wrong.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
I loved every second and minute of what I did
as a professional basketball player. But just because I loved
it doesn't mean I necessarily liked it all the time, right,
the pressures that came with it, the questions that came
with it, And what I oftentimes say to people is,
(12:22):
you know, as athletes, we're entertainers, right, Like people are
paying their money to come watch us entertain them.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Right.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
We're gonna compete, We're gonna play hard. It's fun to
watch all the things. But what I oftentimes say to
people is what you all get and what you all
see is you see the finished product, right, you see
what we've been doing, all the hard work on behind
the scenes so we can bring this to you. You
(12:55):
have no idea what my day was like, what my
week was like. You don't know what my Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday was like.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
For me to be able to.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Come out here and give you everything I got on Saturday, right,
I haven't even put in the fact that me being
a mom, right, all the things that I have to
do off the court. So when they say that, I'm like, yeah, like,
I was very blessed to have the type of career
(13:25):
that I had as a basketball player.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
But at the same time, you don't have a.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Clue at how hard this shit was. Yes, you be
able to get to get through it, so you could
come up to me and say that, right, yes.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
Yes, and you hit the nail on the head when
you said I love it, But I didn't always like it,
because doing stuff that you love doesn't necessarily mean it's
not training. Sometimes, like sometimes this shit is your training
and tiring. And you knowimilarly, people think it's really easy
(14:03):
to get on TV and talk about sports.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
I mean they're like, shit, I could get up there,
no doubt, no doubt.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Sure, I'm sure you think you could. Sure, I'm sure
you think you could.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
Let's add in the actual timing that you have to speak.
Let's add in the cadences that you need to learn.
Let's add in voice inflections. Let's add in you got
three people speaking in your ear at the same time
that you're trying to provide a yes, There are some
folks who literally can't stand for someone else to talk
over you. If you can't make your point because you
(14:39):
can't stand somebody else's talking over you. Can you imagine
having a producer and a director in your ear at
the same time that you're trying to carry on a conversation.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
There the teleprompter hello, And let's also talk about you're
supposed to be reading something on the teleprompter and the
teleprompter just messes up.
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Yeah, yep, And you got to do all this in
thirty seconds because you ain't because you don't have You
ain't got twenty minutes. You got thirty seconds to make
this point that everybody is supposed to agree with or
disagree with, depending on the point.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
It is not as easy as it looks.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
And as much as we love what we do, at
times it becomes jerining and you ask yourself, like, am
I doing this because I love it still? Or am
I doing this now just because it feels like it's
a damn job? And I think like that is something
that we have to try to figure out how to balance,
no matter what your career is like, when do when
(15:36):
does what we do stop or start creating unrealistic expectations, right,
because say, and you've done this, right, y'all won four championships,
So it then becomes unrealistic to think that you guys
could ever lose.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
No, y'all can't ever lose a game.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
Y'all can't ever lose because they've won four straight championships.
And the moment that you might have a bad game,
or the moment that you might lose, or the moment
that something doesn't goes the way that folks think it's
supposed to go, you've now become the enemy of the world.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Or you see, she wasn't as good as y'all thought
she was. That part, I'm like, we just what technician?
How many MVY people do? I mean, yeah, but it happens,
And that's when t that's when I'm like, what what
more do y'all want? Right? But this is what I
(16:36):
said to somebody when I retire. I never wanted to
be that athlete that.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
One played way too long, meaning your your body wasn't
doing the things that you're used to it doing, your
mind what like, you just couldn't be that player anymore.
So I never wanted to be that athlete. But I
also didn't want to be the athlete that retired and said, damn,
I still got two more years to come back then
(17:01):
retire again. So for me, when I retired, I knew
it was it was time, and so I never had
one single regret when I retired. For me, I started
playing basketball when I was seven years old and I
played thirteen years in the W But every year there
(17:24):
was a challenge there for me, right, and that was
my passion. But every year I was like, all right,
I'm gonna be better at this, or our team's gonna
be better at that, or I'm gonna win this individual award,
or we're gonna do this with a team. There was
always something that challenged me every single year. When I
(17:46):
got towards the end of my career, after we won
four championships, I won three MVPs, I won Defensive Player
of the Year, Olympic gold, met all those things, I
was like, honestly, there is nothing left for me to
accomplish as an individual player in this league. Yeah, And
(18:07):
it went from being fun and basketball and my passion
to now, honestly, I was like, damn, oh, I won't
go to work today. And that's when I knew that
it was time for me to step away and find
something else that I was passionate about that challenged me
(18:27):
that I woke up every single day saying, all right,
I get to go do this, not I have to go.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
I have too.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Mm hmmm mm hmm.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
That's it right there. Yeah, that's when your check engine
light comes on. Yeah, when your check engine kind light
comes on. It's like, I'm not here mentally, I'm not
here emotionally. I might still be here physically, but I mean,
truth be told, what am I really doing and what
am I really gaining? If I really don't want to
be here? Yes, right, Like that's the moment that your
(18:58):
passion kind of turned into pressure where you was just like.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
I'm just doing this because this is my job at this.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Point, and you know what, and I'm getting a pay check.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
And I'm getting a check.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Yeah, right, because not only was I hurting myself, I
was hurting my team, right, because you're not getting the
best out of me anymore.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
And I knew it was time, and.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
So I was I was okay with saying this is
it for me, But there are so many people they
want to hold on to something that's no longer there
or or not only not only is it no longer there,
You're holding on to something that you no longer want
to be at.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
Yes, yes, And why do they do that? And that's
the thing, right, it's the why it could be because
I had this attitude for a long time. Sure where
it was like, I'm from the east side of Detroit
and people where I'm from don't make it, and so
I can't fuck up.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
I can't.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
I can't be you know, I can't be that person
that you know called me crazy. But I grew up
a church girls, so it was like, I'm the minister's daughter.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
I can't get pregnant before marriage.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
I can't do this, that and the third because these
are the things that other people see if you I
can't and like that is kind of one of the
things that makes people continue to do stuff that they
really don't want to do anymore because they feel the
pressure of I gotta make my family happy, I gotta
make my community happy. I got all these people, and
(20:27):
now let's add in social media. All of these people
on social media expect me to do a B and C.
So now I gotta do a B and C even
though I really don't want to do it anymore.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Pause.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
No, like your passion needs to be your passion.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
Yeah, if that means I need to take a break,
I need to stop, I need to switch gears, then
do that. But here's the other thing. And I'm gonna
take a quick break right after we drop this. And
that's changing your passion doesn't necessarily mean changing your purpose.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
It's not the same.
Speaker 4 (21:01):
And we'll talk more about that after this quick break.
So I have a really good friend who is also
your good friend, and her name was La China Robinson.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
And let me tell you what I love about La China.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
The China has always had the purpose of being in
the basketball space, and at one point in time, her
passion was, you know, calling games. She was you know, hosting,
she was playing basketball. She understood, maybe this isn't the
right path for me, but I still want to uplift
women in this game. So she started working in the
(21:48):
NCAA office and then she started calling games, which she
currently does.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
And now my.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
Friend and your friend, our friend has a new venture
that she's started calling the Rise with the China, and
it's all about uplifting women and giving them opportunities to
be successful in this space. And that is her purpose,
and that purpose has been the same purpose the entire time.
The purpose has always been to uplift and to grow
(22:13):
and to grow the sport and to grow to women
around it. But the way that she's been doing it
has been different after so many years.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
And I think it just she's such.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
A great example of your purpose doesn't have to change
even if your passion does. Right And so at one
point for you, your passion was on the court, and
now you're still connecting with basketball and still connecting to
this league. That doesn't necessarily have to take place on
the court, And like that is so important for people
(22:43):
to understand, like it's okay to pivot. You don't have
to you don't have to change what your goal and
your purpose is just to necessarily appease the pressure in
the people from the outside world.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
God, you dropped so many gems there.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Let me go back and say something about let's I
just remember watching well the Robin Roberts and all of them,
But there was something about me watching the China Robinson
cover games on ESPN.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
That I was like, huh, I could never do what
she does.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Like I really felt that and believed that don't ask
me why I felt that way, But just watching her,
there was something about her.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
I was like, damn, she's so good. She's so good.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
But what I really loved about when I watched her,
I could not only hear her passion and what she
was doing, but I felt it. And so when you
talk about what her purpose always was covering the game,
covering the games and has always been about uplifting women,
(23:52):
empowering women, women in this space, in the media space,
she shows that in everything.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
That she does everything.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
I am very confident in who I am as a
person and as a black woman and in the space
that I walk in. But when I got my first
opportunity to work with La.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
China on it was the halftime show.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
She was doing a WBA countdown.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Yeah girl.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
When I tell you, I was like, Hella nervous. One
because it was Latina Robinson and I was like, I
gotta be on my shit, I gotta be great. And
two because it was a different space for me, Like
I could talk basketball with the best of them every
every day, all day. But going back to something you
said earlier, not everybody can be on television and talk
(24:42):
about basketball, right, you got a certain window amount of
time that you got to get shit covered in like
that's stressful. Latina Robinson said to me, she said, just
be you, that's it, and I got you. And just
hearing those words from her at that point, I was like,
(25:04):
I can do this, and I can and I'm very
confident in being able.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
To do it.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
I say all of that to say this, all of
us are on our own path and our own journey,
and that journey is gonna take you where you're supposed
to be because what's for you.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Is for you.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
But it's always nice to have somebody along that path
or journey that will hold your hand or grab your
hand or lift you up and say, cis I got you.
My gosh, I'm not gonna let you fall. I'm not
gonna let you fail. And that's exactly what La China
did for me. That's what she continues to do. And
(25:46):
I'm gonna say the same thing to you te that
that's who you are.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
No.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
One hundred, Like, I'm gonna.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Say this because we're having a real conversation even during
the podcast, like doing this podcas, I was like, oh no,
me and T will be great. We're gonna be great.
And because I know who you are like as a
person and your passion and what you're great at. That's
that's why I feel like this podcast like you and
(26:15):
I where we're so much alike, so much a like,
but we're different in some aspects, but we're so much
alike that like this this had no option but to work.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (26:29):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
But the last thing I want to say on this
topic though, is when you said, why do people oftentimes
stay right when when when they know it's time to move,
but maybe they're not ready. A lot of it is fear,
like fear of the unknown. I was there for so long,
(26:52):
Like when I retired, it was like damn, like what's next.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Because for so many years basketball was.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
My passion, Like this is like I have to have.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
This in my life.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
And so when you know that your day to day
is going to change and it's not going to be
what it.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Used to be, like that shits scary. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
So it's that fear of the unknown of what's next
for me. But the only thing I will say to
anybody who may be out there listening and they're like
I don't know, like.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
This or bro, you gotta do it. You have to
do it.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Be confident in who you are, and again make sure
you have the right people behind you that are not
going to let you fail.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
That is so important.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
Your network and your community has to be the kind
of community to support you. And the other thing I
want to add on to that before we end, this
is a couple of things.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
One, taking a break and being burnt out.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Is not failure. Oh no, not at all.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
Like it's not like some people honestly, because even I
have had this and like we had a recent episode
with my girl Sharanna, she's a sore of ours who's
a therapist who gave us a whole rundown on boundaries.
And boundaries are so important because if you don't set them,
you will get burnt out. And burnt out means you
(28:21):
need to take a break. But it is not a
failure to take a break, like if you need like
they whatever. This thing is that people got out here
about black women in rest that when women in general
and rest like, we can't never stop. We have to
always continually be going and going and going and going
and going. No, that's why I take a break last
week and went on a good.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
Old Fiday vacation and.
Speaker 4 (28:45):
Going anyway, listen, listen here, and you know why because
after that w NBA season we just had. It's true
out of here. I'm out of here. Don't ask me
for nothing. Fact I will never tell somebody no, I
won't come on they show. But baby, how let me
December first because at this point, between now and all
(29:07):
of November, I have nothing for you. I'm not doing important.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Nothing is important.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
I have to I do not want to get burnt
out because this is my passion.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
I don't want to hate doing this.
Speaker 4 (29:20):
And if I keep doing it, doing it even when
I don't feel like it, I'm gonna start to hate
doing this.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
So I need a break. We have to take a break.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
And the last thing that I will also say for
people is that you can reconnect with whatever your passion is.
Sometimes folks just need to step away and try something
different and come back. I'm gonna give my husband as
an example. My husband's a chef, but it was getting
overwhelming in the restaurant for a little while and he
was like, I can't do this, Like I need to
(29:50):
just back up, maybe try something else.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Now.
Speaker 4 (29:52):
I ain't gonna tell you this food. Went to go
drive trucks for FedEx. I don't know why you thought
that that was the other.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
Thing that you wanted to too.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
But the man was like, you know, very different, that's
very chef.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
Not it was not in the kitchen, he was not
doing whatever, lo and behole. He got an opportunity, which
is where he is now at MGM. And and it
was coming back where it was a better opportunity, where
it was the realization where it was like, it's not
that I did not want to cook anymore. It wasn't
(30:26):
that I fell out of love with the culinary industry.
It was that I had given so much with so
little return that I felt like I just needed to
step away, do something else, find something else, find a hobby,
do something, and then come back. And So if people
need to reconnect with whatever that passion is, and that
means stepping away, trying something different, doing something else, do that.
(30:48):
But you don't have to lose your purpose. Like that's
the entire point. So fans, listeners, friends, good, just you know,
think about that, write it down, honor it, but.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
Don't for you.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Do it for you. It ain't about what anybody else
thinks you should or shouldn't be doing.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
Yep, do it for you. That's it.
Speaker 4 (31:12):
And when we come back, friends, we will go ahead
and level this thing on off.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Yeah. Sure, it's gonna be.
Speaker 4 (31:31):
So much to unpack, to be honest, because you know,
we about to be going into twenty twenty six and
this is kind of the year where this is a
time of year where people are thinking about wanting to
do new things, wanting to explore.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
New things to start the year right.
Speaker 4 (31:45):
And so I'm just really glad that we had this
conversation even before we started thinking about goals and stuff
that we want to do for next year, because I
promise you, the moment that shit start to get on
my nerves and might be like, let me go ahead
and take a break.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
And then let me come, that's just human nature, right,
That's just who we are. And this conversation even reminded
me of our kind of sort of like our Boundaries conversation,
because I do feel like in a way they're very similar.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
And I just think we have to remind ourselves a lot.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
That just because we're passionate about something, it doesn't necessarily
mean we have to burn ourselves out from that thing
that we're passionate about. But I just think it's such
a needed conversation. And I hope we help somebody today.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
I love that.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
I love that.
Speaker 4 (32:38):
And so speaking of helping someone, you always find a
way to help someone with your positive affirmation.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
So what can you level us up with today?
Speaker 2 (32:50):
Y'all can't see my church fingers, but I got my
church fingers going because I'm not selfish all gatekeep you know,
and do none of that stuff.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
And usually i'm when i'm when i'm looking.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
For positive quotes or motivational stuff, I always think about
the people our listeners. This is for our listeners too,
but I gotta be honest with you. This is for me,
okay for me. In it says you can forgive someone
(33:21):
and still close the door. Apology accepted, access denied.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
Oh hit that one more time. That just hit me,
because girls, you can forgive someone and.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
Still close the door. Apology accepted, access.
Speaker 4 (33:46):
Denied that whole part, that whole part, that whole part
like we ain't got no beef, says wish you the best,
but I ain't really nothing else. I ain't got nothing
else for you. I got none else.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
For see bro, I hear you.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
I've shape apology, but uh yeah, forgiving them more access
I'm gonna go this way, You're gonna go that way.
Speaker 4 (34:15):
That's crazy, but it's such a good quote because it
can be really explored so much deeper. I mean, my god,
we just anyway, y'all. Thank y'all for kicking it with us. Honestly,
we love we love y'all, and we really love the
way that y'all support us, and we are continuing to
(34:35):
do our best to support you back. So you guys
have a few more days to get into our Levels
to this podcast giveaway.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
Listen.
Speaker 4 (34:46):
We have received some incredible emails, some great info from
folks that are really trying to win this thousand dollars,
so continue to send you have.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Unto December the eighth. December the eighth is the last
day to submit.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
A few more.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
It's a few more days.
Speaker 4 (35:03):
So make sure you're following us on Instagram at lttpod
and then you also need to make sure you send
us an email about why you should be the recipient
at Levels to this podcast at gmail dot com. But
in the meantime, we are going to be back with
more next level conversation about all the shit and real
shit that we go through. Okay, remember this is not
(35:25):
just our show. It's our show, So while you're sending
an email about why you should win a grand you
should also let us know any email why you love
our show, maybe what topic you want to talk about next.
We love to hear all of that, but at the
end of the day, guys, please keep your mental's ground
level and we will be back next week.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
Hey, listen to Levels to This on America's number one
podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search
levels to this with Cheryl Swoops and Tarika Foster Brasby
and start listening.
Hosts And Creators
Terrika Foster-Brasby
Sheryl Swoopes
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